It's Just Business ( For Jalter )

[Monsy]

The inner workings of a business are a meticulous and opportunistic beast, sobbed of morals, driven by blood and stress to raise one’s social status. To survive, feed off those beneath you until you rise so high, the action becomes almost self-conscious. However, some become self-aware. Some like the idea of feeding off those beneath them. Some take pleasure taking from another and doing whatever it takes to feed themselves, even if another starves. That’s just the woman Karla “Ray” Reinhardt loves to be… and today, the inner machinations of that natural order reach another lap as they drove her to the residence of one Trinette Valiant, future opponent.

The street was quiet, the roads a slick strip of sapped black and sun-yellow rectangles. Building complexes patterned the streets, grey with wooden fences on-top cement barricades in vertical rectangular patterns. Not much to look at. She much preferred the scenery from her limo. The red and blue strip neon lights, claiming the brown fur floors and black leather seats as their own canvas. There was a minibar on one side, varnished in black wood, fitted with drinks and computers, and beside her was a phone she picked up, connected to the driver ahead. “Are we almost at our destination?” She asked, a tone laden with impatience grumble. “Yes ma’am. It’s just on this hill.”

The microphone was placed back, and she relaxed back in her seat, with one leg over the other, an arm laid over the top leg, and another stretched across the same thigh, holding a phone with all the data her team accumulated on the short notice; nothing more than a name, address, and a brief background. It was enough to stoke confidence that she’d make them see reason before their upcoming match.

“Right, right… Not the worst neighbourhood. Not one that I’d choose, however. Too many rats.” She said with a sigh.

The limousine came to a steady stop, and she heard the clack of a door. Soon, hers too opened, and the streak of sunlight gouged her unready eyes, forcing a squint and a hand to shade her top-view. The large driver moved himself to block the entire sun from her person as she stepped out, dressed in black dress pants, a black jacket but a red undershirt. Her shoes were also black, high-heels that clacked against the asphalt. “I shouldn’t be too long, so keep it running. This place smells like wet concrete and posh rejects.” She said, donning a set of red shades with a golden frame.

"Of course, ma'am."

She walked towards the complex and entered through the front glass door into the drab lobby, predominantly a white and grey granite and tile, with nearby potted plant paintings, scenery and other plants that stretched towards the ceiling. The stairs were nearby, laden with carpet that muffled her steps beyond the initial stomp that took her floor to floor until she reached her destination. That brown door with a little peephole that she gazed up at. She raised her index and middle finger and knocked on the door, then stepped back, now fishing in her pockets to slip on some leather gloves in her wait.

[Devastated]

The day so far had been rather uneventful for the young French bluenette, as she had simply dedicated the day to relax. It was her day off after all, from working out, from wrestling, from anything related to work. Therefore she was simply enjoying some alone time. Engrossing herself in some baking, as she had just taken a fresh batch of cookies out of the oven and was now letting them cool. In the meantime, she was spending the day reading, having just started on a new book.

At the moment she was sitting on her couch, reading and having a rather peaceful day. Until she heard a knock on the door...

Trinette would blink a few times, thinking for a moment if she was expecting anyone? She didn't have any deliveries scheduled for today and she couldn't imagine who it would be here in Japan. Maybe a neighbor? Sliding her bookmark out from the last page of the book and placing it on her current page so as not to lose track, Trinette would move up towards the door. Looking through the peephole for a moment, seeing an unfamiliar but pretty woman.

Opening the door, as she saw no harm in it. The bluenette would speak out, " Hello. What can I do for you?" Trinette asked in a courteous manner. The French girl was wearing fairly casual clothes at the moment. Nothing fancy, simply a pair of white stockings, a pair of black short shorts, a pink T-shirt and an arctic blue jersey jacket.

Spoiler

[Monsy]

The wait wasn’t anything special.
She can recite her itinerary within her head. All the stuff she needed to do after this business. Actual business. It started to boil in her mind, wasting time, the seconds she spent here instead of accumulating more assets. There was something therapeutic with anger, though. The adrenaline, rush of emotion, motivation. It was a force she never learned to control beyond packing her fists, normally chucked towards the nearest living thing, but now placed behind her back so her other hand could pin it there. Her head tilted to-and-fro, whistling the tune of Canon in D.

Younger times.
But for now, the wait had passed, and she came face to face. A casually-dressed bluenette, faced with one of her opposites. It was all Karla needed to know. For them, though, she chuckled at the question, then said, “Why yes, I’d like another trip to the Batu Caves in Kuala Lampur." Her hand motioned above her head, eased from right to left before it fell to her side.

"However, your time will even be more spectacular. You must be the magnificant paladin, Trinette Valiant, right?”

She extended her gloved hand to them, palm turned up. “Karla Ray Reinhardt. It’s a pleasure.”

[Devastated]

Trinette looked on at the woman before, checking her up and down for a moment before her eyes fixed on her face. She waited to see what Karla would say but she was only taken aback by her words. " K-Kuala Lampur? I don't think I can help you with--" Interrupted as she heard Karla continue onwards with other things to say. Blinking a few times, as she gathered it must have been some kind of joke or at worse a snide remark...

" Ah, yes well I can certainly give you a moment of my time." Trinette added as she would look at the gloved hand. Nodding her head to the question posed she would extend her own hand and clasp a hold of Karla's. Giving her a firm handshake. " Yes, I'm Trinette. Though it's Vaillant." Trinette corrected the redhead on the pronunciation of her surname.

Watching her for a moment, she felt that she had seen her...even heard her name. " Forgive me. Do I know you? You seem familiar so perhaps I should assume you are from LAW?" The blunette would ask as she continued the handshake for a moment and then would try and pull her arm back.

[Monsy]

"Ah, is it? Really? Well, I'm terribly sorry," She started, then dipped her head for a moment, "I'll have to chastise my team for making such a hideous error. Probably a new guy - little letters, funny, no? But thank you." She said, finished with a nod. Her eyes glanced at their hands, linked to shaking, and her head tilted at that. Not what she had in mind, but it'll do, so she returned it. The motion felt a little stiff, tugged along, faced with a rigid grip that she didn't know whether to recuperate or receive it. She opted for the latter, then turned her head up, meeting their gaze again.

"Hahahah... That's not the first place I'd first associate myself with, publically anyway, but you are indeed, correct." Her hand opened to allow Trinette's arm to withdraw. Karla's own was placed on her front, where one hand grabbed the other's wrist.

"Yes, I'm from signed with L.A.W. I joined with the moniker K.R.R., perhaps you recognize that. You, on the other hand, I already know. In fact, I was hoping our time could be spent talking about that. May I come in? I smell delicious baking."

[Devastated]

Trinette would shake her head a little and offer a slight smile at the redhead's words. " It's quite alright. I'm used to it. English natives tend to get it wrong...the woes of being French I suppose." The bluenette let out a soft chuckle following her words, brushing off the mispronunciation of her surname, after all it was technically what it would be translated into should it have been in English.

The handshake for certain was a bit stiff and for the moment it seemed as if Karla simply followed along the motion. It only lasted for a few seconds before she opened up her hand and Trinette would pull hers back.

" Excuse me then for not knowing about your other venues. Though I figured I had at least heard of you. K.R.R does ring a bell." Trinette spoke out, she was still rather new to LAW and with the move and getting used to a new country she had been a bit to too swamped to check up on everyone and everything when it came to the rather large wrestling organisation. With Karla asking if she could come inside and even letting on that she knew of the French girl, Trinette became rather intrigued. Tilting her head to the side she would move back and to the side, extending her arm and showing Karla in. " Please do."

As Karla would walk in, a small dog would approach and seemingly look to get a scent of the woman. "Ah, Renaud...I hope you don't mind? He just wants to get a scent of people." After which if the dog was allowed to, Trinette would shoo him away which the cute pup would rather obediently do, scampering off towards his little dog bed.

[Monsy]

“You said it. English, am I right?”

She had a chuckle at that, albeit forced with the wind almost choking in her throat. It wouldn’t stop their gesture, firmness, and casual withdrawal to rest.

“It very well should, but that’s alright. I suppose it makes this a little less awkward.” She nodded, tilted her head and smiled, then waited to be invited inside and strode by when allowed. The click of dog claws alerted her to her feet, the snout pressed on her ironed pant leg, and she could almost swing her leg at it. Her upper lip twitched as it made contact, her brow flinched, and she glowered, then raised her arm to sneeze into the crook of her elbow. “Ah, sorry…” She turned to Trinette, smiled again, then watched the little thing retreat to his bed, circle on the cushion and flop in one grand heap. “It’s fine. Hundchens are lovely things.”

After flashing a closed-eyed grin, she stepped over to the dog and squatted to reach and let the pooch sniff. Her hand tensed into a white-knuckle fist at first lick, where she took a breath, then used said hand to course along their spine. It opened over time. Soon, she rubbed with the back of her fingers instead of her knuckles. “Ahhh. Ich wünschte, ich könnte dich schlagen.” She said in a sweet high-pitched tone, just as she pinched the dog’s paws, lifted them up and down, then went to scratch its belly. “Yes, I can! Yes, I can!” Another forced laugh slipped, then she peeked back over her shoulder. “It’s a fine specimen. How old?”

[Devastated]

The bluenette would shrug her shoulders a bit, she didn't have any problem with English people. It wasn't as if they were trying to get her name wrong...besides it ended up meaning the same thing so it wasn't such a big deal for her. When she heard and saw Karla's sneeze she would quickly respond. "À tes amours." Of course her first instinct was to speak French when such a thing happened, it was a reflex to respond to someone sneezing. " Oh, sorry I mean bless you." The bluenette spoke out, she was about to ask if Karla was allergic to dogs and if she should perhaps move Renaud into a different room, but it seemed as if Karla enjoyed dogs at least judging from her words.

Seeing that Trinette would let out a sigh of relief and smile at Karla. " Oh right, cookies. I hope macarons are alright?!" Trinette said as she would make her way towards the kitchen. Deciding to leave Karla on her own with Renaud for a little while. She didn't get to hear much other than a few words of what Karla was saying to the dog, but she figured she had to be mistaken when it came to what words she heard. It sounded as if she said she could just punch him, or she wish she could. Though that had to be wrong, she seemed to enjoy herself with Renaud.

When she took a few minutes to get everything ready. Taking out a dessert tower and layering the macrons in layers of different color. Blue, Pink, Yellow, Green, Brown. After she was done she would fill up a teapot siv with some earl gray tea. Putting the kettle on and readying everything for a little afternoon snack. " Ah?! Oh he's almost 6 years old. Only a month or so left." Trinette let out, once the kettle beeped she would pour the hot water into the teapot, placing everything on a tray and moving it towards the living room.

Placing the tray down on the coffee table as she would bring look over at Karla. No with how she was treating Renaud she must have misheard her, or maybe her German was more rusty than she thought. " I made some tea, I hope earl gray is fine?" Trinette let out as she would start to pour the tea into delight fully intricate East India Rörstrand tea cups.

[Monsy]

The interior of this lesser’s home was rather snug. Not like she compared it to her penthouse, with its fountains, an interior pool or gym, but homely nonetheless. The dog made it complete; even if he was disgusting, she found it necessary to play along, thus, the dog. However, she could almost wretch when its tongue lapped her hand. She checked to see if it messed up her nail polish, curled her knuckles white, then released and went back to play with the pooch. “Ahh. Almost six. That makes him forty-two in dog years. He must be the adult of the house. Isn’t that right, Renaud?” Her plucky tone followed a ruffle upon its head. And when she looked over-shoulder at the tea, the dog resumed its tongue-lapping, so she put the finger on his head and pinned it to the bed. He squirmed, escaped, and the two waged this war of rinse and repeat.

“Earl Grey is splendid.” -ly disgusting. At least the cups had some taste; it was the first good thing she found about this woman. When it was finished being poured, she reached, curled her index finger in the loop and tucked it across her other fingers. “I hope you don’t mind if I take it, right? Danke schon.”

She brought the porcelain-coloured edge to her lips, and she stood to sip. However, she didn’t let any pass bar a trickle that breached her defences. It tasted like bitter butter, something that she held, rolled her tongue back and gulped hard to take it down. “Mmm…” She hummed, then lowered the cup. “Thank you, again. Those macarons look masterful. But, before I continue to exploit your amiable hospitality, I should tell you why am here.”

She bent over to place the cup back on the platter, then stood to look them directly in the eye. “You and I have a match soon.”

[Devastated]

Trinette was blissfully unaware of what Karla was thinking and wanting to do with little Renaud, thinking of course that the woman was a friendly sort so far and that she seemed to enjoy the company of the little doggie. She was currently a bit busy with getting things ready to offer the redhead a bit of tea and afternoon snack. She had finished off most of the prep and as Karla seemed to be fine with Earl Grey she would set the tea ready and place it down on the living room table.

She would watch as Karla took a hold of the tea cup and took a sip and the bluenette would do the same. Taking a small sip of tea before she placed the cup down. She found Earl Grey's bitter sort of taste to be rather lovely. She knew that it wasn't for everyone...most people usually mixed things like honey or milk in with Earl Grey because of the bergamot. Maybe she should have offered Karla some?

Shaking her head a bit, " Oh yes I almost forget. Would you like some tea or honey? or perhaps just sugar?" Trinette would ask, feeling a bit embarrassed about having forgotten about offering it before hand. She would look over and smile though. She was happy that her macarons were given praise.

When Karla stood up and faced her she would tilt her head. Seeing the gaze of the redhead meet her own, she would return one by looking Karla straight in the eyes. " Oh? A match you say? Is that why you've come here, to scope out the opposition?"