Hockey Night in Japan - Gil & Satsuki

[FreestylePoet]

Even though she wasn't much for habits, working out had always come easy to Satsuki. There were as many ways to exercise as there were muscles in the body -- and then some. Aerobics and weight training. Compound movements and isolated ones. Yoga, meditation, and pilates... or striking, grappling, and slamming. LAW's gyms offered ample space and equipment to do all of it.

All that was to say: Satsuki had no idea what she wanted to do today. She'd just about finished her warm-up, which consisted of a few light laps around the track and a brief stretching routine. As she looked out across the gym, though, none of it really grabbed her. It wasn't as if Satsuki didn't want to work out today. She'd had a good number of matches in her early career, and even though her record was solid, each one exposed clear holes in her skills. She needed to get faster, stronger, better, all of it. But with so much to work on... what was the best way to go about it?

"Well..." Satsuki sighed. "Maybe I'll do a few more laps around the track and take a look at everything again. See what catches my eye." She got up and rolled her exercise mat up, grabbing it along with her water bottle. The lockers were on the far side of the room, so Satsuki walked briskly, taking a refreshing drink of water with closed eyes as she did so.

Unfortunately, that also meant that she wasn't watching where she was going...

Satsuki's Workout Attire

[Arista]

Spoiler

"...Sorry...!" Gil turned her head behind her, but not stopping, narrowly avoiding crashing right into someone! She zipped around corners and lightning-like speed, rolling on her trusty roller-skates...! They were old, worn, and dirty, but they still worked just as intended, and as long as the wheels weren't flying off, Gil was going to use them! She had a duffle bag slung over her shoulder, filled with god knows what. She split past another corner, nearly running into an open door but dodging it just in the nick of time! She saw ahead of her exactly where she needed to be, an open room with plenty of area for her to practice...! "...H-hey, watch out...!"

Gil warned, but neither her warning, nor the brakes on the back of her skates, the screamed as she skidded them against the floor could stop her in time before she smashed right into Satsuki! Due to the speed as which Gil was going, the both flew back a few feet before hitting the hard and smooth floors, which did nothing to break their fall. Gil's bag slung open and spilled an area of equipment on the ground.

"...Ow... Sorry about that..." Gil sat up onto her backside, her eyes meeting Satsuki's. "...Hey, I've seen you before, at-least, I think I have...!" Gil titled her head to the side. "...Oh, I'm Gil, by the way, if that rings any bells, if not... Sorry about all this...!" She laughed, looking around at the mess she had made, the contents of her bag sprawled out across the open room. Street hockey pucks and balls, a couple sticks, an old-style hockey mask, among other pieces of equipment...!

[FreestylePoet]

Satsuki barely had time to open her eyes at the oncoming warning. "Huh, wha -- GWAAAH!" All she could see was a blur of light red as something fast clattered into her! She fell right onto her butt, her back hitting the ground a split second after. The next few seconds of Satsuki's life were focused on getting her bearings back. After that, though, she was able to slowly rise to a seated position, still rubbing a bit at her lower back as she took in the brunette's apologetic greeting.

"Gil, huh? Oh yeah, you helped put on that Halloween party, right?" She thought back to that night's events. There were two girls who seemed like they were in charge of the place, and one of them was a kind-looking brunette dressed up as a magician. Said magician looked pretty similar to the girl in front of her now. Satsuki couldn't actually remember how much they'd actually talked during the party -- she must have drank more than she thought -- but clearly it was enough to leave some kind of impression. "Great job with that. I had a good time." Or, at least, she thought she did. Again. Alcohol.

Exhaling slightly as she shook off the last of the pain from their collision, Satsuki rose to one knee and offered Gil a hand. "Here, lemme help you pick all this up. You're a wrestler here, right?" Was that rude to ask? Satsuki didn't really care about offending people per se, and a fight was technically a workout. But fights were supposed to be games, and making enemies needlessly didn't sound like it'd be fun. So she explained herself. "I'm kinda new here, and I didn't really follow the whole wrestling thing before about six months ago, when I started looking into joining up."

[Arista]

"...That's right, that's where I recognize you from...!" Gil snapped her fingers. "...Yeah, me and Silver managed the whole thing, but give all your credit to her, she's the one who put most of it together...!" Gil waved her hand in-front of her, deflecting any praise. "...I'm glad to hear you had a good time, at least, I did too, even if I was tired as can be after it was over...!" Gil gathered a few of her things into a pile before looking up and taking Satsuki's hand. "Oh, thanks...!"

She rose up onto her feet, tossing some stuff back into her bag."...Mhm, I'm a wrestler, but I do a lot of other work for L.A.W too! I work for the media, I've even been offered to referee some as well, so I'm pretty busy...!" Gil chuckled nervously, gathering more of her things. "...You're not the only one, I know nothing about wrestling, my style is to just smo-" Gil cut herself short, blushing slightly. "...Well, we all have our wide array of styles...!"

After gathering everything into her bag, sloppily and hap-hazardly, with sticks poking-out of the top so it wouldn't close properly. "...I rarely actually come to the L.A.W gyms, but they have massive, open, spaces here, so it's prefect for practicing hockey...!" She smiled holding up the last bit of equipment that she couldn't fit in the bag, and hockey mask, holding it in-front of her face, giggling, before slapping it on top of the pile. "...I don't get much of a chance to play much, since I moved out to Japan, all my buddies live back in America...!"

[FreestylePoet]

Satsuki helped Gil up to her feet, nodding casually at her introduction. "Wow, sounds like you've got your work cut out for ya. I'm Satsuki, by the way. You might remember my giant scythe from the party?" She bent down, helping sort out the upturned contents of Gil's bag, which, true to her word, appeared to be a set of hockey equipment. While most of it looked slightly different than what she was used to, Satsuki was still able to recognize the basics. After all, she'd once made an effort to have at least passing knowledge of the world's major sports leagues.

As Satsuki helped slide in the last stick into Gil's bag, she felt something nagging at the back of her mind. Something that she should know but couldn't remember. When Gil mentioned that she'd come here to play hockey, everything suddenly clicked. Upon joining LAW, Satsuki immediately took advantage of her free subscription to the promotion's streaming service. Not to scout future potential opponents, really, but just to see what was what. And this Gil chick had apparently been in quite a few matches recently, so...

"Hey, wait, I do know who you are. 'Wide array of styles' my ass... or maybe I should say your ass?" Satsuki bumped elbows with Gil as she ribbed her. "But yeah. I've seen some of your stuff. I like the, uh, pink theme you've got going on." She flicked some of her own pink hair over her shoulder for emphasis.

One of Gil's stick-handles was still in Satsuki's hand, reminding her of one particular match that stood out in her mind. She pulled it slightly out of the bag, as if to inspect it, before turning back to Gil.

"...And didn't you use one of these in a match?"

[Arista]

"...M-my ass!?" Gil blsuhed, un-charactirsitaclly for those who knew her by how she performed in the ring, but she was much less open to talking about it when she wasn't going toe-to-tow with someone, clearly...! "...Thanks, pink is my favorite color...!" Gil avoided eye-contact. She wasn't a shy person by any stretch, but Satsuki making a straight-dart toward how she fought got her flustered...!

"O-oh, yeah... That's my lucky-stick, I've had it for years...!" She took it out of the bag, setting the rest of the equintment down on the ground while holding the stick firmly in her grasp, looking at it proudly. "...I have played a-lot of hockey with this one, it's a tiny-bit worse for wear, but it still gets the job done...!" The stick looked to be in poor condition, duct-tape wrapped around the handle, and scuff-marks and chips of wood had been taken out of certain parts of it.

"...I really would like to use it more, but I'm reluctant to do anything hardcore, but, maybe someday...!" Gil perked up, looking back up at Satsuki. "...How about you? What are you doing here? I assume you aren't here to sharpen-up on your hockey as well...?" Gil chuckled!

[FreestylePoet]

Satsuki couldn't help but laugh at Gil's embarrassment. Her expression, body language, and words put her heart on her sleeve. It was all refreshingly honest to someone of Satsuki's background. Still, she'd had her fun, and while she couldn't promise not to rib the girl anymore, someone as experienced as Gil could be an interesting workout partner. She'd hate to burn that bridge by flustering the brunette too much.

"No, not exactly," Satsuki chuckled at her new companion. "But I used to watch hockey. It was the last sport I ever put a bet on. A few years ago, I put some cash down on that new team to win it all." She whistled, remembering the near-obsession she'd had with the sport that year. "Obviously, I didn't end up winning, but damn, that was too much excitement for me to handle -- and all of it out of my hands. Now, I only bet on things I can control."

"But no, I just came here to work out... which actually gives me an idea." Satsuki looked back at Gil. Her eyes were lit by the first mischievous glimmers of a plan coming together. "I heard once that goalies were… pretty crazy people. Really skilled, but with no sense of self-preservation. Lots of eccentric personalities, too. Is that true?" Maybe a weird question, but Satsuki hadn't gotten her workout in yet. She might not have known it, but Gil had just given her an exciting idea...

[Arista]

"...I figured not, I don't think I've met anyone else who plays, or even watches hockey since I've touched-down here in L.A.W..." Gil sound mildly disappointed, but a smile still graced her face. "...My, wait I wouldn't give to play hockey again with someone, me and my pals played it all the time back in the states, we had a lot of fun with it too...!" Gil sighed, reminiscing back on her life before she moved out to Japan, she had virtually zero gripes about how things had been going, but her friends were something she missed dearly...!

"...I see, you're a bit of a gambler...! I never have been, I never really had the money, I suppose...!" Gil laughed. "...Goalies? Well, I mean, they're diverse, just like anyone else, you know, goalies are people too...!" Gil smiled. "...But, they are the backbone of any team, you can't expect succeed with an open-net, after all...!" Gil snickered again, barely able to let a word out without cracking a smile.

"...Well, the part about lack of self-preservation might be true, some goalies will go the extra-mile for their team, it's admirable, but scary...!" Her eyes drew back down from above Satsuki's head, and they met eyes. "...Why do you ask...?" Gil titled her head to the side.

[FreestylePoet]

Truth be told, Satsuki didn't actually care much for the truth behind the meme that goalies were weirdos. She just wanted to get into the head of someone like that. Quick enough to throw themselves in front of rubber discs flying from 50 to 100 miles an hour. Durable enough to do it dozens of times a night. And crazy enough to do it all with not just a smile but a competitive edge.

Just the kind of half-baked, fully-skilled confidence that got Satsuki's blood pumping.

She looked at Gil, grinning excitedly. Satsuki didn't exactly have the "assets" to take advantage of the style that Gil might be able to teach her in the ring, but that didn't mean that she couldn't be a useful training partner. At least for the day. The brunette was friendly, excitable, and by the looks of it, eager to get back to playing hockey. Perfect for what Satsuki had in mind.

"You should teach me. How to be a goalie, I mean." Satsuki inclined her head in a slight bow towards the taller Gil before quickly adding, "Please."

[Arista]

Gil stood still for a moment, a blank expression, with no answer for a dragging second or two, all before she finally spoke...! "...O-of course! I'd love to, it's been so long since I played with anyone else...!" Gil nearly rolled back and slipped on her skate from excitement, her smile drawing wide across her face! "...If you will, help me set all this up, and then, I'll teach you everything you need to know...!" Gil was now just as eager as Satsuki was, she couldn't believe someone was willing to play with her...!

Gil emptied the just filled bag's contents back onto the floor, scattering across, she quickly gathered the balls from rolling away and took out three poles, and a net. "...I'll go set this up, and you can put..." She rummaged through the pile. "...All of this on...!" She handed her the old-fashioned mask some padding for her legs, a goalie glove, and, a stick. "...The stick isn't made for goalies, but, I never really was one... But don't worry, I can still teach you...!" She re-assured.

She set up the poles and the net hastily, constructing a full hockey goal, and rolled back to Satsuki. "...I have a spare thing of skates, but, I'm not sure if you want those on or not..." She offered, but didn't push. "...We can start with one thing at a time, so, it might be best to leave these off...!"