Blaise Cameron vs. Aaliyah Jackson - Best 2 of 3 Falls

[BlackAkuma]

Truth be told, Aaliyah was never the type for ‘after-match celebrations’, even when she had matches that really turned the dial up. Nothing wrong with it, just a matter of taste, and one that maybe came for her previous promotion. While they never outright told her to rush out of every match, time was money, and they never had much of it to spare. The less time they spent doing victory laps, the more time they had to fit in matches.

This wasn’t the indies, though, and she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the moment.

After the hug, she stayed at his side as the audience gave them their due flowers. She waved their way, all smiles, and stood as straight as she could manage. God, she was looking forward to that bath.

”Good match, man.” She gave him a quick pat on the abs, one that might’ve linger a second longer than it needed to. She backed off and held up her fist, looking for a bump. ”You ever want to run that back, let me know.”

[CyanDimitrik]

For some reason, the extra second or two Aaliyah's hand lingered was inescapably noticeable. Heck, the pat itself. And he's an enormous hypocrite for it, it's true. But it's not for complaint's sake; just a small, seemingly mutual understanding that the bout is over. Any contact now is extra-curricular. Personally motivated.

As she draws away, he lets his arm slip from her waist to better face her. The offering of dappage is spotted in due course, and his fist lifts to meet hers, knuckle to knuckle.

Bump.

"A chance to get with you again? Count me in," Blaise replies, phrasing oh-so-ambiguous on purpose. His gaze lingers on hers, impishly searching for a satisfying reaction. A laugh would work. A blush would be fun. Even a little spark of a huff could be tasty. Anything but missing it!

[BlackAkuma]

…this was awkward.

Granted, the moments after a match, especially a long one, were kind of weird, in her experience. It would’ve been easier if Blaise was a jerk, so she could just brush him off and part ways and not think about this for a while. But he wasn’t. He was being cool about the whole thing. Not cocky, not a prick.

It was giving her a weird vibe between them, but whatever the case, she wasn’t about to process it too much now, when her brain was still scrambled and she was dealing with dehydration. For now, she managed a soft smile and gave him a pat on the shoulder as she passed, with a little squeeze that might’ve last for a second longer than it needed to.

”I’ll see you ‘round, man.”

With that, Aaliyah gingerly made her way through the ropes, down the stairs, and hobbled her way up the ramp, weakly waving to the fans on her way out.

[CyanDimitrik]

It was a little less than he'd hoped for, but it wasn't the great and dreaded nothing it could've been. So there's that! Now there'll be two people getting all up in their head about things.

He gives a quick 'heh' in passing, failing to come up with anything witty to offer in the moment, despite his mind racing to fill in the gap and leave her with something more memorable. But here and now, in the fleeting seconds before she's gone, he's got nothing! So he relents himself to watch her a moment as she exits the ring, before putting his focus back on the audience.

Pooling his energy, he races up the nearest turnbuckle to perch, feet balanced between the middle ropes, and fists swinging high into the air amidst dazzling cameraflash.

Winner by 2 Falls to 1: Blaise Cameron