Celestial Aftermath (For CyanDimitrik)

[Avalyn117]

As hard as Stacy might try, tears sometimes come naturally in a way she can't control. A way she's never been able to control. They remain a part of her that can get in the way, though yet still a part should would ever be reluctant to lose. Passion has brought her this far in life, surely she had to keep it. Stacy found immediate comfort in feeling Katsumi's leg simply touch hers, like warmth from a precious memory.

"Almost no one knows my real last name... I haven't really used it since I started competing and I'm... not close with my family, so it's been almost a secret. Celestial is to remind myself of the energy I need to bring... to remind myself who I am, even after losing, having to question myself." She explained. "It's fun to be the hero, Celestial helps me see myself that way."

""I know your past, well clearly you... distance yourself from it, yet you kept your name. I like that. You know, you really are more genuine than anyone could ever imagine if they just get past the punk princess they see in the ring... Miss "Katsumi "Boots Inside" Oshiro."" Stacy laughed as she fought back a snort of her own. "America is great, I learned a lot... but who doesn't dream of LAW? Surely you must have!"

Stacy nuzzled up closer to Kat, that familiar grip that she loved so much melting away the anxiety she had began the night with. She sighed, this time with contentment, leaning in to give Kat's neck a soft kiss before resting against her shoulder again. "Sinclair. Stacy Auguste Sinclair."

[CyanDimitrik]

Katsumi finds that very curious, her head tilting to look at Stacy inquisitively. "You do? Why's that? Your parents not like ya rolling around with other women in fancy underwear?," she jokes.

Incidentally, it's exactly why Katsumi ran into the problems she did.

Her feet raise, regarding the boots she's still wearing. With her gaze sheepishly hooded, she glances aside to Stacy again. "I might've not.. really been sure what to wear. I don't get company often..."

Clearing her throat softly, she leans forward after the kiss to begin untying her boots. She does feel a little silly, a bit over-dressed. As she works her fingers along the laces, she asks, "What's the deal with that? We can talk about my baggage after, but I wanna know more about you first!"

[Avalyn117]

Stacy let out a sarcastic laugh. "Funny enough you're partly right. I wasn't a natural or anything, but I was always athletic, and they were fine with track. Wrestling...." Stacy trailed off with a sigh. "It wasn't even the classic reality check and get a real job speech... they simply didn't want it in my life period. I did. Haven't spoken to them since I dropped out of college." Another sarcastic laugh. "I didn't grow up having much money so to live like that and pursue my dream wasn't a very difficult decision to make."

"I was only joking about the boots! It's endearing, it's... so you to wear boots inside." Stacy smiled warmly as she nuzzled against Kat, happily in her grip. "I get the sense that the reason you don't have company is of your own volition. You know if you just let people know you exist as more than a cold, ruthless princess... it's your choice Kat but you're... so warm." Stacy sighed.

"Baggage doesn't define you, even if it affects you. You don't have to open up with anything that makes you uncomfortable to get my acceptance or understanding... not from me. its just hard to know you're so guarded because you're so sweet and intense. You have so much energy it just isn't what people are used to looking for." Stacy concluded, wondering if perhaps she were arrogant for stating these things as if it were facts in her mind.

"You made you this way, Katsumi. "You fought for this life, you fought for wrestling, for music... whatever problems you had with your past... you made all this happen. Cherish that. Just don't think you need to do it alone or everyone is out to get you or hell... I don't know... friends are good!" Stacy encouraged, letting her hand softly rest on Kat's leg.

[CyanDimitrik]

"Sounds familiar. Did they have something bigger and better in mind for you, too?," Katsumi asks as she nudges the boots off.

Once her feet are freed, she alternates heels upon toes to tug the socks off. It's her house, she's going to go barefoot if she wants! And right now, she has every intention of letting those pink-polished toenails go free.

Then Katsumi is leaning back into the seat again with a smirk, her head not quite turning to Stacy due to her head's placement. She does, however, loop her arm around her again, letting the fingers play up and down along the other girl's waist.

"I'm not those things, though. I'm not... warm. Or anything like that. I'm a screwup on a cosmic level, who just weaponized that to do great in something." As if expecting protest from Stacy, her other hand lifts to lightly set upon her arm. "Lemme explain."

"You said you know my background, right? I was adopted. You're newer to the country, I'm guessing, so lemme just say that is already really rare. If a kid goes into the unwanted pile, that's usually where they stay in Japan. But they picked me. Couldn't have their own kid, so they went shopping for one and found me, get it?"

"I've always been really into music, and that's probably why they liked me. They're these... rich types, I guess? Lots of business trips, lots of travel, lots of high profile meetings and social events. It's why my English is awesome. But'cha gotta understand, I've always been a fuckup. Someone crosses me, I get in their face. 'Willful', is what they kept calling me. But they kept me, y'know? Didn't ever give up on me. Gave me everything I could want, as much training and mentors as I could ask for."

"Then when I discovered wrestling, everything changed. They hated that. Wrestling's, like, the most unfancy thing ever. And their moron adoptee was obsessing over it. Like they dug the kid outt'a the trash, but they couldn't dig the trash outt'a the kid. Forbid me from watching it, and obviously refused to let me train to become a wrestler."

"When I turned eighteen, I'd given up on it and fully bought into becoming a world-class musician and singer. Wasn't like I didn't like music, anyway! So they shipped me off to university, and I majored in music with a focus on guitar and a minor in audio engineering. Then..."

Katsumi finally pauses, taking in a slow breath and exhaling it in a measured woosh.

"Then I got my chance to experience wrestling firsthand. Still in university. It was so.. wacky.. what happened. But everything happened real fast, like a whirlwind. And at the end of the year, I had to tell my parents I'd dropped out of college to focus fully on wrestling. They- they disowned me on the spot."

Her gaze flicks low.

"Lot of things were said. Things like.. 'our biggest mistake', and 'ten years for nothing', and 'never come back, this isn't your home'..."

She hesitates a moment. The typical brightness behind her eyes has dimmed.

"I try to contact'em every year. If I go over there, they have me removed. If I try to call, the attendant hangs up on me. It..." She swallows, then finally looks back to Stacy with a weak smile. "It really sucks, Stacy. 'Cuz they didn't screw all that up. I did. I was selfish. I was always selfish. Whatever it is in people's heads that make'em considerate for other people, I just- I don't have it. They rescued me from being abandoned by my birth parents, gave me a home, gave me everything, and I couldn't even give'em a daughter they could be proud of."

[Avalyn117]

"My family was... they wanted me to be more normal and stay in the same city my entire life and I just... wasn't going to." Stacy laughed quietly. Stacy was surprised to see Kat's toenails painted pink... she had always loved the way pink looked with black. Stacy tensed up as Kat played with her waist, goosebumps quickly covering her skin as a certain memory rose in her mind, causing the energetic girl to blush. Before the puppy-eye'd Stacy could protest Kat's words, she continued, giving context to her past in more detail than she ever imagined the girl would share with her.

As Katsumi finished, Stacy's heart hurt. She sat in silence for a moment, grabbing Katsumi's hand and softly rubbing it, happy to just feel it, touch it... to feel Kat there with her. "We all could have done things a little better... me included... I'm sure my parents wanted... something positive for me." Stacy thought awkwardly, reflecting on her memories. "Don't... say you aren't warm around me. I'd rather just take another one of your bearhugs than hear that." Stacy pleaded softly. Stacy placed Katsumi's hand on her leg, and slowly ran her nails down the punk princess's arm.

"They might have saved you back then, and I think it's really sweet you never give up on them... but you aren't their biggest mistake. It isn't selfish to want to live your life the way you want to live it, they shouldn't have disagreed without...." Stacy trailed off, she didn't want to sound like miss obvious or that she were lecturing her friend as though this were a movie. "You still love music, its a big part of who you are, and wrestling will always be you Kat. Wanting to replace a child they couldn't have and then immediately throwing you away when...." Stacy trailed off. Tears won for real this time as she sobbed.

"You're so warm and bright and full of life... you're a trophy Kat... but you aren't meant to be kept as one." Stacy said with a feeling of sadness. Stacy paused to take a deep breath. "I'm so proud of you Kat... not everyone you cling to is going to let go." Stacy whispered. Stacy grabbed Kat's legs, sliding them on the couch and kissing her cheek. Next, she laid Kat's head on her legs, letting her hand just caress Kat's cheek. She wasn't sure what else to say in that moment, just looking in Katsumi's eyes, imagining how painful the words she shared must have been. It wasn't fair.

[CyanDimitrik]

Katsumi's focus averts to her hand and Stacy holding it, then to the fingers trailing her arm, and finally, back to Stacy's face. "It's hard to make a Westerner understand," she says finally, with the weight of having attempted this once before and running into a similar cultural wall. "We don't... we don't do that here. We don't demand to do our own thing. Especially not when I might even be alive because of them. That's what makes me a punk."

The corner of her lips pinch in a hollow smile. "My parents didn't want me. Maybe they knew something the adoptive parents took a decade to figure out. But I'm not giving up the Oshiro name. And I'm gonna keep calling and trying. Maybe when I win the title, they'll.. get it. See that it wasn't wrong. That I can be the daughter they wanted, just in a different way."

She flexes her fingers, stretching them first before lightly squeezing one of Stacy's hands. She inhales heavily through the nose, and exhales in an effort to recompose herself.

"Anyway, you like getting bearhugged by me." Finally, a smile; a genuine one. "Ohmigod, was that when you fell for me? When I was crushing ya?"

[Avalyn117]

Stacy quickly had a lot to think about tonight, pausing as she considered her words, clearly not wanting to disrespect Katsumi's culture, or the parents she feels she owes so much to. She was silent a moment, then smiled softly as she felt Katsumi's soft hand squeeze hers lightly. "The fact that it's NOT what you're supposed to do, that you aren't supposed to chase your own destiny... yet you do so... and you do it so well... I just love that about you." Stacy winked.

Stacy took a deep breath. "I really... don't like that they left you, Kat... but I still admire that you take their name. Call them when we're popping champagne after you win the title... or show up at their door... or do something so spectacularly Katsumi Oshiro that they just can't ignore you!" Stacy encouraged excitedly, in her mind Kat's title reign was far more of a when than an if, even if she entirely understood just how difficult and prestigious a LAW championship was.

Stacy blushed helplessly at Kat's question, awkwardly shifting her position, yet happy to see the punk princess give her a real smile. "I-I... maybe it was? I remember being in the ring and how impressive you were and how you felt against me and... I... maybe it was the bearhug... maybe it drove me from admiration to... something more." Stacy admitted, looking down at Kat's hand nervously. "That might have been... the first time I felt that way... and there's been so many since. Spending every evening like this... some variation of this after training sure would be nice." Stacy sighed as she took a deep breath again.

[CyanDimitrik]

The fact that Stacy didn't push it or insist the Western way was the Bestern way moves the needle in her favor. Katsumi knows on some level that it's dysfunctional, or that she should try to let it go. But she can't. And Stacy isn't trying to convince her to do that. That's what acceptance looks like. Encouraging, but not demanding. Not trying to make her feel stupid for her feelings or attachments.

It earns her Katsumi leaning closer, gently nudging her shoulder to the other girl. A small bit of physical contact, but a doting one. The Punk Princess is a tactile lover - words mostly work for her when they're biting, snarky, and teasing. But contact is how she best conveys her feelings.

"Maybe I should do that, yeah," she says, glancing to their hands before looking back up at Stacy.

Suddenly, she's shooting her another grin. "Oh, there's no shortage of girls who'd be happy to squeeze you into submission. But I like being the only one to make you swoon about it. I mean, I'm not exactly... indifferent about it with ya. Have you watched our match yet? You look so good gettin' crushed... squeezed.. pinned... makes me wish I could get'cha in that sparkly gear more."

"Which, by the way? Is so pretty on you."

[Avalyn117]

Stacy wasn't trying to score points, though it was a happy result of her genuine love and appreciation for Katsumi. Accepting a girl who was so hurt, who felt so damaged and closed off... Stacy knew she always would. She knew Katsumi deserved to feel so much different than she did. She had so much going for her, so much to love and admire that was uniquely her.

That little bit of contact, Katsumi's should resting gently against hers, meant the world to Stacy. Stacy blushed bright red as Katsumi admitted to admiring the rookie in her sparkly ring gear. "R-Really? I'm so happy you like it!" She beamed with embarrassment. It took Stacy a moment to realize everything Kat had said, about being squeezed into submission by other girls.

"It isn't just... anyone that I... feel this way around. Inside the ring... outside the ring. The way I feel with you, in your grip... just in your prescence Katsumi... it's different." Stacy whispered with a soft squeeze of Kat's hand. "Haven't had the chance to watch it yet." Stacy admits. "But I'm excited for a rewatch." Stacy adds, blushing at the realization of her words. She kicked her legs playfully. "You just ALWAYS have to tease me you big bully!" Stacy whines with a playful tap on Kat's shoulder.

"You know you couldn't look any more perfect in the ring than you do, Katsumi. The confidence, the ring gear, the smile... you're everything that makes this job so beautiful... just like you." Stacy smiled

[CyanDimitrik]

"Always!," chirps Katsumi, her mood perking at the accusation of being a bully. Why, yes. Yes, Katsumi is a bully. It's fun! She doesn't even argue it!

Her gaze dips to Stacy's knees as she swings her legs, a little amused with the kiddish behavior before leaning more against her shoulder in a deilberately deep nudge. She then suddenly flumps back into the couch, graceless but relaxed. And when Stacy showers her in more praise, she can only present her with a pleased, feline-ish smile at first.

"I used to look way different. Did I mention that?," she asks. "I think I did. Maybe. But I had shorter hair, a little over the shoulder. My gear was just a sportsbra'n shorts. And I'd come to the ring wearin' a pink shirt. Then, when I went off-roster for a bit for more specialized training, my look got a total revamp."

She pauses, her gaze lifting to her ceiling in thought. Her lips twist in a considerate little moue.

"Do you think people were really into it? The whole, me pulling my shirt off for a match thing? I started usin' a jacket, but..."

The gaze drops right back to Stacy. "What do you think? Jacket? Or is it hotter to pull a shirt off?"