Rivals Turned Training Buddies (for Devastated)

[Underdoggo]

It honestly came as an incredible relief to Makie that Belinda-- the first woman she had fought, and lost to, here in LAW-- was saying she was not a jobber. To be fair, she had already heard it from Tina and Alaina, and that in and of itself was encouraging, but hearing it from Belinda as well did a lot to quell the little, negative, anxious voice in her head that said that Alaina and Tina were just being kind to her.

She didn't have a chance to properly thank Belinda, though, before the Swede was urging her to follow her. Wordlessly, Makie hopped up and did so, and quickly saw that they were heading to the practice ring. She accepted Belinda's arm and rolled into the ring, before sitting on the middle rope next to her.

"Thanks," she breathed. "It's been...well, a lot of things, you know? There was a match against this one heel bitch named Danica Donelle; she not only destroyed me but humiliated me after. Then there was a bunch of other singles matches that I lost, one after another, and then..."

She paused, and took a breath. "I kinda did the one thing that everyone says you shouldn't do: I read some comments online. A lot of the fan community see me as on the bottom tier of the LAW wrestlers. As a jobber. Or at least, only good when I'm tagging with Kyo." She buried her face in her hands for a bit, before straightening up a bit. "I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but...well, I guess I kinda did.

[Devastated]

After leading them to the ring, Belinda would wait for Makie to join her and watch as she also sat down on the ring ropes. She would listen to her words, it seems as if Makie had other things to say and as before Belinda was willing to listen. She would sit there with her former opponent, hearing what truly had troubled her. It was a story she had heard before, it was something that could break most people of course.

However, Belinda would place her hand on Makie's shoulder after she had finished speaking. " Hey, it's fine. It happens to the best of us." Belinda said as she would rub that shoulder a little. " I can't really say what you should do, or how you should react to that. I can tell you what would have done, or well I guess I have done before? I haven't been in the exact same situation as you, but you know...I've also had my downs." Belinda said as she would smile at Makie.

"You take all that resentment, frustration and anger." Belinda spoke as she would push up to her feet and stepped into the squared circle fully. " Work out, get better. Prove them all wrong." Belinda spoke as she would give her own solution to the problem. " Imagine it. The satisfaction when all they can say is talk about how great you are. When everyone has to accept you."

[Underdoggo]

Makie watched Belinda rise to her feet, listening to the Swede give her a pep talk. And, quite frankly, it was a good pep talk. I mean granted, she had already been harnessing her anger, her rage, letting it drive her. But it felt great to hear it come from another person, to hear someone talking about it in terms of when she would get better, not if.

"I guess that's why I'm here," she said, standing up. "Harnessing my anger properly. Trying to get better." She leaned a little against the ropes, and her head turned down again. "And...maybe I was getting a little too angry. I ran into my ex a few days ago. We...had some harsh words. Now I'm facing her in a match soon." She sighed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to dump that on you, just...my life feels like a mess right now."

[Devastated]

"Honestly, this might sound a bit...deranged if I was talking to a normal person, but I guess for a fellow wrestler it would make perfect sense." Belinda said as she would let out a soft laugh. " The best feeling in the world is to use all that frustration and build up something great, something so great that all those who doubted you...those who sneered and laughed, are forced to eat their words." Belinda would bring her hand up to her face and sheepishly scratch at her cheek a bit. " If you want to hear the more sane version. Then Working out is a great way to work through issues."

When Makie spoke about her Ex though, she would think for a second. Belinda had been in a few situations that had similar leanings to that before. " Makie. What do you mean? I offered to help ya out. Don't go apologizing when you tell me what's actually bugging you. Do you want another forehead flick?" Belinda teased the younger wrestler. "Though, I take it you and your ex aren't on good terms? Harsh words and all that, facing off in a match could be a good way to either work through it...or depending on the context get some much needed payback." Belinda would shrug her shoulders. " Do you feel conflicted about wrestling her? Or...is it more you want to beat the crap out of her but aren't sure you can?" The blonde would roll her shoulders a bit, she had a feeling that she knew where this whole conversation would be leading too soon, so she was making sure to limber up a bit.

[Underdoggo]

Makie chuckled at Belinda's comment. "Do I LOOK like a normal person to you, Belinda?" she quipped with a smile. She took a deep breath. "But...I hear you. That's what I want. I want to be hear all the doubters realize they were wrong about me. I want to make them eat their words...especially in the ring.

As Belinda brought up Mako, Makie's smile melted into a frown, and she shifted uncomfortably. "It's...complicated," she said. "Once upon a time, we were on a lot better terms than this. But then we went our separate ways, drifted apart...until we bounced into one another here at LAW again. She wanted to rekindle the relationship, I wasn't ready to, she got a bit grabby in public, and...I kinda snapped." She sighed, and buried her head in her hands. "So, yeah, a lot of this is because I got angry and said a lot of things I can't take back. But as for whether or not I think I can beat her? Well...she's tough. We really went back and forth in our first match, but she is not the sort to hold back. And...yeah, she's taller and stronger than me, if that weren't obvious. If I'm going to face Mako again, I'll need to be ready."

[Devastated]

Belinda would listen to the uncomfortable stuff that Makie had to say, she took in everything that Makie spoke and would allow her to finish her tale. After Makie had buried her face in her hands, the blonde would start to move up to the Japanese woman. She'd bring her hand up onto Makie's shoulder and give it a reassuring squeeze.

"I get it. It's complicated, it's ugly and it's difficult. However, there is also a simplicity in it. You don't want to lose. Taller and stronger doesn't always guarantee a win." Belinda said as she would crank her neck. She'd step back and remove her flannel shirt. She'd toss it to the corner and then roll her shoulders.

"If you want to be ready. Then we'll get you ready for her." Belinda said with a friendly grin on her face. " Let's spar for a bit. If you want to get any crash course in anything we can do that too. Hell, we can also just go at it to get you used to fighting someone bigger and stronger than you."

[Underdoggo]

Makie blinked a little in surprise as Belinda proposed the spar, and suppressed a blush as Belinda tossed off her flannel shirt, revealing the finely toned, muscular body underneath. It had been quite a while since she had fought Belinda in their first match, and she had almost forgotten how brawny the Swedish girl actually was.

"You're on!" Slowly, Makie pulled off her own sweat-streaked t-shirt, leaving herself now wearing her white sports bra and matching boyshorts. She hopped up to her feet and strode towards the center of the ring, stretching a little, smiling at Belinda. "Though if I remember correctly, last time we fought I actually managed to get a few good hits in, so don't get too cocky, blondie!"

[Devastated]

Belinda would shrug her shoulders at Makie's words. She was quite happy to see that the attitude of the Japanese girl seemed to have picked up a bit, and she was ready to trash talk a bit. The blonde would back up to the center, then a few steps more to give Makie space to get up and ready. The blonde would roll her shoulders and do some light stretches just to make sure she was limber enough.

"You remember correctly. So of course I won't get too cocky!" Belinda said assuredly with a nod, as she would then start to circle Makie. She'd bring her hands up and get ready to start this off with a grapple. " Let's begin with some grapple game and see what we've got to work with."

[Underdoggo]

Seeing Belinda going for a grapple, Makie raised her own arms to mirror the Swede's action. "Okay then!" she breathed. Normally, she would not begin the match by launching into a grapple against an opponent taller and larger than her, but this was a friendly spar. Besides which, she was honestly curious to see how far she could go in straight up grappling against Belinda.

With a soft yell, Makie would lunge in against Belinda, tying up aggressively with her. For a few seconds the two women would grunt as they pusheded and twisted against each other. That was, until Makie suddenly dropped low, trying to get behind Belinda and wrench her arm behind her back. If Makie was successful, then she would try to swipe one of Belinda's feet out from under her, hoping to trip her down onto her front!

[Devastated]

Belinda stood ready for Makie as she watched her move in, she went into the grapple and locked up with Makie...though for the start she didn't try to bully Makie back too much just yet. She jostled a bit with Makie until the Japanese fighter dropped low and took a hold of her arm. The blonde felt how it was being twisted behind her back in a hammer-lock style position.

Though that was where Belinda would act! She quickly thrust backwards with her weight, pushing backwards with her legs in the hopes to make Makie stumble backwards. Then she tried to twist around, trying to pull her arm free and reverse their position by getting in behind Makie. Belinda sought to then slap her arms around Makie's waist and lock in a waist lock from behind, her head resting against Makie's shoulder, her chest against Makie's back as she began to squeeze upon that core.