Three's Company, Four's a Party (for PurpleMage)

[Crossedes]

Rayna, toothbrush in hand and lather in her mouth, peeped out of the bathroom door to check the clock on the far wall of the apartment. And squinted. Her mom had always said some glasses would not hurt her, but she had gotten used to not bugging about personal needs in her youth. What her squinting told her was that Serena Thomas would be coming to the door in two shakes, and Rayna regretted picking a relatively-early time in the day to ask her to come. She had barely gotten her hair blow-dried, and no one knew where Adel was in her daily beauty routine.

Continuing to saw away at her teeth, she plucked out her phone, glancing one last time at the exchange she had with Serena over email. Rayna knew Sha'ree and Adel could be... insular when they wanted to be. For them, their trio was enough friendship for one lifetime. But Rayna knew they needed to branch out in this environment. Rayna was also more willing than her partners to accept that the League had a reputation for matches that could get very steamy very quickly and that the three of them perhaps lacked experience in that field.

Hey! Serena Thomas?, she read back. Hopefully I have the right email or this is an odd message to receive... I just wanted to send you a quick message and say I'm a big fan of your wrestling style. My friends and I are new to the League - you may see us on the roster page as Artistry - and honestly, I was looking for us to make some attachments and maybe learn some things in the wrestling fields where we don't have a ton of experience. I've seen some of your production work... you're really good! Would you be interested in talking with us about it? My friends don't know it yet, but they could use more spice in their lives.

Thanks either way!
Rayna Toy

As she moved to stuff the phone back in her pocket, the door buzzed. Right on time. Officially, anyway. Not for Rayna's tooth routine, and she rushed through a few more brushes before freeing her mouth to speak. "Shay! Can you let her in? That's Serena!" She jabbed her toothbrush in the general direction of the foyer.

Sha'ree emerged from the kitchen and started for the door, then glanced back at Rayna hesitantly. Rayna could almost read her mind. Was that the sex wrestler you invited? her shorter friend wanted to ask, but she knew said sex wrestler might hear her from the other side of the door. Rayna gestured for her to keep going but rushed back into the bathroom to wash out her mouth and run to catch up. She nearly did, shuffling up behind Shay just as she started to swing the door open.

Spoiler

Spoiler

[PurpleMage]

Serena sighed while sitting in the taxi. She really hated those taxi trips and how bustling the city always was with cars and sometime she craved the simplicity of smaller towns, but she had to settle for what she had since her job was on a big city. She distracted herself by going over the email she received some days before, a pretty uncommon thing even for Serena’s adventurous style. In that mail this Rayna woman introduced herself as a new addition to the league and praised Serena for her work before asking her to come to her home and have some chat about her experience with her and her teammates and asked for ‘some spice’ at the end. Serena could only wonder how much spice those three wanted on their lives. Before writing an email back, the Siren had a look at their profiles on the L.A.W. database to check on their profile and what she could find piqued her interest to say something. Then after some hours she responded:

Hello there. Gotta admit this is the first time I got a mail like this. It’s not easy to get our private mails so that proves that you’re who you claim to be and not some human flesh eating psycho. Just kidding. I would be glad to show up at your place so we can chat and get to know each other, and I would answer any question you might have.

Gotta bounce. See you soon. Cheers.
Serena Thomas.

Serena had to admit that she was curious. Getting attention from fans was something, and the blonde had a pretty decent amount of fans on social media since she started her career, but having that kind of interaction with a fellow wrestler was new to her. When the taxi trip was done Serena paid the fare before stepping out of the vehicle, not forgetting to grab the mochis she had bought for her hosts. If she had been invited just a bit later she would have brought some whiskey, but it was too early even for her to have some drinks so she decided to bring some sweets.

After arriving to the building block, Serena made it to the apartment door and buzzed the doorbell. Behind the door the blonde could notice some ruckus, as if someone was moving too fast to go open. When the door opened Serena could see two women waiting on the doorframe, one with a cheerful air to her and a more collected one with a curvy, mesmerizing body. “Hey there, you must be Rayna.”, she said while looking at the woman she recognized from her L.A.W. photos before turning to her partner making a pout while she thought. “Aaand you must be Sha’ree. I’m Serena, nice to meet you at last. I hope I’m not too early or anything. I brought some sweets since it was too soon to bring some drinks, so here.”, Serena said while offering the mochi tray she had on her hand.

Serena clothing reference

[Crossedes]

Naturally, the intimidating sex wrestler would be unfairly pretty. While anxiety marred Sha'ree's greeting smile while the door revealed Serena, she couldn't stop herself from giving the blonde stranger the world's fastest once-over. Some people looked so great in fishnets and leather. Shay had wanted to be one of those people sometimes, but she couldn't pull it off. She looked like a child from the 50s who had tried and failed to join the greasers. She just didn't look the part.

With Shay standing gawking, Rayna's larger figure eclipsed hers, leaving Shay to glance over her shoulder in search of Adel, who was probably still straightening her hair.

"Hey hey! Yep, that's me," Rayna was greeting as Shay looked back. When Serena dropped Shay's name too, the dancer gave her a sheepish smile and a soft hey, too. It was not that she didn't want to meet or befriend new people, but any initial greeting intimidated her. In this case, she was not sure what the intention was behind this meeting, either. Had Rayna overspoken enough to turn this into an orgy? She did not intend to judge that Serena could turn any and every situation into an orgy, but then, Sha'ree frankly didn't know enough to make a judgment.

Until she said she had brought some sweets - that was kind and didn't seem like the greeting gift someone brought to an orgy. The smile that Shay directed her way brightened.

"Oh, no, you're right on time. For everyone but the pageant queen, anyway," Rayna answered, with an exasperated shake of her head. And in the next breath, Rayna's eyes fixated on the sweets. Rayna almost loved sweets as much as Sha'ree, and she was much less bashful in her adoration of them.

"And while I would take the drinks, these look amazing. Did you make them? I'll drop them off in the kitchen so you don't have to keep hauling them around." She headed to do precisely that, leaving Shay to stand awkwardly before their guest, rub her hands together at her waist, and remember her manners.

"We're happy to have you," she remembered to say since Rayna could be so bubbly with people that she forgot the basics. "You can make yourself comfortable anywhere. We've got a lot of comfy seating." She gestured behind her at some pit seating that made up their living room. Rayna had always said they needed the wraparound couch if they had guests... "Did you want to keep your jacket?"

[PurpleMage]

Serena stared with an inviting smile to the two women at the other side of the door. From there and that very first moment the blonde could notice the dynamic between these two, which complimented to what she had seen in their page on L.A.W. site. Rayna was the poster girl, the one in the front of attention. She looked bright and cheerful and it made sense that she was the one to contact Serena, even more comparing her with Sha’ree who was much more calm and collected, Serena would say that even shy. A third one remained, but Serena couldn’t see her and Rayna talked something about the ‘pageant queen’ not being ready yet.

Rayna quickly took care of the sweets Serena was holding while Sha’ree offered invited her to come in and take a seat while asking to take her jacket. “Here.”, she said in a soft voice while handing the jacket out before responding to Rayna in a higher tone since she had gone to the kitchen. “Oh god no. I bought them at the store. Believe me, you don’t want to try anything I cook.”, she chuckled at the idea given how bad her cooking skills were. Then the blonde returned her attention to Sha’ree and the living room display in front of them. The woman seemed way less an extrovert as Rayna, but she was making her job as a host as best as she could and that was commendable. It looked a little forced on her but Serena was confident in her social skills to make that one open after some conversation.

“It is a nice place you have here.”, said Serena while having a look at the living room. It looked like a cozy room where the three flatmates could share some time together, and she was offered any seat as the guest of honor. “Well, I don’t want to take anyone’s spot, but this sofa looks comfy enough.”, she said while comfortably taking a seat in the middle of the sofa, leaving some free space at both her sides for someone to sit even if that was a small amount of personal space. From there she would just wait for her hosts to join her.

[Crossedes]

"That makes two of us!" Rayna called back, already skipping back from the kitchen. Shay might melt if she had to do the heavy lifting in a social situation. On that note, once Rayna was back in the foyer, she found the dancer trying to hang up Serena's jacket for her but struggling due to how much she was subtly ogling their guest's awesome pair of shoulders. Actually, for Shay it might be less ogling and more awe, but Rayna could ogle them. "What I wouldn't give for shoulders like those..." she complimented.

"Thanks! We had to splurge a little on it, but three college-age girls aren't going to be satisfied with a cheap apartment." Rayna trailed behind her as she tracked down a seat, gesturing at a still sheepish-looking Shay to get those short legs moving to join them. As soon as Serena's butt hit the couch, Rayna shuffled up to plop right beside her, in that range that Rayna made it clear that she saw them as comfortable friends already rather than awkward strangers getting to know each other. Shay inched in far more hesitantly, dropping against the arm of the couch on the other side of Serena and letting her hands rest in her lap.

"You're not taking anyone's spot, unless Adel-" Speak of the devil - the sounds of heels clicking alerted Rayna that Princess Charming was on her way, and she rounded the corner, entirely overdressed for a casual get together with a potential new friend. Rayna leaned around Serena and rolled her eyes at her. "We're not going out, Adel. Serena, this is Adel."

Adel pursed her lips and tilted her head like she wanted to headbutt Rayna. "I like to look nice for any guests," she shot back before she turned a smile on Serena. Adel hadn't been sure about inviting a sex wrestler any more than Shay, but where Shay was shy, Adel had decorum on her side. Too much of it sometimes. "Hello. It's nice to meet you."

Rayna stuck her tongue out as Adel dropped into the chair nearest Shay, but rather than try to get the last word, she turned attention to their guest, propping her elbow on the back of the couch and her cheek on her fist. "So, Serena. What do you think? These two good candidates to learn any kinky wrestling techniques, or are they hopeless?"

She was joking, of course, but that didn't stop Adel from puffing up or Shay from hiding her face with a hand.

Spoiler

[PurpleMage]

Serena adjusted herself in the middle of the sofa as she noticed how her two hosts sat right besides her. The sofa wasn’t that big but the two of them were making a statement just in the way they were sitting. Rayna was more comfortable, almost looking aloof resting on her elbow while she invaded some of Serena’s bubble, not like she minded about that, and Sha’ree saved some distance, being close but as far as the confines of the sofa would let her, her hands resting on her own lap. Just when she was wondering where she would join them the third member of Artistry appeared, gracious and impecable in both her manners and her looks. “Nice meeting you.”, Serena nodded from the sofa as Adel sat on a chair close to them.

Up to that point Serena had been able to pinpoint the dynamics between those three women. The Siren had always been proud about her observation skills, something most people tended to dismiss given her looks and usual attitude, but it had served well both in regular life and in wrestling matches as well. Now the blonde clearly noticed that it was clear those women got along pretty well despite all the banter and teasing, given the fact that they lived together and also shared a wrestling tag team. Rayna looked like the poster girl, she seemed to enjoy that with a cheerful and bubbly attitude and the rest looked comfortable giving her the role of being the most open and sometimes even sassy as she proved with her comment about her two friends.

The blonde would then lean sideways, invading Rayna’s private space while she said in a seducing tone: “Well what about you? Playing shy and meek now?”, she said, remaining silent for a couple seconds before chuckling. “Come on she is just pulling your leg! Relaaax girl, it looks like you’re going to have a stroke!”, Serena finished while patting Sha’ree’s shoulder. “Seriously, did you expect a hentai wrestler to just come here and start sexing you up? Let me tell you something right from the getgo: hentai wrestler is a pretty simple tag to put into someone and there are lots of types of people in that world. Some are just as I think you think of them, crazy nymphos who are always thinking of sex and losing their composure, but those are the utter minority! Heck, I have known hentai wrestlers who had more class and manners than you could imagine, and some of them were as bashful and timid as Sha’ree is right now! They are just people, regular folks who have a pretty exciting job.”, she giggled. “Concerning me, do you really think I would come to your house and make you feel uncomfortable? Please, relax a little. I’m here to get some drinks, enjoy our sweets and have some talk, make some friends with the new women in the block. So why don’t you break the ice telling me about this ‘Artistry’ thing you have going on? Have you been friends for long or what?”

[Crossedes]

Kind as she attempted to be, Adel struggled to understand why Rayna had arranged this talk in the first place. Part of the reasoning she knew to be that the blonde could not resist making new friends. Adel didn't take offense to it, but until all of them got their feet wet in the ring and adjusted to Japan. After all, the bluenette had made many... concessions living in this space already. She had good reason to have owned her own section of the sorority house in college, and she needed to have her affairs sorted before branching out to new ideas and relationships.

But she also knew Rayna believed Serena could give them some pointers. About sex wrestling. Adel wouldn't dream of participating in something so intimate in front of a crowd, and she saw no point in learning about it. Rayna should have cleared it all with them first, and she certainly didn't appreciate that Rayna tried to point the conversation in that direction. The swinging of her crossed leg became that much more pronounced, especially as the queen of flirt picked right up on Serena's response. "I don't know the meanings of the words," she joked, and Adel came ninety percent of the way to rolling her eyes.

She didn't because Serena tore into an explanation that left the bluenette feeling as if the woman could look right through her, and she ended up staring at her feet, embarrassed. A glance at Sha'ree told Adel that she felt the same. Yes, Adel probably did have it in the back of her mind that Rayna had invited one of the world's succubi into the apartment, as ridiculous as it might have been. She tended to make stock judgments with most people - and Shay happened to be timid around most people - but that didn't change the facts.

She tapped her heel on the laminate floor. She could be apologetic and self-aware when needed. "I'm sorry. We're new to this life, and I suppose I did make too many assumptions about who we were meeting just based on rumors. You deserve better than that. I can't speak for Shay, but she's shy around everyone."

The brunette lidded her eyes but nodded. "I sort of did the same," she said, wriggling to be less on the arm of the couch and more on the seat beside Serana. "So I'm sorry too."

Ever awful at reading the mood, Rayna popped from her seat and started heading to the kitchen. "They're probably just intimidated because of your looks, too. You two keep being sorry and tell her the story. I'll get the food and drinks together." Adel clicked her tongue at her.

"Well..." she began. Rayna typically did all the storytelling, though it was honestly refreshing for the blonde to give them leave to use their voices. Shay probably wouldn't add much, though. "We met in junior high, in Canada, all part of the same gymnastics team. It's hard not to become close with people when you're training and traveling together so much, and we all ways of... covering each other with our strengths."

"Rayna only knew how to talk." Adel gave Shay a high five for the rare burn.

"We became close enough that we started making videos to post online for a little income. Dances and the like. Please do not get the temptation to search any of those up... But we stayed close enough that we all went to the same college, and... it's a long story, but we were sick of the gymnastics association and the athletics association playing favorites. A group that should have clearly won at a meet didn't because of some nonsensical technicality, and since we had a little sway, we all decided to drop out of the competition to make a statement."

Rayna strolled back in, the tray of Serena's treats in one hand and a tray of fizzy drinks balanced precariously in the other. "We're basically cool rebels like Chris Hemsworth in Red Dawn."

[PurpleMage]

It wasn’t as if Serena was trying too hard to make an impression on those women. The blonde wasn’t really good at any postulating or anything like that and she never considered herself a good orator, but it was maybe that air of simplicity what made her argument that compelling at that point. Serena could notice how both women paid so much attention and how in some way their prejudices were challenged in a way that didn’t pose conflict or tension. When Adel broke into a formal and heartfelt-looking apology and Sha’ree followed suit Serena knew that now they could really start over. And from there she could make the foundations for new opinions for those two women if her speech was good enough. Raising her hands in front of her in a sign of peace Serena would talk. “No need to apologize, no offense taken, but what I’m trying to convey is...”, the blonde almost pouted and gestured signalling how hard she was thinking about the word choice for this. “Okay, forget all the things that may make you uncomfortable about all the hentai wrestling scene and think of it this way: whenever I step inside a ring for a wrestling match I feel strong in my abilities to elicit reactions in both my rivals and the crowd, and I feel enough confidence in myself and my power to get into a very, very private situation in front of a live audience of thousands. In some ways it gets some feelings you can get from wrestling and pushes them to the limit, so in some way I think there’s something to learn from there about self confidence?” Serena finished her speech talking passionately, feeling inspired about her improvised talk.

Then it was time for the Siren to let Adel tell their story. The blonde just relaxed on her seat now that the time for passionate speeches was over and just paid attention to that overly convoluted drama about groups of friends from the same high school and college athletes drama that made Serena realize how different an uprising she had in comparisson to those women. It didn’t hurt her feelings in particular but seeing those women talking lightly about what really ailed them to leave their sports club and just settle for another kind of career. “Wow. Honestly, doing something like that requires having some guts so way you go, girls.” she said fistbumping the air in their direction as an acknowledgement. “But I’m still wondering: how do you take the leap from gymnastics which is a pretty intense sport but is contactless to wrestling?”

[Crossedes]

Shay figured Serena had struck the long and short of it - whatever she did in her sex wrestling career, it took an abundance of confidence. In a similar but less manic way than Rayna, Shay could tell that their guest brimmed with confidence. That level of confidence, she lacked. She believed in her abilities and felt confident in her body, but it never translated to comfort in, as Serena had put it, her power or her ability to elicit reactions in people. Adel's lack of sexual initiative she didn't understand nearly as well. That woman could have cured cancer if she put her mind to it and clearly wanted to be in a long-term relationship.

"That's probably why it's so foreign to me," she commented, in her quiet voice. "I can't think of anything that would intimidate me more than trying to have the confidence to do something like that in front of... one extra person." She fingered at her shorts. "I don't even know if I could train myself to have that confidence." Judging by the way Adel shook her head, she must have agreed.

Unsurprisingly, Rayna took on the duty of telling the story Adel had started, leaving the bluenette pouting. The blonde placed paper plates and drinks in front of everyone as she spoke. "So... we had a lot of offers still on the table from over the years. Things like modeling gigs and brand representation and... you know, the kind of stuff that they offer to women with a social media following. 'Show your tits on OnlyFans' was up there too but I couldn't talk these two into it." Shay heard Adel sigh.

Hardly stopping to breathe, Rayna finished serving and plopped back onto the couch. Shay noticed she somehow managed to get another inch closer to Serena in the process. "But we wanted to stick together and we wanted to stay competitive and active. We had some wrestling companies make offers to us, but around the time we decided to announce we were quitting gymnastics - boom! The League comes out of nowhere and backs up the Brinks truck. And boom! Here we are. Instead of falling off of balance beams we're getting thrown off of turnbuckles. It's weirdly not that different."

[PurpleMage]

Serena listened carefully to what Sha’ree had to say. The blonde was feeling comfortable in front of these women now that their initial unease had been cleared out, and when things start getting friendly it is very easy for the Siren to offer a hand in help, even more knowing that to those women she is a veteran and they could use some advice. Serena didn’t want to interrupt Sha’ree’s trail of thought or Rayna’s narration on their lives, so as she was pretty interested in some ideas Sha’ree was sharing she would just raise a finger to her in a ‘let’s put a pin on this for later’ way before turning her attention back to Rayna who was taking her time to thoroughly tell their story.

It felt captivating for Serena having a realization of how different their lives and upbringing had been and even with that the four of them ended up working for the same company. Life could have been so different for those three women but in the end serendipity made its job and all of them shared their presene at L.A.W. in common. It was quite impressive for the blonde.

“Well, it must have felt really weird for you to quit something that you had been practising for so long because the institution behind it is rotten. I can’t relate to that since I was never part of something with this level of organization, but it looked like in the end L.A.W. was a lifeboat for you. Luckily it all turned out well and you could remain together, right?”