Love and Grace

Cassie stayed put on Talia's back, but her face fell with disappointment. Nobody liked being rejected, but she felt bad for Talia that she thought she couldn't be friends with anyone because of Taylor. Taylor wasn't like that, she wouldn't care. Talia just didn't know her. Cassie wasn't going to let Talia's attitude stop her. She put on a smile again.

"Noooo, don't be silly. You don't know Taylor at all. I don't see why she would... are you out to get her?" Cassie asked in a sudden moment of clarity. She shook her head. "You're not, though. Right? No, we should go eat and workout and go shopping today. Not exactly in that order. Now, go over there and help me pick up my bag!" She demanded, waving an arm in the direction of her bag and reaching for it.

"N-No! Of course I'm not out to get her!" Talia replied back to Cass, acting almost offended by the question. "You just talked to her, didn't you? Didn't she sound mad?" she asked still carrying Cassie on her back. "I...I wouldn't want to come between you two or anything..." Even so, the girl began to walk in the direction that she was instructed to. As light as Cass was, Talia was lighter. While she could carry the girl, she did so awkwardly by taking one slow step at a time. As they finally got there, though, Talia simply waited for Cass to get off. "What do you do for fun around here?" she asked curiously. Everyone had to blow off steam, right? Shopping and eating only covered so many of her recreational needs.

"No, no, she's just..." Cassie said, staring off into space while she thought about it. Then she looked Talia in the eye. "She's having a really hard time recovering from her injury. It was really, really, really hard on her getting hurt... But also she's not healing as fast because people keep hitting her in the ribs." She said, by the end her voice hardened, uncharacteristically so, and she showed a brief flash of a fierce glare at Talia. It was quickly gone from her face and her memory.

"Um, around Friction or around Tokyo?" Cassie asked. "You can do whatever you want! It's a big city, and... my Japanese isn't great, so that's kind of not great, but I dunno, what do you normally do for fun? I like gardening and animals and writing, and I'm applying for a job writing for AFW which should be super fun, I'd get to talk to all the wrestlers and stuff, and I like jiujitsu and I love pro wrestling so much! It's so super awesome and I like mini golf too and OH MY GOODNESS!" Cassie interrupted herself and broke her long, rambling string of smiley rambling. "We should have a slumber party! I mean, a sleep over. I mean... what's the cool thing to call them?" Her eyebrows knit up nervously, and she did a funny little dance to keep from freezing in place.

"Whadya say?" She asked, and unleashed a barrage of fingerpoking at Talia's belly.

Talia frowned when Cass glared at her. She felt really guilty about the whole thing. In her mind, now Taylor couldn't wrestle because of something she did. Even so, Cass didn't seem to let it overly get to her, and for that Talia was grateful. At the very least, she was being given a second chance. And the girl's outgoing nature took over. "Oh...umm...I guess I enjoy-" but before she could even answer Cass unleashed a flurry of pokes at her stomach. She giggled and reached to protect herself from the assault, unable to contain her smile. "I-I suppose so..." It had been so long since she had been to a slumber party...at least five years. Even if she was a little old for the traditional idea of a sleepover, certainly it'd be more fun now that the typical adult-supervision rules needed not apply.

"At your place? I still live in Kyoto right now...I've been too lazy to move here just yet." She really did need to do that soon, living in a temporary apartment was eating away at her recreational funds. "Where do you live by the way?" Talia asked as she looked in the direction of the locker room and gestured as if to walk in that direction. "I just need to get my things..."

"Well..." Cassie said hesitantly and stared off into space. Her living arrangements were complicated, and would make thing complicated. "I'm sort of moving right now. My old roommates are taking over my old apartment, I think, and I'm moving into a nicer place with, um, Taylor."

She looked at Talia with big green pleading eyes, and hoped that she wouldn't want to pull out because of that. "We're not moved in yet, not completely, Taylor's still moving out of her place, so she might not be there. Even if she is, she's like, the best person ever, and you should really just be friends with her because she's so awesome. So... Okay? It's not far. It's a little farther away than my old place, but... and you don't want to go there." The Finns were... not for everyone.

She fidgeted with her hands and wiggled the ball of her foot back and forth on the mat. She brushed her bright red hair out of her face and looked up at Talia. "So do you still want to hang out?"

Talia couldn't help but sigh when she heard Taylor's name again. It seemed impossible to avoid her, no matter what she did. "I don't know..." she started, but the look on Cassie's face was too much for her to say no. "I suppose so...as long as you're there, Taylor won't mind me right?" she added optimistically. She was already taking a chance by hanging out with Cass. Going a little further didn't seem to be that big of a deal. "What should I bring?" she suddenly asked. It quickly dawned on her that she didn't know what exactly they'd be doing at the sleepover. Of course she had some preconceptions but she was far from home. The thought crossed her mind to ask if she could invite a friend only to remember she really didn't have any. Yet at least. "Should I bring some food? We can make some good ole American cuisine!" S'mores came to mind but that was more of a camping treat anyway. Talia tilted her head and looked up, clearly in deep thought of what they could do together. It was nice to meet such an open and outgoing fellow American girl, even despite the circumstances. "What do you like? I like to think I'm a good cook!"

Cassie giggled. "American cuisine?" She said. "I'm not American! Owt and abowt? Eh? I'm Canadian. I did live in the US for a little while before I came here, though, in New York City. When I lived there I had some people think I was Irish, but they're... dumb. Definitely Canadian. I can make poutine!" She laughed.

She was very intrigued by the idea of Talia being a good cook, though. Cassie could hold her own, but she was no chef, and if there was one thing she certainly appreciated it was good food. She stared off into space with Talia while she thought with her.

"Umm... I dunno. Maybe we can cook a feast and break in the kitchen and stuff, and I'm sure we'll have plenty to do." She hopped up in the air and kicked her feet up behind her with a delighted "Eee!"

She stopped, and looked at Talia. "Um, I have to go talk to Taylor and stuff, so can I have your phone number and I'll text you the address and how to get there? Definitely finish your workout. I'll get plenty from all the running around!" She said, and carefully folded her new dress before laying it gently in her gym bag. She pulled out her phone to put in Talia's number, and then took off for the door.

"See you in a little whiiiiile!"