Welcome to Gaia! ::

Monique turned as she heard his voice addressing her, the bright setting sun of the afternoon marking her shapely silhouette. She came into the room, and turned on the light, smiling lightly towards the young boxer as she walked him to the door.
"You're welcome, Monsieur Carrera.." her French voice sounded pleasantly. Indeed, she was being very polite, and a little bit of her perhaps felt some kind of satisfaction at seeing him go so humbled over something as simple as loosing his room number.
"I will see you tomorrow.." she added gently, her hand settled on the knob of her door to close it, "..tomorrow, when the competition starts.." With that reminder, she closed the door on Joey, and turned to her things.


In the evening, Monique bathed and dined. Her companion arrived, however he stayed within the room, resting. It was further into the night, hours later, that she came out. She wore a light set of clothings - a pair of long baggy pants and a sleeveless white tanktop - while she headed out and to the elevator. She was headed back towards the gym.
As any good trainee, she did her excercise; aerobics and weights, her routine usually lasting an hour on average. She sweated some time into the excercise, her long black ponytail washed in her fluids, yet she drank much water to compensate. She as well built as a woman could be, graceful strong muscles outlining her arms, and a visibly strong abdomen.
After weights came her practice, throwing punches and kicks at a boxing bag attached to both floor and ceiling with a chain, making swift, fluid movements against it. Her hands were protected by light leather gloves, and she wore on her feet some boots.
It was all a daily thing for her, having started to do such excercise for years. Focused and focused, she never noticed much of the outside world, that gentle smile gone from her face, replaced by a strong, concentrated look - entirely different from before. Nothing could disturb her when she was like this; trying her very best to perfect her technique, to be as strong as she could be. And indeed, no one ever had disturbed such practice before.

((So sue me, I like describing XD This is further into the eve, so whoever wants to join, go ahead. Otherwise, skip to the next day when you're ready. smile ))

((So yeah, this is pretty much for my writing pleasure. Feel free to read, if you like, or to skip it if you're not interested. And yes, the genre of the pronouns in that paragraph -are- correct. It is all part of the storyline. Enjoy smile ))

In the large hall that made up the gym, sounds of grunting and punching were heard, echoing slightly in its loneliness. Nobody ever came to the gym at that time of the evening, even in the City that Never Sleeps. People usually went off to the casino or other entertainment centers to exchange pleasantries and fights with others.
In the midst of it all, he was uninterested. A small beeping coming from her watch interrupted the series of groans that were released from her lips with every movement and every hit she made. He stopped. Her breathing was hard, but collected. The beeping sounded for a few more seconds before she reached for the watch and turned it off. His time was up. He'd learned a long time ago never to surpass the limit time of her training. It had brought her long days of pain and frustration in the past. Now his limit was two hours, no more. Sometimes, he wanted more, but she'd forced him to keep within the limit. It made him uneasy, sometimes.
She headed to the showers, her clothes bathed in sweat by then. Taking off her gloves, boots, and then the rest of her clothes, she stepped into the shower. Sweet, warm water. It slid over her skin in small streams that outlined her figure, caressing and hugging onto the tender, toned flesh and muscles. He loved those baths almost as much as he loved the training. Usually, half an hour was just too short a time to enjoy it, but she demanded time to sleep, exhausted as she'd become from training. And so, half an hour later, the water stopped running.
When she stepped out, she wore a pair of sleeping shorts along with a matching sleeping shirt of short sleeves in shiny, silky material, her legs naked and her feet barefoot. No one ever minded any guest walking barefooted in any hotel. Guests, after all, pay the hotel to grant them whatever they want. She stretched out, enjoying the silence of the empty halls, her steps equaly silent as she headed back to have some rest.

After a few hours Joey decided to call it a night. He arrived around the time Monique left the warmth of her shower. So by chance, or by the design of some greater narator, he turned the corner only to bump into Monique in her robes.

Joey did indeed check out monique's figure. It would be a rare chance to do so. After all he was a red-blooded male and letting an opportunity such as this slip by would be such a waste. Her accent and attitude did though sound warning bells in Joey's head. Was she on some sort of drug? Or was she one of those split personality people. Either way, the man couldn't let her trash talk him so.
"Me and Trouble go way back. I hope for your sake sweet cakes, that that was a promise and not a threat. I got no problem with getting physical with you.", he said unable to hide a devilish grin at what he thought was a clever play on words.
Joey took one last look, before purpousfully bumping past her to move further down the hall way.

Tiger Lily felt her lips form a grim line when who appeared to be the hotel's hostess appeared before her like a bat out of hell. Her red dress was catching, her clipboard, oddly fit into place, but the facade the woman was putting up was annoying as hell. "Miss Lily! So glad that you've made it! Personally you are one of my favorites and when I heard you would be participating in the tournament, I was particularly ecstatic! You are a little late though ... um, where's your limo?" Tiger frowned and arched a brow at the woman, at first wondering how the hell the woman knew who she was and than remembering the flower she wore in her hair and that some people actually did keep their knowledge of underground fighting up to par. Especially this brat.

"I walked."

Jessica appeared dumbstruck, so very stereotypical of a blond and Tiger felt a small smile tug at her lips. She watched as the hostess flipped through her clipboard before looking incredulously back at her. "From Arizona?!"

"Some people don't appreciate what Mother Earth has to offer." She was tired. Her feet hurt. Everything hurt. "I think I need a place to rest my feet. Like a bed."

Jessica instantly sprinted up and collected herself, quickly speaking using her hand to show her where the restaurant was and instantly began walking expected Tiger to follow. She was hungry too, but thought that leaving her pack in the room first and resting her feet for a few moments before heading back down seemed more appropriate. Tiger followed the woman into the elevator as the woman chatted away and leaned against the back. Her hazel eyes met with her pointed cowboy boots and shut the woman out. Maybe I should give ma and pa a call ... what do they have to eat down here? She let her thoughts wander before Jessica stopped talking and took Tiger's form in. "You must really be tired. Our beds are top of the line brands and are very expensive. I took it a special interest in choosing yours. It's a Tempur-Pedic. Supposed to be really good on your body."

Tiger's head snapped upwards and caught Jessica's eyes, an amused smile forming on her lips. Was this woman ... hitting on her? It had been a while since she had had a little entertainment. Tiger moved away from the back of the elevator and moved closer to Jessica, her hand resting on the wall behind her. "And how would you know what's good for my body? Have you taken a special interest in that too?" The blond woman remained silent, her clipboard too her chest as if using it as shield, her trapped mouse look causing Tiger to chuckle. When the elevator stopped, Tiger slipped her card key from Jessica's fingers and stepped out. "I think I can find my way around. But if I'm in need of ... anything I'll give you a call." She passed a woman who stepped inside, promptly ignored her and walked away from the elevator only then realizing she wasn't told what her room number was. Tiger wasn't surprised she had yet again made things more difficult for herself. There had been another man in the hall then too, but she didn't find the need to cause attention to herself. Instead she turned towards the door nearest her and slipped the card in. A warning beep sounded, telling her the card she used wasn't for that room and frowned. She could easily make a call to find out which was her room, but not in the mood for further conversation, she moved onto the next door. It was just a simple slip of a card. Sooner or later one of the rooms had to open. At least she knew she was on on the right floor.

Sighing in amazement, Anita lowered her freshly-finished copy of 100 Years of Solitude. She has always enjoyed a bit of a read after dinner, and the last chapter of Garcia's masterwork had been nagging her ever since her landing airplane had forced her to put it away. Now that she had been relieved of that mental itch, she decided to head down to the gym for a little late-night workout. Quickly, she changed into a pair of blue sweatshorts and a white tank-top and left her room, only to catch sight of Carrera and someone new.

"Hello," she said to the woman with the distinctive decoration, "You must be Tiger Lilly, yes? I am Anita Oliveira, your competition for tomorrow. It will be a good match, I think." She took a good look at the woman while she spoke, attempting to eye out her strengths.

Tomorrow the fights would start. Joey knew it all to well as that feeling was beginning to churn up his stomach. The first round fights where always hard to deal with. At least this year if you got knocked out there would be a secound chance to go though to the semis.

After entering the room, he fixed himself a drink from the mini bar. A bit of tia maria, vodka and milk and he was set. Holding the tumbler in his hand he took a seat on the edge of his bed and turned the rooms flatscreen on. Joey calmly sipped his drink as he flicked though the channels, finally putting the remote down upon finding a all night bikini and lingere channel. Joey kicked off his shoes and moved further onto his bed.
Here he would fall asleep, with the flickering images being the only thing lighting the hotel room.