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 Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2023 2:10 pm
Backstage at the King of the canvas, Ramona was perched in the an area backstage. She was alone. One of the rare times that she was by herself and not accompanying her brother during any of the errands that he had to do. She was in situated in a dark corner of the arena, surrounded by equipment boxes as she did push-up after push-up. She had to make certain that she was ready for her match against Grace. Rex wanted a win for the Family and she was going to make certain that she got it. So far she was the only member of The Family that had an actual win and while Rex proclaimed that he didn't care about such things, he made it clear that they had to actually have accrue some for the grand plan of The Serpent to come to pass.
She stopped her push ups and stood before facing the empty hallway. She shadow boxed an invisible enemy for a couple of moments before stopping and stretching. After a couple stretches, her hand found its way absentmindedly to her neck. Feeling the phantom soreness where her voice used to be found. Another shadowboxing session and she felt ready enough. She grabbed her vest from a nearby case and slipped it on before reaching for her aviator shades. She stopped as the hairs on her neck started to stand on end. She wasn't alone. She spun quickly, raising a fist just in case one of her brother's followers was coming up behind her.
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Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2023 12:55 am
Grace arrived at the arena hours before the show was to start, like Ramona she was eager to get herself warmed up. There was a great deal of anticipation she'd built up since her loss at Judgement Day. She had gone home that night with a renewed sense of determination, thanks largely to Rex, Ramona, and Erynys. She watched her match with Ewing over and over, isolating the mistakes she made and focusing on those areas when she trained. She got out her Prius and plugged it in at a charging station, the car was gift from her mother; it was used but it was loved.
Making her way towards the locker room to change into her attire, Grace passed by Romana in the backstage area. She stopped and trotted right over to the other woman calling out, "Hey, Ramona!"
Grace rummaged through her duffle bag, hopping softly from foot to foot. It seems when she wasn't wearing her modified wrestling boots the young woman opted to wear toe shoes. She would gladly tell anyone who asked about them that, she was a barefoot runner, and these protected her soles but didn't stop her from feeling the ground. Eventually she pulled out a small rectangular item that seemed to be wrapped in colorful paper. She held it out for Romana to look at, it was clearly a book and the paper was decorated with colorful cartoon snakes.
"I really wanted to thank you and your brother for offering to help me. And well I thought that since you can't talk. Well, maybe you would like to learn sign language. That way your brother won't have to speak for you all the time. And since you said you wanted to be friends, well I thought maybe we could learn it together!"
Grace grinned sheepishly at Ramona, unsure of herself in small ways. She had grown up sheltered in Japan, and even her mentors were all associated with her father; so this was one of her first adult attempts at having a friend. Grace looked at Romana, searching her face for any clue to the woman's disposition.
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 12:56 am
Ramona looked at Grace cautiously then down at the present in her grasp. Slowly she reached out and grabbed it. She held it carefully and examined in before looking back up at Grace curiously. She had offered to be a friend but she was still supposed to be a rival tonight. They were going to do battle in the ring and here Grace was giving her a gift. Ramona's heart swelled though she did her best to hide it. She gently removed the paper from the book and set it aside with the intention of keeping it. She stared at the book for a moment before focusing her eyes on Grace again and staring at her coldly, searching for any sign of deceit. Any sign of a hidden attack for when her back was turned. Opening the book, there was no miniature serpent waiting. No traps. Nothing.
It was just a gift.
With a big grin that suddenly appeared, she pulled Grace into a big hug. After she let go, she flipped through the book searching for a certain phrase. Thank You. She found it and studied it for a moment before searching for another word. Friend. She looked at both before clumsily and excitedly trying to sign both, pointing at each page right after. She jumped up and down for a moment before gazing around nervously for any cultists or her brother before she hugged Grace again.
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 5:52 pm
The hug caught Grace off guard, she was sure she saw suspicion, maybe even anger in the woman's face, but then she was grinning and hugging Grace, who happily embraced her in return. She was overjoyed to see how enthusiastic Ramona was, and her eyes welled up making her wipe them to prevent tears spilling down her cheeks. Nodding along to Ramona's first attempts at signing, she added, "You're welcome!"
She looked around when Ramona did and she vaguely understood, at least enough to back away a step. Her face went very serious and she reached out and gently took Ramona by the shoulders. Looking the woman directly in the eyes and said in an intense tone. "We're friends, we're gonna be good friends. But I don't want you to go easy on me tonight. I'll become the best someday I know it. I'll be bigger than my father ever was. So don't hold back tonight ok. Even if you beat me, we will still be friends. Plus, I get the feeling you'll be in trouble if you don't."
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Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2023 7:11 pm
Ramona put on a determined look and gave a nod as Grace told her that she didn't want her holding back. She was right. If she held back even a little bit there was going to be trouble. And that trouble would end up being painful. She reached to her neck out of habit for a moment before flipping through the book again trying to find the right words. She didn't want to make her statement too complicated given her relative newness to the world of signing. So she only found two words to put her point forth.
Good.
Fight.
She pointed again to each page after she signed the appropriate word
She thought about giving Grace another hug but she caught a glance of a shadow she was suspicious of over Grace's shoulder so instead, she let a blank, emotionless mask was over her features. She carefully looked through the book again, trying to do so so that nobody aside from Grace could possibly see what she was looking up. It took a minute but then she found the next two sets of two words that she needed.
Good.
Luck.
Best.
Friend.
With that, she grabbed her sunglasses and put them on, hid her book and the wrapping paper inside of her vest and extended a sportsmanlike handshake to Grace, using all of her strength to look cold and impassive for the watching shadows.
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2023 1:46 pm
Grace took Ramona's hand and shook it, staring into her opponent's eyes, only the faintest hint of a half smile betrayed her true feelings. She nodded firmly and added, "Good luck, you'll need it," with an exaggerated expression. She turned and headed towards the locker room so she could begin warming up and change into her attire. Apprehension was building up in her stomach, and the same nerves that made her overthink in her last match returned. She wanted to win even though she was worried what doing so would cost Ramona; but, she wanted to win.
She believed she could win.
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