we're baaaaack! this chapter has been a bitch to write omg. also it's super short so im sorry.
okay so i got a guest comment (you can go check it out if you wish) from WWEFutureDivaEm who suggested that I use ring names when they're in character and real names when they're out of character… i think it's a pretty good idea, so what i'm going to do is CENTRE the bits that the crowd/WWE universe see, and leave the rest aligned to the left; we'll see how it goes :)
and another one that suggested something i already have planned heheh
anyhow, enjoy!
They don't get out until eleven, and by then, both Colby and Ary are too tired to drive. So they hitch a ride with Orton, throw their shit in the back of his bus and try to crash on the beds - except, Orton doesn't need sleep and the other guys that are on the bus won't shut up.
It's 5AM when the two arrive at Colby's home in Davenport, but now he has a local journalist following him around. Home town sensation and all that.
He leaves her in charge of his pup, then leaves to do a morning weather broadcast and two local radio talk shows. But Ary could stay in bed forever.
Five hours later and Colby swings around to pick her up for breakfast. They head to a local diner, and Ary stays quiet through-out the questions and talking so that he can get through what he needs to.
The journalist leaves to use the bathroom, and Ary turns to Colby. "What a superstar, huh?"
He grins at her and kisses her gently on the head. He's always known that she's not much of a morning person, especially when she's lacking in sleep.
"So, I'm thinking that I'm gonna go do some Pilates while you workout," Ary muses. "I can come to QC with you and then use one of the back-rooms and put in some headphones, easy done."
Colby nods at her. "Sounds like a plan. I have an appearance at the arena in an hour, we can go after that."
So instead of traveling with Colby to the arena, she opts to catch up with one of her closest friends, Astrid - who was also one of Ary's trainers back in the day. With pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes, Astrid (also Asta or Triddy, depending on who was hanging around her) was also the person who had introduced her to Randy.
Ary had known how intense Astrid's sessions were - she used to watch them and look at the struggling people for a while before introducing herself to the young trainer. She had made known that she was interested in becoming more in shape, more fit, and the woman had just grinned this evil grin, signed her up on the spot, and told her to come in the next day.
And so Ary's training sessions lasted an hour every second day. She asked Astrid whether they should have gone into it more slowly, but the trainer just laughed and said, "This is my slow." She skipped, did multiple kinds of push-ups and sit-ups, did a medicine ball abdominal twist, crunches, squats, suicide runs. This thing that Astrid called 'the ab builder'.
When she'd first introduced this move, Ary was already dying from over exertion. In all her life, she'd never pushed herself to this extent, conditioning her fast twitch fibres as well as deepening her cardiovascular endurance.
"Okay," Astrid laughed. She could tell that Ary was struggling but didn't really care. "Lie down on the ground, catch your breath for a bit."
"Oh, thank God," was Ary's only reply. She all but collapsed, splashed some water over her sweaty face.
Astrid moved to stand over her, told Ary to grab her ankles. "You know yoga, right? Good. So this next one is kind of like a shoulder stand, but you only go up onto your back. Lift your hips off the ground using your core and reach your feet up to the ceiling."
Ary choked out a groan, just about died inside, but kept going. Needless to say that after the hour was done, she was dry retching in the bathrooms (but Astrid didn't need to know that, ever).
Ever since, Ary had been hooked on these sessions that Astrid ran. They became close friends after seeing each other almost every day for two years, Ary pushing herself, Astrid going all the way with her. Often, the trainer changed her course a little, threw in some gentler Pilates work.
And then one day she was introduced to Randy.
"Ary!" Astrid squealed as the younger girl entered the room. "Come over here!"
Ary, who was dressed in nothing more than some gym shorts and a sports bra, stared over at the trainer and the large guy who was standing next to her. She was covered in sweat, barely forcing breath into her lungs, but nodded and walked over anyway.
"Hey," she puffed out as she held her hand out towards him, "Ary, nice to meet you."
He took her hand and gently shook it, crooked smirk forming on his face. "Randy."
"Sorry about the sweat," she laughed.
"You were running on that thing like it was going to take off without you," he joked back. "It's okay, we all get like that from time to time."
Astrid smiled at Ary then, motioned to Randy. "So, Randy here is a WWE Superstar, right? Anyway, he's been there for what, two years? And he's in town with the rest of the roster, so he's scouting the gym out for some of them to come practice here."
The trainer, though young, swam in money she earned from her main job and thus owned both of the local gyms - one in a massive warehouse with boxing type set up, treadmills, punching bags, a ring, and the other a yoga studio under a cafe. She definitely had the space and the time for them, so Ary really saw no problem.
Nodding, Ary pursed her lips. "Sounds good to me. How long you in town for?"
Randy looked back at her then. "Three days; we have a pay-per-view on Sunday."
And that was what started Ary's fascination with the company. She watched as they bounced of the ropes, performed multiple arm drags, drop kicks, somersaults off the top turnbuckle, everything and anything that she could focus on while doing her own thing.
She'd met Paul around then too, introduced herself to him as one of the gym coordinators (Astrid had hired her during her second year of training - she was there that often that it would be silly not to). He'd thanked her for her time and understanding, given her a generous tip. Invited her out for drinks with the rest of the roster.
Then, it was all history. Every time the company was in town, they'd hire out the gyms for the use of their superstars, and give Astrid and Ary front row seats to the events. She'd maintained and solidified her friendship with both Randy and Paul, had become close with a couple of the others - Nick Nemmeth, for example - and became obsessed with becoming a professional performer.
Five years of in-ring training as well as conditioning her body for the rough impact of throws and hits left her bruised and battered and loving every second of it. After pulling some strings and showing off her skills to the COO Joe Koff, she spent a year at Ring of Honour, moved to NXT for two years. And had then debuted on a Raw episode during 2012.
Ary stands in the middle of the ring, microphone in hand. "Seth Rollins," she laughs bitterly. "He robbed me of my match against Brie Bella on Monday. She probably thinks she got off lightly with a win. That's what a forfeit is, your opponent wins when you don't step into the ring to fight them."
The crowd is booing. Ary laughs again, begins to pace. She's animated when she speaks now, using her hands to try and convey how angry she is. "Seth Rollins, you cost me a match, so I made the three count on yours."
"Now. Brie Bella, if you have any sense of moral dignity, we'll have that match we were supposed to have on Raw, right now."
Brie Mode starts to blare over the speakers and the crowd teeters on cheering and booing, but its a reaction that she's happy with. She dances to the ring without Nikki, slides in, climbs to the second turnbuckle and thrusts a finger into the air.
Brie is more face than Nikki, but both divas get a solid reaction from the crowd now. The fact that two of the main faces of the divas locker room are going against each other makes the crowd imbalanced.
When the match starts, Ary is quick in taking the lead. A couple of heavy clotheslines, a dropkick. Some traded slaps across the chest. Brie is moving well in the ring and Ary is barely breaking a sweat. Ary takes the lead soon after, dropping the other woman onto her knee in a modified back breaker. She quickly rolls into a cover.
What happens next comes in a blur. Ary hits another dropkick, but when she lands on her wrist, it buckles under her weight. It's heavily strapped in black tape but it makes no difference as pain shoots down through her hand. When she locks eyes with Brie, she rolls her shoulder. Brie's eyes flash in realisation.
They're almost halfway through a good match when Seth Rollins' music hits. The two girls are on opposite sides of the rings, recovering after a double clothesline, and when Seth walks out onto the ramp, Ary snarls at him. He's flanked by J&J and has a microphone in his hand, ready to speak once his music dies off.
"You screwed up, Ary. On Raw, with that three count, you screwed up bad. So tonight… you redeem yourself."
Ary's on a knee, holds her wrist as she watches what unfolds in front of her. Seth almost prances towards the ring with a smirk on his face and Ary's gaze darkens as he sits on one of the commentating chairs.
"C'mon," he motions with his hands, "Blow me away."
Snarling, Ary pushes off the ropes and turns right into a knee to the stomach. She falls against the ropes, doesn't wait for Brie to scream 'Brie Mode!' before she rolls out and onto the floor.
It's only when she feels a shoe against her back that she looks up. Staring down at her with a sickly sweet grin is Seth Rollins. Ary growls and pushes herself back into the ring, not once taking her eyes off of Brie as they circle each other once more.
When Ary slips Brie into the kimura lock, one, two, three taps on her leg, she watches with steely eyes as Seth grabs her divas championship. He walks up the steps and into the ring, grabs her hand, thrusts it into the air, hands her title to her, and walks out.
Ary stares after him almost in shock.
Ary doesn't wait in the arena for Colby to finish his match against Jon - instead, she kisses him a quick goodbye and leaves to change back into some normal clothes for the rest of the evening. She and Colby have a flight the next morning that'll land in Montreal and she intends to spend as much time as she can with Astrid before leaving, even if that does mean pulling an all nighter.
Leaving the arena in some dark jeans and an oversized hoodie, Ary has the title in her backpack and a hand on her phone when she hears a voice calling her name. When she turns, Paul is running after her.
"What can I do for you?" She asks. It's odd for Paul to seek her out like this, so she's honestly a bit confused.
"We want to book you in for a signing and a Q&A up in Montreal as soon as you get there, if that's okay? Brie's dropped it because she wants to go spend some time with Bryan, and Nikki is filming with the Total Divas cast, so we need someone big to step in for them, figured you would be the person to come and ask." He finishes with a tentative smile, eyes hopeful.
Ary shrugs. "Yeah, no big deal. But, um, what do I answer if I'm asked about Colby?"
"Play the gimmick," Paul suggests. "It's better for TV if everyone thinks you hate each other. We'll try and keep it under wraps as much as possible, but if you're struggling, let me or Steph know."
"Sure thing. See you tomorrow, then."
When she finally gets into the car and heads off towards Astrid's house, she's exhausted and barely keeping herself awake.
Astrid doesn't bother greeting her at the door, instead sends Ary a text message to let her know the front door is open, and is waiting for her on the couch when she slips in. She dumps her bag on floor near the plush seats and throws herself across her friends legs.
"I did want to go to the bar tonight, you know," Astrid laughs. She can tell that Ary is tired and instead smoothes her hand through the long black hair strewn across her thighs. "But I guess we'll just have to settle in and watch a DreamWorks movie."
"How To Train Your Dragon?"
Astrid nods. "I was thinking the second one."
"Down for that," Ary breathes in a sigh.