It was a warm April day. "Okay, and all this is correct?" Pierce was registering Narcis Prince for the WVBA, and needed to confirm all of his info.

"Indeed," said Narcis, with a sense of aloofness. Once the registering was completed, he primly walked to the door leading to the locker room.

…Except, this door did not lead to a locker room. Rather, it led to a lounge room, with pale blue painted walls, two squooshy brown couches, a TV, a fridge and counter, and some assorted posters on the walls. It looked…calming.

"There he is," said Bear Hugger. "Hey, Princey, you ready for your first fight with the WVBA?"

Narcis put his hand under his chin. Why, this was quite a far cry from his old league. "Of course I am," he said, trying to keep up his stoicism.

"По традиции каждый первый бой - Гласс Джо," said Soda Popinski. (It's tradition that everyone's first fight is Glass Joe.)

Narcis kept his poker face; judging eyes and an upturned nose. "Is that the fellow I fought at the tournament?"

"Yup," said Flying Feather. "He's in the locker room right now."

"Oh," said Narcis. He turned and exited the lounge. He felt a little more relaxed outside, where he didn't have to act unimpressed.


"In this corner, we have the WVBA's trooper, our unrelenting jobber, Glass Joe! And in this corner, we have the untouchable Royal Rusher, Narcis Prince! Fight!"

Now this was more like it. Narcis went through the fighting motions with ease. The lights, the ring, the gloves; this made sense to him.

Everything else? It was completely alien to him. Everyone was…nice to him. This wasn't like his old league at all.

And he liked it! It was nice to not have some massive blokes wearing him down with their constant shouting and name-calling, and to have privacy in the locker room. Why didn't he think of transferring sooner?

By the time he snapped back into reality, Joe was on the floor, and Pierce was declaring a knockout.


"James?"

Narcis jumped a bit when he heard his name (his actual name!) being called. Joe sat down on the locker room bench next to him. "Tu regardes stressé." (You look stressed.)

"I am, a little bit," said Narcis, shrinking into himself. "I don't know anyone, and I'm having a hard time finding food that doesn't upset my stomach."

He straightened his back. "But I do like this place. You lot aren't as boorish as my previous league." He leaned on Joe's shoulder. Joe put an arm around him.

As Narcis got up to leave, his stomach rumbled. Joe looked up. "Es-tu faim?" (Are you hungry?)

Narcis paused, but shyly nodded. Joe gestured for him to follow him. "Viens, on va trouver quelque chose pour manger." (Come on, we'll find you something to eat.)


In the lounge, Narcis decided on an apple to eat; he knew it wouldn't cause him any problems. Around that same time, a girl came into the room. Seeing as Joe went to hug her when he saw her, Narcis assumed she must be his daughter. "Katrina, tu reconnais James." (Katrina, you remember James.)

"Yeah," said Katrina, "I went shopping with his sister."

Of course. Lacey had come with him when he moved, but she opted to go live with a pen pal instead. He felt rather lonely without her. The other boxers noticed his crestfallen expression. Bear Hugger opened his arms, and Narcis couldn't help but lean in for a big bear hug, which Joe, Katrina, and Great Tiger joined in.

It was quite lovely. Finally, he could simply exist in a league without constant harassment. "Thank you," he mumbled softly.

"Don't mention it," said Bear Hugger, patting him on the back.