I do not own the characters in this story. They belong to WWE, as well as other wrestling promotions. This story is entirely fictional.
Rating: M, for violence, course language, and mature themes/events that will appear throughout this story. Remember, this is femslash, so if that's not your thing, you may not enjoy this story.
Pairings: Bayley & Zelina Vega/Thea Trinidad, Foxy Orange [Becky Lynch, Alicia Fox], others over time.
Queens of Fire
A Bayley/Zelina Sci-Fi Romance by JurassicFatt
Chapter 3: Date Shenanigans
Bayley's POV, Apartment, Los Angeles, CA, One Week Later, Afternoon
Unlocking my apartment door, I shut and lock it. I press my head against the frame and close my eyes. I feel drained and yet at the same time, energized. Work was same old, same old. Managing a few websites and publishing my articles. Mr. Pierce says I could work from home, but I like getting out of the house. The traffic took me a little longer to get back, though, which is nothing new in L.A. I can feel myself shaking a bit. I'm so damn nervous. Tonight, I'm finally going out with Thea, which… admittedly, is my first date in a long time. But that doesn't matter, because right now, I need to fix myself up and prepare for our date. I turn around and place my bag down, wiping the sweat off my brow with my free hand. I grab a wet wipe, cleaning my hands and tossing it in the trash. The minute I do, Carlos comes running, circling around me playfully as he barks.
"Hey buddy. Yeah, Mommy's home." I coddle, patting his head and scratching behind his ears. He pants and goes back to the couch, lying right beside it and staring at the screen. I swear, he'll watch wolf wildlife documentaries all day if I let him. So glad I made that YouTube playlist. Going into my room, I place my wallet and keys on my dresser, before taking off my clothes and heading straight for the shower. Disrobing and heading inside, I stand under the shower's spray, letting the warm water melt away the stress. I make sure to clean all over, scrubbing clinically. Want to get whatever office sweat I have completely off me. Once I'm finished, I towel off and fix my hair, blow-drying it to make it look as fluffy as possible. Going into my room, I pick out a pair of torn dark blue jeans, simple black belt, black sleeveless tank and a jean jacket with a pronounced collar. Looking at myself in the mirror, I grab my makeup kit. I apply some mascara and black eyeshadow to make my eyes pop out a bit more. A little foundation and I'm done. Nothing major. Simple but sexy. That's what I want tonight. To look like me. I want Thea to like me for me. We can save risqué outfits for the 2nd date… Is there going to be a 2nd date? I think I'm getting ahead of myself.
I hear my phone chime. Thinking it's Thea, I quickly go to grab it. Checking through, I click on my messages to see Queen's "We are the Champions", sent by Alicia. She's sent this to me everyday since Alexa won, as payback for the gummy bear incident. Bitch. I also see a text from Char giving me good luck on my date tonight, and another from Becks telling me to have fun and 'hit that thing!'… Yeah, Becks, Licia's rubbed off on you a bit too much. We're going out for dinner, not renting a romantic cabin in the Swiss Alps. Grabbing my crossbody sling, I put my wallet in the main pocket, along with a small Listerine bottle, a metro card, hand sanitizer and some wet wipes. I hear someone knock and call out from behind the door.
"Bay? It's Mia, can you open up?" Smiling, I open and see my blue-haired neighbour staring back at me. Mia Yim has been a close friend since I moved here. We usually stream together when we're not hanging out, although she's super competitive at times. Mia wears her distinctive HBIC, or 'Head Bitch in Charge' beanie, a God of War t-shirt, yoga pants and white sneakers. I see her grin and look me over. "Wow, Bay. You look hot, gurl. Damn!"
We both laugh, before I respond. "Shut up, Mia. Thanks for watching Carlos for me, tonight."
"No problem. I hope you don't mind that I brought my Switch?" she says, showing her backpack. I shake my head.
"Nah, it's fine. What are you playing? Animal Crossing?"
"Yeah. That and Monster Hunter World has me hooked for the moment." she admits.
"That's great."
"Where are you going, again? Cause damn girl, you look like a whole meal." Mia asks, walking in and taking a seat on the couch. Shutting the door, I roll my eyes and answer.
"There's a little food fest happening near Chinatown. We want to go somewhere where we can eat while getting to know each other."
"Sounds fun. You going to have enough to talk about?" Mia teases.
"Shut up." I yell playfully, rolling my eyes again. "I'm stressed enough."
"Come on, Bay, you're going to do great. It hasn't been that long, has it?" she asks.
"Eh… sort of." I answer truthfully.
"You're kidding? You?"
I nod. "Haven't got out much. Just focused on work and my streams." I hear my phone ring. Checking and seeing the collar I.D., I answer.
"Hey Bay Bay! You haven't called me in so long." the woman on the other end argues, her Boston accent loud over the phone.
"Hi bestie. What are you on about? I text you like everyday, Cedes." I argue.
"It's not the same as hearing that melodious voice." she emphasizes with a low voice. "How's my BFF doing? You ready for tonight?"
Putting my finger up to Mia and pointing to the phone, she nods and starts setting up her Nintendo switch while I walk towards the kitchen. "I'm okay. Nervous since it's been a while."
"What's there to be nervous about? You go out. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it's their loss. Simple." Mercedes answers with confidence. "By the way, you're carrying protection, right? Becks was concerned." Of course she is.
"Cedes, I don't think that's going to be a problem." I tell her. "Becks doesn't have to worry."
"You know she's like a mom. She wants to know her baby isn't doing the nasty under the pale moonlight while Lady Gaga's Poker Face is playing." Mercedes states concerningly.
"What?" Is she drunk? She might be.
"Bay, you never know. You need to be careful. She might be one of those gymnastic freaks who reads the Sutra."
"Mercedes, this is a first date. We're not having sex. Plus, do I have to state the obvious here?"
"Nature defies all laws. As do your hormones. And you say that you won't be having sex, but when you're laying on a bed, staring at the ceiling, panting and thinking 'is it a safe day?', it kind of ruins the moment."
I'm convinced she's going nuts. That or she drank a whole bottle of Snaps. A realization suddenly dawns on me. "… Did Licia put you up to this?"
"Yeah." she states, before bursting into laughter, making me huff.
"You suck, Cedes."
"Aw, come on Bay. It was funny!" she argues, laughing.
"I'm hanging up."
"NO! I wanna here more from you."
"Then come over! I've been begging for a month now."
"I will, Bay. I would have last week had it not been for the blaze." she answers. Her flight got cancelled last Tuesday due to some of the fires raging North of us.
"I know, Cedes. I know. That wasn't your fault. Maybe I can meet you in San Diego or something?" I offer.
"I'll pencil you in. In all seriousness, though, have fun tonight." she states earnestly.
"I will." Another knock at the door, causing Mia to call me. "Shit, I think that's her. Bye bestie!"
"Bye Bay! Have fun!" Mercedes ends with, hanging up. Fixing my hair one last time, I go to the door and pull it open. I feel my breath hitch as I see Thea. Her dark hair has been curled, tumbling down her shoulders in soft waves. Her big brown eyes have a little eyeliner, and her lips are a delicious shade of pink. She's wearing a brown short-sleeve dress with brown pumps. Her small black and gold Michael Kors purse on her shoulder, I watch her eyes go wide seeing my outfit.
"Wow…" she says in a breathless voice. "You look great, Bay."
Blushing, I stutter out. "T-Thanks Thea! Y-You look pretty, too, Thea." I repeat, like an idiot.
I watch as her cheeks go pink and she stares at her feet, looking between them and my gaze. "You think so? Thanks."
"Yeah, I-I do."
I notice her head crane over to look at Mia, who strides over.
"Hi I'm Mia. Bayley's friend and neighbour." Holding out her hand, Thea grabs it. Despite there being a considerable height difference, Thea smiles and gives a firm handshake. "Wow, strong grip there."
She giggles, making me smile. "I always try to make a good impression." Carlos decides to come barreling over, knocking over Mia's bag.
"Carlos, down!" Mia chastises, grabbing her bag. "And to think I was going to give you belly rubs."
"Carlos, be nice. Thea, this is my furry baby Carlos. Carlos, Thea."
He pants and wags his tail, Thea giving him a bright smile.
"Hi Carlos. God, he's cute and powerful. A perfect guard dog." she mentions.
"Yeah, more of a house dog, but he can hold his own." Carlos barks in response, his tail wagging as Thea pets him.
"That's it. Right behind the ears, huh?" she asks, scratching there and making him pant happily. He jumps up and tries licking her face. "Woah, okay. Hahaha!" I quickly bring him down.
"Hey, we don't jump on people! Sorry, he's not usually so affectionate with strangers." Mia gives me an eyebrow raise and I can't help smiling at my baby bonding with Thea.
Thea puts her hands up. "No problem. Take your time with your baby. I have cats, so I know all about it."
I smile and turn to Carlos, giving him a stern look. "Now you be good for aunt Mia or I'll hear about it. Okay?"
He barks in response.
"Good boy. Mia, you know where everything is. Text me if there's anything."
"You got it. Have fun, Bay. Nice meeting you, Thea."
"You too." Thea responds kindly, as we leave and Mia closes the door. "You have everything?"
Checking one last time, I nod. "Yeah."
"Alright, lets go."
*timeskip*
Having driven to the parking area near Chinatown, Zelina and I walk towards the venue. Traffic was bad, so it took about 3 hours to get here. We rocked out to Queen, Motorhead and Shunsuke Kikuchi, Dragon Ball Z's composer, in the car. After that, we just talked. It was nice being able to geek out on everything from Marvel and DC to music and beyond. Of course, as we're making our way to the food festival, we notice the large line standing outside.
"Guess we weren't the only ones who got the memo." Thea states. After a few minutes, it seems like the line isn't moving more than an inch at a time. Thea gently takes my arm, tells me to follow and leads us through it, moving quicker than expected, until we finally enter the hall. The hall has white walls and a red roof, with beautiful frescoes of Japanese Zen gardens, exotic plants and famous artworks everywhere. Signs are written in 3 languages- English, Spanish and Mandarin, and I kid you not, there must be 30 different restaurants and food stalls in here. Yeah, 'little' is not how I'd describe this food festival. It's more like a multi-restaurant alliance feast. In the back, I can see a nice dining area has been set up, with small wooden round tables and chairs. People around us are excited, staring at the menus, taking pictures and commenting on the beauty of the festival. I even see a few vloggers showing it off with their camera. It's like we've been transported to a street market in Thailand, crowds gathering as the aromas of spice, sweets and salt mix together into a fog of deliciousness.
"It's a food paradise…" she tells me.
"I don't know what to pick first." I answer.
"Me neither."
"Should we just get everything?" I ask.
"I'm not sure. That salmon spread is calling to me, although I wanna see what kind of desserts they have at the other shop." Thea admits.
"I'm falling for you."
"Hahaha! Same here."
We go in line and start off with some vermicelli dumplings, just to whet our appetite. But by God, were they good. A mix of carrot, beansprout, daikon radish and vermicelli noodles, all surrounded by a rice paper dumpling wrapper and steamed to perfection. Zelina and I took a bite and ended up moaning at the same time. I couldn't hold back the blush and chuckle when we did. We both got plates and ended up ordering from at least 14 stalls. I got some orange chicken, general Tso chicken, a quarter Vietnamese Ban Mi sandwich, pickled daikon, Cantonese Chow Mein, Szechuan pepper shrimp skewers, Tofu salad and a green tea. Zelina also got some general Tso, alongside Korean style ribs, salmon mayo spread over rice, Shanghai fried noodles, chopped cabbage salad, some sort of fish and broccoli, and a whole plate of dumplings and Bao for us to share. She also has some black tea to wash it down with. Everything smells so good, and we still haven't seen dessert. Will we even have room for it? Digging in, I can't help the smile plastered to my face as I taste the soft tofu mix with the Chow Mein and pickled daikon.
"I take it you like?" Thea asks me while I'm in mid-chew. Nodding enthusiastically, she giggles. "Can I trade you for a skewer?"
"Sure. What can you offer me for them?" I ask teasingly, twirling one in my hand. I see her eyebrows shoot up at my tone.
"I can offer a lot, Bay." she challenges, slowly turning her plate. Dear God, why are your eyes so sparkly tonight? I'm freezing like a deer in headlights.
"I think a set of ribs might be a good trade." I state, trying to be confident while pointing to them.
"Be my guest, cutie." she says smoothly while smiling. I can't help blushing at her comment. I'm going to pink this whole date, aren't I? Using my chopsticks, I fumble around until finally grabbing the pork ribs and putting them on my plate. Handing her a skewer, she bows. "Thank you." We both take a bite of our food. Covering her mouth, she tells me. "That was such a good trade."
The minute the tender BBQ pork hits my tongue, I moan in agreement.
"Say Bayley, tell me, what's the most adventurous thing you would like to do?" Thea asks, biting into more of her shrimp.
"Oh, I see. Wanna know if I'm a daredevil, is that it?" I tease.
Giving me a confident smile, she responds. "I want to know more about you, so yeah."
Thinking for a bit, I continue to eat my meal, grabbing a Bao. "If I had to choose one thing, it'd probably be parasailing. Somewhere in Thailand or Vietnam. Maybe the Caribbean. Just to see that picturesque view of islands, beaches and blue water."
"Good one. Sounds so lovely." she states, eating some pork and cabbage potstickers.
"What about you? What's the most adventurous thing you'd want to do?"
"Well truth be told, I have gone jet-skiing before, so that could count."
"Oh yeah, that definitely does." I agree.
"But, if I'm honest, I wouldn't mind doing some bungie-jumping. I've seen people do it in New Zealand and it looks really cool." Thea argues.
"Wow. You're braver than me."
"I don't know about that. You're digging into that spicy Bao like it's nothing. Hehehe! I'd call that pretty brave."
"I'm Mexican. It's in my blood." We laugh together.
"I may be a New Yorker, but I'm raised as a Puerto Rican, so I can handle my spice. Hahaha! So, you like things spicy?" she teases, biting her lip. I have to hold back the blush as I stare at them, before forcing my head up.
"Oh yeah. Not to the point of pain, but I'll take a good chorizo or Thai chili over burgers any day."
"This is my kind of girl. A geek with a love for gaming, working out and spicy food? No question."
"Aww, you're sweet. Just don't bring me ghost peppers or I'll cry."
"Oh God no! Worse is the Carolina Reaper. I had a friend who had cramps for hours after eating some hot sauce made with it."
"Seriously?" I question, taking a bite of my chewy Ban Mi.
"Yeah, Damian wasn't the same. And he loves chili, jalapenos and poblanos, so that was a wakeup call for him. He's also humungous, like," Thea raises her hand way above her head, "6ft.4, 6ft.5, so I know that sauce would probably kill me."
"Holy shit." I answer.
"Yeah, it was bad."
"Do you guys still talk?"
"Yeah. He's like family to me, so we keep up with each other. An older brother I didn't know I needed, if that makes sense."
"It does. I have a friend who's like that. Ernest, although we all call him Big E, since he's a former powerlifter."
"No way."
"Yeah." I tell her. Pulling up my phone, I show a few pics of Mia and I with Big E and his friends, Kofi and Xavier. "He's bench-pressed me with winter gear on, so no joke. Big E's had my back for a while and we support each other. I think he may have the hots for my friend's sister, too."
"Really?"
"You know Mia, the girl you just met?" Thea nods. "Her sister met him through me. They've talked a few times and I know when E's nervous, he stutters. And he stutters like crazy when they're together."
"Aw, that's cute." Thea coos.
"It is. He also likes animals, so Carlos tolerates him." I end up chuckling.
"Yeah, pets can be the nicest to friends or the most judgmental! You find?"
"100%!" I answer, before eating some noodles. "Wait, you said earlier you have cats?"
"Yep."
"How many?"
"Right now? 4. Tonnie, Tubby, Rico and Blue." she says simply. I blink. "Don't worry, I'm not a crazy cat lady. Much to the chagrin of my mom."
"Hey, I'm not judging." I put my hands up in surrender. "Are any of them wilder than the others? How many did you have originally?"
"We had 7. My cousin Sarita and I split them up when I moved. We were originally going to give one to my mom, but she already has some dogs, so we weren't sure if it was a good idea. And as for who's the wildest, uh… Probably Tubby. The chubby baby likes to demand food and knock over stuff while I'm gaming. Most tame is Blue. He just does his own thing, being the oldest."
"How old is he?"
"9 years old."
"And you've had him since he was a kitten?"
"Hm-hm. We used to call him chubby cheeks." For the next hour or so, we spend time chatting and eating together. Discussing our pets, our goals and our dreams. Making each other laugh. I've got to say, this date is turning out really great. There were a few times where we cleaned up each other's faces of food, but other than that, we didn't break the touch barrier too much. Finishing our meal, Thea goes to the dessert stall and checks through them. "You wanna share some dragon beard cotton candy?"
"Oh yeah. And I'll get us a few of those moon cakes and fortune cookies, too. You're going to love the moon cake. Unless you're into crunch, then you'll probably prefer the fortune cookie."
"The only American thing at this venue, you mean?"
We laugh again, before Thea buy a big bag of dragon beard candy, 3 moon cakes and 2 fortune cookies. This cotton candy is pretty sweet, but not too filling, melting as it touches my tongue. Which is good, because I'm not certain if these jeans can get any tighter. Taking a bite of my moon cake, my tastebuds are tantalized by the sweet vanilla cream and soft pillowy dough.
"Damn, you weren't kidding?" Thea speaks up, devouring her moon cake. "Mmm!"
"Told you." Finishing my moon cake, I open up my fortune cookie, pulling out the little red and white paper.
"What does it say?" Thea asks.
"You have a big heart and many friends who love you. Remember that, always." I read out, taking a bite of the hard vanilla-flavored biscuit. "What about you?"
"Give me a second." Handing me the dragon beard, she opens up the wrapper and breaks the cookie, quickly eating part of it. We go through the exit, where I notice it's raining outside. Several puddles already forming on the street, some cars are stuck behind a red light. Pulling out the sheet, she reads it, a little smile coming over her face.
"And? What does it say?"
"When it comes to love, your heart will guide you." Thea answers, raising her head to look in my direction. I can feel my heart skip a beat at the smile she gives me. Does she mean me, or is it just a random cookie paper? Before I can ask, she pushes me out of the way, causing me to land back inside.
"What the-" my words die on me as I see a huge truck quickly turn the corner, hitting one of the puddles and spraying a huge amount of water all over Thea. Immediately she drops the cookie, swearing as her hair clings to her face and neck. Standing up quickly, I go grab her as she's pushing water off her face.
"Fuck."
"You okay?" I ask, checking on her.
"Yeah, just soaked straight through." she states, rubbing water off her forehead. I can see her makeup is ruined and her dress is covered in dark wet spots. She pushed me out of the way to protect me, and got soaked in the process. Grabbing some wet wipes from my crossbody bag, I pull her into the entrance and start cleaning her up, wiping off some of the eyeliner.
"Here, I'm just going to clean off as much as I can. Hopefully this rain won't pick up too badly on our way back."
"Thanks Bay. You sure you're okay doing this? You don't have to." she asks, staring at me with those big eyes. Soaking or not, she looks like a cute Bambi and I can't help reassuring her.
"It's fine, sweetie. You just saved me from that puddle, remember? I owe you this."
"You don't owe me anything, Bay." she argues sweetly.
"Well, regardless, we're getting you cleaned up. You want my jacket?"
"No, I'm okay. I'm already soaked, so, it won't change much."
I finish cleaning her up as best I can, then give her the dragon beard and the rest of my moon cake. We link arms and quickly make our way to the car. Once inside, we blast the heat to help dry her off, before pulling out and heading home.
*Two hours later*
Walking me to my door, Thea and I still have our arms linked. Reaching my apartment, I turn towards her while pulling out my keys.
"Thanks for walking me back." I tell her.
"Anytime." she says to me, chewing on her lip. "Listen, Bayley, I had a really great time with you, tonight."
"I did too. Minus the dick truck driver who splashed you." I admit.
"Yeah. I'm with you on that." Thea states, smiling at me. God, stop being so pretty. There's only so much I can take. I feel like I've been blushing this whole date. "You're really fun to hang out with."
"So are you." I respond sheepishly, playing with my keys.
"I was thinking we could do this again sometime."
"Yes. I'd like that." I notice Thea's brown eyes scanning between my eyes and lips.
"Also," Thea starts, before coming closer. I feel my breath hitch, but Thea doesn't move immediately, gauging my reaction. I stay still, keep my eyes on her but stepping forward, to show I'm okay with this. Thea responds by slowly raising on her tip toes and planting a kiss on my cheek, catching the right corner of my lips in the process, "thanks for earlier."
"I-I-I, uh…" Damn it, get a grip! Answer in a complete sentence. "N-No problem." I squeak out.
"Call you tomorrow, so we can plan date 2?" Thea puts forth, making the phone gesture on her hand.
"Ah-huh. I'll text you if I can't answer."
"Okay. Have a great night, Bayley." she says, walking backwards.
"You, too. Bye Thea."
"Bye." Watching her walk away, I see her hips move from side to side as she goes towards the elevators.
"Bay, you staying there all night?" Mia asks through the door, making my heart jump. Quickly opening the lock, I enter and hear Mia laughing.
"Jeez, you scared me. And what's so funny?"
"That date must have gone well. You were staring at he-" Mia argues, before turning and seeing my face. Her mouth drops and she points to my face as I close the door, "Oh! It must have gone really well. Hahahaha!"
"What are you talking about?" I ask, a little irritated that she was snooping.
"What am I talking about? You've got lipstick on your mouth. And you were staring at her ass! She must have planted some good ones on you."
Looking in the mirror, I see Thea's faint pink lipstick on my mouth and cheek. Grabbing a wet wipe, I clean it, before tossing it. "That was for cleaning her up. She pushed me out of the way and got splashed by a truck." Mia's mouth drops again.
"That little girl shoved you down? She's got to be pretty strong to do that to you. I had a feeling after the handshake she gave me, but not that much." Mia answers.
"How was Carlos?" I ask, half to see how my baby was doing and half to change the subject.
"Wondering if you were coming home." Mia states with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. "What took you so long?"
"L.A. traffic is bad tonight."
"I bet." she taunts, still smirking at me.
"Stop it. Get your mind out of the gutter. Why were you snooping?"
"I heard voices so I came to check. Did you guys already plan another date?"
"Yeah, she's going to call me tomorrow and we'll go from there."
"I guess it must have gone well, then?" Mia questions.
"Oh yeah. We had fun up until the truck part." I explain, smiling at the memory.
"How about you go get changed into your jammies and you can tell me all about it?"
"Sounds good." Walking into my room, I grab my PJs and head into the washroom. I feel sluggish after all that food, but excited at the idea of another date. I can't wait to hear from Thea tomorrow.
Author's Note: Hey everyone. Hope you're doing well. Been a while since I updated this story, huh? I'm slowly getting back into making progress with my fics. Every little bit counts. So, it looks like the date went well between Bay and Thea. Poor Thea getting splashed but Bay is there to look out for her. And they've already planned a 2nd date, so things are looking up. Not sure when the next update will be for this one, but I'm pushing to get more content with my other stories out soon. If you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to leave a review. It's always appreciated. Until next time, stay safe and remember to enjoy your day!