017

March 2, 2015 (off camera)

"Quarter finals isn't bad, right?" Kasey peered at her face in the mirror before turning around, angling the bathroom door so that she could see her back in the mirror on the back of it. "I mean... for my first time, that's not awful, right?"

"Considering who you were up against, not at all."

She nodded even though he couldn't see her before pulling her hair back into a ponytail. "Well yeah. And I beat Laurel so that's pretty damn awesome... I mean... she's like a gazillion times more talented than Nessa or stupid Sam Tolson— she's held so many belts it's insane— oh my God, I just realized I faced both halves of the Sparklebuddies in back-to-back matches." She grinned, bouncing on her toes. "And really, I mean... Brytain didn't make it much further than I did and she's supposed to be this big ol' RAWR deathmatch pro and she got whomped by Whiskey Ayano." Squeezing some of her face wash out, she dipped her hand under the faucet and turned on the hot tap, knowing the water would be lukewarm at best after her shower. Lathering up, she started rubbing the gentle cleanser into her face, wincing at the stinging in the tiny little cuts along her hairline. "So, like, I guess I'm happy I got to face Laurel Anne Hardy again, if nothing else. I mean, if I'm going to stay in Femme Fatale Wrestling, I have to accept that there are a lot of talented people I'm going to miss out on facing because of that insular environment."

"Probably for the best then." He wasn't really paying attention to her. Instead he was staring at the screen of his laptop.

"Beating Sam Tolson was just the boost I needed, I think— I've got my mojo back and then I beat Laurel and that brings us up to a tie— not that I really even acknowledge that other place since I was only there for ten seconds longer than Angel Kash was."

"Wait... what?" Hunter looked up, dazed as he realized he had absolutely no idea who any of these names she was dropping with her usual motor mouth diatribe.

"Nobody important," she called back, gently wiping away the soap and the last of the dried blood before leaning forward to look at the tiny cuts along her hairline thanks to the light tubes Annie Zellor had smashed over her head. The ironic part was that she'd found both of those matches exhilarating. "Hey," the thought occurred to her out of the blue and made her grin at her own reflection, "do you think I should ask Cody if maybe I could be in the Ultraviolence Division instead?"

That one he heard loud and clear. Where he was sprawled across the bed, Hunter Donimari swallowed hard, shaking his head. Watching her bleed, coming within inches of tearing herself to shreds on barbed wire ropes before to watching the arena medics pick slivers of glass from her scalp with tweezers had been bad enough as a one-time thing— he couldn't imagine going through that on a fulltime basis.

"Pooh Bear?" She poked her head around the doorframe, "what do you think?"

"I think maybe..." he hesitated, not really sure he was qualified to dole out advice on her career, "you're still high on adrenaline, Red. Maybe sleep on it a little?"

She nodded, stepping back into the tiny bathroom.

"You comin' to bed sometime this century?" He called out after another eternity of silence, clicking the touchpad to open up his pictures file on the computer— there was another file called THE DREAM and he opened that one before closing the lid partway. "C'mon," he mock-whined, "I got something I wanna show you."

She poked her head around the doorway again, toothbrush still in her mouth. "Yeah," she mumbled, "jus' a sec!" Returning to the bathroom, she finished off her routine before clicking off the light.

He threw a smile her way and looked back down at the laptop, exhaling. His free hand was holding tight to the comforter, his knuckles going white. "Got an idea I wanna run by you." He tried to keep his voice steady and even though it was, he thought he heard a quiver in it.

"Sure!" She made her way across the room, looking adorable in a cat-styled onesie with the hood up over her red hair to show off cat ears. Bouncing on the bed next to him, she was totally oblivious to his discomfort, all sunshine and smiles in a way that she hadn't really been for months. She pulled out her cell phone, bringing up Twitter and idly swiping to refresh the timeline.

"Kase?"

"Mmmm?" She was about ten seconds away from getting dragged off into something else— his window of opportunity was closing fast but she seemed so happy and the last thing he wanted to do was pop that bubble.

"No, I mean... a real idea... uh... talk? So..."

She put down her phone, looking up at him, clearly puzzled. "What's up?"

Leaning in, he kissed her cheek, stalling even as he smirked. "Look atchu with the ears and stuff— pretty little Red Kitty." He laughed to himself and shook his head. Clearing his throat, his gaze went back to the laptop screen. "So, I've been doing a lot of thinking over the last couple weeks— I think maybe it's time for a change."

Those words were almost ominous— she feared change with every fiber of her being these days. Change was bad. Change was really, really scary. "Uh... oh-ohhhkay." Kasey licked her lips, steeling herself for what was bound to come next. "What kinda change?"

He didn't answer, instead pulling out an envelope and handing it to her. "So, I've been thinking my time around here has run its course." He meant Chicago since they were at his tiny little house.

"Please don't," Kasey looked down at the envelope he was holding out to her like it contained venomous snakes. "I'll try harder not to be a complete—"

"Red," Hunter rustled the paper, thrusting it into her hands. "Just open it, okay?"

Closing her eyes, she bowed her head and forced her hands to work, tearing the end off before dumping a laminated plastic card into her hand. There was a swipe code on the back. Turning it over, she saw the Disney logo— the card was gold.

"It's a year pass to Disney World," Hunter said before she could ask. "I'm just so sick of winter and the snow. Sun and sand, those things are cool, yanno?" He furrowed his brow. "Also kinda thinking maybe my time in Chicago has run its course. Luke could run the bar and stuff— so I got you this. It goes with the rest of it, but I had to show you that part first. Don't worry, Red. I got one to match."

She stared at him in confusion. "A year's pass?"

"Well, yeah. If we're living less than an hour away, that's probably gonna—"

"An hour away?!"

"There's some land. Here— lemme show you." Opening the laptop, he pulled up the slideshow. "A new development and I... thought I could build a house there. I kinda remember some cute redhead telling me she loved the place and well I'm kind of a sucker for the giant turkey legs they serve there. Heh and I like to see Mickey Mouse."

"Screw Mickey," Kasey said with utmost seriousness, letting out a reverent sigh, "it's all about Cinderella's castle. The moat and all those pretty turrets..."

"I could eat my turkey leg in the castle." His eyes brightened at the thought, but then remembered what he was supposed to be doing. "And Space Mountain... that's the one we really gotta do every single time, right?" He pointed at the screen, "anywho, look at the land I picked out for us, okay?" He started with one that showed the neighborhood that was barely occupied. "What do you think about building here?"

She watched a few of the slides go by, showing off an impressive view before glancing up at him again. "Really? And you want me to go with you? Like... live with you and stuff?"

Again, he shrugged his shoulders, "let's finish looking at the pictures. The last one is the best..." he went through a couple more pictures of the land before he came to one of sand, with water washing up on the shore. Before the water, there were two words written in the sand that simply said Marry Me. He waited for a few moments before saying anything. "I think that picture answers your question, yeah?"

She legitimately had no words for a response. Tears swam in her eyes as she stared at the screen, watching those two words double and then triple. "Hunter..." her voice broke, "oh... ohhhh... my God. Are you......" she trailed off, realizing that was a really, really stupid question. Of course he was proposing and here she was, tromping all over it like an elephant, ruining what should have been the most perfect moment ever.

He grinned at her, "that depends, Red. You gonna accept?" He looked towards her cat who was lying at the end of the bed, half asleep. "Hey you, c'mere..." he whistled and motioned for George to head his way, pleasantly surprised when he actually got up and slowly walked over to them. "Thanks, Big Guy." He scratched the cat behind his ears for a few moments before undoing something from his collar. When he held it up, Kasey could see it was an engagement ring with a two carat emerald and a black almost antique-styled band. "So... is it a... yes?"

"Uhhhh." She stared at the ring, "it's not a yes. It's so not because it's like... oh God... it's like so much more than that and I can't even..."

His eyes went wide, as he looked at her, getting nervous. "Red, just nod if you accept. I'd be good with a nod."

Swallowing hard, she nodded vigorously.

A huge grin broke out across his face, an exhale of relief coming out on the heels of a soft little laugh. "Yeah?" Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her deeply before pulling back, worried that he might be hurting her. "I love you, Red," his forehead pressed against hers as he slid the ring on her finger— it was a perfect fit.

"I love you," she whispered, feeling unbelievably overwhelmed. "Seriously... you blow my mind."

"Well, hope you're ready to put up with it for the rest of your life because I'm too damn old to change now." He paused and then furrowed his brow. "That sounded way better in my head— I apologize, my fiancée." A big grin crossed his face again. "Fiancée, alriiiiight."

"Promise me, though," she started, thinking about Nessa's wedding fiasco, "that when we do it, it isn't a big media circus. I don't want that. Like... ever. I just want something private. Something just between us without any of my other life creeping in."

"Other life?" The way she said it was almost like she was embarrassed. "Hey, don't be like that, Red. I love that part of you. Maybe... not so much what I had to watch today, but seeing you out there doing what you do... it's inspiring. Seriously—"

"Inspiring? Yeah, maybe to pop some wood in your pants at my short little skirts!" She laughed, shaking her head as she pushed him down against the pillows, disturbing the cat in the process.

"Seriously, Red. We'll do whatever you want." He kissed her nose, grinning up at her. "But the first time we do it in our new house, you gotta be wearing Minnie ears— it's always kinda been a fantasy of mine." He burst out laughing when she socked him in the shoulder. "Nah, honestly. Whatever you want. It's gonna be your day."

"Nuh uh," she replied with a giggle, crawling into his lap and knocking the laptop aside, "it's gonna be our day."