Work Text:
"Is this necessary?" Zaria asks.
"You said you'd let me do it" Sol says, waggling the makeup brush in her hand.
Zaria rolls her eyes.
"I meant this."
She gestures to Sol, currently straddling Zaria's lap.
"You know a better way to apply someone else's makeup?" Sol says.
Zaria grunts, and Sol can't tell if the sound is one of annoyance or amusement. Regardless, she takes it as acquiescence.
"Me neither. Now sit still."
Zaria does so. She's unsure what to do with her hands. It feels stupid to leave them at her sides, but the only other place to put them is on Sol, and Zaria doesn't want to give her the wrong idea, so she holds them out, one on both sides of Sol's slender waist. She's grateful that her fearsome makeup necessitates keeping her eyes closed.
Sol sticks her tongue from the corner of her mouth as she moves the brush delicately across Zaria's face. The Adelaide native has never let anyone apply her makeup before, but Sol had insisted and, for reasons she has yet to make sense of, Zaria had relented.
Sol let's out a sigh.
"Dude, just put them on my legs. You look like you're trying to use the Force or something."
Zaria opens one eye to look at her quizzically.
"The what?"
"Y'know, from Star Wars?" Sol prompts. Zaria closes her eye again.
"I don't watch a lot of movies."
"Just Mad Max, huh?" Sol says, nodding at Zaria's gear.
"Course not" Zaria says then adds, after a pause, "Crocodile Dundee."
Sol laughs. Zaria finds that the sound she enjoys most is the scream of pain that comes after dislocating a person's shoulder, but Sol's laugh is up there too.
When Zaria hands remain unmoved, Sol forcibly places them on her thighs. The muscles in Zaria's jaw tighten as she feels warm, smooth skin and strong quads from years spent balancing on surf boards.
She clears her throat and hopes that the shade of her makeup is dark enough to mask the blush in her cheeks.
"I didn't peg you for film buff" she says, trying to distract from her own awkwardness.
"I don't spend all my time at the beach" Sol snickers.
This time, Sol thinks that Zaria's follow up grunt is definitely one approaching a laugh.
"Coulda fooled me. The only place you spend more time is in the ring."
Sol smiles at that.
"You been keeping an eye on me, Z?"
Zaria does not care for nicknames, but she makes an exception for Sol.
"Have you heard your entrance music?" she says. Sol chuckles.
"So that wasn't you I saw at the beach yesterday? Just another, totally identical, red-headed badass?" she asks.
When Zaria doesn't reply, Sol shrugs.
"Shame you weren't there. You missed a Helluva of fight. She took on like ten guys-"
"It was three" Zaria interrupts. Sol smiles, nodding.
"Yeah, I thought that was you. No one else throws a headbutt like that."
"I only did it after the first bloke took a swing at me."
"And why did he do that?"
"Cause' I called him a cunt."
Sol's eyebrows go up and she pauses mid-brush.
"I thought you Aussies use that word as a compliment?"
Zaria shrugs. "It can be either or."
"Noted" Sol says, continuing to apply the heavy makeup. "What did they guy to deserve that?"
"He was being a cunt" Zaria reiterates.
Sol gently takes Zaria's chin in her hand and tilts her head down, forcing the bigger woman to open her eyes.
"Z" Sol says expectantly.
Zaria holds her gaze for a moment before sighing and looking away.
"He was saying stuff. About you."
Sol frowns.
"What kinda stuff?"
"The kind that made me call him a cunt. Can we drop it?"
Sol is undeterred.
"And you just happened to be passing at that exact moment?"
"Yes" Zaria shifts uncomfortably "I was jogging."
"Why do you care?" Sol continues "It's not like I was there for you to defend anyway."
"That's not the point, and yes, you were. I know because you always surf on a Mon-"
Zaria stops suddenly when she realizes her mistake and sees the triumphant expression on Sol's face.
"I knew you'd been watching me" the surfing instructor-turned-professional wrestler says, grinning. Zaria is pretty sure that her makeup is no longer hiding the blush as it spreads to the tips of her ears.
"Shut up. You're not the only who likes the beach."
Sol cups her face suddenly. Zaria's eyes widen.
"Z, I lost months of my career because no one had my back. I'm not mad, just glad that someone's looking out for me is all."
Zaria snorts.
"Look, Sol, I'm not trying to be your best friend-"
"Why are you being so weird about this?" Sol interjects.
"-and I'm not looking out for you!" Zaria snaps, her anger subsiding the second she sees the hurt in Sol's eyes.
Realizing that she is gripping Sol's thighs too hard, she releases them and takes Sol's hands in her own, gently pulling them away from her face. She misses the warmth.
"Sol, I didn't come to WWE to make friends. I came here to become a champion. I want that more than anything." Zaria swallows. "But, since I met you..."
She leaves the rest of her sentence unsaid.
After a moment of tense silence, Sol speaks again, placing Zaria's hands on her lower back and slipping her own around the Aussie's neck.
"You know we can be both, right?" she says quietly.
Zaria narrows her eyes. "Both?"
"Champions and friends, dummy."
Zaria stares at her for a moment, then the corner of her mouth twitches upwards.
"I'd like that" she says quietly. Sol's smile widens.
"Awesome" she says, before leaning down and pressing her lips against Zaria's.
The other woman freezes for a moment. She's glad that Sol's eyes are closed, so that they can't see Zaria's staring dumbly at her. Then, Zaria closes her own eyes and kisses Sol back. She feels Sol smile into the kiss, her arms tightening around her.
Zaria's hands slide down Sol's back and, heart racing, she lifts Sol up as though she weighs nothing at all. The smaller woman has the wherewithal to wrap her strong legs around Zaria's waist as she is pressed up against the wall.
The quiet whimper that escapes from Sol's throat starts a fire in Zaria's belly that emerges as a growl. She kisses Sol harder and they remain like that for a while longer. When they finally come apart again, flushed and panting, Zaria's legs aren't even shaking.
Sol presses her forehead against Zaria's, before holding a hand out in the space between them.
"Friends, then?"
Holding Sol up with one arm, Zaria takes the offered hand with her own.
"Friends."
Sol pouts and brushes a thumb over Zaria's lip.
"Crap. I smudged your makeup."
"Forget the bloody makeup" Zaria huffs before capturing Sol's lips with her own again.