#kenny omega x original character

[spine-buster]

just friends, pt. 2

aka, another time it could have happened again

gif credit @/besthimbomachine

Length: 3704 words Summary: It's New Year's Eve. Tyson and Hazel's favourite holiday is New Year's Eve. A beautiful dress doesn't quite help any New Year's resolutions. A/N: This series is slowly taking over my mind. This is some more blue balls for you all before we finally get to a sequel.

31 December 2019

Hazel took time to get ready for AEW’s New Year’s Eve party; she took time shaving and exfoliating in the shower, lathering herself in lotion, curling her hair, applying her makeup, slipping into her dress.  She took time looking at herself in the mirror, happy with how she looked.  It took a while to get here, literally and figuratively, but judging by the colour of her dress and the slit that reached up her thigh, she was, firmly, here.  Happy.

The party was to be held in TIAA Bank Arena for the entire roster, and while she knew she wasn’t running late, she knew Tyson would be. 

Can you hurry your ass up?

Perfection takes time, hunny

You are the worst person alive

Hazel snorted to herself at Tyson’s text, if only because she could picture so perfectly him saying it in person, too – if he were ever on time.  Regardless, she waited out in the hotel lobby, scrolling through her phone.  She saw some personal stories posted from some other friends already at TIAA Bank Arena, seeing all the decorations, the bar set up, and the hors d’oeuvres already being served.  She was starving.  If Tyson made her miss the hors d’oeuvres, she was going to kill him.

Her instincts told her to look up, and when she did, she saw Tyson walking towards her wearing a nice button up shirt and a pair of pressed slacks that fit him perfectly.  He looked good, but to Hazel, he always did, even though she couldn’t say it out loud.  She thanked the Lord it looked like he scrubbed all the spray tan off too, and trimmed his beard so it wasn’t too scraggly.  Sometimes she thought it looked so, and she made sure to tell him.  ‘It looks better when it’s shorter, Ty,’ she’d tell him, and usually within twelve hours it would be at a length she loved.  It was kind of like when he told her how he liked her long hair, how he didn’t want her to cut it again after she had chopped most of it off into a long bob a few years ago now.  Hazel went for regular trims so her hair was healthy and grew it out to a length that cascaded down her back.

Okay, so maybe they did say it out loud from time to time.

“Did you order the Uber?” she asked when he was close, but he didn’t answer.  She waited patiently for a response, but didn’t get one.  Tyson didn’t respond because his eyes were travelling from her face down her body, the dress accentuating every beautiful curve and line.  “Kenneth!”

He snapped out of it.  “What?!”

“You’re going to make me miss the hors d’oeuvres,” she said.

“No I’m not,” he said.  “The Uber’s two minutes away.  Let’s go wait outside.”

He walked behind her, watching her ass in the dress.  He had to think of the smell of his hockey team’s locker room from 20 years ago to prevent himself from getting a fucking erection in the lobby of a hotel.  He wanted to punch himself for thinking what he was; for thinking about what he wanted to do to her in that dress.  The things he could get away with.  The things she’d let him get away with.

If it was the right time.

“You look great by the way,” he said nonchalantly, barely making eye contact with her as they stood outside waiting for the Uber to pull up to the door.

“Yeah, thanks,” Hazel was almost bashful, running her hands down the fabric that covered the front of her thighs.  “You don’t—you don’t think it’s too m—”

“Nah, no way,” he cut her off, shaking his head vehemently.  “Everything…you just, you look incredible, Haze.”

“Thanks, Ty.  I mean it.”

He looked at her finally, a small smile on his face.  “If any of the guys hit on you tonight, you’ll know why.”

Before Hazel could say that none of the guys would hit on her as long as he was around (except for Austin, probably, and even then it would be as a joke), and before she could blurt out something stupid like “I wish you’d be the one to hit on me,’, their Uber rolled up in front of them.  She climbed into the back, trying to get her dress not to bunch up too much.  Tyson hopped in after her, staying behind the passenger seat.  “TIAA Bank Arena, please,” Tyson said to the driver before looking out the window to distract himself.

***

At the party, Tyson didn’t appreciate how he and Hazel were separated.  She had been whisked away early on and he watched her order gin and tonic with lime from the bar.  He hung out with some of the guys but the eye he kept on her in the dress was near constant.  New Year’s was his favourite holiday and he wanted to spoil himself by staring at her – sue him. He wanted to spoil himself in more ways, but he knew he couldn’t.  It was getting harder the more he saw her smile, the more he saw her laugh, the more he saw her cheeks flush red and her smile get wider as the night passed, taking pictures and laughing at jokes and singing along with the music.

For what it was worth, Hazel noticed.  She noticed Tyson’s eyes on her almost the entire night, stuck on her as she giggled and smiled and sipped her drink.  She could tease him all night if she really wanted to, and she knew it.  But instead of doing that – instead of teasing him more than she already was – she decided to whisk herself away to the bathroom, if only to cool herself down and reapply her lipstick. 

As she bent over the vanity to reapply her lipstick in the mirror, the door opened and in walked Tyson.  He stared at her through the mirror, smiling as he shut the door behind him and leaned against it.  “Hey,” his voice was soft.

“Hey you.”

“You okay?” Tyson asked quietly.

“Of course,” Hazel nodded.  She picked up her glass filled with ice and a lime.  “This is water.”

“It is?”

“I keep asking the bartender to fill it with just tonic water,” she revealed, smiling.  “You know how I always like to remember New Year’s.”

Tyson couldn’t help but smile at her little scheme, pushing himself away from the door and taking the few steps towards her.  “Yeah.  Of course.  Just like me.”

“We promised, didn’t we?” she maintained direct eye contact with him through the mirror.

“We did,” he said, remembering their conversation and promise in Tokyo all those years ago. His hand went to her waist, without warning. Then it snaked around, his hand resting on her lower belly. Hazel looked at him through the mirror. “Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?” his voice was low.

A smile broke out on her face; one she could barely conceal. “Mhmm,” she nodded her head quickly. She placed her hand over his, intertwining their fingers slightly. “You’re getting real handsy, Ty.”

“Sorry,” he didn’t mean it.

“You don’t have to apologize. You just have to…be careful.”

“Of what?”

“Yourself,” she deadpanned, biting her bottom lip mischievously.  “You’re your own worst enemy sometimes, you know that?”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Smirking at each other through the mirror, Tyson slowly pulled his hand away from her, but didn’t step away from her body.  “Are you having fun?”

“The most fun,” Hazel closed her lipstick, turning around so she was finally facing him and not looking at him through a mirror.  “You know how much I love all these rapscallions.  Are you?”

“Now I am.”

***

When there was about five minutes to go, the waitresses and caterers began pouring the champagne into the flutes.  Hazel watched as each one filled up one by one, everybody gathering together to watch the final minutes.  As the champagne was passed around, Hazel accepted her flute graciously.  Tyson, of course, politely declined. 

“Can I have his?” she asked the waitress, who was more than willing to oblige.

With two champagne flutes in her hands, the final minutes were dwindling.  Tyson stood beside her, watching on, a smile on his face.  The excitement in the air was palpable.  The countdown was always the best part.  And when the last minute of the year hit, he watched as Hazel performed an excited jig. 

Then, thirty seconds left.  They both turned towards the TV again, counting down with the growing number of their friends shouting out the numbers.  Tyson grew more and more emphatic with his screaming of the numbers the closer they got.  Hazel screamed along, careful not to spill her champagne.

Five!...Four!...Three!...Two!...One!...Haaaaaappy New Year!

Hazel screamed along with everyone else, raising her hands with the champagne flutes up in the air for dramatic effect.  Tyson was screaming along with everyone and clapping his hands.  She could see Austin and Britt already sharing a New Year’s kiss, and a few others, too.  She brought the first of the champagne flutes to her lips to drink, to suppress what she really wanted to do.  Hopefully the moment would pass.

When she looked into Tyson’s eyes after downing the second flute, she saw everything she loved about him; everything she was so desperate to have but desperate to keep hidden, to keep locked away in some small compartment within her.  “Happy New Year, Ty.”

His smile was soft, but light, and genuine.  “Happy New Year, Haze.”

***

It was nearing two in the morning by the time Tyson and Hazel decided to call it a night.  There were still plenty of people at the party, and they were still all giggly and smiley, but they wanted to go back to the hotel.  Tyson ordered the taxi as Hazel said goodbye to everyone, kissing everyone’s cheek and hugging them tight.  When they left the venue, Tyson walked behind her again, watching her hips and ass move in her dress. 

The car pulled up in no time.  Hazel crouched into the taxi first, shifting all the way over to the other side.  She could immediately feel how cool the air was in the car, in such contrast to the humidity outside.  As Tyson climbed in after her, her body shivered.  “Hyatt Regency, please,” she said to the driver, watching as Tyson close the door behind him.

As the taxi driver signalled to rejoin the road, Tyson moved so he was in the middle seat, practically in her seat.  Then, his hand went straight to her thigh, where the slit of her dress exposed as much leg as it could.  Her eyebrows rose playfully.  “What d’you think you’re doing?” she asked playfully.

“What?” he asked non-chalant, the smallest of smirks building on his face.  “Not like my hand’s never been there before.  Plus, you shivered.  Body heat is paramount.”

Between training and matches, and between, well…he wasn’t technically wrong.  But he still knew he was pushing it, and Hazel knew he was pushing it too.  While she appreciated the physical touch – she always did with Tyson – she knew it wasn’t the right or the best thing to do.  “Oh Tyson,” she chastised him, leaning back against the window.  “You know what would be even better?” she asked as her hand went to lay on top of his on her thigh, their fingers slightly intertwining.

His hand attempted to go higher, closer to her core, but she stopped him.  “What’s that?” he asked.

“If you gave me a foot massage.”

He pretend gagged and she laughed out, knowing that he hated anything to do with feet.  “Now why the fuck would I do that?”

“Cause you love me,” she said.  “And these heels are awful.”

“They look great.”

“Beautiful but awful.”

“Why don’t you just take them off?”

She rolled her eyes.  Men.  “The first rule of heels is you can’t take them off until it’s the end of the night.  Your feet won’t fit back in them if you do, and it actually becomes more painful to walk in them again.”

Tyson shook his head.  “Beauty is pain, I guess.”

“So I guess I’m not getting a foot massage, huh?” she smiled.

“No chance.”

They chatted and joked for the short ride back to the hotel, wishing the driver a Happy New Year and tipping generously with cash so he didn’t have to claim it.  The second Tyson’s hand left her thigh and his body left her side, she felt the loss.  She hated admitting so.  She buried the feeling again as she stepped out of the car.  But before Hazel could even shut the door, Tyson’s hands were on her again.

Except this time, he lifted her up dramatically into a fireman’s carry.  She yelped loudly, acutely aware that despite her dress still being on and the fabric covering everything it needed to cover, her ass was in the air.  “Tyson!”

“Oh will you stop,” he mimicked Gorilla Monsoon perfectly.  “You said your feet hurt!”  He began walking towards the door and through the foyer.  Hazel could feel her body heat up from embarrassment as she saw the concierge look at them.  What a sight to see at two in the morning.  She was thankful that nobody else was lingering around.  “Better than walking, huh?”

“Can you at least carry me like a normal person so my ass isn’t in the air?”

Carefully, so as to not tear at her dress, they transitioned like they were in the ring in-between wrestling moves, and eventually, Tyson was carrying her bridal style.  She pressed the button for the elevator before looking into his eyes and cradling his face in her hand.  “Hey Tys?”

“Hmm”?

“Thanks for carrying me.”

“I’d do anything for you.  You know that.”

“I know that, but your back is bad.”

“Doesn’t matter.  Your feet hurt.”

Her heart swelled.  Tyson had always been so good to her, and her to him, but she revelled in this sweet moment as much as she could.  It was only when Tyson’s face started to get closer did her heart begin fluttering instead of swelling.  “Ty…” she whispered. 

“You smell delectable,” he mumbled. 

“That’s Jo Malone for you,” she tried to joke, even though she knew it wouldn’t hit.  Tyson’s mind was somewhere else as she dug through her purse for their room key.  She shoved it into the reader, the little light turning green before she opened the door for them.  Tyson carried her into the room without even looking where he was going, the hair on his beard tickling the sensitive skin on her neck.  She couldn’t help but smile and giggle.  “Ty…”

“Let me put you on the bed,” his voice was husky all of a sudden.  He placed her down on the bed but followed her down, his face still in the crook of her neck, his body looming over hers.  “Christ, Hazel…”

Even though she was smiling, and even though almost every inch of her wanted this and could have had so, so much fun with it, she couldn’t.  Trouble – that’s what this was.  They could get into a lot of trouble this way.  “That’s not the best idea, Ty,” Hazel whispered as she felt Tyson’s nose on her décolletage, on her clavicle, on her neck.  She knew his lips were next.

“Why not?”

She giggled.  “You already felt up my thigh in the taxi.  You just want to because you’re hyped from the party.  New Year’s has always been your favourite holiday.”

“Our favourite holiday.”

“Regardless,” she smiled to herself like a Cheshire cat, “you shouldn’t do much more, Ty.  It wouldn’t be right.”

He knew she was right, fuck he knew she was right, but he gritted his teeth and bit his tongue.  ‘Yes it would be right’ he thought.  ‘Anything we do is right.  Anything we’ve ever done has been right.  It’s been right because it’s been with each other.’  He dislodged himself from her neck and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of the hotel room.  “It’s that dress, too,” he said to mask everything he was feeling, in a tone that covered any agony with humour.

Hazel’s smile didn’t leave her face.  “It’s always the dress, huh?”

Tyson stayed silent, continuing to stare at the ceiling, trying to collect his thoughts.  His arm was up above his head, the back of his hand resting on his forehead.  “Sorry Hazel,” his voice was soft and low.

“You don’t have to apologize.  I just don’t want you doing something you’ll regret later.”

‘But I won’t regret it’ he thought to himself.  “Yeah, yeah,” he nodded slightly.  “Thanks for always looking out for me, Haze.”

“You know I always will.”

Both of them took deep breaths, staring up at the ceiling as they lay in bed.  Tyson couldn’t get the images out of his mind of Hazel at the party posing for photos, laughing, her legs glistening in the light.  Her beautiful smile that took up half her face.  The shine of her hair down her back.   Fuck.

He felt Hazel shift beside him.  When he looked over, she had lifted her knee to her chest, stretching to grab the buckle of her heels.  The material of her dress rode up her thighs, exposing more of her skin.  They came off one by one, with Hazel haphazardly throwing them to the side on the floor.  He watched as she pushed herself up, sitting on the edge of the bed, her back now facing him.  He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

“Hey Tys?”

“Hmm?”

“Can you unzip me?”

He shot up, but tried not to look too eager.  He moved so he was directly behind her, watching as she gathered her hair over one shoulder.  He grabbed the small zipper of her dress with his big hands.  He took his sweet ass time pulling it down; Hazel knew he would.  A part of her wanted to tease him so badly, only because she knew she had the power to at the moment.

When he was finished, he didn’t say anything.  Instead, Hazel sensed it and she stood up from the bed, not bothering to look back at him.  He watched her as she walked through the room, watched as she reached her suitcase and promptly dropped her dress to the floor, leaving her in only her underwear in front of him.  He caught glimpses of the curves of her breasts as she threw her hair up in a ponytail and dug through her suitcase to find her pyjamas.  His mind took him back to Tokyo and it was like a magic trick how he could remember the feeling of them in his hands when they made love.

Hazel went into the washroom and closed the door behind her, and Tyson knew it was so she could wash off her makeup.  The memories of the night they’d just had flooded his mind, interspersed with memories of Tokyo.  Her dress.  The first time she wore one of his t-shirts after crashing at his apartment in Shinjuku.  Her being backstage after the G1 Climax.  Her laughing at his dumb joke at the bar.  Her lips around the straw of her drink.  Her hand over his when he grabbed at her thigh inside the taxi.

When Hazel got out of the washroom, clean-faced and with her hair in a bun, she noticed Tyson laying back down on the bed, still in his clothes from the party.  When she moved closer, she realized that instead of using the time she was in the bathroom to change, he hadn’t.  Now, he sleeping in his pants and shirt, an arm draped across his chest.  He looked so peaceful in his slumber Hazel almost didn’t want to disturb him.  But she knew what she had to do.

She crawled onto the bed slowly, making sure not to disturb him, and began to pull his belt out of the loop and unbuckle it.  When she tugged slightly, he moved his arm, and it wasn’t until she unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them did he groggily open his eyes.  “Hazel?” he asked.

“Let’s go to sleep.”

Considering what he had been thinking of before he fell asleep, he wasn’t sure if this was reality or a dream.  The fact that her hands were near his crotch was enough to make him confused.  “What’re you—”

“You can’t sleep in your party clothes, Tys.  Lift your hips for me.”

He did as he was told, and felt Hazel pulling his pants down, all the way down, until he was left in his boxers.  She moved to his shirt and started unbuttoning it for him.  In his mental haze of still not knowing if this was a dream or reality, he bought his hand up and placed it over hers.  She stopped and looked at him.  “I’d do anything for you,” he whispered softly.

A smile spread across her face.  “I’d do anything for you too.  Let me take this off you now, okay?”

Her hands were soft as they glided across his chest and up to his broad shoulders to push his shirt back.  It came off easily.  Hazel noticed Tyson’s heavy eyes.  “Get your head on a pillow, Tys.  You’ll be more comfortable.”

He pushed himself back and settled himself; meanwhile, Hazel pulled back the covers, got underneath them, and pulled them over their bodies.  She snuggled into his back, his body heat radiating onto her.  She paused for a moment, her lack of judgement winning out against her better judgement as she placed three kisses along Tyson’s shoulder.  She dragged her lips along his skin between them, making sure her lips lingered on his skin when she was done.  “That okay?”

He groaned slightly in response, nodding his head.  “That feels so nice,” he sighed out.

Hazel couldn’t help but appreciate the sentiment.  “Let’s go to sleep, Tys.  Tomorrow when we wake up there’ll be a whole new year of memories we can make together.”

Always together.

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Safe - Emery x Kenny

How in the WORLD did I NOT post this?! I can't believe I've been sitting on this one. Oops.

Have some fluff! *throws*

Part of my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series.

Also; If you speak Japanese, and find that I got the translation below incorrect, I apologize. I got it off of google translate. The english translation is below it, for those that don't speak Japanese though <3

Word Count: 1118

Tag List: @katries @mrsmatt @summertimefun1982

If you want added to the list, let me know!

(divider)

With everything going on, it was safe to say that Emery’s anxiety and emotions were a whirlwind, up and down like a rollercoaster. It caused so many self-doubts and demons to rise to the surface in her mind, the never-ending thoughts making it difficult to sleep. Last night had been no different, Emery barely getting an hour’s worth of sleep interrupted by constant bouts of being awake.

Just after 7 in the morning, Emery woke up once more with her heart beating against her chest like a battering ram. A deep sigh escaped her throat as she carefully rolled over so she wouldn’t bother Kenny- but to her surprise, he was not to be found.

“Guess he’s already up…” she thought, pushing back the covers and getting up. Her feet shuffled down the hallway as the smell of bacon and freshly brewed coffee hit her nose. Reaching the kitchen, Emery’s eyes landed on Kenny, who stood with his back to her. He kept a careful eye on the bacon and looked at something on his phone.  A soft smile graced her face, her body warming up with adoration for the older Canadian, taking a moment to take in the sight before carefully padding into the kitchen. Coming to a stop behind Kenny, Emery slowly and gently reached her hands up and slid them around Kenny’s abdomen. His posture tightened briefly in surprise before she felt him relax in her arms, Emery’s hands flattening against his chest.

“Good morning,” Kenny’s voice rumbled warmly, the vibrations felt through the placement of her hands.

“…morning…” Emery replied, her voice soft and barely audible. Kenny wasn’t oblivious- he knew that something was on her mind and affecting her sleep, but he didn’t want to pry.

“Would you like some coffee?”

Emery stood there, considering the offer for a moment, before eventually giving her head a soft shake, not lifting her skull from Kenny’s broad back. Her fingers played with the cloth on the front, liking the softness of the fabric.

“Do you… want to go out today? Go for a walk, visit that one butterfly exhibit?” Kenny was trying anything, hoping to lift Emery’s spirit in any way he could. When she once again shook her head no, he felt his heart sink a bit. Hopefully, he could figure something out that would help her.

Throughout the day, Emery stayed at Kenny’s side- but didn’t pay much attention to what was going on. Movies and TV shows played in the background, whatever game Kenny was playing at the time, and phone calls that Kenny had with TK or the Bucks. While it didn’t seem like much, it was their usual to share the same room in a comfortable silence. However, this occasion was not the same silence- it was almost a bittersweet, awkward silence that fell around the space.

With a building frustration at his game, Kenny got up and walked away from the desk, sitting down on the couch beside Emery. He leaned his head back to rest it on the couch with a sigh, closing his blue eyes momentarily before reopening them and looking at his better half. He reached out and gently took her hand in his own, rubbing his thumb over the skin on the back of her hand in soothing circles.

“Ree…. Angel—what’s on your mind? I know something’s bothering you; talk to me, please.”

The silence stretched for a few moments as Emery stared at their hands connected, his larger hand engulfing her own. The strength that he possessed, yet he was always so gentle with her. Chewing on her bottom lip, Emery contemplated her words before sighing.

“Just… scared, I guess… with everything going on with BCC… and Callis…. Pheonix… I know you had the surgeries, and you’re all good now…. But I’m still worried about you—about Adam…. Nick… Matt – Cassidy, too. A part of me feels helpless, like I’m a hindrance and that I’m just in the way,” Emery began, the words just flowing from her mouth now that she started, “Maybe I’m not good enough, not strong enough—maybe I don’t deserve any of this, don’t deserve you— and I’ve tried not thinking about it, ignoring it. For a while, I did, too—but then the nightmares started happening, and I couldn’t get over them, and I don’t want to sleep because I know once I fall asleep that they’ll just come back and—”

“Woah woah, easy, Kitten, easy,” Kenny soothed, maneuvering on the couch to look at Emery better. His hands reached out, careful not to startle her. His hands cupped her face, eyes looking into her own with love and worry. His thumbs brushed away the tears that had fallen unbeknown to her, and Kenny placed a gentle kiss on Emery’s forehead.

“Are you afraid to fall asleep because you think you’re gonna have a nightmare?” he asked her, to which she nodded wordlessly before subconsciously nuzzling into his hand. Kenny’s heart broke to see her in such an emotional state; all he wanted to do was make everything better, to see her smile once again.

“Do you think….” Kenny asked, “Do you think it would be helpful if we were cuddling?”

Emery opened her eyes and peered at Kenny, swallowing the lump in her throat before giving an uncertain nod. Gently, the Canadian reached his arms out to pull her close, laying back on the couch. Her head rested against his chest, his relaxed breathing lulling her into a calm sense of security. Kenny’s left hand wrapped around her waist, holding her close, while his right hand stroked through her brown and blue hair.

Planting another soft kiss on her forehead, Kenny whispered, “Aishi teru yo, koneko chan. Anata wa watashi ga ima made deatsu ta naka de mottomo tsuyoku, mottomo yasashiku, mottomo kanpeki de,  mottomo omoiyari no aru hito desu. Watashi to onaji you ni jibun wa mi te morae tara ii nonie to omoi masu. Subete no gimon ya shinpai wa torinozoke tara ii nonie to omoi masu. Yasuraka ni, aisuru hito yo, watashi wa akumu wa yosetsuke nai tame ni koko ni iru.”

(Translation: I love you so much, kitten. You are the strongest, sweetest, most perfect, most caring person I have ever met. I wish you could see yourself the way I do. I wish I could take away all the doubts and the worries. Rest, my love, I will be here to keep the nightmares at bay.)

Against his chest, he felt a smile lift her lips just barely and gave a gentle smile of his own, listening to her breathing even out as she slowly drifted off, “Sleep, I’ll keep you safe.”

[delilahcalicocat]

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The Devil's Right Hand Woman

MJF x Original Fem character

Suzie is a undervalued wrestler in AEW but she knows she can be more, in steps MJF who says he can help her, but is he only in it for himself?

Part 1

I walked down the hallway of the Prudential Center on my way back to the women's locker room, pausing to spit put the left over blood pack from my mouth into the bin.

If my mother could see me now she would have been horrified at her only daughter covered in fake blood wearing a bright pink cheerleader wrestling outfit. But as my mother didn't approve of my choice of career I didn't have to worry about her opinion of my appearance.

I entered the locker room where the rest of the other ladies were just packing up, ready to go home. There was still one more match of the night but as that was between the men, us women weren't needed so we could warm down and pack up. I groaned as I sat down, I was feeling pretty beaten up after my match with Britt Baker, a wrestler that I admired and modeled my career on, so when I heard that Tony Kahn had arranged for us to have a match, I was estatic. But, as usual it was pre-planned for me to loose as I had just graduated from a jobber, I still couldn't be seen to beat the great Britt Baker, who had just walked through the door.

"Thanks for a great match Kiddo, you really put me through my paces." Said Britt loosening her boots and stepping out of them. All the other wrestlers called me Kiddo , they couldn't be bothered to learn my name and they thought this was a term of endearment, it wasn't.

"Oh thank you for letting me try out those new spots, I think the crowd loved them" I replied.

"They certainly thought it was something" came Toni Storm's voice from the shower.

Britt rolled her eyes "ignore her, I think you're really coming along."

I sighed "I just wish Tony would let me win for once"

"Well, perhaps you should tell him toots" a male voice answered. My head snapped to the door, some whst painfully after my fight to see MJF, the AEW World Champion in all his glory with belt and wrestling gear on.

"Get out of here Max, this is the woman's locker room and last time I checked you weren't a woman" bit back Britt.

Max held up his hands and smirked at the Doctor. "Sheesh, I'm going anyway, I've got better things to do then hang out with you loosers." And with that he was gone as quickly as he appeared.

"I still can't believe they made him champion" said Toni as she came out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her.

"Don't worry, Adam will take the title from him in London. Then we'll have a real champ" smiled Britt as she got up to go into the shower room, she turned back to me "I meant what I said Kiddo, you'll get your shot soon. Are you coming to the after party? Kenny is hosting at his hotel."

I hadn't planned on going, in fact, I wasn't even aware that I was invited but after the night I had, I needed to have a few drinks to let off some steam. "Yeah sure, why not" I replied.

I showered and changed back into the clothes I arrived in which was just a pair of jeans and a black tight t-shirt. I hoped that this wasn't a dressed up party as I hadn't brought anything like that with me.

Kenny Omega and the other men stayed in a different hotel to most of the women, only the couple like Britt and Adam Cole stayed in the same hotel for obvious reasons. Tonight it seemed that Kenny had booked out the downstairs bar that lead to the outside pool area. It was a warm New York night and I was grateful for the glass of sparkling wine that was given to me once I showed the security guard my AEW pass with my ID.

Everyone was here, even the House of Black and Julia Hart who despite their appearances when they were in character were actually the nicest people in AEW. Juila was the only one who actually called me by name. She spotted me and waved me over.

"Hey Suzie, I didn't know you were coming tonight"

"Yes, well I needed to blow off some steam and im not booked for a while so I can have lots of drinks before I get back to training"

"That's my girl" cheered Julia as she passed me a tequila shot. I quickly downed my wine, licked the salt from the back of my hand, shot the tequila and finally bit into the lemon, shivering from the alcohol and bitterness of the lemon.

My night went by in a flash after that in a whirlwind of alcohol and laughter. I even got to speak with Kenny and the Young Bucks who were a great laugh but the night was winding down now as the sun was threatening to come up and I was trying to work out in my drunk mind how to get back to the hotel whilst I was laying on the sun lounger.

"Getting a head start on your tan toots?" I looked up to see MJF once again.

"Maxwell Jacob Friedman, what do I owe the pleasure" I slurred

"I think I understood that, I just thought I saw a damsel in distress thst might need saving"

"Like you care"

Max sat down next to me "despite what you may think of me, I'm not a bad person Kiddo"

"Suzie" I corrected him.

"What?"

"My name is Suzie, Susan actually but I prefer Susie"

Max held out his hand "you can call me Max"

I took his outstretched hand and instead of him shaking it he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it. " Now I heard on the grapevine that you were a little pissed off with the matches Khan had been booking you in"

"He treats me like a jobber but I know I can be more. I am more"

"Hmmm seems to me that you need an image change. Plus a new training reigme. I can help with both"

I was shocked "really? Why?"

"I won't tell you my reasons now, you won't remember them. I just want you to trust me. Can you Suzie? Trust me?"

"Fine " I said, without thinking.

Part 2 here

[blazeeblake]

To anyone who cares, I’d like to just break it to you as gently as possible that many wrestlers are actually huge nerds. I know that the overarching theme seems to be big angry meatheads and sexy ladies, but I will see that perception and raise you a bunch of folks acting out soap opera level drama, in costume, in between fights with varying levels of choreography (yes choreography over “fake” because wrestling does in fact hurt, even when planned and executed properly). What’s more, their nerdy interests very often bleed into their character, a lot:

Pictured: Kenny Omega in his very clearly Terminator-inspired cleaner persona; former TBS champion Jade Cargil as Cheetara; former women’s world champion Nyla Rose in gear inspired by Mystique; former women’s world champion Thunderosa in gear inspired by X-23.

Outside of recognizable, cosplay adjacent gear, there’s also original characters based on nerdy properties, ala this dweeb, who ran his own IRL D&D game with other wrestlers (and I say “dweeb” as someone who legit knows the guy):

and that’s not even getting into the video game podcasts, and twitch gaming channels, as well as indie wrestling events where folks wrestle, in character, as fictional people from all sorts of fandoms.

So, yeah, wrestling is nerdy af and that’s badass. The woman from the og post, Athena? She not only wrestled as Karlach, but she won and has been champion for over 500 days.

So I am not a big rasslin' fan overall. I follow one, a single, wrestler and it's Athena/Ember Moon, because she's a huge nerd (and hot, but I repeat myself).

I just need the Baldur's Gate community to understand that this badass pro wrestler cosplayed as Karlach and it was smoking. Thank you for your time.

[wrestlersownmyheart]

Hello it's me again! I loved your Adam Cole fic so much that I had to request an imagine myself! 💕🥰

The reader is a movie star actress and she's newly married to Adam Cole (secretly, only their parents and their best friends knew about the two marrying) but one of Adam's friends from the Elite accidentally leaked a photo of them and the press and her fans started to criticize Adam; how he was out of her league and whatnot, making him a little insecure about himself and the reader assures him that he's good enough for her, with the reader posting on social media to clear the air/show off her amazing husband to the world

Thank you for the kind words! HOpe you enjoy this! :-)

Pairing: Adam Cole X (Famous Actress) Reader Summary: When one of Y/N's and Adam's close friends leak a photo of their wedding, fans become critical of Adam. After he grows a little insecure, Y/N has to lift her man back up. Disclaimers: I own nothing or anyone associated or affiliated with AEW. I own only the original characters. This is just a fictional story that came from my imagination. Content/Trigger Warnings: Fluff

Note: This is another shorty, but hopefully a goodie! It was requested by @sultryfandoms And I hope it is enjoyed!

You're the One For Me

You were cuddled up with your new husband, Adam Cole, on your huge sofa when your phones both buzzed with a notification. As Adam kissed your neck, you giggled and reached for said phone. Then he was reaching for his own phone as well.

Upon looking at the screen, you saw that it was a tweet notification from your mutual friend, Kenny Omega. A tweet that you were both tagged in.

It was a photo of your private--and secret--wedding only a month before, you were smiling up at Adam and the two of you were about to kiss.

“@adamcolepro @Y/N Such a beautiful wedding,” the tweet read.

“What the hell,” You and Adam both said at the same time.

The wedding was supposed to be a secret. You weren’t ready for it to be out yet.

Immediately, you dialed Kenny up on speaker phone.

“I know! I know!” He greeted. “I just deleted it. I’m so sorry. It just slipped my mind.”

“What were you thinking??” You demanded.

“Well, I was going through pics on my phone and saw it, and thought what a beautiful photo it was, and I just wasn’t thinking.”

“Yeah, you clearly weren’t.” You groaned softly.

“I’m so sorry, really, Y/N.”

“I know. I know. It’s okay. It was bound to come out sooner or later anyway.” Your phone vibrated with another alert and you quickly checked and saw it was another tweet from Kenny.

“‘Oops, my bad!’?” You questioned. “My bad? Really? That’s the best you can come up with?”

“I’m flustered, Y/N! Give me a break!”

Suddenly your phone was blowing up with alerts. “Oh, no,” you groaned again.

“What is it?”

“My phone is going crazy! Because of your tweet, people are going insane!”

“My phone is going nuts too,” Adam said, by your side. He was looking his phone over. “Oh wow, these people are being HARSH. What the hell?”

“I’m really sorry guys…”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it later. We have some damage control to do. Bye Kenny.” Without giving him a chance to reply, you hung up and began reading through the horrible tweets being sent your way.

@adamcolepro is so out of @Y/N’s league it’s not even funny.

@Y/N can do so much better. @adamcolepro doesn’t even have a six-pack!

@adamcolepro How did this guy manage to marry @Y/N? For real. He’s not that great.

Disgusted, you laid your phone aside. Glanced over at Adam to find him looking at his phone, his brows furrowed in concentration.

“Babe? What’s wrong,” you asked.

“Do I look flabby?” He asked. “I mean… I don’t have a six pack…”

“No baby,” You said softly, turning his face to yours. “You are not flabby or anything of the sort. Don’t listen to them. They are just jealous.”

He nodded without saying anything. You had a feeling this was just the beginning of this discussion.

“You’re gorgeous, babe, really. You have nothing to worry about.” You told him, shifting over and settling yourself in his lap and wrapping your arms around his neck, you kissed him.

“Okay.”

“How about I make our favorite lunch?

“I don’t know, Y/N. Maybe I ought to eat something else.”

“You’re not going to let go of what they said are you?”

“It’s a little hard to just let it go,” he admitted. “I mean… they have a point. Maybe I should start adding more ab crunches into my workout.”

“Oh babe,” You said on a groan. “You’re absolutely fine. Believe me. If I hadn’t been attracted to you I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you. There has to be a level of attraction, ya know? And my level of attraction is pretty darn high.”

Adam grinned at you, “Okay, I believe you. But it still wouldn’t hurt to workout a little harder.”

You sighed, “Whatever floats your boat, babe. Whatever floats your boat.”

}i{}i{}i{}i{}i{

Several days passed since that eventful tweet, and Adam had sure enough began working out harder than ever. You worried that he’d over-do it. That he’d hurt himself. But he seemed to grow stronger, leaner. You were beginning to see lines in his stomach that weren’t there before.

“Babe, aren’t you going a little crazy with the workouts?”

“Don’t you like the results,” Adam asked, pulling you into his arms and kissing you.

“Yes, I do. I love them. But then again, I loved you before the results. Just be careful okay? I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I’m not going to hurt myself, I promise,” he replied, with another kiss.

“It just seems like you spend all your time working out now. We’ve not had much time together for the past week. We’re supposed to still be in the honeymoon phase, you know?”

He nodded, “I get it. And you’re right. I’ll try to lighten up a bit.”

You felt bad. You could see that the horrible tweets were still weighing on his mind. You hated seeing him so insecure. It wasn’t like him. He was usually really confident and almost cocky. You loved that about him. The first time you met sparks had flown. You were acting in a new movie and Adam had a small part in it--only one scene with you and then a couple other scenes with other actors. But the minute your skin touched in a handshake when you met, you knew you’d found the man of your dreams. You knew you’d marry him. You just didn’t realize it would be so soon--six months to be exact.

You wanted your cocky, confident--yes, at times egotistical husband back.

You decided then and there to go on Instagram and address the very large elephant in the room, so to speak. Giving Adam a soft kiss on the mouth, you left your private gym in the basement and headed upstairs for the living room.

Sitting on the sofa, you pulled up Instagram on your phone and started to post a photo from your wedding. And with it you began typing out a message to the fans and un-fans alike. You made sure to tag your husband in the post as well so he wouldn't miss it.

When you were finished, you sat the phone aside and waited.

}i{}i{}i{}i{}i{

Adam was working on his crunches when his phone alerted him to an Instagram notification. Stopping what he was doing, he picked up the phone and saw that it was a post from Y/N. Curious, he read it.

It said:

Dear fans, and non-fans,

I realize that a few days ago a photo was accidentally leaked of my wedding to @adamcolepro. While it was not our plans to reveal our marriage yet, I’m glad it is now out. I want you to know that I’m thankful for those of you who are being supportive. It means the world to me. But to those who have been nothing but hateful and distasteful toward my husband, I do not appreciate it, or the things I’ve read.

To those who’re saying I could do so much better, that is a lie. I could not do any better than Adam because there IS no better than Adam. He’s the light in my life and I’m so grateful to be his wife. As for the awful comments made about him.... I’m chalking it up to pure jealousy. Adam, in my opinion, is the most gorgeous man on the face of the planet.

I hope that this clears the air and puts this issue to rest. If not, that’s on you, not me or Adam. We will continue being happy and living our best life while you will keep being the miserable person you are.

Sincerely,

Y/N/Cole

}i{}i{}i{}i{}i{

After about fifteen minutes, you saw Adam come up from the basement with a pleased, but baffled look on his face. “Did you really mean all that?” He asked you, indicating the instagram post on his phone.

“With every fiber of my being,” you said softly, making room for him on the sofa. He walked over and sat down on the sofa next to you and pulled you onto his lap. “You’re the one for me.”

“I love you, ya know that?”

You nodded, almost shyly, and kissed him. “Yes. And I love you every bit as much.”

He returned your kiss, deepened it. “What do you say we go upstairs and enjoy some of the honeymoon phase of our marriage, huh?” He asked, standing to his feet with you cradled against his chest.

“I’m here for it,” you smiled, as he carried you to the stairs.

If you want on my tag list, just ask! 🙂

Tagging:

@oreillystolemyheart @lookalivesunshine-x @eshia16 @swamptrashwithasideofsass @jmfiction @sausagefest1996 @pikapuff316 @writertoo18 @chasingeverybreakingwave @rollinsgirl10 @ashleykaiba @scarletts-future-wife @blondekel77 @haven-raven012591 @sassymox @roman-the-rat @skarlettmikaelson @thepalaceofmelanie @blueblazezz @darktammy @bigpsychicbagelauthor @breezy14fan @bamakakechick @jesaigne @demonqueen29 @knowwhythenightingalesings @gold--gucciempress@xoxobalor @pleasantlyshamelesswizard @gothicninibalor @calwitch @vebner37 @mindofasagittaruis @buckybarnessmile @mariejr88-blog @reignsirish @amariemoore @yungbludjazz360 @waywardwrestlewritingwaif @drewmcintyrekoccsrocbwdgfan @thiccc-rider-mcintyre @shortyiceheart @thatnerdwriter @kalliravenne @wickedsunfire @letsgivethisonemoreshot @sweetpea-1970 @nicolewoo @damiandoll @nyc-kyra-93 @romanreignsfan12 @heavymetalgirl420

[snarkwriteswrasslin]

2020 - archived

[18+ advised ] This is going to be long af. I’m going to do my best to put everything - all my writing on this blog, in one goddamn place, but I make no promises, so forgive me in advance. Below the cut is everything I’ve written and posted, for every single wrestler I’ve written for so far.  If its’ not linked, then I haven’t posted it yet or it’s a placeholder. If it’s bolded/has an m out beside it, it is most definitely mature and only meant for a mature (18+) audience. If there’s an asterisk (*) out beside the title, it belongs to or is part of something else that I have on the blog.

If you want to be on the taglist for my writing, you can find that [here]. If you want to know what I write / how often I write and stuff like that, my faq/about post is [here]

adam hangman page | take you home | spring | mature.

adam hangman page | baby fever | winter| mature.

adam hangman page | darlin | summer | mature. 

baron corbin | right now | winter | mature.

darby allin | the sound of silence | spring | mature.

drew mcintyre | somebody watching me | spring | mature.

drew mcintyre | alpha | winter | mature.

ethan carter iii | worship you | winter | mature.

jon moxley | duality| summer | mature.

jon moxley | allnighter | summer | mature.

jungle boy | touch myself | winter | mature.

jungle boy | unnamed as of yet | summer | mature.

kevin owens | morning | summer | mature.

kyle o’reilly | backseats and phone calls | spring | mature.

kyle o’reilly | the quiet game | winter | mature.

mjf | dessert first | winter | mature.

mjf | sweet | summer | mature.

mjf | morningafter | summer | mature.

roman reigns | alpha | winter | mature.

sammy guevara | dirty dancer | winter | suggestive.

sammy guevara | cheater | summer | mature.

trent beretta | blackout | summer | mature.

trent beretta | sneaky | fall | mature.

adam hangman page | whatcha gonna do by hinder | angst / comfort.

adam hangman page | push my buttons [ suggestive] | 

adam hangman page | i’m erasing myself from the narrative | i’m putting myself back into the narrative | may you always be satisfied | the story of tonight. 

adam hangman page | second one to know |  dancing around an open fire | | 

adam hangman page | dreaming of a wedding dress | | 

adam hangman page | the love boat || | 

adam hangman page | sweet cherry pie || that dress is begging to come off [ virgin oc; mature af } 

adam hangman page | | honey on my table suggestive | motion of the ocean - cruise romance au, mature | 

adam hangman page | alone among the couples | 

adam hangman page | im yours - alphaverse au | won’t you stay with me alphaverse au |  bathtub mermaid - alphaverse au/suggestive | 

adam hangman page | she’s a nutcracker | 

adam hangman page | virginia on my mind, angst | fuck you and the horse you rode in on [ an au of what ifs second chapter, holy shit mature]  | | punishment pretty please, goes with wildside/whatifs holy shit mature | pour some sugar on me, mature | | 

baron corbin | everything you can do i can do better | 

baron corbin | follow me | prince not so charming | 

baron corbin | love on the rocks | 

curtis axel | | | boop [  mature ] | be kind rewind [ roommates au, mature ]| 

curtis axel | discount chocolate day | | 

drew gulak thoughts of yesterdays | august rush | lost in your eyes [ suggestive.]

drew gulak | he loves me, he loves you not [ miiild suggestive, alphaverse] | | leave her wild [ suggestive alphaverse..kinda] | 

drew gulak |once upon a dream [ soulmate au] |  starcrossed lovers and other strangers [ suggestive ] |

drew gulak | valentines day episode | 

drew mcintyre | marionette | | just between me and you | 

drew mcintyre | burnt homemade chocolates [ conclusion to my alphaverse short fic, suggestive and fluffy ] | 

edge x ofc x christian | seeds of unrest | 

elias samson | couples costume contest | 

elias samson | waiting on your friends to leave 

ethan carter III | winners remorse | rewrite history [ a retelling of w.r] | |

finn balor | after an endless dream | 

jay white | graveyard smash | punch drunk princess [ vampire au; mature] | it should’ve been you [human version of vampire au]

jeff hardy  | it all started with glow paint [ suggestive; bordering mature ] | 

jeff hardy | do i look lonely |  my lips are up here [suggestive]

jon moxley | hurt me so good | if I loved you less I could talk about it more | can’t find a better man [mature].

jon moxley | bloody valentine | 

jon moxley | your days are numbered | spared but not forgiven | nature adores a virgin [mature]

jon moxley | all the guys want cheerleaders | ps i lo- | no more almosts | warm desert wind | | dark as night [ roommates au / suggestive ] | 

jon moxley | siren song [ soulmate/pirate and siren au | 

jungle boy | sweet boy | 

kyle o’reilly | can I see through you | | death of a bachelor | 

mjf | did you just grab yourself on tv | 

mjf | candy hearts taste like chalk | 

pete dunne | you jump i jump jack | | you can’t win | I’m melting

pete dunne |bitter bite alphaverse au |  aftershocks suggestive |

roderick strong |  trying not to smile | 

roderick strong | kisses like cruelty [suggestive,borderline mature] | | | 

roderick strong | walking the line | put ‘em up | 

roman reigns | patchwork heart | 

roman reigns | slow roasted | 

roman reigns | anorgasmia | 

sami zayn | farmers market | moonbeams on pumpkins

sami zayn | heart and soul |

sami zayn | reflecting light | 

zack ryder | rough rider 

12 Days Of Christmas Masterlist 2020

My entries for the 12 Days of Christmas on both my writing blogs can be found on this post right here.  [ merry christmas clicky ]

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Christmas

New Years

Valentines Day

Other Holidays / Special Occasions

ORIGINAL CHARACTERS I HAVE / USE TO WRITE

original character, Adeline x | 

original character, Kasey x | 

original character, Violet x | 

WRESTLERS ONLY DOWN BELOW

adam hangman page x [m] | x - soft hangman | x -hangman does halloween | x hangman on your first date [ fluffy,suggestive]|  x [soft] | adopting a dog | enemies to lovers | roommates to lovers | softly mature | more halloween hangman | 

buddy murphy x [ mature, sex life] | 

cash wheeler x [ suggestive ] | 

chuck taylor x [soft]| x more soft | 

damien priest x [ mature ] | 

darby allin x[soft] | x [mature] | 

drew gulak x | 

drew mcintyre x [ mature ] | 

eddie kingston x | x | x mature | enemies to lovers | 

elite x celebrating Halloween with the Elite | 

ethan carter iii x [m] | 

finn balor x [ m] | x [m] | 

heath slater x | 

jeff hardy x[m] | sick female!SO [pms mentioned briefly] | 

jon moxley x [m] | x [m] | 

jungle boy x[food/cooking] | x [ actual! jungle boy in love ] | fall softness | 

kenny omega x [ suggestive ] | x | x [halloween] | 

kevin owens x [m] | 

kyle o’reilly x [ mature - werewolf!kyle ] | 

luchasaurus x[mature+soft] | 

marko stunt  x soft and mature | x mature | x soft | x daddy kink of sorts |

matt jackson x [m] | x more m | enemiest to lovers -suggestive | 

nick jackson x [suggestive] | losing a basketball game to you | x mature/soft mix | 

orange cassidy x [lowkey m] | 

Pac x [suggestive fluff] | 

pentagon jr x mature | 

pete dunne x [ mature ] | 

prince devitt x mature | 

ecw era raven x [soft ] | x [m] | x[halloween] | 

roderick strong x [ adopting a kid with ] | 

roman reigns x!HeelRoman, slight nsfw | 

sami callihan x [ music preferences ] | 

trent beretta x [lowkey m] | x [ soft ] | x [ more soft ] | 

tyler breeze x [ enemies to lovers, polyamory hinted at | 

undertaker x [ gender neutral baker / biker taker SO] | 

wardlow x [ m ] | x [m] | x [ soft] | x[ halloween] | x mature | x Christmas with Wardlow | 

AEW;

- adam hangman page [ f s v ] | o i d | c m x | k l | 

- cash wheeler [ i l s ] | [ m o r ] | c s u | 

- chuck taylor [ j m w ] | [ a d l ] | [ c  v ] | i k w | n u x | 

- darby allin [  k o t ] 

- jack evans [ b t h ] | 

- jon moxley [ a k r ] | 

- jungle boy [ d m o ] | 

- matt jackson [ k q w ] |  [ b d e ] | f i o | u y | c j v | 

- mjf [ s k v ] | b m u | 

- nick jackson [ a b g ] | [ m o ] | c i o | 

- orange cassidy [ f h x ] | [ o ] | [ i p v ] | [ k w ]

- pac [ d m x ] | [ i p u ] | [ f o s ] | 

- santana [ a o q ] | 

- trent beretta [ j m u ] | 

- wardlow [ d j w ] | [ k u ] | [ b m r ] | [ a o v ] | c i p | 

WWE NXT;

- chad gable [ b o u ] | 

- damien priest [ d i v ] | 

- drew mcintyre [ b e d ] | i p w | 

- jinder mahal [ g i w ] | 

- roman reigns [ c u m ] | 

- timothy thatcher [ c j y ] | f k | d | 

- tyler breeze [ l x y ] | d j u | 

TNA;

- heath miller [ b e d ] | 

NJPW;

- jay white [ d f k ] | k u m | b j w | 

AEW;

WWE / NXT;

AEW;

WWE / NXT; 

[wrestlingisfake]

Hard to Kill preview

Kenny Omega & Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson vs. Rich Swann & Chris Sabin & Moose - When Kenny Omega won the AEW men’s world title on December 2, he completed a long-simmering heel turn by forming an alliance with Impact Wrestling executive Don Callis.  Omega and Callis began showing up on both Impact and AEW programming acting like Omega is “the real world champion,” which irritated Impact world champion Rich Swann.  Omega also reunited with Impact’s men’s tag team champions, Gallows and Anderson, who had already been having issues with former champs Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley.

This match was originally booked as Omega/Gallows/Anderson vs. Swann/Sabin/Shelley, but the day before the show Impact announced that “unavoidable circumstances” prevented Shelley from traveling to the show in Nashville.  Shelley’s last-minute replacement is Moose, who has recently been feuding with Swann.  For over eight months, Moose has been calling himself the “TNA world champion,” presumably to set up a “who’s the real champion?” match with the Impact world champion.  But that seems kind of silly now that Omega and Swann are kind of doing the same thing, but with more credibility.  So I was hoping they’d get Swann vs. Moose wrapped up before Swann vs. Omega got going.  I certainly wasn’t expecting Moose to be involved in this match.

Because of Omega and the AEW interpromotional angle, this may well be the biggest show Impact has run in years.  So Impact is motivated to deliver the best they can for whatever new audience this match will attract.  The big question is whether AEW is invested enough to send a few of their guys to appear on this show for a hot angle.  Any unadvertised AEW wrestler causing any kind of ruckus on this show will get people talking.  But AEW and Impact seem to be taking their time with this storyline, and they may not think now is the time to drop the next bombshell plot point.

To me, the likeliest finishes are a) Omega’s team dominates and wins to get more heat, or b) Swann scores the winning fall to set up an Omega vs. Swann singles match.  The best setup for that match would be Swann pinning Omega, but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.  But if they sell it like Omega’s team are the heavy favorites, and that Omega’s ego is bruised by an upset even if he didn’t lose the fall, then that can still work.  But then again, that was my gut feeling before Moose was added to the match.  Now it feels far more likely that Moose will turn on his partners or walk out on them, which could change the entire complexion of the match.  That uncertainty has me pretty interested in how things unfold.

Eddie Edwards vs. Sami Callihan - This is billed as a “barbed wire massacre” match, so the ring ropes will be replaced with barbed wire, and objects wrapped in barbed wire will be provided at ringside to use as weapons.  Obviously, in this sort of match nobody is going to be disqualified or counted out. 

I can’t say I understand the storyline leading up to this.  Edwards and Callihan had a vicous feud following a 2018 incident where Callihan botched a spot and hit Edwards in the face with a baseball bat.  Then they seemed to go down separate paths, and then recently Sami and Ken Shamrock started picking on Edwards and his wife for some reason.  The idea now appears to be that these two will never be able to settle it, except that they both clearly put it all aside for the better part of a year.  In any case, they’ve run out of hardcore stips to use in their matches, so here we are.

I believe this is the fourth “barbed wire massacre” match Impact has booked.  The first two were on pay-per-view in 2005 and 2008.  The third was taped for television in 2018, but was only streamed on Twitch because it was “too violent for TV.”  I remember watching the first one (Abyss vs. Sabu) in 2005 and being too squeamish to enjoy the performance.  In matches like this you have to hope the wrestlers know what they’re doing and don’t go too far just to create a “moment.”  But with Callihan and Edwards, that doesn’t apply, so I just have to hope the match was taped in advance, so that if one of them was gravely injured we’d have seen reports about it by now.

Both of these guys are pushed as top acts in Impact, but Callihan always seems to come up short in big matches like this.  I can’t see either guy accepting defeat and letting the feud end.  But if this is really the final chapter, then I think Edwards needs the last laugh more than Sami does.

Deonna Purrazzo vs. Taya Valkyrie - Purrazzo is defending the Impact women’s championship. Valkyrie held the title from January 2019 to January 2020--the longest single reign in the title’s history--but after losing the belt she spent 2020 preoccupied in comedy stuff with Rosemary and John E. Bravo.  So Taya’s doing the whole “you’ve only done so well as champion because I haven’t gotten around to facing you” bit.

I haven’t been able to get into Impact’s women’s division.  I suppose it’s because so many of the characters seem superficial and unserious.  Like, Purrazzo is presented as a solid in-ring performer, but outside the ring she’s the kind of self-absorbed chicken heel who plots with her sidekick to devise ways to duck upcoming challengers.  Impact is full of characters like that, but the women’s division in particular has almost nothing else.  Hell, Taya was playing that role when she was the heel champion.  So I can’t say I’m very motivated to see these two fight.  I also don’t really believe we’re going to get a title change at this point.

Manik vs. Chris Bey vs. Rohit Raju - This is a three-way match for the X division championship, so whoever scores the first fall over any opponent will win Manik’s title.  This story started with Bey as champion and Raju as his crony, but Raju was the one henchman in wrestling history who managed to manipulate his boss to his advantage, so Raju won the title from Bey in a three-way with TJP.  Raju was so worried about losing his belt to TJP that he arranged a stipulation where TJP could no longer challenge him.  Then Raju issued an open challenge answered by Manik...the masked man character originally played by TJP.  So now Manik is the champion and definitely not TJP, but Raju and Bey aren’t buying it.

I don’t really care who wins this.  Every time they do a multi-man match for the X title, they demonstrate that multi-man matches don’t settle anything, because there’s always somebody who’s like “Well I wasn’t pinned, so I should get another match!”  So if, for example, Bey pins Raju, you know it’s just going to lead to Bey vs. TJP and/or Manik later.  Except Raju is going to weasel his way into the situation, for another three-way.  (Unless Crazzy Steve is free that weekend, and it’ll be a four-way.)  There’s no direction here. The best thing that could happen to the X title (aside from retiring it as an obsolete relic) is if some AEW guys came in to fight for it.  And I don’t expect that to happen soon.

Havok & Neveah vs. Tasha Steelz & Kiera Hogan - This match is the tournament final to decide which team will be awarded the Impact women’s tag team championship.  The title was originally introduced in 2009, but a lack of interest in booking it properly led to ODB teaming with Eric Young to win the belts in March 2012.  The last title defense I can find was in May 2012, although it took over a year for Impact to officially abandon the championship.

I can see why Impact was motivated to bring the title back, since throughout 2020 most of their women’s roster was paired off in various alliances: Taya Valkyrie & Rosemary, Deonna Purrazzo & Kimber Lee, Kylie Rae & Susie, etc. But just because most of the women on the roster have a natural partner doesn’t mean there are enough women to fill out a tag team division.  I suspect these two teams are going to end up rematching a lot for the tag belts, while the teams they eliminated in the tournament go back to focusing on singles action.  If just having women’s tag titles automatically meant expanding the women’s roster and pushing more women, then that would be great.  But we’ve seen that it doesn’t work that way, not only in WWE, but also the last time Impact tried it.

My gut feeling is that Steelz and Hogan have more future potential, so I’d probably prefer to put the title on them.  But Havok and Neveah have the edge in size and meanness, and I could easily see Impact wanting them to dominate as the champions a la the Road Warriors.

Eric Young & Cody Deaner & Joe Doering vs. Cousin Jake & Rhino & Tommy Dreamer - This is being called an “old school rules” match, which is Impact’s way of saying “ex-ECW guys are in this so we want to say ‘extreme rules’ but WWE trademarked that.” Basically there are no count-outs or disqualifications.  Cody and Jake were a tag team until Deaner became obsessed with proving himself against Young; when he failed, he turned on Jake and joined Young’s group.  Rhino tried to help Jake out, but it wasn’t until Tommy Dreamer got involved that they were able to even the odds.  I’m pretty sure Young’s faction is just getting started and they are going to destroy the babyfaces here.

Ethan Page vs. The Karate Man - Page is one half of The North, which spent most of 2019-2020 dominating the men’s tag team division.  Karate Man is the alter ego of...Ethan Page.  So he’s fighting himself.  That’s always fun.

The backstory here is that the North struggled to recover from losing the tag title earlier this year, and Page grew increasingly desperate to convince Josh Alexander that they could regroup. The tipping point was when Alexander was wrestling Brian Myers and Karate Man interfered, causing Josh to get disqualified.  Page did a skit where he tried to get therapy from Karate Man, before they decided to fight instead.

The bigger story behind all this is that Page’s contract with Impact Wrestling reportedly expired at the end of 2020, so he’s technically not even with the promotion anymore.  Reportedly, this “match” was taped weeks ago.  Just because Page is a free agent doesn’t mean he won’t simply re-sign with Impact at any moment.  But this looks to be his swan song before he moves on...or the pivotal angle that sets up how he’s staying.

Obviously this is going to have to be pre-taped with Patty Duke Show special effects.  I’m not sure if that means it’ll be a ~*~cinematic match~*~ though.  They could do a weird brawl in a weird location like the Boneyard Match or Stadium Stampede, or they could just do it on the normal set in a normal ring and not do anything weird except the split screen effects.  I honestly don’t know what to expect.

Rosemary & Crazzy Steve vs. Tenille Dashwood & Kaleb with a K - Rosemary and Steve used to be in The Decay together years ago, and occasionally Impact remembers that and has them interact.  Tenille is formerly Emma from WWE, playing a stuck-up Instagram influencer gimmick with Kaleb as her personal assistant.  Rosemary already beat Dashwood in the setup to this match, and I don’t think Kaleb is going to last long against Steve, so I guess the weirdo babyfaces will triumph.

Josh Alexander vs. Brian Myers - This is scheduled for the pre-show.  As noted above, Alexander and Ethan Page had some issues that came to a head when Page caused Alexander to lose a match to Myers.  So Josh wants to avenge that loss.  It’s kinda funny to me that the serious match about wins and losses and professionalism is on the pre-show while the “Ethan Page beats himself up” comedy is on the main show.  But anyway, it seems like Alexander is headed for a singles push, so he might as well get that started with a win.

[hoogiehowser]

MEDIA DIARY JANUARY

:::::::::: MOVIES ::::::::::

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) I liked this so much I ended up seeing it twice. The animation is on a whole different level from everything else in theaters I just can’t believe it. Nothing has immediately endeared me to a character more that when Miles gets to the place where he’s going to put up graffiti and yells “BROOKLYN!” to get the echo. Absolutely perfect. 

Happy Death Day (2017) The trailer looked good but the trailer for the sequel looked even better. Good time repeating movie. Way better than Blood Punch. I’m excited to see more of this.

Alien: Covenant (2017) Had no clue what to expect going in but I actually dug it. It’s just Alien again like every Alien movie but what they do with David from Prometheus makes it really interesting. There’s also some straight up slasher movie sleaze that definitely appeals to me.

MacGruber (2010) It’s just a bunch of dick jokes while a bad action movie happens. There’s no clever spin to it.

Better Luck Tomorrow (2002) Wanted to watch this due to the Fast & Furious connection. It’s a great movie about overachievers and getting away with shit. I think Justin Lin is a great director and his unique voice benefits every movie he does.

Collateral (2004) I didn’t realize until the credits that this was a Michael Mann movie but it was so obvious in hindsight. The premise is simple, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx are great, and everything comes together in a genuinely cool film.

Wilson (2017) Based on a comic I don’t particularly like from Dan Clowes’ grumpy old man phase. The cool thing about the comic is that each page works on its own and has a different art style. The movie can’t do that. But it’s still faithful to the book which means it feels like a series of one page gags strung together until it finishes. Woody and Laura Dern are great though and it is pretty funny at times.

Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare (2018) There was another truth or dare based horror movie a year before that was a Syfy original. The Syfy one is better. The problem with them both is the supernatural contrivances that make people play truth or dare against their will. It’s such a strained premise.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Guy Ritchie made a King Arthur movie and it feels exactly like you’d expect. 

Thoroughbreds (2017) Girl who can’t feel emotions befriends girl who is very politely hiding her extreme emotions. Things get bad when they start to think about murder. Anton Yelchin plays a druggie scumbag loser. It’s such a good movie. 100% my kind of thing.

:::::::::: TV ::::::::::

The Great British Baking Show (Beginnings, Collections 1-4) Got addicted to this one. I love cooking competitions shows and pleasant ones are usually the best. I like seeing competitors that like each other. I like Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry not trying to tear people down. I love Mel and Sue. It’s just a nice show for the nice people.

Toei Spider-Man (Episodes 1-5) I’m not a big toku guy but Spider-Verse got me curious about various Spider-Men. Takuya Yamashiro wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider, he was injected with blood from the last survivor of Planet Spider and carries out a mission against Professor Monster’s Iron Cross Army to avenge Planet Spider and his own father. Next to nothing present from the classic Lee/Ditko Spider-Man and that’s totally alright. I’m going to try to watch more because the episode where Spider-Man has to donate his blood to hurt child has some serious heart.

The Prisoner (Episodes 7-17) I started watching this a while ago but only now got around to finishing. Mostly super clever plots and the atmosphere is always great. Patrick McGoohan sells it every single time. Some of the later episodes go really off the rails though. There’s an entire wild west episode. Nothing in this stretch tops my favorite episode, The Schizoid Man, where Number Two brainwashes Number Six to act differently and then forces Number Six to pretend to be Number Six while a different man is already pretending to be Number Six. The ending is solid though and carries a really good tv series to a confusing, surreal end.

Cutthroat Kitchen (Season 7, Episodes 1-7) Polar opposite of The Great British Baking Show. It’s the Mario Kart of cooking competition shows. Everyone tries to fuck each other over and Alton laughs at them the entire time. It’s brilliant.

:::::::::: PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING ::::::::::

TJPW Tokyo Joshi Pro ‘19 (January 4) I don’t follow TJPW and don’t know any of their wrestlers besides Meiko Satomura but I watched this because it was on before Wrestle Kingdom. Meiko vs Reika Saiki definitely made the show worth watching and the rest was pretty alright. Lots of fun, new personalities that I like.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 (January 4) Probably the most I’ve looked forward to a show and it absolutely delivered. For the past few years I’d watch WK and recommended matches but in in July I started following everything NJPW. That added investment made this WK special. Ibushi/Ospreay tore it up and I really hope Ibushi recovers soon. Jay White/Okada shocked me. Naito/Jericho was fucking brutal. And Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi was a match I was so invested in that I thought I was going to cry. If you haven’t checked out New Japan yet this show would make an excellent start. GO ACE!

Impact Homecoming (January 6) Impact has gotten pretty good. I’ve only seen a few of their most recent ppvs but it’s obvious that they have a wealth of talent and they’re willing to tell the kind of dumb stories that I really like. Since Homecoming was in Nashville I went and it was one of the best shows I’ve been to. The energy was insane all night and LAX vs Lucha Bros has to be the best match I’ve seen live. Now that they air on Twitch I’ve been following the weekly show and enjoying it quite a bit.

WWE Royal Rumble (January 27) I always love the rumble but the rumble was weird. Both rumble matches were okay but filled with dumb stuff and way too many recovery spots that were immediately deflated by the person getting eliminated. I like the winners. AJ/Daniel didn’t deliver like I wanted. Sasha and Ronda had a good match. I loved how Finn Balor worked Brock Lesnar’s diverticulitis. Fun show.

NXT UK Takeover Blackpool (January 12) NXT UK doesn’t really grip me aside from the women’s division. I liked this well enough but nothing really changed my mind. Finn Balor made a surprise appearance and he looked like such a star compared to everyone else. Excited to see what WALTER can do here though.

GCW 400 Degreez (January 12) GCW’s brand of hardcore indie nonsense is my absolute favorite. 400 Degreez isn’t the best they’ve done but it was full of disgusting beautiful deathmatch bullshit. Markus Crane vs Nate Webb especially.

NXT Takeover Phoenix (January 26) Takeover always delivers. Johnny Gargano vs Ricochet was definitely the match of the night. I don’t dig the War Raiders schtick but their match was great. Bianca Belair and Shayna Baszler also killed it.

:::::::::: COMICS ::::::::::

One Piece by Eiichiro Oda (Volumes 1-10) I wanted something long to start reading so why not One Piece? Enjoying it so far. I like getting the crew together and Usopp’s story in particular is great. Oda is a master cartoonist. I love every time we get reaction faces.

Spider-Man: Fever by Brendan McCarthy Spider-Man fever got me wanting to revisit Spider-Man: Fever because I remember liking it. I still like it. Doctor Strange accidentally opens a doorway into a spider dimension and Spider-Man gets caught in Doctor Strange’s bathtub and the alternate dimension spiders take him. All this and McCarthy’s art make Fever pretty far out. 

Spider-Man 2099 by Peter David, Kelley Jones, and Rick Leonardi (1-15) Miguel O’Hara wasn’t bitten by a radioactive spider, he had Peter Parker’s DNA put into him by weird future DNA machine and he wages war against the gigantic corporations that control everything. I like Spider-Man 2099. Miguel is so different from the Peter Parker archetype and he’s got claws and fangs. He’s brutal. It’s got a neat post-hero future kind of like Batman Beyond. I stopped reading because the next part is a crossover with Punisher 2099, Ravage 2099, Doom 2099, and X-Men 2099. I’ll hopefully pick it back up because I want to know what happens with the hologram that’s in love with Miguel. 

Spider-Man by Kazumasa Hirai & Ryoichi Ikegami Yu Komori was bitten by a radioactive spider and he definitely wishes he wasn’t. It starts off a lot like our usual Spider-Man but the villains are so much more tragic and Yu deals with some heavy shit. Ikegami’s art evolves from cartoony to serious as the tone of the book changes. He’s a really incredible artist who is consistently pulling neat tricks and trying new things. I really liked this and it may top my favorite Spider-Man comics. It’s just so bleak and unforgiving to poor Yu. By the way, the final plotline is exactly the same as the Sonny Chiba movie Wolf Guy. Turns out the comic that movie was based on was written by the same guy that write Spider-Man. An odd find.

:::::::::: VIDEOGAMES ::::::::::

Axiom Verge Had my eye on this for a long time and finally picked it up on sale on my Switch. It’s okay. There are a lot of clever ideas here that I don’t think work for me. But I do like the decorrupter and the teleport. Some of the movement feels great but some stuff like the grappling hook feels awful. I hate the story. Completely incoherent sci-fi nonsense. But it’s a fun game and I enjoyed my time with it.

Hollow Knight I’ve spent about 30 hours on this game and I feel like I’m close to the end of the story. I absolutely love it. The movement, the combat, and the exploration all feel excellent. I’ve played over ten metroidvanias in the past year (I really like them) and this might be the best. My favorite part about them is how you’re almost never wasting time because there are new secrets to discover all across the map and Hollow Knight does such a good job with that.

[spine-buster]

just friends, pt. 1

aka, when it could have happened again

from the past of portofino ft. kenny omega

gif credit @/bloodycowboyclub

Length: 3175 words Summary: There's a snowstorm in Toronto that's grounded all flights, and for Tyson and Hazel, there's only one bed in the hotel room. A/N: I can't stop writing about Kenny. But also, if you want to get blue balls this is for you! TW for mentions of body image issues.

24th January 2017

Tyson was pretending not to listen to the conversation Hazel was having on the phone with her mom.

“Hey mom…how are you?...I’m alright…Well, Tyson and I are stuck in Toronto…Yeah, our flight wouldn’t fly out.  Apparently there’s too much snow and the conditions are too icy, and it’s getting even colder tonight so they cancelled a whole bunch of flights…Yeah, yeah, there’s a ton of cancelled flights…It’s another one of those ice storms…No no, I’m okay, we—…yeah, we have a place to stay.  We just went back to the hotel.  They still had our rooms available so we just paid for an extra night…Mom, even if I wanted to go stay with Zia Annunziata and Zio Tony I wouldn’t be able to get there, there’s like two inches of ice on the road.  They’re telling everybody to stay put…Yeah, Tyson is in the room just beside mine, we’re gonna grab some room service and just go to bed…yes of course it would be better to have Zia Annunziata’s cooking right now but if I took a picture of the roads and sent it to you, you would be happy I’m not putting myself in danger to drive to North York just to eat a plate of pasta…Okay…Okay…Okay…Okay I will…Yes…Yes…Okay, I love you too.  Bye.”

Tyson couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his face near the end of the conversation.  “Moms, huh?”

Hazel rolled her eyes.  “I swear to God, she became a stereotypical Italian mother the day she married my dad.”

“You’re her only child, it fits,” he shrugged his shoulders.  “How good is that pasta, though?  I might be willing to risk it.”

Hazel smiled.  “It’s great.  Not as great as my dad’s was, but great nonetheless.”

“Also…” Tyson continued, pausing, wondering if he should even bring it up.  “Separate rooms?  Really?”

“What my mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Hazel explained.  “You don’t want to know how many times I’ve told her there have been other women travelling with me when there wasn’t.  I just don’t want to keep her up at night.  I already ran away and joined the circus.”

“But it’s me.”

“And she loves you, but…I’m her only child.  It fits,” she used Tyson’s words.

“Touché.  Touché.”

Hazel readjusted herself slightly so her neck was more comfortable as she used his stomach as a pillow.  Tyson was always so comfortable.  It didn’t matter what part of him she would inevitably end up using as a pillow – shoulder, forearm, stomach, chest…hell, she was pretty sure she even used his thighs once.  Despite his muscle, he was cosy all over.  Every part of him.  “Can you pass me my book?”

Tyson nodded, reaching over to the nightstand to grab it.  She had to readjust again, and he apologized, but she waved him off.  Once they got comfortable, Tyson draped his arm over Hazel, much to her surprise.  But she welcomed it.  They were always sort of…touching each other.  Not sexually, of course.  But they were closer than most and comfortable enough with each other that it wasn’t weird, it wasn’t creepy, it wasn’t off-putting.  Being holed up in a hotel room while three feet of snow fell outside wasn’t exactly the best of circumstances, but Hazel cherished the fact that at least she was with Tyson when she could have been alone.

Tyson had agreed to be her first guest on her brand new endeavour, Kick Out in the Kitchen, a YouTube show she was starting where she would be teaching wrestlers how to cook her dad’s recipes.  Having him be the inaugural guest was huge – it basically guaranteed her success.  When she had initially asked him, Tyson didn’t even hesitate before he said yes.  It was a given to him – there was no way he would have said no.  He could have had no hands and he still would have said yes for Hazel.  They had filmed all afternoon in a studio, first cooking a spaghetti carbonara before preparing a tiramisu, and she’d been sent the entire file of film right before their flight was cancelled.  When she began watching the video in the airport, she couldn’t help but laugh at everything that was happening.  Tyson had always made her laugh – it was one of the things she loved most about him and loved most about their relationship – but he had really turned it on during filming.  The close up of him attempting to split the egg white and the yolk had her howling.  Everything turned out great. 

But what she couldn’t get over was how she looked.

She’d gotten her hair and makeup professionally done, so that wasn’t the issue.  What bothered her was…entirely different.  She noticed it in the very beginning, when she was introducing herself and the concept of the show, going through her family’s history and paying focus on her dad.  It was how her arms looked in the top she was wearing.  It was how, when she looked down at certain points, a double-chin became present.  It was how she chose to wear a tight-fitting shirt even though she didn’t have abs anymore, which was very apparent.  It was how her high-rise jeans gave her a nice ass but also a muffin top.

After having to quit wrestling, her body had changed.  Thirty pounds heavier now, and noticeably chubbier, Hazel couldn’t get the image out of her mind.  Would viewers notice?  Would they comment on it?  What about other wrestlers?  Would they say anything?  What about Tyson?  The thoughts and questions couldn’t leave her mind.  She was sure she read the same page over thirty times because she wasn’t truly concentrating on her novel.

After driving herself crazy thinking about it all, she closed her book and pulled herself up, grabbing at her old t-shirt and shorts that had been placed on her pillows earlier.  Instead of going to the bathroom to change, she didn’t bother.  She just sat on the edge of the bed, pulling her shirt off and unclasping her bra.  It wasn’t anything Tyson hadn’t seen before, truthfully, but she still knew it was a bit of a bold move.  She took her time, deciding to take off her leggings and put on her shorts before taking her time unfolding her old t-shirt to put it on. 

She wasn’t sure if it was just her mind playing tricks on her or if it actually happened, but when she faced the bed again, she thought she saw Tyson’s eyes looking at her for a nano second before pretending he wasn’t and focusing back on his phone.  As if she changed in front of him all the time.  As if stripping down at the edge of a bed they were sharing in a hotel room was a common occurrence.  She wondered if he was staring because now, instead of muscles in her shoulders and back, there was nothing.  She wondered if he was staring to see how big her thighs had gotten or how many extra rolls there were on her stomach when she bent forward.

She shut off the lamp on her side of the bed.  “Tired?” Tyson asked.

She nodded, not bothering to say anything.  Tyson immediately noticed something was wrong.  Instead of shutting off his light too, he watched her move around to pull back the covers beside him.  “What’s the matter?”

Damn him.  He always fucking knew.  Hazel eyed him before sighing.  She sat with her legs crossed, facing him.  He was still sitting up in the bed.  “If I asked you a question, would you be honest with me?” she asked.

“Always.”

She held her breath.  She could already feel her cheeks getting hot.  God, she was so stupid.  “Um, you know today…when we were filming?”

“Yeah…”

There was a pause.  This wasn’t how Hazel wanted things to begin.  She shook her head vehemently, as if the conversation was an Etch-A-Sketch and she was erasing it.  Tyson knew she was fighting something he couldn’t see.  “I don’t—scratch that.  Let me—um, today…did you ever see—no…”

“—Hazel—” Tyson began reaching out to her.

“Do you think people will think I’m fat when they see the video?”

Tyson stopped dead in his tracks.  He wasn’t expecting that.  “I—what?” he blurted out.  “Haze, what would make you think that?”

She shrugged her shoulders as if she hadn’t spent the last half hour pretending to read a book when all she could think of was this very question.  “Did you know I’ve gained over thirty pounds since I broke my neck?”

“That’s to be expected,” he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “You’re not training anymore.  You don’t have to be in ring shape.  You know, you’re still more fit than half the wrestlers I know.”

That didn’t make her feel any better.  “It’s noticeable,” she diverted her eyes.  She didn’t want to see his reaction.  “I…there’s been other people who have broken their necks and they’ve been able to maintain their physique.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it.”

She sighed, trying to wiggle close to him.  When Tyson noticed, he pawed at her leg, and she ended up in his lap, straddling him so they could get to the bottom of this face-to-face.  “We’re part of an industry where there’s an obsessive focus on our bodies,” she said.  “And like, I get it, because it’s wrestling.  But I feel so shitty about it.  I…it’s…” she paused, the first of her tears rolling down her face.  She tried to wipe them away but it was futile.  “It’s noticeable, Ty.  It is.  And I just know there’s going to be people out there who focus on it.  They’re going to bring up Angle or Austin or Edge and talk about their broken necks and how they were able to stay in shape.  And I’m…I’m afraid that that’s all anyone’s gonna see.  Like, oh, look at what’s become of Lavender Haze, you know?”

“Hazel, you need to stop downplaying what happened.  You didn’t just break your neck.  You almost fucking died in the ring.  We almost – I almost lost you.  That’s a bigger deal than you gaining thirty pounds or any other bullshit.”

I almost lost you.  Hearing those words made her heart tighten.  She couldn’t even repeat them in her mind for too long or else she knew she’d think back to her stay in the hospital.  But the sentiment remained.  “I just…I’m more than just my body, you know?  I want that to get across.”

“C’mere,” Tyson urged her to nestle into his chest.  She did exactly that and he wrapped his strong arms around her for comfort.  She almost immediately felt more at ease, taking a huge breath in and out as she relaxed into him.  “You have nothing to worry about, Hazel.  Everybody’s gonna love it, because everybody loves you,” he said.

Tyson was never complicated with things.  He could say the simplest words, but it would bring her so much relief, so much security, so much reassurance.  There was a moment of silence between them.  “Did you really think you almost lost me?” she asked, her voice quiet. 

She could feel Tyson nod.  “When you explained to me what the doctor told you…I was a mess,” he admitted in a voice equally as quiet.  “I freaked out after Dustin’s call, and I thought it couldn’t get worse.  But then when you called me after surgery, and you explained everything in detail—”

“—I remember you tearing up on the call.”

“That wasn’t even the half of it,” Tyson admitted.  “We hung up and I lost it, Haze.  I absolutely lost it.  It was probably the closest thing I’ve ever had to an anxiety attack.  Okada had to help me calm down.”

If Hazel could physically nestle herself more into Tyson, she did.  She wanted and needed to get as close to him as possible.  Her hand was on his chest and then it was on his neck.  She pictured him in Japan getting the phone call and got sick to her stomach.  She knew that if the roles were reversed, she’d have to get an injection of fucking morphine to calm down.  “For what it’s worth, you’d never lose me,” she whispered.  Then a pause.  “If I’m going, I’m taking you with me.”

Tyson smiled, resting his cheek on her head.  They stayed like that for a while, close, just feeling each other and listening to each other breathe.  Hazel’s fingers traced along the skin of his neck and jawline.  Tyson’s hand had pushed her pyjama shirt up and hade made skin to skin contact.  They were silent.

“Can I kiss you, Ty?”

Tyson closed his eyes.  He wanted to – he knew that much – but he knew he shouldn’t.  Scratch that – he couldn’t.  He couldn’t do that to himself, to Hazel.  He couldn’t put them in that position.  Even if it would rip him apart.  “That’s not the best idea, Haze,” he said.  “You just want to because you’re feeling very vulnerable right now.  I don’t—I’m not going to take advantage of you like that.”

He could feel her nod slightly, a shaky breath leaving her.  “You’re right.  I—I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologize.  I just don’t want you doing something that you regret later.”

‘But I won’t regret it’ she thought to herself.  ‘I would never regret anything with you.  I never have and I never will.’  “Thanks for always looking out for me, Ty.”

They cuddled for a while longer before Tyson reached over to turn off his lamp.  He pulled the covers over their bodies and made sure they nestled together again, spooning so her back was against his chest, their bodies touching at every point.  His arms were still wrapped around her. 

“For what it’s worth Hazel, I still think you’re beautiful.  I always will,” he whispered into her ear.

“Will you?”

“You can always count on that.  I’m always gonna think you’re beautiful.  That won’t change.”  He paused for a moment, his lack of judgement winning out against his better judgement as he placed three kisses along her shoulder.  He dragged his lips along her skin between them, making sure his lips lingered on her skin when he was done.  “That okay?”

“That feels so nice,” she sighed out, her tone clearly appreciative and savouring the feeling.  “I’m sorry I’m so needy,” she said.

‘I want you to be needy’ Tyson thought to himself.  Selfishly.  ‘I want you to have to need me.’  “You’re not being needy,” he settled on saying instead.  “And besides, even if you are, we always need each other in our lives, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

***

Tyson could hear clearly the smacking of their bodies together as he looked down at Hazel.  With her body spread out under him, she looked just as beautiful as he remembered the last time she was in this position in Portofino.  “Deeper, baby,” Hazel’s voice mewled out like a song.

“You need me deeper?” Tyson asked, though his voice was much louder than hers.

He watched as Hazel nodded below him, her breasts bouncing with each of his thrusts.  He hummed in reply, and it sent vibrations that shook him and everything around him like there was a hyperactive earthquake.  “I want you so deep and I want you to come inside me,” she breathed, reaching out for him to bring her closer to her body.  “You remember the last times you came inside me?  Didn’t it feel amazing?”

His groan at her words started another earthquake, everything vibrating around him.  “Yes,” he managed to huff out.  Suddenly, the room that they were in changed to their hotel room in Portofino.  After only a couple of seconds, it changed into the hotel room in Tokyo.  Every detail was there.  “You’re so beautiful, Haze.  I love you so much.”

She tried to say ‘I love you’ back – he knew she was trying – but the sound was muffled. 

“Tell me, baby.  Tell me you love me too.”

He watched as she tried again, this time the noises coming out of her sounding like the parents in Charlie Brown. 

“Haze…”

Her mouth was moving again, but he couldn’t hear a thing. 

He felt his heart beating rapidly.  “Hazel, say it.  Say it,” he begged.

She was drifting away from him now, escaping from his grasp like the wind.  He couldn’t hold on to her.  He couldn’t keep her from going.  “Hazel,” he called out to her, desperate.  Suddenly, he was reaching out for her.  “Don’t go Hazel.  Tell me you love me.  You need to tell me you love me.”

“I need you, Ty,” she said, her body disappearing into clouds.  “You need me too, don’t you?”

“Of course I do!  Where are you going?”

“Back to bed.  Come back to bed with me!”

Tyson’s entire body jolted awake.  He was back in the hotel room in Toronto, acutely aware of his surroundings.  His chest was almost heaving as he got his bearings, realizing that Hazel was still wrapped in his arms, soundly asleep.  She wasn’t moving further and further away from him.  She wasn’t floating off into clouds.

But what she was doing made Tyson immediately realize why he was having such a dream in the first place. 

“Hazel…” he whispered cautiously, but could only hear her little snores.  “Hazel you gotta stop.”

She was grinding her ass against him, and judging by the fact that she was clearly still asleep, she was doing it subconsciously, even.  Tyson groaned slightly.  The fact she was doing this without knowing – that her body was quite literally physically reacting to being so close to his – made his head spin.  He could tell, and he could feel it – he was already hard.  He had no idea how long it had been going on for, but he knew that he would have to be the one to stop it. 

He gently placed a hand on her hips, pushing her ever so slightly.  Eventually, the grinding stopped, which allowed him to slip away from her slowly and gently, ensuring she didn’t wake up as he rolled away from her and out of the bed.  He looked down at his shorts and knew the only way he could go back to sleep was if he took care of…well…

He stepped into the washroom and finished the dream he’d just had, the way he wanted it to go.

When he slipped back into bed, he lay on his back looking up at the ceiling, going over what had just happened in his mind.  He couldn’t believe he just had to masturbate to one of his dreams.  What was he, fifteen?  It wasn’t until he started drifting off to sleep again did Hazel move.  And when she did, she flipped around, found his body in the bed, and nestled into him completely, laying her head on his chest and hooking one of her legs over his. 

A vicious cycle.

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Return of the Dark Angel - Kenny x Emery x Jay

Alrighty, here we go~

Part of my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series

Tagging a few that expressed interest @moxxieswitchblade, @summertimefun1982

Next, I guess I'll work on an introduction post for Emery (it's now done, just click on 'intro' for a direct link)

Word Count: 5864

Angsty Kenny x Emery / Jay x Emery and slight Hangman x Emery (if you squint enough)

Warnings: Angst, a few swear words, feelings of abandonment, heartbreak

(border by)

Emery stood backstage, throwing her long brown hair up into a messy bun, before she crossed her arms in front of her as she watched a match on one of the screens. Darby Allin and Jungle Boy were taking on Sammy Guevara and Daniel Garcia. Matt was out with a legitimate injury, Nick was out with a kayfabe injury. It left just her and Kenny—and Brandon, too, she guessed.

Kenny said he would meet her here to watch the matches half an hour ago, but he had yet to show. Yet again.

It seemed to be a common occurrence since he returned from the investigation. He hardly ever interacted with her like they used to; play games, go to random arcades, and go out to eat as a team (with the bucks). Even traveling together had almost become non-existent. It felt like she was losing her best friend.

Emery was so deep in thought that she hadn’t even noticed someone had joined her. His blue-gray eyes watched her curiously, his lips rising slowly into a grin as he leaned back and put his hands into his pockets. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he erased the grin from his face.

“I think I see smoke comin’ from those ears…” he muttered, seemingly drawing her from her thoughts. Her eyes refocused, and Emery looked around, jumping slightly as she realized who was beside her.

“Jay…” Emery breathed out, unsure of his intentions at the moment. Sure, while she had been in Japan, she had made many friends—even people outside of Bullet Club. People like Okada, Kota Ibushi, and even Jay—and they remained friends over the years. However, the last time she saw him was in Japan when he had taken Bullet Club from under Kenny.

“Relax, Princess,” Jay teased her, his smirk back on his face as he watched Emery release the breath she had been holding,” You act like I was a bad guy or somethin.”

“Because I know you,” Emery shot back, eyes narrowing playfully,” King Switchblade.”

Jay let out a bark of a laugh, his head tipping back briefly before he held open an arm, “C’mere.”

Emery walked over to him with a smile and wrapped her arms around him. His scent enveloped her—and for the first time in months, she felt at peace. Closing her eyes, she let herself enjoy the moment, her whole body relaxing against his. A few moments passed before someone nearby cleared their throat.

“Okay, children. No funny business,” Juice’s deep voice called out.

“Fuck off,” Jay chuckled, glancing at his Bullet Club mate, as Emery took a step away. When he looked back at her, his smirk disappeared; Jay slowly brought his hand up towards Emery’s face, his thumb brushing away a stray tear that had fallen from her eye.

“Ree, what’s wrong Princess?”

“Nothing,” Emery shook her head, trying to put a smile on her face,” I’m fine.”

“Emery,” Jay warned, raising an eyebrow,” I know you. C’mon, be honest with me.”

“I…” Emery sighed, before giving up,” It’s a long story.”

“I’ve got nowhere to be,” Jay shrugged, crossing his arms across his chest, waiting.

“Well…”

He stood there, quiet, and didn’t interrupt her once as Emery told him about the last couple of months—beginning at All Out last year in September. When she got to how Kenny had recently been behaving towards her, ignoring her and almost avoidant, Jay visibly tensed up. His jaw twitched and he wanted nothing more than to punch something. Or someone. But he didn’t- he let Emery finish, and when she did, Jay could tell she was close to crying again. Wordlessly, he cupped her face and placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, before wrapping his arms around her protectively.

“I want nothing more than to kick his ass,” Jay started, his voice soft and right beside her ear,” But for you, I’ll refrain. For now.” He pulled away from the hug, wiping away the tears that had fallen from her brown eyes as she gave him a small smile.

“My princess shouldn’t be treated that way by anyone,” he continued,” You deserve to be around people that respect you—that cherish you.”

Emery knew what he was implying. To leave Kenny, leave The Elite, and rejoin Bullet Club.

“I couldn’t…”

“Shhh,” Jay told her, placing a finger to her lips, giving her a grin and a wink when she glared at him,” Don’t make any plans just yet. Give it some time, princess. When you figure out what you want to do…”

Jay looked over her shoulder and saw Kenny approaching in the distance. It took a minute, but Kenny finally saw Jay standing beside Emery and quickened his pace. Quickly, before the Canadian arrived, Jay finished what he was saying.

“…. You know where to find me.”

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing—Emery, you okay?” Kenny asked her, looking at her briefly before turning his attention to Jay,” Just because you signed here doesn’t mean I won’t still kick your ass.”

“I’d be careful, Omega. If I’ve been told correctly, you’ve got your hands full with another club that’s out for your blood.”

“Is that a—” Kenny began, taking a step towards Jay before Emery cut him off, coming to stand between them.

“Kenny, please. Don’t start,” she pleaded with him. His blue eyes darted down quickly, before going right back to Jay—but just as quickly, his attention went back to Emery. Kenny could see in her eyes the emotional turmoil, the plea she made. Taking a deep breath, Kenny took a step back and looked back at Jay.

“Stay away from Emery. This isn’t New Japan—it’s not your show.”

“S’what you think,” Jay smirked, as Emery looked at him with a silent plea,” It’ll be the ToJay show soon.”

Taking a few steps back, he looked to Emery once more, giving her a wink as he said,” See ya around, Princess.”

Kenny and Emery watched as Jay and Juice disappeared down the hall, before Kenny turned his attention to her.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you, right?”

“I’m fine, Kenny, really,” Emery told him, looking up at him,” You know Jay would never hurt me.”

“Perhaps, but he could corrupt you, my Angel- and that would be devastating.”

“I think you’ve got it wrong, Ken,” she smiled fondly as he looked at her with a confused expression,” The only one who corrupted me was a certain Cleaner.”

Kenny gave a chuckle, bringing her in for a hug,” Touché.” For the first time in months, Emery felt like she finally had her Kenny back. In an instant, however, the moment was ruined when Don cleared his throat.

“You’re all set to go on, Kenny. It’ll be right after they get done and back here,” Don said as Jungle Boys theme rang out across the arena.

“Thanks,” Kenny told him, his arm falling from Emery’s shoulder.

“Hey, Ken—how about we hang out tomorrow and play some Street Fighter?” Emery asked him, sweeping some stray brown hair behind her ear, and for a minute, he looked excited.

“Kenny’s busy tomorrow. Meet and Greets and a few interviews,” Don shook his head before Kenny could speak.

“Right…” Kenny frowned,” Sorry, Angel. Perhaps another day.”

“Yeah…” Emery sighed, wondering when that day would come. If it ever did.

--- Two Weeks Later ---

Hangman walked through the halls of the arena, energy drink in hand, keeping a wary eye on his surroundings. He knew that the Blackpool Combat Club could be lurking anywhere, and while he hated to admit it, walking alone made him an easy four-on-one target. Passing by one hallway, he peered down real quick—full intentions to keep going—but instantly took a step back. His blue eyes locked on Emery, sitting atop an equipment crate. 

Her brown eyes seemed clouded over as though she was lost in thought, her eyes boring a hole into the floor below her. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Hangman walked towards her carefully- he didn’t want to spook her. Since Don Callis convinced Kenny that the Cowboy had hit him last week and knew that Kenny and Emery were seemingly two peas in a pod, he had to be careful. Not that he thought Emery would do that to him… but still, better safe than sorry.

“Ree?” Hangman softly called out, pulling her out of the deep train of thoughts she was tangled in. Her eyes seemed to refocus, and the brunette gave him a soft smile.

“Hey Cowboy.”

Instantly, he knew something was wrong. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes like usual; her eyes didn’t brighten up; even her voice sounded… different. Emery didn’t even keep eye contact with him; the moment she acknowledged him, her eyes fell toward the floor.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, taking a few steps closer to her. She gave a low chuckle, his heart dropping at how miserable it sounded—how weird it sounded coming from her.

“It’s… it’s nothing. Don’t worry—”

“No, no—Ree,” Hangman shook his head, interrupting her as he came to stand right in front of her,” Despite all the shit that’s gone down, you’re still my friend. I care about you—please. What’s wrong?”

It took a minute, silence passing between them, before Emery glanced back up at her friend, and the instant she did Hangman felt… He felt angry but more so, he felt like his heart began to shatter. Emery had tears gathering in the corner of her eyes, threatening to spill at any moment. Instantly, Hangman sat his drink down on the crate beside her, placing his hands on her legs gently.

“Ever feel… like the person you care the most about… forgets you even exist?” Emery murmured softly, holding back the tears as best she could. Her eyes trailed down, focusing on Hangman’s chest; she knew the second she looked into his eyes that she would start crying, and it was the last thing she wanted.

Slowly, she continued, her voice cracking halfway,” Ever feel like… while they mean the world to you… that—that you mean absolutely nothing to them?”

“This about Kenny?” Hangman asked softly. Emery’s brown eyes flickered up to meet his blue ones, and as she gave a small nod, a tear fell down her cheek. Adam’s eyes widened, a hand reaching up towards her face to wipe it away.

“Hey, hey… Princesses aren’t supposed to cry,” he told her, his voice almost a whisper. After a brief pause, his hand on her cheek, Hangman returned his hand to her leg, and Emery continued.

“Kenny’s been… I don’t know. He’s just been different… since coming back. And with Jay showing up two weeks ago…”

Life had gotten chaotic- they both knew that. With two Bullet Club leaders—one current, one former—it was bound to happen. Especially when Jay was the one that overthrew Kenny years previously.

“Everything happening with the titles and with combat club… it’s like he forgets I’m even there…” Emery continued on, trying to hold back her tears,” I’ve tried talking to him countless times. Not even work-related stuff—but about anything. To get his mind off it all so that he can relax… but something always comes up… I-I finally got him to stop for a moment last Wednesday…”

--Last Wednesday, mid-taping of Dynamite—

“Don—wait, hey,” Emery called out, closing the distance between her and Kenny’s manager. The bald, older man turned to face her briefly before continuing on his way. Quickly, she followed along behind him as they approached Kenny’s locker room.

“Can you let Kenny know I need to talk to—”

“Kenny’s a busy man, Emery, he doesn’t have time to chat,” Don said dismissively.

“I know he’s busy- but I just… I really need to talk to him.”

They came to a stop at a door that read ‘Kenny Omega’ and Don turned around to face Emery.

“Please?”

“Okay, fine,” Don sighed, “I’ll let him know.”

“Thank you.”

Emery waited patiently, leaning against the wall. The minutes were ticking by, and she began to wonder if Don actually gave Kenny her message. Ever since the beginning, when Don started hanging around- she never liked him; something about him made her uneasy. Emery knew Kenny would come out of his locker room soon, to make his way to the guerilla before his match, so even if Don didn’t tell Kenny she was out there, Emery could catch him on the way. A few more minutes ticked by before the door opened and out came Kenny with Don right behind him.

“Kenny—”

“Not right now, Angel, I’m a bit busy,” Kenny cut her off, not even stopping as he walked towards the stage. Quickly, Emery followed along behind him, ignoring Don completely.

“I know you are—I just—”

“Perhaps, after his match—“Don interjected, but Emery paid him no mind. Quickening up her pace, she passed Kenny and spun around, stopping in front of him. Coming to an abrupt halt, Kenny gave her a look she couldn’t quite place.

“Emery—”

“No, I know, Kenny. You’re busy, I get it,” Emery told him,” Just… promise me you’ll call me after the show is over? I-I really need to talk to you. Please.”

Kenny and Emery stared at each other for a brief moment, his blue eyes softening slightly. It was almost as if Kenny was worried; before he could ask her, though, he felt Don’s hand on his shoulder, reminding him of his match coming up.

“Yeah, okay,” Kenny nodded, “I’ll call.”

“Thank you,” Emery smiled softly at him, stepping aside to let him continue his path. She kept her eyes on Kenny’s retreating form but didn’t miss the look that Don gave her as he followed behind.  

--- Back to present ---

“Adam… he never called,” Emery frowned, swallowing the lump in her throat,” He always calls me when he says he will. Or texts me—something! But he didn’t…”

“Maybe… maybe he just got busy and forgot?” Hangman suggested. He knew Kenny wouldn’t purposely do something like this. It wasn’t like him. Then again, with Callis involved, Hangman didn’t know what to think.

“I thought so too—but a few days ago… back on Monday. I was with Matt, Nick, and Brandon. Shooting for BTE,” Emery continued,” Guess who Matt got a text from?”   

Hangman felt his heart drop. Did Kenny actually forget to get ahold of her? Was he doing it on purpose? Neither scenario was one that Hangman wanted to believe, but something was going on.

“I- I don’t know what to do, Adam,” Emery said, her eyes filling with tears once more,” I don’t—I’ve always been in Ken’s corner… since day one. I’ve always been there. Every championship. Every defense. Every win or loss. Every injury! He’s my best friend…and--” By now, the tears were falling freely down her face, and Hangman felt terrible. He knew she had been close to finally admitting that she had fallen in love with Kenny. He had known it for years now, as had the Bucks.

“I don’t know…. If I can continue to be… if this is how I’m going to be treated…”

“You definitely don’t deserve it, darlin’,” Adam told her, both hands cradling her face as he attempted to wipe away her tears,” You have been there for him. I’ve seen it. Bucks have seen it. Hell, the world has seen it. You—you could come hang out with me a bit? I sure wouldn’t mind having you in my corner again.”

He gave her a smile, to which she returned a small grimace, gently pulling away from him. His hands fell back towards her legs as he waited for her to speak.

“I-I can’t… You’ve got a Blackpool problem,” Emery reminded him,” And you’re so close to being back with the Bucks… and Kenny.”

Silence fell between them for a few seconds before she raised her hand and put it on one of his.

“The four of you… you’re amazing individually, but… together? You’re magic…” Emery gave him a soft smile, but it quickly fell from her face, “… I think…. I think I need to find my own magic… Even if it leads me away…”

Hangman’s brow furrowed as he asked her,” Are you… You’re not leavin’, are you?”

“I… I don’t know… I wish I did…” Emery used her other hand to dry the remaining tears from her face, taking a deep breath as she made to get off the crate. Hangman stepped back to give her space, bracing her landing so she wouldn’t stumble. His hands came to rest on her hips, and he looked down at her with his baby-blue eyes.

She saw the sadness in them and had to look away before she started crying again. Drawing him in for a hug, Emery took a deep breath and smiled fondly. He still smelled like her Cowboy, even after all these years.

“Never, ever change, Adam,” she whispered, feeling a tear trickle down her face as she gripped the back of his t-shirt tightly in her hands. His hold on her tightened slightly- not enough to hurt, though. “Thank you… for listening.”

“Anytime, darlin’. Anytime,” Hangman replied in a whisper, biting the inside of his cheeks to keep his own tears at bay. He wouldn’t cry—not here, not in front of Emery. He had to be strong for her. After a few minutes, they pulled apart, and Emery wiped the tears away again. Giving him a small grimace, the words died in her throat. Hangman knew what she wanted to say, however, and gave her a small nod.

With no further words, Emery turned away from him and walked down the long hall, leaving Hangman standing there on his own. He watched her disappear around a corner before his eyes fell to the floor. To him… All Elite Wrestling suddenly felt cold and very lonely.

Later that night, Emery walked the stone pathway towards the front door of the house before her. The entire day, she had thought and thought more about what to do—and only one thing kept coming to mind. Taking a deep breath, Emery knocked on the heavy wooden door and waited.

Was she doing the right thing? What would—

The door opened, interrupting her thoughts, and she stared at the man in front of her with uncertain eyes.

“Hey… I…. I just….” Emery didn’t even know what to say, which was odd. Wordlessly the guy stretched his arm towards her and opened his hand, inviting her to take hold of it.

“I—”

“Shhh…” he whispered, “Come inside, Princess.”

She barely hesitated, before reaching out and gently placing her hand in his waiting one. Looking from their hands to his eyes, Emery gave him a soft smile and followed him inside.

She was home.

--- Three Months Later ---

Tonight, was a big night for All Elite Wrestling. It was their second-year hosting Forbidden Door and this year seemed bigger than last. In the past several weeks, Kenny and Hangman seemed to put the past behind them and had rekindled their friendship. All it took was Blackpool Combat Club trying to take them both out—which is when they realized, without the Bucks around, they needed each other. However, no sooner had they finally put the Blackpool problem behind them had a new, yet familiar, foe waltzed in.

Jay had warned Kenny that this was going to be his show and he had zero issues with making that come to fruition. Jay and Juice had hit the Cowboy and Kenny hard, not caring if they had just finished with a grueling match with BCC.

Weeks of constant back and forth between them, physical and verbal, had led to this night. A challenge of the Old Club vs New Club, as Kenny told Jay to find two partners—any partners—and face him and Cowboy, with two additional partners, at Forbidden Door.

Jay, with a knowing smirk, agreed without a second thought. He wasn’t dumb, he knew Kenny would immediately go to the Bucks. That was okay, though, because Jay already had his finger on the contact and was calling for backup the second he walked through the curtain. This would be his show and without a doubt in his mind, Jay knew Bullet Club would beat the Elite.

The Elite were at full strength once more, with Matt back from his injury, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time. Together, the four friends—plus Brandon and Nakazawa—stood backstage, stretching, and getting ready for their match.

“Hey, uh—has anyone talked to Emery lately?” Brandon asked as he filmed for BTE. Everyone looked at him for a moment before they thought more about it.

“It’s been a few weeks, now that I think about it,” Nick frowned, turning his attention to Kenny, “You talk to her almost every day, how’s she doing?”

Kenny stopped stretching and thought back, before realization hit him square in the gut.

“I… I actually haven’t…” Kenny pondered, wondering when he had talked to her last.

“What do you mean? You guys talk all the time,” Matt laughed. Hangman dropped his gaze to the floor, sadness flowing through his veins as he realized that none of them had talked to Emery since she left. He had tried calling her, but after the first week, she stopped responding. He then had opted to text her, message her on snapchat, anything. Luck would have it though, she responded—not often, but it was enough for him.

Brandon seemed to notice a tension growing in his friends, and respectfully stopped filming as Kenny spoke up.

“Last time I saw her… it’s been months, back at the beginning of you being out,” Kenny said, looking at Matt as he stretched on the floor, before his eyes fell to the tile below,” I hadn’t even realized…”

“You’ve talked to her though, right?” Nick asked, confusion evident on his face. He and Matt had been there when Emery and Kenny met—they had seen them grow close over the years. The brothers had noticed when the friendship seemed to change, at least for Emery, though she never brought it up.

“Haven’t you?” Matt asked, standing up from the floor as he looked at Kenny.

A silent minute passed, before Kenny finally looked up, regret evident in his blue eyes,” No… It’s been…. I don’t think I’ve spoken to her since the beginning of April sometime…”

“Kenny—that’s three months dude,” Nick frowned.

“I-I know… I don’t… I don’t know what happened. Time just… got away from me, I guess…”

“It happens,” Nakazawa shrugged,” I’m sure she’s fine.”

“I haven’t even seen her lately,” Brandon remarked.

“Tony said she had asked for some time off,” Matt explained,” But you would think she’d be back already.”

“Let’s give her a group call after the match,” Nick suggested, “Video call her, even.”

“Yeah,” Matt nodded in agreement, before noticing Hangman had been silent,” Hey, Adam, you know anything about what’s going on with Emery?”

Hangman’s head popped up, his blue eyes wide, as his friends looked at him. He had two choices—tell them the truth, or lie to them and keep their conversation to himself. They had finally all mended the fences though, could he risk lying to them?

“Y-yeah, actually,” Hangman admitted, clearing his throat. Kenny straightened up a bit, taking a few steps closer to the Cowboy.

“I came across her in the hallway one night, she seemed a bit down,” Hangman explained, unable to meet any of their gazes as his eyes darted around at the environment surrounding them,” She told me… she’d been feeling, uh… forgotten? Like… like she wasn’t important anymore…”

“That’s nonsense,” Nick scowled, “Sure Matt and I were out—but she had Kenny!”

As he listened to his friends’ words, Kenny began to feel more regret swirl in his chest as he remembered all the invitations to hang out that never got to happen.

“She didn’t feel that way,” Hangman said, still not able to meet their gaze; Matt and Nick looked over at Kenny in confusion and noticed the emotion crossing his features.

“She… she never said anything…” Kenny frowned, hating that he hadn’t even realized what was happening right in front of him.

“She tried,” Hangman bristled, a bit angry at Kenny’s blindness; he finally looked Kenny directly in the eyes,” For weeks on end, she tried. You were always ‘busy’. Hell she even asked you to call her after the show one night and you never did!”

The air in Kenny’s lungs disappeared, as he remembered that exact moment.

“No, I know, Kenny. You’re busy, I get it,” Emery told him,” Just… promise me you’ll call me after the show is over? I-I really need to talk to you. Please.”

“Yeah, okay,” Kenny nodded, “I’ll call.”

It sickened him to realize he never did call her; he didn’t even text her.

Matt and Nick were about to get on Kenny’s case, before they saw the evident regret, his eyes glistening over a bit, as he slowly sat down on a nearby chair. It was quiet between them for a few minutes, not even Brandon or Nakazawa knew what to say.

“Did she say where she was going? What she was going to do?” Matt asked, worried about their friend.

Hangman shook his head,” She didn’t know yet… just said she couldn’t keep feeling that way… Said she needed to find her own magic…even if it pushed her away…”

Kenny rested his arms on his knees, his face staring at the floor between his feet, trying to keep his composure and emotions in check. He wanted to be able to focus on the match—he needed to—but Emery… his sweet Angel… Had he unknowingly pushed her away?

Quiet stretched across them, a feeling as though they had lost their friend was thick in the air. Don walked up, a huge smile on his face until he noticed the tension.

“Come on guys! You got a big match coming up soon—we need to see some—”

“Shut it,” Nick frowned, crossing his arms in front of him.

“Just leave us be, Callis,” Hangman glared.

“Look, whatever it is, it’s not important. This match—”

“Don,” Kenny called out, lifting his head to stare at the manager. All of them would probably agree that Emery was more important to them than this match, so for Callis to say otherwise—even if he didn’t know the situation—it angered all of them.

“Just… give us some time,” Kenny said to him, his voice low. He sounded tired, like he hadn’t gotten any sleep—but the whole situation had just taken a lot out of him. Don raised his hands in mock surrender, his eyes darting around the group, before turning and walking away. Kenny’s eyes fell back to the floor, before addressing his friends.

“Let’s…. let’s try focusing on our match, get back in our mindsets,” Kenny told them, slowly standing up,” As soon as the match is over, we’ll call her. She’s my… our… Angel, and we… I… don’t want to lose her.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, eventually going back to their stretches.

One of the most anticipated matches of the night finally came up. The Elite had reunited and the crowd was going crazy over it. When Jay’s music hit, he and Juice walked out onto the ramp, pausing at the top as Justin Roberts announced them.

“And their partners…” Justin trailed off, waiting for the music to hit. Soon enough, the well-known rumble started, as 'headbanger’ blared out across the arena.

“…. Taiji Ishimori and Elllll Phantasssssmo!”

As his stablemates (and let’s face it, best friend) joined him at the top of the ramp, Jay smirked in Kenny’s direction. If possible, the crowd seemed to be louder than before, excited at seeing Bullet Club live and in AEW.

The match began and as to be expected, it was show stopping. Back and forth between everyone, flawless executions of teamwork and several moves got reversed due to knowledge they all had of each other. The Elite seemed to be feeding off the energy from the crowd, and eventually seemed to have the upper hand. Kenny, Matt and Nick stood in the center of the ring, El Phantasmo on his knees between them. Each held one of his hands, Matt and Kenny sharing the same hand, as they pointed towards the sky.

“V--!” They yelled out, but before they could continue, the lights across the arena flickered before going pitch black for a few seconds. When the lights came back on, The Elite looked around, before Nick noticed the figure at the top of the ramp. El Phantasmo lay on the edge of the apron, seemingly forgotten about for the moment, as Nick pointed out the figure to the rest of the Elite. Even Brandon turned and looked up at the top of the ramp, using his camera to zoom in as best he could. The four friends looked up at the mysterious figure, trying to figure out who it was—missing the quiet tag Jay made on El Phantasmo.

Was it Blackpool Combat Club fucking with them again?

Was it perhaps House of Black?

Or was it someone new?

The figure stood at the top of the ramp, not moving. Their entire body was covered, head to toe, in black clothing. A black hoodie, black cargo pants, black tennis shoes. The face was obstructed by an intricate venetian mask, half plain ivory with some decorative swirls, the other half a plaid purple, silver, and black joker theme. Their hands were shoved into the front pocket of the hoodie, hair pulled back underneath the hoodie. The only feature that could be seen were the eyes; and as the camera panned close to the figure, you could see the two-tone eyes. One brown. One red.

The Elite whispered among themselves, gesturing towards the figure, trying to figure out what the deal was, before seeing movement out of the corners of their eyes. It was too late though, as the Bullet Club jumped them, getting the upper hand. Juice took out Hangman with a fierce clothesline as a recovered El Phantasmo and Ishimori locked up with Matt and Nick. Kenny and Jay squared off in the ring, as they had many times before. Only one thing was different this time—and upon realizing it, Kenny seemed to lose his focus.

Emery wasn’t ringside, cheering him on.

Jay noticed the change in Kenny, and with a wicked grin, took full advantage and pulled a Blade Runner out of nowhere, making a quick cover. Matt made to run into the ring, but El Phantasmo grabbed his leg and held tightly, as the ref counted-

“1.”

“2.”

“3!”

The bell rang out, signaling the end of the match, as Jay propped himself up off Kenny. His hands resting on his knees, he smirked down at the Canadian who seemed utterly lost for a second. Jay noticed Matt free himself of El Phantasmo, so he quickly rolled out of the ring and joined his stable on the outside as Nick and Hangman slowly climbed into the ring and surrounded their friend. Kenny was sitting up, a knee bent as he shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind. With Jay’s Switchblade theme song ringing out through the arena, Bullet Club made their way up the ring, before coming to a stop at the top. The boys kept to Jay’s side, steering clear of the unknown individual, as Jay stared a hole into person. Looking over his shoulder, Jay saw the Elite still crouched in the middle of the ring, and he slowly turned to face them once more. Kenny glanced up towards them and noticed a smug smirk cross Jay’s face. One by one, the Elite turned their attention in Jay’s direction, and only when they all four were looking did Jay look to the masked individual and sweep his arm out towards the crowd as if telling the individual to do something.

Slowly, they took their hands from the pocket of the hoodie and raised their hands towards the mask. Delicately placing their hands on the mask, they tapped their dark-blue nails against the mask a few times, toying with everyone. As if moving in slow motion, they began to raise the mask up, uncovering their chin, lips and nose. Then in one fell swoop, they pulled the mask off and the entire audience gasped out in shock. The Elite couldn’t believe their eyes either. Jay watched in glee at the shock and hurt that crossed the Elite’s faces, especially Kenny’s.

“Oh my God! Excalibur, that’s Emery!” JR shouted into his headset.

“That’s not the Emery we all know and love though, JR—It looks to me like she’s reverted back to her Bullet Club days. Or a version of it—I don’t recall her having the red eye before.”

Emery stood there, her bright blue, shoulder length hair framing her face, as her two-tone eyes narrowed, an amused, dark laugh escaping her lips. El Phantasmo was losing his mind, hyping up the situation, as Juice and Ishimori stood there with smirks on their faces. Jay reached a hand over to her and Emery instantly slid her hand into his. He pulled her over, close to his body and draped an arm across her shoulders. Jay threw up a too-sweet, quickly followed by El Phantasmo, Juice, Ishimori, and lastly Emery.

“Ladies and gentleman, if you’re not familiar with Bullet Club history, what you’re seeing is the Dark Angel of the Bullet Club,” JR explained.

“I remember watching some clips a while back, JR,” Excalibur said, as Bullet Club turned and walked behind the curtain,” Dark Angel Emery is so much different from the Emery we’ve all come to love and adore here at AEW. She was cold, sadistic, and rebellious with no cares in the world.”

“I’m worried at the future of AEW with Bullet Club seeming to reform right under our noses,” JR told Excalibur.

“Indeed JR, something tells me that life is about to get even more chaotic.”

Inside the ring, it was a dark, depressed feeling sweeping amongst the Elite. Ever since she had joined the Bullet Club in their NJPW days, Emery had been in their corner. In Kenny’s corner. Now, however, it seemed to them like she had turned against them and aligned herself with Jay White.

Kenny had his arm resting on top of his propped up knee, his head laying in the crook of his elbow looking down at the ring. He was still in shock, in disbelief; aside from the match, it seemed like he had gotten the air knocked out of his lungs. There was no way Emery had aligned herself with him.

Had he really pushed her that far?

Did he just lose his Angel?

[vulturehound]

With the announcement of the fourth Tag Team tournament match today, OWE UK officially completed the card of its Day One show, set to take place on September 18 in London. OWE China President and StrongHearts founder Cima will team up with El Lindaman against OWE China’s T-Cool and Monkey King.

The last 4 tournament matches are set to take place on Day Two, on September 19, still in London, and involve the UK Hooligans, the Kings of North, the Kings of Catch, More than Hype, a second StrongHearts team (Shigehiro Irie & T-Hawk), Grup Anarsi, and more OWE China talents.

OWE China President CIMA and current Wrestle-1 Champion T-Hawk are original StrongHearts. Their names may seem familiar to some as they were a part of the group that took on SCU in the opening match of AEW’s Double or Nothing. CIMA took on and beat Christopher Daniels at Fyter Fest and Kenny Omega at Fight For The Fallen.

In early 2018, Cima announced his departure from Dragon Gate after 21 years working for the promotion and also announced the formation of a new promotion, Oriental Wrestling Entertainment (OWE), to be primarily based in China. As well as Cima, T-Hawk, El Lindaman and Takehiro Yamamura also left Dragon Gate to join OWE. Cima is a worldwide superstar who has wrestled all over the world. El Lindaman, 24, is described as “great, highly charismatic, awesome at connecting with his promos despite the language barrier, and a Good wrestler too. The sky is the limit for him.”

Monkey King is 19. According to OWE bio, “Wang Jin was training as a wrestler, he became the most popular with OWE fans because of his outstanding martial arts skills and his warm smile. He was called “Little Tiger Teeth” by fans in China due to his smile. At a young age, he entered the martial arts school and became one of the top students.  During OWE training, his many years of martial arts experience helped him learn wrestling quickly and successfully debuted at the OWE event held on February 2, 2018. After becoming a wrestler, Wang Jin made a good impression from the audience by his flexible play and the happy character. After he developed his own understanding of the wrestling, he began to innovate his wrestling skillset. Continuing to be innovative, Wang Jin became the focus of OWE’s “Japan’s Landing Memorial Conference”.

“He created the wrestling move “The Monkey King is Born” to debut at the live event and received extensive coverage from the Japanese media. However, Wang Jin also encountered a bottleneck. He repeatedly challenged for the pursuit of the OWE singles gold belt, and all ended in failure. In the face of heavyweight wrestlers such as Jun Hao, he was always in a weak state. In order to get a single-player gold belt, Wang Jin set himself a weight-increasing goal and increased his weight to 75KG and has changed his attitude, recently turning on The Shaolin Monk. Wang Jing’s smile, hateful attitude and growing wrestling strength have made the audience remember him deeply.”

T-Cool is 23. “T-cool is arguably the most versatile wrestler of OWE. It not only has he martial arts, dance, and parkour skills but also has arich stage and film performances. T-cool became good friends at the OWE Performance Centre with Luo Wei and Yi Bo. The three progressed together from trainees to professionals. Since joining OWE, they helped each other to learn and grow, and all three became the best among the students. Then disagreement occurred in the group as T-Cool refused to garner wins by unscrupulous ways, holding his dignity and honour above all else. So T-cool formed Kungfu Hip-hop to battle his former partners.”

“In the face of ridicule after losing to the Wolfgang, T-cool has also been set-back, but he still chose to stick to his principles. His belief in upholding justice has become more and more determined in the face of failure. He has created the ultimate aurora and truly become an innovator in the ring. With T-Cool’s rapidly increasing skill-set, perhaps one day,  T-Cool can defeat his former partner prove that he has the strength to uphold justice. T-Cool’s cool style, eye-catching atmosphere and a sense of justice are unforgettable.”

The StrongHearts. Above, El Lindaman and CIMA Below, T-Hawk and Irie

Here is the complete card of OWE UK Day One show:

OWE Tag-Team Tournament match: The Gym Nasty Boys (White Mike & Timmy Lou Retton) v Anti Fun Police (No Fun Dunne & Los Federales Super Santos Jnr)

Shigehiro Irie vs Marius Al-Ani

OWE Tag-Team Tournament match: Super Sharp Bros (Lou King Sharp & Rob Sharpe) vs International Superstars

The Flying Prince vs O.J.M.O.

Screwface Ahmed vs T-Hawk

OWE Tag-Team Tournament match: Arrows of Hungary vs Team AEW

Robbie X vs The Shaolin Monk

OWE Tag-Team Tournament match: T-Cool & Monkey King vs The Stronghearts (CIMA & Lindaman)

OWE Women’s Championship Gauntlet Match: Session Moth Martina vs Lana Austin vs Charlie Evans vs Lizzy Styles vs Amazon Ayesha Raymond vs Little Miss Roxxy

#gallery-0-3 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-3 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-3 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-3 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

The Gym Nasty Boys (White Mike & Timmy Lou Retton) v Anti Fun Police (No Fun Dunne & Los Federales Super Santos Jnr)

Super Sharp Bros (Lou King Sharp & Rob Sharpe) vs International Superstars

Robbie X vs The Shaolin Monk

Screwface Ahmed vs T-Hawk

The Flying Prince vs O.J.M.O.

Arrows of Hungary vs Team AEW

Shigehiro Irie vs Marius Al-Ani

Session Moth Martina vs Lana Austin vs Charlie Evans vs Lizzy Styles vs Amazon Ayesha vs Little Miss Roxxy

Team OWE vs The Stronghearts (CIMA & Lindaman)

(click on a pic to open the gallery)

To reply to the many requests for multi-day tickets for both venues in the UK tour, OWE UK decided to create passes for the 2 London shows and 3 Liverpool shows. A 5-day pass for all OWE UK shows is also available. Passes holders will have the chance to attends some meet & greets. The tour will be taking place from September 18th-22nd. For more information on the company and tickets, be sure to check out their Twitter and their website here.

All pics and videos courtesy of OWE, OWE UK and StrongHearts

OWE United Kingdom Day One Card Complete

[spine-buster]

portofino ft. kenny omega

gif credit @/stukky

Length: 23k Summary: You and Tyson have history.  Lots of it.  When you met, you could have never envisioned he would be in your life the way he still is.  But things get complicated, and tricky, and complex.  Things hurt – lots of things hurt.  And things can only get worse before they can get better, right? A/N: my first wrestling fic since 2017. The formatting and spacing on this is super fucked up and not idea and I apologize for that, but Tumblr's new and "improved" text editor is literally the fucking worst and glitches SO much that the most I could do was this. This will also be posted on my AO3 (@/spinebuster) if you prefer there!

10th May 2023

it only hurts this much right now was what i was thinking the whole time

You were crying again.

At this point, you were basically just leaking.

You didn’t want Tyson to find out, so you tried with all your might to stop yourself, rubbing away your tears with the back of your hand and trying to steady your breathing.  You breathed in and out, in and out, in and out.  You hoped no-one else around noticed.  But it was hard when there were so many people, hard when you were friends with practically all of them, hard when any little hint of water or redness of your eye could cause someone like Austin or Hikaru or Dustin to speak up and ask you what was wrong.  You almost wanted to hide in a closet until you calmed down, but that was childish. 

You went into one of the washrooms backstage anyway, not bothering to go into a stall but checking them all quickly anyway to ensure nobody else was with you.  When you knew you were clear, you stood in front of the sink, looking at yourself in the mirror.  Your cheeks were red, your eyes were watery.  You sighed.

“Get it together, Hazel,” you mumbled to yourself.  You so desperately needed to get it the fuck together.  “Stop crying.  You’re such a baby.”

The pep talk didn’t help much.

***

“Have you seen Hazel anywhere?” Tyson asked Nick as he unraveled the tape around his wrists.

“Nah,” he answered, shaking his head.  “Probably went back to the hotel a bit early.”

“Why would she do that?” Tyson asked.  Matt, from behind his brother, gave one of his best friends a look.  “Oh.  Right,” Tyson realized.

“Don’t think she wants to hang out here anymore than she needs to,” Nick commented.

“Can you blame her?” Matt asked his brother.

“Not in the slightest.”

***

You had the TV on for background noise as you went about your routines and wandered aimlessly around the hotel room.  It was pitch black outside in Detroit; you couldn’t even see anything out the window besides the lights from the hotel parking lot.  What a view.  You tried to distract yourself with the TV, sitting down on the suite’s couch, but you couldn’t even do that.  Your legs pushed you back up to wander more.  You’d check your phone and texted your mom back.  You texted Hikaru that maybe brunch would be a better idea tomorrow instead of meeting her in the lobby for the continental breakfast, knowing what tomorrow morning would probably look like. 

At some point, you heard some noise and voices from outside your room.  Not long after, the sounds of a key card swiping, and finally the turn of the doorknob.  You were greeted with Tyson – or, more so, Tyson was greeted with you, since you were the one in his room.  It wasn’t a surprise that you were there, but it was still a welcome sight.  It was better than being alone.

“Hey,” you greeted him.  It had been about an hour since you stopped crying, so you hoped your eyes and face had stopped showing it.

“Hazel, hey,” he said, smiling at you, despite what he had just been through.  He wheeled his bag in behind him before the door shut on its own.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” you lied.  “Are you okay?”

“I’ll live,” he shrugged.  He’d been saying that a lot lately.  You hated when he did.  “You left early.”

You nodded quickly, apologetically.  “I didn’t want to stick around.  Knowing that he’s lurking around, you know…I just didn’t want to have to deal with it.”

“I didn’t even see him, for what it’s worth.  If you stayed in our locker room you would’ve been good.”

The two of you didn’t even have to say his name for you to understand.  In some ways, you were glad he acted as a buffer, an excuse you could pull, that way you could hide why you really left early.  “I watched most of the match, I swear.  Until I couldn’t anymore.”

“When was that?”

“When you guys broke the cage,” you were finally honest, just slightly.

“So you didn’t see Don stab me with a screwdriver.”

You winced.  “No.  But you at least told me about that.  You didn’t tell me the cage was going to break.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice solemn.  “You know how these matches get put together.  Things get added.  Things get taken out.”

Did you ever.  But you still couldn’t get used to how…well, violent Tyson’s matches were getting.  Unnecessary violence.  Unnecessary risk.  There was no reason for Tyson to bleed, and now you felt he was bleeding every week.  You didn’t know how much longer you’d last.  “How’s your knee?” you asked, since you saw it get caught up in the cage when it broke, causing you to cry in the first place.  He’d just taken time off for double knee surgery; you were scared he was taking it too far.

“Knees are fine.  As good as they can be,” he assured you.  “Can you…can you help me with something else, though?”

“Of course.  What is it?”

“There’s, umm, there’s some scratches on my back.  I need someone to take off the big bandage, apply this cream the doctor gave me, and tape on a new bandage.”

“Okay,” you nodded slightly.  You’d done a version of this countless times before but it never got easier.  Just like watching him do these kinds of matches never got easier.  “Do you want to sit on the bed?”

He changed out of his gym shorts and into his pyjama shorts first so he could sleep right afterwards.  You watched as he sat on the bed, handing you the ointment.  When you unravelled the bandage, your stomach was in knots about how big it was.  “Ty…”

“It’s going to look worse than it feels,” he warned.  “It doesn’t feel that bad, Hazel.  I promise.”  He took off his shirt then, slowly, grunting slightly.  The bandage covered nearly half his back.  You held your breath, trying to keep your emotions in check.  “The tape that’s holding the bandage in place – it doesn’t hurt.  You can just peel it off,” he instructed.  “I have more for when you put the new one on.”

You started peeling away the tape, discarding it beside you as you.  When it was fully peeled, the bandage still stayed in place, which only meant to you it was sticking onto his skin because of the blood.  You held your breath again as you took the bandage off, but fully gasped loudly in horror, your breath taken away when you saw the state of his back.  “Oh Ty…” you cried.

“Hazel—”

“Tyson, what did you do?  What did you do?” you begged from him.  You brought your hand up, tracing the scratches and cuts delicately with your fingertips.  “Tyson…” he had to hear the pain in your voice.

“I’m sorry, Hazel.  I’m sorry,” he said.  “I’m so sorry.”

And that’s when it began again: the tears.  You grabbed the ointment and unscrewed the cap, taking in the full picture of his back.  You cried silently, tears falling down your face as you would apply small bits of ointment to your fingers before rubbing it along all the scratches.  You would do this for Tyson until the day you died, but you hated that it had to be like this.  The two of you had always looked out for one another – Tyson more so, for obvious reasons, but that was a whole other story – but seeing his body mutilated like this twisted something in you that you couldn’t kick.  It was one thing to see Kenny after a 60-minute match with Okada, body bruised and banged up but all in one piece; it was another thing to see barbed wire and nail scratches, cuts, and footprints on his face.

He winced in pain every so often and you’d keel, hating yourself for hurting him when you were supposed to be helping him.  You tried not to let him hear you cry, but you were sure the couple of sniffles gave it away.  When you finally asked for the tape for the bandage and your voice cracked, you were positive.

Tyson handed you the tape, but turned around slightly to see you.  “You’re crying.  Why are you crying?” he asked.

You shook your head to ignore him.  You unravelled the tape and began ripping strips to use.  “Turn around.”

“Hazel—”

“Sit still.”

Tyson stayed silent.  You positioned the bandage to cover all the scratches before taping it into place.  When you were done, you tossed the tape to the side, the rest of his back looking fairly normal besides the scars you already knew about.  Unable to control yourself, you leaned forward and pressed your cheek to his skin on his back between his shoulder blades, inhaling and exhaling deeply.  Tyson felt what you were doing, the skin-to-skin contact an instantaneous feeling, and breathed in and out along with you.  You savoured the feeling of the Tyson you knew on your skin.  Not mutilated Tyson.  Not banged up Tyson.  Just the Tyson you knew for twelve years, the Tyson who looked out for you, the Tyson who was your mentor.

“I’m sorry, Hazel,” he whispered, his words sincere.  He hated seeing, feeling you so upset.

“Can I stick around tonight?” you asked.

“You never have to ask.  You just can.”

When you crawled to step off the bed, Tyson grabbed your arm to prevent you from going anywhere momentarily.  You wanted to get the feeling of tears off your face, but he had other plans.  You were right at his side, so so close.  “I really am sorry,” he told you.  “I hate seeing you like this.”

Tears were coming again.  You didn’t try to stop them this time.  You still shook your head and tried to wipe them away.  “It’s just getting harder and harder for me to watch you put your body through these hardcore matches,” you admitted.  “Sometimes I just wish you’d stick to what you’re good at.  And that’s not to say you’re not good at the hardcore stuff, because you are – you’re good at everything.  I just wish I didn’t have to see your body be mutilated for the sake of spectacle.  I hate—I hate seeing what you have to do.  You, more than anyone, know how to put on a spectacle without having to do that shit.  I hate seeing you destroy your body, Ty.  I just hate it.  I’m sorry.”

He nodded his head in understanding.  “I know it’s hard.  I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry,” was all he could say.

Tyson waited for you to wash your face and put on one of his t-shirts before the both of you got into bed.  You wondered if you should get close at all, possibly even touch him, and you were about to decide against him until he winced again, trying to get into a comfortable position.  It was at that point that your body physically moved towards his before your mind knew what it was doing.  It was like a fight-or-flight response.  He found a comfortable position sleeping on his side, and you curled up right against his back like the big spoon, despite being two-thirds his size. 

In the quietness of the room, with the low hum of the air conditioner the only noise, you placed a kiss on his shoulder.  He didn’t say anything, but you knew he felt it.

***

The next morning, you woke up still snuggled into Tyson.  You both had inevitably shifted throughout the night: Tyson was lying on his back, apparently able to do so without pain, while you were sleeping right up against him.  When you opened your eyes, you saw that he was still sound asleep, one arm draped over his chest.

“Haze?” you heard him mumble in a groggy voice.

Okay, so maybe he wasn’t fully asleep.  “Hmm?”

“Thank you for last night,” he said.

You didn’t answer right away.  “I’ll always be there to help you, Tyson.  You know that.”

He moved so that the arm that had been squished against you was now around you, pulling you into his body even more than you already were.  The usual smell of him filled your airways; it practically made you drunk.  Drunk enough to fall back asleep, his body bringing you peace as much as it did pain.

***

11th May 2023

time won't fly, it's like I'm paralyzed by it i'd like to be my old self again, but i'm still trying to find it

When you were back in Orlando, you settled into the solace of your apartment, unpacking immediately and throwing your clothes in the washing machine.  You were called a psychopath more than once by Stephen for being that type of person – especially after it became a meme on the internet – but you couldn’t help it.  You had even packed Tyson’s shirt that you’d slept in last night, seeing it mixed in with your other clothes before you threw in a Tide Pod and closed the door.

After unpacking, you set your suitcase in your closet and resolved to have a bowl of lime tortilla chips as you sat on the couch and scrolled through Instagram and cuddled with your ragdoll cat, Zadie.  You needed to disconnect from wrestling for a bit, from flashbacks of seeing Tyson’s scratched-up back whipping through your mind every other minute.  But as you sat down on your couch, bowl or tortilla chips in hand, you couldn’t help but notice your most prized belongings: your wrestling accolades you had organized neatly on the wall and in the media unit that surrounded your TV.  Your Match of the Year plaques from 2014 and 2015.  Your Woman of the Year awards.  A women’s belt.  Framed photographs of you wrestling.  Frame photographs of you with your friends.  With your family.  With Tyson.

Sometimes it felt like a lifetime ago and sometimes it felt like you had to retire yesterday.  You had enjoyed an amazing but short career.  You’d had a lot of ups, a lot of downs, a lot of heartbreaks, a lot of memorable moments.  There was the time you’d gone 20-minutes with Toni Storm in a match that ended up getting over a million views on YouTube.  You’d performed in infamous Reseda, in the PWG arena, to the most raucous crowd you’d ever performed in front of.  You had travelled to America, Japan, the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Mexico, and Ireland to wrestle.  You had hype.  You had respect.  People wrote about you.  People paid to see you.  People lined up for you at meet and greets.  People wanted your autograph and your t-shirts at shows, handing you wads of cash for two medium and two kids’ t-shirts so the whole family could match.  While you had made a name for yourself, you’d racked up the injuries too.  There was the broken wrist early on, which wasn’t that bad – from a show in Toronto where you just landed awkwardly.  You were able to finish the match, and thanks to the Canadian health care system you held so dear, it was in a cast just a few hours later.  There was a broken ankle that actually forced you to stay back from a tour of Ireland that many of your friends went on.

At one point in 2014, you were booked to wrestle against a women’s wrestler, fairly new to the scene, named Bea Priestley.  The both of you had gone over the match beforehand, but once in the ring, she did nothing you two spoke about.  That was fine – you were a professional – but Bea was wrestling stiff, and you were getting angrier every passing moment in the ring, even warning her to cool it.  When she actually did one of the sequences you’d called beforehand, she ended up breaking your sternum.  You had to be out for twelve weeks.  You never heard from Bea.  It was fine.  Whatever.

But the next time Bea Priestley wrestled you, she broke your neck.

You told her you didn’t want to take anything too risky.  “Why?  You don’t trust me?” she had the audacity to ask you.  During the match, when she picked you up and flipped you upside down, you knew what was coming, so you tried to get into a safe position.  But none of that mattered.  Nothing would have saved you.

You remembered dropping on you head, and you remember seeing a light, and you remember your whole body going limp.  It felt like you weight a million pounds; you were completely paralyzed from the neck down.  You couldn’t move, and it was the scariest seconds of your life.  Rick Knox immediately noticed.  You closed your eyes and willed your brain to wiggle your fingers, and after about five or six seconds, you felt them rubbing against each other, even just slightly.  You remembered seeing Bea try to kick you, but Rick Knox earnestly holding her back.  When he pushed her far enough away, he knelt down by your head.  “Haze, what happened?” he asked.  You knew your body.  You knew what this was.  You told Rick not to touch you, that you had broken your neck. 

You remember him throwing up one of the most emphatic X’s you’d ever seen and the whole crowd going silent.  Rick was screaming something, but you were focused on the worst pain you’d ever felt in your neck as you began feeling again in your extremities.  After that, so much was a blur.  You remember Austin somehow being beside your face too, telling you everything was going to be okay – you later learned he was watching from the back and ran out the second Rick threw up the X.  You remember Dustin being there too, doing much of what Austin was doing, giving Bea dirty looks – you later learned he was the one who called the ambulance.  Austin and Dustin were very likely the reasons things weren’t worse, the reason why you were still walking. 

At the hospital they ran x-rays and MRIs and other tests, as usual, and they put a neck brace on you.  Dustin had followed you to the hospital to explain everything to the emergency doctors, Austin and Kyle and Candice following close behind in a car.  When the results finally came back, it was even worse than you – than everybody – thought. 

“Your disc hit your spinal cord, which is why you saw the white light,” the doctor explained.  “That’s what caused the temporary paralysis.”

“So I broke it, like I thought,” you wanted the confirmation.  People had recovered from broken necks before.  So many had been able to get back into the ring.

The doctor sighed.  “Miss Fiore…” she began.  “Your disc hit your spinal cord.  You didn’t fracture your neck.  You didn’t break it.  What you suffered is what we refer to as a spinal cord concussion.  You don’t have to sever your spinal cord to be paralyzed for life, you could just touch it and be paralyzed for life.  This…what happened to you…is technically worse.”

You remember feeling as if the blood drained from your body.  “Paralyzed?”

She sighed again.  “Miss Fiore…you have a very, very similar injury to Christopher Reeve.  Your C2 is what controls your breathing.  The truth is, when it hit your spinal cord, you should have suffocated to death in the ring.  Out of the five percent of people that survive this injury, ninety-nine percent are paralyzed.  It’s quite literally a miracle that you are still able to walk.” 

You had emergency spinal fusion surgery less than 24 hours later.  Four screws, a rod, and sixteen staples created a gnarly, awful scar on your neck that was still visible whenever you had your hair up. 

Your wrestling career was over.

Your phone buzzed loudly from your coffee table, breaking your train of thought.  At least it kept you from crying.  When you picked it up, you noticed Tyson’s name flash across the screen.

Want to come up and watch some Netflix or something?  We can even keep watching that German duchess show you like.  Promise.

He lived in one of the penthouses on the 34th floor, while you lived in a two bedroom on the 18th.  How embarrassing was that?  Even your living situations were inextricably linked.  You swiped your phone open and texted him back quickly. 

It’s okay.  I need some time alone.  Let’s go for coffee tomorrow or something.

It was Dustin who had to make the call to Tyson when you were in the hospital.  He was in Japan on a tour, and word hadn’t gotten to him.  Dustin told you he had freaked out on the phone, like completely freaked out.  After your surgery and after all your visitors had left, your room surrounded by flowers and get well soon cards, you FaceTimed him.  He picked up on barely the second ring.  It was the first time you’d ever seen him tear up, though you later learned he didn’t completely break down until after he hung up.  You tried to cheer him up, telling him the first thing you were going to do when you were cleared was go to Japan to see him.  He made you promise not to fly unless a doctor said it was okay.  He had two weeks off in about a month’s time and resolved to stay with you for the duration to help you.  You told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted.

Those two weeks were when you realized Tyson would be in your life forever.

You’d still done well for yourself since then.  You ended up starting a variety of projects – a podcast, becoming a semi-influencer on Instagram.  But perhaps most successful, and what kept your memory alive in the hearts and minds of wrestling fans worldwide despite not fighting in the ring anymore, was your YouTube series.  Kick Out in the Kitchen.  A series you started, inspired by the memory of your dad who was a chef, where you invited wrestlers to help you cook increasingly complex dishes.  You’d interview them along the way, teach them how to properly cut an onion, and make sure they didn’t slice off a finger in the process.  It was hysterical, and it was a hit.

Your life was good.  It really was.  You had amazing friends, you had your career, you had your mom in Winnipeg, you had an apartment, you had Tyson.  But sometimes you ached for the past; sometimes you wanted to still be in the ring, winning championships and changing the wrestling landscape just like your close friends were doing.  That just wasn’t in the cards for you, and that’s okay.  But it still hurt sometimes.

Your phone buzzed again, the badge rolling down from the top of your screen. 

Are you sure?  Need to talk?

I’m good.  Thanks Ty <3 see you tomorrow.

***

It all began with Portofino. 

Well, it all really began with Tyson making a remark about how you always carried a book around in your gym bag.  You were in Winnipeg then, training to become a wrestler, and he’d visited the school on a trip home from Japan in 2011.  “I promised my mom I’d graduate university before pursuing wrestling full-time,” you had explained to him.  “She wants me to have a degree.  It’s a non-negotiable.”

The book in question that he saw that day was An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro.  He was intrigued by the Japanese name of the author more than anything, although when you told him the synopsis, he perked up quite considerably. 

He was 28 at the time.  You were 20.

You were so, so young, but you were the only one that had spoken to him at length about your vision of what pro wrestling is and what pro wrestling could be.  You listened to him more intently than anyone else in your class when he spoke of his time in Japan.  You’d seen the match he had at his cottage.  You saw his match against nine-year-old Haruka and against Yoshihiko the blow-up doll.  Some of your fellow trainees looked at you weird.  You were the only one who had expressed any interest in travelling somewhere other than the United States for pro wrestling – maybe go to the UK, or do a tour of Europe, or, if you were lucky enough, do a tour of Japan. 

By the end of the week, Tyson gave you his number and said if you were ever in Japan to contact him.

You did more than that.  You didn’t just wait the two years between meeting him and graduating to speak to him again.  You actively kept in touch with him.  You became friends as you learned more about each other.  So much so that after local shows on weekends, travelling to Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, and Pasadena in the summers to wrestle, and graduation, when you arrived in Japan for the first time he picked you up from the airport. 

He looked out for you.  He always did.

He always would.

***

PORTOFINO, 2014

i'd live and die for moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time

You found yourself squished in the backseat of a tiny Italian car between Matt Jackson and Kenny Omega, Tommaso Ciampa in the driver’s seat and Nick Jackson in the passenger’s seat.  That’s who they were last night, anyway, participating in matches and stealing the show in Genoa, Italy.  Today, you were just Matt, Tyson, Tommaso, Nick, and Hazel going to Portofino.

The promoter who had lured you all (and more) to Italy for a mini tour had mentioned the famous Italian Riviera town was only an hour away, so on the two days off you had between shows, you all decided to go.  Nick had found the hotel and booked the rooms.  Tommaso volunteered to drive.  A car with Austin, Kyle, Johnny, Candice, and Bobby were following close behind you.

“You’re not squished, are you?  D’you have enough room?” Tyson asked as he looked down at your frame, tiny in comparison to the bulk that surrounded you.

“I’ll live,” you assured him.  “Besides, you’re the one with your knees up to your chin.  Why didn’t you demand the front seat?”

“I couldn’t leave you in the middle between Matt and Nick,” he said, as if it was his moral obligation to protect you from two of the nicest guys on earth.  “Besides, Nick wants to learn more Italian.”

“Nick can barely speak English.”

“Whatja just say about me?” he hissed playfully from the backseat.  A smile spread across Tyson’s face.  “You’re gonna pay for that, Hazel.”

“I’m terrified.”

“You’re fearless, huh?” Tommaso joked from the front seat, looking at you through his rearview mirror.

“Not fearless.  I’m scared of a lot of things,” you clarified, being honest.  “But Matt and Nick aren’t one of ‘em.” 

When you all got into town, you checked into the hotel.  It was obvious that Matt and Nick would share a room together, just like it was obvious Johnny and Candice would, too.  After Austin paired up with Kyle (they were, technically, the other couple on the trip), and Tomasso paired up with Bobby, you and Tyson were inevitably the only pair left.  Was it normal for a young female wrestler to sleep in a room with her mentor during a trip to Italy?  Who knows.  You (and Candice) were used to being the only girls in the room a lot.  This was no different.  All you knew was that it didn’t matter to you: you knew Tyson, and everybody else, and it was the last thing on your mind because what really mattered was that you were in Italy.

Tyson unlocked the hotel room, the both of you pulling your bags in behind you.  There were two single beds placed together in the room, a window and a door out to the balcony providing the perfect cross breeze. 

“Okay, we’re not in a university dorm,” you commented, scoffing at the setup of the beds before pushing them together.  Tyson just watched.  You looked up at him.  “You need sunscreen?”

“Uh, yeah,” he nodded his head.

You found it in your bag and tossed it over to him.  You walked over to the small balcony and stepped out, taking in the view of the harbour from the room.  You guys got lucky, the way that this hotel was even available on such short notice – and five rooms at that.  The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.  That alone told you that it was going to be a great day. 

You had been admiring the view of the harbour so much that you almost didn’t hear Tyson step out and join you on the balcony.  It was so small that between your bodies and the two chairs, it was full.  “Matt and Nick texted to meet in the lobby in fifteen,” he said.  “Are you good with that?”

Your bathing suit was already on underneath your sun dress, so you nodded your head.  “Just need the sunscreen,” you mentioned, and he handed it to you.  You perched your leg up on one of the chairs to slather the sunscreen on your leg, bringing it all the way up to the tops of your thighs.  Tyson couldn’t help but stare at your legs and not the view of the harbour.  You tried not to smile about it and looked away instead.  “Do we know where we’re going, by the way?  Portofino doesn’t exactly have a beach.”

Tyson furrowed his brows.  “How do you know?”

“My dad was from around here, remember?”

Tyson nodded at your reminder.  “That’s right.  Sorry, I forgot.”

You’d told Tyson a lot of stories about your dad since you met him, and every time you told a story, mentioned a characteristic, an odd quirk your dad used to do, he’d always listened intently.  You’d lost your dad to cancer at fifteen years old, and you missed him every day since.  It left a hole in you.  Understanding how close you and your dad were, Tyson always made sure to remember the details.  You mentioned to him once how you actually liked speaking about him because it meant you were keeping his memory alive, and Tyson told you he thought that was the most touching thing he’d ever heard.

“You don’t have to apologize,” you said, moving on to your other leg.  “I remember coming here as a kid.  The beaches are really rocky.  Either we get lucky and there’s nobody, or we have to find our own private place.”

He watched your hands travel up your thighs.  “You should take the reins on that, then,” he said.  You could see his Adam’s apple bob in his neck.  “Tommaso’s Italian is shit.”

You did.  Eventually, when you and the group made it down to the harbour, you asked in your broken Italian where the best place was – you probably sounded like a caveman – and some delightful locals pointed you in the right direction.  Like you remembered, it was rocky, but you found enough spots on huge flat rocks for towels and bags.  The best part was you were right beside a climbable cliff, so you knew all the guys would be doing crazy jumps.  The entire afternoon was spent between tanning on the rocks and cooling off in the water.  You had jumped off the cliff with Candice, with Tyson, and with Austin.  You swam in the water and got your hair wet and let the sunlight hit your face.  You’d caught Tyson’s eye so many times you lost count.  You felt pure happiness.

There was a moment after you jumped off the cliff for the second time with Tyson – a good photo op, according to Matt taking them – where you held hands as your ran and plummeted into the water.  Even underwater, despite the pressure, your hands stayed clasped.  It was only when you got back to the surface that your hands separated.  You could see Tyson’s smile.  “You alright?” he asked.

You only nodded.  You paddled the small distance over to him and attached your whole body to his.  You don’t know what came over you, but you wrapped your legs around his torso underwater, and as you did you could feel his hands go to your thighs.  Your arms wrapping around his shoulders, attaching yourself to him piggy-back style.  He looked behind his shoulder to see you.  “You sure you’re okay?”

You nodded again.  “I just feel like being close to you,” you admitted.  “Is that okay?”

There was a slight pause.  “Of course,” he said.  “You want to stay out here for a bit?”

“Yeah.  Just you and me for a little bit,” you said.  “Are you having fun?”

“I’m having the time of my life.”

“It sucks that we only get one day.  This area of Italy is so beautiful.  Have you ever been?”

“No.  This is my first time,” he revealed.  “I’m just happy I’m getting to spend it with you.”

You smiled, giving him as much of a hug as you could by squeezing your limbs around him tighter.  “You’re going to have to come back and spend a decent amount of time here.  I remember coming here when I was nine to visit my dad’s family, and, Ty—Portofino isn’t even the most beautiful town on the water.  And the food – the food!”

He smiled.  “We’re going to have to find a place tonight.  You’ll have to use your Italian again.  Find us the best restaurant in the town.”

There was silence between the two of you, the noise from the waves and from your friends and the other tourists filling the air instead.  You leaned your head forward so it was settled right into his shoulder.  “Hey Ty?” your voice was low this time.

“Hmm?”

“I’m happy I get to spend it with you, too.  Sometimes I feel like all I want to do is spend time with you.”

Tyson felt the same.  His breath caught in his throat.  All he could do was nod.  “Yeah…yeah.”

*

That night, after showering the salt water off and changing into another flowy dress, you all went out for dinner and had the best pasta and fish and wine you’d ever had in your life.  The waiter fell in love with your group and kept bringing you goodies: glasses of wine from the cellar, shots from the bar, extra plates of tiramisu or bombe.  Your stomach was full but your heart was fuller, and you didn’t want the day to end. 

Retiring back to the hotel meant you and Tyson would be alone again.  After the both of you packed away your things so you were already packed for tomorrow morning, you changed into pyjamas and got in to your pushed together beds.  Tyson browsed through his phone a bit before setting it on his beside and turning over to his side to sleep.

You, on the other hand, could not. 

You kept thinking of the feeling of his hands on your body.  It wasn’t like it was a new sensation – you trained with him constantly.  But there was something about the way he touched it when you were both in the water, the way nobody could see how his arms wrapped around you or how his hands went to your thighs to wrap your legs around his body as he gave you a piggy-back ride.  Even at dinner, sitting beside you at the table on the patio overlooking the water, his forearm rubbing up against yours underneath the table since your group was so squished together.

It was electric.  And now, all that electricity was in you with nowhere to go.

So much time had passed that you were 95% sure he was asleep.  If you were to say anything, you’d definitely be waking him up from his beauty sleep.  “Ty…” you mumbled out, still unsure if you even should as you stared up at the ceiling.

“Hazel?”

Well, at least you felt less bad about it now.  “Can you sleep?”

“Nah,” he said.  “Can you?”

“I think the sun today energized my body to the point where I can re-enact Shawn and Bret’s iron man match.”

You could hear Tyson giggle from his side of the bed.  “Are you Bret or Shawn in that scenario?”

“Both.”

He snorted.  You could feel him shift positions so that he could look at you now.  You turned over to your side as well.  “I’m dead serious.  I feel, like, buzzed.”

“I’m sure one of the guys has melatonin if you’re really worried,” he said.

You shook your head.  “I’ll be fine,” you assured him.  “Can I see all the pictures you took today?”

Tyson had learned a long time ago from his good friend Rami Sebei that he should be taking pictures of all the places he went and everything he saw and did (just as Rami did), so he made it a point since then to do just that.  He leaned over and unplugged his phone from the nightstand, and when he began to set back into his spot in bed, you didn’t let him until you had fit yourself into his side.  He didn’t even think twice as you did so, wrapping his arm around your body as you nestled your head against his chest.  You were so close he could smell the product you’d put into your hair.  You giggled through all the photos, at Austin’s terrified face the first time he jumped, versus Matt and Nick contemplating whether they could do a shooting star press into the water.  You saw the pictures he took of you and Candice hugging each other, and the pictures Bobby took of you and Tyson together on the rocks and posing in the shallow part of the water.  The more you laughed and smiled, the more he did too. 

When you’d seen all the photos, Tyson put his phone back on the nightstand but you stayed right where you were.  He laid back, savouring the feeling of your head on his chest, of your arm draped across him, how your fingertips had tip-toed and glided along his skin every time you laughed at a picture.

“Can I ask you a question?” you asked, moving to look at him.

“Of course.”

“How lame did you think I was the first time you met me?”

He giggled again.  So distinct in its sound; you’d be able to hear it from a mile away.  “I didn’t think you were lame at all,” he was smiling at you.  “I was actually shocked at how mature you were for your age, and how much you could talk about pro wrestling – more than anyone else in that class, that’s for sure.  You were a bit of a freak, but I liked you.  I don’t think you’re lame, or were lame.”

“I feel like you’re lying to me.”

“I’m not lying,” he assured you.  “I’d never lie to you.  Trust me on that one.”

“I’d never lie to you, either,” you said, butterflies in your stomach. 

You were looking right in Tyson’s blue eyes then, hyperaware of the feeling of his fingertips grazing over the skin on your arm.  His sunkissed skin, his eye crinkles, the scruff of his beard – it all added up in making you push yourself up so you could kiss him.  It was very soft at first, but not hesitant, and when you pulled away you looked into his eyes, only to kiss him again. 

He kissed back, moving his lips in perfect sync with yours as you continued, kiss after kiss after kiss.  You don’t know how long you’d been kissing for, but eventually, it was your tongue that grazed his lips first, and soon you were tasting each other.  After more time, he pushed back slightly so you were on your back, and gently, gently he got on top of you. 

“Is this okay?” was the only thing he mumbled between when you started kissing and that moment. 

“Please, Ty,” you nodded your head slightly and quickly.  “We’ve been waiting all day.”

You both took it slow, surprisingly, despite all the pent up energy from the day.  You wanted to make it last.  Tyson’s body loomed over yours for a while, kissing your lips and your neck with such expertise you hadn’t experienced from anywhere else.  You remembered cradling his face and running your fingers through his curly hair and thinking to yourself how lucky you were to be under him, to be with him like this so intimately.  It wasn’t just that he’d been kind to you from the beginning, or that he’d taken you under his wing and acted as your mentor, especially in Japan, or that he’d looked out for you anywhere you found yourselves.  It was that he was so considerate in his everyday life, so wise and so funny – God, did he ever make you laugh – and so passionate about his dreams and goals.  A translation of that was happening right now, on a twin bed in a hotel room in Portofino, Italy.

Tyson had already been shirtless in bed, so all you really had to do was push down his boxers.  You could feel the length and size of him against your body then, and your breath could only hitch in your throat in anticipation of what was to happen very soon.  Your breathing got heavier as he helped you pull off your pyjama top, and you didn’t feel an ounce of self-consciousness as he looked down at your nearly naked body.  He brought his kisses down your chest and along both your breasts before pulling down your bottoms. 

He kissed you as he entered you, but you broke it as you let out a soft “Oh Jesus” at the feeling.  His lips left yours and looked into your eyes then, making sure everything was okay without even saying anything.  He grabbed each of your hands in his, intertwining your fingers before pushing them above your head, looking deep in to your eyes without looking away.  You began moaning softly, involuntarily, at the pressure you felt of him holding you in that position as he moved in and out of you, your hips crashing together with every one of his thrusts.  His eyes were blue – so blue – but you knew they were filled with fire.  You were sure that your moans got slightly louder as the time passed, mixed in with your pants of his name every time he hit just the right spot.

At some point he let go of your hands and they immediately went to cup his face, pulling him down to kiss you so you could stick your tongue down his throat again.  You didn’t stop kissing after that, your hands making their way up and down his torso, gripping on to his sides before moving up and settling underneath his arms and scratching at his shoulders and back.  You were in heaven.  Everything felt like pure bliss.  The endless kisses, the moans from you and the moans from him.  You had never felt anything so incredible in your life.

You noticed when Tyson’s breathing became more laboured, and you knew he was close.  You were too.  You dug your nails into his shoulders and tried to arch your hips just right.  Hearing him grunt and let out a string of expletives under his breath was all you needed to do it again.  “I’m so close,” you whispered, looking right into his eyes.

“Hazel…fuck…” was all he could let out.

“I want you to come inside me, Tyson.”

He didn’t last much longer after that, but he made sure you got there first.  He looked into your eyes the whole time as he watched your orgasm overcome you, coursing through your body and making you moan out his name and dig your nails into his biceps.  Only then did he allow himself his release, coming inside you, a series of grunts and moans of your name leaving him as he had his head buried in the crook of your neck.

You stayed together for a while, relishing in every last bit of what had just happened between you before Tyson couldn’t hold himself up on his forearms anymore.  There was one last, long kiss before he pulled out of you.  He lay by your side, still so close to your body.  You couldn’t help the smile that overtook your face, and when you turned your head to look at him, he had an identical smile on his face, too.

Despite earlier complaints from the both of you of being unable to fall asleep, you had no trouble doing so now, your eyes feeling heavy and fluttering until you fell into a peaceful sleep.

*

The next morning was quiet except for the sound of birds chirping outside your window.  The light was shining through from the morning sun, and when you opened your eyes and finally came to at least semi-consciousness, you saw and felt Tyson’s body underneath yours.  He had an arm wrapped around you and were using him as a pillow.

Memories of what happened last night flooded your mind as you waited for him to wake up.  From looking at the photos of the day to kissing him and then being under him, you remembered everything in vivid detail.  You hadn’t been part of something so passionate in your life.  It could have only happened with Tyson, too – you couldn’t picture it being with anyone else. 

After a while, you felt him shift underneath you and groan, bringing his free hand up to rub his eyes.  You began to trace shapes on his chest so he knew you were awake too.  When he looked at you, a small, tired smile played on his lips.  “Mornin’,” he whispered.  “You good?”

“I’m good,” you nodded.  “You sleep okay?”

“It was perfect.”

You smiled.  “Even with me hogging the covers?”

“You actually didn’t this time.  I was surprised,” he said, pulling your body so you were anchored right on top of his.  He wiggled a bit to get comfortable, shifting the beds.  “You were right about what you said last night, by the way.  We’d been waiting for a while.”

You bit your bottom lip, nodding slightly.  “You felt it too then, huh?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.  “Of course I did.”

There was silence between you.  Suddenly, a feeling came over you like lightning, seizing your whole body.  You never used to be like this, but once you lost your dad, your emotions sometimes came in quick rushes – tsunamis, you sometimes referred to them – and you could never stop it from happening.  You just had to learn how to deal with it, how to verbalize the emotion to solve it so you could go back to normal.  This time, it wasn’t one of self-consciousness, or full-blown anxiety, or fear of the unknown, or anything major.  It wasn’t even hesitation.  It was just a nervousness; a nervousness of the soul.  “This isn’t gonna change anything between us, is it?” you asked, verbalizing the first thing you became nervous about.  Not having Tyson in your life wasn’t an option at this point. 

“No,” he shook his head.  “No it won’t.”

“And this won’t – I mean, you’re not gonna think differently about me, are you?” you continued.  “Because I don’t – I know what it’s like for women in this business.  I don’t want anybody thinking of me differently because of what we did—”

“Hey hey hey, shhhhh,” Tyson cooed.  “Nobody’s going to think differently about you.  Don’t think that.  Nobody’s gonna know.  It’ll stay between you and me, Hazel.  I mean it.”

“Are you sure?” you asked.  Not having the career you worked so hard to build also wasn’t an option at this point.  People not respecting you wasn’t an option in general.  You knew that respect would be gone if people knew you’d slept with your mentor.  You could already imagine the things that would be said.  You’d never earn anything on your own merit anymore; it would always be because you slept with Kenny Omega. 

“Hazel, I would never,” he shook his head.  “Like I said, we’d been waiting for a while.  It happened.  I don’t—I mean, I don’t think either of us regrets it—”

“—I don’t.”

“—Neither of us regrets it, but I don’t want anybody to know either.  Nobody has to know, anyway.  It’s nobody’s business but our own.”

That had calmed you down considerably.  You were thankful he was so level-headed, thankful that he was so private in his dealings and personal life that you honestly didn’t have to worry.  He wasn’t like so many others who would say one thing and do another; lead you on and then get with another girl.  You had no worries that any of your friends or fellow wrestlers would ever know.  You were able to keep your mouth shut.  So was Tyson.  “This is like Take This to Your Grave.  You know, like the Fall Out Boy album?” you couldn’t help but quip.

Tyson snorted, rolling his eyes.  “Hazel, were you even alive when that album came out?”

“HEY!” you jolted up, causing the beds to wiggle again.  “I’ll have you know that was a seminal album in my life.  “I was twelve and—”

“Oh my God, please stop talking right there,” he stressed.  “Do not say another word.”

You smirked.  “Did I just make you feel really o—”

“—Oh shit.”

You paused.  “What?”

“—ohshitohshitohshit—”

“—What?!—”

“—Hold on!”

Tyson wrapped both his arms around you protectively, and before you knew it, you both had fallen through the beds.  You yelped during the drop, but once you realized what had happened, you couldn’t stop laughing.  Tears were falling from your eyes, rolling off of Tyson as he groaned from the impact – he took the brunt of it after all. 

“Christ Almighty,” he grumbled through your hysterical laughs.  He couldn’t keep the smile off his face.  “That was worse than some bumps I’ve taken in the ring.”

“I can’t believe that just happened,” you managed to get out in a high-pitched voice between your hysterical laughter.  “I don’t think I’ve ever laughed this hard in my life.”

“Yeah, funny for you because I saved you!”

You propped yourself up on your forearm.  Your cheeks were red from laughing, wet from the tears.  “Let me kiss you one last time to make it better.”  Except you didn’t wait.  You just lowered your face and planted your lips on his.  You didn’t know what you meant the kiss to be, but it lasted longer than anticipated, only stopping when the alert from Tyson’s phone went off.  Only then did you pull away.  “That must be Nick or Matt texting about breakfast.  We should clean ourselves up and go.”

Tyson didn’t say anything as he watched you rise from the floor, not bothering to wrap the top sheet or comforter around your naked body.  He stayed on the floor in between the beds as he heard the shower turn on, closing his eyes. 

***

28th May 2023

criticize the way you fly when you're soaring through the sky shoot you down and then they sigh and say, "she looks like she's been through it"

You always found Las Vegas to be way too hot.  It was a decent enough city, and you’d had some fun there, but the heat was always something you could never get over.  Double or Nothing meant that there were so many people and personalities at T-Mobile Arena.  You hung out mostly in the women’s locker room.  At least there, you knew you were safe.

“You haven’t run into him, have you?” Hikaru asked discreetly, chomping down on a baby carrot. 

You shook your head.  “Nah.  But I’ve kinda just been laying low in here.  I hope I’m not overstaying my welcome.”

“That’s impossible,” Hikaru said.  “You can stay in here the whole night if you have to.  I mean, he’s gotta talk to Tyson about what’s happening in a few weeks, right?”

“Yeah.  Worst case scenario I walk in on them during that.”

“Well, if you do, you call me so I can whoop his ass for you.  It’s been a long time coming for that punk ass bitch.”

You couldn’t help but snort at her words.  She had obviously been informed well about the transgressions that had been committed and she was firmly Team Hazel.  Not that it was ever any doubt – you and Hikaru had been great friends ever since your days in Japan.  But the main different between you was that Hikaru would follow through – if she said she was going to whoop someone’s ass, she’d whoop someone’s ass.  You’d mostly just cry about it in an abandoned washroom and in a hotel room afterwards.  It was your specialty.

“You’ve always been my girl, Hikaru.  What would I do without you?” you quipped with a smile.

Hikaru smirked.  “Don’t even go there, girl.  It all comes from here, by the way,” she said, pounding lightly on her chest where her heart was.  “I got you, Hazel.  You want me to grab you something from catering?”

You shook your head, standing up from your chair.  “I shouldn’t be afraid to go get food,” you said.  “You want more carrots?”

Your walk to catering was eventful, having a chat with Christopher Daniels along the way.  Once you got there, you grabbed a plate of food, some Gatorade, and a Greek salad.  You didn’t see Tony Schiavone creep up behind you, but he was a welcome partner to chat with as he picked up some dinner too.  The two of you walked through the halls together, chatting like old friends as your food got cold.  You didn’t really care, because every chat with Tony was so lively, and he expressed serious interest in appearing on Kick Out in the Kitchen.  When you said goodbye as Tony disappeared into one of the guys’ locker rooms, Greg left the one across the way.  The door was slow to close.  You’d think for all the money Las Vegas had, doors would close properly in their arena.

“Right, and so many people shat on her even though it wasn’t her fault,” you heard an all-too-familiar voice from the locker room.  “She got heat for it for months.  She’d be crying every night because all the shitty girls didn’t want to wrestle her.  And when she got to Japan, she already had a reputation.  Took a lot of convincing to get her into promotions.  Bea knew what she was doing in the ring but she got such a bad rap.”

“But you guys broke up a while ago, no?” said another voice.

“Mistakes happen in the ring all the time,” you heard one more voice.

“All the time,” the familiar voice said.  Then a giggle.  “It’d be much harder now to pick her up and drop her on her head, if you know what I mean.”

Everyone in the room, whoever they were, were giggling.  Snickering, even, at his comment about your body.  You froze in place, and by the time their conversation started up again, the door had finally closed, their voices gone.

Your body had inevitably gone through a change after you were forced to stop wrestling.  You had been in such great shape – you had to be, for heaven’s sake – and had worked out often.  But once you broke your neck and had to get the fusion surgery, most of it had to stop.  It might put too much stress on your neck in ways you never thought possible, your doctor said.  And truth be told, you were too scared to do anything too tenuous, because like the doctor told you, you should have suffocated to death in the ring and it was a miracle you were even walking in the first place.  This meant that you had gained weight – about thirty pounds, when all was said and done.  But because of your physique beforehand, it was noticeable.  You didn’t look like a wrestler with muscles and abs anymore, but you still looked like, well, a normal woman with some meat on her bones.  You weren’t unrecognizable.  Nobody cared, nobody commented on it.

Except, apparently, Will Ospreay. 

You don’t know what came over you, but you dropped everything but the Gatorade into the next trashcan you saw.  You felt that if you ate anything, it would just come back up.  That’s how much your stomach was in knots at his comment.  And the laughs.  God, you wished you had just barged in to see who was laughing at the comment, at your body.  Nobody had any idea what you went through, and how bad you took the news that you could never wrestle again.  It ate away at you for months, years even, and now these men were laughing about how your body had changed because of that life-altering event?  Fuck them.  And fuck Will Ospreay.

The same Will Ospreay that had endeared you when you were younger.  The same Will Ospreay that you fancied, that kissed you and made out with you and strung you along for months, always saying no to firm commitment but always calling you late at night to hook up or have fun.  The same Will Ospreay who told you that you could be clingy and overbearing despite not being clingy or overbearing.  The same Will Ospreay that led you on, letting you believe you were the only one.  The same Will Ospreay that sent you a simple text when you had broken your neck and never paid you a visit.  The same Will Ospreay that began hooking up with Bea so soon afterwards that you were sure there was overlap.  The same Will Ospreay that began to date her only a few weeks after your surgery, her smug smile on every uploaded picture only a reminder to you of what had happened in your personal and professional life.  The same Will Ospreay that you fucking hated with everything in you.

You escaped into a washroom, again, and checked every stall to ensure it was empty, again.  God, you felt like you were going to do this every show now.  You didn’t cry this time.  Instead, you began rubbing at your tattoo on the inside of your right wrist: a chef’s knife that you got in memory of you dad.  You made sure to breathe in and out, in and out, in and out.  Closing your eyes, you thought back to the first few months after your neck surgery.  The first few weeks were hard.  You had cried a lot, and you hated your neck brace.  You remember finding out the news about Will and Bea and basically becoming a vegetable in your bed.  The two weeks that Tyson came to stay with you made everything better, but there was one moment that stuck out, that you remembered so vividly.

Tyson had made lunch one day, some chicken thighs and vegetables and he plated some old pasta salad in your fridge.  You were excited to eat, but when you tried gripping on to your fork and knife, you couldn’t.  A common side effect after neck surgery, especially neck surgery like yours, but it hadn’t happened to you yet.  You thought you were over that hurdle, that it would have happened right after your surgery.  You tried again.  You couldn’t.  You tried just the fork, in your right hand, and you managed to keep it in your hand instead of having it fall on the table.  But when you tried to fork a piece of pasta, you couldn’t at all, and your fork fell loudly into your plate.  You started sobbing like a baby.  Tyson rushed over to you – he had been preparing drinks – and asked what was wrong.  You explained through tears and he could barely understand you.  You had lost your appetite you were so distraught.  But then Tyson – bless him – got you to calm down enough that you weren’t a sobbing mess.  He picked up your fork, got a couple of vegetables on it, and held it up near your mouth to feed you.

“Tys…” you remember being on the verge of tears again.  You felt like a fucking baby having somebody feed you.

“Eat, Hazel.  I got you.”

You almost didn’t, because you were too proud.  But when you saw the look on his face, and how he was looking at you, you opened your mouth and ate the food.  You chewed it slowly, embarrassed that it had come to this.  “I’m so sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“You’re feeding me like I’m a baby.  This is embarrassing.”

Tyson shook his head.  “This is not embarrassing at all,” he said before forking some chicken.  “What would be embarrassing is if you made me do an airplane to get you to eat.”

He always knew how to get you to smile, even at your lowest point.  You opened your mouth again to eat the chicken.  “Hey Tyson?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.  I mean it.”

Tyson cut up and fed you your entire meal, even gripping your glass for you to drink, before eating himself.  And a few days later, when it happened again, he did it all again without hesitation.  That’s what Tyson had done for you.  That’s what made you realize he would be in your life forever.  And those men in that locker room were laughing.

***

Tyson always made decisions for the good of his company – the company that he helped create and build from the ground up.  Whatever was good for the company was good for him.  Whatever made his friends money and got fans in seats.  That meant that despite his personal feelings towards Will Ospreay, he was working him again at Forbidden Door in Toronto.  They had faced each other earlier in the year at Wrestle Kingdom, for the good of New Japan Pro Wrestling.  Now he’d be facing him for the good of All Elite Wrestling.  Tyson was able to keep his feelings quite personal, never letting anybody know what he really thought or felt. 

Everybody except the two guys who could read him like a book.

Matt and Nick looked on as he spoke with Will about their match in Toronto.  Tyson would be dropping the title – he knew that already – but they were going over spots, storyline, and emotion.  Will focused on spots, but Tyson was focusing on emotion.  What was the story?  What story did Tyson want to tell?

“What do you think about a big spot, like—”

“Another big spot?  Haven’t we got enough big spots?” Tyson quipped.

“Listen, I was thinking of a Tiger Driver—”

“—Oh fuck—” a female voice exclaimed.

Everybody’s heads turned to the doorway to see Hazel popping in her head.  Tyson, Will, Matt, Nick, Austin, Chris Daniels – everyone looked at her.  Tyson noticed her stare fixed on Will before looking at him.  He knew that this was the one thing she didn’t want to happen.  Running into Will.  “Um, I’m sorry to interrupt—”

“—It’s okay sweetcheeks—” Matt offered.

“—I’m gonna, um, bring Hikaru back to the hotel when everything is over, so don’t worry.  Bye.”

She shut the door abruptly.  The men in the room stayed silent for a few moments before stealing quick glances at each other.  Austin looked over at Tyson first, but wasn’t able to read the emotion on his face.  Nick and Matt looked at Tyson too, but he was as stoic as a rock.  Will had already shrugged his shoulders and discounted the experience.  “Anyone else see how her eyes were watery?” Chris Daniels commented.

“Probably emotional because she knows we’re losing tonight,” Nick tried to cover quickly.  He didn’t want to speculate in a room full of men why Hazel Fiore looked like she was tearing up.  It was nobody’s business.  Especially not with Will in the room.

“She’s always been emotional,” Will commented, as if he was an authority on the issue.  Like he had the right to speak about her in any capacity.  “It’s like, you kinda feel bad, but you also understand why, y’know?  She’s got major daddy issues.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tyson’s response was literally automatic upon hearing the words come out of Will’s mouth, his tone scathing and unlike anything any of the other men had ever heard before.  Will looked at him, shocked, as if he hadn’t said anything wrong, even though Matt and Nick had also voiced their displeasure with words Tyson couldn’t hear through his anger and disgust.  “Seriously, what’s your fucking problem?” he followed up on a dumbfounded Will. 

“What?” he asked incredulously.

“Who the fuck says that about a girl who lost her dad at fifteen to cancer,” Tyson’s voice was still calm but full of disgust.  “It’s so fucking insensitive.  How could you even say that?”

“Ty, come on—”

“—Just fuck off, Will.  Seriously, fuck off,” he stood up from his seat and waved Will off, shaking his head.    “Get out of my fucking locker room.  I swear to God.  I know a lot of dumb fucks, Will, but you just might be the dumbest.”

“Ty—”

“You’re winning the belt in Toronto, so do however many spots you fuckin’ like.  Maybe now at least one of your five star matches will be memorable because I’m in it.  Now get out,” his tone was angrier and threatening.

Will left with a scowl on his face.  All the men in the room watched Tyson as he paced back and forth.  When he noticed Chris look at him, he stopped abruptly.  “What?”

“Nothing.  You did the right thing.”

***

“Please go away.  You’re going to think I’m a big baby.  That I’m still as lame as I was when you first met me,” you bemoaned, Tyson refusing to move from his heat on the edge of the bed.  “I’m serious.  Go to Wendy’s with the Bucks.  Get me a Frosty.  Be anywhere but here so you don’t have to see me like this.”

“Why?  Because I haven’t seen you like this before?” he countered, making you fall silent.  He had seen you like this many times before, but it was still unnerving, still a bit embarrassing to be a 31-year-old woman still emotional about something that happened seven years ago.  And to be like this over a guy you had actively – and successfully – avoided seeing for those seven years?  “C’mon, Haze.  Give me a little bit of credit.”

You sighed, taking a deep breath as you looked him in the eye.  “I don’t mean it like that,” your voice was small.  “I don’t mean to make you mad—”

“—You’re not making me mad—”

“—I just don’t want my problems becoming your problems.  You deal with enough shit already.  You got bit by an adult human male, Tyson.”

The both of you couldn’t help but snort.  The situation had to be lightened slightly.  “Come on.  Tell me.”

You sighed again.  “Something happened earlier in the night, before I walked in on you guys in the locker room.  I had gone to catering and was speaking with Tony and then when he went into his locker room, Greg was leaving the one across.  And while the door was open, I just…you know, heard some stuff.”

Tyson furrowed his brows.  “Stuff?  What stuff?”

“I kinda just overheard him talking.  I don’t know what his breakup with Bea was like, and I really don’t care, but uhhh, he was telling them some sob story about how much heat she got for what she did to me and how it affected their relationship, and he just made this comment, like, ‘It’d be much harder now to pick her up and drop her on her head, if you know what I mean’, and—”

Tyson didn’t even say anything, but you had to stop talking because he stood up at lightning speed and began making his way towards the door.  “Tyson—”

“—Do not stop me.”

Tyson was fast, but you were faster.  You slipped right by him and barricaded the door dramatically, like you were holding him hostage.  You kind of feel like you had to now, based on what you’d just told him.  “Nope.  You’re not leaving this hotel room—”

“—Yes I fucking am—”

“—No, you’re not, because that’s not even the worst part.”

He stepped back.  It was like he couldn’t comprehend what you’d just said.  “What do you mean that’s not even the worst part?” his voice got high pitched.

“Go back to the bed—”

“—Hazel—”

“Go back to the bed, now, or else,” you threatened.  You had nothing to threaten him with at all, but you were serious.  You didn’t want drama, or commotion, or anything of the sort.  Tyson had been through enough over the last year that you thought he should be done for the rest of his life.  There was no reason for him to take this on as his own, to defend whatever honour you had left – if you had any at all. 

You laid one of your hands on his forearm to calm him down.  “It got worse because once he said it, I heard people laughing,” you explained.  You felt him shift, his arm twitching in anger, but it was subtle.  “And I know you’re going to ask who it was, but I don’t know.  I didn’t go in there to see or to yell at them or whatever else.  I just took my dinner and chucked it into the closest garbage can and just…” you trailed off.  “You just…you can’t imagine how awful it feels to be a woman and have your colleagues, your supposed friends, whoever they were, laughing at a joke about your body.  It’s soul-crushing.  And I just…you know,” you shrugged, unable to find the words.  “After everything I’ve been through, I still let this bullshit get to me.”

Tyson pulled you into him to hug you, wrapping his giant arms around you just like he used to during your first visit to Japan, just like he used to after big matches after his shower, just like he always did, really.  Tyson gave the best hugs.  When he engulfed you, it was like all your problems just washed away and you were cleansed.  It was like you were back in the waters of Portofino holding on to him, not wanting to let go.  “D’you remember when I stayed with you those two weeks after your neck surgery and I had to feed you?”

“Of course, Ty.  I actually thought about it after I heard the laughing.  I’d never forget that.”

“Just remember that,” he encouraged.  “Just remember everything I’d do for you before you let anyone of those fuckers get in your head.”

You waited for Tyson to wash his face to put on your pyjamas before the both of you got into bed.  You wondered if he’d get close at all, possibly even touch you, but the second you were both laying down, your question was answered.  His body moved towards yours like a fight-or-flight response, one of his arm draping over your body.  He curled up right against your back, like the big spoon, your body nestling perfectly into his.  Memories flooded his mind.  Memories of the G1 Climax Tournament he won.

In the quietness of the room, with the low hum of the air conditioner the only noise, Tyson placed a kiss on your shoulder.  He didn’t say anything, but he knew you felt it. 

For him, it was getting harder and harder to control.

***

TOKYO 2016

i said remember this moment in the back of my mind the time we stood with our shaking hands, the crowds in stands went wild

You know you will remember the moment vividly as you watch it happen.  You will remember the finished move and how Tyson pinned his opponent.  You will remember the bell ringing after the referee’s hand hit the mat three times.  You will remember the roar of the crowd and the excitement in everybody’s eyes to see the first ever gaijin win the G1 Climax.  You will remember how gruelling of a month it was for Tyson, how emotionally draining it had been.  You will remember it all culminating in this moment.  Of him winning.  Of him making history.

You weren’t able to see him right away.  There were in-ring celebrations and post-match press conferences to be had, and various people from New Japan saw him first.  You had to be on standby, and you could have chewed your nails off waiting.  Even when the suits finished, the handler from New Japan made you wait an additional ten minutes just to see him.

You knocked lightly on his door before peeping your head in.  He was sitting on a giant production case, the tournament trophy beside him.  His legs were dangling off the edge, not touching the floor.  Not many things could make him look small.  He looked your way and when he saw you, the most tired of smiles appeared on his face.

“Can I come in?”

“Of course,” he nodded quickly, and you slipped in before shutting the door behind you.  “What did you think?”

“I think you’re incredible,” you said, approaching him and standing in front of him.  Your eyes scanned over the trophy briefly before you focused your attention back on him.  “Has it sunk in yet for you?  That you just made history?”

He took a few breaths, shaking his head slightly.  “No.  I guess I did, didn’t I?  First gaijin to win the G1.  I can say that now.”

“Doesn’t it feel amazing?” you asked.

“I’m so tired and drained that I don’t know what amazing feels like right now,” he said, causing you both to laugh slightly.  “I think tomorrow morning as I’m eating breakfast it’s gonna hit me like a ton of bricks.”

You couldn’t help but smile, stepping closer to him so you were standing between his spread legs.  You don’t know what came over you, but seeing him the way he was – in his gear, beside the giant G1 Climax trophy, still trying to catch his breath, the weight of what just happened and what it meant looming over the both of you…you really don’t know what came over you. 

You kissed him.  You held his big, sweaty head in your hands and you kissed him.  Only a couple of seconds after it began, you realized what you were doing and you pulled away.  “Shitsorry—sorry—” you began mumbling and apologizing quickly.

“—It’s okay—”

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry Tys—”

“—Hazel, it’s alright.  It’s okay.”

You put your fingers over your lips, as if that would stop it from happening again.  A physical barrier is what you needed, apparently.  Not a mental one.  You looked in each other’s eyes before one of his characteristic close-lipped smiles spread across his face.  “I’m very happy you’re here,” he whispered.  “I really—I really like you being here.”

“I think you’re just saying that because I act like an idiot and provide you entertainment,” you said, trying to make light of what just happened.

“I don’t think you’re an idiot at all,” he shook his head only slightly, not able to do much else with his body after what had just transpired in the ring.  “Please stop thinking that.”

“I bet you do secretly.”

“No,” he was firmer in his tone this time.  “I know a lot of dumb people, and you’re not one of them.”

Before you could say anything else, there was another knock at the door.  You stepped away from being so close to Tyson.  He looked extremely annoyed.  A man began speaking in Japanese from the other side of the door, and Tyson answered back while rolling his eyes.  The door closed before you even understood what was going on.  “Sorry.”

“What was that about?”

“Driver wanted to know how much longer.  I told him fifteen minutes so I could shower.”

“It’s okay,” you said, nodding your head once.  “Go shower.  We—I’ll meet you in the car.  I know you’re tired, so we’ll celebrate tomorrow.”

The driver drove you both to a local hotel near Ryogoku Kokugikan, the company deciding to put everybody up in the hotel since they wanted to film a press conference tomorrow afternoon.  You checked into your respective rooms, which were only down the hall from each other.  But as you were getting ready for bed, your phone buzzed on your bathroom vanity.

Neck hurts like a motherfucker.

Colour me shocked, Ty.  Are you okay?Do you want me to drop by?  I have some Rub A535.

What are you, my dad?

You rolled your eyes at his response.  He was the geriatric one.

Has neck pain, still acts like a pain in the ass.

You threw on a robe and made sure to grab your key card before making your way over to his room.  You knocked quietly and he opened not long after.  You let yourself in.  “Seriously, Rub A535?  You’re an old man.”

“I bet it’s like looking into a mirror then, eh?” you countered.

Tyson’s jaw dropped.  “You jezebel!”

You both broke out into laughter, making your way further into his room.  You threw your robe onto the extra bed.  He was wearing an old, stupid pair of shorts to sleep in.  “Sit,” you said as you got on his bed.  “Show me where it’s hurting.  I can try to massage it.”

“Are you licensed?  Can I claim you on my insurance?”

You gave him a look.  “Do you want my help or not!”

He giggled, sitting himself on the edge of the bed.  “Right up over here,” he showed you with his hand, “and over here.  Just be careful though, okay?”

“Yeah, of course,” both of your voices were calm at this point.  There was no room for joking around.  “You have to tell me if I’m hurting you,” you warned, with Tyson nodding his head.

You began massaging the first place he showed you, and almost the second you applied pressure, Tyson groaned.  He encouraged you to keep going, that it felt good.  “You know, this wouldn’t be happening to you if you didn’t keep landing on your neck all the time,” you whispered.

“What fun would that be?” he asked.  You shook your head.

Your continued massaging, being as careful as you could, moving on to the other areas that he pointed out to you.  You could hear his little satisfied exhales, the little groans he let out when you hit a spot well.  You switched back and forth between the spots for a while, Tyson appreciating every minute.  You didn’t know if he could feel how close you got once you really got into it, or if he could feel your breath on his neck.  But you were happy you were making him feel better, happy you were with him and his beautiful soul on the biggest night of his career thus far. 

“Ah shit,” you almost didn’t hear him swear under his breath.

You pulled your hands back towards your chest.  “Fuck, did I hurt you?”

“No no, it’s okay, keep going,” he urged.

“Tys—”

“It wasn’t you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

You stayed silent, exhaling slightly before continuing to massage over near his shoulder as you had been, being a little more careful.  You would never be able to forgive yourself if you had hurt him somehow.  He winced at some points and groaned in others, like he had been when you focused on his neck, but you could still tell something was up.  When you looked over his shoulder, you could see him trying discreetly to adjust his shorts, pulling some of the fabric forward as if he was trying to hide or cover something. 

And then it hit you like a ton of bricks.

You couldn’t help but smile to yourself as you kept massaging, garnering another groan from him.  You took your time getting closer and closer to him until you were positive he could feel your breath on his skin.  “Don’t worry about it, Ty,” you whispered in his ear in a knowing tone.  “It’s okay.”

He shook his head slightly.  You were positive the redness you saw in his cheeks wasn’t from the increased blood flow to his neck and shoulders.  “No it’s not.  It’s embarrassing.  This is, like, what happens with pervs.”

“It’s not embarrassing.  It happens.  Don’t worry about it.”

“I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to apologize about,” you assured him.  By this point, you had stopped paying attention to your massaging and had no idea if what you were doing even helped.  You were too busy looking over his shoulder, trying to see through his shorts.  You inhaled quietly.  “D’you want me to take care of it?”

Tyson shook his head, still embarrassed.  “No no no.  Gosh Hazel, you don’t have to do that.”

“I’ll do it, Ty.  I don’t mi—”

“—Hazel…” there was a hesitation in his voice.

There was a pause as your back and forth hung in the air.  “Is it cause you don’t want me to?”

He shook his head.  “That’s not it.”

“Then what is it?” you asked, bringing your lips down to kiss his shoulder.

He stayed silent.  He was almost ashamed because he couldn’t say anything out loud.  How could he?  He knew what he wanted to say, he just couldn’t say it.  He couldn’t let you know; it had to stay inside him.  For his good.  For your good.  He felt you kiss his shoulder again and he inhaled.  “Hazel…”

“Remember Portofino?”

He couldn’t help the small smile that spread on his lips.  “Of course.”

You kissed your way from his shoulder to where it met his neck.  “Do you really not want to?  Cause I’ll stop,” you whispered in his ear.

Tyson shook his head.  He could do many things, but he couldn’t deny this right now.  “I just…I can barely move.”

“You don’t have to,” you assured him.  “I’ll take care of it.”

“Haze…”

“Shhhh…” you cooed, kissing his neck.  “Lie down.”

“Haze—you don’t—I don’t want you to think you have to do that.”

“I want to, Tyson.  I feel safest with you.”

He didn’t lie down just yet.  Instead, he pulled you on to his lap and began kissing you.  You straddled him as you kissed him back, feeling his hands go to your thighs and travel around to your ass, squeezing the flesh there.  You could barely let go of him as his tongue entered your mouth.  Your hands wandered between his toned body and his hair, gripping it at the nape of his neck.  He was so much bigger now, so much bigger than you remember him being.  You didn’t know how long you just sat there making out for, but your lips felt swollen when you stopped, even if it just was momentarily.  “Ty?” you breathed out, feeling his length between your legs.

“Hmm?”

“Do you want to be inside me or in my mouth?”

“Shit Hazel,” he swore underneath his breath.  The way you worded the question almost made him come right then and there.  “In—inside you.”

You gave him a quick kiss.  “Lie down.”

He listened this time, and you both moved to better positions on the bed, him lying down like you demanded.  You helped him out of his shorts, freeing his hard cock.  You took off your own pyjama bottoms, but Tyson raised his arms so he could slide your panties down your legs.  You kissed a trail down his chest before straddling him again.  You reached down between you and positioned his cock so he could enter you, and you lowered on to him slowly, having to adjust to his size.  “Fuck Ty,” you couldn’t help but breath out along the way.  When you bottomed out, a shiver ran up your spine.

“Jesus, Hazel,” he breathed out.  “Fuck, that feels so good.”

You knew he could barely move, and you knew you’d be the one putting in most of the work here, so you took a few more moments to adjust before you began rolling your hips back and forth slowly.  Tyson watched and his eyes rolled to the back of his head at the visual.

You took your time getting into a rhythm, wanting this to last as long as it could.  The last time, in Portofino, your body had been buzzed from being out in the sun all day.  This time around, the both of you were exhausted, but that didn’t mean there was any less energy between you two, or any less love.  You would do anything for Tyson, and Tyson would do anything for you.  So you were taking it gently, and you were taking it slowly, but you knew it would feel just as good as Portofino did two years ago, just as perfect as it did then too, despite nothing happening since.

Tyson’s hands were placed firmly on your thighs at first, before they moved to your hips and followed your movements loosely.  You placed your hands over his, intertwining your fingers slightly.  “Y’okay, Ty?”

“You feel fucking incredible,” he whispered.

“You want me to take my top off?”

“Yes please.”

You giggled at his request of please.  So polite.  You could take the boy out of Canada, but you couldn’t take Canada out of the boy.  You led his hands from your hips all the way up your body, dragging your shirt long with it, before he pulled it off entirely and tossed it to the side.  Your breasts were exposed then, and all it took was the sight of them to give Tyson a burst of energy, moving to sit up.  One arm wrapped around your waist to hold you down on his cock as he attacked your lips with his.  He cupped your breast, which overflowed even in his big hands.  You moaned into his kisses, gripping the hair at the nape of his neck again.  Your fingernails dug into the skin of his shoulder blades where you had been massaging earlier.  “Ty…” you whispered out as he moved from your lips to your neck.  “Ty, lie down.  I got you.  I told you I’d take care of you.”

“You’re so beautiful, Hazel.”

A shiver ran up your spine hearing those words.  You pushed him back down before placing your hands on his chest for leverage as you began to roll your hips again.  Your breathing got heavier; so did his.  You savoured every moment of being on top of him, having his amazing body underneath you as you worked to pleasure the both of you.  You were completely drunk on him, willing that this exact feeling could last forever. 

Tyson had gotten more vocal the longer you two went on.  Between the sight of you on top of him and the feeling of him inside you, he was close.  It didn’t help that he’d gotten a head start during the massage.  “You’re gonna make me come.”

You were desperate – you could admit that.  You didn’t want it to end.  He felt too good inside of you.  You felt too connected to him to have it be over, regardless of how long you’d been riding him.  You couldn’t even keep track or have any idea because you were so wrapped up in the feeling of him.  “No,” you shook your head, biting your bottom lip.  “No, not yet.”

Tyson couldn’t believe what he’d heard.  “What?”

“Not yet,” you repeated more emphatically.  “Want more.  Need more.”

A shiver ran up his spine hearing those words.  It took everything in him not to come then and there.  Instead, he began to move his hips along with yours, and you could automatically feel the difference.  Your moaning got louder.  Tyson almost couldn’t take it.  “You’re getting so deep, Ty.”

“Keep going, baby.”

You clenched when the words left his mouth.  Your hips kept rolling, your clit rubbing against his body as his cock was hitting you so deep and at the perfect angle.  After a while longer, you found yourself getting closer, as you were sure he was hitting your G-spot.  “Ty…oh fuck Ty—I—I—”

You couldn’t say anything else as the most intense orgasm you’d ever felt washed over your entire body.  Your entire body shook with pleasure – you could even feel it in your fucking toes.  You had never felt anything like it before and oh my God, was it glorious.  You swore you could see stars as you clenched around him, repeating his name over and over like a prayer.  At some point, it was all too much for you, and you felt yourself collapsing on to him.  Your breasts were between your bodies, pressing against him as he held you down with his arms.  As he pumped in and out of you, you could feel his release too, his groans and how you felt full from him. 

You felt empty when he slipped out of you, but you kissed him to make up for it, kiss after kiss after kiss.  Were you being sappy?  Both times this had ended up happening, it was truly spur of the moment.  But during both times, there had been so much pent up energy between you that it could only culminate in something like this.  And during both times, you didn’t want them to end.  You knew you’d remember every detail.

In between kisses, you couldn’t help yourself.  “Love you, Ty.”

“Love you too, Hazel,” he responded right after.  It was only then that you heard the true fatigue in his voice. 

He didn’t let go of you as you rolled off him and onto his side.  You were both on your sides now, and he pulled you up against his chest.  All of his muscles, tired and overused as they were, pressed into your back as he tucked his head against your shoulder.  Before the fatigue finally consumed him, he placed a kiss on your shoulder; you brought his hand up and kissed it too, finally drifting off to sleep.

*

The next morning, Tyson could barely move.  He’d need help getting out of bed.  But that was typical.  What really mattered wasn’t his pain or how stiff some of his joints were.  What really mattered was that he was still in bed, with you, looking into your eyes.  One of your hands was playing with his hair.  One of his hands was drawing circles along the skin on your arm.  You were both quiet.  You were both in the moment, since you didn’t have to be anywhere else for a while. 

“You’re career’s about to take off in ways we never would have thought,” you barely whispered.  You wondered if the weight of what he had accomplished last night had finally hit him.  “Are you gonna remember little ol’ me when you’re rich and famous?”

The smallest of smiles cracked on his lips.  “Duh.  You’re unforgettable.” 

“A lot of things are gonna change you, and I want you to know that I think you deserve all the good things coming to you.  Whatever they are,” you continued.  “You know that, right?”

“I do,” he said.  “But it’s not all about me.  You’re going to do some pretty big things too.  Stardom’s gonna shoot you to the moon because you deserve it.  And what’s happening in California when you go back?”

“I’ve got a match with Candice, and a match with Bea Priestley again.  Let’s hope I don’t walk out with another broken sternum.”

“You’re gonna knock both out of the park, because you always do.  Then everybody’s gonna be clamouring for you.  There’s going to be bidding wars over you,” he assured you.  “You’re just as good as I am.  If not better.”

“Oh stop,” you said, blushing and embarrassed at his words.  You buried your face into the pillow so you didn’t have to look at him.  You could feel him move, sticking his face into the crook of your neck as he kissed along it.

“I mean it, Haze,” he mumbled against your temple between kisses. 

When you raised your head back up, he peppered your face with light pecks before giving you quick kisses on your lips.  When you stopped kissing, you took in the silence between you.  “Hey Tys…”

“Hmm?”

Your hand moved to caress his face along his beard.  “I wasn’t—I didn’t just, like, blurt out the words last night and didn’t mean them,” you stuttered out.  “I do love you.  In my own way.”

“I know,” he said.  “I meant what I said last night too.  That I’m very happy you’re here.  That I like you being here with me.  And that I love you.”

“But you don’t…even after what happened in Portofino, we can’t do much more than this, can we?” you asked.  Secret little love affairs.  One-off passionate nights after emotionally charged moments that brought you closer together, closer than you ever thought you’d ever get with your mentor, your best friend, your person. 

His heart broke.  Again, he was ashamed because he couldn’t say anything out loud.  He couldn’t let you know; it had to stay inside him.  For his good and for your good.  “It’s not the right time,” he said instead.

Your heart didn’t break.  It had no reason to.  He was right, but you didn’t want to admit it.  “Not—not that anything would change but if—if—do you think it ever will be the right time in the future?”

He felt his stomach in knots.  He answered with the only answer he could give.

“I don’t know.”

*

A few weeks later, when Matt and Nick were back in Japan, they would watch intently as Tyson was glued to his phone.  They’d give each other a look that Tyson wouldn’t see, and then they’d go about their business, eating their ice cream or searching for directions to a coffee shop.  But one night, after they walked into Tyson’s hotel room at the tail end of an hour-long phone call, Nick made the executive decision.

“Sorry.  It was Hazel,” Tyson said once he hung up.

“Figured as much.  You don’t talk to anyone else on the phone that long but us and her,” Nick smirked.

Tyson shrugged.  “Yeah, well…”

“She doing okay?”

“She’s fine.”

“How was it when she was over here?” Matt piped in.

Tyson was avoiding eye contact.  “It was nice,” he kept his answers simple.  “Nice that I had someone here with me for winning the G1, you know.”  Despite being some of his best friends, they didn’t know what had happened in Italy, and they weren’t going to know about what happened after the G1.

“Mmmhhhmmm,” Nick nodded.  “Must’ve been.”

“Are you gonna tell her how you feel?” Matt asked, getting straight to the point.  “She’s gottta know, Ty.”

Tyson shook his head.  Those observant little fuckers.  “No.”

Nick grimaced.  “Why not?”

Tyson took a deep breath, sighing afterwards.  “It’s just easier if she doesn’t.  Even if it rips me apart.”

***

25th June 2023

you say, "i don't understand," and i say, "i know you don't" we thought a cure would come through in time, now, i fear it won't

You watched with tears in your eyes as the trainer attended to Tyson after his match with Will, going through concussion protocol and range of motion exercises to ensure everything was okay and that nothing was broken.  Tyson sat their quietly, complying with everything, moving his shoulders and legs, blinking once and then twice, maintaining focus then following a light, stretching his neck back and forth and side to side.  That was the most important exercise of all, after what had happened in the ring.  After he didn’t tell you one of the most important spots in the match.

“Everything looks completely fine, Mr. Smith,” the head trainer said, finally, much to everybody’s relief.  Everybody except you.

“God Ty, that Tiger Driver looked brutal,” Nick said.  “Helluva spot, but brutal nonetheless.”  Of course he would say that.

“I thought it looked incredible,” Matt pitched in.  “If anybody could have done it and taken it correctly, it was you.”  Of course he would say that.

“That’ll grab the headlines,” Christopher Daniels said.  Of course he would say that.

“Leave the really big spots for a Canada, huh?” Stephen joked.  Of course he would say that.

It was then that Tyson locked eyes with you – you, staying completely silent across the way of the room, though you knew by now your face was probably beet red with emotion.  You had so much emotion stored inside of you, from the beginning of the match until now, and you didn’t know when it was going to burst.  Forty minutes of your heart being in the pit of your stomach.

Tyson finally noticed.

“Can everyone just…” he began, sighing and trailing off before recollecting his thoughts.  “Just give me a couple of minutes – alone, please,” he ordered, albeit politely.  Everybody stood silent, awkwardly.  “Now guys.  Come on.  Everyone out.”

You didn’t move, but everyone else did.  When they were all out, and you were all alone with Tyson, that’s when all the emotion stored inside of you came out.  One of your tsunamis.  Now.  Of all times it could happen.

“What’s the matter?  What’s wrong?” he asked gently.

His tone meant that the first few tears escaped.  You shook your head vehemently.  “No—no—no—”

“—Hazel—”

“—No—”

“Hazel, c’mere…c’mere,” he cooed.  Even reluctantly, you went over to him, sitting across from him on the medical table.  He grabbed your hands in his.  You weren’t expecting that, but you were shaking, and he probably wanted to stop that.  “What’s the matter?”

“Your neck, your neck,” you kept repeating through your tears.

“My neck is fine—”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing this fucking shit, Tyson?” you demanded, tears fully streaming down your face now.  “Do you think I like seeing your body torn up by a cage?  That I like seeing you be dropped on your fucking head?  And by him?”

“Haze, I’m sor—”

“Sorry’s not gonna cut it this time!” you exclaimed, pulling your hands away from his.  You wiped the tears from your eyes.  “You’re Kenny fucking Omega.  Your worst match is still ninety five percent better than everybody else’s best matches yet you still think you have to do this—this—this absolutely insane shit.  For what?  What’s it all for, Tyson?  You’re already the best in the world.  You’re already a legend.”

“I’m perfecting my craft, Hazel.  You know that.  We talk about it all the time.  This is everything to me.  I left my family, my friends – I moved to a foreign country and was fucking alone for years so I could be at the top.  Every sacrifice I’ve made has been in the name of pro-wrestling because there can’t be a question about whether or not I’m the best.  That’s it, Hazel.  That’s it.”

You absorbed his words, each one of them hitting you like a dagger.  You sat there silently, looking deep into his eyes.  “Is that really all that matters to you?  Is that it?”

You could see the look in his eyes.  You could see the change in his face.  He wanted to say something.  He was so close to saying something.  He was going to say something.  But you couldn’t hear how he would respond to your question – at least not right now.  The door handle being jerked loudly from the outside interrupted your conversation, and when you both looked the way of the door, you saw one person walking through it.

Will fucking Ospreay.

Okay, now you were livid.

“Don’t you know how to fucking knock?” you demanded, not caring how rude you sounded.  You stood up from where you were sitting across from Tyson.

Will’s face scrunched up.  “Who pissed in your cereal?”

“YOU!” you screamed.  “You, you fucking idiot!”

“What the hell is wrong with you?  I came in to see Tyson, not you—”

“Well you’re going to see me anyway!”

“Will you calm down—”

“—Do not tell me to calm down,” you warned.  “What is it?  Huh?  You want to do the same thing to his neck that your ex-girlfriend did to mine?”  Will’s brows furrowed with that rhetorical question.  You didn’t even bother to wait for him to retort.  You just kept going.  “You know what, actually?  This is a perfect opportunity.  Finally you can see it in the flesh,” you turned around, gathered your hair in your hand, and lifted it up.  Your scar was on full display for Will, who diverted his eyes the second he saw it.  “Four screws, one rod, and sixteen staples fixed your girlfriend’s mistake.  I should have suffocated and died in that ring and you didn’t even have the decency to check in on me.  And you want to know why I’m so upset?”

Will clenched his jaw.  “Listen, I’m sorry that happened, but—”

“You’re not sorry it happened,” you interrupted him.  “You want me to believe you’re sorry when you were joking with your friends in the locker room in Vegas about how it would be much harder now to pick me up and drop me on my head?”

It was the first time during your spat that you saw Will’s face drop – that he looked legitimately taken aback, almost even frightened, by what you said.  You had been stepping closer to him with every word, and had backed him up against the wall at this point.  “It must be so empowering to be a man…that you can just exist and be you whereas a woman has to apologize for her existence,” you said.  “If I ever hear that you’ve talked about me or my body again, I will kill you with my bare hands.  I fucking hate your guts.”

“I can feel it,” was all he could reply with. 

You took one final step closer, looking at him with all the venom in the world in your eyes.  “You can hurt me, Will, and you already have, but if you hurt any one of my friends, it’s over for you, and I mean that entirely.  I will fucking end you.  That’s a promise.”

He stayed silent then, looking down at you, because there was nothing for him to say.  You felt like kneeing him in the groin, but that would have been too much pleasure for one night after what you’d just said to him.  It would have been an indulgence.  As the words hung in the air, you backed up slightly before walking out of the room.  Only then had you noticed the door had been held open by Matt, who was watching you intently as you made your exit.

***

Just knocked on your room door and you didn’t answer.  Are you in the shower or something?

I went to the airport early Catching a red eye to Winnipeg

Hazel

Gonna spend some extra time with my mom

I need to talk to you

I know. I’m sorry I blew up at Will in your room. That wasn’t very nice of me and it put you in an awkward position of having to hear me yell seven years of pent up shit at him.

I couldn’t care less about that He deserved it

Am I still allowed to come to the cottage?

Obviously Hazel What makes you think you wouldn’t?

I don’t know The way I spoke to you

***

30th June 2023

all of this silence and patience, pining and anticipation my hands are shaking from holding back from you

You bought Timbits.  It was the quintessential Canadian road trip item, and you couldn’t show up empty-handed, even though the drive to the cottage was only just over an hour.  With your suitcase loaded in the trunk, you hauled the bag of groceries into the backseat.  Tyson always insisted he had food, but protein bars and chocolate milk didn’t count.  When you slipped into the front seat, you held them up near your face.

“You wanna make me fat?” he asked as he shut the door behind them.  “Seriously, woman.  I have a strict diet to maintain this body.”

You rolled your eyes.  “Oh, right.  I forgot about that.  Your diet of energy drinks and Dave’s Doubles and junior cheeseburger deluxes is sooooo healthy.”

“You know it,” he winked.  “What’s with all the food, by the way?”

“You never have food.”

“I have food!”

“I also may have watched The Bear with my mom.”

Tyson giggled.  He put the gear in drive and signalled.  “Yeah.  That’ll do it.  What’re you gonna make?”

“Scallopini al funghi,” you said, eyeing him.  He stayed silent.  “You know, like a chicken marsala.”

“Oh, you mean like from the Cheesecake Factory?”

You chopped him across the chest.  As always he was overdramatic in his response, though he knew exactly what he was doing when he brought up the Cheesecake Factory.  “You take that back right now, Tyson.”

“Man, you still got it,” he rubbed at his chest where you chopped him.  “You been practicing without me or something?”

“Apologize!”

The smirk hadn’t left his face.  “I’m sorry I brought up the Cheesecake Factory when you mentioned making a fancy shmancy Italian dish,” irony dripped with every word that came out of his mouth.

“Thank you,” you smiled just as ironically.  “How was the rest of the time in Toronto?”

He shrugged.  “Just the usual.  Lots of media.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  I was able to go to a few places and get some gaming stuff, which was nice.”

You almost didn’t want to ask, but there was something in your chest that was making you.  “How’s your neck?”

“Neck’s fine,” he said, looking over at you quickly.  “And I’m not just saying that, okay?”

You nodded in understanding.  “I’m excited for this, you know,” you tried to lighten the mood back to where it was.  You didn’t want to talk about what had happened just yet.  It was the first time seeing Tyson in almost five days and you wanted to see him smile.  “I can’t wait to do a 630 splash off the dock.  The water will be warm, right?”

“We’ll see,” he said.  “I’m excited, too.  I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”

***

Groceries were put away.  Scallopini were made.  Dishes were put in the dishwasher.

And then…

“BAH GAWD ALMIGHTY!” you could hear Tyson scream in a bang-on Jim Ross impression before you hit the water.  The cold temperature hit your skin like icicles, but you knew it would be only momentary.  You swam a bit underwater before you emerged back up, hearing Tyson finishing his yelling.  “Somebody stop the damn match!  That man has a family!”

You watched as he got a running start and completed a flawless tope con hilo from the edge of his dock right into the water.  You began to backstroke so you could get further into the lake as you watched him come up for air.  “Show off!” you yelled at him, a smile on your face.

He smiled and shook his head.  He began swimming over to you.  “I do that all the time!” he called out after you.  When he caught up to you, easily, he could see the playful scowl on your face.

“Now you’re just bragging,” you said.  You turned away from him and looked out onto the lake.  Streaks covered the sky, the sunset starting showing its beauty over the lake.  Whenever you came here with Tyson – not that it was often, but whenever it did happen – you always managed to get a beautiful sunset.  You didn’t know if it was the time of year, or the weather, or some other force of nature you had no power over.  Regardless, you were very lucky.  You could feel him behind you.  “You get the best sunsets out here,” you commented, your voice no longer yelling.

“I know,” he said. 

You were both quiet for quite a while, just letting the sound of the waves take precedent.  The lake wasn’t particularly lively – at least not at this time of day – but there were some boats still driving around the lake, some families down the coast clearly having their own Canada Day weekend celebrations.  You treaded water easily to stay afloat, but the cold water wasn’t getting any warmer.  You plugged your nose and dunked your head into the water to see if it would help, but when you came back up, it hadn’t.  “Think the water will be warmer tomorrow?”

“Just dunk your head a few more times,” Tyson suggested playfully.  You chuckled, but what you weren’t expecting was to feel his giant hand atop your head.  “Tyson!” you screamed, because you knew exactly what he was going to do.

It didn’t stop him.  He pushed you down and dunked you into the water.  He let you come back up quickly, but by the time you caught your breath, he pushed you back down again.  It was like he was baptizing you, for heaven’s sake.  Under the water, you kicked and punched at him.  If you were being honest, you were aiming for his dick, but when you were above water once more catching your breath, he wasn’t grovelling in pain, so it meant you missed.

“You asshole!” you half-yelled, half-giggled.  “You are seriously the worst, Tyson Smith.”

“Wow, using my full name?”

“You deserve it.”

“Nobody ever deserves that.  You were the one trying to hit me.”

“I was trying to punch your dick.”

“You were what?!” his voice raised three octaves.  “Hazel Ila—”

“—do not say my middle name—”

“—Ilaaarrrrria,” Tyson put on an extremely strong and dramatic Italian accent.

Big mistake.  You splashed a ton of water into his face, discombobulating him.  You couldn’t help but laugh as you kept splashing him, getting closer to him with each one.  When you were close enough, and with whatever vision he had left with tons of lake water flooding his eyes, he reached out and grabbed your arm to stop you.  He pulled you into his body, holding you against him.  Your arms wrapped around his shoulders. 

“You really are a jezebel, eh?” he said, using one hand to wipe the water off his eyes. 

“I always knew you stealing my passport in Japan would come back to haunt me one day,” you said.

“You’re lucky I’ve never told anyone.  Do you have any idea how long and hard Austin has begged?”

You both giggled.  Then silence.  You were close.

Tyson kissed you.  He leaned his head forward and in one swift movement he kissed you.  You kissed him back for as long as you could.  It had been seven years.  Tyson kissed you for as long as he could before he realized what he was doing and pulled away, turning his head to the side.  “Fucksorry—sorry—” he began mumbling and apologizing quickly.

“—It’s okay—”

“I’m sorry—I’m sorry Haz—”

“—Tys, it’s alright.  It’s okay.”

Your hands were cradling his face by this point, and despite his tone and his apologies you continued to look deep into each other’s eyes.  You wondered what was next.  You always wondered what was next with Tyson.  You could feel lightning running through you, running deep in your damn bones.  And when you were sure Tyson would lean in again, a scream across the lake broke the moment.  You both whipped your heads to see a boat pass by, teenagers hanging on to a tube with every inch of their life responsible for the screaming.  The both of you watched as it sped across the lake, taking your moment with it. 

“You’re shivering,” Tyson finally said, filling the silence.

Considering your body was pressed up to his, you weren’t surprised he felt something.  But considering what had just happened, you hadn’t even noticed yourself.  “Guess I’m not used to the water just yet.”

“Let’s go inside.”

“No no, if you want to stay out we can stay out.”

“No way,” he shook his head.  “I’m not gonna make you stay out here shivering.  We’ll come back out tomorrow when the sun’s out.”

You made your way inside.  Tyson gave you space to change into comfortable clothes, and you went into the master bathroom to do something with your hair.  It would inevitably develop a curl, so you decided to brush through it and try to calm your bangs as much as possible before tying it back into a French braid.  The electricity that was in your body hadn’t left, and the moment between you and Tyson in the lake kept playing in your mind.  His blue eyes.  His stupid little giggle.  His voice raising three octaves.  You tried breathing in and out, tried thinking of something else, but nothing could get rid of the electricity or the thoughts.

When you made your way back out, Tyson was already in the kitchen putting a bag of popcorn into the microwave.  When he saw you, he couldn’t help but smile.

You noticed right away.  You thought you looked like a witch.  “What?” you asked him.  “Gosh, I bet my hair looks awful after the lake water,” you grimaced, playing with your bangs and pulling them down to frame your face at least somewhat.

“Nah,” Tyson said softly.  “You look beautiful.”

The electricity that never left had just been amped up to a higher voltage.  It was the electricity that made you act; the second you were close to him in the kitchen, you wrapped your arms around his shoulders and kissed him, a reciprocal from what happened in the lake.  He immediately kissed back, his arms wrapping around your waist.  His hands went to your ass and he lifted you in his arms and set you down on the countertop, getting in between your legs.  But when you tried slipping your tongue in his mouth, he pulled away.  As if he were ashamed.  “Shitshitshit…” he muttered.

“Ty—”

“—I can’t do this.”

Your heart dropped into the pit of your stomach.  “Why not?”

He was breathing heavily.  He shook his head.  “I can’t—I promised myself I couldn’t do anything until we talked about what happened in Toronto, and I’ve already broken that promise.”

Your sanity somewhat recovered.  “Can I ask you something first?”

“What’s that?”

“Why don’t you tell me what’s gonna happen in the ring anymore?”

Tyson paused.  He knew he’d have to answer for that one day, and it was apparently going to be now.  He knew they wouldn’t be able to have this conversation without his answer.  “I see how worked up you get, and how much it affects you and gets you worried.  I don’t want to put you in that position to, you know, worry about me.”

He was such an idiot.  Literally the dumbest boy alive.  You brought your hands up, your thumbs rubbing over the stubble of his beard.  “You’d think by now you’d realize it’s been having the opposite effect,” you said.  “When I told you that it’s getting harder and harder for me to watch your more hardcore stuff I meant it.  Leaving me in the dark is just doing more harm.  I’d rather know about it.  I’d rather be prepared.  It would make me less nervous for what’s coming.”

“But I can’t stand to see you cry,” he whispered.  “Every time I do I know it’s because of me and I can’t handle it.”

 “Please, Ty.  Just tell me,” you said, pausing afterwards.  “What are you gonna do at Blood and Guts?”

Fuck.  You could see Tyson visibly grimace, his eyes fluttering closed.  “There’s gonna be thumbtacks,” he began.  Your stomach was already in knots.  “And uh, there’s this thing…it’s a nail bed—”

“—a nail bed?!—”

“—and I’m going to take a body slam on to it.”

Your tears began almost instantaneously.  “Tyson—”

“—I know, I know—”

“Tyson,” you buried your head into the crook of his neck, resting it on his shoulder.  “Tyson, please,” you were desperate, desperate for him to listen to you. 

“Hazel, Hazel, don’t cry,” he cooed, rubbing your back.  “It’s gonna be okay.  Look at me, look at me,” he gently pulled away before placing a finger underneath your chin so you could look at him.  “You’re breaking my heart by making me see you cry.”

“I hope I am!” you said with more emphasis than normal.  “I get that you want to be the master of your craft but this isn’t it.  Say you’re injured.  Say you can’t do it.  Please.  I don’t want to see you ripped to shreds.”

“Hazel,” you could hear the heaviness in his voice, “you know as well as I do I can’t be the only guy not taking a spot during the match.”

You knew that, but your judgement was clouded right now.  If you had your way, none of the guys would be taking any spots on any damn nail bed, but it wasn’t like you could control these things.  You wished you could.  You knew you would have to suffer through it and there was nothing you could do about it.  You knew it would result in waiting for him to return to gorilla afterwards and having to see him aching.  You knew you’d be in the locker room with him as he got patched up, holding everything in (or, maybe this time, you’d let everything out, in front of everyone). 

You sighed, feeling Tyson wipe away the tears that had fallen from your eyes with the pads of his thumbs.  “You’re so adamant about this.  Why?” he asked.

“Because I’m selfish, Tyson.  I want you around for a very long time.  I’m selfish and I want you with me for a very long time.”

You finally verbalized, praying to God that it would finally get through to him as to why you were the way you were.  He looked into your eyes for any hint of uncertainty or ambiguity, but there wasn’t any.  “Hazel…”

“Don’t you want the same?”

You watched as he gulped, and you could feel his hands grab yours and hold them gently in his.  “You know before Will came in…and you asked me ‘Is that really all that matters to you?  Is that it?’ when we were alone in my room?” he asked.

“Yeah…”

“I didn’t get to…what I wanted to say was…” he trailed off.  “You matter to me, Hazel, a lot.  You’ve mattered to me for years.  I just—I should have—back in Portofino, and back in Japan, I should have said something, and I didn’t because I was too focused on wrestling, too focused on being the best.  And I thought I was old, and there you were, and you were so young and so good, and I just couldn’t do that to you.  But you do matter to me Hazel.  You do.  More than anyone.”

“Tell me what you want, Ty,” you were desperate to hear the words.

“I want it to be the right time.”

Memories of your time in bed together after the G1 Climax in Tokyo together flooded your mind like a tsunami.  You felt a shiver run up your spine, the electricity from deep within you igniting again.  You nodded slightly.  “It is the right time,” you assured him.

He kissed you again, just like he did in the lake earlier, and you responded right away to the feeling of his lips on yours.  Your hands escaped his hold so you could wrap your arms around his broad shoulders; his own arms wrapping around your waist.  You sat there on the counter with Tyson between your legs for what felt like hours, the taste of him so intoxicating you were running out of breath.  You didn’t know how to describe his kisses any other way except full – full of emotion, of passion, of love, of seven years of waiting and all the pent-up feelings that came with that.  So you took every moment and cherished it, burning it into the back of your mind.  Every feel of his curls as you ran your hands through them, every feel of the stubble of his beard rubbing against the bare skin of your face and your neck, every feel of his muscles tightening the more you squeezed your legs around his torso to bring his body even closer to yours.

You found your hands creeping underneath his shirt, his skin of his back so delicate underneath your fingertips.  He still had some scratches on his back from the cage match with Jon, and the scar from the gash he got at the G1 Climax tournament in 2016.

Tyson pulled away slightly, quickly.  “Do you still feel safest with me?” he asked.

You nodded quickly.  “Yes, God yes,” you rushed so your lips could be back on his.  “Always, Ty.”

His kisses travelled to your neck and clavicle.  His hands were squeezing at your thighs.  You were sure he was going to leave a mark somewhere, his kisses and bites becoming insatiable.  You were sure your breaths and moans were only fuelling him, but you knew you wanted more.  The slight impatience got the best of you.  You grabbed his hands before widening your legs.  “Touch me Ty,” you breathed out, placing his hand on your hot core over your leggings.  “I want you to touch me.”

That apparently flipped a switch in him, because he picked you up in one swoop and began carrying you through the cottage until he got to his bedroom, setting you down on the bed.  “Touch me, touch me,” you begged absent-mindedly, so desperate to feel him that you pulled off his shirt. 

His hand finally went where you wanted it to go.  Your hips immediately bucked at his touch, even though it was above fabric.  He moved his body to hover over yours as he did so, making sure he could keep eye contact you and watch all your reactions as he did what you wanted him to do.  “Does that feel good?”

“Yeah,” you nodded.

“You gonna let me taste you?”

Your breath got caught in your throat.  You wanted it, you wanted it so bad, but the possibility of it actually happening made you slip up.  He obviously hadn’t done it previously, with the two of you being the way you were getting in the way of it happening in Portofino and Tokyo.  “Y-Yeah,” you stuttered out, nodding.

Tyson gave you a few more kisses as his fingers drew circles and ran up and down the fabric over your core before he pushed himself back on his knees.  He hooked his fingers into the waistband of your tights before pulling them off in one full swoop.  Next, he hooked his fingers into the waistband of your underwear and pulled them off too, exposing your whole bottom half.  He could hear your intake of breath, could see how you were watching his every move.  “You okay?”

“Mhmm,” you mumbled out.  “Just nerves.”

He furrowed his brows.  “Why are you nervous?”

“I don’t know.  Just am,” you whispered.

“Hey,” he moved over your body to kiss you.  “I want to make you feel good, but if you’re nervous, I don’t have to.”

“No no, I really want you to.”

The two of you couldn’t help but giggle at your response, Tyson kissing you again – quick, little kisses on your lips – before pulling away.  “Just tell me if you want me to stop, okay?  I’ll stop the second you want me to.”

You nodded in agreement.  Not that you’d have to tell him to stop.  If he was going to go down on you, there was no way in hell you’d ask him to stop.  There wasn’t a force on God’s green earth that would make you ask him to stop.  You closed your eyes as Tyson began slowly kissing his way down your body, pulling up your shirt to just underneath your breasts so he could kiss your soft tummy, dragging his tongue and lips along your skin before he got below your belly button.  His hands went to your thighs, spreading your legs apart for him. 

“You’re so beautiful, Hazel.”

A warmth washed over your body at the words.  You watched as he got between your legs, bringing his finger up to feel you.  You flinched slightly, already so sensitive.  You could see a smirk on Tyson’s face as he brought an arm around to keep your keep your hips down.

There was no precursor for Tyson – no tentative licks or little flicks of the tongue first to ease you into it.  He just went right in.  He’d waited long enough.  It made your jaw drop, a mewl leaving your mouth almost instantly.  And he didn’t stop from there.  He lapped at you like you were his last meal on earth the entire time he was down there, making you bunch the bed sheets into your fists, your knuckles white.  As your moans got louder, you couldn’t help but start writhing in bed.  But his arm across your hips was limiting your ability to move, which just made it all the better.  You reached down to grab on to some of his curls.  He looked up at you with his blue eyes and you almost came right then and there.

“You alright?” he asked quickly.

You nodded.  “I’m almost embarrassed to tell you how long I’ve dreamt of you doing this to me.”

You watched as the corners of his eyes crinkled.  “Am I better or worse than your little fantasies?”

“Better,” you said automatically.  “So much better.”

The vibration from his proud little chuckle just made the experience even more pleasurable.  After a short while, you could feel a warmth take over your body, and you knew you were close.  You verbalized this to Tyson, who kept doing what he was doing and didn’t change his rhythm at all – thank God.  Eventually, you felt your orgasm overcome you, your body writhing at the feeling.  You tried to stop your legs from coming together and squeezing Tyson’s head between your thighs, but he didn’t seem to mind when you couldn’t control it anymore.  He moved in tune with each buck of the hips, each squirm, never taking his mouth off your pussy, even for a second. 

When your orgasm subsided, and you tried to catch your breath after all the moaning and calling out of his name, Tyson kissed the inside of your thighs before moving back up your body.  You were desperate to kiss him and crashed your lips onto his when he was close enough.  “So sweet,” he mumbled against your lips.

“Christ almighty, Ty.”

He continued kissing you, slow and steady and full just like before, moving to pull your top off.  You played with the waistband of his sweatpants for a bit, just to tease him, before pushing them and his underwear down all in one go.  You could feel how hard he was then, his cock resting between you.  “What other little fantasies have you had about me?” he asked.

You were not prepared for that question.  And you were not prepared for having to think about answering as he was kissing his way down your chest.  “How much time do we have?” you tried to joke.

“Tell me,” his voice was firm, right before he took a nipple into his mouth.

“I’ve dreamt of it all, Ty,” you admitted, closing your eyes to savour the feeling of what he was doing.  “I’ve been dreaming about you since I was, like, twenty-one.  That’s a lot of time.  What about you?”

He stopped what he was doing, coming back up and bringing one of his hands up to move some hair out of your face.  “D’you know how many times I’ve replayed Portofino and Tokyo in my head?” he asked.

So you weren’t the only one.  What a feeling it was to know.  “Yeah?”

“When we fell between the two beds…” he began, his thumb gliding over your lips.  “You don’t forget things like that.”

You nodded because you understood.  You had never forgotten that moment either, mostly because it was one of the few moments in your life when you felt pure, genuine happiness.  “I love you, Tyson.”

He kissed you.  “I love you too, Hazel.”

You kissed each other for a while again, your nails digging into the skin on his arms and back.  It was only when he was biting down at the skin near your collarbone that he spoke again.  “Will you let me make love to you?”

“No.”

Tyson stopped everything.  He looked up at you.  “No?”

“I know you can go harder than that,” you said.  “I haven’t felt you in seven years, Ty.  I need it.”

He was like a man possessed after you said those words, his hands and lips all over you with zero abandon.  In one swift movement, he grabbed onto your hips and flipped you over on to your stomach.  You got excited at the new position.  “Is this okay?” he asked.

“You bet,” the excited grin grew on your face as you got on our hand and knees.

You positioned yourself and purposely crashed your ass into his hips, causing a groan to escape him before you could feel his hand between your bodies, stroking himself several times before using his head to tease your pussy.  You gripped onto the sheets, arching your back and biting your lip.  When he finally pushed inside you, you let out a cry.  He felt just as good as you remembered,  if not better.  “Jesus fuck, Ty,” you couldn’t help but swear as you felt him fully in you.  He was giving you a few moments – you knew that – but you were so desperate to feel him pump in and out of you that you almost resented the fact he wasn’t moving yet.  “Fuck me, Tyson.  It’s been seven years.  Let me feel all of you.” 

With every thrust, you could feel every inch of your body igniting on fire.  His moans and grunts, the way his hands were gripping on to your hips, the movement of your bodies, the song of the sounds you were making – it all came together in the most pleasurable experience.  You got louder and louder as he pounded into you just as you wanted.  “God Ty, you feel so fucking good,” you said, flipping your hair over your shoulder to be able to look at him. 

“Was this one of your little fantasies too?” he asked.

You nodded.  “Yes.”

“Tell me.”

You sighed out, unable to form coherent thoughts.  You knew this was only the beginning of the night.  If you knew Tyson – and you did – he’d be asking you about all of them, and you wouldn’t be able to get out of it.  Not that you wanted to.  “We were doing exactly this, but…”

“But?”

“But you pulled me up by my hair,” you said.

To your surprise, you could feel him wrap some of your hair around his hand before tugging on it and pulling you up so your back was flush against his chest.  He was gentle but still purposeful with his movements, knowing what he was doing to you.  “Then what?”

You gulped.  He had slowed his pace moving in and out of you, but the way you were positioned already made it feel so good.  Your body shivered at what it would feel like when he lost all control.  “You…you had one hand here to hold me up,” you said, grabbing on to his left hand and putting it at the base of your neck.  “Just don’t squeeze,” you added quickly.

“I won’t,” he gave you a quick kiss on your shoulder.  “What else?”

“Your…your other hand was here,” you grabbed on to his right hand, placing it on your pussy so his fingers were directly on your clit.  “You were fucking me so good I was seeing stars, Ty.  I woke up and started touching myself.”

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.  “Was there anything else?”

You nodded.  You took another deep breath.  “You were…you were leaving marks,” you admitted.  “All here…and here…” your hand moved over your neck and shoulders on both sides before settling back on top of his hand that was on the base of your neck.  “When I woke up, after I touched myself, I went to the mirror to see if the marks were real.  I was so sad I didn’t have them.”

Tyson’s lips began kissing at your neck and shoulder.  “We’ll have to fix that, won’t we?”

“Yes please.”

Tyson’s lips went back to your neck and you could immediately feel him sucking at the skin there, no doubt leaving one of the marks you so wanted.  Without warning, he began pumping harder and quicker too, building up a rhythm that hit the most perfect spot in you and made you cry out in pleasure over and over again.  His fingers began massaging your clit, too, and it all truly felt like a dream, a dream you had dreamed for seven, eight, nine – maybe ten years now.

You could feel your throat dry up from how long Tyson had been fucking you.  You knew you were close to your second orgasm of the night – but it definitely wouldn’t be the last.  “Harder, Ty.  I’m so close.”

You cried out when you felt just how hard he started to go, and soon enough, you saw those stars you had once dreamed of.  The feeling was so intense, and just like the previous times with Tyson, you could feel the pleasure rush through your body from your head all the way to your toes, and down deep in your bones.  He was still holding you up, but you felt yourself collapsing, on account of your legs feeling like complete jelly.  But then you heard Tyson moan and felt him come inside you, and another rush coursed through your body – so intense that you had to put your hand over his and get him to stop teasing your clit or else you were sure you would explode and cease to exist.  Whatever you had ever dreamed previously wasn’t as good as this – it was impossible to compare.

Your heart was beating out of your chest.  You hung on to every last feeling of your orgasm until it passed, slowly.  “Shit,” you could hear Tyson curse behind you, his head still on your shoulder.  “Holy shit.  Holy shit.”

“God, Ty,” you breathed out.  His one hand left your neck, and the other hand left your pussy, and when they did, you felt yourself collapse onto the bed.  Apparently your legs were still non-functioning.  You began to giggle at just how fucked out you were, shifting yourself over to your back. 

Tyson smiled too, albeit nervously.  “I don’t know if giggling is the best reaction here.”

“It’s a good thing,” you let out as he sunk down beside you.  You turned your head to look at him, so he could see it in your eyes.  “Trust me.”

Tyson giggled too then.  “I’ll take it.”

“You’re gonna have to start getting used to it.  Especially tonight,” you said.  You rolled yourself on top of his chest, looking down on his face.  “I mean, I’ve had so many other little fantasies…”

“Baby, I’m just getting warmed up.”

***

19th July 2023

and if you never bleed, you're never gonna grow and it's alright now

The nail bed wasn’t supposed to fall down Tyson’s back and arms, but of course Tyson couldn’t take the spot lightly.  And because Tyson couldn’t ever take a spot lightly, his back was now all scratched, gashes and little holes down his entire left side – the same side you’d had to bandage and put ointment on just seven weeks ago.  At least there were no thumbtacks. 

Once he had finished pulling said thumbtacks out of Kota’s back, he hauled himself onto a training table and a trainer began assisting him.  Cotton swabs, disinfectant – there was even a stitching kit ready to go.  Matt was on the phone with Dana, Nick was Facetiming with Ellen, and Kota was in his own world.  It was a good a time as ever to stand next to Tyson.

You weren’t crying this time.  This was already a huge success.

The trainer had cleaned his hands first, bloody from the wreckage in the ring.  You watched as the trainer wiped away the blood on his face, disinfecting the area and making him wince.  When the trainer moved to his back, Tyson looked at you.

“You okay?” he whispered. 

“Yeah,” you nodded quickly.  “I’m not crying, so we’re leaps and bounds better than where we were several weeks ago.”

“Does it look bad?”

“It looks like you got into a fight with a bear at the cottage.  But somehow, you won the fight.”

Tyson’s laugh was interrupted by a wince.  It was obvious the trainer was disinfecting an area.  He grabbed onto your hands, squeezing them at the next sting.  You squeezed back.  “I love you,” he said quietly.

“I love you too.”

As quick as a lightning flash, he brought your hands up to his lips to kiss them.  Out of the corner of your eye, you could see Matt watching, his eyes bulging out of their sockets with his eyebrows raised in shock.  When he saw you looking at him, he smirked and mouthed only one word to you.  Finally. 

Everything was okay.  Everything was alright. 

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Comfortable Silence - Riley x Emery

Post Bullet Club Betrayal at Sakura Genesis 2023

Part of my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club Series

Word Count: 1874 Warnings: Mentions of betrayal, mentions of harming someone else.

Teeth-rotting fluff

Tag List: @blxxckheart @summertimefun1982

Prompts: > You can cuss, cry, scream—it doesn’t matter. Just talk to me; talk until it’s all out. > You’re safe here in my arms.

(border by)

Heartbreak.

Heartbreak and anger were the only emotions Emery could feel at the moment.

Heartbreak at how her boyfriend had been attacked and betrayed. Anger at the people who had done it.

Emery had been keeping a close eye on things happening in NJPW over the years, especially once she started dating Riley. Even more so recently, with Jay leaving and Finlay seemingly taking over. All his jabs, abuse, and disrespect he had shown her boyfriend made her seethe, and her blood boil. Numerous times, Riley had to talk her out of catching a flight to Japan to throw hands with the Irish-German jerk.

For hours today, she had waited to hear from Riley about his trios match at Sakura Genesis. Her demeanor had changed from excitement to shock when he had called her. His usual charming voice was low and soft and seemed to break as he spoke. He refused to do a video call, which was unlike him.

Riley usually loved video calls, claiming that seeing Emery’s beautiful face was the best part of his days.

For him to act this way pained her, which is why she was catching the first flight available to Tokyo. While she had been on the phone with him, she was already packing, throwing a few changes of clothing into a small carry-on, and hastily opening her laptop to get her ticket.

The longer they were on the phone, the more she could tell Riley was affected by the whole thing.

Not so much David’s attack on him— but the fact that even Gedo and KENTA had played a part in it.

And Taiji.

Taiji Ishimori. His long-term tag team partner. Someone he had been through the burner with for years now.

The closest flight she found was one that left Jacksonville at 2:24 pm, had a three-hour layover in Dallas, and would arrive in Tokyo at about 10:15 pm. It cost her a pretty penny, close to 3400 dollars, but Emery needed to be there for Riley.

It had already been nearly five months since they last saw each other in person. It was her luck that TK and Kenny didn’t need her for any Elite business for the following week, and she was able to take the time away. Kenny had even driven her to the airport and saw her off.

The entire flight, she was too wired to sleep; her mind kept racing with numerous thoughts.

What Riley must be feeling at this moment.

How would she feel if she was in his place.

What was the most pain-inducing thing she could legally do to Finlay and Ishimori.

Nearly eighteen hours after leaving Florida, the plane finally touched down in Tokyo, and Emery hastily made her way off the plane and towards the pickup area to look for a taxi.

Since he had taken to being in NJPW for the majority of the past few years, Riley had gotten himself a small apartment. Her Japanese was a bit rusty, so she typed out the address in her phone for the driver, and with a nod from him, they took off toward her unsuspecting boyfriend.

It had been just over four years since Emery had been in Japan, but it was still as beautiful as she remembered. All the bright, neon lights surrounded the streets. It gave her a small window to think more about everything that had happened.

Sure, Jay had taken Bullet Club over from Kenny – but it wasn’t a complete, hostile takeover like in the past. Kenny had been ready to pass it on, so unlike the last moments where AJ had attacked Finn and Kenny had attacked AJ—Jay was able to take over the club peacefully. There was no real animosity between Emery and Jay; they got along reasonably well. When she had learned that the violent takeover had occurred once more, as David attacked Jay back at Battle in the Valley, Emery felt somewhat disappointed.

But after talking with Riley and then later with Jay, Emery realized it wasn’t an actual takeover. Jay had zero plans to hand off Bullet Club to someone, especially not to David Finlay. To her, Finlay knew it too—which is why he seemed to always have issues with Riley, who would always be on Jay’s side.

Switchblade and ELP were for life, no matter what.

A smile lifted Emery’s lips slightly at the thought. She noticed the car come to a steady stop and looked out her window, recognizing the apartment building in front of her.

“Arigato,” Emery told the driver, paying him the fee plus a decent tip. It was late at night, after all, and she was feeling generous to him for even picking her up. Grabbing her carry-on bag and getting out of the taxi, Emery’s brown eyes scanned the outside of the building, stopping about halfway up at where Riley’s apartment would approximately be. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the brightly lit lobby area and headed to the elevator, pressing the ‘up’ button.

Her eyes widened momentarily, quickly pulled out her cell and clicked on her messages.

“Hey, Ken. Totally spaced on it, but I landed a bit ago. Already got a taxi and made it to Riley’s. Getting in the elevator as we speak.”

Hitting the send button, Emery walked into the small square, hit the button for the 7th floor, and then the close button. As she waited, her phone vibrated in her hands, alerting her to a message.

“One-track mind, like always. ;-) I’m sure he’s going to love having you there. Stay safe, and try not to get into trouble. -K”

With a smile, she replied,

“Harrharr Ken. Thanks, and no promises. I have some asses to kick while I’m here.”

The elevator came to a stop, and the doors slid open, so Emery slid her phone into her back pocket and began walking down the hall. For some reason, she started to feel nervous, which was odd; she was just going to see her boyfriend. There was nothing to be nervous about.

Maybe it was the whole situation? She didn’t know what frame of mind he would be in. Would he be happy to see her? Perhaps this was a mis—

No, it wasn’t a mistake. Emery shook the thought from her head.

Riley needed her.

Perhaps, she even needed him.

Either way, it was too late as she stopped outside his apartment door. Not wanting to risk hesitating, Emery quickly reached out and knocked on the wooden door before waiting. Close to a minute passed, and nothing happened.

She debated knocking again, wondering if he was out—or if he was already asleep.

Riley sleeping this early wasn’t usual, however, but going out was a possibility. He hadn’t seemed in a ‘Go-Out’ mode on the phone that morning. Frowning, Emery tried again, knocking just a tad harder, and waited.

Close to a minute passed again, and she was about to reach for her phone before the door swung open.

“What do you--?! E-emery?” Riley questioned, his voice softening as he looked at her standing there.

“Surprise?” She gave him a soft smile, hoping he wasn’t upset, “I just figured… with everything that—” Before she could even finish, Riley had stepped out into the hallway and engulfed her in a hug. His arms wrapped around her and held her tight to his chest, his head resting against the top of hers. Emery slowly snaked her arms around his body, her palms resting against his back as she breathed his scent.

She missed this.

Missed him.

Not seeing him in person for a long time had driven her insane.

They stayed in that spot for several minutes before pulling apart, and as she thought they would head inside, Riley surprised her by leaning down and kissing her. The impact of his lips on hers took her breath away, but she welcomed it, her hands resting on his as he cradled her face in his larger hands. A minute later, he released her lips and led her inside his apartment. He let go of her hand as he closed the door and walked towards the living room.  

It was dark inside, a small lamp on in the living room being the only light source. Emery also noticed it seemed trashed, as a chair lay on the floor and papers scattered the living room.

“What are you doing here, Ree?” Riley asked quietly, slumping down on the couch. She noticed he wouldn’t meet her gaze, his eyes staring at the coffee table.

“I wanted to see my boyfriend. He wouldn’t video call me this morning,” Emery said, hoping to get a smile from him, but instead, he seemed only to scoff.

“Some boyfriend… betrayed and attacked by everyone…. Be better off without me.”

She felt like her heart was shattering at his words, so she set her bag down at the small dining table and walked over to join him on the couch.

“Riley…” Emery softly called out, reaching out to take his hand. As soon as she touched him, he quickly drew it away, surprising her. It was silent for a few minutes as she tried to figure out what to say or do.

“Rye— come on, baby, talk to me, please.”

Silence again until Riley pushed himself off the couch and walked over to the window, looking at the city.

“Please, Rye. You can talk to me,” Emery told him, her voice soft,” You can cuss, cry, scream—it doesn’t matter. Just talk to me; talk until it’s all out.”

Even in the dim light, she could see his fists clenching and unclenching. Emery wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch him again—but held back, deciding to let him make the first move instead. After what seemed like forever, Riley finally turned around to face her. His jaw was tense, but she could see the emotion in his eyes.

He was hurt. The betrayal—especially by Taiji—was getting to him.

“Just… hold me. Please.” He bit out, eyes glistening as he made the request.

Nodding, Emery brought her legs onto the couch and leaned back as Riley gently laid down on top of her, his head resting on her chest. His long legs stuck out past the end of the couch, but at that moment, he didn’t care about it.

Emery began to softly comb her fingers through his blonde hair, humming a random song as she did so. The silence between them wasn’t thick with tension but calming and comfortable. With her other hand, she gently rubbed his upper back through the shirt he was wearing. As the minutes ticked by, Emery could feel the tension slowly leave Riley’s body as he finally relaxed.

Placing a soft kiss on his head, Emery whispered, “You’re safe here in my arms.”

They stayed like that for quite a while, comfortable in the silence, before Riley finally spoke up.

“Thank you, Emery, for being here…. I love you so, so much….”

“I love you too, Riley,” Emery replied, a soft smile on her face.

This was home.

Being in his arms, being with him.

That’s where she belonged.

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Healing - Kenny x Emery x Hangman

Part of my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series

Summary: The Elite rest backstage after Brandon and Nakazawa's match against BCC. Emery is beyond exhausted, physically and mentally, from the Sinister Angel taking over control of her. The peace is soon interrupted by Dark Order, though, and after Kenny makes the mistake of saying something that upsets her, Emery stands her ground before reaching out to an old friend.

Takes Place immediately following Sinister Debut.

Word Count: 2,748

Tag List: @summertimefun1982 @blxxckheart @katries @himbos-hotline

(If you want added to one or more of my tag lists, let me know. One for aew, wwe, njpw and Dark Angel)

(divider by)

Emery sat on the floor of the locker room on her knees, her head resting on Kenny’s lap as he gently ran his fingers through her hair. Her arms were limp at her sides, wrists wrapped up in a white bandage, and she had taken some aspirin to combat the headache she had just an hour before. Water droplets slowly dripped down onto her shirt and onto Kenny’s leg as he had changed into gym shorts after helping her wash her hair. The blue color had faded considerably, but there were still some remaining hints of it in her brown hair.

Nick sat to Kenny’s right side, followed by Brandon and then Matt. Brandon had also gotten checked out by the doctor, his open wounds that had bled were patched up, and all the dry blood had been washed off after a quick shower. Nak had taken a little longer with the doctor and had dismissed himself to take a shower just moments ago.

The group sat there in comfortable silence; the guys were all able to breathe a sigh of relief that there was no permanent damage done to Emery and that Brandon and Nak were relatively unscathed. The only tell-tale signs of what had occurred were the bandages covering the wounds around Emery’s wrists from the handcuffs and her sore body.

When she turned to the Dark Angel, it didn’t take as much out of Emery; she was always able to rebound fairly quickly and kept a certain amount of consciousness during it. Turning to Sinister Angel, on the other hand, it drained her completely, her mind losing all forms of consciousness. It took days, if not weeks, before she would have the energy to do anything.

Nick reached out and clapped Brandon on the shoulder as Matt said, “What a night.”

“Yeah,” Brandon nodded slowly, a slight smile on his face.

“You did good out there, man,” Nick told him as Kenny nodded in agreement.

“You and Nak both… you fought back…”

“Thanks, guys… I just wish…” Brandon said with a small frown as his gaze dropped to Emery’s form beside Kenny. They all understood what he was trying to say, but they didn’t blame him for anything that had transpired.

No. All the blame fell on Blackpool Combat Club. The silence stretched among them once again, but it was welcomed after everything that had happened. They all basked in the silence until the door opened, breaking the peaceful mood in the room as John Silver and Alex Reynolds walked in. Nick leaned back, his fingers interlocking behind his head as Matt pursed his lips, not liking where this was potentially going. Kenny and Brandon quietly appraised the two Dark Order members as they came in, Kenny’s hand trailing down to Emery’s back to gently rub soothing circles into it.

Her eyes were closed, but she gave a content sigh that Kenny could feel against his leg, sending a wave of happiness through his body.

“Brandon, you okay?” Reynolds asked as he extended his hand towards him, “We just wanted to come and check on ya.”

Matt appeared to be biting his cheek, his bottom lip sucked into his mouth as he refused to look at the Dark Order members as Nick occasionally threw out sarcastic ‘yeahs’ to the statements they made.

“Yeah, you- you had a big match. You did great. You were this close—this close but,” Silver said, holding his thumb and forefinger near each other, leaving a small gap. The slightly louder voices caused Emery to slowly stir from her tranquil state, but she didn’t move, instead just letting her eyes flutter open.

“We also had this BTE bit we wanted to discuss,” Reynold told Brandon, pointing over his shoulder as the two seemed to completely ignore the rest of the Elite in the room. Matt was visibly agitated but kept quiet, his hands in his lap clenching together—until now.

“Yeah yeah—it’s so convenient you two are here, right here and now,” Matt said, pointing to them standing there, “But where were ya last week when Hangman needed ya? The only person we saw go out last week—was Emery.”

Her head shifted in his lap, tilting slightly so she could see Reynolds and Silver better, but she kept it resting against Kenny’s thigh. She could hear the annoyance in Matt’s voice—and she had to agree with him.

Where HAD they been?

“Where were ya?” Nick echoed as Brandon took a bite of the cookie he had been in the middle of eating.

“We? We were—” Reynolds and Silver began talking at the same time, their answers overlapping, and Emery couldn’t completely focus on what they said. All she knew is that it sounded like an excuse to her.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure,” Matt said as he waved dismissively, leaning back in his chair as Nick leaned forward, glaring at Dark Order.

“Where were YOU guys?” Silver asked, staring directly at Matt.

Kenny was keeping quiet, one hand on Emery’s back while holding his phone in the other, browsing the internet.

“WE were at home,” Nick answered as Matt scoffed and Kenny looked up from his phone, “Nursing our injuries.”

“I had a beautiful day planned on the treadmill, going through physical therapy to get better and ring ready—and then I watch the show, and I tell myself, ‘HERE is where Dark Order comes in, Naturally,” Matt said, gesturing his hand forward like he’s watching a TV screen, “I mean, they’re supposed to be FRIENDS with Hangman, right?”

“Oh, we’re gonna talk about being friends, huh?” Reynolds questioned, his eyes flowing to all four of the guys but not to Emery before he looked back at Matt, “Friends with Hangman?”

“Yeah!” Matt nodded, anticipating the answer.

“Where were you guys the last TWO YEARS? Oh, that’s right—”

“That’s a call out,” Nick said, speaking over Reynolds, who ignored it and kept talking.

“—Oh, that’s right, making his life a living Hell.”

“Making his life a living. Hell.” Matt repeated, disbelief in his voice as Emery slowly raised her head

“Yeah—well, what great friends, though. Oh yeah, you guys are best friends—”

“Well, did YOU get him into Bullet Club like I did?!” Matt questioned him, leaning forward in his chair again, “Huh, huh, huh??”

“Where you guys his last birthday, huh?” Silver threw back at him.

Matt, Nick, Reynolds, and Silver all began talking over one another, and the words didn’t connect in Emery’s mind as she listened. Matt stood up as the agitation began to build, ready to verbally fight for his friendship. As he began to talk, Kenny finally spoke up for the first time.

“Woah woah woah, Hey!” Kenny said, taking his hand up off Emery’s back and holding it out towards Matt, Reynolds, and Silver as everyone looked over at him. The tone in his voice even caused Emery to finally pick her head up off of Kenny’s leg, her eyes peering at him curiously.

“No one--- no one here is fucking friends with Hangman,” Kenny continued, before looking at Dark Order, “You guys want him—you can have him.”

Emery felt like her heart stopped, his words sinking into her like poison. She didn’t want to believe that he had just said that—but deep in her soul, she knew he had. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Emery leaned backward, her weight balanced on her feet as she wordlessly stared at Kenny; Nick looked at Kenny incredulously as Matt shook his head in disbelief, then chose to ignore Kenny’s words.

“I like Hangman,” Matt looked at Reynolds before they began speaking over one another again. Nick stood up and walked closer, standing beside his brother as Kenny looked at Reynold and Silver, but any words he was going to say died on his tongue as Nick spoke. Emery began tuning them out completely as Kenny’s words echoed in her head, her eyes dropping to the floor.

“We’re better.”

They continued bickering between each other, how they were better friends, and Reynolds brought up a ‘Hangman on a pole match’ which the Bucks immediately dismissed due to Hangman hating heights. Winning the argument at the moment, the Bucks waved off Reynolds and Silver, who slowly exited the room, looking back over their shoulders. Nick and Matt finally sat back down as Kenny shook his head, looking at them.

“We done? Are we done?”

“We’re done,” Matt agreed, crossing his legs again as Nick leaned back in his chair. Both had seen Emery’s body language and couldn’t look at her; they knew she was stewing on what Kenny had said a bit ago.

“We don’t need to talk about that guy, okay?” Kenny told them, “We’re involved in something wayyy bigger right now, all right?”

Matt looked off in the opposite direction of Kenny, not wanting to really hear the words, but looked back when Kenny spoke to Brandon.

“I will say, Brandon, doesn’t matter how the match went. You got a moral victory- I’m proud of you. You stood up to those bullies. You didn’t take any crap from anybody, and you know what? That—THAT—makes you Elite. Proud of you—we’re all proud of you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that so much, guys. This week was such an emotional week…”

“Yeah,” Kenny nodded, leaning back in his chair, “Glad it’s finally over—and we’re all back.”

“Uh, Ken?”

“Hmm?” Kenny asked, looking over at Matt, but it was Nick that spoke up—not even looking in Kenny’s direction.

“It might be over for Brandon, and maybe us… but uh—I think you have a new, uh… issue…” Nick’s voice lowered to almost a whisper on the last word, as Kenny looked at him confused, then over to Matt—who nodded his head towards Kenny. It took a moment of confusion, but realization dawned over him as he realized the error he had made. Slowly, he turned his head to look at Emery, finding her staring down at the floor, shoulders slumped.

“Look, Angel-face—” Kenny started, stopping short when Emery’s head snapped up to look him dead in the eyes. Tears were falling down her face, but her eyes were narrowed in anger.

“Take it back.”

Her voice was raw from the screaming she had done earlier, and the rollercoaster of emotions she was feeling didn’t stop her voice from cracking.

“Take. It. Back.”

Kenny sat there, turning his body slightly towards her as he rested one of his hands on a knee before shaking his head.

“No, I won’t, Emery. Look,” he said, trying to be considerate of her current state of mind, “You’re a little emotional right now, so—”

“Don’t. Even finish. That sentence,” Emery bit out; her chest started rising and falling quickly as she tried to fight back the anger that was resurfacing.

“Emery-“

“NO!” She yelled, wincing from the strain it caused, placing a hand on her throat.

Brandon, Matt, and Nick sat quietly—none of them want to suffer her wrath or get in between the two.

“I’m done—I’m done pretending that he doesn’t exist. That he wasn’t such a big part of our lives! You can deny it all you want, fine! I want my friend back, though—you realize how hard it’s been? Watching him from afar, never able to talk to him because I knew how you’d react--! I can’t--!”

The pain in her throat grew to be too much, and her voice died out completely. Emery pushed herself up off the ground, her legs a little unsteady, causing her to sway. Kenny reached out in concern, his hand gently wrapping around her arm. The second she felt his touch, Emery snatched her arm out of his embrace, glaring down at him before briskly walking out of the room. Kenny watched her leave, letting out a huff at her behavior before looking over at the Bucks in exasperation.

Matt refused to meet his gaze, staring at the floor for a second before getting up from his chair and exiting the room, choosing to follow after her.  Kenny looked to Nick, wide-eyed as he gestured towards the door as if we were surprised by what had just happened.

--Elsewhere—

Hangman sat on his bed, tablet in hand, as he watched the match between BCC, Brandon, and Nakazawa. When he saw Emery come out dressed as the Sinister Angel, he felt his heart skip a beat, worry pulsing through him. The Dark Angel was one thing—and even sometimes he didn’t like dealing with her—but this version? It chilled him to the spine. Hangman took the glasses off his face, folding them up and tossing them onto the bed, a beige bandage over the eye that Bryan had attacked with the screwdriver.

Hangman was highly aware of the extremes that Sinister was willing to go to, how dark and maniacal she could get—and against people like BCC, especially Moxley? That was a dangerous combination.

While she did indeed take the fight to them, getting several good shots in with a Kendo stick and chair—even claws—Hangman felt his entire body tense in anger as he watched them handcuff and tie her to the ring post.

As he watched, his tablet dinged, alerting him to a message. Clicking on it, Hangman saw it was from Alex —and after debating on answering, he swept it to the side and continued watching the video. Seeing Matt bring a screwdriver out, holding it to Kenny to use, brought a small smile to his face. When Kenny, unfortunately, missed Mox, Hangman looked away from the screen, frowning in agitation. His uncovered eye landed on the glasses, and as he reached for them, his tablet dinged again with another message. Just as he was about to swipe it away without looking, Hangman’s body froze in surprise as he read who the sender was.

“Ree….” He whispered, dropping the glasses back onto the bed as he leaned forward and clicked on the message. As he read the first, two more popped up after it, and then it was silent.

‘I—I’m sorry, Adam. I know you probably don’t want to hear it or don’t care and I wouldn’t blame you at all. I’ve been a terrible friend and let others dictate my actions and maybe I’m realizing this too late. Yuta made me very aware of my behavior… and Reynolds and Silver made a good point, we’ve done nothing but make your life hell since you and Ken lost the tag belts…. I just’

‘I’m not expecting this to fix anything between us and if you still want nothing to do with me going forward, I completely understand…. But I need to know that I at least tried—I’

‘I still care about you so much. I always have and I always will. You’re my Cowboy… the Hawkeye to my Cora… Butch to my Ella… If this is the last message I send you, please just know that…. That I love you. Please, take care of yourself.’

It took him several times of re-reading her messages before everything finally seemed to click in his mind. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Hangman tossed the pillow from his lap onto the bed and swung his legs over the side. Fingers hovered over the on-screen keyboard as he contemplated replying, not entirely sure if he should. His memories of years back, at the start of AEW, came flooding into his mind. It hadn’t taken long for things to go south, the heavy drinking, the voices in his head, Kenny leaving him—and taking Emery and the Bucks with him. Hangman spiraled deeper after that, and it had taken a long time and the persistence of the Dark Order before he rebounded back. Taking a deep breath, Hangman typed out a reply but hesitated once again as his finger floated over the send button. Then, listening to Evil Uno’s words, he followed his heart and not his head—pressing the send before he set the tablet down on his bedside table and got up and walked away, a smile finding its way onto his face. Maybe, just maybe, his life was starting to turn around.

‘I love you too darlin. Let’s meet up sometime, we can talk about everything. Figure shit out. Rest up. Looks like you might need it.’

[of-twilight-and-moonshadow]

Apologies - Kenny x Emery

Part of my Dark Angel of the Bullet Club series.

I needed something soft and fluffy I guess, after everything I've put Emery through recently.

Summary: After the argument over Hangman, Kenny returns home alone. He's starting to wonder if he chased Emery away for good until he hears soft crying coming from his bedroom. Kenny realizes he needs to be completely honest with both himself and Emery if they're to get past this.

Word Count: 1,335

Tag: @katries @summertimefun1982 @blxxckheart

Warnings: a man letting himself be vulnerable? emotional

(divider by)

Kenny sighed as he returned home after the chaotic night, shutting the door behind him. After Emery had run out, Matt following her—Nick had a small conversation with him that opened his eyes some.

“Ken—what are you doing, man?

“What are you—what am I? What am I doing?! I said what needed to be said—Hangman isn’t—”

“He isn’t part of the group. Currently. But he was—and you know how close Ree was with him. No—stop. Just listen, okay? Emery is in a delicate state of mind right now after Sinister coming out. She doesn’t need you tossing aside her feelings right now.”

“I wasn’t--!”

“You were—and you did! Kenny, dude—she loves you. That’s a given. But she also loves Hangman. She loves a lot of people, all equally. You sitting there, claiming that nobody here cared about Hangman, cut her deep, man. Despite everything, including what has gone on with us and Adam, Emery has been by our side. By YOUR side. If she didn’t love you, she wouldn’t have. She’d have been gone a long ass time ago. So just cut the bullshit, get past the jealousy, and realize that--- that you’re just gonna have to share a spot in her heart with him. That or risk losing her altogether.”

Afterward, Nick left him alone in the locker room and headed to his hotel. Kenny had sat there and thought it over for a while, coming to the realization that Nick was right. Emery had stayed by his side, in his corner, for years now and hadn’t once deviated away. Every championship, every win, and every loss—she was there. Upon realizing this, Kenny had searched the entire arena for her—but Emery was nowhere to be found.

So, he sent her a text and returned home. Alone.

The house was dark and cold when he arrived. Some part of him had hoped she’d be there, sitting in the living room waiting for him, but no such luck. Kenny dropped his keys onto the stand beside the door, walked over to the couch, and dropped his bag on it with a heavy sigh.

Had he fucked up this time beyond saving? Was that the last straw in their relationship—and now she was gone?

After everything that had happened the past month, Kenny was tired—and right now, he just wanted to sleep. He’d unpack his bag in the morning and try calling her again, but for now—bed sounded like a good idea. Toeing off his shoes at the couch, Kenny padded up the stairs, his eyes feeling heavier with each step. While he loved coming back and winning the Trio’s belts with the Bucks last year, Kenny began wondering if he might have returned too soon. Or maybe he was just getting too old.

Approaching the bedroom door, Kenny reached out to push it open but stopped dead in his tracks. He strained his ears, listening closely, before slowly looking through the gap between the door and the frame. In the darkness, illuminated only by the moonlight outside, he saw a figure on the bed. Instantly, he realized it was Emery, but before he could call out to her- he heard the noise again.

The sound of a sob, accompanied by a sniffle. Narrowing his eyes, Kenny watched closer and saw her body twitch in time with the sounds. An overwhelming wave of guilt rushed over him, his arm dropping to his side as he realized she was still crying from their argument earlier. Taking a deep breath, Kenny swallowed his pride, let go of any resentment and jealousy he might have towards Hangman, and reached out towards the door, gently pushing it open. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he quietly walked over to the bed—spooking her was the last thing he wanted to do.

“…. Kitten?” Kenny whispered when he was close enough. He saw her entire body tense, and despite trying as hard as she could to keep her body from moving, Kenny could see it still shaking. Wordlessly, he crawled onto the bed, laying down behind her and slowly reaching an arm out towards her. Upon first contact, she jerked away, but Kenny persisted, letting his hand gently lay on her waist. This time, she didn’t move away, so he slid his arm around her, pulling Emery as close to him as he could. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath; the smell of her shampoo still lingered in her hair from her earlier shower.

“Angelface… I’m sorry.” Kenny murmured, gently tilting his head against the back of hers, “I… I’m sorry I made you feel this way… that I made you cry… that I hurt you. I don’t—”

The words died in his throat, and upon taking another deep breath, he let himself be vulnerable to her, “I feel… jealous, at times… of Hangman and you. He’s younger than I am… attractive, blonde cowboy with baby blue eyes and a southern accent—I… I fear that you’ll… you’ll begin to not want me anymore. That I won’t be enough for you…”

As he spoke, he could feel her body slowly un-tense, her shaking going away.

“You mean the world to me, Emery. The Bucks bringing you into my life back in 2015… it was, as cliché as it sounds, a godsend. I couldn’t have been happier… but I just… I see you and Hangman together, and I just…”

He sighed, unsure what to say to help get his feelings across. Hell, he wasn’t sure if she was even listening to him anymore—until he felt Emery move in his arms. At first, he thought she was pulling away from him, and his heart dropped; but then he realized that Emery was just turning around to face him. The guilt returned as he saw her puffy, red eyes and tear-stained face. Gently, Kenny reached his hand up to wipe away the tears, his blue eyes searching her brown ones for any sign of what was going through her mind.

“I love you,” she finally whispered, her voice still raw, “I love you both. I don’t want to have to choose anymore…”

Kenny inhaled deeply, swallowing a lump in his throat before he hesitantly nodded.

“Then I… I won’t make you. If you want Hangman in your life… that’s your choice… I hope I still have a place… but if not, I… I understand….”

“You… you mean that?”

“If it’s what would make you happy, sweetheart… yeah,” Kenny nodded slightly, cupping her face before slowly tucking some hair behind her ear, “I won’t… I won’t necessarily like it… but I’ll just have to get used to it… If I want to keep you in my life…”

“T-thank you, Ken…” Emery whispered, her chin wobbling as a few more tears escaped her eyes. Kenny was quick to wipe them away, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

“No more tears, not tonight, okay?”

She nodded against him before he leaned backward on the bed, pulling her with him. Kenny’s head hit the pillow as Emery placed her own head on his chest, her arms wrapping around his midsection and holding him tight. Kenny’s arms wrapped around her securely as a small smile came to his face.

He still had her in his life, and for the moment, that was good enough for him. He’d have to learn to ignore the jealousy and co-exist with Hangman—for her.

Kenny would do anything for her, and he’d prove it to everyone with this. The two lay there, cuddling in the silence with the moonlight around them. The simplest thing, the touch of the other, comforted them both as it chased away the voices of insecurity and heartache in their minds. With one final kiss to the top of her head, Kenny let himself be lulled into a peaceful sleep, Emery already out cold, a soft smile on her face.