#soulc.hilde series

[soulc-hilde]

Welcome to the Wild

Pairing: Carmen Berzatto x OFC! Caden

Synopsis: No longer about her future, Caden spirals as the rug is once again pulled from underneath her feet. Living her days in a silent shell, she forces herself into her work. Noted as the restaurant's Mute Pâtissier, the stuttering eyes of her boss always finds themselves attached to her. Studying her. Like some animal in the wild.

Divider by @strangergraphics-archive

“Honey, how are those buns comin’, love?” Mickey’s deep voice calls over the chaos of the kitchen.

In the far corner, blocked off from the madness was his sole baker, prepared for war and unbothered with the onslaught of orders. She pulls out the third baking tray of rolls and places them inside the rack before turning to coat a tray of recently cooled ones with honey butter. The perfect, golden rolls absorb the butter. Droplets run down its sides slowly, the bread appearing like a professional photograph.

“First three trays are finished,” she calls back, not a pause in her pace noticeable.

The Berzatto nods, a grin taking over his chiseled features as he watches her work. “Atta’ girl,” he compliments, hustling on with the service. Afterwards as the staff gathered for Family, everyone talking and laughing, Caden looks over at the man who seemed to bring ease into her life.

“Why that name?” She asks, quietly. He looks over at her, stumped at the question.

“What name you talkin’ about, Honey?” He retorts, eyebrows scrunched. She nods his way, “that one. Honey. Where’d you even get that from?”

This time he looks down at his plate, fork shuffling the food around. “Because you’re a good kid, ya know?” He tilts his head up, looking at her.

“You try to push people away, scare ‘em off, but you really just want a family. You want someone to love your sweet soul just as much as you’d love them.”

Caden scoffs, playfully, shaking her head. “The day that someone can look me in my eyes and say ‘I love you’ and mean that shit, pigs’ll start flyin’.”

She swallows a fork full of collard greens and a bit of turkey tail in the mix, eyebrows scrunching happily. Mickey looks at her, his shy gaze steeled as he stares through her. The once mute kid Tina brought to his office like a lost kitten has become the rambunctious, scatterbrained little sister he never asked for but appreciated.

He chuckles, “just be happy it’s ‘Honey’ and not ‘Squirrel.’ kiddo.”

She sends a playful glare, chubby cheeks stuffed with food. “Hey, my ADHD ain’t a joke,” she tries to scold yet her words come out jumbled and slurred.

He smiles, leaning forward, ear facing her, “what was that? I couldn’t hear you over those stuffed cheeks, Squirrel.”

“Go to Hell,” she mumbles, going back to her food, ignorant of his eyes watching her with a soft gaze.

---

No one really goes into details about the hero of the story dying and how their loved ones, their supporters, deal with it. For Caden, Michael's death wasn't that big of a shocker. No one lives forever unless you're the Devil's favorite. Mickey was the most stereotypical older brother anyone could ever meet.

The stand-in father. Believes everyone is better off without him. The one who puts up with his abusive mother's shit, not because he's an enabler but the little boy who watched it all go to shit just can't let go.

God, she missed him. Despite having her own older brothers, Caden was doomed from the start, as if neglect and trauma was all she was destined for. No friends, a negligent mother, an ill father, and avoidant brothers.

But, Michael was her brother, though.

When Tina brought her to The Beef, all the poor girl had was a backpack of clothes, her grandfather's saving, and desperation. Michael took her in, watched her bake and turn the pastries she once drew into a reality like some magician.

If only she knew how much she reminded him of Carmen.

"Those two'll bitch each other out, but they'd be one hell of a front." He'd think with that smile he'd carry as if everything was gonna be okay.

Maybe she shouldn't have answered her phone that night. She should've declined his offer, make up some lame excuse like homework.

No. Even if that was the last memory of him she had, she'd much prefer that they were together rather than apart.

---

"Cousin," Richie's microphone for a voice rings off the kitchen walls. "You may already know some of these guys, seeing as they've been here longer than me. Tina, Ebra, Angel, Manny, and finally, the soul of the team, Honey."

Caden side eyes the men, lazily looking at them for a moment before sending a nod toward the short, curly haired one. Just as quick as she turned, she resumes back to her station, sorting her spices and chocolates. Behind, Richie simply waves her off, blowing a rasberry.

"Don't mind her. The name's sweet, but, uh, she's kind of dark." He warns the younger man. Ebra leans over, "her name's Caden. If you're a smart boy, you'd call her that."

Richie scoffs, "c'mon, this is Carmy, we're talkin' about. Mikey's little brother? It works out, perfectly, the Bears and their honey."

Walking past, Caden smacks her hand against the back of head, beelining for the walk-in. The man winces, rubbing the heated spot with a grimace, glaring at her back.

Inside the walk-in, she glares at the bananas, aggressively picking them off the shared stem. Why the fuck would he say some shit like that? Makin' it sound like some damn affair happened between her and Mike.

She'll fucking kill him if he keeps going. Marching back to her corner, her blank eyes fall onto the man, or Carmy's, blue eyes. He was obviously watching, waiting for her to walk out.

He walks over as she begins chopping a peeled banana into perfectly symmetrical slices. "I'm, uh, Carmen," he practically whispers, fingers pinching at his bottom lip.

"I'm sorry... uh, about, about Richie. He's an asshole, doesn't know when he's gone too far," he continues.

She nods, lost amongst the rhythm she subconsciously follows with every cut. "Have you, uh, have you ever went to culinary school?"

Her hand comes to a stop, her attention now focusing on him. Rather than snap, she curls her plump lips inward and bites down before shaking her head.

He nods, shrugging, "i, I was just wonderin', ya know? With the way you, uh, take, take care of your station, it's, uh. It's experienced."

"OCD," she whispers.

Her eyes return to the cutting board, hands frozen in place to memorize the exact width she had cut. Finishing the first one, she grabs the second, mimicking the actions of the first time, not a step different or seconds behind.

Laying the bare fruit beside the chopped pieces of its twin, she places her hands in a starting position. Left hand gripping the fruit, index and thumb pressed gently against her cutting mark that matched exactly to the ones beside it.

Carmen watches, fascinated, as the embodiment of silence works in an ongoing loop of repetition, shutting him out from her world. Her fucked up world of madness.

"You enjoyin' the show or some'?" A voice questions him, snapping the man from his thoughts.

Turning to face the intruder, his eyebrows raise with panic as Tina glares up at him. The corner of her top lip is pinned up, teeth bared as if she was prepared to mame him.

"Uh, no, not. It's not, it's not like that," he rushes to his defense. Her eyebrows raise, expression shifting to one of aghast. "Oh, so, you don't think she's beautiful? Talented? What, you too good for this place?"

He jaw jolts, brain short-circuiting as the older woman rapidly fires assumptions his way. He knew coming through the restaurant as a nobody was a risk. He may have been Michael's baby brother, the star in his eyes, but they only knew Carmen by his words. To them, Carmen was a fantasy character. The kid that stood in front of them was just a stranger, the stranger who was also their new boss.

"Tia," the woman calls, finished slicing the bananas. She turns to glare at the two. "Do you mind? I've got a system going on, right now. Take the playground shit somewhere else, yeah?"

Unlike the staff built up of Chicago natives and ethnic backgrounds - Latino and Italian being the majority, she didn't yell. Regardless of how far she stood from anyone, she never even raised her voice in a way to project her words. She just talked, casually, and if you heard her than you heard her.

If you didn't? Well, tough shit cause she won't repeat herself.

Her voice was mellow and naturally rested at a low octave. Her accent nowhere near the Chicago accent, it was more of a general midwest/southern accent. Her words relied heavily on the southern part of her dialect. It was as if she was a puzzle that just kept scrambling, creating greater confusion than understanding.

"Yeah, system, mija," Tina nods, a condescending smile taking over. "Don't fuck," she points at Carmen, finger just inches from his face. "with the system. Cocotazo."

She walks off, leaving the younger chefs to themselves.

---

In the beginning, he believed that Tina was fucking with him. "The system" was a fucking mess. It was about as sloppy and greasy as the restaurant itself. As the thoroughly trained professional he is, Carmen decided that things were to take a change for the better. The first being to go?

Every fucking red flag that dressed the staff like some high-end jacket. And God, did they fucking complain. Turn into children with their stomps, glares, and petty insults aimed at him no matter what he did.

Just simply asking for the chefs to keep up with proper hygiene outside of the typical washing hands with soap for 20 seconds resulted in a 'fuck you' and 'don't fuck with the system.'

Well, fuck me for not wantin' to deal with sick customers, he scoffed at the thought. A breath-filled chuckle releases beside him. Quickly, he looks over to meet eyes with Caden. She leant her right shoulder against the doorway of the office, face seemingly blank but her eyes hummed with warmth.

"I wouldn't wanna deal with these bitches on a regular, much less because they got sick from us," she states, referencing to the statement that rang through his mind.

He straightens, "oh, oh? Di-Did I say that out loud?" She nods, "yeah, you did." She steps further into the office, closing the door behind her. "But that's not what I'm here to talk to you about. Well, actually, it has some connection."

"Okay, uh, here," he stands, leaning over to push out another small metal foldable chair. "Take a, uh, seat. Take a seat." She nods, settling down beside him. "So, what did you wanna talk about?"

Please, don't say you're quitting. Please, don't say you're quitting, his conscience pleas.

"Staff," she starts off. "I love those assholes, but even when Mikey was here and runnin' the show, it was fuckin' chaos. They think they're functioning well because Mikey never corrected them, but we both know they're not."

His eyebrows raise with surprise. "Oh?" he whispers, sitting back in the wheeled chair, fingers pulling at his lips.

"Mh," she nods. "And don't even get me started on the bakery. Before Mikey died, we were workin' togetha' on how to make the bakery faster. Which meant better equipment and shit," she snorts.

"We don't have the money, though. Which leads me to the next suggestion," she leans forward. "We're gonna have to start hirin' some help."

Taglist: @spiderstyles04 @lostinwonderland314

[soulc-hilde]

Money, Money

Pairing: Carmen Berzatto x OFC! Caden

Synopsis: No longer about her future, Caden spirals as the rug is once again pulled from underneath her feet. Living her days in a silent shell, she forces herself into her work. Noted as the restaurant's Mute Pâtissier, the stuttering eyes of her boss always finds themselves attached to her. Studying her. Like some animal in the wild.

Divider By @strangergraphics-archive

Mindlessly stepping into the kitchen from the back door, Caden was ignorant of her surroundings as she fumbled to take the helmet from her head. Freed at last, she fans one of her gloves over her flushed face when the sound of something boiling catches her ear. She turns around, lidded eyes stare at the unconscious body of Carmen. She quietly sighs, walking over, and gently lifts his right leg onto the bench beside his left one.

It's uncomfortable to lie like that, she justifies to herself.

The baker walks over to the locker room and begins to remove her jacket, swapping the green and black bike gear for the blue apron that lays on top of her white graphic ‘Eat My Boot’ shirt. As she leaves the corner, the bell rings at least two times. Heading for the door, Carmen jumps up behind her, a frazzled reenactment of The Undertaker.

His dazed eyes take a few to focus, squinting at the blurred figure strutting for the door. He hops to his feet, walking behind as the door opens. His eyes rest on Caden as the morning light lays across her face, onyx eyes turn into a warm brown similar to the chocolates she’d melt for her desserts. Curly, blonde edges peak from underneath the green bandana. He watches as she looks down at the cooler, face blank and unimpressed, but forced to take it anyways.

He snaps out of it, stepping closer.

“What’s that?” He rhetorically asks, glaring down at the blue cooler.

She sighs, “25 pounds of meat. He says, we couldn’t even afford half of what we needed.” Carmen shakes his head, “no, no, no – Fuck!”

“That’s what I said,” she sighs, pulling the tub with her to the kitchen. “There has to be a way… a, a mistake, maybe?”

Caden shakes her head, “call Lu, see what she says. If anything, she’s probably so far in debt with Mikey, there are no more loopholes.”

With that she steps into the walk-in, begrudgingly putting away the meat onto shelves taller than her. In the meantime, Carmen rushes into the office to call Luanne in hopes she’d at least give him this one chance.

“Yeah, yeah,” he nods. “yeah, yeah, yeah. No, no. No, Luanne that’s, that’s… that’s really nice of you.” He pauses as she speaks, “uh-huh.”  

“Yeah. No, no, w-we’re really grateful to still be open after everything. Yeah, so listen, I, um… I’m still tryin’ to figure this place out, ya know, see how Michael was doing everything and I wanna get yer money. Yeah, yeah, no. Uh, I miss him, too. Yeah. Okay.”

“No, it’s good. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Thanks, anyway. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A’ight. Bye.” He hangs up, tossing the phone across the office.

Stewing with his thoughts and the obnoxious, old ass arcade games, he stands up. “Fuck!”

He marches for the games, “shut up!” He goes to pull at the overcrowded outlet extension. Tina charges after him, “no, no, no. Puta! Don’t unplug it.”

He stops, rubbing the center of his forehead with the back of thumb. “I know what that means, Tina.” She continues. “You unplug it, it won’t work again.”

Caden appears in the doorway behind the woman. “Guessin’ the call didn’t go good,” she sighs. He simply shakes his head in response, eyes catching the coin slots of the machines. He points, “when was the last time you emptied these?”

The women shrug, “don’t know.”

Carmen rushes to grab the key, opening each one, emptying the mounds of coins into buckets. Caden’s eyebrows raise as she watches. He turns to her, the ocean meeting the black sand.

She shrugs, “it’s not much, but it gets us goin’.”

She leaves, returning to help Marcus in the bakery. Well, more like do everything three times faster as he still has a bit to comprehend in terms of pacing. On the other hand, Carmen’s face stretches with a small corner smile, racing into the kitchen as he prepares one of the chucks of meat with his Japanese knives. Pot heated, ready for the red meat to drop within its cave.

Carmen trims the chuck of its fat with gloved hands and throws it away, he then seasons the meat before setting it to the side. He prepares the carrots, cutting them in halves before taking one and dicing it. Tina watches from over his shoulder, smirking, “you cut vegetables like a bitch.”

“Don’t wipe your hands on your apron, Chef,” he simply responds. Tina stops behind him, turning around, “Jeff?” “Chef.”

Unbeknownst to him, Caden watches from the corner of her eye, a subtle smile painting her round face. Like a tiny mad genius, she huffs.

He shakes some extra virgin olive oil across the bottom of the steel skillet before placing the meat inside, pressing down gently to start that nice brown sear as the oil hisses. Flipping the meat onto the other side after about five, ten minutes at the most, he flips it. The slightly charred meat with cooked remnants of seasoning practically sparkles against the yellow artificial light of the kitchen.

In another pan, he sautés some chopped onions, swirling them on a low-medium fire with a wooden spoon to prevent them from burning. He then adds in the diced carrots as well as celery with the onions, after a while of cooking those down, he adds in the tomatoes and beef stock, allowing it to boil. After bringing down the heat, he adds into a deep pan and coats the seared beef chuck with the sauce.

He covers the top with tinfoil, tidying up the edges and slides onto the top rack of the oven and letting it slow cook until they open for service. With his moment to breathe, he leans against the counter with a slouch, glancing at the clock.

10:25 a.m. He’s got some time to give Chi-Chi that jean jacket.

Caden was preparing another tray of honey buns and setting another on the rack to cool when Marcus glances at her. “How in the hell do you do that?”

“I’m sorry, what?” She looks back from the cooling rack, pulling down the protectant sleeve to keep them shielded from any contaminants.

“Like, how are you so fast?” He asks again, looking down at the raw down that lies flat and pathetic underneath his huge hand. “The mixer’s a piece of shit and broken, but when you do it, it’s as if you’re hands are the mixer… if that makes sense.”

She stares at him, “Marcus, kid, not a lot of shit you say, makes sense, but that’s okay.” She goes to wash her hands, speaking over the water.

“At first, I wanna say it’s all about experience. Regardless, if you went to culinary school like Car or if you’ve just worked within the food industry all your life.”

Hands wet and clean, she turns them upwards, digits facing the ceiling as she turns and grabs three paper towels with a pull and tear. She pats dries her hands before balling it between her fingers and using the material to turn off the water and tossing it into the trash bin. Rather than bouncing off the inner wall, the ball soars in a perfect arch, landing center on the empty trash bin.

“But, it’s more than that,” she continues, beginning to work on forming the next round of rolls.

“You need to find a repetition. A form of discipline that works with you. Not for, but with. Without that repetition, your skills become dull, or they become stagnant. You never progress.”

She lightly showers the cutting board with flour, covering the small ball of dough. She sets the cup beside her left and begins to roll with a circular motion, until it stopped sticking to the wooden board. Using the heels of her palms, she pushes the dough forward before picking up the top with her fingers and pulling it back down, molding it with the rest.

And the cycle repeats. Flour. Roll. Push. Pull. And finally, she places the collection on the parchment paper that lines the steel baking sheet. She covers them with another parchment paper and then two kitchen towels to let them rise.

“Once you create that rhythm, you begin to enter a flow. Whether that means you get lost within your work, you feel at ease – confident, or you learn somethin’ new along the way, you’ve made yourself a home within your space. Just like when you first came in, you were overwhelmed, felt like you were intruding, all that goes out the window.”

Marcus nods, a small smile of understanding brightens his face. She points at the shelves of dry and momentarily ingredients that were stored and labeled.

“That’s my system. Everything I do follows a system and no, it’s not like whatever fuck shit Tina and ‘em be doin’. Okay? That right there is Mikey and Richie’s mess that Car is now forced to fix. But here, in my bakery? Boy, yuh gonna learn somethin’ and yuh betta stick wit’ it cause I’on’t play.”

He laughs, nodding. “I got you, Chef. I got you.” She nods, eyes light with amusement, “ye hearin’ me?” He nods, “I hear you.”

She holds her hand out. He dabs her up and the two go back to the rolls. Marcus struggling while Caden empties the ovens and refills them with new trays.

Entering the kitchen, a woman stops, looking lost. She turns to the duo with a small smile, “uh, hi,” she waves. “I’m Sydney, I’m here to do an interview for the stagging position.”

Caden nods, shutting the oven. “Nice to meet you, Sydney. I’m Caden, the Head Baker. You’ll be speaking with the boss, Carmen. Follow me.” The two walk to the back of the dish room.

As they reach the back where Carmen’s voice echoes, conversating with someone of the phone, Caden sends a gentle knock. He hangs up, turning around. His face red and painted with lines of exhaustion lightens, his cerulean eyes meeting Caden’s dark ones. “Hey,” he breathes.

“Howdy,” she drawls. Her warm eyes softened at him, silently checking in. He nods in response, “yeah, yeah.”

She nods, gesturing to the young woman beside her. “This is Sydney Adamu, the new hire for the stagging position, I told you about.”

Carmen nods, “I remember. Yeah, thank you.” She nods, backing out, eyes staying on him, “always.”

Y'all, we got Syd the Chef in here, let's go! I'm also kind of soft for Caden and Carmen but that's a whole other discussion

Taglist: @spiderstyles04 @lostinwonderland314

[soulc-hilde]

The Bear Lost in the Woods

Pairing: Carmen Berzatto x OFC! Caden Woods

Warnings: Family trauma, mental illness, improper coping methods, cursing, implied sexual scenes, mentions of suicide, drug abuse

Synopsis: Caden was never a sociable person, preferring her pastries and cemeteries to the human world. Carmen, on the other hand, is drenched in chaos; his need to be perfect in life, echoes his work ethic in the kitchen. Desperate to prove his brother's spirit and former boss wrong, he forges his family's restaurant into his own image. Is it possible for bears to get lost in the woods? Or do they just make it their home?

Divider by @strangergraphics-archive

Prologue: Bizcocho

Chapter 01 : Welcome to the Wild

Chapter 02 : Money, Money

[soulc-hilde]

Prologue - Bizcocho

Pairing: Carmen Berzatto x OFC! Caden Woods

Warnings: Family trauma, mental illness, improper coping methods, cursing, implied sexual scenes, mentions of suicide, drug abuse

Synopsis: Caden was never a sociable person, preferring her pastries and cemeteries to the human world. Carmen, on the other hand, is drenched in chaos; his need to be perfect in life, echoes his work ethic in the kitchen. Desperate to prove his brother's spirit and former boss wrong, he forges his family's restaurant into his own image. Is it possible for bears to get lost in the woods? Or do they just make it their home?

divider by ... I forgot, but if y'all know who created this please tag them in the comments!

Loneliness. Is it as grim as people make it out to be or is it just a misconception? Can one really drive themselves into madness or is it all just an illusion? A trick of the mind?

A series of questions that required a list of answers remain, floating in the back of Caden’s thoughts like some mystical prophecy waiting to be fulfilled. Conditioned to live life in her own way, viewing the world through a third eye and abandoning any emotion outside of the usual deadpan. Even in the unruliest moments, that’s all she’d appear. Dead. Cold. Unwilling to process anything.

Escaping to Chicago wasn’t supposed to be as successful as it was. She believed that within the first week of her settling in, police would kick down her door and drag her all the way back home to her oh-so worrisome mother. Yet, nothing came. No texts, no calls, no police. Just silence, and she welcomed it until it became unsettling. So, she searched for a job.

It wasn’t like she was a walking Jeopardy of career experiences, but it’d be a lie to say that she wasn’t well-rounded. She could cook, clean, sell, fix, and paint just about anything in record timing. Anything to get some money in her pocket and keep her bills covered. Although, there was a skill of her’s that was a bit personal, a reminiscence of her life that didn’t involve a stonehearted girl and her shit of a family.

She lived to bake. Never bothered to attend proper schooling for it outside of vocational school nor could she afford it, but it was where she was at peace with herself. Drawing the different pastries and their ingredients before bringing it to life, it was like she was in her own Wonderland.

It was how she met her neighbor, Tina Marrero, who designated herself as the girl’s Tia. The woman and her son, Louie were walking past the open apartment door when the familiar smell of Bizcocho Dominicano. Leaning inside, the older woman knocked on the metal frame of the doorway, watching the small, curved figure appear from around the corner with a pan in hand.

“Oh, uh, hi,” she stutters, lifting the recently baked cake as a wave. Tina nods, “hi. Sorry to barge in, I’m Tina and this is my son, Louie. We were walking by and smelled Bizcocho.”

Caden sends a small smile her way, setting the pan down on the closest table nearby. “Ah, yes. Yes, bizcocho Dominicano. Are you?” Tina nods, a small smile growing across her freckled features, “yeah. Yeah, I am. It’s good to meet you,” she trails.

“Oh, Caden. Caden Woods,” she answers the unspoken question. “I was in the middle of making the second cake and it got really hot in here, so I propped the door open. I’m sorry if that caused any trouble.”

Tina shakes her head, “no. No, no problem at all. I’d rather deal with this for a neighbor than some baboso.” Caden chuckles, nodding in understanding, “I don’t blame you at all. Uh, would you like to take a cake home? The first one I made has already cooled, I just have to frost it.”

“Oh, no, you don’t have to. I’m the one who trespassed into your home, there’s no need.” Caden stops her, “no, please. I kind of came to Chicago on a whim and didn’t see what areas were had the highest Dominicans, if any at all, so it’s been kind of lonely at times. I want you to have it.”

Tina smiles, “thank you.” Caden simply nods, walking back into the kitchen. Within a few minutes, the girl returns into the kitchen with a round sage green cake carrier.

She sets it on the living room coffee table, pulling the lid off with a small ‘tada.’ The older woman’s jaw drops, eyeing the blinding white traditional merengue frosting and tiny sage green hearts lined the top and bottom of the cake.

“Anda el diablo,” she gasps. “This looks amazing, kid.” She looks down, hearty cheeks pushing up against her almond shaped eyes. “Thank you, Miss. Tina.” She places the lid back on, locking the cake away. “It has the traditional pineapple jam inside; I hope you enjoy.”

Tina stands, holding the carrier to her chest. She gently pats the girl on her shoulder, “Gracias, mija. I’ll return this to you when we finish the cake.”

“No, it’s yours to keep,” she laughs, leading the woman back to the hallway. “I have way too many of those.” Tina just looks at her with a soft gaze, “welcome to Chicago,” and leaves with Louie following behind.

Stepping inside her own apartment, Tina sits the cake down onto the dinner table. Louie sits down, eyes wide and focused on the dessert. “Can I have some?” He asks, drool nearly dropping from his lips. “I got you, papito.” She smiles, opening the case. She grabs her kitchen knife, slicing it into the airy dessert.

Carefully serving the slice on a blue rimmed, white porcelain saucer. The golden center contrasts beautifully with the ivory white merengue that seemed to melt into the white center of the plate before bleeding into a deep blue ocean. It was the picture-perfect definition of baked with love. Her son digs his fork into the triangular tip, the pineapple magma slurs onto the plate. 

His lips wrap around the slightly sharp edges of the fork, humming as the sponge melts against his tongue. He swallows the remnants of jam and cake, nodding with content. “That good?” Tina asks, eyes watching with surprise.

“That good,” he nods with a grin. “Let me try some,” she grabs a fork. Taking her own dive, she inserts the tip full of cake into her mouth. It melts perfectly, the taste of vanilla and pineapple working together as it warms against her tongue. The merengue was as soft as the cake itself, smooth and sweet yet not too much that the taste of sugar was strong.

She nods, humming, “damn good.”

The next morning, Tina walks out her door when she sees Caden leaving out of her’s. “Hey, kid,” she greets. The girl turns, sending the older woman a small smile, “mornin’, Miss. Tina. How are you today?”

“I’m pretty good, gotta head to work. You?” Caden shrugs, “as good as I can be. This’ll be, well, I lost count how many times I went out for a job.”

Tina raises an eyebrow, “is there a certain job you’re looking for?” She shakes her head, “no. I’m a Jack-of-all-trades and I’m desperate, so if you know anyone or anything, please let me know.”

“Oh, I do. Come with me,” she walks off. Caden follows the woman, confused.

After a few moments of driving, Tina pulls outside of the The Beef of Chicagoland. Caden’s eyebrows raise at the familiarity at the restaurant. “Have you tried getting a job here before?” Tina asks, stepping out of the car.

“Uh, no, actually.” The young woman scoffs, “I’ve only been here for a quick bite. Do y’all have a bakery in here?” Tina shrugs, walking through the back, “somethin’ of the sort.”

--

“I need two honey rolls, three cannolis, a chocolate cake,” Carmen calls off the receipt during the lunch rush.

It’s been a few years since Caden first stepped into The Beef and got the job thanks to Tina. Getting the job on the spot, she became their residential baker, replacing their old one who turned out to be a junkie, selling meth out the back of the restaurant. Working in the tiny square space was something to get used to, for sure, but the workload wasn’t abnormal for her as a freelance caterer.

Within The Beef, a family-oriented team created a space of joy and familiarity. Tina was, of course, her mother-figure while Richie was like the funny yet annoyingly drunk cousin, Mickey was the cocky, overzealous older brother that you love but wish he could shut up. Marcus, a recent hire under Caden’s watch, was a sweetheart and there was Ebra, who reminded her of her uncle.

As usual, once life believed that things were going just a little too good for her, things had to fall apart. After Mickey committed suicide, things began to change. The days at The Beef seemed long and pointless, her pastries were bland and commercially appropriate. In his will, he left a part of the restaurant to his little brother, Carmen.

She’s heard a lot of things about him. Good, shy, kid with a passion for food who gained acclaimed success within the culinary industry. Unlike his little sister, Sugar, Carmen never attended his funeral. Richie complained, ranting about it whenever Berzatto was mentioned. A part of her believed he was mad that he was never mentioned in Mickey’s will, but she knew Richie wasn’t that shallow.

She wouldn’t lie, though, Mickey could’ve at least warned her that man was like a fucking siren. “Chef, I need three more cannolis,” he barks. “I need to hear you, do you… understand me?!”

“Yes, chef.” Caden barks back, serving out the fresh Sicilian pastry without a blink. “Hey, don’t shout at her like that, what the fuck is wrong with you? What the hell got caught in your ass, Bear?” Carmen keeps his focus on the service, sending out plate after plate.

“I wasn’t shouting at her, Richie, I just needed to know that she heard what I said.” Richie leans over the window, ignoring the crowd of customers in front that watched the chaos. “Well, I’m just sayin’, you could act like you’ve got manners. Alright? Okay? She’s a lady, this is Honey, we’re talkin’ about.”

Carmen clenches his jaw, “shut the fuck up, Richie, alright? I got it, okay? Look,” he turns to Caden, “Caden, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry.”

She simply shakes her head, not bothering to pay mind to either one of the two. “It’s cool, I got two dozen honey rolls comin’ out the oven, Chef.” Watching her, his wide cerulean gaze follows her around that tight corner.

For Carmen, his take on Caden was fresh and a journey he had to partake on his own. There was no forlorn voicemails or letters from Mickey that told him about her despite the constant reminder from Richie that she was like the star in his eyes. Coming out of hiding, he was told at the last minute that his brother left a portion of the restaurant to him. The same restaurant he refused to let the younger Berzatto work in for unspoken reasons.

There was a lot of shit Mickey left behind that just didn’t make sense. From the amount of debt he was in down to who owned the other 50%. It was all too much. If Sugar wasn’t trying to spam his phone in hopes he’d respond, he was playing fucking Sherlock Holmes. A bad one at that.

After the final rush of the day, The Beef was closed, and the kitchen was as spotless as the staff was willing to do. Carmen holds the back door open for Caden, the two being the last to leave. He watches her all black form walk across the gravel, heading for the green and black Kawasaki Ninja with a matching skull designed helmet in hand.

“I’ll see you, tomorrow, Chef,” he calls after her. She simply raises a hand in return, keeping straight before straddling the leather seat. She starts the engine, its roar echoing through the quiet neighborhood. The smell of exhaust takes over, replacing the one of grease and beef.

He takes quick, timid steps toward her side. Praying that she doesn’t back over his toes. “Uh, Caden,’ he clears his throat, cigarette bouncing between his lips. “I wanted to, uh, I wanted to apologize, ya know? For, for my actions today. I, it, it was really shitty of me to, uh, act like that, especially put, putting you on the spot.”

Impulsively, she lays a gloved hand on his chest, shaking her head. “Dude, you’re cool. Richie’s just acting like an asshole, like usual. Especially towards you. If I was insulted, everyone would know, but it takes a lot for that to happen.”

Her lidded eyes stare into his wide ones. Anxious gaze clashing with the nonchalant glare. His fingers twitch, the spot her fingers touched was warm and taking its time to leave. God, she was beautiful. Short, honey blonde afro fluffy and glistening paired with a round, oval face and dark features. The center of her face was painted with dark freckles, like Tina’s, but her skin was darker. Her brown skin always glistened, ignorant of the feeling of being ashy.

Despite her work in the kitchen, her hands were void of blemishes and cuts. They weren’t perfect, but they were soft and small. Her right arm was tatted from her wrist to the top of her shoulder, a blended sleeve of cartoon characters and designs of a panda bear and thorns. She was a small thing, taller than Tina yet smaller than him with curves that whined for days.

Snapping out of his mind, he nods, stopping his jaw from biting on the head of the cigarette. “Goodnight, yeah?” She nods, “Goodnight.” She slides the helmet on as he watches, backing out of the parking slot and down the Chicago streets.

Baboso: Dominican adjective term for a liar or an idiot

Anda el diablo: Dominican phrase for Oh My God or like, Wow

Bizcocho Dominicano: Dominican style sponge cake made with a fruit jam and vanilla merengue.

I decided to make Tina of Dominican descent since I'm also of Dominican heritage. I also wanna practice my Spanish, so I'm kind of living through Caden. Other than that, I hope you enjoy our intro.

Taglist: @spiderstyles04 @lostinwonderland314

[soulc-hilde]

Game Shakers / Pt. 4

Pairing: Eminem x OFC! King

Warning(s): Cursing, drug abuse, racial discrimination, sexual assault

Summary: 2000s seemed to be quite the highlight between the fashion and the rise of pop culture. Seemingly the new faces of shock value, rapper Marshall Mathers and rockstar King Woods seem to find a common ground amongst the unnecessary bullshit.

Divider by @saradika-graphics I believe that's the name, I hope so cause it took me some time to track it down

Ch. 01 | Ch. 02 | Ch. 03 | Ch. 04 |

2000

The night of the Grammys is much like any other night at an award show. You walk down the carpet, get blinded by the paparazzi, answer pointless questions, sit for prolonged periods of time just to watch yourself and everyone else be screwed over, party, and kill yourself.

Well, maybe that last part was a bit extreme, but there was no denying that was how King felt about the shit. They leave with a Best Hard Rock Performance for You Spin Me Round and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Santana for Maria Maria thanks to the band’s collab with King. Unlike before, Matteo directs security to drive the group back home per their request.

More pleased to celebrate with each other than two-faced strangers, the sextet sits around the living room of Harley’s house conversing and sipping glasses of wine. Everything was going swell until the party host glances King’s way with indescribable yet daunting glare.

“Speaking of love,” she drags out, teasingly. “Looks like Cupid’s arrow hit the bullseye on someone.” King scrunches her nose, “if it was a bullseye, it’d technically be anal, and I think an arrow is a little outside of my boundaries.”

The group laughs as the lead vocalist neither denies or confirms the obvious affection growing between her and a certain blond. Maliyah jokes, “why do I get the feeling that you’d much prefer someone than a something?”

King shrugs, “I mean, I wouldn’t complain. I got to see it.”

As if all five friends were Bluetooth synced, they sit up and shout: “You got to what?!” Their eyes bulge out of their skulls, jaws dropping to the floor.

Matteo gulps, recollecting himself as the brotherly figure. “Okay, okay. Whoo, run that by us again? You got to see… it. What precisely is ‘it’?” His onyx eyes glare up at the nonchalant singer.

“His dick.” She answers, her voice echoing against her Moscato filled wine glass. Dramatically, Tink jumps over the back of the couch with a scream as she runs down the main hall behind the living room before coming back, past the group and into the kitchen.

“When was this?” Harley laughs, tan face turning hot with amusement. “When we left the MTV after party.” Breathless and tipsy, Iris throws a couch pillow at her friend with a cry: “Stop giving us short answers, bitch!”

Tink calms down, flipping over the back of the couch once again, stiff as a board. Panting, she adds on, “we need details. A, a – what was that middle school bullshit from English? A who, where, when, what, and how.”

Maliyah claps her hands, nodding, “please! We already have the who -” The others chime in unison, “Marshall and King.” She continues, “the when –“

“MTV Awards.”

“And the what –“

“King got front row tickets to this man’s penis!” The forementioned woman snorts, chewing on her Doritos and tuna salad.

“So, all we need now is the where and the how. Now, give us.”

“Fine,” she sighs, a subtle blush setting on her cheeks. “So, after we left that shitty party together –“

2019

“Wait, let’s rewind it back. Em showed you his dick but y’all never got down like that?”

“Curtis,” King side eyes him, bemused. “Please. You already know this, man.”

The childish rapper shrugs, smiling, “hey. I’m just amazed at how y’all two function, especially when y’all were single but pining after one another. It’s cute. It’s cute.”

“It’s cute?” “Yeah…” She snorts, “shut the fuck up. Anyways!”

2000

“We first agreed on getting McDonalds cause, ya know, a sugar mama’s gotta take care of her baby, now,” she jokes, breaking at the sight of Harley’s glare. “You’re older than him by like two fucking weeks, shut up!”

“Anyways! We get some food, we’re talking and we’re joking. We then talk about our kids, well, more like his seed and my angelic niece and nephew.” Matteo deadpans, “not you lying to this man like your family doesn’t raise menaces to society.”

King looks at him, feigning insulted, “we are not menaces.” Tink nods, “yeah, you’re a damn fiend.” The others laugh while she glares, holding back her own laugh.

“Can I finish, damn!” She huffs, “so we’re talking about the babies. He’s raving on about his little girl, shows me a picture and she is like his damn twin it’s adorable. Then he starts telling me how she’s a fan of ours, I tell him that mine are fans of his. Fast forward, we’re venting, now.”

A glaze of melancholy takes over her once amused gleam, “he’s venting about his baby moms and how she likes to use his daughter in a power trip and constantly cheats on him to the point where instead of seeing it as a dealbreaker, he decides to cheat on her right back. I’m venting my sister and shit, I damn near felt like I was in therapy.”

“Once we had trauma bonded, I guess we felt understood between each other. Like we weren’t the only ones living in this fucked up world where nothing goes right for us. So, we kissed and made out way to my house.”

Harley’s eyes widen, “you let that man in your house?” Iris looks at King with concern, “it took you damn near three years to let Brother Dre even know that you have a house in Cali, let alone step inside.”

“Yeah, yeah, I fucked up alright. We were touching and rubbing, whispering little compliments to each other. It was damn near romantic. Then he saw some of my tattoos and my nipple piercings, so he showed me his tattoos. We got so tired, we just laid out on my bed cuddling and look at each other, studying one another.”

“Dude,” Tink draws, lost in thought. Matteo looks over, “have you talked to him since?”

“Yeah, a lot, actually. Hell, in the morning, we woke up and I made this man breakfast and some coffee. He’s adorable when he’s happy, he does little dance when he likes the food.”

Harley throws her head, “you’re trying to be this man’s wife.” King throws a Dorito at her, “no, I’m not. I feed everybody, it’s a cultural curse. Y’all, out of everybody, knows this… Even Iris, she’s the token white girl.”

“Ya dig,” the strawberry blond sings, causing the crew to laugh once more. Maliyah focuses back onto King, “regardless, King, we can be this man’s friend. However, as you said, he and his baby mama got drama the size of a category 5 hurricane. As you’ve said in the past, you’ve come too far to let some man, some pointless drama stop you from your dreams.”

Matteo nods, “true. We’ll support you in whatever you do, but we beg you, please, just be careful.” Harley adds, “you’ve been through a lot and deserve happiness, just don’t mistake an adrenaline rush for said happiness.”

2019

“Do you think opening up to the group changed the way they looked at Marshall, like at all?”

King sits up in her chair, head shaking. “No, instead, they kind of saw him in a similar light as we all seen each other. We as friends came together because of the shitty cards life threw at us, and we became support pillars for one another before we became business partners. To them, Marshall is a friend their willing to support and stand ten toes down for.”

“Marshall says that, that night after the MTVs wasn’t the night he fell in love with you. Did you fall in love with him that night? Or, was there a different moment that you were just like ‘he’s the one for me?’”

She hisses, head tilting in thought. “I wouldn’t say that was the night I fell in love with Marshall. I would say that I got to see him in a different light, ya know? It wasn’t like some, ‘oh I can fix him’ type shit but more of a twin flame ordeal, if that makes sense.”

“You really believe that Marshall Mathers was made for you?”

“I believe everyone has someone made for them. Platonically or romantically, everyone has a person and he’s mine. Always been mine since day one.” She smiles.

Taglist: @slytherinroyalty16 @evasmlp

Y'all, chapter 4 is here and it's so fucking bad! I apologize for the tardiness as well as the shitty material. I was thinking about doing like a one shot or something about King and Marshall's night, I don't know. Anyways, enjoy and let me know if you wish to join the taglist.

Love, S.C!

[soulc-hilde]

Ch. 04 - Fight, Fight

Pairing: Jey Uso / Josh Fatu x Aries / Ezmeralda Bey

Synopsis: Devoted to her craft and her family, WWE Superstar Ezmeralda has a library of accolades accomplished on her own and by the side of her family like never before. As she leads the Women's Revolution to glory, romance seems to find her at the most unexpected moment... in the ring.

Warning(s): SFW, OC is a black woman, swearing, WWE-canon violence, Non-scripted fights, body shaming, body insecurities, WWE's consistant misogyny is blatant until later chapters, etc.

Cross-posted: Wattpad

Ch. 01 | Ch. 02 | Ch. 03 | Ch. 04 |

Kansas City, MO 

Today before the show, a few of the girls were set out to do an autograph signing. Ezmeralda had taken the opportunity to ditch the scene for some time with her brothers in the ring. The trio run through their drills, going over their move set before taking a quick break. 

"So why ain't you out there with Trin and 'em?" Ezekiel questions, sipping some of his water. 

The youngest triplet shrugs, "we already sell a shit ton of merch as is and I love seeing the fans, but I'm not all for having to dress up and flaunt my body in hopes the sales can put more zeros on our check."

"I hate to say it, but sex sells. Especially as a woman who is being broadcasted and is participating in sports, your body is at least 90% the main concern of the fans and the company. 5% is your knowledge of the craft and the other 5% is your skill. If your face doesn't 'sit right' with them or body doesn't look like this girl or that girl, you either gotta change it or get lost."

"When my brothers and I first started, that was a huge thing going on in WWE. The women, the Divas, were nothing but eye candy. Yeah, they'll do a little this and a little that, but at the end of the day, your sex is what earns the company money while the 'big dogs' get to have their fun and be rightfully paid for doing their jobs."

"Just like in the past and just like now, my body is for myself to enjoy. It's not for everybody and I don't feel comfortable." 

Ezra sighs, irritated. He, himself, has always hated whenever Talent Relations would ask her to play roles that suggested her as nothing more than eye candy or a bed warmer. "Fuck that, let's talk about somethin' else before I get heated."

"What's up with you and Joshua?" He side-eyes her, studying the way her face scrunched at the question. Ezmeralda's lips purse, pushing out into duck lips as if she was a child all over again. She points at the elder Bey, mimicking their great uncle's accent.

"Le'me... Le'me tell yu somet'in'," they burst into laughter. She stutters through her laugh, "me and Josh... are chillin', ye know? We're gettin' to know each other some more."

Ezekiel reels back, face scrunched, "'gettin' to know each other?' Girl, y'all been knowin' each other since like 2008. What else y'all need to know about each other?"

She kisses her teeth, "that's why I said 'some more' dumbass."

"Look," Ezra shakes his head, "all I know is that Josh is like an extra little brother. You? Are my little sister, okay? Both of y'all are my favorite, but I'll be damn if you play with his emotions and he plays with yours, especially with us working together."

"We've talked about it just a little. He understands that I don't have experience in this field and I want to take it slow. I want to learn about myself and my love language before I just go jumping in his arms screaming: 'I'm yours!'"

Ezekiel side eyes her, pushing his palms towards her. "Girl, too much. Too much. We you're brothers, not your girlfriends, nye. All we needed to know was that y'all were taking it slow like Bobby Valentino. That was all." 

She giggles, heading for backstage. "Where you headin'?" Ezra raises an eyebrow. She looks over her shoulder, "Checkin' on my outfit for the night. Your girl gotta look good, ya dig?"

"Aye, can you check on ours, too?" Ezekiel shouts, hanging upside down on the ropes. Instead of answering, Ezmeralda simply shakes her head. 

As Ezmeralda was looking over her outfit, Trinity steps up to her with a scrunched face. "Girl," she trails, collapsing beside the older woman. "Guess what Ariane's pestering about now?"

Immediately, Ezmeralda's face drops as a heavy sigh leaves her chest. "Oh, God. Does that woman ever stop?" 

Trinity snorts, "of course not. So, we're getting ready for the signing when the Bellas and Ariane begin talking about the size of their boobs, especially Nikki's. We get to the booth, Nikki's pushin' them things up as if they weren't already spilling out and Ariane's trying to do the same like, it hurt to watch."

She pauses, "that's when she goes: 'I'mma go to an appointment.'" Ezmeralda's jaw drops, "because Nikki has big boobs?!"

Trinity shrugs, nodding, "basically."

"Nat has big boobs, so big that it looks as if she's pushing them up when she's not and yet look at how the company treats her," the veteran scoffs. "And don't get me started with the fact that the recovery process might set y'all back. It's a stupid decision." 

"Typically, the Divas compete with one another for screen time and climbing the ranks for popularity in the company. One of the biggest things that comes into count is the appearance of them. If they look more like a model or some type of dream woman, you have a step in the door."

She shakes her head, "I've seen women in the business go in and out with several different surgeries on various difference spots of their bodies. I don't really care if they do it, but I always say that it's better to do things for yourself than for others. If it makes you happy? Do it until your heart bursts, but please never do something to make someone else happy cause they never will be."

Los Angeles, CA 

Tired of Ariane's growing bullshit, Trinity had volunteered Ezmeralda as the tag team's third party to the opening of a boutique. Not one for boutiques, especially high end ones or having to dress up on her day, she came up with an ultimatum. She'd go as long as she could bring a 'date,' which was really supposed to be her fellow escapee. 

And who better to invite than her slow burn lover, Joshua?

Dressed in a creme, off the shoulder top and a short, brown skirt with a thigh slit paired with a matching set of brown leather knee high heels and a brown purse, Josh had unintentionally matched with her.

Similarly, the younger Fatu took on a slick yet casual approach, dressed in a creme crewneck and matching jeans with a custom pair of brown and creme low high Air Forces - a birthday gift from yours truly.

The duo walks behind Trinity and Jon, their faces taking on a natural mean mug. It was no secret that Josh was an introvert and preferred socializing on his own terms rather than smiling in the face of strangers everyday.

For Ezmeralda, she was to stand in the public with one interview after another since she was one of the many household names of the company; although, that didn't mean she was willing to do it for free and on her off day.

"Jon, Josh," Ariane's boyfriend, Vincent, calls over his shoulder. "Get your swag on. Swag on, baby, there you go."

Immediately, Josh and Ezmeralda side eye one another. Nearly laughing her ass off, Ezmeralda shakes her head and keeps walking.

"Wait, babe," Ariane stops Vincent, "um, so, you're gonna stand right here. And we're gonna work it." 

Ariane looks over at Trinity and Ezmeralda, "come on, girls. Let's work."

Trinity begrudingly steps forward, pulling the older woman with her. As the three stepped closer to the boutique's entrance, the small group of paparrazzi begin to take photos of them. A few primarily focusing their shots on the veteran posing out of of her element.

Blinded and overstimulated, Ezmeralda walks past them and heads for the door. "I'm'a head inside, y'all," she states.

Ariane quickly tries to pull her back, "no, girl, you need to, you gotta," Trinity goes to follow Ezmeralda in.

"Wait, no, stop. Hold on," Ariane catches them. "Picture, y'all. Come on. You better work. Bitch, you better work."

She goes back to posing while Trinity carries a large yet tense smile and Ezmeralda simply smoulders in the cameras.

"There's nothing wrong with the glitz and the glam," she laughs. "I've watched my family deal with it for practically, my entire life. I think that's what really sets me apart from others, at times, because I don't care for having a camera in my face every second. I don't care for having every ounce of information about me uttered to the public as it's not their business. I do it cause it's a part of the job."

Even inside the boutique, Ariane and a few photographers were taking pictures rather than enjoying the clothes. Trinity stood beside Ezmeralda, an exhausted pout was prominent on her face. The elder woman pats her on the back.

"You okay, boo?" Trinity nods, "I just wanna do something fun without the cameras and stuff, ya know? Like this, isn't fun."

Ezmeralda pulls her into a quick hug, "don't worry, we'll find something fun without the attention."

As they look at the different shoes, they take that as their moment to talk. "So, what's been going on with you and Ariane, recently?" This ellicits a heavy sigh for the young woman. 

Trinity shakes her head, "we've been butting heads a lot recently. Like, I want us to grow as wrestlers. That's what we're here for, you know? Doing our little dance is cool, I use do that before WWE, but that's not my job anymore. However, Ariane doesn't see it like that. She's so focused on the glitz and the glamour of this, it's like she doesn't really care that much about wrestling."

"Oh," Ezmeralda hums. "It's always been obvious that you and Ariane solely have chemistry because of the time you've had to work with each other, but outside of that, you guys are insanely different to the point where a clash was bound to happen."

Trinity's eyebrows raise. "Really?"

The veteran nods her head. "From the moment she tried going behind Sandra's back to get y'all's costumes without even including you, I knew she was focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time. It's best that you talk to her, not as a friend, but as a business partner cause this can jeopardize your spot in the company."

The two hug, Trinity eyes slightly watering as the stress weighs heavy on her mind. "Thank you, Ezzie."

The woman smiles, "I always got your back, sis. Now, let's go find the twins and sneak out." They laugh, searching for their men. 

Tampa, FL

While on another day off, Trinity, Ezmeralda, Eva, Jojo, and Ariane decided to go for a fun day out Go-Karting. Trinity, especially, wanted to try and deescalate the tension growing between herself and her tag team partner. 

As they all were getting settled, Eva begins to joke. "Ladies, ladies, while I love you, I see that little stand over there," she points at the podium. "I'll be standing on top."

Ezmeralda laughs, "good luck with that, girl. You talkin' to someone who used to steal cars and race them thangs around the block." Jojo and Eva's eyes widen in shock, laughing at the small insight of the superstar's childhood.

Eva and Ariane pose at the top while Trinity shakes her head. "Both of y'all gon' be numbers two and three cause I'm gonna be number one." They all were given their helmets and told the rules and safety regulations.

They begin racing, the mics picking up their laughs with every drift and crash. Once the race was over, the official hands out their papers while announcing their placements. "In fifth place, we have Trinity."

She playfully snatches the paper out of his hands, crumbling it as the others laugh. "Fourth place, we have Jojo," he announces, handing the girl her paper as she giggled beside Trinity. "In third, we have Eva." The redhead's jaw drops. 

"What? I didn't get first?" She laughs, taking the bronze metal. Ezmeralda laughs, "damn, that's tough." The official continues, "in second, is Ariane." 

The woman's jaw drops, she side eyes Ezmeralda and swings her hair. "Girl, bye," she kisses her teeth, taking the silver. "And finally, but not least, in first with the gold is Ezzie." The superstar takes the gold, sliding it over her head with a little dance.

She climbs to the top, "yessir! Yessir!" She sings. "I'm a gamer, I do this, yuh." The others laugh. Afterwards, the group chilled on the side, talking.

"You was all about winning, passing me and everything. Both of y'all lapped me, but now look at you," Trinity jokes, pointing at Eva and Ariane.

"Don't be mad because you're slow, girl," Ariane chastises.

Trinity laughs, catching Eva in a small hug, "I'm not mad. I'm not a sore loser. Ezzie won, you got second place; congratulations."

Empathetically, Ezmeralda knew what was bound to happen due to the brewing conflict between the women. She wraps an arm around Trinity's waist.

"You could be a little more sincere about it," Ariane argues, receiving a side eye from Ezmeralda.

Trinity continues to try and brush her off, "get over it. Sincere about what?"

"Because you're like, uh, congratulations. You're just being bitter right now."

Trinity gives her a face. "I'm not being bitter. You're doing too much right now. It's a game, who cares?" Ariane holds up her metal, "but I won, though."

At this point Trinity and Ezmeralda was getting annoyed. "Don't get hot," Ariane taunts.

"I'm the one that wins the matches," Trinity states. Ariane raises her eyebrows, "oh, so you're the one who wins the matches? But when it comes to speaking, I'm the one who can talk on the mic."

Trinity tilts her head, "I can speak very well for myself." Ariane points at her, "you wanna take it there?" Trinity shrugs, "it's already took there."

"Trin's a lot better than me cause I would've already sent a right in Ariane's mouth cause you ain't finna talk to me any kind of way like that. And all over a mediocre race? Girl, four-year-olds could win that medal if they want to, who gives a damn? What? Your daddy, mommy, ain't never said 'congrats?' Well, here you go:"

She claps her hands, "congrats. Damn, now shut up."

"What you gettin' hot for?" Trinity looks at her. "Because you just took it to a whole other level," Ariane argues.

Trinity raises her eyebrow, "I didn't. Is it not true? Am I not the one that wins the matches?"

"Uh, yes, your Honor. It is true that my client, Trinity McCray, does in fact win all their matches," Ezmeralda exaggeratedly adjusts her glasses. 

"Okay," Ariane huffs, "so you win every single match?" She waves her hand, "actually, I'm done. I'm ready to go."

Trinity shakes her head, looking at Ezmeralda. "This is what I'm talking about. She's too much sometimes." 

They continue to go back and forth, Ariane's squeaky voice rising with every rebuttal. As they get ready to go, the duo begin to push at one another. Quickly, Ezmeralda wraps an arm around Trinity's waist in an effort to hold her back.

"It's not worth it, sis. Not in public and not with our job."

"I'm putting $100 on Trin. Ariane ain't got a chance to even lift her arm before she gets knocked clean out." Ezmeralda laughs.

Monday Night Raw

As a result of Trinity and Ariane splitting, some changes have appeared and one of them was Ariane was to compete against Aksana while Trinity was to compete against Ezmeralda which meant that the triplet's original match against The Shield was then switched to Team Hell No and John Cena vs. The Shield.

As Trinity and Ezmeralda's match was coming up, the newly dressed superstar stood in the Guerilla with the twins and her brother.

"Aye, now, take it easy on my baby," Jon jokes pulling the woman into a hug. 

"Boy, hush, if there's anyone I trust to go against as a rookie, it's my good sis," Ezmeralda laughs. "She just has ring rust. This is her moment to dust it off and find her moment to shine."

Her theme goes off as green stobe lights begin taking over the stadium. She smiles, "time for Aries to welcome the new meat."

Hyped, she skips through the curtain before switching to her signature strut out into the spotlight. Raising her arms at the climax, she dramatically bends down as the pyro sets off. Coming back up, she leads into a leap with a roar that mixed with the music. She slapped the hands of the excited fans before reaching the ring. Settled in her corner, pacing while in character, she watches as the familiar disco intro of the Funkadactyls plays.

Excited, Trinity comes skipping down the ramp with her signature pompoms. As she reaches the opposite of the ring from Ezmeralda, she leaps over the top rope with a split. Just moments before the bell rang, the veteran catches Trinity's eyes and sends a subtle nod of communication which she sends back.

The duo begin a match of trade offs and reversals, Naomi specifically taking on a defensive approach to Aries' typical fast yet offensive one. Despite the unnoticeable change in Aries' move-set, the fans weren't able to identify the lack of emphasis with every spot. 

Unbeknownst to the WWE Universe, Divas in positions like Naomi and the Bellas weren't trained to take powered slams neither were they trained to give them out. Thankfully, when training with the likes of Aries, she wasn't much of a rule follower anyways. 

As they keep going, Aries' approach then switches to take on the fast paced, arial based luchadore style adopted from her father. She notices that Naomi was slowing down, winded and fighting for her breath.

The dancer climbs the top rope, going for a crossbody; however, she overcalculated the landing. With ease, Aries' arms wrap around her torso to catch the woman as they fall back. Aries’ sell coming off as a cushion for Naomi's landing.

Naomi gets the pin on her, but Trinity as the athlete was not happy with her own performance. As they meet up backstage, Ezmeralda pulls her into a hug.

"You did good, love. We'll definitely have to work on your in-ring stamina, but you have the skills and can hit the spots. How'd it feel?"

She shakes her head, "I loved getting that chance, but I do wish for Ariane to be there cause that's all I know."

Ezmeralda nods, "I know, love, it's gonna be alright. You'll just have to talk this out and see how to solve this tension or find a way to keep yourselves connected." Trinity nods, the two walking further backstage.

Next chapter is gonna take a different turn with more Ezmeralda and Josh moments especially with Natalya's bachelorette party in Vegas coming up.

[soulc-hilde]

02. Love

Pairing: Jey Uso / Josh Fatu x Aries / Ezmeralda Bey

Synopsis: Devoted to her craft and her family, WWE Superstar Ezmeralda has a library of accolades accomplished on her own and by the side of her family like never before. As she leads the Women's Revolution to glory, romance seems to find her at the most unexpected moment... in the ring.

Warning(s): SFW, OC is a black woman, swearing, WWE-canon violence, Non-scripted fights, body shaming, body insecurities, WWE's consistant misogyny is blatant until later chapters, etc.

Cross-posted: Wattpad

It's been a few weeks since Wrestlemania and not much has taken place for Ezmeralda as they weren't scheduled for anything until SmackDown. In the meantime, she relaxed backstage. When it came to the new girls, she enjoyed the company of Jojo for the much younger girl was like the little sister she never had whereas Eva Marie sent Ezmeralda's intuition in a spiral. 

Something wasn't right about that girl.

Traveling to catering for some grub, she runs into Trinity and Ariane. She's pulled into a hug by the women as they all greet each other, "que lo? What's goin' on y'all?" 

They all shrug in reply. Trinity sighs, grasping Ezmeralda's shoulder. "Ezzie... she," Trin points at the small woman, "wants to get someone else to do our gear."

"You wanna go against Miss. Sandra?" She laughs, shaking her head. Ariane quickly comes to her own defense, "uh, you and your brothers don't always have Sandra do your gear. Why is it so bad that I do the same?" 

Ezmeralda smirks, "because before we met Sandra, we've always either bought or had Ezra's fiancé create our gear, but she's been overloaded with work and watching my niece and nephew. What you're doing is straight betrayal to Miss. Sandra." 

"It's not that big of a deal," Ariane complains, her whines mimicking that of a child. 

Ezmeralda purses her lips playfully, "all I'll say is that if you want this to work out, make sure those outfits are good and fit both of y'all. Trinity's a lot thicker than you are. If it turns out good, Miss. Sandra might not be too pissed."

3 Days Later | Trinity's Apartment

Stationed in Florida still, Ezmeralda decides to spin her last day at Trinity's place. Lounging on the couch between Jon and Jojo, the three watch the tv when Trinity opens her phone.

"Ariane left a voicemail," she notes, letting the audio play out loud.  

"It's me, just calling to let you know that I spoke to a fabulous designer that is about to make some awesome gear for us that is supposed to be off the chain. So, you can have a little booty meat hanging out, titties like stickin' out so we can have some boom all the time."

Both Jon and Ezmeralda side eye Trinity's phone, faces scrunch at the thought. "Why does she want her boom hangin' out?" Jon mimics Ariane's emphasis.

Ezmeralda laughs, shaking her head. "Ariane and I are not as close as I am to Trinity. Like, those two have been partners since development and that's a wrestling variant of boot camp, you know? You can't break that. To me, Ariane isn't someone I could hang out with consistently. She's insanely extroverted and has no filter, she drains my battery... fast."

"Not too much booty meat cause I don't want Jon to kill me, but," she retracts her last statement, "it's gonna, it's gonna be hot." Ezmeralda just shakes her head side eyeing the phone as Jon pulls his to his ear, imitating Ariane.

"What kind of shit is that?" He scoffs. "Check this out girl, I found this fabulous designer guy. We got booty meat hangin' out, we got titties hanging out. Everything is gonna be out, just hangin' out. Don't tell Jon though cause he might just say something back to me." 

Jojo and Ezmeralda laugh, shaking their heads. Trinity turns, "I got too much booty for myself to be out like that. I'm not gonna do that. My stuff is gonna fit different from how her's are so, it sure won't fit. Okay?"

"How'd you even get in this mess with Ariane anyways?" Ezmeralda laughs. 

Trinity sighs, "it's mainly because during Wrestlemania, Sandra was late with our costumes and when she did finish, it wasn't what we wanted and it's been going on like this for some time now. Ariane then suggested that we should get our outfits done by someone else." 

Ezmeralda winces, nodding her head. "Now, I see. Does she know your measurements at all and was just talking crazy or did she just dive head into all of this?" Trinity shoots her a straight face, "what you think." The older woman simply nods, "got it," before laughing.  

"Ariane means well and she's like my little sister," Trinity winces, "however, she's putting us in a predicament right now. More importantly, me. She's so much smaller than me, if she has her booty meat out and titties hanging, she'd be cute. But if I was to have all of my stuff hangin' out? I'd be every name in the book." 

Tulsa, Ok | Preparing for Raw

After being informed by Trinity that Eva was to audition for the part as Fandango's valet, Ezmeralda was quick to be a little nosy. So much, in fact, that her, her brothers, and Josh all piled in a corner near the seats as the music began to play. On stage stood Jane and Mark while just a few steps in front were some of the Divas like Natalya, the Bellas, Trin, Ariane, and Jojo. 

"Apparently, Eva is now attempting to audition for Fandango's valet role and usually, I don't knock people down for stuff like this. However," she points at the camera, "Talent Relations has to know exactly what your skills and experiences are for moments such as this one: Fandango needs a valet with ballroom experience. Rather than having to go outside the company, they can look within which makes the process easier."

"It does not make it easier for them if someone lies about said talent. In this case, Eva very much is lying her ass off about knowing to dance. I'm nervous for her, honestly. She already disobeyed one order - which worked out for her - but you'll only get away with things for so long."

As the music plays, Eva comes around with a strut rather than a rhythmic sway that fell along with the music. Fandango comes after, grasping her hand for a twirl; however, she didn't understand forcing him to aid her through the steps with his body. Ezmeralda shakes her head, amused yet embarrassed at the same time. Behind her, Ezra and Ezekiel fight back their laughter as they watch whereas Josh just grins, having to look away.

"As a situational liar," Ezmeralda laughs, "I could never get as caught up as Eva has. I mean, girl, if you're a dancer then I'm President of the United States." She mockingly salutes, "hoo-rah! Oh? That ain't it? My bad, thought we were naming what we wished we could be when we grow up." She falls forward, laughing again.

As they cut the music, she's confronted by Mark as Fandango stands frustrated and embarrassed himself while Jane storms off. Shaking her head, Ezmeralda turns to leave, "a hot mess, I tell you, lord." The boys following, laughing. 

Atlanta, Georgia | Ezmeralda's House

Ezmeralda is in the middle of grating fresh american cheese when the doorbell rings. She walks over, opening it to reveal a cheesing Josh. "Hey, pretty lady," he greets her, pulling her into a hug.

"What's happenin', boo," she smiles, nuzzling into the side of his neck before pulling him further into the house.

"Nothin' much, what's the plan for today?" He claps his hands. She leads him into the kitchen, "we're currently waiting for Zeke and Ra to get here before we start the stream. In the meantime, I'm starting lunch. Do you wanna know what we plan to play?"

"Last year, my brothers and I created a YouTube channel dedicated to gaming. It gives us a breather from having to play these intense characters, that we love from the bottom of our hearts, but sometimes, you search for hobbies. Things to make you feel alive and in touch with reality."

"The channel is called Ez.Ezz&Ezzie and since we started the channel, our popularity on the platform has risen. These games are probably the most fun I've ever had."

Josh raises an eyebrow, his face scrunching with reluctance. "What we gon' play?" She giggles, "so, first, we'll be playing some Halo:Reach since we were sent the Master Chief Collection that's scheduled to come out soon."

He cheers, clapping his hands, "yessir, yessir!" She laughs, calming him down in order to continue. "Then after that we plan to start a series called 'Random Horrors.'"

Abruptly, the Samoan stops, turning to face her with some wind in his sails. "We gon' do Random-what now?" Ezmeralda waves him, starting back on the food.

"You gon' be fine, bebe," she laughs. "Besides, we're all gonna take turns with each game." Josh mean mugs her, "girl, stop lyin' before I go tell my mama."

"I didn't-" She stops, glaring at him. "Bro, stop that!" He lightly pinches the side of her neck causing her to yelp, laughing. "Who the fuck you callin' bro, huh? And you're mama is my mama, don't get it twisted."

He points between the both of them, "this right here? This shit is for life...forever. You got me? E faavavau. Para siempre." She cracks into her iconic hyena laugh, trying to push him away.

"You crazy as hell," she snickers, easing her way out of the kitchen, the food long forgotten. Josh chases after, smiling, "crazy for you, now let me rub on yo' fine ass."

"No!" she squeals, running for some form of safety. She goes to jump the couch only for her body to become swallowed between the cushions of the sofa and his heavy ass body.

"Oh my God, Josh!" Ezmeralda screams, wiggling underneath the man as his ginormous hands trail across her body, his teeth playfully biting along her thighs and ass cheeks.

"This boy is too much, y'all," She laughs. "He for sale on eBay if anybody wants him cause he needs to go. I can't stand this man. I promise you, I can't."

Later That Night

"Alright, now, y'all when you get home safe and tell my babies, Tia Ezzie misses them," Ezmeralda guides her brothers out of the house after finishing damn near 4 hours of gaming. 

Just as they left for the night, Josh decided to stay the night and have dinner with her. The two sat together, happily diving into their meal of baked hen, baked mac & cheese, rice and green beans mixed and seasoned with chicken bouillon, and some wine. Josh hums with every bite, leaning back in the chair as he looks at the ceiling.

Ezmeralda looks at him with a smile, "is it good?" Swallowing, he huffs, the remaining bits of food stuffed into the corner of one cheek. "You know your food is always good. You're third on my list." 

Her eyebrows raise, "third?! List? What list?" He smiles, "my list of favorite cooks. First is my mama - obviously, second goes to my soul mama - you know, since you my soulmate and all, and finally, you. Y'all the only three women, hell, people in my life I'd blindly trust with my food."

Instinctively, Ezmerald slightly sucks in her cheeks in hopes to hold back the massive grin that dared to appear across her face. Keeping her head down, she continues eating; however, her movements were slower than before as she becomes flustered. Josh grins, scooting closer to her side. 

"Nah, don't hide from me, lo'u loto," he coos, gently turning her head to face him by the chin. "I wanna see them pretty eyes, I love the way them big eyes be dazzlin', ya feel me? Lookin' like stars, baby, you're mother nature personified. You so pretty," he sings, leaning closer to her. 

She bites her bottom lip, debating if it would be wise for her to risk everything she's worked hard for over some measly, high school feeling. She squints her eyes as her hearts nearly stops, settling with her decision as she thrusts her lips against his. Setting his fork down and twisting the bar stool to face her, Josh pulls her in closer as he deepens the kiss. 

The only sound echoing amongst the marble tiles was the wet sound of their lips meeting and departing with each turn of the end. Ezmeralda moans, falling deeper into Josh's chest. 

Ezmeralda sits in silence, jaw opened wide as her eyes stare ahead. "Don't allow me to socialize ever again, y'all. I mean that shit cause now I'm over here kissing and feeling up all on my best friend. Man, my parents be watching this. Cono!" 

[soulc-hilde]

Ch. 05 - Locked Down

Pairing: Jey Uso / Josh Fatu x Aries / Ezmeralda Bey

Synopsis: Devoted to her craft and her family, WWE Superstar Ezmeralda has a library of accolades accomplished on her own and by the side of her family like never before. As she leads the Women's Revolution to glory, romance seems to find her at the most unexpected moment... in the ring.

Warning(s): SFW, OC is a black woman, swearing, WWE-canon violence, Non-scripted fights, body shaming, body insecurities, WWE's consistant misogyny is blatant until later chapters, etc.

Cross-posted: Wattpad

Ch. 01 | Ch. 02 | Ch. 03 | Ch. 04 | Ch. 05

Atlanta, GA 

Unfortunately, Ezmeralda couldn't attend Jojo and Eva's housewarming party as she originally planned to spend time with her family and spend some time with a certain man. For the afternoon, the triplets had set out to teach their eldest nephew, Leon, how to drive and out of all the cars they had, Ezmeralda's had to suffer.

And to think, she just replaced the breaks on her Ford F-150. 

The custom painted evergreen and silver accented truck was filled with Ezmeralda, Ezra, Ezekiel, Leon, and their older brother and his father - Elijah while Josh and their other older brother, Emry, sat in the bed. Pulling into the empty parking lot, the boys begin to set up their own course of cones while Ezmeralda turns on the cameras.

Once everything was set, they begin the video with Ezmeralda in the passenger seat as Leon takes over the driver seat. Emry and Josh sit in the backseat while Ezekiel and Ezra sit in the bed of the truck. 

"Alright, nephew," Ezmeralda starts. "If you can drive a pickup truck, you can drive damn near any car on the planet. Now, with my truck, the gear shift is in the steering column. That is known as a column shift, not every car has this design, but the function is universal. You just grab and pull down."

Leon nods, "okay." 

She points at his feet. "There are only two pedals. On the left is the brake which your foot's already on and the gas is on the right." Emry cuts in, "no, the brake's not... what?" 

Josh laughs, trying to appear relaxed. "Nope, she's right. Brake's on the left, gahdamn."  "Yuh," she resumes her lecture. 

"So, when you remove your foot from the brake, the car will move. Not full throttle, but it will roll forward. Go ahead and give it a little, right now." He begins to press on the gas, forgetting to shift the vehicle into drive. The engine revs, its healthy growl was loud and deep as it settles in their bones.

"Oh, it's still in park," Emry notes. "Ok, a little rev. Little rev. How'd that feel though?" Leon laughs, "that felt like it was about to take off."

Ezmeralda shakes her head, "gahlee, you got a heavy ass foot. I know y'all felt that shit." The two men laugh, Josh's eyes widening with fear he tried so hard to play off. "What you mean did we feel that? Hell yeah!"

"Aye, son," Emry leans forward, tapping Leon on the shoulder. "You remember that episode in Spongebob? Where they were like 'big toe. Only the big toe?' You gotta do that, son. Do that, just your big toe." 

"America," Ezmeralda huffs, rubbing her face with frustration. "We gon' die. And I just fixed my truck, too!" 

Ezekiel and Ezra sit in the bed, chewing on honey buns while singing: "Guess who's gonna die, tonight? Uh, die tonight."

Ezmeralda's House

After spontaneously gaining the car back with no markings and unanimously declaring that Leon could not drive until he's reached the age of 40 which is a good age seeing as the whole Bey crew would be dead and gone, Ezmeralda and Josh decided to have a little date night to about, well, them.

"So," Josh starts, sipping some of the peach flavored Moscato. "When you think about us and our relationship, where do you see us? What do you see?"

Keeping her eyes on her plate, Ezmeralda nods and takes the moment to answer. "I can see myself being happy when I think of us. I don't know if it's because of how long we knew each other or what, but there's an unsaid understanding between us. Like, I know what you're thinking or feeling before you even say a word and vice versa."

"Before you, I never thought of myself with someone and felt real happiness and infatuation," her voice falls into a whisper as her face slowly begins to turn red. "Seeing the way you get along with my family, treating them as if they're yours and the way you don't judge me for my career and my looks. I just... I feel loved."

Josh grins, taking a hold of her hand from across the table. "Baby, gon'head and look at me," he coos. Once her toffee brown eyes meet his dark ones, he begins to speak. 

"Ezmeralda, since like '08, you've been my rock. Now, don't tell Jonathan that cause he'll throw a fuss, but from the moment we stepped into FCW and you became our mentor, I'd fallen in love with you." Her eyebrows raise, ellicting a soft chuckle.

He shrugs, "I already had a little celebrity crush on you beforehand, but seeing you in person, watchin' you work in the ring, and getting to actually have a conversation with Ezzie - The Chaotic Beauty instead of Aries - The Future Hall of Famer... I knew I had to make you mine."

"It for sure doesn't help that our families are so connected, girl, you can't get rid of me even if you tried," Josh giggles. "I know being vulnerable ain't your thing and expressing yourself like this is something new, but I want you to know that I see you. I see the effort you put in letting me know that you're feeling me, too. I see you opening your heart for me despite your fear. And I appreciate you, okay?"

A tear escapes down her cheek as she nods. Josh's grin, if possible, stretches even further as he walks around the table and pulls her into a hug. "I appreciate you, boo," he pecks her on the forehead. "And I love you." She whispers in his chest, voice trembling with her tears. "I love you, too."

"Joshua," she sighs, a timid smile taking over. "As a little girl, I've always wanted to find happiness like parents have and that includes their marriage, you know? And for the longest, I could never find it. I never found someone who looked at me like I was something valuable or treated me like so. I was always too masculine or aggressive or looking for too much - hell, there's one who complained that my family and I was too close!" 

Ezmeralda bites her lip, "and for a long time, I believed that my career was going to be my first and my last love. I even made a to-do list of accolades I wanted to do before I retired or died, but meeting Josh was like a blessing, I guess. My first love introducing me to, probably, the love of my life. I'd say that it's very poetic."

After dinner, the two were cuddling on the couch, watching tv. "Since TJ and Nattie's bachelor party's comin' up and we're officially locked in," Josh jokes with a light giggle. "How do you wanna go about the vacation?"

"For one, we can definitely share a room," Ezmeralda hums. "Ezra's bringing Charlene, rightfully taking personal time for themselves from the kids, while Ezekiel's a freak. I'on't, no, we're not kids being forced to share a room anymore." Josh laughs, shaking his head at the adorable yet disgusted grimace that takes over her round features. 

"Okay, what else?" He laughs. She adds on, "we can fly out together. Instead of us meeting down there, you can just bring your bags over here and then we can leave together." 

He nods, "say less. I'll probably start packing either tomorrow or the day after." Josh leans more of his body weight onto her as an exaggerated pout shifts onto his face. "You gon' help me, boo? You know, I forget things. Please?" 

"Yes, yes," she laughs, pushing him off. "All up on me." He kisses his teeth, side eyeing her. "Girl, please. You love when all this delicious caramel is all up on you," he rubs up and down his puffed out chest. 

Ezmeralda snorts, her head falling back as the outburt switches into a hyena laugh. "Get away from me before I kick you out my house, JJ!" He shakes his head, smiling. "Nah, come on and get you some girl. Last night, you couldn't get enough," he begins climbing on top of her as she screams, laughing. 

"Omg! Josh!" She laughs. She wraps her thick thighs around his waist and her arm around the back of his neck, rolling their bodies off the couch. He begins fake choking, arms wiggling as he goes to tap out. "Nah, go to sleep. Take yo' Niquil."

Las Vegas, NV

Touching down in Vegas, both the bride and groom's parties road to the hotel in a shared limosine. As they infiltrate the hotel, rowdy and disturbing the poor patrons, they make their way to Natalya and TJ's room. The room was decked out with a bar and an open space living room where everyone settled for the moment. 

Josh and Ezmeralda sit down at the table as Jojo and Justin check out the shower room with a stripper pole incorporated in the center while Bri and Nikki sit with Bryan, accidentally popping open the bottle of champagne. Ezra and his fiance, Charlene, sat beside, laughing at the chaos that surrounds them.

Nikki starts a quick toast, "oh, here's to boners, shit. Bachelor and bachelorette, yay!" Everyone laughs, joining in. 

After everyone settled into their rooms, they decided to head down to soak in the pool. Ezmeralda was dressed in an emerald bikini with gold accents, the swimsuit came in a set with a sheer skirt, and matching flip flops. Her and Charlene walk side by side, flanked by Josh, Ezekiel, and Ezra. Both of their men kept an arm around their waists, eyeing down any man who dared look their way. Ezekiel, on the other hand, trailed after them mindlessly as his hands rub over his pecs and his torso, hoping he didn't appear ashy. 

The group settles beside Trinity and Jon's shared layout. While Jon, Ezra, and Ezekiel set out for the water, Josh lays beside Ezmeralda, his eyes staring her down. "Look at you," he hums, moving his sunglasses up. "All glowy, girl yeh look goodt."

She laughs, nudging him with her shoulder. "Boy, hush," she playfully scolds. He shakes his head, "you want me to be quiet while you here, lookin' like a full course Michelin Star meal."

He leans over her ear, "I won't lie, though. Some folks got one more time to be starring like they got eye problems or else they really gone need that vision checked." She snorts, smacking his chest, "ignore them. At the end of the day, you the one that finna eat this meal."

"Oh," he leans back, eyebrows raised. "Is that so?" She raises her eyebrows, shrugging. "Depends... if you're hungry." He cheeses, nodding. "Girl, I'm always hungry." 

She shakes her head, "well you just ate breakfast this morning, so you gone have to wait. In the meantime, gon'head and take yo' ass for a swim. You look dehydrated." Charlene snorts, leaning away from them as Ezmeralda lightly pushes the younger Fatu away from her.

Pre-Game | Hotel

Everyone was dressed and back in the party room, pre-gaming before the parties were to separate for the night. Ezmeralda dressed in a dark purple dress that stops at the knee with a cheeky slight on the side, the top of the dress was off the shoulder with thin long sleeves and paired with black booties. They all cheer Nattie to take a shot before mingling.

Trinity, Ariane, Nikki, Charlene, and Ezmeralda sit on the couch beside Bri, talking. "So, are we gonna see Bri Mode, tonight?" Trin asks. The twin smirks, "maybe not tonight," before taking a sip of her champagne. 

Ariane and Ezmeralda laugh while Trinity groans. "She's like, 'maybe not tonight,'" Ariane mimics the Bella twin, the group laughing. 

TJ calls for a toast, raising his pink solo cup. "A toast to Natalie Neidhart, who has definitely kept me level," everyone 'aw's at his moment of vulnerability. "And from flying off the deep end. And, the one person who's the reason I'm still here and still kicking, so..." Everyone raises their glasses, sending their praises for the childhood sweethearts. 

Nikki then stands, walking off to the side. "I'm sorry, but, us girls, are getting ready to go to Chippendale and we can't be late for the show. We love you guys, but you gotta go." 

Josh shakes his head, arms gripping Ezmeralda's waist. "Y'all really kickin' us out, twin." Nikki shrugs, laughing, in response. Josh turns to the older woman, pecking her on the lips repeatedly. "You just gone let her kick us out?" 

Ezmeralda shrugs, laughing, "aye, that ain't my fight, Uce." He playfully glares at her, pinching at her sides. "Girl, shut up and give me my kiss." She does so, laughing against his lips. "Be safe, alright? And call me if you need, I love you."

"I will and I love you," she whispers, gently backing away. She watches as he leaves out the door with the rest of the men, trying to ignore Trinity's bouncing eyebrows.

While Jojo couldn't participate in the activities because of her age and Eva personally stayed away from alcohol, the two decided to just walk around and enjoy each other's company while the others partied and enjoy the show. As the night continues, Bri becomes lost in the alcohol and the music as her, Nikki, and Ariane dance on top of the mini tables in the section. She even ran across the couch with the drink in hand. 

"Oh, Lord," Ezmeralda laughs, shaking her head as Nikki falls off the couch. Trinity shakes her head, "y'all we gotta wrestle next week." 

Before the girls... Bri, could get too far gone, they decided to retreat back to the bachelorette room where they continued to drink and have fun in a safer space. Bri and Ezmeralda sit beside Natalya, noticing that her mood turned dark quick. 

"I don't know what it is," Natalya laughs, "but Brie, Ezzie, please don't get mad at me.  I know you guys are gonna get so mad. But, I honestly can't get Jaret out of my mind. I don't know what it is and what's wrong with me?"

Both women's faces drop, eyes slightly widening at the bomb. They don't say anything yet, allowing the woman to continue. "I don't know why, but I wanna text back and Nicole told me not to text back. But I already have."

"This is your bachelorette party," Brie points out. Nattie takes a seat, "Yeah, I feel so overwhelmed to be honest. I feel like there's nobody on the planet that I love more than TJ. Bit, I feel like I'm not ready for it." Her phone vibrates. 

Brie and Ezmeralda follow her to the master bedroom. "What's wrong with me?" She asks, eyes tearing up. "Like, I wanted to have this fairytale wedding, but part of me is like so scared." 

"When we were seeing the Chippendales, I was not looking forward to it. But when we went there, it was something fun, right?" Brie speaks. "The way the guys looked at you and it was like... ugh and you're just like, 'whoa.' You feel wanted. And you just feel like, 'wow, in these guys' eyes, we're it.' And that's what Jaret's making you feel."

Ezmeralda chimes in, nodding. "Nattie, you and TJ have been rocking with one another for 13 years," her eyebrows raise, "there's some marriages that don't even last that long, but y'all have. You guys have spent so much of your lives with one another, that a part of you becomes jumpy when this new spark of attention is given to you."

"Once TJ had his injury, your relationship took a bump and he wasn't willing to actually hear you. Instead, he kept shoving you onto the back burner. So, when a guy like Jaret comes through and he's saying all these nice things, he's giving you the attention that TJ should be."

Nattie nods, "and it's funny to me because no matter how many times, Jaret tells me all these nice things, at the end of the day, it's just TJ that I love. A part of me, though, feels like, scared to totally seal the deal."

"And you have the right to be," Ezmeralda smiles. "For all these years, you both had the opportunity to leave one another. Try to find someone else to start over with, but you didn't because y'all are meant for each other. With marriage, that's not something you can just get up and leave when things become tough."

Nattie nods, wiping her face. "I think I'm just becoming overwhelmed with everything." Ezmeralda nods, "that's okay, I'ma head to my room with Josh. Have a goodnight, Nattie."

Ezmeralda makes her way out, reaching the hotel room. Unlocking the door with her card, she walks in, trying to be as silent as possible with every step. Just as she turns the corner to the bed, Josh's body flashes from behind the wall as he screams. Her body freezes, leaping in the air as a delayed shout explodes from her lungs. 

"Oh my God," she pants, hand over her heart as it pulses against her ribs. Josh laughs, clapping his hands before pulling the woman into his chest. "I'm sorry, mamas. I'm sorry, I had to."

Calming down as her soul returns to her body, she sends a chop to his chest, teeth gritted together. "Joder tu madre, cabron!" She curses as he laughs, following her to the bed. "I'm sorry, baby!" He apologizes once again, collapsing on the bed beside her.

"How was your night?" He asks, lightly stroking her exposed thigh. She smiles, "it was good. Brie went into Brie Mode, I ain't never seen someone run across a couch with heels on and a full cup of liquor in hand." 

He laughs, shaking his head at the image that pops into his head. "Y'all was cutting up, huh?" She shakes her head, "I was not cutting up, sir. Do not add me into that equation, I was innocent."

He hums in disbelief, pulling her in closer. "However, I ain't worried about all that. Since you back and we both got some energy left, how about that meal I was promised? What's on the menu?"

She hums, making her way to her feet, slowly stripping herself from the dress. "The chef has yet to prepare the food, sir. Not even the meat has been cleaned." He jumps to his feet, "don't even worry about the mean. Salmonella ain't never killed nobody."

"Shut up!" She laughs, backing up for the bathroom. "Just wait, it won't take long, just like 20-30 minutes." He takes slow steps forward, "nah. I want my meal now." He goes to lunge but she evades him, ducking into the bathroom.

As she goes to shut the door, he bursts through, arms wrapping around her naked waist. "Joshua!" She screams as he kicks the door closed. 

◼︎◼︎◼︎

How are we liking the story so far? I've always wanted to do a fanfic based off of Total Divas since I got into wrestling, but nobody was making Jey Uso fics except for like a few quick imagines on Tumblr.

I'm happy that my man is getting his shine in the spotlight; however, it's coming at a great cost because he still has yet to win a solo match for a solo title whereas Baby Fatu is spearheading a main event storyline with Roman, chasing after the title and he's only been in the main roster for about a year, I think. 

Like, what's the purpose of being Main Event Jey Uso if y'all not finna give him a winning chance? He's leaving his family for damn near 5 days a week to put that work in and nothing to say for it except the crowd reception. 

And don't even get me started on the rumors folks have been starting about his marriage. Like, Ms. Takecia has never been one to have her face all up in a camera even before Jey's big solo push. Even at events such as HOF, there's photos on Pinterest of her posing with Trinity and Galina, but there's none of her being caught on live camera because she's not into it. 

But she was there by Jey's side in one of those WWE vlogs, her and both of his sons. Leave that family alone and stop making lies about his marriage because Takecia is that man's high school sweetheart and doesn't owe y'all her damn appearance. She's living her life as a wife and a mother, leave them alone!

[soulc-hilde]

01. The Crown

Pairing: Josh Fatu / Jey Uso x Ezmeralda Bey / Aries

Synopsis: Devoted to her craft and her family, WWE Superstar Ezmeralda has a library of accolades accomplished on her own and by the side of her family like never before. As she leads the Women's Revolution to glory, romance seems to find her at the most unexpected moment... in the ring.

Warning(s): SFW, OC is a black woman, swearing, WWE-canon violence, Non-scripted fights, body shaming, body insecurities, WWE's consistant misogyny is blatant until later chapters, etc.

Cross-posted: Wattpad

"Howdy, howdy, the name's Ezmeralda Bey a.k.a Aries. I am 1/3 of the tag team, the Three Sins with my twin older brothers – Ezra and Ezekiel, also known as Hubris and Nemesis. My career, unlike the other women of the roster, consists of me breaking down and conflicting havoc amongst both the men and women divisions."

"I've won the Intercontinental title, the tag team titles, the U.S title, the Divas, and even the WWE Championship title. To some, they don't like it because it's either I'm trying too hard to replace Chyna – who was one of my trainers by the way – or it's supposedly impossible for me as a 5'2, nearly 210-pound woman to take down a man. I find it hilarious because well, that's all I did growing up was fighting. Regardless your size, your age, your gender – you piss me off, I'm coming for you. As a matter of fact, all my siblings are like this." 

A split screen appears. On the left was a montage of all the Divas from the past and the present while on the right was a montage of Ezmeralda and her appearance both on and off camera. It made note that the woman fancied a darker, tomboy image rather than dresses and heels.

Her cloud of dark brown curls was always either pulled into a puff, braided, or let loose and constantly switched between matching the theme of her outfit and staying natural. Her makeup appearance was dark consisting of black lip liner and clear gloss combo paired with a smoky eye and exaggerated eyeliner.

When it came to her physical appearance, she was thicker than others as her little pudge happily poked out and thrived. Despite the obvious thickness of skin that surrounded her, she carried a balanced amount of muscle that took the spotlight whenever she flexed or had to toss someone on their head.

Although, she wasn't the most model-esque woman on the roster, she was a living example of destruction and beauty intertwined. And she'd be damned and if someone would try to make her feel insecure.

"I am a member of one of the royal WWE families known as the Woods-Bey family. Our family of wrestlers consists of so many blood relatives and even those who aren't blood, but they were trained by my family and adopted some of our moves. My mother, who hails from this family, is known as Titan and the former frenemy of Chyna whereas my father is known as Lycon." 

"I'm not gonna lie, because of my abilities as well as being in a faction with my brothers, I do get a lot more screen time than the regular Divas. I never had to kiss ass for it to happen or anything, but it's just my family legacy. That's my story, you know? My brothers and I are one of the top faces of the company."

Just days until Wrestlemania and no matter where Ezmeralda was to go, chaos seems to follow as Superstars and Divas race from one location to another while roadies unload equipment for testing and designers correct any mistakes before things get out of order. 

For someone new to the scene, they'd feel lost and overwhelmed, but for the Bey triplets, this was a part of their childhood. Their stomping grounds. 

Meeting with their friends in the hotel's gym, the triplets set out to search for them. As they enter, Jon and Josh instantly meet their eyes and wave them inside. As they step closer to the Fatu twins, a wild pairing of Trinity and Ariane come around the corner. Paying the girls no mind, Ezmeralda takes her turn at greeting the boys. Her and Josh nestled in each other's arms. 

"I'm not the most social person in the world, I'm really big on protecting my peace whereas my brothers do all the talking and so forth. However, if I could count how many of my co-workers are my personal friends, it'd take just about four fingers – and that's not including my brothers."

"The Fatu twins and I go back to their FCW days where my brothers and I were their mentors. Jon is like the extra brother, I didn't need, whereas Josh is a bit complicated."

"How you doin' mama?" Josh asks as the two take a set of treadmills right beside each other. 

Ezmeralda shrugs, "not too bad. I'm a bit nervous for Wrestlemania, the boys and I have been going over our intro and outfits for days now." 

He raises his eyebrows with interest, "ooh, do tell me more." She giggles, shaking her head, "no, sir. It's a surprise, I can't be blowing the surprise out the water and all." 

"Since we headin' your family's way for it, you thinking about inviting them?" 

She clicks her tongue in thought, "I mean, I personally don't try and force them to come unless it's something really pivotal in like the storyline or a title match, but you know them – they hard headed as hell, can't tell them fools nothin'."

He kisses his teeth, gently smacking her on the arm. "Girl, you gone stop talkin' about my mama." 

She pauses, eyes widen in disbelief, "about your who now? Cause I ain't mention not a word about Mama T." 

He side eyes her, "you heard what I said. Mama Kala ain't hard headed nor is she a fool."

"She my mama, not yours." He scoffs, "man, not yet. Just you wait cause when I snatch you up and put a ring on it, she gone be my mama, too. Which makes me her spy." 

Ezmeralda stops the treadmill mid-walk, allowing herself to comically slide backwards. "Her spy!? Ah, gotta blast." 

She jumps off, running around the gym. Josh laughs, chasing her through the gym while Jon and her brothers watch with knowing smiles. 

"Since Josh and I became friends, him and his bad ass older brother have always called my parents Mama Kala and Papa E whereas my brothers and I have called their parents, Mama T and Papa Sol. However, for the past year or two when this tension between Josh and I developed, he's been adding on things like how he's gonna marry me this or I'm his lady and he's my man that or whatever." 

She tries to shrug off the obvious effect his affections had on her.

"I wouldn't mind allowing Mr. Fatu to take me on a lil' date and impress me; however, at the same time, I don't want that interfering with work. Like, I can and will be going head-to-head with him and his brother. Our characters have this rivalry going on where really, it's just this unforeseen chemistry we all have with each other. Besides, I'm not good at being vulnerable and letting myself be open – I've always been that way. Why you think I'm 31 and single?"

WrestleMania

"Y'all it's Wrestlemania and it's the Deadliest of 'em all, the Three Sins versus The Shield, let's go baby!" She screams, clapping her hands.

The triplets dress in green and black colored outfits. Ezekiel and Ezra wear their pair of wrestling pants designed with asymmetrical patterns and evergreen colored wrestling shoes. 

Ezmeralda wears a dual-colored glitter bralette with straps wrapping around her torso and a pair of matching two-toned shorts with fishnets and matching kneepads with evergreen custom sneakers. They walk for the Guerilla, prepared for their match against The Shield.

They stay behind the curtain as the first notes of 'Animal I've Become' by Three Days Grace plays as the pre-chorus hits, they walk out as their green pyro goes off as the crowd roars with excitement, self-made posters sailing through the stadium of over 70,000 fans. This was their moment and Ezmeralda's step closer to a Woman's Revolution, creating history like no other. 

The six-man tag match starts off with Ezmeralda and her friend and former protege, Joseph, as the two powerhouses go back and forth, tossing each other around. Minutes pass with a series of tags, pin breakups, and kickouts as all six bodies lay draped from the ring to the apron. 

The crowd went as far as doing a 'This is Awesome' chant as Ezmeralda and Joe kept exchanging spears and Samoan drops. After a while, it was time for the match to end as Jonathan pins Ezekiel while Ezmeralda and Ezra lay wasted ring-side.

"It's Wrestlemania, baby!" Ezmeralda cheers in the palms of her hands.

[soulc-hilde]

Ch. 03 - Tough Love

Pairing: Jey Uso / Josh Fatu x Aries / Ezmeralda Bey

Synopsis: Devoted to her craft and her family, WWE Superstar Ezmeralda has a library of accolades accomplished on her own and by the side of her family like never before. As she leads the Women's Revolution to glory, romance seems to find her at the most unexpected moment... in the ring.

Warning(s): SFW, OC is a black woman, swearing, WWE-canon violence, Non-scripted fights, body shaming, body insecurities, WWE's consistant misogyny is blatant until later chapters, etc.

Cross-posted: Wattpad

Kansas City, Missouri | Hours 'till Monday Night Raw

After the weekend, everyone was loading in. To the surprise of Josh and Ezmeralda, Trinity and Jon had fallen into an argument over their engagement. Settled in catering, the elder Fatu took that as his moment to vent to the four.

"So, what happened?" Ezmeralda asks, setting down her bottle of sweet tea. "Cause I  got texts from Trin freaking out saying that you left and I got your texts asking me for some girl advice, so what's going on, manin?" 

Jon sighs, leaning over the table. "Man, I tried to have a conversation with her about the engagement cause she hasn't made not a single step to plan our wedding with me. We were chilling on the couch and when I brought it up, she's over there huffing and hiding under the blanket like some damn kid, Ezzie." 

"Not once I have I ever brushed her off like that, especially in a way that was so disrespectful," he grits his teeth as his mind goes over that moment. "Then she just started yelling at me and then talkin'bout some: 'go find someone else to give you what you're looking for.' Find someone else? What the hell?"

"So, Trin and Jon has been engaged for... I wanna say like, two years? And they are literally two peas in a pod; however, they both have their human faults that are starting to come out and create this dark shadow at this point in their relationship. For Trinity, she doesn't properly speak about what's going on in her head. She can be freaking out over something and instead of talking about it, she'll let it fester until it starts affecting her relationships with others."

"And Jon, he's real loving and when he puts his heart on the line - doesn't matter if it's over somebody or something, he'll give his all until he can't no more. He wears his heart on his sleeve and he loves hard, sometimes a little too hard. In this case, I feel like he notices that Trinity has something holding her back mentally, but he doesn't know how to help her settle it without coming off as harsh or like trying to force it. They really just need to work on their communication."

"I can admit that Trin was immature in that aspect of the argument; however, she's not the only one who did wrong in this situation," Ezmeralda starts off slow.

"I don't know if you noticed, by a chance, but whenever marriage and committment is mentioned, she freezes. She kind of disconnects herself from the conversation and when it comes to confronting her about it, your approach may come off more so as you just trying to force her greatest fear out so y'all can move on."

She lays a gentle on his from across the table, "and I know that's not what you're trying to do. It just comes off like that to her. The best possible way is to kind of coax her out of that corner like 'are you scared about taking us further?' or 'is there possibly anything from your past that haunts you?'"

Jon nods, allowing her to continue. "Clear yes and no questions are going to come off that your mind is open to whatever she lays out to the table. It conveys that you're ready to take a step and clean out your closet in hopes that she's ready to do the same." 

Her older brother, Ezra, nods, adding in his own two cents. "Clear communication is what y'all need. No hysterics, no raising your voices. Just calm and collected, so y'all can decide whether or not y'all wanna take that next step. Man, I'm tellin' you, some niggas be taking this marriage shit for a joke, but I know your family. I know your morals. Once y'all say 'I do', that shit's locked down. So, clear this shit, little bro."

"How you feelin' knowing that we gotta wrestle against her and Brotus?" Josh quietly asks from Ezmeralda's right, their bodies practically overlapping one another thanks to how close they sat.

Jon sighs, kissing his teeth, "business is business. All that personal shit is at the door while we out there, man. I'm really worried about how she's gonna take it with how she thinks 'n all." The others hum as Ezekiel snorts.

"Who you tellin'?" The middle triplet scoffs. "Remember that one match, she drop kicked the shit outta me cause I said her outfit was crooked before we went out? Sis don't take no prisoners, gahlee."

The others look at him, shaking their head in silence. "Boy, you stupid," Ezmeralda laughs as the others follow. The group stands, walking to their locker rooms to get ready for the night. 

Monday Night Raw

"So, in the WWE, there's like this pyramid or listing - however you see it. At the top, is your main event stories like Trips vs. Axel tonight, then your mid-cards which depending on ranking can mean just how important the match is to the fans and your storyline, and finally, your prelimanary matches. Out of all these cards, the Divas only get one match and it's typically in the preliminary section or somewhere amongst the mid-cards if it's a title match."

"Preliminary matches are also used for talent that's either new, starting a new storyline with other wrestlers, or has to fill up space because all of the big names are in the field in working. Josh and Jon, despite the rising pop that they've had since 2010, they've mainly been assigned to preliminaries. Whereas for my brothers and I have always been booked between mid-cards and main events."

"It's a tough fight for the top, but I know that their time's coming soon. And I also mean that for the Divas and Trinity, too."

In their locker room, the triplets watch the monitor as their friends do their respective entrances. Trinity's face held a dark glare that became worse as Nikki stares at the woman from across the ring, rubbing on Jon's chest. Rather than trying to avoid any further tension, Jon let's it happen while Josh and Brie simply stand in the corner, deciding who was to go first. 

"That's lousy as hell," Ezra shakes his head. "Now ain't the time to be antagonizing them." Ezmeralda purses her lips, "it's Nikki for Christ's sake, she's gonna piss people off regardless."

Ezekiel mugs the screen, "hopefully, Trinity chews his ass out afterwards." Ezra scoffs, "that is if she'll even talk to the man."

As they continue to watch the match, Jon gets tagged in by Brie after facing Trinity's professional yet uncharacteristic aggression. He steps in, the two staring one another down as if trying to talk through their eyes. 

"When it comes to mix gender tag matches, typically, the men aren't to touch the women and the women aren't to touch the men. Even if they do, it won't call for a disqualification or anything. It's mainly implemented for the sake that the Divas can only do and take so much. It's how they were trained and even in the big league, it's how they practice."

"Please, don't fucking do it," Ezmeralda sighs, already knowing what Trinity was thinking. With great timing, she pulls a hurricarana on Jon as he rolls in the corner. Tensai leads her out the ring as the crowd roars at the unexpected moment.

Ezekiel laughs, "she done did it!"

Ezra laughs as well, "good thing the fans like it. It's been a while since another woman outside of you and Chyna roughed up a guy in the ring." The match ends with the twins losing as they roll out the ring while Tons of Funk celebrates their victory. 

The Three Sins v. The Shield 

As The Shield finishes their promo, the triplets walk out to their intro, charging for the ring. After the commercial break, their match was cued as Ezekiel starts off first for his retribution against Jonathan for taking the U.S title last night at Extreme Rules while Joseph and Colby had won Ezmeralda and Ezra's tag team titles.

Nemesis and Dean lock up, switching different holds before shoulder tossing him. Setting off into a cycle of trade offs, Nemesis hits him with a blow to the chin before rolling him into a quick pin but Dean kicks out. As they stand, Nemesis whips Dean off the ropes, the two bouncing toward one another before he performs a double knee to Ambrose's chin. 

Nemesis flips him over, pulling him into a hold. Standing to their feet, Nemesis twists Dean's arm before tagging in Aries. She sends a knee into Ambrose's nose, backing him into the corner with a series of blows before bouncing him off the ropes beside them, whipping him into the set behind them. As Dean comes her way, she catches him in a tight hold before slamming him over her head, executing a clean belly to belly.

Laid out on his back, Dean groans before his eyes widen as Aries performs a leg drop. Her thick legs land on his chest, elliciting a gasp for air from the U.S champ. He rolls on his front in hopes to relieve his lungs but she pulls him back to her, going for the pin when he kicks out. As Dean sits up, Aries nestles the point of her knee along his spine and pulls his arms back to her hips. 

The position lasts for a few moments as Dean fights out of it, forcing them both to stand as he sends a kick to her gut. Stunned, he takes his moment to tag in Seth for a breather. The rapid, two-toned high flyer comes running for her but she easily trips him up and keeps his body laying for her to do a knee drop on his back. 

As Seth kicks his feet, she pulls him closer and wraps them around her waist before grabbing a handful of his hair in her right hand as the other holds his legs to her waist. Reeling him back so he laid against her chest, she spins them around and lands on her knees executing her variant of a facebuster.

She stands him to his feet, performing a series of kicks on each of his sides before ending it with an enzuigiri. He falls to his knees, struggling to stand while she tags in Hubris. Going back to her spot in front of Seth, she stands ready with her hands locked together as Hubris stands on the top rope. 

The older triplet jumps into her hands as she lifts him over her head. Soaring, Hubris lands on Seth with a crossbody before rolling him into a pin. On the count 2, Seth kicks out. Hubris brings Seth to his feet before sending him shoulder first into the steel post. As Seth slides down the turnbuckles, Hubris continuously stomps the tag champion in the corner as the referee counts down. 

Bringing him out the corner, Hubris bounces him off the ropes before hitting him with a spinning heel kick. He goes for the pin, but Seth kicks out once again. Holding Seth in a lock, he brings them back into the corner where Nemesis makes his tag. The two pick Rollins up by his legs and slam him into the canvas with a double powerbomb. 

Nemesis goes for the pin, but he kicks out once again. Nemesis brings him into a hold before he starts fighting out of it. Bouncing off the ropes, Rollins sends the older man on his back with a shoulder check. Continuously, Seth bounces off the ropes in an effort to catch Nemesis but each bounce resulted in the striker jumping over the champ with ease.

On the third bounce, Nemesis catches him in a hurricarana before going for the pin but Seth kicks out at two. Trying to pull Seth into a hold, the highflyer uses the last of his strength to take control before sending Nemesis into The Shield's corner where Roman gets the tag.

With Roman in the ring, a quick change of course was evident as the Samoan sends strike after strike on Nemesis before sending him flying with a shoulder check off the ropes.

Nemesis fights out of Roman's hold as the crowd cheers his name only to get slammed into a pin, but he kicks out at two. Dean tags in before stretching Nemesis in a hold. Dean lands a missile dropkick off the ropes before pulling him into a pin, but he kicks out. Dean tags Seth in once again and sends Nemesis in the corner with a series of blows.

From the ground, Nemesis sends a kick to Seth's gut but he reciprocates with a slam into the turnbuckle. Seth holds Nemesis into another submission as Hubris and Aries cheer him on from their corner, encouraging the crowd to call his name. Seth mocks the triplets and their family, imitating their signature kiss to the heavens - a tradition to their loved ones who've fallen in the ring before performing their move. 

The crowd boos as Hubris holds back an outraged Aries from storming the ring. As Seth goes to charge for Nemesis, he's caught in a Samoan drop that brought the crowd back to their feet. He rolls into the corner, dodging Seth's clothesline to tag in his big brother while Aries checks on him. 

-- Skipping to the end --

After the commercial break, Ambrose had tagged in Roman while Hubris tags in Aries. As the two come to a staredown, the massive powerhouse glaring down at her as she stands unwavering, the crowd roars as their minds comprehend the trading of moves that was bound to happen. 

They charge for one another, but every attempt was futile for Roman as he was met with heavy clothesline one after another. Pulled from a corner, Aries lifts him onto her broad shoulders before landing an F5. Wanting to put him out for good, she then performs another signature, the three powerbombs. With a roar, she slams Roman down three times before pulling him into the pin.

The fans stand to their feet, cheering in hopes she'd get the pin when a wild Dean breaks it up just before the referee reaches the 3-count. From the top rope, Nemesis comes flying with a missile dropkick before sending Dean out of the ring with a clothesline over the ropes. 

Together, Nemesis and Hubris perform suicide dives on separate sides of the ring as Nemesis takes out Seth and Hubris comes crashing on Ambrose. Catching her breath, Aries stands to her feet amongst the chaos. As Roman unloads a series on blows on her back, she gains the strength to block his next hit before throwing an elbow across his face. 

As he stumbles back, she gets to her feet. Roman charges for her again, but she catches him with a superkick so clean, the slap rang amongst the cheers. The Samoan crumbles to his knees, leaving an idea in her head. Sending a kiss to the heavens, she wraps Roman's arm over shoulders as both hands grab him by the belt, standing him to his feet. 

The crowd becomes rowdy at the recognizable stance as Aries begins to slam Roman in a suplex. Twisting her hips, he rolls with her as she slams him into the second suplex. On the third, she twirls her hips once more and slams him down, but she keeps her back arched, feet planted as she holds him pinned. The ref slides over, slamming his hand against the canvas. 

"1...2...3!" The crowd and referee count together as the Three Sins get their payback from Extreme Rules. With the three laid out in the ring as the triplet's music plays, all three pick the titles up and stand on the top rope over the strown bodies of The Shield. Aries and Hubris holding the tag titles with Nemesis carrying the United States title.

"I can't wait to hear that announcement: And your new... Tag Team Champions... The Three Sins!"

[soulc-hilde]

Relocation

I know... I know, I'm supposed to be writing, but there's been a few stumbles along the road that I've unfortunately have come across. Before I address those, I wanna say that I am so grateful for 127 of you!

The ongoing interaction with my writing and the requests makes me happy and it keeps me motivated. I genuinely don't know how else I could possibly express this gratitude. We can only go forward from here, making goal after another and I hope that we can do it together for years to come.

Now, as I said before, I've come across a few things and one of them is, most importantly, my writing. I see the way a lot of you interact on my fanfics - I don't know if a lot of you can tell, but I'm a detailed writer. I like to create characters and give them a story which is why series are my niche. Tumblr is not the best platform for that.

Which leads me to ask... If I was to move my series works to platforms that center on that type of work, what would be the best one to use?

I'm not completely shoving Tumblr to the wind, don't think that at all, but I am in search of a platform that is easy to use for both the reader and the writer as well as has a bigger appeal for fanfiction series rather than one-shots or imagines. Let me know any suggestions outside of the these four in the comments.

Okay, now I'll go back to writing... Thanks again!