I blame Hardly Here for making me want a good slash story, and then making me think of this idea with our conversation, so yeah, I blame Hardly Here.
I own no one involved in this story, they all belong to TNA.
The locker room was rather empty as Robert sat backstage, lacing up his shoes after another taping of TNA. They had only gotten through one week of taping so far, and still had another two to go, which was something Robert wasn't all that fond about. He had other plans, plans that involved some time off to do what he wanted, or maybe who he wanted. Nah, he wasn't going to let those thoughts fill his head, well not right now while he was alone.
He wasn't alone for long though as the door burst open, and his tag team partner walked in, a beer in one hand, a sandwich in the other. That's how Robert always saw James. He was never without at least one of those items, and if he ever was it was probably because he was sleeping, though Robert only knew that because of all the times they shared a room or a bed.
"Hey man," called James, shaking Robert from his thoughts, "You ready to go yet?"
Robert nodded, standing up before really looking at James, "Man, you're not," he said with a chuckle, "You haven't even changed yet."
James glanced down at himself before letting a slight blush creep over his face when he noticed he was still in his Beer Money shirt and trunks.
"I'll wait for you outside," said Robert with a sly grin before grabbing his bag and walking out the door, letting the door swing shut with a soft thud behind him. No matter how much Robert wanted to stay in there, to stay with his partner, he didn't think it was exactly the right time otherwise he might act on his thoughts from earlier.
"Oh Robert, I'm glad I caught you," said a voice from behind, yanking Robert from his thoughts once more. Was everyone trying to interrupt him from his thoughts tonight, or what?
He turned to see Ric Flair coming up to him, a bright grin on the old man's lips as he stopped next to him, clapping him on the shoulder.
"There's something I need to talk to you about young man," he started off, "But not tonight, tomorrow come by AJ's locker room, we need to have a serious talk."
With that, Flair walked away, leaving a confused Robert behind. He was in fact so confused that he didn't even hear the locker room door open, or Storm walk out ready to go.
"Hey Robert man," he said, slapping Robert's arm gently, "Anyone home?"
Robert jumped, turning his head to look at James, "Oh, sorry," he said softly, hoisting his bag up further on his shoulder, "You ready to go now?"
Storm nodded before heading off down the hall. Robert followed after him, his mind traveling back to what Flair wanted to talk to him about, his eyes locked on the back of James as they headed out to the rental car.
"What's eating ya?" asked James as they drove back to the hotel, James being the one driving this time.
Robert was quiet for a moment before voicing his thoughts, "Flair wants to meet with me tomorrow about something," he said slowly, "I don't know what I did wrong."
James grinned slightly, reaching over with his right hand and patting Robert on the leg, "You didn't do anything wrong," he said gently, pulling his hand back after a moment, and placing it back on the wheel.
Robert nodded his head, not speaking after that little touch from James. He couldn't trust himself to say anything close to rational right now. He was far too flustered to even think straight, he realized as he climbed out of the car and walked with James to the hotel.
"Are you sure that's the only thing bothering you?" asked James as he walked over and sat next to Robert on the bed. Robert nodded, looking up at him.
"I feel like I did something wrong," he answered gently, "Like I'm going to be kicked out of Fortune or something for something that's not even in the fucking storyline."
James frowned softly, resting his hand down on Robert's leg, "You haven't done one damn thing wrong," he said encouragingly, resting his head on Robert's shoulder, "Not one damn thing."
Robert nodded, pulling out of James' hold after a few minutes, "If you say so," he said with a sigh before standing up from the bed and disappearing into the bathroom. James sighed gently, staring at the closed door before standing up from the bed and stripped down to his boxers before climbing into the other bed, his back to the bathroom.
A little while later, Robert walked out of the bathroom, his gaze traveling over to the bed where he spotted Storm asleep in the other bed. He frowned, tossing his towel aside before walking over to his own bed and climbing underneath the covers. He sighed gently as he cuddled up to the extra pillow, his mind unable to shut down. He could hear everything in the room as he laid there underneath the sheets, his body already slick with sweat as he tried to get cool.
"Robert?" whined James softly a few hours later, "Robbberrt."
"What is it James?" he asked softly, turning over and looking through the dark to James' bed.
"I'm cold, "he said gently, looking over at Robert.
Robert frowned faintly, sitting up slightly. How could the man possibly be cold while Robert felt like he was on fire? He couldn't understand it but, if Storm was cold, then well he was cold, that's all there was to it.
"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked, lying back down and beginning to turn over again.
Instead of getting a response though, Robert felt the bed sink beneath him slightly. He turned his head and looked up as James crawled underneath the covers from the other side, his body up against Robert's not too long after that.
"Cold," he said simply, wrapping his arms around Robert. Robert sighed gently, but he didn't shove James away. James was like a brother to him, he couldn't just ignore him. He wrapped his arms around James and rested his head down on the pillow once before drifting off to sleep, James not too long after him.
