Tortured, Tangled Hearts
This is just a short nothing-piece. Fluffy if you look really, really hard at the end. A.J./Christian pairing by way of one Tyson Tomko; Kurt and Karen never really stood a chance.
Oh Love, oh Love, you fickle thing…Tomko thought to himself as he watched his Tag Team partner A.J. Styles enter the locker room with an accessory on both arms in Kurt and Karen Angle. The Heavyweight Champion had his arm around the "Prince's" shoulders, and his better half had herself almost completely wrapped around the Tag Champion's waist, tapping his chest with one long, well-manicured fingernail.
"I'm tellin' ya A.J., Jim's impressed with you, real impressed," the Gold Medalist was saying as the door shut behind them.
The Phenomenal One flushed and mumbled something unintelligible to Tomko, who found this an amusing transformation from the hard-ass he had just played so well out in front of the cameras. Even Joe had been caught off-guard, despite the fact that they had practiced it a thousand times for the past week; it just wasn't the A.J. they were used to.
"I'm serious, man, Jimmy himself pulled me aside to tell me so!" Angle insisted, his wife punctuating his statement with little coos and nods.
"Golly," A.J. said in wonderment.
"Face it, son, you're moving on to bigger and better things!"
Tomko was mildly offended at that statement, considering that he was in about the same place as A.J. in this huge storyline, but he shrugged it off, his interest in the trio overtaking all else. He knew the Angles' game; they both wanted the Phenomenal A.J. Styles, though they were each unaware of the other's interest in the former World Champion. Each little stroke of Karen's finger along A.J.'s chest, all of Kurt's pats on the shoulder…their obliviousness was almost comical considering the blatancy of their actions, but Tomko was more worried about his partner, who didn't really have it in his heart to say no to anyone.
Will he be able to turn either of them down, Tomko wondered as he pulled on his cotton tank top.
"Can you believe it, A.J.," Karen squealed, stroking his jaw line. "Cornett is sure to pass all of your hard work along to Corporate! You'll be an even bigger star than you are now!"
The man in the middle blushed harder, his eyes widening even further at the thought. "You really think so?"
"Of course! It's only natural! I mean, you're working with me now!" Kurt exclaimed as if it were obvious. "Management didn't make me Champ for nothin' ya know!"
Inexplicably ashamed, A.J. hung his head. "That's true…" he muttered shyly.
"Don't you worry about a thing, sweetie. Kurt and I are going to handle everything." Karen gave the younger man a seductive little smile.
"Aw gee, thanks a lot guys, really."
Tomko couldn't help but be amused at his partner's ability to quickly fall for any kind of flattery, though he wondered what he would think of all of this…
Speak of the Devil, Tomko thought as Christian Cage walked into the locker room. Tomko watched as A.J. brightened several degrees at the sight of the Instant Classic, who seemingly took no notice of any of them, merely grabbing his duffle and checking for any scattered items. As he turned to leave the locker room again, A.J., despite all protests, shrugged off his companions with an apology.
"Thanks guys, really, but I gotta go."
Picking up his own things, he quickly caught up with Christian. As they walked out the door, the three remaining occupants watched as the Instant Classic took hold of A.J.'s hand and smiled down at him. Sputtering, Karen and Kurt Angle looked at each other in a mixture of bewilderment and anger as Tomko smirked and shook his head.
It was a broken dream right from the start… he thought.
Bless their tortured, tangled hearts!