"I am completely knackered...carry me up to our apartment, Sami."
Sami smirked at his surprisingly tired looking partner, who was currently leaning against Sami and trying to suppress a yawn. Finn had been put through his paces at the Performance Centre today, as was expected of the NXT Champion. You had to lead by example, be inspirational to the newer trainees, promote the product as Face of the brand...Sami would have been more sympathetic to Finn's plight, but he barely remembered his one whole month in that position, having spent most of the time afterwards rehabbing and cursing Kevin's very existence.
"Finn, you are my favourite person in the whole world and an adorable fun-sized guy, but I'm not carrying your ass up two flights of stairs."
Finn sighed in defeat, "Ugh, you're mean...I don't remember the last time training knocked me out so hard."
"Well, you did go and offer to help Mojo train today," Sami smirked, leading the pair up to their apartment, "Keeping up with the human equivalent of a pinball would tire anybody out."
"It's like he absorbs the sunlight and it gives him unlimited energy," Finn groaned, feeling the aches and pains of a good day's workout setting in. The combination of adrenaline and trying to keep up with Mojo Rawley had meant he'd been able to ignore the pain before now...but now his only distraction was his less than sympathetic boyfriend.
"Mojo's not one of the X-Men, Finn."
"He's damn sure not completely human, either," Finn muttered, glaring at Sami, "And how come you're all fresh as a daisy?"
"I was mostly filming vignettes today," Sami frowned as they reached the door to their apartment, fumbling around in his jacket pocket for the keys, "Seems like I'll be in a match soon for the number one contendership."
"Oh," Finn frowned, remembering that Jason had been hinting at a major match between himself and Sami ever since Sami's rehab had been completed. They'd had some matches on Live Events during the European tour, but being Live Events they could have some fun with the matches, and having those matches was a great way to ease Sami back into the ring. Finn could easily match whatever tempo Sami was capable of making, and Sami could trust that Finn wouldn't intentionally try to hurt him.
If this potential title match was scheduled for an episode of NXT...or even the next TakeOver...neither of them could afford to hold anything back.
"Hey, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet," Sami finally managed to look out the keys from the space-time portal that was his pocket, "Plenty of time to get into the right mind-set if I earn that title shot."
"When you earn that title shot," Finn's tone bore no room for argument.
"The vote of confidence is noted and appreciated," Sami said as he unlocked the door, "You want to kick back and unwind a bit? I'll start dinner."
"Actually, I think I'll go lie in the tub for a while," Finn smiled tiredly at Sami, "See if I can't soothe away the day for a bit."
"That's fine, you've earned a bit of relaxation time today," Sami grinned as Finn gently kissed his cheek, "I'll give you a shout if dinner's ready before you're done."
"Thanks Sami."
Sami had barely looked out the chickpeas to start making dinner when he was interrupted by a hasty and demanding knock at the door. He tried to wipe the annoyed look off his face as he headed towards the door, but one look through the peephole at the interloper very nearly put it straight back on there.
"Hullo Cindy, what can I do for you?"
Sami didn't exactly hate their across-the-hall neighbour…she had been really friendly and accommodating when Sami had first moved in. But ever since Finn moved in beside him, she had quickly transformed into the most atypical kind of man-eater…and Sami often felt like a tiny ginger bunny rabbit trying to escape the falcon's claw whenever she looked in his direction.
He'd never admit to Finn that he was secretly glad and in no way shape or form offended that Finn was the centre of this bird of prey's attention and not him.
"Hey Sami," she trilled, a trifle too sweetly, "Looks like some of your mail got delivered to my box by mistake."
"Amazing how that keeps happening," Sami tried to keep the sarcastic drawl out of his voice. She certainly didn't seem to notice, seemingly more concerned with twirling her hair through her fingers.
"So, here you go, dear," Cindy handed over several envelopes, all the while trying to peer over Sami's shoulder. Sami studiously ignored her gaze and took a quick look at the letters, most seemingly fan-mail forwarded from WWE Headquarters, but there were a couple of more formal looking letters amongst them, "Finn not about today?"
In any other circumstance, Sami would have felt hurt by her complete lack of tact. Sure, Sami would be the first to agree that he'd much rather look at Finn than himself...Finn was built like Apollo (not Crews), Sami felt he was more like Hephaestus. Sami was fairly certain she knew that Finn was very much taken, she just didn't care.
"Sorry Cindy, you just missed him," Sami smiled as fake a smile as he could manage.
"Really? 'Cause I swore I saw you two walk in togeth...er..."
Sami smirked as she realised she'd been caught out.
"Saw us from the peephole of your door, I assume? It's not especially polite to spy on your neighbours. Have a nice night, Cindy," Sami sing-songed, "Try not to borrow our mail again in the future. I'd hate to have to report you to the landlord."
Sami closed the door on her before she even finished her 'hmph' of dismay. He grinned to himself as he sorted the letters into his and his piles, frowning slightly at one of the letters in his hand. It was addressed to 'Fergal Devitt' and Sami briefly wondered if it had been sent here in error. Then he felt incredibly stupid as he remembered that 'Fergal Devitt' was Finn's real name. He turned the letter around, noting that it had been sent from Ireland…presumably from Finn's family. He frowned one more time at the letter, before placing the piles down on a nearby chair.
He'd worry about that later…time to create a culinary masterpiece.
Finn whistled a jaunty tune as he walked out of their bedroom…God, it was still unbelievable to think of it as theirs…all dressed down in a pair of sweatpants (slightly loose on Finn's hips, so he must've accidentally put on a pair of Sami's…he didn't seem too bothered by this error) and a loose-fitting white t-shirt (actually Finn's, but Sami probably wore it last). He was tempted to stay in the bath a while longer, enjoying the soothing soak after spending most of the day trying to keep up with Mojo Rawley…but soon the smell of Sami's cooking invaded his very being, and his stomach was suddenly in full control and his body was moving on it's own accord towards the yummy goodness.
He at least eventually remembered to go back and pull the plug on the bath…
When they first moved in together as best buds, Finn was worried about accidentally cooking food that Sami couldn't actually eat. He'd gone into a minor panic, roping Bayley into helping him research Muslim recipes, why pork was such a taboo and what the heck Halal actually was before he committed a grave faux-pas. Sami had been suitably moved by Finn's thoughtfulness, but he had simply asked Finn to leave all the food shopping and preparation to him. Finn didn't hesitate to agree, happily taking over other household duties that Sami wasn't a huge fan of.
Like cleaning the bath…back in we go then…
"Hey Finn, you about done?" Sami's voice called from the kitchen area, "Could use a quick hand through here."
…the damn bath would just have to wait, "Be right there!"
Sami was currently hovering over a frying pan, gauging the temperature. Finn quickly snuck up beside him, standing on his tippy-toes to see over Sami's shoulder, "What's cookin'?"
"Carrot and coriander falafels," Sami smiled, turning to give Finn a quick kiss on the cheek before waving his hand in the general direction of some assorted herbs and a tub of Greek yoghurt, "Could you mix all that up for me while I fry these?"
"Sure!" Finn grinned, eagerly placing the dip ingredients into the blender, "Anything else I can do?"
"Maybe toast the pitta breads?" Sami had to steadily raise his voice as Finn turned on the blender.
"Consider it done and toasted."
They quickly relocated to the couch as soon as dinner was ready, each ready to tuck in to a plateful of falafels. It didn't escape Finn's notice that Sami had given him a slightly bigger portion, which earnt the Canadian a very thankful smile. As soon as they got comfortable, Finn turned on the television and started flicking through the channels.
"Wait, was that Aladdin?" Sami said suddenly, "Go back to that!"
Finn obliged, the movie had just barely begun and 'Arabian Nights' began to play. Sami grinned eagerly, almost forgetting to start eating in favour of the Disney movie.
"Should've known you'd like the Disney movie set in the Middle East," Finn couldn't help but smile as Sami began humming along to the song.
"Well, it's nice to see a positive representation for once," Sami smiled ruefully, "Oh, but if the writer's actually went through with giving me a horrible Middle Eastern gimmick, I was going to demand to be billed from Agrabah. I mean, if Xavier can get away with Angel Grove…"
"Have you been to Agrabah before?"
Sami paused in his humming, looking at Finn with a slight frown of disbelief, "What do you mean?"
"Like, is it exactly how it looks in the movie? I'm guessing it's a bit glamourized but…"
Finn was cut off by Sami suddenly bursting into a fit of laughter. Sami had to put his plate of food down on the table before it spilled everywhere, "Finn! Agrabah isn't a real place!"
"It's not?"
Sami's laughter only increased at Finn's absolutely scandalised look, "No!"
"But…the shopkeeper at the beginning says it's near the River Jordan!" Finn huffed, "Unbelievable, Disney lied to me. What is the world coming to?"
Sami finally managed to stop laughing enough to resume eating, "Next thing you'll be telling me is that you didn't know Tocula, Mexico didn't exist either."
"TITO SANTANA LIED TO ME TOO?!"
After Sami eventually calmed down long enough to finish his dinner, the two had lay down on the couch to cuddle up and watch the rest of Aladdin. They were content to watch in silence, except for joining in during the musical numbers. Finn had especially enjoyed the blush on Sami's face when he started singing 'A Whole New World' to him. Sami responded by singing Jasmine's verses back at Finn, but Finn could only burst out laughing at Sami's attempted falsetto.
"So, are you my Jasmine, then?" Finn asked Sami innocently.
"Nah, I'm more like your Abu," Sami grinned mischievously, "We're partners in crime, after all."
During the scene after Jaffar took control of the Lamp, Finn turned away from the screen to address Sami, "Say, did I hear the door earlier whilst I was in the bath?"
"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that…" Sami waved his arm over towards one of the chairs, "Cindy Kardashian brought our mail over."
Finn shivered violently, instinctively pulling himself closer into Sami's embrace, "Did you tell her I had immigrated to Antarctica like we planned?"
"Nah, she stuck her foot in her mouth and had to retreat," Sami grinned, "You wanna bring that lot over…think there was a letter from your family in there."
"Oooh," Finn's face lit-up in excitement as he clambered off Sami to retrieve the letters. He eagerly handed Sami's letters over, before flicking through his own looking for the letter Sami was referring to.
"Wow, some really neat fan-art here…" Sami whistled, admiring the talent on display even if he wasn't his own favourite subject matter, "Oh, look, somebody drew a really cute picture of the two of us!"
"Huh, that is cute…" Finn grinned at the picture, before opening the letter from Ireland and looking it over, holding up two small pieces of white cardboard, "Oh! It's the official invite to my sister's wedding!"
"Oh, neat," Sami nodded in approval. Finn never got many chances to go back home to visit his family, but there was no way he'd miss his sister's big day, "Better make sure you get the time off to go."
"We need to get the time off," Finn smiled slightly at Sami, "She's invited you too."
"She did?!" Sami couldn't keep the surprise out of his voice, "As in…me personally, or just as your plus one?"
"Nope, here you go…" Finn handed over a delicate card to Sami, who gaped at the handwritten invite dedicated to him and him alone, "She's been wanting to meet you for ages."
"How does she even know who I am?" Sami inquisitively looked up at Finn.
"Well…uh…I may have told her about you. Just a little bit. Or a lot, actually," Finn looked a bit sheepish, "When…well, when I started to figure out I liked you, I needed someone neutral to talk to…sure wasn't going to talk to my brothers about it."
"Huh…wow, that's really nice of her," Sami placed the invite down on the table beside his empty plate; "You don't have a problem with me going? I mean, it's a family thing and…"
"And you're as good as family in their eyes," Finn looked incredibly pleased, "I'm dyin' for you to meet them all. They're gonna love you. Da will probably want an autograph, ma will probably treat you to all sorts of home baking…and my brothers will shovel talk the Hell out of you."
"Shovel talk?"
"Y'know…'you ever hurt him, we'll bury you somewhere you'll never be found,' that kind of thing."
"Well, that's encouraging," Sami groaned, falling back down onto the couch. Finn immediately resumed his position lying on top of him, quickly making himself comfortable, "…guess I'd better practice calling you 'Fergal' then."
"Huh? Why?" Finn looked up at Sami, scrunching his face up in confusion.
Sami shrugged, "I'd imagine it'd get pretty confusing for your folks if I kept calling you 'Finn' all the time."
"Nah, don't be daft," Finn grinned, "They're used to the whole ring-name thing. My da is really proud of the 'Finn Bálor' name."
"Huh…" Sami looked thoughtful for a second, "Does it never bother you that I never call you by your real name?"
"Honestly?" Finn waited for Sami's nod in confirmation to continue, "I think it'd be really weird if you suddenly started calling me 'Fergal'. I've always been 'Finn' to you, all the time we've really known each other."
Sami frowned, "But…like, Becky calls you 'Fergal' all the time…and you and I are in a relationship now and everything…shouldn't I be calling you that too?"
"Are you implying I'm closer to Becky because she's on actual-name basis with me?" Finn huffed in annoyance, "That's bollocks…Becky calls me 'Fergal' 'cause that's what she's always called me. Hearing you call me 'Fergal' just sounds…I dunno, wrong to me? Like, wouldn't it be weird if I suddenly started calling you 'Rami' all the time?"
"Yeah…I guess that's fair…" Sami looked rather sheepish, "It was a silly thing to worry about…"
"I like being 'Finn' to you." Finn gently brushed his hand across Sami's cheek, Sami immediately nuzzling Finn's palm in response, "I like being your Finn."
Sami managed a small smile in return, "Mine huh…wow, I guess you really are my everyFinn."
Finn desperately wanted to groan at the sheer awfulness of Sami's line, but internally he could feel his heart skip a beat over how utterly sincere Sami sounded. He didn't sound like he was joking in the slightest, and Finn found himself at a loss for words at how pure Sami was as a person. Instead of directly responding, Finn chose to simply snuggle closer to Sami, watching as Jasmine declared that she had chosen Aladdin as the man she wanted to marry…content as Sami began gently running his fingers through Finn's hair. The soothing motion coupled with the events of the day finally catching up with him slowly sent Finn drifting into dreamland, and before the end credits had finished Finn was asleep…gently snoring into Sami's chest.
Sami could only smile fondly at the sleeping bundle of Finn, "Sweet dreams, my Prince."