It was a dream, or had it been?
It felt like a dream. He'd seen it in his dreams before, not often but increasingly frequently.
Now that it was real, he wasn't quite sure what to do about it.
Sin Cara was awake before his partner Kalisto. They shared a hotel room every night, but not beds. Never a bed. Though Sin Cara had been wondering since that momentous night—just two ago—what would be the issue sleeping in the same bed now?
Things were different now, and they weren't going back to the way they'd been before.
Not after what they'd done in the locker room. Not after the words, the sensations, they'd traded.
He asked himself, What now?
Kalisto was a still sleeper. Cara couldn't deny how adorable he looked, wrapped in the sheets like the main serving in a blanket burrito. He deserved to rest. They were always busy in this lifestyle, but this week kept the pair especially occupied. They'd traveled to England for Raw, performed well against the Ascension, did some things they'd never done before…
Now it was the morning before Smackdown. The Lucha Dragons didn't have a match, but he wasn't ready to go just yet. He knew Kalisto wanted to stay in the country, attend the program. Chiefly to support Neville in his match against Sheamus. Sin Cara respected that.
Sin Cara pushed out of bed. It was early, a few minutes past seven-thirty. His sleep schedule had been shot to nothing because of the time difference. He wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. Not with a loaded mind, still surging with his dreams.
They'd been good dreams. Good dreams of him and Kalisto, being very, very good to one another…
The hotel had a restaurant which served breakfast until nine. He decided to go downstairs and grab something for Kalisto and himself. His partner would appreciate that.
Partner…
Sin Cara watched Kalisto breathe in total peace in his slumber. Cara wondered if he was having dreams, too. What they were.
Cara pulled a shirt on, then his mask, and grabbed the key card off the table and made a quiet exit from the hotel room. Down the hall was the elevator—or, what they called them here, "lift"—and Cara noticed someone standing before it, waiting for the doors to slide open.
A five-foot ten man with curly black hair, dressed in purple. Someone who fit in well here.
"Good morning, Neville."
Neville turned around and smiled at Cara. "Hey, good morning. Where's Kalisto?"
"Still sleeping. I'm bringing him some breakfast."
"That's kind of you."
"Well, I treat him so horribly every other day of the week. Wednesdays I show a little mercy."
Neville chuckled. "How are you guys doing?"
Sin Cara's heart fluttered. There it was, that strange sensation he wasn't used to—but wasn't against, either. "Uh…we're okay? I guess. He's good, I'm good." You're rambling.
Neville nodded.
The lift dinged, and Sin Cara stepped into the elevator with Neville. It was going to be a long ride down. Why am I so flustered again? The hell is wrong with me?
"I don't mean to pry, or get into your personal business, Cara," Neville said. "But just know something. Kalisto's my best friend. We tend to tell each other things."
Thank God for this mask or Neville might have picked up just how scarlet Cara's cheeks were. Don't tell me Kalisto told him about that night…
"What I mean is," Neville expounded, "I know how he feels."
Did that mean Neville knew that Sin Cara knew how Kalisto felt? Man, this is like a high school knockoff.
"He's good at showing it. Just not saying it."
Sin Cara felt rude, not saying anything until this point. "Yeah, he…he told me how he felt. The way he always had. To be honest, I was surprised to learn. I guess I'm just clueless."
Neville smiled. "Yeah. It's been a long time. Even before you were his partner, he looked up to you."
"That's what he told me the day he met." Cara's heart warmed at the memory.
The elevator let him escape. Neville wasn't making him uncomfortable—Sin Cara was just unaware of how to deal with this matter himself, let alone getting anyone else involved. But if Neville was aware of the situation, perhaps he could offer some advice. Cara needed it. He was lost.
"How much did he tell you, exactly?"
Neville walked with Sin Cara towards the restaurant. "He told me he finally told you how he felt. Just spilled. Got it out in the open."
"He did."
"And he told me you told him you were feeling the same way. I swear, I've never seen him that happy. I've known him a long time, and I've never seen him smile like that."
I did that to him? I do that to him? Sin Cara was flattered.
"Hello!" a hostess greeted them. "Two for breakfast?"
"Yes, ma'am," Neville said.
Cara almost voiced his confusion, but Neville leaned in and mumbled, "You can give 'mine' to Kalisto."
"Ah. Thanks."
Clearly he wasn't ready to leave Sin Cara alone. Well. Maybe it was better to sort this out with someone. Neville happened to be one of the better people to discuss this with…Cara hoped.
Neville ordered a traditional English breakfast: eggs, bacon, sausages, fried bread, baked beans and mushrooms. Cara looked at the photo of the meal in the menu hungrily. He requested the same. "Nothing for you?" Cara asked Neville once the server scurried away with both orders.
"Nah. I'll eat a little later. I plan my mealtimes on days I have matches a little differently."
"Are you excited about your match tonight?"
"Yes. But we're not talking about that, are we?" Neville grinned.
Sin Cara was quiet. Neville had the disadvantage of not being able to read his face.
"Is it making you uncomfortable to talk about this?" Neville queried.
"No. I'm just…confused about it all."
"Why are you confused?"
"I don't know. Even that's confusing me. I've never felt like this before, and I really don't know where to go from here."
"Cara, do you like Kalisto?"
"Sure, I do."
"I mean, do you truly like him? In a way outside your friendship, your partnership?"
"Yes. I do," Sin Cara stated. "I wasn't lying to him when I said I felt the same way."
"The same way, being…?"
Sin Cara pushed out a breath. "I…I care about him. So much. He makes me happy. We work well together. He's got such a wonderful spirit. He's so positive and hardworking, and I admire him just as much as he admires me. And from what he's told me, that's a lot."
Neville beamed. "And you really don't know what to do about it?"
The way he worded it made Sin Cara think he was missing something incredibly obvious.
"That's what I'm trying to find out."
Neville's voice dropped an octave. "Date the guy."
Sin Cara stared back at him in silence. Date Kalisto? Is that even feasible…?
Neville pressed his fingertips together. "I'm not telling you what to do, Cara, this is your life, your decision and not mine. But I'm suggesting something that could be really, truly good for you both. This could be the greatest thing that ever happened to you."
Sin Cara's chest tightened. He pretty much is…my life now, all I'm doing with him, is the greatest. Nothing can compare.
"I tell you, Cara, you make Kalisto unimaginably happy. I can attest to that as an eyewitness. The night he fell in love with you, he called me up first thing. We were like girls at a slumber party. He had me up until three or four in the morning talking about it."
"Wait," Sin Cara said, following along until Neville reached a particular point in his sentence. The rest of the words had gone unheard. "He…fell in love with me?"
Neville pursed his lips, brown eyes widening behind his glasses. "Hmm. I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that."
Sin Cara sat back in his chair. "He loves me?"
Neville put a finger to his lips. "You didn't hear it from me, Cara. If he finds out you know, just pretend you figured it out all on your own. Somehow."
Breathing came difficultly now. Cara's entire body was frozen. He couldn't believe this. "I…" He rubbed his lips through the mask. "He'd told me it was just a crush. I didn't know it was…"
"I'm gonna wrap this up before I make an arse of myself again." Neville leaned over the table, hushing his voice like this was highly classified information he was about to divulge. "Date the guy. Date Kalisto. You want him, I know you do. There's no greater chemistry between partners than I've seen with the two of you. You have so much with each other. This could be amazing."
Look at Neville, playing matchmaker. Was he wearing a diaper under his tight jeans? Hiding a quiver stocked with arrows and a bow behind his back?
"He does love you," Neville/Cupid went on. "And honestly? If you don't already, it would be all too easy for you to fall for him as well. He's sort of wonderful in that way."
"He is," Cara confessed. "He's…the best. He really is."
When the server returned with two full plates of food, Neville gasped in feign revelation. "Oh, I'm sorry, darling, is there any way we can get these to go? Our boss just called us in for a prompt meeting."
She looked at him as though he horrified her just asking that question.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "It looks delectable, and I really can't wait to eat it. But we really need to go. Work emergency."
"Okay. No problem, love," she answered him.
Sin Cara wondered what that had been about. The many differences in American and English culture intrigued him.
"I hope I was able to help you figure out what to do. Ultimately, it's not about what I say, how I feel. It's all on you. But I trust you to make the right choice. I trust you not to hurt Kalisto."
"Never," Sin Cara swore.
"Good. Because if you did, I would Red Arrow you through the earth and right into the core."
Cara could only chuckle. Not at Neville's impossible threat, but the fact his finisher was called "red arrow." Yet another sign this English WWE superstar was, in fact, Cupid.
"I appreciate you talking to me, Neville," Sin Cara said. They scooped the breakfast into to-go boxes, and Sin Cara paid the bill.
"I wish you luck in whatever it is you do," Neville said. He was fighting a smile. Sin Cara knew exactly what Neville wanted him to do.
Now the question was, was it what Sin Cara wanted to do?
Why not? Dating Kalisto could be fun. They were together all the time anyway. They'd confessed an interest in one another. What would the difference be in slapping a label on it? Establishing a partnership within their partnership?
Cara returned to the elevator alone. It would also be strange. Strange and new. He'd dated before, sure, but not someone he worked with. Not a man he worked with. It could complicate their situations as wrestlers, as tag team partners. What would everyone else think? Or would they hide it away the way they'd hidden their encounter in the locker room on Monday?
Not once had Sin Cara ever opened up his heart to the possibility of love, either.
That's what scared him.
The elevator dispensed him on his floor. Cara hurried with the boxes of food towards the room. If Kalisto loves me, and he's handling it so fine…it can't be that bad, right? Falling in love? Does it hurt? Is it terrifying? Is it awesome? Is it worth it?
Kalisto was worth it.
The shower was going when Sin Cara unlocked the door and moved into the room. Once again he was thinking of that night, what started with wondering what Kalisto looked like naked, to sex right there against the wall, on the floor…what a time that had been.
If that didn't scare him, what was so wrong with admitting some feelings? Starting something up?
If it starts, then it can't end. I don't want to lose him. I don't want to risk what we have. Sin Cara placed the boxes on the desk and sat on his unmade bed. He had a couple of texts and a missed call from Kalisto on his phone, which he'd left plugged into the charger in the room. Oh. Whoops.
The water shut off. Sin Cara waited patiently for Kalisto's entrance. If he had the proper dishes, he'd organize the breakfast on the table, plates and silverware and all. Make it an elegant surprise.
Something retrieved his attention from the bathroom. Sin Cara listened and realized Kalisto was humming, singing softly to himself. What was he singing?
With a ridiculous grin he realized it was their entrance theme. He could even make out the subdued, "Lucha, lucha, lucha, lucha…"
Sin Cara nearly put his ear to the door to listen on, but it pulled open, and Kalisto stepped out in front of a billow of steam, dressed in nothing but a towel around his waist. Cara surprised him. "Oh! Hey. I was wondering where you went."
"I brought you some breakfast," Sin Cara said, swinging a hand towards the table.
"Aw. Really? You're the best."
This wasn't the first time Sin Cara saw Kalisto without his mask; yet it was still a peculiar sight. Peculiar and appealing. He had a weakness for Kalisto's eyes. He could sink in those things if he stared too long, drown in the color, lose himself.
He loves me, Cara reminded himself. I'm staring at a man who's in love with me. Talk about a peculiar sight. He couldn't recall anyone ever being in love with him. It made him feel proud and insecure all at once.
"I'll get dressed and we can dig in," Kalisto said, pulling a drawer open.
"I mean, if you have to…" Sin Cara teased. Kalisto's good looks were just a bonus of the incredible person he was. The peak of the mountain of reasons Sin Cara adored him.
Adore. Cherish. Like. Care for, so much, so much. But love? I don't know about that…maybe, maybe not…
It wasn't impossible. Just as Neville had said.
"You want me to stay like this? You dig the toga-like look?" Now Kalisto was teasing, but Cara was meek against his own feelings. It was making him hot again, like in his dreams, like Monday night, and he wanted what they'd had once before…
It wasn't fair for Kalisto to be so exposed to Sin Cara while he sat here dressed and masked. He decided to give a bit of the joy back to Kalisto by peeling his mask off and setting it on the bed beside him.
"I dig you."
"I dig you too, Cara."
Neville was right. Now that Sin Cara fully understood how Kalisto felt about him, the fact was obvious as though it was printed text on his face. The color in his cheeks; that little smile; his voice, usually so energetic, so timid.
Cara got to him. Badly.
"What did you want to do today? Explore the city, or just lay around the hotel until Smackdown?" He was still getting dressed. Maybe he wasn't up for Monday night, part two. Or he didn't think Sin Cara was…?
"What did you have in mind?" Sin Cara asked.
"Neville gave me a list of all these cool tourist places. Yorkshire, Windsor Castle, Richmond Park, the Science Museum…what sounds good to you?" He pulled a t-shirt over his head, then sat on the bed next to Cara.
God, those eyes.
I don't care what we do, as long as you're there, I'm set.
Why was it so hard for him to vocalize these thoughts?
"Um…" Cara attempted. "All of those sound great, but it might be best if we take it easy. We've got a lot of traveling behind us, and a lot ahead. I think this is a good opportunity to just…relax. Enjoy the scenery."
Kalisto smiled. "I like the way you think."
"Hey, you have Neville's number, right? Let me text him and see if he's got any recommendations for relaxing attractions."
"I can text him," Kalisto said, reaching for his phone.
"That's alright. I need his number, anyway. You can keep getting ready. Not that you really need it. You look great?"
Kalisto blushed. "Towel and all?"
"Towel and all." I know what I'm doing to him, so I better watch it unless I mean it.
But I do mean it…
Sin Cara added Neville as a contact into his phone and shot him a text.
[Hey Adrian. It's Cara. You got any really beautiful places for me & Kalisto to visit today?]
It took very little time for him to get an answer. Cara did everything in his power to not check Kalisto out as he returned to the bathroom, towel dropping from his waist as he pushed the door slightly more closed.
[Cairngorms National Park. Gorgeous in the springtime. Take a hike by the river. Pick your favorite. Cheers x]
Cara was typing out a thank you message when his phone buzzed again with another text from Neville.
[Take care of him. Please.]
[Gracias. And I will.]
It was a promise.
Neville hadn't been joking. The riverside walk was stunning.
Green prevailed in the area, casting a veil on the sparkling water, the path ahead. Canoes bobbed over the calm waters of the river, disappearing beneath the bridge and emerging from the other side. Cara was cautious about bikers who zoomed past them every few minutes. It was quiet, the gentle sound of the water and colorful flower pedals brushing against one another and that was all.
It was so tranquil, such a still part of the world, that Sin Cara feared Kalisto might be bored. He was moving at a bit of a faster pace than Cara, which was normal, but it lead Sin Cara to believe he might have been trying to get the hike over with so they could move onto something else. But he had his phone out, and he was taking pictures of everything: the aging bridge, the gleaming waters. He was far from bored, Sin Cara realized. He was absorbing the moments, and capturing them to hold onto for a much longer than a second.
"Damn," Kalisto spoke, quiet so not to rustle nature. "Pictures don't do this place justice. It's beautiful."
He looks at the flowers the way I look at him.
"Come here," Kalisto said, waving Cara over. His phone was positioned high above his head—which wasn't very high at all, given his height, but it allowed for the photo to include the river behind them, the sun streaks reflecting off the moving waters.
Sin Cara stepped to Kalisto's side, and Kalisto put an arm around him.
"I'm smiling, I promise," Sin Cara said, laughing.
Kalisto took a couple of selfies with him. "Let me get you now."
"Psh. I ruin the picture standing here."
"Yeah, right." Kalisto moved to the other side of the path.
Sin Cara posed. "Good thing I'm wearing a mask. Photo would be blemished otherwise."
"You kidding? You're the most handsome man I've ever seen in my life."
Cara's pose altered slightly. "Really?"
Kalisto's exhale quivered. Maybe he hadn't meant for that to slip. "Yeah, uh, let me take a couple more. It keeps coming out blurry."
Because he was shaking.
Was he nervous?
Sin Cara remained still for a few more shots, then reached for his phone. "I want some of you." Perhaps that would comfort Kalisto a bit. It's okay you feel this way, Kali. Don't be flustered. I'm honored, I'm flattered. You don't have to act so nonchalant about it…
Kali.
Now that was a cute one.
Once again Cara was affected by how adorable Kalisto was alone. He smiled, holding up his arms, holding out a fist, tucking his hands under his chin. Cara couldn't stop snapping shots. "You're so cute," he told Kalisto, partially to encourage him—mostly because it was all too true.
"You think I'm cute?" Kalisto was evidently swooning.
"No creo. Lo sé."
Cara did not think Kalisto was cute. He knew it.
"God, Cara, what are you doing to me…"
Sin Cara's feelings were cementing. Making Kalisto this happy was making him pretty damn happy. "Let's go sit down. We've been walking for a while."
"Yeah. Okay."
Sin Cara and Kalisto moved off the shingly path, over the grass which sprouted in new green from its once brown, deadened form. Sin Cara guided them towards a tree which overlooked the river. The soft ground under the cover of the tree was damp with the lick of splashing water, but it didn't concern Cara much.
He and Kalisto settled under the tree.
Sin Cara had the urge to hold him. But he was not about to move too quickly, too strongly. This needed to build. He didn't want to pressure Kalisto or make him nervous, as off-balanced as his precious little luchador already was. Kalisto most likely would have welcomed a hold, given his demonstrated feelings, but Sin Cara had far more respect for him than that. He refused to take advantage of Kalisto's emotions.
The quiet was all they listened to for a long while. Kalisto was still, Cara was still. Peace, something the pair couldn't come across too often. It was compulsive. Getting away from the roar of the crowd for once wasn't such a bad thing.
"Kalisto," Sin Cara said.
"Yes?"
Sin Cara pressed his back against the thick body of the tree. "We haven't talked about Monday since it happened."
"I know. I'm sorry. We've been busy."
"You don't need to apologize, Kali, I just didn't want you to think I forgot or I'm ignoring it—"
"Did you just call me Kali?"
Sin Cara wanted to kick himself. Hadn't taken long for that one to slip. "Y-yeah. Kind of a nickname I thought up."
Kalisto smiled. "I like it."
"Do you?"
"Oh, yeah. It's…I dunno. Sweet."
"Kali it is." Smooth, Cara.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Oh, uh, well…I mean. It was a big thing, what happened between us."
"It was," Kalisto said, almost to himself. He watched someone pass by on a canoe. Sin Cara picked a flower from the grass, hoping he was allowed to—but not caring too much if he wasn't. The gentle breeze passing through smelled just as sweetly as this flower.
"You know, I remember what we said, about feeling this way about each other…never leaving you, wanting—wanting this to last a little while. What we have."
"You mean, like…our partnership."
"That. And…" Just spit it out! Just get it out there, Cara! But no, his mind preferred to dance around the subject a bit. "Kalisto, how do you feel about me? Be completely honest."
Kalisto's beautiful eyes—nothing in this park had anything on them—progressed back and forth with the current of the river. "I told you I had a crush on you."
"You did."
"I remember how I felt back in the NXT. That was it. But over time…"
Kalisto draped an arm over his knee, laughing softly. "I shouldn't be telling you this. Who knows what it could—"
Cara placed a hand over his. "We're on the right path, Kali. Look what we already did. You don't have to hide a thing. This is real."
Kalisto watched the water.
Watched the water.
Then twisted his neck to look at Sin Cara.
"I fell in love with you last year," he professed.
"Last year?" Cara asked, baffled so much time had passed with all of this and he'd had no idea. I'm so dumb.
"Yeah. Last year. I remember the night and everything. Isn't that sad?"
"No. Absolutely not." Sin Cara squeezed Kalisto's hand. "Tell me about it. Tell me about that night."
Kalisto's eyes widened at Cara's candor. "Well, uh…we'd had a match that night against Tye Dillinger and Jason Jordan. I was already crushing on you pretty hard, but that night, something changed. After the match, you touched me, and I looked at you and it was like…my silly, inane, elementary-school crush graduated to something bigger, something way more complicated than…puppy love. It was the real deal. Then I remember you drove me back to campus and you let me wear your jacket because it was kinda chilly…and I saw the tree where we'd shaken hands and became partners officially. It all just hit me at once. Like lightning, man, just…" He snapped his fingers with the hand Cara wasn't still holding fast to. "Boom. I was in love with you." He hung his head and laughed again, almost like he was laughing at himself. "I didn't know what to do. I was convinced you didn't feel that way about me at all, so I turned to the one person I could trust. The one person who already knew what sorta feelings I had going on for you. Neville. He's a good listener."
"He is." Cara could agree wholeheartedly.
"What's all this about, Cara? Why'd you want to hear it?"
"Because things are changing, obviously. I don't want to pretend Monday night never happened. Like I said. It meant a lot to me."
"It meant a lot to me, too," Kalisto said. "It wasn't just a moment of passion or succumbing to my feelings for the first time…"
"It was a step in the right direction."
"You said that. The right path, the right direction. But where's it leading? What do you want?"
"I think you know."
Kalisto giggled. Sin Cara knew Kalisto had just been playing. "I do know. I just wanted to hear you say it."
That was all the encouragement Sin Cara needed. "Kali. You are beautiful, in every single sense of the word—inside out and back in again. I admire you. You're the part of me I didn't realize I was missing. You fill me in ways I didn't know I was empty. You're passionate, you're kind, you have a big heart and you take care of the people you care about. You keep finding new ways to make me smile, every day. You're adorable in everything you do, from the way you act standing on the apron during a match, to the way you sing in the shower." Sin Cara deflected off that point in case the fact mortified Kalisto. "You protect me. You look after me. You defy expectations based on your size. You manage to stun the world week by week, and you impress the hell out of me with your skills, and all that you do."
"Ah, give me a second," Kalisto said, dabbing at his eyes with both pointer fingers. "I'm getting emotional."
"I'm sorry. But I love the way I make you feel. And I love the way you make me feel."
"I'll ask you the same question then, Cara. Jokes aside, physical allure aside…how do you feel about me?"
Sin Cara looked into Kalisto's eyes and saw a future. He saw hope. He saw success, dreams becoming reality; he saw himself and Kalisto and the promise of good things, and the fight against all adversaries, all conflict, because they'd be together and they were unstoppable together…
The cement hardened.
Sin Cara knew how he felt.
He knew what he wanted.
And he wasn't afraid.
"I love you, Kalisto."
Kalisto pursed his lips. "Y-you…you love me…"
"Te amo con todo mi corazón. And maybe I have this entire time, and just never realized it because I didn't think something like this would ever happen to me. I didn't know one man could make me feel this good."
Kalisto ripped his gaze from Sin Cara, looking at the grass. "Wow. I never thought this could happen for me…"
"That's what I told myself Monday, remember? And yet."
"And yet."
Sin Cara put his hand under Kalisto's chin and drew his stare back into Cara's eyes.
He released Kalisto's hand to push his mask up, just a bit, only enough to reveal his lips.
Cara took a quick look around, surveying the area.
They were alone.
Just enough time to do this.
Cara leaned forward and kissed Kalisto tenderly. It couldn't last, they couldn't get into it here and now in the middle of the park, but as Cara pulled away, he knew damn well that this was the right decision. Neville will be happy for us.
"Wow," Kalisto breathed. "You know what you're doing."
"Mhm. I know what I want, Kali. It's you. You're all I've ever wanted. I know that now."
Sin Cara handed Kalisto the yellow flower he'd plucked from the ground. Kalisto took it between his fingers, giving it a sniff.
"You know, I'm pathetic enough to hold onto this."
"It's going to shrivel up and die." Sin Cara winced.
"It's the memory behind it. The thought that counts."
"By all means, then."
Kalisto rubbed the flower stem between his thumb and forefinger. "When I said 'let's last a little while', I meant it. I want this to last."
"I want this to last." Cara entwined his fingers within Kalisto's. "I want to be with you. As more than a friend. As more than a tag team partner."
"Hmm. I dunno. I'd have to really like you for that to work."
"I'll win you over someday, if you give me the chance."
Kalisto smiled. "Deal."
The Lucha Dragons sealed their "deal", the beginning of what both Kalisto and Sin Cara believed to be a wonderful undertaking, with another swift kiss.