Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or any of its characters. Real people own themselves.
A/N: Chris got rid of his hair yesterday so I wrote about it.
Stephanie stares at her phone screen, blinks, and stares some more but the video doesn't change. She squints at it and still nothing. Perturbed, she says, "you didn't say that they were going to cut so much of it off."
Miles away and virtually in the palm of her hand, Chris shakes his head at her. "I specifically remember telling you that the last time I had this little hair was when I was born. If that. I'd have to check out a family photo album to verify."
"I can't believe that you're bald," she says, awed by the visual, feeling displaced, and wondering if she's in an alternate universe. "I'm married to a bald guy."
More of his face takes up the screen, an affronted expression etched there. "Hey! Said bald guy happens to have feelings."
"I know. I'm sorry, it's just. I don't know."
"Are you pouting right now? Steph, you cannot be serious."
Stephanie heaves a dramatic sigh and regards Chris wistfully. "The long hair isn't ever coming back, is it?"
Chris laughs softly, probably reading her mind like he has a tendency to do. "I'm on the wrong side of forty, babe. I miss those days as much as you do but I think life right now is even better." He pauses, running a hand over his newly shorn hair. "It doesn't look awful does it?"
Stephanie inwardly curses at herself. The question is casual and so is the tone for the most part but there's an underlying of actual insecurity which isn't fair to Chris so Stephanie makes her nostalgia take a back seat. His appearance will take some getting used to but it's not the end of the world. He's still extraordinarily handsome, always will be. And more importantly, it's for a movie role, one that he worked hard to get and is proud to have. Stephanie can't take that away from him.
"No, it doesn't look awful," she admits. "Do you like it?"
He gives a one-shouldered shrug. "I did until I talked to you and my self-esteem plummeted. I got some stares at the airport and I thought 'what the fuck ever, I'm a fucking badass' but now I feel like I belong in a nursing home or something."
She takes in his bundled attire, the hoodie, scarf and jacket. Frowning, she asks, "is your head cold? It looks like it'd be cold. I'll buy you a hat."
His smile is a fond one. "Baby, if you want to, I can't stop you."
"This is true. How was your flight?"
"Not too bad. The person I was sitting next to is probably suffering from sleep apnea but it was better than having my ear talked off."
Stephanie purses her lips. "Them's the breaks when you keep insisting on those commercial flights. How far out are you?"
"About twenty minutes," he tells her. "I'll be home soon and then you can criticize my haircut in person because FaceTime just isn't scathing enough."
"Okay, well I'm not that obsessed with you so I'll let you go until then. See you in a bit. Love you."
"Love you too."
Stephanie hangs up and goes back to the work she'd been in the middle of when Chris had called her. She's finishing up her schedule for the next two weeks when her phone chimes. A glance to it tells her that she's been tagged by Chris in an Instagram photo. She rolls her eyes but curiosity does get the better of her.
He's making a ridiculous face in the photo and there's an even more ridiculous hashtag in the blurb; he wants his fans opinions.
Stephanie double-taps the picture out of obligation and has half a mind to leave a comment but ultimately she doesn't feel like being bombarded with replies from strangers, gets enough of that already. She makes a mental note to talk with Chris about #BALDISJERICHO and how it will absolutely not become a thing.
She types out a quick text message and sends it to her husband: Stop with the duck face. You're embarrassing me xoxo
He doesn't message her back. Instead, the door to her office is opened short minutes later and he steps in with a cautious smile. "Alright, let's hear it."
Stephanie gaze roves over him and she's out of her seat trance-like because he looks gorgeous. The phone did him no justice. The haircut is amazing in real dimension. "Wow," she says, once she's able to find words.
"What kind of wow?" Chris asks, one eyebrow raised.
She walks up to him and pulls him in by way of scarf. "The really sexy kind."
He's not bald. It's a very close cut but there's still hair on his head. It's darker but there are familiar and reassuring tints of gold. Like this, his eyes are a vivid blue that she's never met before, more intense somehow. He's a force to be reckoned with and Stephanie's pulse is a near riot at the sight of him. There's an edge to Chris, there always has been. In the ring, in his music, in how he protects their family but it's now a blade sharpened.
"God, Chris," she breathes.
The want Stephanie feels is fixed back on her. Chris' arms loop around her middle. "I'm sensing that the haircut has your approval now."
Stephanie nods and reaches up. She passes her hand over his crown and the hair is a rasp underneath her skin, stiff in some places and yielding in others. It's an entirely new sensation. Her fingers curl over his ear that's more pronounced and has nothing to hide behind. She finds herself charmed by it.
She hates to stand corrected but this is an exception. She doesn't even want to banter over it. She noses in and kisses him warm and deep, with one hand wrapped around his nape near the short, short hairs there and her other hand a tight fist in his jacket.
With a low groan, Chris hitches her up in a quick motion and in no time, they're pressing into the cushions of the couch along the wall. They only break apart to get their clothes out of the way and have nothing parting them. They move together with an urgency that hasn't been present in a while. Their sex life isn't lacking by any means but exhilarating, dangerous, and brazen doesn't come often.
The climb is frantic and Stephanie comes with Chris biting at her throat and her nails biting into his back. She unravels in the safety of his arms and when it's his turn, she holds on to him as he falls apart and doesn't let go.
"Right side of forty or what?" Chris asks when their breathing has slowed to a normal rhythm. He's got a grin in her hair.
Stephanie laughs and kisses the bit of skin nearest to her, settles her hand over his heart. "Oh yeah you are."
fin