Ask me nicely
disclaimer: not mine, these characters belong to the WWE
author's note: all mistakes are mine pls and thanks. oh and its m/m you've been warned.
"you're getting to be a pretty good distraction" Christian glowered at randy from across the table. Randy was shirtless, elbows on the flat surface, fingers steeple together as he watched Christian shuffle the cards. The blonde man on the other hand was less dressed. His shirt and jacket had been tossed a few games in and he had to thrown his pants somewhere in the room and was pretty much down to his boxers. They'd met earlier after the match and Orton had called Christian up to his room. The ex champ really didn't want to, but Orton, the bastard, had made the invitation in public. In all his viper glory. If Christian had known saying yes meant he had to baby sit a half concussed snake (he didn't freakin mean for it to really become a concussion!) and lose his clothes in a few rounds of strip poker (why the hell would randy want to even play strip poker for? And damn him to hell if it's because of the so-called voices! The moron could have any lay he wanted and he chose to fuck up Christian's evening- how evil was that?) Christian would have just given him the finger. As it was, he was here, slightly shivering from the AC with an amused Randy looking at him in a way that could be described as unnerving and irritating all at once. "so how about this," Orton started as Christian began dealing the cards accordingly, "we make it all or nothing." Christian paused and looked at Orton suspiciously, so far he'd been damn polite, never raised his voice, kept the lights dim- but seriously if Orton wanted to see him in a more explosive mood he should have just said so instead of throwing around random topics (seriously, no one talked about fruits. Food in general yeah, but fruits?) He let out a breath, his leg was bouncing from the cold already, if anything he'd prefer to leave the room with even just a shred of his dignity intact. And his boxers. Or if possible, his pants. "Okay Orton, I'm listening."
Randy leaned forward, the cards were face down on the table, he poked at them. "all or nothing- whoever loses this round will have to do what the winner says- anytime, anyplace." Christian frowned, "like one free pass?" Orton nodded, "yep." Christian hesitated, but the idea of having something over Orton was too tempting- never mind he had already lost several rounds. "okay, okay deal. Wait! Shouldn't we have some ground rules or something?" he may be agreeing to signing his death here but he sure as hell not going down without a loophole. Orton shrugged, smirking at Christian's caution, "we're not doing anything indecent- is that what you meant?" the smirk grew as Christian felt the heat spread to his face, "shut up." he grabbed the cards off the table, he'd let edge wail on him about the deal with the snake later.
"fuck..." Christian groaned as he cradled his head between his hands. He was so freakin screwed. It was official whatever supreme being out there was screwing with him in a bad way. What the hell did he even do to have his karma so fucked up anyway? He ran a hand down his face and grabbed at his pillow to worry it- he'd been dealt a bad hand. How the heck was he supposed to win with that? Orton on the other hand had a freaking royal flush. How the hell had that happened? Orton had looked knowingly at him, with that goddamned smirk and told him to meet him tonight. "and wear something nice." Orton said after looking him from head to toe, rumpled shirt and scuffed sneakers aside as he thankfully left the room fully clothed. He sighed and rolled over on his stomach and buried his face in the sheets, wishing for the ground to swallow him now.
Christian wasn't aware he had fallen asleep. When he came to, his roommate for the day, Sheamus, was up and pulling out shirts. "hey fella, randy called up to let ya know he's waitin for your scrawny arse." the red head said as Christian mumbled a greeting. He rubbed at his eyes and glanced at the clock- it was past seven. He scowled at the time piece. Even if he did owe Orton a free pass it didn't mean that he should follow it to the dot right? "oh and he said not to forget to wear something nice. Where are ya goin?" Sheamus asked, curious. Christian shook his head as he yanked several button down shirts from his duffel and picked the least rumpled one, "probably needs me to babysit him" he hollered as he slipped into the shower. When he came out, damp and towel around his waist, Sheamus had put the phone down and gave him a glare, "ya know ya never should yank a tiger's tail fella." Christian glanced almost self satisfactorily at the clock before dismaying at the fact that it was almost eight. He then began to feel guilty as he made a mad dash around his side of the room and practically shot out of the suite with his button-down unbuttoned and the tails flying out behind from under his hooded jacket as he headed to orton's room, nearly tripping over his unlaced sneakers.
Christian swallowed and leaned a hand on the wall. He had made it to Orton's room without incident (though he was sure he would have been booted out for indecency) he tugged at his shirt and slid the buttons in quickly and knelt down to tie his laces before clearing his throat and knocking on the suite room. Randy glowered at him. Christian tried to put up a look but couldn't manage, "I- I'm sorry, I- uh I fell asleep..." "well you sure took your time" Orton muttered as he opened the door and ushered Christian in. He was still a bit flustered from having to nearly run himself over to keep an appointment with Randy Orton and didn't take full notice of the other man until he was seated on one of the chairs in the room. Randy was in a suit. Tie and everything. "you never said you were going out!" Christian blurted out before he could stop himself. Randy, who had undone the tie and hung up the coat while waiting for Christian, simply gave the man a blank look from the mirror. "I meant- wait- am I baby-sitting you on your date or something?" randy shook his head at him, "I wouldn't call it baby-sitting." randy answered vaguely, as he scowled at himself in the mirror, trying to make sense of the long piece of silk around his neck.
Christian glanced at the clock then at randy, the man was practically wrestling with a tie! When randy began to growl, Christian decided to save him probably ten dollars worth of neck ties. "Hey apex predator, whoa there-" he teased, unable to help himself when randy gawked at him with brow raised. "what? You think this is funny?" randy asked, his look of disbelief morphing into amusement when Christian approached him, taking a good long look at the knot he had managed to tie. "think you can do better?" strangely enough there was no cockiness, no challenge no intimidation that usually laced itself as permanent fixtures when one talked with randy Orton. Christian scoffed and lightly hit randy, immediately sensing the positive shift in mood. "oh yeah, I know I can do better man- you're worse than Edge!" before randy could retort, Christian had leaned in close- the short blonde hair tickled randy's nose lightly as Christian flipped the collar, long fingers gently brushing the tanned skin of randy's neck as he adjusted, loosened and succeeded in freeing the tie from the grotesque knot randy had choked it into. "you're better off with a noose dude" chuckled Christian as he began to knot the tie properly, working deftly as though he had practiced it.
Randy watched the long fingers tug at the piece of fabric, the stubborn cloth becoming soft and malleable under Christian's touch, once stubborn under randy's own hold, it melted and became pliant under captain charisma's ministrations. Randy glanced at the mirror, the scene looked almost domestic. Christian smoothed the fabric down, flipped the collar again and pat randy's chest, appreciative of his own handiwork- clearly forgetting the canvass he worked on was Randy. Unable to resist, especially since the way Christian was looking seemed to convey great fondness, Randy spoke up, "like what you see?" Christian nearly jumped a foot away when he realized what he was doing. Unable to give any other answer, he flushed pink and muttered several excuses and a few choice words. Randy chuckled and drew the coat over his arm, he looked at Christian from head to toe as the other man sheepishly tugged at the long sleeves of his jacket. "that's what you're wearing tonight? Seriously?" Christian puffed out his chest defiantly, the air shifted and the good mood evaporated, "there weren't any rules about the free pass orton." Randy nodded thoughtfully though and didnt give any scathing remark that Christian knew usually came out of the man's forked tongue, and draped his coat on the back of the chair and crooked a finger to the blonde man. "come here." Christian frowned suspiciously at the taller man. Randy repeated the gesture, this time with an open palm. Christian hesitated and gingerly took a step forward. Randy rolled his eyes at him and spoke patiently, "look, I'm not going to bite, even if you may think so." Christian scowled some more like a petulant child even if it was unbecoming and took the few steps necessary to be within orton's reach.
Then Randy shocked him by reaching out and unbuttoning his shirt. Christian probably froze up because orton said again, "I know you wanna wear this and it's fine, you look good in them- but I'd prefer if you actually took the time to button your clothes down properly." he spoke softly and calmly enough that Christian couldn't believe his ears. They stayed in silence, Christian blushing (from the fact that he slid the buttons in the wrong places or from Randy complimenting him- it was difficult to figure out.) and feeling skittishly virgin-like as Randy finished sliding the buttons into the proper slits, he tugged and straightened out the cloth and held christian's shoulder to lead him out to the door, "okay Christian let's get something to eat."
Of course the restaurant Randy happened to pick was one of the fanciest places Christian had ever seen. Not like he had never eaten anywhere half as fancy but he was beginning to feel self-conscious and aware of how the guests glared at him like he was an eyesore. Even the concierge gave him a funny look as he led them to orton's reservations. He sighed and plopped into the seat across orton, unwilling to look at anyone or even meet anyone's gaze. "I did tell you to wear something nice" orton reminded him, the remark, said in a quiet manner had Christian furrowing his brow- he'd never heard anything sincere out of randy's mouth before. Any remark would usually have Christian glaring and retaliating but he didn't have the heart for it right now. He felt utterly confused and so strangely drained, he just gave Randy a quiet look and ducked to feign interest at an invisible spot on his table napkin. All fight leaving him.
Randy frowned, usually the barb would get the other man riled up enough to snap a comeback, but Christian looked- well he looked damn good for starters. Even in jeans and plains Clothes, he practically out shone every person present in the room. But, he looked strangely- "let's get out of here." Randy said suddenly, shutting the menu the waiter had handed to him earlier. Christian's head snapped up, look of confusion etched all over his face. "huh? But we just got here..." he answered somewhat meekly. Randy shrugged and said, "I'm betting this place doesn't have a single decent burger anyway." he yanked up his coat and nodded to the door, "come on." Christian was confused, he was about to remind orton that the apex predator didn't eat junk, when Randy grabbed his hand and tugged him to move. The action made him snap his mouth shut and stumble along behind the Viper's trail. As soon as they had excused themselves out of the brightly illuminated restaurant, Christian's eyes fell on their hands, somewhere along the way, as he focused on not tripping over his own two feet, his own hand had betrayed him and now clasped orton's own hand tightly. He was about to yank his hand back when orton began to move again- slither- the more appropriate word, his free hand unbuttoning the first two buttons of his inner shirt, baring the tanned skin to the chilly night air. And Christian couldn't take it anymore.
"Stop." The command was quietly said and Randy turned his head to gaze at Christian who had become a sudden dead weight, unmoving as Randy gave his hand a slight encouraging tug. Christian shut his eyes and drew in several breaths, "just... Just stop." he yanked at his own hand with an almost pained look at orton's own frown, "I- I don't-" he ran a hand through his short hair as his eyes danced around orton's taller person. "what is this? I don't- I don't understand..." he said almost quietly, unable to handle the sudden volatility of the situation and of the Vipers own strange behavior. "what is all this?" he asked, the look on his face almost begging to be liberated from the avalanche of chaotic emotions wrestling with each other now. Randy hesitated, he took a step forward and made to reach out to Christian, but the man's eyes widened almost tearfully and Christian scuttled a step backward. Randy grit his teeth and clenched his hand before lowering his fist down to his side. The current champion seemed at a loss. "it's whatever you want it to be." he answered finally, again the sincerity seeped out of the words and dripped into christian's ears. But it didn't erase the confusion. Nor did it quell the chaos reigning in him. It stirred the torrent even more.
Randy sighed. This had been a long shot anyway. "go back to the hotel Christian." he said instead. While it was against his nature to give up, it was also against his person to cause such an unnatural distress in someone he had learned to care about. Christian looked at him in disbelief, "tell the driver to take you back to the hotel, the deal's done." he made a shooing gesture. Christian hesitated, gave him a strange look, before turning around and heading to the car they'd come in. Christian paused and glanced at Randy, his coat was hanging by his right arm, inner shirt unbuttoned from the collar, the tie Christian had tied earlier was still undisturbed, the knot rest close to the notch connecting the collarbone. "I'll send the car back" he promised. Randy gave the barest of nods and Christian sat in the back and shut the door. And as the car rolled out and away from Randy, Christian couldn't help feeling like someone who had just ditched their date.
Randy stayed on the sidewalk until the car turned the corner back to the hotel. Then he turned and walked the other way. It was still going to be a long night. And Randy was going to make damned sure he was going to spend it in the nearest bar drunk out of his mind.
"so? How was your date?" Sheamus asked as Christian popped open a beer and unwrapped his dinner. He frowned at the Irishman as he took a large bite out of the burger. "it wasn't a date" he said, mouth full. Sheamus' brow rose, "yeah? Seemed like it." Christian guzzled his beer and snorted at the idea. It wasn't a date. The thought made his gut churn, and he didn't really feel like finishing his burger. He sighed and wrapped the burger again for later and slid under the covers of his own bed, "night sheamus." "night fella."
"Christian? Oie Christian!" captain charisma groaned and tried to stuff his head under a pillow. He barely slept at all last night, having several dreams regarding orton and none of them were pleasant. "have ya seen orton?" sheamus prodded stubbornly. Christian cracked an eye and rolled over to glare at the pale man. "not since last night- I came home first and he stayed behind- why?" the red haired man shook his head fiercely and picked up the phone, "Christian hasn't seen 'im yet either. Right. Call me." Christian sat up, his head pounding from the effort, "what was that about?" he asked as sheamus put the phone down. The Irish looked at him contemplatively, "orton's in the infirmary- with a bad concussion." Christian froze, the churning in his gut grew worse and his head throbbed like a bitch. "sheamus I swear-" "it's alright fella- told 'em you were conked out here last night." sheamus placated. The man ran a hand through his bright red hair and Christian felt the churning evolve to chewing. "sheamus- what aren't you telling me?" the Irishman hesitated, then blurted out, "he got into a bar fight." Christian groaned, "that idiot-" "it wasn't just a barfight ya know, it was with one of yer fans. They knocked his head back with a fake belt." sheamus interrupted quickly. Christian paused and looked at him almost in shock. Sure there were fans who knew the WWE was just entertainment, but there were others as well who still believed it was all real. They were the dangerous kind of fans. Christian felt the chewing sensation in his gut worsen, especially since Randy had gotten a mild concussion out of his heel turn even if by accident. "where is he?" sheamus grabbed the notepad by the phone and tossed it to him.
He didn't even realize he was there until he was looking down at Randy's face. And even as he sat there he still did not fully comprehend why he was here. But it felt right, his subconscious prodded. And Christian left it at that. There was a bad bruise on the left side of his forehead peering out from under a bandage. Christian took in the sight of the fallen champion. The man had been drunk, but even with the concussion, he'd managed to severely beat off the men who attacked him and check himself in the hospital emergency room before collapsing. The doctors had said he would be awake in a couple of hours. But it didn't make Christian feel any damn better. He felt as though the belt were in his hands again and he recalled the dull thud of the heavy metal coming into contact with randy's skull. Well, the man was lucky to be alive. His brain hadn't swelled so much to impede his performance for the next show. But the doctors said to rest up. Christian watched the broad chest rise and fall rhythmically as Randy slept on. Christian watched the muscles twitch and ripple under tanned skin brought about by dreams. He vaguely wondered what the man was dreaming about. When Randy made a soft noise, Christian, without even thinking, grabbed the man's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. And just like that, the rhythm returned and the viper settled into the realm of dreams again.
His first thought was that someone had a hold of his hand. So he forced himself to open his eyes and they fell on a certain blonde, their hands were linked together almost intimately, fingers interlocking with each other. The scene tilted and Randy frowned, shut his eyes again and opened them slowly. "well I glad you're awake" Christian said softly. He had a small grin on his face. Randy hesitated, "what are you doing here?" Christian gave a snort and replied, "well duh, what do you think I'm doing here?" Randy didn't really have an answer for that as of the moment. He glanced at their hands again. "am I dreaming?" Christian shook his head and rubbed at his eyes, "no, not really. Unless I have two heads. Then yeah." Randy ran his thumb over the back of christian's hand, "glad I'm not." he mumbled. Christian cleared his throat, "so Uh, how's your head?" Randy winced, free hand touching the bruise, "fine..." "well yeah, but you know the drill." "Randy Keith orton, the apex predator. Our current president is Barack Obama, the year is 2011- feel free to stop me anytime" he drawled. Christian grinned, "actually I like hearing you ramble." Randy shut his eyes and lay back on the pillows contentedly. Christian wasn't letting go this time.
Christian lay his head back in his cradle of arms and stared at their hands knotted together, loosely to not impede circulation but tightly enough to provide a sense of - "whatever I want it to be-" he mumbled, eyes widening as he sat up straighter. Everything suddenly fell into place. How could he not see it was beyond him. The movement and the talking to himself rose Randy out of his stupor and he looked at Christian, "what? Something wrong?" the hold on his hand tightened gently and Christian nibbled at his lower lip and looked at Randy, suddenly feeling awkward. "last night, you said-" "yes." he added quietly, "I meant it." Christian hesitated, but Randy didn't look like he was currently capable of ripping someone's limbs off, and he knew an opening when he saw one, so, with the boldness brought about by a nap- better than the tossing and turning he'd done in his room- he grabbed it.
"correct me if I'm wrong- but was yesterday's events all part of an elaborate plan to get me out on a date?" Randy chuckled, his thumb soothing circles on christian's hand, he was surprised the man hadn't yanked his arm away "you could say that. But I wasn't really planning on getting this concussion." nor did the night end as I'd hoped it would. Apparently he said that out loud as Christian leaned back on his chair in disbelief and maybe awe. Imagine that, the Viper, the apex predator, had to resort to scheming to ask captain charisma out on a date. He also found it strange that he himself didn't seem outraged by the use of trickery- He instead wondered if sheamus had a betting pool going on. Randy shut his eyes and leaned back on the pillows, his hand slackened it's hold on christian's own appendage- it would hurt less if the man were to leave without his knowing.
"you could've just asked." those were the last words he'd expected. A few choice curse words and a slap, a restraining order maybe, but never those words. Randy looked at Christian, he gave randy's hand a squeeze, he smiled at him. "you could've just tried it like any normal person and asked me out." Randy felt himself grin as well- damn that man was infectious. "it's part of my charm." Randy said and Christian rolled his eyes at him. "part of the insanity package you mean." "if you're willing to take it." Randy said quietly, their hands holding each other gently. Christian gave Randy an encouraging smile, "well, we'll see how it goes and take it from there." "deal. So... Pick you up after taping?" "depends." "on what?" "whether or not you can walk out of here on your own two feet." snickered Christian. "oh I'll walk out of here alright, and then some." Randy answered with his own grin. And Christian realized, seeing Randy smile and laugh as they playfully bantered- something he had not thought even mildly possible- that maybe, this, whatever it was, whatever it could be, was as good as it got and would get better. And the way Randy- not orton, just Randy- and the way Randy was looking at him, made it a hundred percent clear.