A/N: Welcome to chapter 3. Thanks for the revie
Shawn woke up early the next morning incredibly comfortable and hoping not to really have to move beyond a languid stretch that seemed to realigned his spine perfectly and stretched all his muscles until he felt like a limp cat. He took in a great gulp of air, feeling his lungs expand pleasantly and groaned in contentment. He rolled over snuggling into the blankets and cuddled up with a pillow that smelled oddly of the earth before a fall rain. He decided it was a very good smell and stayed in that position cuddling his rain pillow and trying to remember his strange dream from the night before.
He knew that Hunter and Steph had been there, Steve Austin had been there with some woman, well he thought it might have been a woman but he wasn't quite sure. He knew they had been sitting at a picnic table. They had been talking and laughing and eating and then some punk had come up to the table in a bunny outfit without its head attached showing the person beneath. He was sure he recognized the kid but couldn't quite bring a name to the face. In and out of the dream he thought it had been odd but his friends didn't seem to think so when they invited him to sit and chat. He also recalled Taker... Mark sitting there next to him with a small smile on his face and giving comments to the conversation, nudging him when the comment was specifically for his amusement. Overall the dream was a good one, even with the bunny suit guy. He figured his dream self was trying to tell him something, maybe he could be friends with the phenom. sore and tired as he was last night the Undertaker had been nice, hospitable, and funny, even if he hadn't been appreciative of the fact at the time.
Shawn lay there for awhile dozing in and out of sleep until his phone's alarm went off and he knew he had to get up and get ready for the day ahead.
He stretched again and climbed out of the comfy bed, grabbing his phone and turning off the alarm. He noticed how low the battery was and hoped he had remembered to pack his charger. If not he knew it would still be in the locker room but he wasn't sure if his phone would last to the arena.
He got dressed, and did his normal morning stuff, figuring he could just shower at the arena after his day was done.
He packed up all his things, scanning the room to make sure he got it all, not knowing for sure if he'd be staying another night here. Shawn slung his bag onto his shoulder noticing a distinct lack of pain in his back as he did so and knowing Mark had made a good call last night. He made his way downstairs assuming Taker was already awake and doing whatever he did in the morning. As he arrived in the living room he realised he was mistaken as Mark was sprawled out over his couch snoring softly in his sleep. Shawn couldn't help the slight smile that crossed his face at the sight. Taker's hair was severely disheveled, one arm had fallen off the couch and was hanging there while the other was resting comfortably on his chest, both legs were on the couch but one was sitting on the back of the couch like that was the exact spot it belonged in.
He didn't know why he did it but he decided not to question himself when he stepped over to Taker, took in a breath and yelled as loud as he was able "Get up!" And up he did get. Almost too fast to comprehend Taker was on his feet and casting his gaze about wildly trying to find the reason for his disrupted sleep.
Seeing Shawn standing there with a large grin on his face that he wasn't even trying to pass off as innocent, Mark glared and glanced at the clock noticing the time. "Shawn." He said, his teeth gritted. "It's 7 o'clock in the fucking morning, what is wrong with you?" Shawn kept the smile on his face and shrugged. "What do you meank? I wake up everyone like that. It's time for work." Taker growled tho Shawn could see a spark of mirth in the Dead Man's eyes. Mark smirked and noticed the smile slowly slip off Shawn's face. "Oh, you're gonna pay for that." Before Shawn knew it, Mark had stepped over the couch grabbed him and was mercilessly tickling him making the Heartbreak Kid drop his bag in surprised laughter and try to squirm away from the terrible tickling hands of the Undertaker. (a/n: trust me this happens more than you'd think)
By the end of the tickle war Shawn and Mark were sitting on the floor leaning against the back of the couch both out of breath but with smiles on their faces. Shawn spoke first adopting an almost serious face "Okay, so I won't ever wake you up like that again... I'll just have to find other ways." Shawn laughed as Mark groaned and shoved his shoulder, almost pushing him onto the floor.
Mark shook his head and stood offering a hand to Shawn to help him up, which Shawn happily accepted. It wasn't until that moment that Shawn realised that Mark was clad only in his sleep pants. "Dude! You need to get ready, we have to be at the arena by 8. We have meetings and Shit." He took a look at the clock and groaned. "It's almost 7:30 we're gonna be late!".
Mark just chuckled and shook his head stretching as he headed upstairs to his bedroom. "We'll be fine Shawn. Just grab something to eat and we'll head out as soon as I'm done." Mark disappeared upstairs leaving Shawn by himself wondering what Mark ate for breakfast. He shrugged figuring he'd find out one day and moved into the kitchen leaving his bag by the couch.
His first stop was the pantry which he perused thoroughly, surprised at finding a half loaf of HEB brand bakery style bread and a canister of Nutella. Shawn shook his head and grabbed the two items thinking 'I'm just gonna have to get used to the fact that spending time with Mark is like getting to know a stranger.' He searched around for the silverware finding the drawer quickly and setting to make himself a couple pieces of Nutella bread deciding he could indulge a bit. 'I mean he is still The Undertaker but away from the arena, hell away from all aspects of the job, he is a totally different dude. If he's willing, and he seems to be, I think we can make good friends.' He got himself a small glass of milk and just stood in the kitchen eating his breakfast thinking over the possibility of being friends with the Dead Man.
Mark came down not long after to see Shawn polishing off his glass of milk and putting away his breakfast materials. He walked over and got Shawns attention "Hey, you ready to go?" Shawn looked up at him taking in the clothes he was wearing. Black Jeans, what looked like steel-toed boots, a dark gray Affliction shirt with skulls all across the front, a blue bandana across his forehead and his red hair tied back out of his face. Shawn raised his eyebrows slightly. "Do you always wear that?"
Mark smiled and shook his head. Turning around and walking towards the door he picked up Shawns bag from the floor and headed out the door, Shawn following after him. After shutting g and locking the door securely Mark spoke " I actually only started wearing this recently. Got a new look about to come up and it actually suits my own style pretty well." Taker walked to his truck, Shawn in tow. He got in tossing Shawns bag into the back seat and started the truck.
As they drove Shawn kept looking at how well suited this look was to Mark. "So you're gonna be coming back as a normal dude or what?" Mark smirked and shook his head "No, I'm still the Undertaker, but instead of Lord of Darkness I'm being branded as the American Badass." He grinned. "Best thing is that the first match is lookin like it's gonna be against Shane McMahon."
Shawn laughed at the mental image of Taker Tombstoning Shane. He was a nice guy don't get him wrong but as a wrestling fan that sounded awesome to him and he told Mark that. Taker smiled and nodded. "Yeah I think the fans are gonna get a kick out of it." They drove on but not in silence, it was mostly Shawn talking and Mark chiming in when he thought it appropriate or making a noise when Shawn paused for a reaction.
They rolled up to the Arena with five minutes to spare. Mark found a good spot to park, shut off his vehicle a stepped out. Shawn slid out as well and jogged a bit to catch up to Mark and continued with their conversation until they entered the building and came to the hall where they would part for the day.
Shawn turned to Mark "Guess I'll see you around." Mark nodded, "Yeah, if you need a place to sleep again just call me if I'm already gone and I'll come back to pick you up alright?" Shawn smiled and nodded before they split ways to go about their days.
It wasn't 15 minutes later that Shawn realised several things. One, he had forgotten his bag in Mark's truck. Two, he had totally forgotten to check for his charger in his bag and, by the looks of his locker, that's exactly where it was. Three, he had no idea where Mark was at the moment. And four, judging by the strangled beep his phone just gave out, it was dead. Checking the phone confirmed his theory and he sighed.
Shawn hesitated for a slight moment before heading in search of his new friend, hoping he found him quickly. He was supposed to stretch and train with Hunter soon and he didn't like being late.
It took him 20 minutes and a few confusing directions before he found him talking with Kane, Glen, whatever his name was. When he caught site of Mark he let out an excited whoop and ran over to him, "Oh thank god I found you!" Mark, who had looked up when Shawn "whooped", raised an eyebrow with a smirk on his face, "You can't possibly already need a ride. We just got here." Shawn just rolled his eyes glancing at Kane "Morning Glen."
Glen looked at Shawn with his own eyebrow raised and replied a polite "Morning." Before just standing and looking between the two as they spoke.
"No I don't need a ride just yet." Shawn started off. "Actually I left my bag in your truck and was wondering if I could get your keys so I can go get it. I've actually been looking for you for like 20 minutes cuz one, I don't have your number and two, even if I did I forgot to charge my phone last night and it died just as I realized I left my bag." Shawn stopped talking and just looked at Mark who had started laughing at him. He stopped long enough to ask "Couldn't you have just asked someone in your locker room to use their charger? Most of us use the same type of phone." Shawn huffed and smacked the Undertaker's chest with the back of his hand "I didn't think of it okay?" He pouted jokingly seeing the humor in it. "There's no need to laugh." Mark just smiled at him as he fished out his keys and handing them over to Shawn. "I should still be here just bring them back when you're done." Shawn grinned taking the keys saying a quick thank you before jetting off to get his bag.
Glen stood there for a moment before he looked at his closest friend and raised his eyebrow. "You realise you just gave the keys to your truck to Shawn Michaels?" Mark looked at him and nodded " Yeah, I know. I didn't blank out when he came in." Glen kept staring at him "What if he drives off with it or DXes it?" Mark chuckled "He knows the consequences of such actions. It's fine. He just needs to grab his bag anyway." Glen nodded " Yeah that's another thing. His bag? Why is his bag in your truck?"
Mark just sighed rolling his eyes. "Cuz I gave him a ride in today. He stayed over at my place last night." At the shocked look on his friends face Mark laughed "Not like that, Dude. There was a mess up with the lodging service and he didn't have a room so I put him up for the night."
There was a pause from Glen "So you let Shawn Michaels sleep on your couch?"
Mark gave a not exactly expression "No," Glen raised an eyebrow once again in confusion so Mark supplied "He slept in my bed." Glen gapped at him "So you did sleep together?" Mark laughed "No, course not. I told Shawn to take the bed cuz of his back and I took the couch. Comfortable as that couch is it would have killed him and I didn't wanna be the one to bring in a broken Shawn." Glen shook his head and turned to deal with his shit. Mark seeing a chance to mess with his friend spoke again looking at Glen to catch his reaction "Of course if he needs a place to sleep tonight, I'm not taking the couch again." Glen nodded thinking that was a good idea until Mark continued. "So if he does need a place to crash, I guess we will be sleeping together." Taker laughed hard as Glen spun around with an appalled look on his face.
Not long after Glen had flipped him off and stalked out of the room Shawn came barrelling into the room and into Mark, only managing to bounce of of him. Mark held up his hands making sure he didn't need to stop Shawn from toppling over. "Okay, calm down. No need to kill yourself giving back my keys." Shawn just smiled and held them out. "Thanks for trusting me with them. I gotta go, I'm already late for my training session with Hunter and I am not happy about it." Taker nodded and took the keys and before Shawn could actually leave he said "Uh, Shawn." Shawn stopped and spun around looking at Taker expectantly. Mark smiled "My number?" Shawn hit himself in the forehead "Right, you got a pen?"
After giving Shawn his digits he watched him sprint out of the room and down the hall. He shook his head talking to no one at all. "He's like a damn kid with all that energy."
Taker grabbed the things he needed and left the room, going to talk to Vince about what was happening with his character.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Please leave a review and tell me what you think.