Chapter 12 Braids for every Occasion

"I'll look into it next week on Raw." Kelista said politely to The Miz. The Helmsley Princess and Alison were having lunch at the hotel restaurant since Kelista's ankle was much better and she was given permission (by Alison and Triple H) to walk more than five steps again. Unfortunately, the GM and her new PA were starting to experience the downside of the wrestler's accommodation clause – for management at least.

Miz nodded turned around to leave when Seth Rollins entered the restaurant and started walking towards them.

"My, aren't we famous today." Alison chuckled.

Kelista sighed and took a sip of her fruit juice. This was probably why Uncle Hunter and Aunt Steph didn't want the wrestlers in the same hotel as them. The Miz had come offer his sympathies but also to ask for a match (and for the most part, complain).

"Hey, Kels," the Seth smiled at her. "Alison," he nodded in greeting. "May I sit?"

"Hi," both girls said as Kelista smiled in return. It was very easy to smile around Seth, no matter what she was feeling. "Sure."

The PA turned to her friend as Seth took a seat at their table.

"I need to speak to your aunt." Alison said, as she politely excused herself and left before Kelista could respond.

As Seth and Kelista were left alone, the Helmsley Princess took her another sip of her juice, feeling a little awkward. She promised her father she wouldn't have anything to do with the Shield outside of work…

"How's you ankle?" Seth asked. "I hope you've been taking it easy."

"Yes sir, I have!" Kelista chortled, putting down her drink. Well he was the one that helped her when she sprained it. "And it's much better this week, thanks."

"Good." Seth laughed.

The fiery mansion in her nightmare flashed across or mind.

Perhaps I should warn him? She mused. But that would sound silly…

"So have you seen the new pic I uploaded on Facebook?" Seth asked, conversationally, when Kelista remained quiet. "Dean's really crazy in that one," he chuckled.

"Pardon?" Kelista asked, confused.

"On Facebook." Seth repeated. "I uploaded a picture of us with Dean and his dessert covered visage." He chuckled.

Though she did accept Seth's invite, she put him under 'acquaintances' (their pictures are not in the news feeds). Kelista didn't want to disobey her father, but somehow, ignoring Seth's request would be like ignoring Alison's…and she never wanted to hurt her best friends…

Realizing her train of thought and how ridiculous it sounded, Kelista grabbed her juice and downed it before she said anything foolish.

Sure enough, the liquid went down the wrong pipe.

"Kelista!"

Immediately Seth shot out of chair to her side of the table; the Helmsley Princess was choking, as tears ran down her face.

Seth tapped her back and thankfully she was breathing normally again.

"S-Seth…"

"Shh," Seth said soothingly, gently rubbing her back. "It's okay."

Kelista closed her eyes and began to calm down. "Thanks." She said softly.

At that moment The Authority entered the restaurant.

"To prepare for Payback, we have to arrange matches to ensure the Shield-"

"Hunter," Stephanie cut in, exasperated. "Do we have to talk about work now? I mean it's bad enough with the superstars and divas bothering us even when I'm doing my nails at the spa!:

Hunter smiled sheepishly. "Sorry sweetheart. I guess I-" he stopped suddenly, spotting his niece, and (because he listens to gossip) his nephew-in-law.

Upon seeing Kelista's red face, Hunter's first instinct was to immediately go and comfort her, but Stephanie stopped him.

"It's much better for Seth to comfort her." His wife said sensibly.

Back at Kelista's table, the princess started laughing at her carelessness, and pretty soon, Seth joined in. Of course, her aunt and uncle were shocked, but it was better than her crying. Surely it's part of the healing process?

Seth shook his head. "Only you can laugh in the most serious of situations, Kels."

Kelista started giggling again, but didn't say anything.

There was another awkward silence.

"So … for Smackdown tomorrow we're going to Iowa." Seth began as he returned to his seat. "It's my hometown. Have you been there?"

Kelista thought for a moment. That was odd...

"No, I haven't." she replied. I know I've been to every State, even if it was just for Papa's company…except Iowa.

"How about I give you a tour?" Seth offered. He was hoping to trigger her memories by showing her the places they played together at as children.

"I'm sure Iowa's a lovely place and I will enjoy my time there." She said politely.

But Seth knew Kelista, and that wasn't answering his question, she avoided it.

"So how about it?" He pressed.

Kelista smile faltered a little. "Oh, well, I'll see what happens. I'll have to check my schedule, and with my family."

"I don't think they'll mind much," Seth chuckled. "Considering they believe we're married and all."

"Look who's carrying on the rumors now, genius Architect!" she joked as they both laughed.

XXX

Monday (26 May 2014) Louisville, Kentucky a couple of hours before the show...

"This when the Shield first made their debut…" Alison was saying.

Kelista had a hard time deleting Seth for the rest of last week (considering that she wasn't supposed to have nothing to do with the Shield). Throughout their lunch (which Seth was too much of a gentleman to let her pay for), Kelista really enjoyed Seth's company; first it was like talking to an old friend, but now it was talking to a good friend, and Seth was just awesome.

She shook her head, deciding to stop ruminating about the past and listen to the information Alison was providing.

The GM was researching for work, going through profiles of employees and past GMs of Raw. She then watched a little of the previous episodes of Raw and Smackdown, and a few PPVs with Alison (who wasn't much help as she mostly talked about the Shield anyway).

"At Extreme Rules Dean won the US Championship from Kofi Kingston while Roman and Seth won the tag team championship later on that night from Team Hell No." Alison said brightly.

Kelista watched the celebration after Dean's match. Seth was literally jumping for joy, and even jumped on Dean; he was so happy for him.

"They really are a family." She commented affectionately. "And Seth is truly amazing when it comes to strategies and defying gravity," Kelista chuckled. "Though some of his moves are also death defying." She thoroughly understood why Michael Cole the commentator, called Seth an Architect or Aerialist.

When her friend made no response, the GM turned to find Alison looking at her with a teasing smile on her face.

"He's amazing, hey?" she repeated.

Kelista turned back to the TV. "Oh, Ali, get over it. I commented on almost every wrestler's performance."

"True," Alison agreed. "But not complimented them oh so-" she sighed dramatically. "AMAZINGLY!"

Kelista rolled her eyes. "Well he's the only wrestler that's really friendly. Cena, Roman and some others are nice, and Dean…well he's weird."

"Hey!" the Ambrose fan exclaimed at the princess' (teasing) payback.

Kelista looked at Alison and smirked before they both burst out laughing.

"Well, I've learnt his type of weird is actually a compliment, surprisingly," Kelista said once they sobered up. "Anyway the rest of the wrestlers respectfully keep it professional, but some superstars irritatingly flirt while several divas are either super friendly or unkind."

Alison wrinkled her nose. "For favors and because of jealousy perhaps."

Kelista shrugged. In any case, she didn't waste her time with them, especially with actions so petty.

"Well, thanks for helping me catch up, Ali." She said. "Why don't we head out?"

"No probs! Let's go, Kels!" Alison replied, as they grabbed their purses.

Though her friend tactfully hadn't made any comment on the Authority the entire time, Kelista began to see Alison's point on how…authoritarian her aunt and uncle were in running the shows. Sure sometimes it was good for business but…

"Let's go shopping!" Alison declared. "We studied all morning, and worked so hard this afternoon…"

Kelista chuckled. She wouldn't call it work for Alison: watching WWE, specifically her favorite wrestler, Dean Ambrose!

XXX

RAW

"Isn't that the worst?" AJ rolled her eyes. She had followed the GM and her new PA to their office talking non-stop the whole way.

"To have an overprotective father?" She clarified, when Kelista and Alison remained quiet.

Somehow, the divas heard about Michael Helmsley telling his daughter to stay away from the Shield.

"No," Kelista replied quietly. "The worst would be...if he didn't care at all."

"I suppose." AJ shrugged. "And your necklace is so pretty!"

"Thanks," Kelista said automatically.

"So I guess its okay you don't have a wedding ring; that necklace is super exquisite!" AJ gushed.

Kelista looked down only to find her mother's mungalasutra hanging out again. She sighed and put is back inside her dress. She didn't want to stop wearing it, she felt closer to her mother somehow when she wore it. But come to think of it, this is America, so how does everyone here know about the Indian wedding necklace before she became GM and so annoyingly popular here?

"Don't you have a match to prepare for?" Alison asked AJ wearily.

"Oh, yeah!" AJ happily bounced towards the door. "Say hi to your adorable hubby for me!"

"She's talking to you Ali," Kelista chuckled, as Alison playfully scrunched up her nose at the GM.

Glad the gossipy diva was finally gone; Alison and Kelista proceeded to watch the first half of the show from backstage. To the Helmsely Princess' dismay, the commentators went on about the humiliation of the Shield's stipulation of braiding their hair with pink ribbons, every chance they got!

Kelista shook her head. "Ali, if the Wyatts had lost…would you have told them the loophole?"

Alison looked away. "Well…we don't exactly know them…"

"Alison!" Kelista exclaimed in shock. "I am the GM of Raw, I can't show favoritism!"

"Well we're kind of in that mess already," the P.A. said. "With the sweetmeats-"

Kelista clapped her forehead. "Oh great! Even with the baby shower treats! I mean it was for the Divas only…but then I gave some to Seth-"

"Relax!" Alison chuckled. "Everyone thinks you guys are married anyway."

Kelista closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. "The fact remains we aren't. I made some mistakes, but I need to sort them out now, before they become worse." She sat down deep in thought. Even if this profession wasn't in her field of study, she could still get a good reference for her resume.

"Okay," Alison agreed. "How about this: sweetmeats for all Superstars and Divas?" she suggested happily.

Kelista chuckled. "Ali, I'm being serious…"

"So am I, Kels."

Kelista gave it some thought. "You're right. It's about time I reward the wrestlers for their awesome performances last week too."

XXX

Later on that evening, the Shield Braids Stipulation

"So how about we get on with the show?!" Alison hollered. "We'll have a tag-team match."

The Shield were in the ring, while Kelista (with her father's promised bodyguard, Cole Rizer) stood alongside Alison on the stage.

"And since Dean and Seth have tag teamed before, and Roman and Seth have had the Tag Team titles," the P.A. continued, "How about we have..." she smiled at Kelista.

The Helmsley Princess forced a smile in return, reminding herself that she let Alison do what she wanted (for now) because it has always been a dream of hers to be in the WWE alongside the Shield (especially you-know-who), but being a good friend, Alison never asked.

"Batista and Randy Orton taking on the team of: Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns!" Alison proposed.

The crowd cheered their approval.

Kelista sighed; she hoped no one would notice the obvious favoritism.

"And as a side-show during the match," Alison grinned. "At ringside, we will have Seth Rollins honoring last week's match stipulation!"

The Shield groaned as the crowd laughed. But not a degrading one, at least.

On the Titantron, a replay of the stipulation stated by the Raw announcer last week was shown:

"Whichever team loses has to put braids that are tied with noticeable pink ribbons, and is to be worn for the duration of Raw next week." The announcer declared, reading from a note (written by Alison).

The PA laughed. "I didn't say you have to braid for yourself."

"Okay fine. So we can just put, excuse me, plait braids for anyone?" Roman asked as he held up a mic, looking a little bored. "But Dean and I are in the match now."

Alison put her arm around Kelista's neck casually. "Why do you think I brought Kels here?" she chuckled and winked at Seth.

The princess looked at her in astonishment. "Well excuse you!" she said feigning annoyance and they both started laughing. "It's your stipulation; you help them out."

"Come on Kels," Alison pouted, dropping her hand that held the mic so the crowd wouldn't hear. "Look, I had my hair done." She said, taking her arm off Kelista to indicate her intricate up-style.

She had her hair done earlier that day on purpose. After all, Kel's mum should plait braids for her when she was little, specifically the dwarven styles from the Hobbit book. There were different types of braids, (which is why they were special to the Dwarves) such as family, courting and friendship braids. Kelista's grandmother said little Kels always had the family ones that meant 'my little precious.'

"And I wonder why you suggested I don't do curls today." Kelista playfully rolled her eyes.

Backstage the Authority quickly rescheduled the tag team match Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns were in, considering Kelista was going to be at ringside now (which was too bad, since they wanted to take out the Shield before Payback...oh well, tough luck, Evolution).

Seth climbed out of the ring trying to ignore Dean and Roman who were hiding their relief behind the looks of glee they kept shooting the Architect. Roman was surprised when his cousins' theme song hit as the Usos made their way down to the ring, to great reception from the crowd.

Alison meanwhile made herself comfortable at the commentators table after directing Kelista to sit where the Authority usually did to watch matches.

"Welcome," Jerry Lawler greeted warmly.

Cole smiled at Kelista and Alison while JBL was muttering something about 'letting children run the show.'

As the friendly match between the Shield affiliates and the Usos went on, Seth started to plait the mini braids (with initial guidance from Alison how to plait) just in front of Kelista's ear. Unfortunately Alison had forgotten to bring the pink ribbons. But as it wasn't the Shield's hair, and everyone thinking how sweet it was that Seth was braiding his wife's hair, it seemed the crowd forgot about them too.

Alison alternated between watching the match and 'supervising' the plaiting (considering Kelista would have to wear the braids for the entire show), when she realized she didn't have a hair band to secure Kelista's braids at the end!

Before the PA could do anything though, Seth had already pulled his own hair band from his hair and tied one of Kelista's plaits.

The GM didn't notice Seth tied it with his own hair band (assuming it was Alison's). "How does it look, Ali?" she asked. "Not that I don't trust you, Seth," she added making the Architect laugh.

"No problem, considering this was my first try...I think I did great!" Seth grinned.

Alison's eyes widened as she stared at Kelista's plaits.

"Aw come one!" Seth laughed. "Can't be that bad!"

Sure it was a little lopsided, and kind of untidy, but it was no different than when Kelista let her little cousins plait her hair.

"Courtship braids?" Alison said faintly. Seth did tie it with his OWN hair band too…

Well the Architect didn't know what he was doing anyway.

"Those are courtship braids?" Cole asked, amazed.

"How sweet," Jerry chuckled.

Alison closed her eyes. Way to keep your mouth shut, Palmer. She thought sarcastically.

Jerry and Cole just announced Seth plaited courtship braids for Kelista to the entire world…including Kelista's father.

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Part of the dwarven courting ritual (plaits secured with a dwarven bead) is frequently used in Hobbit fanfics though I'm not sure if there is such a ritual in Tolkien's (the author of The Hobbit book) world.

Thanks to everyone who read, followed and favorite! It keeps me encouraged! :D :D :D