Chapter 21 – The Demoness of Darkness Meets the Architect of the Shield

She had told Seth she didn't think Raven's reaction to meeting him would be anything as extravagantly funny as Marek's to meeting Kimber, but she was wrong. At the airport, she hurried out of what she called her "show car", a pristine bronze 1984 Buick Regal, with an excited scream. She totally forgot about her wife as she gaped at Seth with huge brown eyes, her hands clutching at her face, knees shaking, hair gone awry. Babbling in a gush, Raven had gone total Shield fan girl, and Kimber regretted not documenting the moment on video. Instead, she sat down on the curb and reunited with Ari, who was thrilled to see her other mommy after such a long time. Kimber wondered how five weeks felt to a dog as she hugged her little black pug. For Kimber, they had been the fastest five weeks of her life, she'd been so busy.

Suddenly, Raven was quiet, and Kimber knew she'd realized she'd been acting like a complete ass hat, and was now kicking herself for it. Though Kimber had never had to do so before, since all of her previous partners had been people Raven had already known, she was surprised it didn't feel awkward to formally introduce them to each other. She rose, with Ari in her arms, and gave her wife a kiss. "Raven-honey, this is Seth Rollins, the Architect, the Kingslayer, and the most wonderful boyfriend in the world. Seth darling, this is Raven McCallister, the Demoness, the Alpha Dog, my lovely wife."

Raven, her usually pale cheeks gone flaming red, shook Seth's hand, and she nearly fell over when Seth brought her hand to his lips. "Charmed, Mrs. McCallister. And, speaking of alpha dogs, who's this?" He turned to Kimber and Ari, and offered his hand. After sniffing it, the dog licked it, thus giving him the approval to pet her.

"This is Ari," Kimber said.

"I can't tell you how mind-blowing this is to me," Raven admitted.

"Honey, I think we've seen it," Kimber replied, and handed Ari off to Seth so she could pick up her briefcase and hand it off to Raven. "And this is Money in the Bank."

"It's beautiful! And, so prestigious!" She declared, and struck a pose with it as if it were hers. "How do I look?"

"Like the future of the women's division," Kimber replied, and giggled. She'd been saying it in just about every interview or promo she did, it was beginning to seem like her catch phrase. She guessed it probably was, though at least it didn't appear anywhere on her soon-to-be-available merchandise. Thinking of merch reminded her of the t-shirt she'd managed to acquire. "Open it, there's something inside for you."

Raven opened the briefcase, and pulled out the black t-shirt inside. It had a fancy, gray letter K that looked eerily close to a Hardy Boyz or Roman Reigns logo, with a red glitter heart surrounding it. On the back was printed Here...where I belong. "Oh fuck, baby! You've finally got merchandise! And, it's cool, too. I can't wait to wear it!"

Kimber gave her best girl her best hug. "I've missed you, my love."

Raven kissed her. "I know, Brit-honey. I've missed you, too. Come on, we should get back to the house. I wish this visit was longer than just a few hours." The timing of Kimber and Seth's visit had been both a good thing and a bad thing. Raven's protege, and kayfabe baby brother, Bryan Castillo, who had taken the ring name of Bryan McCallister, with "big sister's" blessing, had a tryout in Japan, and they were flying out that afternoon. Kimber's being in town made it possible for Raven to go, because she could be at the school while Chad went to the gym to teach crossfit. She was eager to see the progress their students had made, and they were probably dying to meet Seth.

"Me too, but I'm so excited for Bryan, and you. I mean, I just want to cry, I'm so proud of him, of us."

"Don't cry, get in the car, I want to at least have lunch together before Bryan and I leave. He's going to join us for lunch, too."

Kimber sat in the back seat, to let her boyfriend have the best possible view of Arcata. Raven drove them through the historical downtown area, and Seth was charmed by the old mining town feel of it, and amused by the wide variety of people milling about in the town square. The delight on his face was like that of a boy at Universal Studios, and she reached down the back of the seat to hold him. She knew that seeing northern California for the first time was something special, like falling in love, and she could still remember the first time she'd driven into it, through the mountains, from Reno. She would never forget it. It had only been a vacation, but both she and Raven had cried their eyes out when they had to leave, because they'd felt like they were already home. Now, several years later, it was home.

Raven drove into their neighborhood, full of huge Victorian gingerbread houses, the original high-class area, and drove up the driveway to the biggest one, theirs. It was three stories tall, not counting the attic, and even had a turret. The main color was the darkest blue their neighborhood association would allow, white woodwork, and small golden details.

"Home sweet home," Raven declared.

"It's...stunning," Seth said in awe. "I've always loved Victorian houses."

"And ours is more or less still the original floor plan, so it's got like a million rooms," Kimber added.

"I'll bet, it's huge!"

"I hate to ditch you guys right away, but I need to pick up Bryan. I've got white chili in the crock pot, so don't worry about cooking anything, babe. We'll eat as soon as I get back with Bryan." Raven gave Kimber a big hug and a kiss. "Do you have your keys?"

Kimber fished in her purse, and brought them out and jingled them by her old rectangular key chain. It said Want to get laid? Crawl up a chicken's ass and wait!" She'd had it since her fifteenth summer, when she'd bought it in a novelty shop up in Wisconsin Dells on a family vacation. It was so hilarious to her she couldn't help herself, even though her parents didn't find it funny.

"Okay, I will leave you to give him the grand tour. I'll be back with Bryan." One more kiss from Raven to Kimber, and she got back in the car and left.

Kimber led Seth up the steps and on to the enormous white porch. "So where would you like to start?"

"Wherever I'm supposed to put these," Seth replied, and nodded at the bags in his arms.

She giggled and unlocked the door before taking her briefcase and suitcase from the load. "Follow me, darling." She led her man all the way upstairs to the third floor, and down the narrow hallway to a set of double doors at the end, and set her things down to open them with a flourish. "Casa Kimber!" She announced, upon revealing her large, very personal, bedroom. Raven had often told her it looked like a teenager's room, and she was right. Everywhere, on the walls, on the dressers, and on her makeup table, there were pictures of her family, friends, wrestlers she'd worked with, Raven, and herself. Nothing else decorative. Her bed was queen-size, and the bed frame did not match her dressers. The TV was a modest twenty-seven inches, and a great many of the DVDs and blue rays in its stand were cartoons.

"I thought you and Raven would have shared a room."

"We do sometimes, hers. She doesn't like my room. If you don't like it, there are others we can use. But the only other one that has its own bathroom, besides Raven's room, is the one that Raven's other partners use while they're here."

"I like it," Seth said, as he picked up a framed picture of her parents, her sister, and herself at her sister's college graduation. "It's like a window into your life. Is this what I think it is?" He laughed, and pointed to a picture stuck in the frame of the mirror.

She knew which one it was, but she came over anyway. "Yup, shameless Shield cosplay." She took the picture down and handed to him. "Is that the face of a happy woman, or what?"

"No, I can tell exactly what you're thinking there. You're thinking: I'm only doing this because I have to. I know I look completely asinine..." Seth laughed and laughed. "Just...just look! Standing there with your fist out...that blonde hairpiece...oh, fuck!"

Kimber looked at the picture. Yes, he'd said exactly what she'd been thinking at the time the picture was taken. It was the first night they'd done that gimmick, and Raven just had to get a picture of them before the match. "It's not that funny."

"Yes it is! You do look hot in that tactical gear, though. And you know what that means..."

"What?"

"Power bomb!" He scooped her up as she squealed in fake protest, and tossed her on to the bed, then kissed her very passionately, and very deliberately pressed his clothing-imprisoned hard on between her legs, and it felt so good she couldn't keep a small moan from escaping her lips as he kissed, bit, and sucked on her neck. She took his left hand and placed it on her right breast and he caressed it as he thrust against her again. "Oh, Kimber..." he sighed, and locked his lips down on hers. His thumb sought her nipple, and stroked it through the thin fabrics of her t-shirt and simple cotton bra, and she stifled another moan in her throat.

Just as she was about to grope him, the dinner bell rang, and Seth sat up and looked around. "What was that?"

"The dinner bell," Kimber replied, as she smoothed her hair. "Yes, we have one of those. It means Raven and Bryan are here, it's time to eat. Funny I was supposed to be showing you the house, and we didn't get further than my bedroom."

Seth grinned, and kissed her again. "I couldn't help it. I just got so turned on seeing you in tactical gear."

"You can't even say it with a straight face!" Kimber teased, and they both started laughing all over again.