Warnings: Mild Slash (Finn Bálor/Hideo Itami), Mild Profanity, Fluff. (a continuation of the tale started in Xmas Carols: Chapter 22 O Christmas Tree)
Another Thursday passes, another movie, another dinner, another date, but like the last few nothing more came of it, and there's a part of Finn that's growing frustrated with the lack of progress. It's not that he's desperate, well he is a little, but it's just that he'd hoped for something in the way of advancement. It's like a nice little stalemate that's going nowhere slowly. There's not really anyone to talk to about it, not really anyone he's comfortable discussing the details of his romantic endeavours with, so it's all a matter of keeping things to himself, and keeping his head down, doing what's necessary, and appearing to be normal.
It's been far easier for him to make friends with the people in the Performance Centre than he'd expected. A portion of them were his friends anyway, or were at least acquaintances or the friends of friends from the Indys. It's nice having options on who to spend time with, options that Hideo doesn't seem to have. The language barrier is one he's still working on, and is conquering slowly but surely. It's a frustrating process though; Finn's seen the evidence of that in many scored out sentences on random scraps of paper in the rubbish bin.
Saturday night sees Finn getting invited to go drinking with some of the boys, and whilst the invitation is extended to Hideo, he turns it down. There's a good part of Finn that wants to try and coerce Hideo into coming out. It'd be fun, or at least more fun for Finn, and hopefully at least enjoyable for Hideo. He's never really seen Hideo drunk, and he thinks it'd be all kinds of entertaining, if ultimately very confusing. He doesn't doubt that a drunk Hideo would abandon English, and have the strange sudden desire to sing karaoke that seemed to afflict most to the Japanese guys Finn's drunk with before.
"So... How is it rooming with the great Kenta?" It's a question Finn had been expecting, and in all honesty, he's not sure how to answer. "C'mon man... Gimme something. He must have awesome road stories." Sami's incredibly invested in this, and Kevin looks to be too.
"He's quiet... I've heard no good road stories from him... I've heard no stories in general." Finn laughs, and sips at his pint. He's heard one story, but he doesn't think that anyone really wants to hear Japanese folklore.
"We need to get this man on the Rosetta Stone." Kevin smirks, taking a draught of his own pint. "We're going to the zoo next weekend. He's not getting out of it."
"Go easy on that... I don't wanna have to listen to you ramble in French all the way to your wife." Sami mutters, catching Kevin's wrist as he goes for another drink.
"C'mon... I'm planning on getting you so drunk you start talking in Spanish." Kevin laughs, and Sami looks at him completely deadpan for a few seconds before he pulls a ridiculous face, his finger in the air.
"Numero Uno!" He takes a drink, and Kevin laughs, beside him Adrian is snorting loudly.
"I miss Generico... It was a fucking good gimmick, man." He takes a sip of his pint, and Sami nods vaguely.
"It wasn't bad... Made promos a lot easier, but you know, none of us are who we were... Gotta be someone different for the WWE. Isn't that right, Mighty Mouse?" Sami laughs, and Adrian scowls at him.
"If they're calling me up with a mouse gimmick, I'm pushing for Danger Mouse." Adrian downs the last of his pint, and Finn starts laughing. The mental image of Adrian with a white polo neck, and an eye patch is too much for him to be able to handle.
"Oh fuck me... And you can get Hornswoggle to be Penfold." He manages to get out between laughs, and that comment reduces Adrian to hopeless giggles. Over them Sami and Kevin exchange confused glances, and go to get more beer.
"So, you're inviting Kenta, right?" Kevin sets a pint down in front of Finn, an expectant look on his face.
"I dunno, man... He's not much for socialising, and he'll be wanting to study." Finn takes a drink, and Kevin looks mildly affronted.
"What better practical application of learning than zoos?" Kevin sounds utterly convinced of the value of the trip, and Finn can see arguing with him isn't going to get him anywhere, not that that seems to be stopping Sami.
"Seriously, Steen... Owens, just confess you wanna go see if you can hold baby animals. It saves time for all of us." Sami finishes his pint, and looks pointedly at Finn, setting his empty glass down deliberately.
"Of course I do, but seriously, he's one of the great Triple H acquisitions, like my good self. He should be out bonding with us... What is it you two get up to all night anyway?"
"Uh..." Finn blinks at him, unsure how to answer that question. What he and Hideo do is sit on the couch watching TV, and almost snuggling.
"Working out how to look more like badasses... Fucking old men, coming in here stealing all the cool lighting." Sami mutters, and Adrian laughs at him.
"C'mon, they're making the most of it, and besides before long they're gonna be in some kind of weird Bullet Club rip-off." Adrian chuckles, polishing off the dregs of his pint.
"We were in different promotions, different stables." Finn tries to argue, but there's dubious looks on the other three's faces.
"You think they care?" Kevin mutters, finishing his pint, looking at Finn's still half-full glass.
"Or they'll make you two feud... But you've never feuded before, and it does seem to be their current booking plan to rip-off old ROH storylines." Sami smirks, eyeing the beer in Finn's glass.
"Does that make me the Cabana in this feud?" Adrian asks laughing, and Sami joins in, shaking his head.
"I dunno... You're more ripped than Cabana could ever be." Kevin smirks, and Adrian pats his stomach.
"Most ripped man at the table, I am." He smirks, joining in on the glaring at Finn's glass.
"Well, it's all that trampolining, isn't it?" Finn downs his pint, setting the empty glass down, and getting to his feet intending to go buy the next round.
"Same again, lads?" Adrian stands, and smacks Finn's shoulder. "Help me carry them back will ya?"
"Aye, surely." Finn tails Adrian to the bar, and leans against it, staring at the myriad of bottles on the shelves.
"You should get him to come... I mean, I know it's silly, but he is one of the boys like Kevin said, and he should be there." Adrian smiles awkwardly, and Finn nods. He thinks its high time Hideo stopped worrying about his English and used it some more on an audience wider than Finn. A trip to the zoo will be ridiculous, but more than likely fun, and there's a slim chance they might get to hold baby animals. Finn has no doubts that Hideo and baby animals would essentially be the cutest thing on the planet, and he wants to see it for himself.
"If I have to, I'll tell we're going to play more golf." Finn smiles, and Adrian grins back at him, smacking his shoulder once more.
"Good man." Adrian's a man of few words, but the ones he gives are always heartfelt and honest, if nothing else Finn thinks he'd make a pretty good conversation partner for Hideo, so long as he can understand Adrian's occasionally thick accent.
They spend a few more hours drinking, before going their separate ways, Sami and Kevin talking loudly in rapidly slurred French, the only word Finn's able to make out is zoo, and he's beginning to think that maybe the trip next week might turn out to be more epic than he's expecting.
When Finn gets home, it's late, and Hideo's curled up on the couch, fast asleep. There's a book on the floor by the couch, ragged and dog-eared, clearly a well-read, and well-loved tome. Finn scoops it up, leafing through the pages covered in characters that mean nothing to him. He thinks he might actually have to start making good on his promise to learn Japanese, especially if this whole WWE thing doesn't work out. He knows he'd be welcomed back to Japan. He might even try and persuade Hideo to form a stable with him, the WWE rejects, if nothing else Gallows would be up for it, but there's not much he's not up for in all honesty.
"Sleeping on the couch isn't good for you." Hideo doesn't move, he seems completely out, and Finn sighs, sitting on the coffee table watching him sleep. "You ever see that episode of Friends where they all watch Chandler sleep? I'm feeling a bit like that now... Not Chandler obviously, but everyone else... And you're still sleeping." Finn stands, and considers his options. He could wake Hideo up, that'd be the easiest option, but not the one he's going to take, Finn already knows that, can tell by the fact he's still staring down at his sleeping roommate. The second option is putting him to bed. The unwritten, unspoken rule of not entering each other's room still stands though. He's not going to violate it to put Hideo into his own bed, so that leaves Finn's as the only acceptable choice. "Never thought this'd be how I finally got you into bed with me." Finn chuckles, and goes to open his bedroom door, checking that the way is free of any potential trip hazards. It'd be completely and utterly rude to be carrying Hideo anywhere only to trip and squash him.
Once Finn's satisfied that the way's clear, and the bed's turned down suitably, he comes back to the couch, finding himself standing, staring down at Hideo some more.
"You're damned cute when you're sleeping." He mumbles, scooping Hideo up, and carrying him to bed, setting him down gently. "There you go, all cosy and warm." There's a brief moment where Finn debates stripping off Hideo's clothes, but that'd be more than a little presumptuous. Not that taking him to bed in the first place wasn't, but he can justify that, at least to a certain extent. There's another short internal debate over how undressed Finn himself should get, and he settles on losing his trousers. Hideo is once more curled up; it seems Finn's roommate likes to sleep on his side, making him the perfect little spoon. Finn flicks off the light, and gets in bed, lying on his back, staring up at the darkness, listening to the quiet sound of Hideo's breathing. "I'm gonna cuddle you... Fair warning. Don't elbow me, alright?" Finn turns to his side, and scoots closer, easing an arm under Hideo's body, moulding himself to the curve of his spine. "No black eyes, okay? I gotta look presentable in the morning." Finn mumbles, and presses a kiss to the fabric covering Hideo's shoulder, lulled to sleep by the gentle rise and fall of his breath.
"Why am I in your bed?" It's a reasonable question, but not one Finn feels inclined to answer, all he does is wrap his arms around Hideo's waist tighter, and nuzzle at the back of his neck some. He'd been having a lovely dream where he'd had Hideo awake and in his bed, which he supposes is currently reality, but the dream had involved a lot less clothing. "Finn?"
"Hmm?" Hideo sounds slightly putout, and Finn takes that as a good sign. If he wanted to, it'd be no problem for him to get out of Finn's bed, and go to his own, but he seems quite content to stay in the loop of Finn's arms and be nuzzled.
"Why am I in your bed?" The question is given more softly, as though the answer is no longer really as important as it had been at first. Hideo sounds rather like he's going to fall back asleep, and leave awkward conversations for when it's light out.
"Cause sleeping on the couch is bad for your back?" It's undoubtedly a question, but Finn doesn't have a particularly good answer to Hideo's question. He's in Finn's bed because Finn wanted him there, and the opportunity presented itself.
"Ah." I see, I'll remember to not fall asleep on the couch in the future then. Hideo's hands rest over Finn's arms, his fingers drumming lightly on them, and Finn smiles against Hideo's shoulder.
"You staying?" It's rather pathetically hopeful question, but Finn feels pathetically hopeful, he wants Hideo to stay, he likes being the big spoon to Hideo's warm, and sleepy little spoon.
"Ah." I'm going back to sleep. There's no more conversation from Hideo, his breathing evening out once more, sleep coming over him again, and Finn presses a kiss to his shoulder, feeling sleep rapidly creeping up on him too.
"Good."
Many thanks for the lovely and glorious reviews: kathy. dietrich .98, AshJoiVillette, Miss. nogimmicksneeded, Brokenspell77, and Bently05.
I now know that I stand not alone on this ship (raft/dingy/plank of wood), but still if you liked it, if you ship it, and if you'd like more, please review!
If you've time and the inclination please have a vote on the poll on my profile! I'd super appreciate it! - There's a week left - polling will close on 2015/02/15