NOTE: "Between Outrage and Admiration" was intended us to be a one-shot, but Jeff/ Triple H plot bunnies keep biting me so we'll see what happens. This thing just might end up being a collection of short one or two chapter stories.
We'll see…
ANOTHER NOTE: Yes I know, Jeff has been documented as saying he does not like skittles and doesn't know where that came from. I think it came from the fact that he dyes his hair the color of skittles. But I'm going to take some creative license here and keep it, because I think this is a cute, harmless quirk that doesn't really add or subtract anything from his character and makes for a good comedy insert from time to time.
000
""I hope if dogs take over the world, and they choose a king, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas."
Jack Handy quotes
000
Jeff sighed wearily as he entered his hotel room. His whole backside ached, not only from his match with Triple H, but also from their activities in the locker room afterwards.
He tossed his bag and then himself on to his bed. He was exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten he was not alone in the room.
"Hey, where have you been?" Matt came out of the bathroom when he heard his brother enter, "We're supposed to be celebrating you kicking Triple H's ass for a number 1 contender spot."
I may have kicked his ass, but he fucked mine, Jeff thought, chuckling a little inwardly. However, he wasn't quite ready to tell his older brother what had gone on between him and Hunter earlier. "Meh. Took me longer to get cleaned up than I thought, a lot of sweat you know, and my hair dye was starting to come out a little."
"Ah," Matt nodded. "Important stuff to take care of, we don't want the future champion to look disheveled even before he celebrates."
"I don't know if I'm up to it tonight man," Jeff sighed tiredly.
"You? Not want to party?" Matt raised an eyebrow at him, before putting a hand on his little brother's forehead. "Are you coming down with something? Your lower abdomen isn't hurting is it?"
"Nah. I'm just tired, Hunter wore me out." Jeff yawned. In more ways than one…
Matt narrowed his eyes at Jeff, he knew there was something beyond what his brother was telling him was telling him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, I'm just tired," Jeff insisted. Aw man I knew it…He's already picked up the trail. Might as well get it over with…
A moment of silence passed as Jeff thought over how he was going to tell Matt what happened. Meanwhile, his older brother's hand moved from his forehead to his lower back and began rubbing it gently.
"Um… Matt?" Jeff finally murmured, sitting up.
"Hm?" Matt looked over at him.
"How mad could you possibly get at me if I told you I did something that sounds really bad but was necessary to do?" Jeff asked in a small voice.
Matt raised an eyebrow and gave his little brother a warning look. "What have you done?"
"Um…" Jeff looked away, thinking over his words carefully. "Not so much what I did, I just sort of…agreed to it…"
"Agreed to what?" Matt asked more nervously, than angry. "You're not mixed up in anything illegal are you?"
"No, no not, illegal," Jeff waved his hands defensively then stopped when a thought occurred to him. "Well at least I don't think so, but every state has different laws about it."
"Jeff..." Matt furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you getting at?"
"It's hard to say…" Jeff murmured
Matt scooted over to sit closer to him. "What is?" Matt said softly starting to put the pieces together. "You slept with someone, didn't you?"
The younger Hardy brother nodded guiltily.
Matt gasped a little as it hit him. "They're married and that's why you're worried it's illegal."
Jeff nodded again.
"Jeff…" Matt sighed in a disapproving manner, worrying a little that his brother might be spiraling down the crazy road he had before.
"Well I didn't exactly want to, it just kind of happened," Jeff shrugged his shoulders helplessly. At the continued look of disapproval from his older brother he continued his defense. "Look I didn't have much of a choice... I made the best agreement I could."
"What are you talking about? How could a woman put you in that situation?" Matt scoffed until a thought occurred to him and his mouth fell open in shock. "Oh my god it was Stephanie McMahon wasn't it?"
"No! It wasn't Stephanie!" Jeff quickly protested.
Matt sighed in relief.
"It was her husband," Jeff finally confessed.
Matt's face went blank as if he had just been slapped so hard his nerves lost all sensation. "What…?"
Jeff let out a weary groan as he grabbed his stunned brother by the arm and dragged him into the bathroom. Somehow the small confines of the tiled room felt like a more secure place to reveal the secret.
He decided it was best to just lay it all out on the table and he told his older brother everything that had happened. When he had finished, the younger Hardy had to grab his brother's shoulders to keep him from falling over from shock.
Jeff guided the practically catatonic Matt out to sit on one of the beds.
"Matt," Jeff snapped his fingers in front of his brother's face. "Stay with me man."
Matt blinked and then his brow furrowed and his face contorted in anger. Jeff gulped and took a step back, beginning to doubt whether telling the truth was such a good idea after all.
"That son of a bitch!" Matt growled. "I can't believe he did that to you!"
Jeff let out a small sigh of relief that his brother's anger was not aimed at him. However, he knew he had to calm Matt down before his brother took it into his head to haul off and attack Triple H.
"Let it go Matt it wasn't all that bad," Jeff said quietly.
Matt looked at his brother in surprise then looked like he might throw-up at any moment. "Don't tell me you enjoyed it…"
"I don't know…" Jeff murmured picking at his finger nails. "I don't feel violated or anything, I suppose I should," He shrugged. "But I don't…"
Matt found himself at a loss for words, still partly in denial that Jeff had just had sex with Triple H.
Jeff sighed and plunked down next to Matt. "I don't know, maybe it was because he kinda opened up to me during it."
Matt raised an eyebrow in further disbelief. "He did?"
"He told me about his fling with Shawn back in '96," Jeff shrugged. " Or maybe I don't feel so bad because I won the little game he was playing with me."
Matt closed his eyes and shook his head as if trying to pretend that he wasn't hearing what he was hearing. "You were playing a game with The Game, with sex as the stakes?" He couldn't believe Jeff would be so foolhardy, but then he remembered the difficult position Jeff had described being in before. Perhaps playing the game may have been Jeff's only option. Matt swallowed his disgust and managed a weak smile before giving his brother a playful shove. "Why can't you play poker like everyone else...?"
"Well you know me," Jeff grinned smugly. "I don't do things like everyone else."
"Very funny," the older Hardy laughed weakly.
"Well at least we know I won't get pregnant from this little affair," Jeff teased.
Matt couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.
000
Some time later, about a week before Valentine's Day, Jeff Hardy was right in the middle of his morning routine, when there was a loud knock on his hotel room door.
He opened the door to find Triple H standing there, someone he hoped to never encounter alone or anywhere outside of the ring again.
"Oh God…What are you doing here?" Jeff groaned.
"Nice to see you too Jeff," Hunter grinned. "I have a favor to ask you, I promise to do you a favor in return."
"What kind of favor?" The younger Hardy asked warily, knowing just what Hunter was capable of asking for, promise or no promise.
"Um… Well…" Hunter looked a little embarrassed. "I need some help with a gift for Stephanie for Valentine's Day."
"Why do you need me?" Jeff raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm the weird one remember?"
"Yeah," Triple H shrugged. "But you're also very creative and it's that creativity that I need."
Jeff frowned and crossed his arms over his chest glaring daggers at Hunter. "If you think I'm going to use my creativity for some sex game you want to play. You can forget it right now!" He moved to slam the door right into Hunter's face.
Triple H actually looked startled at the implications Jeff had made, but managed to recover in time to stop the door from shutting. "No! That's not what I meant! I want to give her a poem or a piece of art or something."
Jeff looked at Hunter as if he had suddenly grown three heads. "So let me get this straight. You're asking me, a guy you practically forced into having a one night stand with you less than a month ago, to write a romantic poem to your wife for Valentine's Day?"
Hunter shrugged casually. "Yeah, can you do it?"
Jeff's mouth fell open in astonishment. He simply couldn't believe that after everything that had happened between them, Hunter had the gall to ask this of him.
The young Hardy was about to refuse and slam the door in Triple H's face, but hesitated when a thought occurred to him. A favor for a favor? With the Elimination chamber at "No Way Out" looming overhead, being on The Game's good side wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Well?" Hunter prodded after a moment of silence from Jeff.
Jeff sighed resignedly. "All right I'll make a Valentine's Day present for Stephanie."
"You will?" Hunter beamed at him. "Thanks man! I owe you one."
"Yeah, you do," Jeff said dryly. "I'll have them ready on Valentine's Day. You can pick them up then."
And with that he shut the door in Hunter's face before The Game could say anything more…
000
The morning of Valentine's Day found Jeff putting the final touches on the painting he was making for Hunter. His most recent media choice were watercolor pencils, they simulated real painting, but were much more transportable than real paints, which was a good thing for an artist who was constantly on the road like Jeff was.
Jeff had his iPod on so loud he almost didn't hear a knock at the door. He took the white earbuds out of his ears and listened. Sure enough, there was another loud knock at the door. He could guess who it was.
His suspicions were correct when he opened the door and found Hunter on his doorstep.
"Hey Jeff," Triple H greeted him cordially. "How's it coming?"
"The poem is done," Jeff answered. "I just have to put some finishing touches on the painting."
"Oh Good!" Hunter pushed excitedly past Jeff and walked over to the table to have a look at the painting, much to the chagrin of Jeff who didn't like people looking at his unfinished works. "Hey, this is nice! Is that supposed to be me and Steph?"
"Yup," Jeff nodded, closing the door before coming over. "I fell asleep watching the history Channel a few days ago. They were showing a thing about Greek Gods and Goddesses, it gave me some ideas."
"So which gods are we?" Hunter asked curiously.
"Ares and Aphrodite," Jeff smirked, curious himself to Hunter's reaction.
"The God of War and the Goddess of Love," Hunter laughed. "Perfect. Steph is going to love this."
"Yeah, she'll like it even better when I've finished," Jeff said sitting back down in the chair.
"How much more do you have to do?" Hunter asked.
"Some more detailing, shadows, that sort of thing to flesh it out more," Jeff answered, wetting another pencil.
"I'll just wait then," Hunter sat down on one of the beds, and pulled out his PDA. "I've got some business to do anyway."
Jeff shrugged. "Suit yourself, but keep it quiet."
"No problem."
They worked in silence for about an hour, until Hunter was finished with his business. He sighed and rested back against the pillows. He looked over at Jeff who was still working diligently on the painting and was about to ask how it was coming, but decided not to distract Jeff.
Hunter sat on the edge of the bed and debated about what to do next to occupy himself until Jeff was finished. His eyes fell on Jeff's jacket sitting on a nearby chair.
Seeing Jeff was too engrossed in his painting to notice anything else, he quietly reached over and grabbed to the jacket. He ran his hand across the fabric imagining Jeff was there under his hands. He lifted the jacket up to his nose and inhaled.
It was true. Smell was the strongest scent tied to memory, and oh what memories there were. The scent immediately brought back the memories of him and Jeff's liaison in the locker room just after Armageddon. The jacket smelled just the same as the Rainbow-Haired Warrior's scent had been that day. It was a mixture of peroxide, sweat, with just a hint of skittles.
Meanwhile, Jeff had paused his painting to stretch his shoulders. He looked over to see what Hunter was up to and found what seemed to be The Game sniffing his jacket.
He rolled his eyes and groaned before he walked over and asked for the coat back. However, Hunter seemed to be too wrapped up in his memories and the blossoming lust brought on by the scent of the jacket and paid no heed to Jeff's request. The younger Hardy grumbled to himself and with a swift jerk, pulled the coat away.
At having something he was enjoying snatched away, Hunter's mind glazed over with a lust fueled anger. He grabbed Jeff and captured the younger Hardy's lips with his own. Hunter had the element of surprise on his side as well. At the shock of the sudden assault, Jeff's mouth fell open a little, allowing Triple H to thrust his tongue into the sweet depths of the Rainbow-Haired Warrior's mouth.
However it did not take long for Jeff to recover, he brought up a hand and slapped Hunter freeing his mouth from The Game's pleasurable trap.
"Snap out of it!" Jeff shouted, giving Hunter another hard slap across the face for good measure.
Hunter blinked several times, broken from the lusty haze by the blows Jeff had delivered.
"Uh," Hunter began as he rubbed his sore cheek. He at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "I...I don't know what came over me...I'm ummm... Sorry, Jeff."
Jeff took in a deep breath and shook his head. "Get out, just get out."
"Look, I'm sorry," Hunter insisted, looking genuinely apologetic.
Jeff would have none of it. "I said get out!"
"But Jeff…" Hunter protested.
"I promise I'll bring the painting and the poem wherever it needs to be, but I can't concentrate and finish it with you here." The younger Hardy snapped angrily. "Now get out!"
Triple H frowned. He was done being apologetic, very few people talked to him like that and he wasn't going to add Jeff to that list.
"Fine!" The Game turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Just have the painting in my room in an hour!"
"I'll bring it when it's finished!" The Rainbow Haired Warrior shouted back defiantly.
"I said an hour!" Triple H growled.
"I can't finish it in an hour, you want to give your wife unfinished painting?" Jeff challenged.
Hunter closed his eyes and grimaced knowing that Jeff had him there. This whole thing was about Stephanie, not them. "No…" He grumbled.
Jeff took in a deep breath and let it out, calming himself down. Shouting back and forth would only make things worse. "Look you said the McMahon Valentine's day party is at 5:00pm I know I can have it done by then. Where's it going to be?"
"In Ballroom A at the Bellagio," Hunter answered coldly.
"All right, I'll be by at five to give you the stuff, and that'll be the end of it. I'll…" Jeff paused, coming to a decision. "I'll forget what just happened here…"
The anger on Hunter's face melted away at the truce offered, he even managed a small smile. "Okay. I'll see you at 5 then."
Jeff nodded, but didn't fully relax until Hunter had left and closed the door behind him….
000
Oh what will happen at the Valentine's Day party….? Particularly after Jeff has one too many drink s in him and it's up to Hunter to look after him in his drunken state.