"I'm not going to Collision this week," Hook says, sitting at the foot of the hotel bed, staring at his hands. "Gonna go home, prep for ... whatever Bill was bullshiting about." He looks up. "Practice my depth perception with and without the bandage."
Orange nods. "Yeah. Gotcha." He sits next to Hook on the bed and eases a hand under his jaw, lifting his face up until they're eye to eye. He smiles at him and leans in to kiss him. "I'm gonna be there to support the guys, but I'll be home as soon as I can, help you with things before we fly out to Wales. It's gonna be ok."
Hook nods, his fingers digging into Orange's collar. "Thanks," he mumbles. "Probably the only thing that'll make the wait for Wembley bearable."
Orange nods. "Well, I'll do my best," he says, pulling Hook closer and holding him.
Hook sighs and buries his face in the crook of Orange's neck, tension easing out of him the tighter Orange holds onto him.
-x
That Saturday, Orange stands by the monitors and watches as the various teams brawl. He hadn't joined them because Mark had planted a hand on his chest and pushed him back on his way out. "You keep your eye on the gauntlet, baby! We've got this!" he'd called out on his way past, Ishii and Kyle rushing out to brawl with everyone else.
Orange sighs, scraping his fingers through his hair lazily, listening as the brawl makes it way backstage, the sound of it fading away as referees and security seem to finally get a handle on pulling everyone apart. He watches as the tag match finishes, the Kingdom losing their titles, and he's about to wander towards the locker rooms, check on the other members of the Conglomeration, when he hears Jericho's voice echoing back towards him. He grimaces, his shoulders tensing at the mere sound of his voice, and his every intention is to get away as quickly as possible, but he hears Hook's name and his eyes narrow as he turns back towards where Jericho is being interviewed by Renee. He shifts, standing just right that he can see Jericho but Jericho can't see him.
He promises to blind Hook in his other eye as well, declaring that after their match, Hook will be out of the Jericho vortex permanently- which, well, one could only hope, Orange thinks. The interview ends then with some pointless comments about his hideous jacket, and Jericho turns to leave just to stop short, noticing Orange watching. His lips twist into a snarl but he quickly brightens and waves, voice pitched high and so fake that it hurts just to listen to. "Hi, Orange!"
Orange hasn't hated someone this thoroughly in a long time. He continues to lean against the wall and stare at Jericho through his sunglasses, an unimpressed twist to his lips.
"What's wrong, sad because your little boyfriend isn't here tonight? Did he finally wise up and realize that he shouldn't stay on my bad side? Decided to stay in New York, where he's safe?" Jericho sneers as ugly as his voice.
Jericho finally quiets when Orange pushes away from the wall and approaches him, his eyes fixed on Jericho as he reaches up and removes his sunglasses, forcing him to face the weight of Orange's stare. "You don't know him at all," he says. "Hook's always been able to see through you, but you've never even came close to grasping the depths of how far he'll go. And it's going to cost you." He glances at the FTW title, the sticker marring where Taz's name is. Thinks about how much built up rage and frustration will be waiting for Jericho at All In.
Jericho scoffs as he looks Orange up and down, unimpressed. "I knew you had shit taste in pretty much everything, but really? You've really wasted a year on that kid? I've spent enough time with him to know he isn't that interesting. Unless you just really like his... chips." The longer he talks, the darker his tone seems to get, his expression mocking.
Orange sees red, is tempted to lunge forward, Orange Punch that disgusting look off of Jericho's face, the implications from his words. Very few people have ever understood his and Hook's relationship, or how it went from tag team to romantic partnership so quickly, but something about hearing it from Jericho's mouth, along with the expression on his face, just makes Orange want to tear him apart right where he stands.
The only thing holding him back is that one wrong move and Jericho would be petty enough to cancel his match with Hook, and Orange can't risk everything that Hook's endured just to punch him out here and now, as much as he itches to. Before anything else can happen, Jericho's eyes flicker away from him, settles somewhere behind, his expression growing more neutral, careful. He scoffs lightly, shifts backwards. "Yeah, of course," he mumbles, that false cheer returning to his voice. "Well, I'll see you Wednesday, bye Orange!" he chirps, waving enthusiastically before turning and heading back down the hall away from them.
Orange exhales sharply and turns to find Kyle, Mark and Ishii behind him, their gazes flicking between Jericho's retreating form to Orange's frustrated expression. He puts his sunglasses back on and steps towards them. "Come on," he mumbles, wanting nothing more than to leave the arena and go back to the hotel room, away from Jericho and all of his nonsense. "Let's get out of here."
The others follow him with no argument, so he assumes they feel the same way.
-x
He's sitting at the foot of the bed, remembering just a couple of days ago. The look on Hook's face as he'd sat in a similar position, strategizing. Planning. Trying to figure out how to compete even with his new limitations. He drops back against the mattress and grabs his phone, dialing Hook's number. It rings a couple of times, then clicks. "Hey," he says, eyes closed.
"Hey," Hook replies. "You alright?"
"Yeah," Orange sighs. "How are you?"
"Hanging in there. Training is... difficult. But it's coming along, I guess." He doesn't sound thrilled, but that's kind of standard so Orange doesn't react immediately to it. "Did you hear Jericho's...?"
"Yeah," Orange mumbles. "I was just down the hall listening to it directly."
Hook pauses. "Did, uh. Did anything happen?"
Orange blinks up at the ceiling, mulling that over. What he wishes he could've done in that moment, what he'll probably always yearn to do whenever he spots Jericho. "I was down the hall, he saw me once he was done talking with Renee, yeah."
"What happened?" Hook asks, voice tense.
"He tried running his mouth again," Orange says. "About you, about us. I really wanted to punch him in the face."
Hook huffs. "Yeah, he tends to have that affect on people. You know."
"Yes, I do," Orange sighs. "Tempting as it was, I didn't want to risk making things worse for you."
Hook sounds fond when he speaks again. "Thanks. Not much could get worse, but you know. I appreciate it." He sighs and Orange imagines him stretched out on the couch, half-watching the rest of Collision while they talk, probably still testing the differences in vision between his left and right eye despite everyone telling him not to. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Yeah. Flight's pretty early, maybe we can go somewhere and have lunch before we have to start getting ready for Cardiff," he says, brushing his fingers through his wayward hair.
"Sounds good," Hook says, voice soft. "I love you."
Orange smiles up at the ceiling. If nothing else in this ridiculous life can, that makes it all worth it. "Love you too," he responds.