NaNoWriMo Story Snippets

61. Excerpt from FLAMES

Not sure if this will make it into FLAMES, because it needs a lot of work. Set at WrestleMania 39.

"You're looking at Twitter?" Becky's tone made it sound like he was doing something so heinous she couldn't even bring herself to mention it out loud. "But you hate Twitter."

Seth laughed, using his free hand to bring his wife close enough to kiss. "I do. Trust me, I do. But I wanted to see if I could find something again." It took him a while, especially since he wasn't in the habit of bookmarking tweets he wanted to remember, but a few internet searches finally found what he was looking for. "This. Behold, finally a tweet thread I was involved in that aged well." He tilted the phone so Becky could see it.

"The scrubs are taking over." Then she glanced up at her husband. "Should I read the hashtag too and sound completely pathetic?"

"Nah." Seth took a quick screenshot and sent it to both Sami and Kevin. They had all come a long way from their scrub room days, when it often felt like they were among only a handful of up-and-coming wrestlers who were actually devoted to the business and making it better. "It's just nice to see that all the hard work paid off, you know? Look at where most of us are now—Bryan, the Bucks, Kevin, Sami, me. We felt so left out at times and now we're running the shows."

"Very cool, and very deserved. All of you." Becky wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "You deserved a better Mania moment this year. I know they can't always give the celebrities to Miz, but...."

Seth shrugged, trying not to give in to the tension tightening his shoulders. Last year, his mystery match might have been one of the worst-kept secrets in the wrestling world, but it had also been surrounded by hype and intrigue. Logan Paul was polarizing—plus a large portion of the older audience members didn't even seem to know who he was—and it was hard to get excited over a match that really wasn't leading anywhere. "I know. A win's a win, but...."

"But not all wins are equal." Becky smoothed his hair back and kissed him. "On the bright side, you have that amazing jacket now."

He had to laugh. "Do I? Because I saw how you were eyeing it. I have a sneaking suspicion it's going to find its way out of my closet soon."

"Maybe...." Becky pulled her phone from her boot—she was still in her ring gear in case something went awry and she was needed again at the last minute—and sent a quick text to their nanny, who had taken Roux back to the bus. "Sounds like our girl is still napping," she reported. "I'd love for her to be able to watch Kevin and Sami, but I know that's late. I don't know if it's worth putting her off-kilter for all of tomorrow."

Seth took her free hand and led her to the main viewing area. "Just tell her to give us updates. If Roux's up and about anyway, it won't hurt to have her backstage. All the activity might wear her out a bit."

"Wishful thinking if I ever heard it." Becky sent off the message, though, and set her phone on her lap as they settled into chairs in the viewing lounge. The set-up was definitely nicer than at a generic RAW or SmackDown, and the lounge was full of other wrestlers and some various media types. The SmackDown Women's Championship match was just beginning, and Seth could see a bittersweet note in Becky's gaze as she watched Charlotte face off with Rhea. When she caught him watching her, she chuckled. "Yes, I still want a singles title. That's hardly a surprise."

"No, but...." He pointed to the screen. "There was more to your expression than title envy."

"It's... complicated. Rhea won the Rumble. She should get a main event slot; she's earned it, she can carry it, and she deserves it. I know it would give Charlotte the most main events for a woman or whatever, but...." Becky let out a long breath, tapping her fingers on her phone. "But Kevin and Sami deserve it so much too. They've put so much into this story and this company and to be a part of the first tag-team match to main event WrestleMania? That's incredible. No one will ever be able to take that away from them. I'm so happy for them."

Becky started tearing up a bit, and Seth pulled her close. Sometimes he could forget just how much their friend circles overlapped backstage. He knew Sami and Kevin were like brothers to her, and it made him think of the iconic "Misfits" picture from 2011 when CM Punk, Daniel Bryan, Beth Phoenix, Zack Ryder, Cody Rhodes, Kofi Kingston and Evan Bourne were all champions. To many, it held hope for a new mentality in WWE, a shift away from bodybuilders and bombshells in favour of talent and drive, regardless of whether the wrestlers fit a certain mould. That mindset sadly never took root then, but Seth could feel hints of it happening again. Becky's meteoric rise as The Man certainly wasn't anything the WWE had predicted or scripted. "Must have been something in the water on that tour in Italy," he joked, shaking her knee. "Seriously, though, they're going to nail it. It's about time."

Resting her head on his shoulder, Becky watched Charlotte and Rhea fight, not quite crying yet but certainly on her way. "Char and Rhea are killing it too. Probably pissed off that they didn't get the main event," she added, "and they should be. I'm glad they're proving everyone wrong."

Seth stayed quiet for a moment. He knew Becky wasn't entirely with how her six-woman match had gone earlier in the night, but being able to compete with Trish Stratus and Lita had still been a dream come true for her. Ever since her feud with Bianca had wrapped up and she had turned face again, she hadn't really had a stand-out match yet. "The whole women's division is stepping up," he said at last. "In large part because of you. When you came back after having Roux—not only came back, but in such great shape—you really raised the bar. And not just for the women."

"That's me, breaking ceilings." She grinned up at him. "And you say I'm too short."