NaNoWriMo Story Snippets

73. Excerpt from First Meeting AU

Partially by request, partially inspired by Becky's book, but it will have a different ending.

"Remember to be nice to the Rosebuds," Roman had said as Seth was on his way to Catering. "That could have been us."

Dean nodded along. "I'd be a kick-ass hot dog, if I do say so myself."

Seth just rolled his eyes. He had worked too hard for too long to be prancing around in some ridiculous neon outfit, but he didn't say so. Everyone was working their way up and in all honesty, if it had been a few years ago, he would have dressed up as any food item they wanted if it meant getting closer to performing in a WWE ring. "Honestly, what do you think I'm going to do? I just want to eat, man."

Roman shot him a quick look. "Yeah, whatever. Just be nice, would you? And for fuck's sake, don't hit on any of the girls, okay? They're all NXT and you know they're trying to make a difference with the women's division...."

"Roman, I get it." Seth strode off to Catering, fuming silently. It wasn't like he was purposefully an asshole. He just took wrestling seriously and expected others to do the same. It had been his childhood dream and he hated seeing opportunities wasted on people who didn't care about them. After he grabbed a plate and loaded it up, he said hello to a few people and looked around. There were a few unfamiliar faces who he supposed were the incoming Rosebuds—the entourage for Adam Rose—and they were mostly either keeping to themselves or hanging out with each other.

One of the girls, though, was introducing herself to everyone, shaking hands like how he was taught to do. She looked scared as hell, but Seth gave her credit for putting herself out there. Be nice to the Rosebuds, huh, Roman? he thought as he made his way over to her. Look, I'm being nice. "Hey, I'm Colby." He spent so much time involved with wrestling that it felt weird to introduce himself using his legal name, but surely she knew his ring name.

Her eyes went wide, so she clearly recognized him, but to her credit she shook his hand just as she had everyone else's. "Nice to meet you, I'm Rebecca."

"What's your story?" Seth was surprised to find himself genuinely interested. WWE was trying to change the perception of women on the roster, especially in NXT, but there were still a lot of girls who coasted by on their looks. Rebecca—he seemed to remember hearing the name Becky Lynch, maybe from Finn—didn't seem to be one of those. Her dress was a little tight and short—not that he was complaining by any means—but it seemed more circumstantial than intentional. The indie circuit could be a financial drain, so the steady money from NXT meant a lot of the wrestlers there were taking care of themselves properly for the first time in months, maybe years. "Why are you here?"

He hoped he hadn't sound accusatory, but Becky didn't seem to take his questions the wrong way. If anything, she used them as a launching pad, delving into her life story from when she was a kid in Ireland watching wrestling to more recent history when she had been assigned Rosebud status. Seth hadn't even realized he was eating until she asked about him in turn and he looked down to find his plate empty. Then a producer's assistant came up and told him his call time had been bumped up. "Thanks," he said tersely, hoping the guy would get the hint. After the assistant scampered off, Seth glanced over at Becky. "Good talk." Then he paused. It could be more than that, he guessed. She had come up with the Rosebuds, which meant five adults crammed into one car and probably sharing rooms too, to save money. "Are you busy after?" he asked, well aware that the production assistant was frantically trying to get him to hurry. "I'd love to talk more about wrestling in Europe."

Becky's face lit up. "I'd love that!" She gestured around vaguely. "Do I just... hang around or...?"

"Yeah. Catering's usually open until late, so just come back here and I'll find you. Good talk," Seth said again, starting to walk away.

"You too!" Becky called out. When he turned back, he saw her almost fall over in her high heels.

Happy, Roman? I'm being nice to the Rosebuds. One of them, anyway, and Seth had to admit it was more than slightly self-serving, but his Shield brothers didn't need to know that.