Flames

Double L, part 2

As wrestling weekends went, it was a double whammy. Normally one of them would win and the other might lose, but on the first night of WrestleMania, both Becky and Seth had lost—and Becky was still fighting strep throat. More like a triple whammy. Quadruple whammy, Seth thought as he got his gear ready. His ring attire was too elaborate to put on in the bus, mostly because it was hard to manoeuvre in. Then he would have to change into his Shield replica gear for his run-in during the Roman-Cody match.

"You're sure you're okay to pull double duty today?" Becky asked, hugging him from the side. She had been so careful not to infect him, knowing he had three major spots on the weekend.

Seth nodded. "I'll have time to rest in between." Losing to Drew only to have Damian cash in made sense in terms of the story—just as Seth was guilty of overlooking Drew in favour of The Rock and Roman, so too was Drew guilty of overlooking Seth in favour of taking jabs at CM Punk. He and Drew were both going to lose because of their obsessions, but at least Seth had had a title run; Drew would be lucky to get five minutes. "Besides, there was a great match that started off last night's show," he added with a grin, "so I have to try to give tonight the same boost, you know?"

"Knock knock." Roman poked his head in at the front of the bus. "All decent?"

"Little late to be asking, huh?" Seth turned to Becky and zipped up her borrowed hoodie—one of his, of course—and kissed her forehead. "Anything you need before I go to the planning sessions?"

Becky shook her head. "I have enough water to fill a pool and my meds are... somewhere." She glanced around until she spotted her prescription bottle on the counter. "And snacks. And tea and honey. I can call Roux while you're gone or catch up on my reading...." Then she caught Roman's eye and wagged a finger. "You be nice to him. Don't hit his back too hard."

"I know, I know. You've got plans for it later." Roman blew her a kiss from the doorway. Becky's doctor had said she likely wasn't contagious anymore, but since Roman was still taking oral medication for his leukemia, they were both playing it safe. "I'll try to keep him in one piece. Or at least preserve your favourite pieces, anyway."

"What a great brother you are." Seth shoved his Shield gear bag at Roman and grabbed his match gear. "Love you, darling. Call if you need anything."

"I will," Becky called back, already settling in on the couch. Seth was sure she'd be asleep in five minutes. She had done her best to power through her match with Rhea yesterday, but it had taken a lot out of her; the recent book tour and excessive travel had been draining.

Roman waited until they were a safe distance from the bus to bump shoulders with his Shield brother. "She's okay? We can always talk this out over the phone or whatever if she needs you."

Seth nodded. "Thanks. But yeah, she's good. Doc said the best things she can do now are get lots of rest and water, and there's not much I can do there. She just hates that this happened on Mania weekend, especially since it's likely one of our last...." Seth shifted his large gear bag from one hand to the other. "I keep trying to tell her she did a great job last night, but she just keeps seeing the flaws, you know?"

"I know the feeling. I'll text her later. Joelle loved her gear. She keeps asking me to get a copy of Becky's book for her," Roman added, giving Seth a sharp look, "but I might have to tell her to skip some pages near the end."

Seth laughed. Becky's descriptions of the earliest stages of their relationship—namely hook-ups—weren't exactly graphic, but they were pretty blunt. "Just tell her we were making up for lost time. And... and that Becky was being an empowered, assertive woman by pursuing what she wanted."