Flames

Duo-Lingo, part 1

This should be happening at WrestleMania, Becky thought as she watched Seth wrap his SummerSlam gear in a protective bag, and it's not just me saying it. Roman versus Seth with a title on the line was WrestleMania main event worthy and everyone from casual fans to industry experts was questioning the logic of putting such a high-profile match at SummerSlam. It was a two-night event as well, but that didn't mean it held the same cachet.

She didn't say any of that out loud, of course. Seth was happy to have the match, as he should be, and he and Roman would put on a great show. That was what really mattered. Becky had watched PPVs and PLEs where the stand-out match was some random match in the middle of the card, all because the wrestlers involved were determined to show their worth. "You know I think you look amazing in white," she said instead, "but the pink-orange-green combo makes me think of rainbow sherbet."

Seth straightened one of the coloured sections on his ring coat. "What about the purple then?"

"That's just you trying to be fancy. The only colours Roman knows how to wear are red and black," Becky added with a wink. "You have range."

"Only because I have a very fashion-forward wife and an even more opinionated daughter." Seth hadn't stopped smiling, and Becky knew he appreciated the compliments in his own way. She hadn't followed through on her threats to get him a sparkly Hot husband! t-shirt—at least not yet—but she appreciated his openness to trying new styles and colours he wasn't used to wearing. Once upon a time, the only things in his closet had been black band t-shirts and workout shorts.

"Roux does have a lot of thoughts about clothes," Becky agreed. "Maybe she'll be a designer someday. She definitely loves talking to Troi, but who doesn't?" They had both vowed never to try pushing Roux down any one particular path and they always tried to encourage her creativity. It didn't mean Becky wasn't curious about her daughter's choices, though. It was such a blessing to see signs of her father in Roux, even if it was bittersweet; Becky thought he would have been a wonderful grandfather.

"Well, Alicia might be getting tired of Roux asking how she makes her hair so tall," Seth grinned, "but other than that, I think she's pretty universally loved backstage."

"Lucky for us." Becky continued to watch her husband organize his gear and when she saw the Shield homage mask, her heart fluttered a bit. The tale of The Shield would never be truly finished, but it really did feel like another chapter of their story was unfolding. "Do you want her to watch it," she asked slowly, "or would you rather I keep her busy?" Becky wanted to watch, of course, but she didn't want Roux to get upset. Roman was a beloved uncle and while she and Seth had explained how matches worked often enough, Roux still sometimes got too emotionally invested.

Seth grinned at her in a way that made her heart flutter. "And make you give up your reserved seat in Gorilla?" He set his coat down and came over. "Are you worried about you or her? Or both?"

Becky had to laugh. She loved that he knew her so well, but it made it hard to hide things from him. "Probably both, but mostly me, I guess. I just...." She paused, glancing towards the bus door. "I love Roman. You know I do. And storyline-wise, I get it. But this is like a streak for you. It's something you have that no one else did. And I don't necessarily think this is the best time to end it."

"Is there ever really a good time for something like this?" Seth countered. "If you end it too soon, people always ask What if? If you drag it out, people complain that it's going on too long." Then he shrugged, and the stiffness in his shoulders told Becky he wasn't totally happy with the situation either. "Between the two, I guess I'd rather leave people wanting more than wanting less, you know? It's easier to revisit something and rekindle that magic that way."

"Maybe." Becky hugged him tightly, partially to hide her face. But when is it YOUR turn? was what she wanted to say. For everything he had done for the company, for all he had gone through, he had more than earned a WrestleMania event, to have an illustrious streak, to have some accolade that was purely his own. Lesser wrestlers had been given that and more. "I'm just biased, I guess. Roman's great too, but...."

Seth shot her a look. "I don't have to worry about you coming out to the ring, do I?"

"And ruin my illustrious post-SummerSlam return plans?" Becky laughed. "Never. I've been waiting for the chance to work with Stephanie Vaquer. Now I just need to convince someone to move Giulia over to RAW. Chelsea could be fun too; she worked really well with Ethan, so we could maybe even have a mixed tag match. Just without... you know, the America angle."

"You're still Canada's hero?" Seth teased. "Don't want to mess with that either. You might be catching up to Nattie with all your accolades."

"Catching up?" Becky slapped one hand to her chest while the other grabbed her phone. "Might be? What kind of Top Wife Guy are you?" She shook her head as she tapped through screens. "I bet Punk would never say that to AJ. Never. I have plenty of accolades. So many accolades! Look at my DuoLingo streak!" Once she found the screen she wanted, she thrust her phone in her husband's face. "Look at it! Look!"

"I would," Seth replied dryly, "if you weren't shaking it like a maraca." He gently grabbed her wrist and held it still so he could read the screen. "Very good job. Learning Spanish to impress Stephanie?"

"I figured it couldn't hurt since we have the South American tour coming up." Becky turned her phone back to face her and exited the app. "And yeah. She's been working really hard on learning English, so I thought it would be nice for her to see someone trying to meet her halfway. Well, okay, she knows more English than I know Spanish," she sighed, "but I'm trying."

Seth looped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her. "That's very cool of you. I'm sure she'll appreciate that. Are you going to learn more Japanese for Giulia," he asked, "or would you go for Italian this time?"

Becky laughed. "More would imply I know some. Aside from ganbatte. At least I could use the Italian at a cafe," she mused, "and I could ask Claudio for help." She always missed her friends that were no longer with WWE, but it was especially obvious on big event days, where the two rosters tended to converge. "We need to visit him soon! The coffee group chat is good, but it's not enough."

"Maybe Thanksgiving week?" Seth suggested, going back to his gear. "We usually do pre-tapes before then, so we might get some time off."

"Maybe. We'll see." She went on tiptoe to kiss him, revelling in the small moment of peace. Roux was in hair and make-up with the SmackDown girls, catching up with some of the wrestlers she hadn't seen for a while, and it made Becky feel a bit at a loss. With no match of her own, she was basically just a spectator. "But enough about all that. I shouldn't be distracting you before your match."

"Distract me. Please." Seth kissed her again before handing her his boot bag. "But maybe while we're walking? I need to find Roman, obviously, and get my promo pics taken...."

"Of course." Becky helped Seth get a good grip on his gear bag so it didn't drag on the floor before she tucked his boot bag under her arm. "You'll have to get some pictures with Roux too. You know she'll love that collar."

Seth grinned. "I already asked for a Roux-sized version. The priority was this," he said, giving his gear bag a shake, "for obvious reasons, but hers should be done by the time she's back to school."

Becky smiled too. "Just in time for Picture Day. All the other parents are going to love us."