Flames

Duo-Lingo, part 2

"Do you want to borrow my rainbow sherbet coat for good luck?" Seth asked, coming up behind Becky as she checked her reflection in the Gorilla Position mirror.

"I'm pretty sure I'd need side mirrors or something so I didn't run into anything." Becky glanced at her reflection again. She wasn't wearing anything fancy for her run-in: sleeveless cropped top, baggy pants, sneakers. Part of her missed her ostentatious fashion phase, but getting back to basics was nice in its own way. "Besides, it would be a crime to hide these arms, wouldn't it?" She flexed her biceps as she turned to face her husband.

"If I have to share your beauty with the world," Seth replied, voice deadpan but eyes sparkling, "I guess I'll agree to share your arms." He tried to spot any obvious signs of disappointment, but for the most part, Becky looked happy. He knew there was a difference between work-happy and genuine-happy, though. "I know this isn't how you'd like your feud with Stephanie to start...."

"But at least it's starting." Becky took a deep breath. "I know I'm not Hunter's priority. I've certainly never been his favourite. I'm glad I'm getting to work with her at all—and no," she said firmly, "I'm not settling. I'm just trying to be... realistic. They're working on building up other girls right now and I'm grateful for that. I want to help these girls get the type of pushes that Bayley and I never did...." After saying her friend's name, she glanced around, as if the mere mention might make her appear.

Seth nodded slowly. "If you want to work with Bayley, just bring it up to someone. It wouldn't be a hard sell," he pointed out. "They can only run so many Horsewomen matches now that Mercedes is gone, and they have to know you and Bayley and Charlotte won't be wrestling much longer. You probably won't get to main event, but what you and Bayley have is bigger than that." He knew Becky and Bayley had talked, but his wife had been uncharacteristically quiet about it, and he didn't pry. He wanted to, because Bayley was like a sister to him, but he knew better. Every time his contract was coming up, he had to admit he felt that little tingle. What would it be like to wrestle on the indies again? To do a residency in Japan? When he was younger, maybe, but now that he had a young daughter to consider, he had to think about a bigger future. One single misstep wouldn't doom him and Becky forever by any means, and they both had many paths they could take, but having a family had made him far less impulsive.

"I know. I'll talk to her about it. What about you?" Becky gave him a playful nudge. "Are you getting a Money in the Bank qualifier? I thought I'd heard that Bronson's due back by then," she added, voice tinged with wistfulness. "I wish I'd been able to work with him more."

"He's a good dude. He was always great with Roux. I'm glad he gets to be a dad." Then Seth laughed. "Have you been following him on social media? What a transformation, man. Damn. He definitely put in the work while he was out." On the whole, he was glad to be done with The Vision, especially now that Logan Paul was a factor, but Seth would miss working with Bronson. He was refreshingly humble and straight-forward, two traits that were becoming increasingly hard to find.

"I keep forgetting that he's not much younger than we are," Becky replied. "The business is weird that way, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Age in wrestling was a touchy topic, especially for the women's division, so Seth stayed quiet, seeing where Becky was going to go with it. He didn't want her to get upset before her return, but if she needed to vent, it was better that she do it backstage with him rather than unleash her full fury on an unsuspecting co-worker. "I don't really want to deal with The Vision again, but I'd love to fight him again when I'm back."

"When you're back," Becky echoed, moving to the side to let some lighting technicians go past them.

When Seth took her elbow and guided out of Gorilla Position, she followed easily. She wasn't due out for a while yet, and he figured some quiet might help her nerves. "I know, I know," he said soothingly, holding her close. "It feels like our schedules haven't really aligned, have they? Great for Roux and school, but not so great for us."

Becky nodded silently, resting against his chest. "You're sure your mom's cool with watching her when we do the South American tour? I know that's not until September, but if we need to make other plans, then we should start—"

"Mom's good. And don't forget we were going to talk with her teacher," Seth added. "I know we can't always pull Roux out of her classes, but she hasn't been to South America yet, has she? It would be a good experience, especially now that she's able to appreciate travelling more."

"I've lost track," Becky admitted. "I know people who would envy all her passport stamps. But yeah, we can ask her teacher. It would only be for a few days, and I'm sure we'd have some time to do lessons with her before the shows."

Sensing his wife's spirits starting to lift, Seth smiled. He knew Becky took the success of the women's division—or lack thereof—personally, even when she wasn't actively wrestling. It annoyed her to no end that she could put such time and care into elevating a title or another wrestler, only to have the company fail to capitalize on that momentum the instant she was gone. Seth didn't think it was a personal attack of any kind, but he didn't want to overstep and ask Hunter about it; if Becky wanted answers, she was more than capable of going after them on her own. "I'm sure Stephanie would help her with her Spanish," he replied.

"So can Auntie Bayley." Becky tried to sound firm, but Seth could feel her smiling against his chest before she pulled back. "Or Rey or Penta or probably half the roster at this point. But yes, she does like Stephanie. Of course she does. Leave it to my daughter to like everyone I'm going to have a feud with."

Seth couldn't resist. "Good thing she wasn't born when you were feuding with Lacey Evans, huh?" He loosened his arms enough that he would be able to step back if Becky tried to poke him, but she just glared up at him instead. "What? You have to admit she had a catchy theme," he added. "Just imagine Roux sashaying around the house, singing that, wanting a... poodle skirt or whatever the hell it was that Lacey wore."

Becky was trying to come up with a sharp reply, but she couldn't help laughing. "I don't know. Some of her Minnie Mouse dresses almost give me flashbacks." Then she sighed and smiled. "Thank you for getting me out of my head for a minute."

"I'd do more if we had more than a minute," Seth murmured, leaning in to kiss her. "But you'll just have to wait for that." He gave her a nudge back towards Gorilla Position. "You've got this."

"I've got this." It sounded almost like a question until Becky took a deep breath and nodded at her reflection in the smudged mirror. "I've got this."

"So go get it." Seth kissed her again before heading to one of the monitors, giving the segment producer a nod. "Time to see how good DuoLingo is at Spanish, I guess," he said as he settled in.

It wasn't Becky's best or grandest return, and it still took the audience an extra beat or two to react to her music, but the pop was undeniable. Heel or face, she had an undeniable connection with the crowd, and they knew that if she was around, the women's division was going to pick up. If that was to be her defining legacy—that she made the women around her step up their game and get better—he knew she would be proud.