#friday wrestleprompts

[drunktuesdays]

for @wrestleprompts

"Two people reach for the last bottle of the same drink in a gas station fridge."

Jim jerks his hand back like he's been burned. "Uh," he says. Then, "Oh. You want it?"

Dustin's standing there bullishly, not flinching back at all. "Yeah," he says. "Obviously. Since I grabbed it."

Something about his tone makes Jim bristle. "Oh, obviously," he says sarcastically. "Sorry—obviously, you want the last fucking bottle of dragonfruit Vitamin Water, even though I've never seen you drink Vitamin Water in your life."

"Yeah, well," Dustin says, and Jim's a little startled to realize he's mad. "Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."

"Oh, I know you," Jim says, just as mad. "I fucking know—just. Can you get the Dr. Pepper we both fucking know you want?"

"I don't want a Dr. Pepper," Dustin says. "You don't know everything about me."

Jim stares at him for a long moment. Dustin just stands there obstinately, hands balled at his side, not giving an inch. The gas station cashier is watching them openly, snacking from an open bag of pork rinds.

"Fine," Jim says, throwing up his hands. "Fine." He wheels around, grabs a bottle of Polar, and stomps off towards the trail mix.

Dustin's hot on his heels. "That's it?"

"What do you mean, that's it?" Jim says. "You won. Enjoy my Vitamin Water."

"Acknowledge you don't know everything about me," Dustin says. "Acknowledge that even if you've never seen me drink Vitamin Water, I might still like Vitamin Water."

"I can't do this with you," Jim says and jerks a bag of almonds off the hook. He stalks up to the cashier. "Just this," he snaps.

"Cool," the cashier says and starts ringing up Jim's almonds.

"Hello?" Dustin says. "I'm trying to have a conversation with you right now."

"I am trying to leave you in this fucking rest stop," Jim says. "So help me god." He hisses out an annoyed breath, and then snaps, "What?" at the cashier.

"Four sixty," the cashier says, unperturbed.

"Don't snap at her," Dustin says. "It's not her fault you're an asshole."

"I'm not an asshole," Jim says. "You're an asshole. You took my fucking drink." He looks at Dustin's empty hand pointedly. "That you're not even going to buy apparently."

Dustin scowls. "You're not fucking listening," he says. "I am trying to buy it. I'm trying to explain to you about how I've wanted to buy the vitamin water the whole time, and just because you didn't know I wanted the vitamin water, doesn't mean I don't want to drink it!"

"I can look in the back for more," the cashier says. "Sometimes deliveries come in during my lunch break."

"Thanks, but unnecessary," Jim says. He swipes his card, takes his bag, and storms out. He barely makes it across the parking lot when Dustin's tugging him to a stop. "Enough," Jim snarls before Dustin can say anything. "I don't wanna talk about it anymore."

"We haven't started talking about it," Dustin bellows back at him. "You won't let me talk about it. You can't just kiss someone and then run away from them!"

"I can," Jim says. "And I am. Get in the fucking car. Right now. I wanna go home."

Dustin stares at him—red-faced and outraged. Jim stares back, trying to project cool contempt even though it was hard—he was hungover, he smelled like shit, and he didn't have his sunglasses.

"No," Dustin says finally. "We're going to talk about it." Jim, infuriated, tries to snatch the car keys out of his hand. Dustin easily evades him, and then, turning, tosses the keys in a perfect arc over the 7-foot fence bordering the edge of the parking lot. "There," he says, in a tone of satisfaction. "Now you have to talk to me."

[banannabethchase]

Take a Chance on Me - on AO3

Chapter 1: Prologue, I Have a Dream

~

Wheeler Moxley and Claudio Castagnoli have gotten engaged, and Wheeler's father, Jon, is elated. But there's one problem: 22 years ago, Mox was a bit...overcome by amorous feelings over a particularly crazy week, and doesn't know who Wheeler's other father is. The solution? Wheeler finds the three one night stands, and invites them to the wedding. Without telling anyone but Claudio. It'll be fine.

~

Okay. SO. A whole bucketload of disclaimers at the start of this. 1) There is a trans male character in this story who seeks out (rather irresponsible, but highly enjoyed) sex, and has penetrative sex (enthusiastically). Said trans character also finds himself pregnant and decides to keep the baby and carry it to term. If any of this is something that makes you uncomfortable, you can stop reading right now, no harm done. 2) Yes, Wheeler Yuta is actually Japanese and all dads involved are white guys. I know. We're suspending disbelief here because it's fanfiction and it's not real. Wheeler is still of Japanese descent in the fic. How? I don't know. I am neither a geneticist nor able to logic my way out of this, either. There appears to be no thread of logic in a Mamma Mia AU I came up with while driving home from a DnD party in February. 3) While this is a Mamma Mia! AU, it does not entirely align with the plot of the movie. I have taken liberties with much of the source material to make it match the characters, which I hope is acceptable.

Finally, I would not have been able to write this fic without the assistance of Bambi and Sarah, who have been the kindest sounding boards (and quality checkers) throughout this frenzied process. Thank you two <3

Without further ado, I hope you enjoy.

~

Wheeler swings their arms as they walk down the beach, hand in hand. Claudio’s been jittery all day, jumping at the most random of sounds, and Wheeler’s been – suspicious isn’t the right word, but something close to it.

“It’s really beautiful out here,” Claudio says, his voice squeaking on the last word. “The sunset, I mean.”

Wheeler nods, kicking at the waves as they slide up the sand to his toes. The water’s still a little chilly as it splashes over his flipflops, and he jumps.

“Cold?” Claudio asks.

Wheeler nods. “A little.” Claudio grins. “Don’t you fucking dare throw me in.”

“No?” Claudio asks. “What if –” He darts toward Wheeler to take him out at the knees, but Wheeler’s faster, spearing Claudio so he falls backward into the water, spluttering as the waves crash over his face.

Not for the first time, Wheeler finds his legs straddling Claudio’s hips. He grins. “We meet again.”

Claudio laughs, and then his face fades to something akin to panic. He starts patting at his pockets, practically throwing Wheeler off his lap as he sits up and scans the surface of the water. “Shit!” he yells, and Wheeler follows his hand as he grabs a little black box. “Oh, this isn’t how I. Oh no.”

Wheeler blinks. “Is that…?”

Claudio sighs, water dripping down his face as he pushes at Wheeler. “Stand up.”

His heart racing, Wheeler does so, the chill of the ocean water gone for the way his entire body lights up. “Claudio…”

A little labored, with his soaked jeans and shirt weighing him down, Claudio gets to one knee, holding out the sopping wet box. “Wheeler,” he says, lips presenting the name the way Wheeler likes hearing it best, “you’ve made me the man I am today, you knock me into the ocean and half drown me and I like it. You ruin my painstakingly designed proposal and are ten steps ahead of me at every turn.” He pops open the box, and a little platinum ring with black diamonds inlaid around the center makes itself known.

Wheeler’s heart has never beaten this fast. Not on the treadmill, not lifting weights, not in the ring with his dad. Not ever.

“Wheeler,” Claudio says, voice so soft it feels like silk, “will you marry me?”

He starts laughing, for some reason he can’t explain, and through it says, “Yes. Fuck, yes, Claudio, I’ll marry you.” Before he lets sense take over, he dives at Claudio, tackling them both back into the waves. He’ll find sand and salt all over himself for days, but so will Claudio, and it makes him want to catch this moment and trap it in the little box.

“Let me put the ring on you first!” Claudio laughs as he catches Wheeler and he practically tosses him back onto the sand. Wheeler gets a zing up his spine from it. He’ll never admit it, but being tossed around is part of the reason his yes was so immediate. Claudio’s hands shake, just the tiniest bit, as he slides the ring onto Wheeler’s finger.

“Can I tackle you into the water now?” Wheeler asks.

Claudio raises an eyebrow. “Or we go back to my house and,” he wiggles his eyebrows, “celebrate.”

Wheeler leaps to his feet. “Let’s go.”

The drive home is hands and lips making dangerous decisions, but, at the red light as the pass the gym, something hits him like a train.

“Oh, my god.”

“What?” Claudio says as they stop at a red light.

Wheeler’s eyes are locked on the Moxley Daily Fitness gym sign. “I gotta figure out who my other dad is.”

~

Wheeler is frowning at the ring on his finger as they drive home. Not because he’s annoyed at it, but because it has brought about a question he’d stop asking himself years ago.

“Wheeler.”

He snaps his head up to look at Claudio, who appears a bit concerned. “Yeah?”

“You do not need to find your other dad if you don’t want to,” Claudio says, and it’s clear he’s doing his best to stay neutral on the position. Wheeler would like him to have an opinion on this, just to have a better idea of what he should do next. “It’s okay to just have your dad walk you down the aisle.”

“No, because he’s going to marry us, duh,” Wheeler says, fidgeting with the ring on his finger. It fits perfectly. Almost too perfectly. “How did you figure out my ring size, exactly?”

Claudio’s grin is so knowing and smarmy it makes Wheeler want to blow him just to make his brain fall out so he forgets how to speak English. “Brought your dad into it. Remember when you were trying on his class rings the other day?”

“Son of a bitch,” Wheeler says, quietly.

“Wouldn’t that be calling your grandma a bitch?” Claudio asks. Wheeler pokes him in the ribs. “What I’m saying is that you may be able to sneak one by me, but I can surprise you, too.” His smile at the red light, directed right at Wheeler, is almost paralyzing. He almost forgets to berate him about the ring thing. Almost.

“Okay, speaking of which, are we actually going back to your place to bang, or are you bringing me to some sort of surprise engagement party?” He only feels half smug at the surprise on Claudio’s face. The other half is disappointed – his dick was very interested. “See, now I have a boner that’s going to go to waste.”

“It is not,” Claudio says, rolling his eyes as he turns back to the road. “Just. Keep it for…later? I guess.” He exhales. “I had a whole plan for this evening, and you knocked me into the ocean, so if either of us is going to be petulant tonight, it should be me.”

Wheeler shrugs. “You ask my dad first?”

Claudio barks out a laugh. “Yeah. Like Jon Moxley wants me to ask him permission for his son’s hand in marriage.”

“Maybe he would!” Wheeler asks. “I don’t know. Every once in a while he gets weirdly traditional about things.”

Claudio laughs even harder. “Your dad is as far from traditional as you can get.”

As they pull up in front of Claudio’s house, driveway full of cars, Wheeler’s not sure that’s true.

“Wheels!” his dad says, walking down the driveway with a big grin on his face. “How’d it go? You say yes, or do I have to take down the decorations?”

“You decorated?” Wheeler asks, letting himself be drawn into a familiar bear hug from his father.

“Course I did, buddy, my son’s getting married.”

Wheeler stares him down.

“Okay, so I had Renee and Britt help decorate,” he hedges, shrugging. “So sue me.”

“Meaning they insisted and you didn’t think of it until Renee came in with supplies,” Wheeler says as his dad gives him a noogie.

The house looks incredible – the hallmarks of Renee, who always decorates her station at their gym’s front desk impeccably for every season, all around. Wheeler gets pats on the back and congratulations from his friends, people who work at his dad’s gym, everyone. But Claudio never lets go of his hand.

“We’ve got snacks in the back,” says Britt, hustling them toward the back deck, “your dad had no part in making them.”

“Oh, thank god,” Claudio says on an exhale.

Wheeler can’t blame him.

The party’s not too raucous, with most of the people here sober or on diets requiring them to count macros, but Wheeler has a blast throughout the night.

“Did you see it coming?” Danny asks, running into him.

Wheeler shakes his head. “I had no idea.”

“Fuck yes!” he says, punching the air. “I helped make sure you weren’t busy today, so, really, this is all me.”

Wheeler pie faces him.

The party isn’t too big, thank god, and as the sun sets, Mox gives a toast to his son and his soon to be son in law. “To a growing family,” he ends, and they all clink glasses filled with nonalcoholic beers, soda, and hope.

~

Planning a wedding, Wheeler discovers, is hell. Without Renee and Claudio taking point, he’s pretty sure he would have settled for a backyard shindig or, hell, a courthouse afternoon. Instead, they’ve set it up so they have a hotel a few blocks down from their gym, right on the beach. Claudio and Wheeler, despite having a place nearby, have booked a hotel room from Thursday into Monday, just in case. They’ll have the ceremony in the courtyard, photos on the beach, and a reception in the hotel ballroom that overflows onto the sandy shores.

It helps, Wheeler muses, that his dad was able to coordinate with the Jacksons to use their hotel and give them unlimited access to the gym for a year in return.

“Well, Matt and Adam kinda saw you and Claudio and thought you were adorable, so,” Mox says. He’s convinced he sucks at the people part of the job. Wheeler’s not so sure his dad could suck at anything he cares about. “Only thing is, I gotta be nice to them all for the next few years.”

“You could always apologize for stealing Mr. Page’s car that one time,” Wheeler suggests.

His dad’s face darkens. “No. That was justified and he shouldn’t have tried to park overnight at the gym.”

Rolling his eyes, Wheeler goes back to the invitations. They’ve still got about two dozen to go.

The date creeps up slowly, with his phone calls across the country and across oceans to make sure everyone is available.

“Why is this harder than having a full time job?” Claudio complains as he falls back into bed. He splays across the width of it, so Wheeler just flops on top of him. Claudio lets out an oof.

“It feels like a full time job,” Wheeler mutters into Claudio’s chest. “We should’ve gotten married at a courthouse.”

“You say that all the time,” Claudio says, and Wheeler can practically hear the pout in his voice.

He lifts his head up to look a into Claudio’s eyes. “It’s because I care about marrying you,” he says firmly. “Not about all the other stuff.”

Claudio shrugs. “Yes, of course. But I also am really looking forward to that cake.”

[himbos-hotline]

(Fanfiction writing asks)

1, 7, 10, 11, 29

Believe it or not, I have answered thsi ask twice beore. Tumblr just said no each time I went to post it. So like, third times the charm we hope.

1.) Do you daydream a lot before you write, or go for it as soon as the ideas strike?

yes, to both. I write when the inspiration strikes and if I get stuck or really while im writing. I am going through scenes or little ideas. Most of the time, I people were watching me writing- im pulling facial expressions and practing diaglogue in in a little voice or like seeing if people can get into the position I can imagine them in.

7.) Post a snippet from a wip.

Nick had never been the brave one. Even as a child, he had cowered behind Matt, silently watching and waiting for his first knee-jerk reaction. Everyone in Nick’s contact lists were names that he had heard from his brother's mouth first.

From: Til Death do us part, please keep breaking my heart [Til it ceases to beat, please be mine] // chapter four

10.) Do you work on multiple wips or stick to one fic at a time?

I rotate between writing works at the moment. Although right now, I have really been hyperfocused on my hungbucks fic whichi s linked above if you wanna read it! However I am still working on asks, the friday wrestleprompts things, and my requests are still open! So if yall guys wanna send some in, I love getting requests [i also went through like a stupid period of deleting some or tumblr ate them cuz I dont remember deleting them.]

11.) Do you write scenes in order, or do you jump around?

I have to write scenes in order. If you're every wondering why it takes me so long to get multi-works published or out. Its because I am trying to logic out the next scene or the next sentence and my brain ins only giving me ideas for three chapters ahead.

29.) What’s something about your writing that you’re proud of?

In all honesty, I am enjoying writing again now that the fandom is awake and happy. There is so much less stress in the aew fandom that it brings me joy after being and producing content for either dead fandoms or fandoms that were just so fucking toxic it felt like walking on eggshells. I am happy and like proud of my writing since people are itneracting with it i na way that shows me that im getting my groove back. I am proud that my writing prokoes emotions and actually people see that theres real human emotions in it now, not just like sentences for the sake of sentences

ask game // Requesting rules // List of WIPS // askbox

[drunktuesdays]

For the week 2 prompt, have you considered: Matt Jackson/Orange

For @wrestleprompts: "It was you the whole time" this is Matt & Orange, not Matt/Orange because I'm a disgusting and repulsive little otper.

There was another vampire backstage. 

“You don’t know that,” Nick said disinterestedly, slouched in a folding chair. 

“I do know that, Nicholas,” Matt said. “I know because I’m a very good vampire, and I can sense our kind when they walk among us.”

Nick made a fart noise which Matt didn’t bother dignifying with a response. 

He did know there was another vampire backstage, because his extremely well developed vampire senses told him there was. He just couldn’t figure out who it was. 

“Ask Brandon to replace the cold spray with holy water, and see who howls,” Nick said.

“If you’re not going to help, then shut it,” Matt snapped, but he eyed Brandon speculatively for a minute—he could if they only—no, it wouldn’t work. It wasn’t technically speaking considered cool to reveal another vampire in front of their coworkers, unless you were simply such a good vampire that you figured it out with your vampirically enhanced super senses. No one could get mad at him for that. 

So he’d have to sleuth it out. Fine. 

It was tricky, obviously. For one thing, most of the stereotypes about vampires were like, huge exaggerations. Sure, garlic gave him a stomachache, but ever since he turned thirty, basically everything gave him a stomachache. He could see himself in mirrors, thank god, and he wore multiple kinds of cross jewelry on the regular. He liked Jesus. He liked to think Jesus would be a friend to vampires—the cool ones anyway.  

The one about sunshine though—that one was kind of true.  Not to the extent that people thought. He didn’t glitter or crumble into ash. But he did—uh—-start to smoke a little. At the edges. After like a half hour or so. 

No problem. That’s what they made spray tan for. 

At the next AEW Big Kid Leadership Club Meeting, Matt said loudly, “I think we should do an event on the beach.” 

Tony, who had been saying something boring about quarter hours, said, “What kind of event?” “Any event,” Matt said. “But it should be mandatory. All hands meeting. But the fun kind this time!”

After, Nick said, “You know that means we have to go too. What’s your plan for that?”

Matt scoffed. “I’ll tell you—just—later,” he said haughtily and stalked off. He ate a couple of Cornette fans in the parking lot until he stopped feeling so annoyed and started feeling crafty again. 

“I really like the new merch umbrellas,” Kenny said, twirling his. “They look good, and they’re really well made.”

“I agree,” Matt said. He was perched on a beach chair, watching the roster playing what looked like a viciously competitive game of volleyball. Eddie was shoving Daniel Garcia’s face into the sand and holding him there while he flailed. “Really keeps the sun off your neck.”

“Being smug gives you forehead wrinkles,” Nick said.

Matt flipped him off. and said, “Help me figure out who’s not here. Kenny—can you see, hmm—should we start with the belt holders, or alphabetical?”

Abruptly, a dark ominous shadow fell over them, blocking out the sun momentarily. 

“Hi Julia,” Kenny said cheerfully. 

“Hi Kenny,” Julia said. “We’re gonna make a sandcastle using sand Malakai brought back from Hell. Wanna help?”

“Not right now,” Kenny said. “Thanks though.”

“No problem,” Julia said, and started off towards the shore.  As they passed, Buddy said, “Can you believe Hangman got out of going to this?”

Matt went very very still. Kenny stiffened. “It’s not Adam,” he said. “Adam’s not a vampire.”

“He could be a vampire,” Matt said. “What do we know about Adam right now?”

“He’s not,” Kenny said, standing and turning on Matt. “He’s not a friggin vampire.”

Matt jumped to his feet, bristling. “Like there’s something wrong with vampires?” he hissed. “You think there’s something wrong with us?”

“No,” Kenny said, deflating. “No—of course not. Of course I love you and Nick. I think you guys are so special. I wouldn’t—I don’t think—” and he huffed, scrubbed his face. He said, “It’s not Adam.”

“We don’t even know if there is another vampire at AEW,” Nick said mildly. He hadn’t moved from his chair, and instead was concentrating on trying to balance the end of his umbrella handle on the palm of his hand. “All we’ve got to go on is Matt’s special senses.”

“Which never fails,” Matt said. When Kenny, Brandon and Nick all opened their mouths, he said quickly, “Shut up.”

He didn’t assume it was Adam. He didn’t. That would be foolish, and anyway—Adam knew Matt and Nick were vampires.  He knew, because he’d been friends with them for a very very long time, and just because they weren’t friends now, didn’t mean anything. Matt felt very sure that Adam would have come to them if he’d been turned. Probably he would. Maybe. 

Anyway, there were other people who’d missed the Mandatory Locker Room Harmony Beach Event, and he’d start there. 

But before he could, someone messed up. Big time. 

“Yeah,” Darby said, as enthusiastic as Matt had ever seen him. “Someone left a dead deer near the dumpster, and it had all the blood sucked out.”

“Oh my God,” Matt said. “That’s disgusting! Who would bother with a deer?”

“Huh?” Darby said. 

“Nevermind,” Matt said, and started speedwalking back to their locker room. 

Nick jogged up next to him, and said, “Okay, fine, so you were right.”

“Hold that thought, say it again when Brandon has his camera,” Matt said. “Also, help me figure out how I’m going to break it to Kenny that his ex-lover is a vampire!”

“Don’t say lover like that,” Nick said, “and you don’t know that it’s Adam.”

“Who else is self-loathing enough to feed from a deer,” Matt snapped, and they rounded a hallway, and Matt, startled, went rigid and hissed. 

Little Orange Cassidy Jim, in full denim and the sunglasses, sprang back a step, and then hissed back.  

“Oh my God,” Matt said, recovering himself. “It was you! The whole time!” 

“What do you mean it was him,” Dustin said. “Also—to be clear—what just happened was very weird.”

“Yeah,” Greg said. “Didn’t like the hissing.”

Nick said to Jim, “Do they know?”

“Know what?” Jim drawled in a blank, toneless voice. His eyes were hidden behind the sunglasses, but Matt could see his fists balled in his jacket pocket.

“Okay,” he said brightly. “We’re stealing your little boyfriend for important EVP business. Bye!” and he and Nick both used just a little bit of vamp strength to muscle Jim away from his stupid protesting friends, and back towards their locker room. 

“When did you get turned?” Matt demanded, the moment he was alone. “And you ate a deer? Buddy.”

“Turned into what,” Jim said. “I don’t know anything about that deer.”

Matt rolled his eyes. With barely a glance sideways at Nick, they both dropped their fangs in the same instant.  

Jim threw himself backwards into the wall, the sunglasses falling off his face and hitting the ground. He said in a yelp, “What the hell?” 

“Okay, even I can sense you,” Nick said, his voice lispy around the fangs. “You are a vampire.”

“I’m not,” Jim said, but now that his face was bare, Matt could see the nervous darting of his eyes around the room. 

“Uh-huh,” Matt said. “Unexplained blackouts in your memory? Not interested in catering? Deer fur in your mouth this morning?” 

Nick said, “Someone turned you. Who was it?”

Jim said bitchily, “If I knew, would I be learning I was a fucking vampire from you two freaks?” 

“Okay, rude,” Matt said. “You must have a guess.”

Jim sighed. Stared at the ceiling. Scrubbed his face. Then: “I was at GCW this weekend.”

“Hah!” Nick crowed. “I friggin told you Janela was turning people. I told you.” 

“Being smug gives you forehead wrinkles,” Matt shot back. 

Someone pounded on the door. Nick called, “Busy, come back later!”

“No,” Dustin called back. “Give me Jim back!” 

Matt surveyed Jim. “We should explain it to him too, since he’s clearly not going away.”

“What?” Jim said. “No. We’re not telling anyone.”

“Don’t you live with him?” Nick said. “You’ve gotta tell him.”

“Plus you should probably just feed on him,” Matt said. “It’s not like you’re gonna find deer in Philly.”

“Okay,” Jim said, outraged. “I’m not going to feed on Dustin!” 

Just as Jim said it, Dustin got the door open and barged in. He froze in the doorway and said, in a too high voice, “You’re not gonna do what now?”

Jim, as red as the side of a barn, said, nothing. Nick was collapsed in the corner, shaking with laughter. Matt rubbed at the headache forming in his temple and sighed. 

Honestly, he thought, it probably would have been easier if it had been Hangman. 

[drunktuesdays]

Wrestleprompt pairing thoughts: yuta and trent (my brain went to proposal of ceasefire)

For @wrestleprompts, "A proposal on the beach."

The beach was deserted when Yuta made his way down to the water.  He shivered, the cool breeze off the waves prickling the hairs on his arms. He didn’t want to be here. Nothing about this seemed like a good idea, and if Claudio and Mox knew what he was doing, they’d be ripshit. 

He shivered again, and rubbed his arms. Fucking Trent. If he wasn’t here in the next three minutes, Yuta was going back to the hotel. He didn’t care if—

Five feet away, a lighter flicked on in the dark. Yuta screamed and startled back, almost ending up on his ass in the dark.

“I thought you were a cool guy now,” Trent said, taking a drag on his cigarette.  “Isn’t that what you joined the bdsm freaks for?”

“Don’t call them that,” Yuta snapped, trying to will his heartbeat down to regular levels. “Jesus Christ, who hides in the dark like that?”

Trent stepped closer to the circle of dim light thrown off by the hotel’s patio. He said, “It’s nighttime, man. Have you ever experienced night time? It’s when the sun goes away, so it gets dark everywhere. It’s kind of a regular—”

“Shut up,” Yuta said. “I’m going back up.”

“Sensitive,” Trent said. “That’s why I didn’t want you in the group, you little baby. Hang on—look, you know I wouldn’t have called you here for something stupid.”

“I figured you called me here to jump me,” Yuta said, sullenly. 

“If I did, you’re an idiot for coming alone,” Trent said.  He crouched for a minute, and stubbed his cigarette out in the sand before standing back up and tucking it in his shirt pocket.  

“You save cigarette butts?” Yuta asked.

“What? No, man,” Trent said. “I’m gonna throw it out when I find a trash can. You throwing trash on the beach? You dump your little trash all over the beach?”

“No!”  “It could get in the water and kill a dolphin, dude,” Trent said reproachfully. 

“I’m leaving,” Yuta said, and started back up the sand towards the hotel.

“It’s about Chuck,” Trent called.  

Yuta stopped walking. He said, without turning around, “What makes you think I give a shit?”  

“Cause you do,” Trent said. “You hate me, and for some reason you’ve decided you hate Orange, but you still love Chuck, don’t you?”

“No,” Yuta said, still not turning back. He squinted up at the lights—he could see Silver in the distance, doing what looked like the chicken dance with Rush. 

“C’mon,” Trent said. “He needs your help.”

“Then why isn’t he here asking me directly?” Yuta said, finally facing Trent. “Why’d he send you?”

“He doesn’t know I’m here,” Trent said. Then: “Wait, wait, wait! Hang on—look. Would I be asking you for help if I didn’t mean it?  Look—you know his secret, right?”

“That he’s a werewolf?”

“Okay man, are you just gonna scream it? You wanna just yell as loud as you can? Make sure—”

“I didn’t say it that loud—”

“—Everyone can hear—you did say it that loud. Okay, well yeah. That secret. He’s lost control of his shift, man.”

Yuta blinked. “What’s that mean?”

Trent rolled his eyes. He said, “What do you think we’re in those dweeby tracksuits for, huh? To hide his tail. He’s growing his hair out because sometimes his ears are going pointy and shit.”

“I don’t know why that’s my problem,” Yuta said, but he heard how weak his voice was. Chuck was weird—real weird. All the Best Friends were. Weirder than anyone gave them credit for. But the werewolf stuff—Chuck had never seemed to mind it very much. Mostly seemed to shrug it off.  It didn’t make sense—Chuck losing control? Not handling his stuff? It didn’t seem right. It wasn’t—

“Fuck off,” Trent said. “I know he’s like, your hero or whatever—”

“No—”

“Look,” Trent said. “I don’t like it. But he thought of you as part of his pack. And now he’s not doing so good. The full moon is tomorrow.”

“Okay?” Yuta said, uncertainly. 

From behind him, Orange said, “So we’re asking you to run with us, Jimmy. For one night.”

Yuta startled. Fell over for real. 

“This fuckin idiot,” Trent groaned. 

[drunktuesdays]

for the wrestleprompt, alpha4alpha 😈

For @wrestleprompts week 5: A reluctant trip to the zoo to make their partner happy. Nominally set in #Alpha4Alpha canon, but after the series ends.

"I'm not going to the zoo," Danny says, folding his arms over his chest.

"The hell you ain't," Eddie says, outraged. "You're the one who was like 'Oh, Mox, we'd love to babysit. No problem!' like a fuckin' suckup, and now you're tryna' wiggle out? Fuck that, bro."

"You never said we had to go to the zoo," Danny says stubbornly. "I don't like the zoo."

"Who doesn't like the zoo? What's wrong with you?"

"I don't like zoos!" Danny says. "They freak me out! Let's go bowling or some shit. Paintball."

"How old do you think Mox's kid is?" Eddie says. Then, "Whaddya mean zoos freak you out. Didn't Chris just have you guys do a photoshoot with snakes or some shit?"

"Yeah," Danny says, and preens. "That was cool as hell. That cobra loved me."

"Yeah yeah, whatever," Eddie says. "They got snakes at the zoo. Problem solved."

"Not just snakes," Danny says. He opens a kitchen cabinet and takes out a can of his bullshit protein powder. Eddie didn't know he was keeping a can here. Danny didn't ask or anything. Eddie watches him slam a scoop into a cup, and doesn't say shit about it.

Instead, he says, "Yeah, like lions and shit. C'mon, whatever, we'll walk around for a bit, get some ice cream, tire her out and—"

WHIRRRRRR The blender's so fuckin loud Eddie has to stop talking and wait for the kid to finish. He's pretty sure Danny keeps it going for way longer than he's gotta, but finally it shuts off and the kitchen is quiet again.

"You're gonna tell me why you're being a weird guy," Eddie says.

Danny's shoulders are tense, and he's refusing to turn and face Eddie, so what the hell. Eddie comes to the mountain. He crosses the kitchen and slides a hand up Danny's back until he reaches the top of Danny's spine. Curls his hand around Danny's neck, and squeezes for a beat, making a little collar of his fingers.

"Cheater," Danny says, but Eddie can feel his body going loose and liquid under Eddie's hand, so Eddie don't give a shit.

"Tell me," Eddie murmurs. Kisses the side of the kid's neck.

Danny's quiet for another beat, and then he says, "I don't like giraffes."

"You don't like giraffes," Eddie repeats.

"Or zebras," Danny says. He finally turns and faces Eddie, his eyebrows knitted together in a scowl. "Animals with eyes on the side."

"Eyes on the—are you fucking with me right now?"

"Man, I knew you'd be like this," Danny says. "That's why I don't tell you nothing. Now you're gonna go tell Mox and he's gonna look at me some more."

"He don't look at you, bighead," Eddie says. "Goats? You scared of a goat?"

"He does look at me. He looks at me like he thinks I should go away and you know it. And I'm not scared of nothing—"

"—Deer? Tell me you're not—"

"—I said they freak me out. You know deer eat meat?"

"So do I," Eddie says. The doorbell rings. He grins, steps forward, kisses Danny hard on his mouth. When Eddie pulls back, Danny sways forward, chasing him. "Come to the zoo," Eddie murmurs. "I'll protect you from the meat eating deer. And I'll make it worth your while."

"Man, fuck you—"

"Yeah, sure," Eddie says, and smirks. "That's on the table."

Danny chokes.