I Won't Tell Anybody
When they had reached the arena and changed into their gear (John sans shirt and Legacy sans their oil; they’d get to that later when they were actually before the crowds, other wrestlers following the same relaxed code as per usual) they made their way down to the practice ring. John spotted Evan sitting off to the side and since he was alone John surmised that either Kofi hadn’t arrived yet or he had popped off for a drink or something. “I’ll catch up with you in a bit,” John murmured into Randy’s ear, giving his lover’s back the briefest of caresses as he turned away and moved over to his friend. Cody sighed suddenly and the other Legacy members looked at him.
“I don’t really like this,” he admitted softly, “I mean…” he trailed off and glanced across to where John had just reached Evan--- the smaller man smiled but there was a definite lack of usual bubble in the expression than usual. Ted placed a hand on the back of Cody’s neck in a silent gesture of support and understanding. He had seen the way Cody had bonded with the other man when the group of John’s friends and they had gotten together that time and he was obviously concerned that the burgeoning friendship he had started cultivating with the man would be ruined. Randy looked slightly clueless, wondering why Cody had suddenly looked so despondent and for a moment Ted was about to call him an oblivious idiot… until he remembered they hadn’t mentioned the meeting.
“It’s like you said,” Ted cut in quickly, softly, hoping to bolster the other, “If we can give him the chance to try and get one over on us before we gang up on him then he’ll look good too.” He could understand the other’s frustration enough; he had been concerned he was going to fall down to being mid-card fodder when Legacy broke up, or the earlier days in Priceless when he had to go out for injury and then for his film. “Yeah, I guess so,” Cody sent his lover a quick smile and then schooled his expression. People had an opinion on them and admittedly he didn’t care to dissuade it too much.
They weren’t bad guys and they knew it, but other people obviously had their preconceptions due to their closeness with Randy and each other. It had been hard at first to have been shunned the way that they could be but he was used to it now. Besides, having Ted and Randy there did make it easier. The funny thing was though that even though Ted was quite introverted by nature if he made an effort and put himself out in social situations then people flocked to him--- and not just because he was the most handsome man to ever live. And, yes, his love for Ted outweighed the once all-consuming crush he had had on Randy when he was younger. Something he would never live down.
As Legacy made their way towards the ring some nodded to them and others sent them weary looks. Randy was mildly surprised when Miz and JoMo offered Ted and Cody brief smiles, he receiving a nod, before they returned to sparring. Looking at his boys Randy arched a brow in silent question. Immediately the blonde and ravenette launched into a conversation and sparring moves and Randy fought an indulgent smile; they were so damned obvious sometimes, more so than himself he was sure. He didn’t think they were keeping anything bad back from him but he’d corner them on it later on. He found himself looking at John as he leant back on a turnbuckle, wondering how the talk was.
“So, you’re not too pissed about it?” John clarified to his friend, feeling a small prickle of awareness that accompanied eyes on him but he didn’t turn away from Evan--- he didn’t want to give the impression that he wasn’t paying attention to his friend. “Yeah,” Evan sighed, legs coming up and resting on the seat in front of him from where he had adopted a spot on the lower-levels of the fans’ seating, “I mean, at least I’m getting on TV and not just being relegated to house-shows or Superstars, huh?” John squeezed Evan’s shoulder lightly and the smaller man gave John a little smile; out of all of his friends John was probably the one who knew the most about Evan’s true feelings when it came to his career, though admittedly Chris was probably second. He had long since learned that Chris had meant it most sincerely when he had said that he wanted Evan to talk to him when he felt angry, frustrated, happy, whatever, when it came to his job and workings.
Chris was across the room speaking to someone of their Tech team and Evan’s expression softened. John followed the line of his gaze and his dimples appeared just a little before he leant in and whispered, “Close your mouth, Ev, drool is a dangerous substance for anyone who could slip on it when they aim for this seat later.” Evan smacked John’s shoulder though he joined him in companionable chuckles. Evan would be Ok with this eventually, like he had told himself: TV was better than nothing and it wasn’t exactly a loss was it?
“Hey, Ev, can I ask you something?” he started and Evan turned towards John with a mildly surprised expression on his face that the other would be so formal about it. “Well, by this stage in our friendship together I would like to think so. What’s wrong?” the brunette ran a hand over his short hair and sighed, leaning back in the chair he sat on. “Well, it’s not that something’s wrong exactly, but…” he looked to the ring where Legacy were, Randy now sparring with Ted as Cody watched, “Did something happen between you and Cody?” he realised how that could be taken and paused.
“I mean, you know, have you spoken to him or anything?” damn it; it wasn’t sounding any better even when he tried to clarify was it? Evan meanwhile was looking at him with what John would swear was amusement in his eyes. John resisted the urge to look around to try and figure out what could be funny about what he’d asked. “Why would you ask that?” the younger man stretched his legs out, tights snugly hugging his strong thighs. The brunette folded his arms over his chest slightly in a defensive gesture and shrugged a little, “I just, it’s…” he sighed and then admitted, “Cody and Ted both seemed a little uncomfortable about what’s going down on Monday and it just had me wondering.” He doubted they’d care so much for just anybody.
“Well, I guess it won’t hurt to tell you that Miz, JoMo, Cody, Ted and I went out for drinks. JoMo and Mike had suggested it since it seemed logical for us to all get to know one another since we’re so close to you and they’re so close to Randy.” John gaped slightly, wondering how on earth he could have possibly missed that. “When did you go out together?” when Evan mentioned where it was John gave a slight laugh, “I guess that explains why I wasn’t invited.”
“That wasn’t it,” Evan teased, “I just didn’t want to subject myself to your drunken dancing again.” He burst into laughter as John looked startled, the expression morphing into a smile before too long before he then reached and grabbed Evan in a playful headlock, ruffling his hair. Several people glanced at the proceedings but then returned to whatever they were doing after a little grin or chuckle. It wasn’t the first time those two had been mucking around like that after all.
Randy had exited the ring for a moment to take a drink and let Cody and Ted continue sparring when he sensed someone walking up beside him. Glancing up he was a little surprised to find himself faced with Chris Jericho. The blonde had one of those little half-smiles on his face as he nodded slightly, “Alright Orton?” Randy nodded his head back and gave a small smile. Out of all the people on the roster he had never really had a problem with Jericho and he had enjoyed working with the veteran before. “Hey Jericho, glad to hear that botched move wasn’t so bad.” Chris waved a hand slightly to dispel the comment and nodded, “Yeah, just a knock to the head is all.”
Somehow Randy would bet that Chris wasn’t there to just exchange meaningless pleasantries with him, and, sure enough, he asked, “Has something been going on recently?” Randy gave him a level look back, not wanting to dive into anything in case Chris had something else on his mind. Apparently the Canadian had been expecting that he’d hedge a response because he asked, “There’s been a lot of talk backstage about Hunter and Shawn…” Randy knew he could trust Chris, because he’d been in a similar position in his earlier days in the company, apparently, but it was like trying to pull teeth if you wanted to find any information out about it, “We’re handling it,” Randy said slowly after a pause.
Though the blonde was undoubtedly irritated by the lack of response as such he merely nodded slightly and said, “Alright.” The offer for help if he needed it was unspoken but Randy got it and he gave Chris a slight nod to indicate it. The Canadian then glanced back to the stands, undoubtedly seeking out the high-flier. “You don’t have to worry about him, you know-“he said lightly, taking another sip of his drink.
“I know, but-“the blonde then slowly turned, a surprised expression making its way onto his face before he then sighed slightly and quirked a wan smile, “I suppose I shouldn’t be completely surprised that someone knows. Did he tell you?” he didn’t think Evan had much to do with Randy face-to-face but the younger man had said about John and Randy being together so it could have slipped. He knew how hard it was for Evan to keep their relationship under wraps -it was hard for him too- but it was for the best right then. One day circumstances would change. He hoped.
“I saw you both together in the hotel hallway,” he said, didn’t need to drop Evan into any bother, or to give John any, he supposed. Chris nodded slightly and chuckled, looking to Randy when he said, “My boys aren’t gonna hurt him. They’re gonna give him a chance.” Not the usual MO of Legacy sure but meh, no one’d notice it. “I’ll take your word for that,” Chris said, watching as Evan waved to Kofi and headed out of the stands, John following and giving the dark-skinned man a high-five of greeting when he reached him.
“Well,” Chris said bracingly after getting lost looking at Evan for a few moments, Ted and Cody approaching them snapping him out of his stupor, “I’ll see you later, Orton. Have fun tonight.” He nodded to Cody and Ted as they passed by him and then made his way out of the ring area. Cody snagged Randy’s drink from his hand and drained a good portion of it before handing it to Ted. The blonde hesitated mere moments before draining the last of the bottle--- and almost choking when Randy commented they’d just had a three-way indirect kiss.
“We should put that bottle on eBay,” Cody said lightly as Ted continued to sputter and Randy smirked a he thumped him on the back, “We could sell it for a fortune if the fans found out.” Once the blonde recovered from his coughing fit he looked to Randy and asked, “What was up with Jericho?” he asked, and Randy lightly responded, “Oh, he was just asking how things were going. Said you two are shaping up well.” The two looked surprised and pleased and although Randy was bringing a subtext to front that hadn’t been explicitly expanded on he wasn’t lying and they wouldn’t know any different, “You should have a good match tonight and Monday.”
~:~
“Yeah, but we should talk things through with Evan and Kofi,” commented Ted absently. “It’s not cool to just go out there and beat Evan down, even if you’ll be off chasing Kofi somewhere.”
Randy shot him a rather amused look. “You’re very concerned about Evan today,” he mentioned.
“I’d hardly describe myself as very concerned,” Ted replied haughtily. “It’s just polite. I mean, we might want him to do us a favour one day and it pays to treat people fairly.”
“Uh-huh,” said Randy, not sounding convinced in the slightest. Inwardly though he was glad that Cody and Ted had chosen not to throw their weight around when they were in a position to do so.
“Look, there’s Kofi over there,” said Cody, pointing to where the man had just wandered in, looked around and made a beeline for Evan. “We’ll go collar them and then discuss what we’re doing tonight. Who’ve you got Randy?”
“Tonight? John.” Randy gave a wicked little grin. “Someone must think we need to practice wrestling together ahead of the pay-per-view.”
“That and people pay plenty to see you two make fuck-me-hard eyes at each other,” responded Cody. “Good luck with that. You’ll have to get together with Kofi before Monday to sort out your part, shall we suggest getting together after the show or something?”
“Suggest that we talk it over tomorrow,” suggested Randy with a slightly lecherous glance at John.
“What, he didn’t get enough of the champ last night?” Ted rolled his eyes. “Give the poor boy a break Randy!”
“Fine then, we’ll meet up after the show at the hotel bar,” said Randy with a little bad grace before brightening. “Hey, the Raw after that, there’ll probably be some kind of three on three match, John, Kofi and Evan against us!”
“Yeah, well it’ll be the Raw after the Pay-per-view so Shawn might have other ideas,” said Cody, wrinkling his nose. “He’ll have a loss to explain and a feud to set up.”
Randy nodded sombrely. “I suppose he will. But I think that he’ll decide to just do a speech at the start, then him and Hunter can probably collar you two while you show off over your win. Assuming we win. And then the loss’ll drag you into it.”
“And leave you to focus on John.” Cody smirked. “Come on Teddy, let’s grab them before they take off. See you later Randy!”
Randy watched them go over to Kofi and Evan, a slightly indulgent smile on his face - they would be fine, he hoped, Shawn and Hunter both valued their public appearances over their private lives and if his boys could give them a damned good feud then it would probably end up as the main event on a couple of pay-per-views and the mild animosity would turn to a grudging respect. Or so he hoped.
He took a swig of his water and considered Jericho’s intervention. It wasn’t wholly surprising but he hadn’t been expecting it. The man was pretty close-mouthed about his own life, to the Legacy at least, but he wasn’t afraid to stand up when he thought something was out of order. And they could do worse than to have Chris in their corner. He had plenty of sway of his own, he was canny about the business and perhaps most importantly, Vince McMahon thought a lot of him and was willing to give him leeway. If they needed Vince’s ear at any point, they could do worse than get some advice or information from the veteran.
He and John could throw a decent match together without even thinking about it and the man was still deep in talks with Evan, so he headed off to the Legacy locker room - and wasn’t at all surprised to see Shawn loitering in the area. Upon seeing Randy he smirked, his eyes darting behind the man to look for John and not seeing him. Randy’s eyes narrowed and he decided it might be a good time to text John, let him know someone was waiting for him and it wasn’t just him.
Shawn’s eyes darted from side to side and deciding they had enough privacy for him, approached Randy with a smug grin on his face. “Orton.”
“Michaels.”
“I heard that John managed to upset Hunter.” Shawn shook his head in mock sorrow. “He’s not gonna be getting away with that. I’d be able to chill Hunter out, but it’s not like I have a reason to. It might be better for John to really think about who can help him - and who his friends are.”
“John knows. He’s a big boy, though I’m sure I don’t have to remind you about that, he can make up his own mind and get himself out of trouble.” Randy’s entire aura was cold. “And neither of us want your help or your presence. I’m warning you Michaels, make yourself scarce. He’s not interested.”
“And I’m warning you Orton.” Shawn’s own expression was stony. “You don’t have as much pull around here as you seem to think you do.”
“Maybe it’s you who’s deluded about that.” Randy smirked suddenly. “Vince isn’t about to sacrifice half his main eventers to satisfy your ego, especially when you just can’t go anymore. You two might have a history but Vince is about the money. We bring it and we can bring it for years. You’ve made him pretty much all you can. All you’ve got is your sympathy run with DX and maybe some singles feud, some money farewell match. You might be able to draw in some big favours, but you’re damned close to being all washed up and Vince won’t sacrifice what he thinks is for the good of the company, not even for Hunter.”
“Vince won’t be in charge forever-“
“Oh please. Vince is gonna be in charge until he pegs out and that won’t be until long after even me and John are in your place - all washed up and ready to be taken ‘round back and put out of our misery, and everyone else’s.”
“Glad you think I’ve got that long left in me Orton,” said a voice from around the corner and a moment later, Vince McMahon himself walked into view. Both Randy’s and Shawn’s eyes widened - it was almost unheard of for Vince to show on a house show outside of Madison Square Gardens and no one had expected him there that night.
Shawn was the first to recover himself. “Vince! You’re looking well, my man.” He went over and made as if to sling a matey arm around the bosses shoulders. Vince’s look at him though was positively glacial and Shawn wilted mid-way through the action, his arms going to his side. Randy was pretty sure he was in for a bollocking of his own, since Vince had just heard him use a less than complimentary term for his death. And what the hell was Mr McMahon doing there anyway?
~:~
Even Shawn looked as though he was wondering how much Vince had heard of their conversation. He had always said he didn’t care what his wrestlers and divas did together behind closed doors, but as soon as things seemed as though they might veer into interfering with business then he got mad. And everyone who knew Vince knew that when he got mad something happened--- and more often than not it was not something good. Vince looked between the Heartbreak Kid and the Viper and then pointed to the other end of the corridor and said, darkly, “My office. Now.” Randy bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying something he’d get into more bother for.
The blonde man seemed to be trying to engage Vince in conversation as they walked but their boss wasn’t having any of it, and although he had no idea what was coming Randy couldn’t lie and say he didn’t get some small measure of satisfaction from the fact that their boss was completely ignoring the man who believed himself to be so in-tight with the head honcho that nothing would go as he -or Hunter- didn’t want it to. When they reached what appeared to be Vince’s office for however long he was there Vince shoved the door open firmly and then stood to the side, Randy sauntering in as Shawn seemed to hesitate.
Once inside the door closed after them both with a sharp ‘snap!’ and the two men turned to their boss as one, waiting to see what he was so pissed off about--- aside from Randy’s comment about how he’d never let go of the reins, of course. “Sit,” Vince all but growled and although Randy once again wanted to internally rebel against the command he waited until Shawn had seated himself before then doing the same himself. Vince seated himself on the other side of the desk in the not-entirely-surprisingly-lavish room and then steepled his fingers together as he looked across at them.
“I always knew this day would come,” he started and Randy arched a brow slightly in question as Shawn seemed to cock his head, neither man knowing if the comment was directed at him. “I let it pass when you seemed to have an interest in Cena, Shawn-“something about the way Vince said it seemed to make Shawn adopt a shame-faced expression and Randy almost snorted; the man had no shame whatsoever. “And when it seemed that the tension between you and Cena seemed to have boiled over I overlooked that too.” He’d never liked the knowledge that Shawn was messing around on his missus but since Shawn had been keeping things on a low with John in public and wasn’t neglecting his wife or anything he had passed it off. Randy had no such obligations, so...
“I will not overlook what I just heard out there in the hallway. This is a business not some… muscle-bound brothel!” it actually seemed to pain Vince to use the word and Randy found that slightly ironic since for all he gave off the paragon of family and such now he had been no saint back in the day when either his wife or children were involved even though realistically he did care for Linda and he loved his kids and grandkids. However, it seemed like the man wasn’t done, “Who you fuck makes no never-mind to me but when you’re messing around and going to fuck up business it does matter to me and I won’t have it!” Shawn opened his mouth.
“I don’t give a fuck who you think you are or how much sway you have, I am the man in charge -as you so graciously put it, Orton-“Randy didn’t bother to look too shamefaced, “and I’ll have no issue throwing you both out of here.” Deep down all three men knew that was a front though; too much money involved. However, Vince would punish them somehow and even Randy wouldn’t overlook that. If Vince really put his mind to it he could put a top-carder to a mid-carder or worse in mere hours. “You’re both gonna get a fine for this and if I have to call you up on this again---”
The threat was left hanging and neither Randy nor Shawn was left under any illusion as to what he was getting at. “You’ll receive the official fine form standard procedure by the end of the night. Now get out of my sight. Oh, and, boys?” Randy opened the door, not slowing his walk though Shawn didn’t seem to be about to follow despite being dismissed, “Put on some good matches tonight, got it?” Randy let the door slam behind him, growling underneath his breath as he made his way back towards the Legacy changing room. Techies, divas and superstars alike all moved aside when Randy passed by them, sensing the man was in a burgeoning mood for a fight--- something they hadn’t seen in a while actually, come to think of it.
John happened to be outside of the locker-room when Randy reached it, undoubtedly looking for his lover. Just as he was turning away he caught sight of Randy heading his way and beamed at him, dimples on full display. The expression forced Randy to put the brakes on his temper as he approached but it seemed that he hadn’t been fast enough because John’s smile slipped and he immediately looked concerned instead. He had left Evan and Kofi along with Cody and Ted not too long back and figured that he and Randy should at least talk through what they would do that night… and maybe get in a little snogging beforehand, you know?
“What happened?” he asked voice low and serious. Randy sighed and moved before John to open the locker-room door, letting himself and his lover in before closing the door behind him. As usual when John seemed uneasy he bounced expectantly on the balls of his feet as Randy slouched over to the nearby bench where his stuff rested and dropped down heavily beside it. Scrubbing his hands over his face and his hair Randy then hissed out a breath and rolled his shoulders; though his face seemed calm his muscles were bunched--- an unmistakeable sign of his tension.
“Let’s just say my paycheck is going to be really light this month,” was all Randy said by way of an explanation. John looked completely non-plussed and Randy hadn’t expected any different from him. A fine was pretty lucky considering Vince wasn’t exactly someone who could take personal things on the chin, but he was still pissed off that he was being punished alongside Shawn--- being grouped with the man even a little bit made his gorge rise. “Oh, one more thing: the boss knows we’re together. Well, he knows we’re fucking at least,” he added as an afterthought.
~:~
John managed to choke on nothing at all. “What do you mean Vince knows?”
“I mean he knows.” Randy shrugged, trying to make it not look like a big deal although he could tell that John was about five seconds away from exploding. “He uh, might have overheard me mouthing off at Shawn when the asshole saw me in the corridor.”
“Oh god.” John covered his eyes. “He didn’t know about me and Shawn before all of this-“
“He did actually,” snapped Randy, who didn’t like John talking about ‘me and Shawn’ even slightly. “He mentioned it. And he heard Shawn trying to threaten us with losing our place on the card and fined the pair of us.”
“I don’t think you’re looking at living in a cardboard box just yet,” replied John absently, rubbing his forehead as if he was getting a headache. “He heard you and Shawn arguing over me?”
“Yeah… and talking about when he’s gonna retire. Or die.”
“RANDY!!”
Randy took a step back - there was that explosion he’d been waiting for. “John, it’s not as bad as it sounds-“
“It couldn’t be any worse than it sounds!” John let out a deep breath. “Fuck, what did Vince have to say?”
Randy started to speak and John interrupted. “Word for word Randy, I wanna know what he knows about my private life thanks to the pair of you.”
Randy didn’t quite dare edit things in case John caught him out on it, although he wished he had when he mentioned the ‘musclebound brothel’ remark. John looked mortified and by the time he’d finished, John looked ready to sink through the floor. Randy didn’t so much finish what he had to say as run out of words, feeling rather unnerved as John didn’t resume shouting, didn’t even speak to him.
“Um, John?”
John looked at him wearily. “So, Vince thinks I’m some kinda whore?”
“No!”
“Sure sounds like it. And he’s gonna be watching us all the time now, you know that!”
“Could be a good thing.”
John growled. “Explain to me Orton, if you can, how being watched by the boss for signs that we’re gonna forget the script and fuck in the ring can be a good thing?”
“Think about it,” said Randy soothingly, although he was a little struck by the role reversal. Five minutes ago he’d been ready to punch the locker, now he was trying to stop John going into a rage of his own - and tempering that had put the lid on his own emotions a little. “Shawn’s gonna be on his best behaviour for a while now and he might have gotten over it by the time he feels like acting like a bad guy. And with Vince watching us at all times… well, let’s just say if there’s anyone in the world that Hunter doesn’t wanna piss off, it’s Vince McMahon. Can you imagine the bloodshed?”
John stopped before he started ranting and Randy pressed the advantage. “You can just bet that Vince is gonna have words with Hunter about reining Shawn in for a while and that’ll warn him off too.”
“Not forever.”
“For long enough. By the time it all blows over, he might have moved onto the next poor bastard.”
“Or it could be that Vince asks Hunter to keep an extra special close eye on us.”
Randy winced; that had actually occurred to him too and he told John the same thing as he had told himself. “I don’t know that he will actually. Vince knows how close those two are and I don’t think he’ll have missed how they turn into juvenile assholes around each other. He might ask Hunter to keep an eye on Shawn but us? I think he’ll pointedly suggest that they steer clear. Trips likes where his life is far too much to upset things, even for my hot body.”
John looked hopeful for a moment, then groaned again. “Oh no. This is so fucking embarrassing!”
“What is?” asked Randy. “The boss knowing you’re fucking me?”
Catching the slight undertone in Randy’s voice, John glanced at his lover. “That he has to call us out on it. Shit Randy!”
“What?” Randy was starting to look annoyed all over again. “I thought we decided we weren’t standing for it anymore and we were gonna tell them to fuck off in no uncertain words. Michaels decided to throw in the whole part about how much pull he had and I answered him back. Fuck, when has Vince ever shown up to a house show?”
“I know, I know.” John leaned his head back against the wall and sighed, something about his body language telling Randy that he wasn’t about to get any loving before the match at this rate. Hell, he’d be lucky to get any after either. “Dammit Randy, why does everything have to be a fight at the moment?”
“I wish I knew.”Randy shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Look, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I never intended on landing you in the shit with Vince… I’m not even sure you are to be honest. He’s pissed with me and Michaels but he’s not asked to see you yet, has he?”
“He’ll want words after the match, or Monday night if he’s only dropping by,” said John gloomily. “Probably warning me to keep it in my pants or to stop with half the roster chasing me-“
“Half the roster better not be chasing you, or I’ll be on the warpath-“
“Telling me to make sure we don’t get pictured making out or else there’s gonna be some serious trouble and he’ll sue or something-“
“We’re never gonna get a moment to ourselves any more and Hunter and Shawn can probably play this whole thing to their advantage in some way we don’t even see right now-“
“We can get through their shit no problem, we’ve done it so far.”
“It was hardly no problem and now-“
“I love you.”
“And-“ John’s mouth caught up to his ears and he stopped in a hurry, all thoughts of Vince and any potential payback wiped from his mind. Suddenly there was no one but him and Randy and the words still ringing in his ears. Randy looked completely sincere and suddenly mildly terrified. John would have bet that Randy hadn’t planned on letting that one slip but his lover’s mouth had a habit of running away with him. Whether or not he meant to say it, John didn’t doubt for a second that he meant it.
“I don’t really like this,” he admitted softly, “I mean…” he trailed off and glanced across to where John had just reached Evan--- the smaller man smiled but there was a definite lack of usual bubble in the expression than usual. Ted placed a hand on the back of Cody’s neck in a silent gesture of support and understanding. He had seen the way Cody had bonded with the other man when the group of John’s friends and they had gotten together that time and he was obviously concerned that the burgeoning friendship he had started cultivating with the man would be ruined. Randy looked slightly clueless, wondering why Cody had suddenly looked so despondent and for a moment Ted was about to call him an oblivious idiot… until he remembered they hadn’t mentioned the meeting.
“It’s like you said,” Ted cut in quickly, softly, hoping to bolster the other, “If we can give him the chance to try and get one over on us before we gang up on him then he’ll look good too.” He could understand the other’s frustration enough; he had been concerned he was going to fall down to being mid-card fodder when Legacy broke up, or the earlier days in Priceless when he had to go out for injury and then for his film. “Yeah, I guess so,” Cody sent his lover a quick smile and then schooled his expression. People had an opinion on them and admittedly he didn’t care to dissuade it too much.
They weren’t bad guys and they knew it, but other people obviously had their preconceptions due to their closeness with Randy and each other. It had been hard at first to have been shunned the way that they could be but he was used to it now. Besides, having Ted and Randy there did make it easier. The funny thing was though that even though Ted was quite introverted by nature if he made an effort and put himself out in social situations then people flocked to him--- and not just because he was the most handsome man to ever live. And, yes, his love for Ted outweighed the once all-consuming crush he had had on Randy when he was younger. Something he would never live down.
As Legacy made their way towards the ring some nodded to them and others sent them weary looks. Randy was mildly surprised when Miz and JoMo offered Ted and Cody brief smiles, he receiving a nod, before they returned to sparring. Looking at his boys Randy arched a brow in silent question. Immediately the blonde and ravenette launched into a conversation and sparring moves and Randy fought an indulgent smile; they were so damned obvious sometimes, more so than himself he was sure. He didn’t think they were keeping anything bad back from him but he’d corner them on it later on. He found himself looking at John as he leant back on a turnbuckle, wondering how the talk was.
“So, you’re not too pissed about it?” John clarified to his friend, feeling a small prickle of awareness that accompanied eyes on him but he didn’t turn away from Evan--- he didn’t want to give the impression that he wasn’t paying attention to his friend. “Yeah,” Evan sighed, legs coming up and resting on the seat in front of him from where he had adopted a spot on the lower-levels of the fans’ seating, “I mean, at least I’m getting on TV and not just being relegated to house-shows or Superstars, huh?” John squeezed Evan’s shoulder lightly and the smaller man gave John a little smile; out of all of his friends John was probably the one who knew the most about Evan’s true feelings when it came to his career, though admittedly Chris was probably second. He had long since learned that Chris had meant it most sincerely when he had said that he wanted Evan to talk to him when he felt angry, frustrated, happy, whatever, when it came to his job and workings.
Chris was across the room speaking to someone of their Tech team and Evan’s expression softened. John followed the line of his gaze and his dimples appeared just a little before he leant in and whispered, “Close your mouth, Ev, drool is a dangerous substance for anyone who could slip on it when they aim for this seat later.” Evan smacked John’s shoulder though he joined him in companionable chuckles. Evan would be Ok with this eventually, like he had told himself: TV was better than nothing and it wasn’t exactly a loss was it?
“Hey, Ev, can I ask you something?” he started and Evan turned towards John with a mildly surprised expression on his face that the other would be so formal about it. “Well, by this stage in our friendship together I would like to think so. What’s wrong?” the brunette ran a hand over his short hair and sighed, leaning back in the chair he sat on. “Well, it’s not that something’s wrong exactly, but…” he looked to the ring where Legacy were, Randy now sparring with Ted as Cody watched, “Did something happen between you and Cody?” he realised how that could be taken and paused.
“I mean, you know, have you spoken to him or anything?” damn it; it wasn’t sounding any better even when he tried to clarify was it? Evan meanwhile was looking at him with what John would swear was amusement in his eyes. John resisted the urge to look around to try and figure out what could be funny about what he’d asked. “Why would you ask that?” the younger man stretched his legs out, tights snugly hugging his strong thighs. The brunette folded his arms over his chest slightly in a defensive gesture and shrugged a little, “I just, it’s…” he sighed and then admitted, “Cody and Ted both seemed a little uncomfortable about what’s going down on Monday and it just had me wondering.” He doubted they’d care so much for just anybody.
“Well, I guess it won’t hurt to tell you that Miz, JoMo, Cody, Ted and I went out for drinks. JoMo and Mike had suggested it since it seemed logical for us to all get to know one another since we’re so close to you and they’re so close to Randy.” John gaped slightly, wondering how on earth he could have possibly missed that. “When did you go out together?” when Evan mentioned where it was John gave a slight laugh, “I guess that explains why I wasn’t invited.”
“That wasn’t it,” Evan teased, “I just didn’t want to subject myself to your drunken dancing again.” He burst into laughter as John looked startled, the expression morphing into a smile before too long before he then reached and grabbed Evan in a playful headlock, ruffling his hair. Several people glanced at the proceedings but then returned to whatever they were doing after a little grin or chuckle. It wasn’t the first time those two had been mucking around like that after all.
Randy had exited the ring for a moment to take a drink and let Cody and Ted continue sparring when he sensed someone walking up beside him. Glancing up he was a little surprised to find himself faced with Chris Jericho. The blonde had one of those little half-smiles on his face as he nodded slightly, “Alright Orton?” Randy nodded his head back and gave a small smile. Out of all the people on the roster he had never really had a problem with Jericho and he had enjoyed working with the veteran before. “Hey Jericho, glad to hear that botched move wasn’t so bad.” Chris waved a hand slightly to dispel the comment and nodded, “Yeah, just a knock to the head is all.”
Somehow Randy would bet that Chris wasn’t there to just exchange meaningless pleasantries with him, and, sure enough, he asked, “Has something been going on recently?” Randy gave him a level look back, not wanting to dive into anything in case Chris had something else on his mind. Apparently the Canadian had been expecting that he’d hedge a response because he asked, “There’s been a lot of talk backstage about Hunter and Shawn…” Randy knew he could trust Chris, because he’d been in a similar position in his earlier days in the company, apparently, but it was like trying to pull teeth if you wanted to find any information out about it, “We’re handling it,” Randy said slowly after a pause.
Though the blonde was undoubtedly irritated by the lack of response as such he merely nodded slightly and said, “Alright.” The offer for help if he needed it was unspoken but Randy got it and he gave Chris a slight nod to indicate it. The Canadian then glanced back to the stands, undoubtedly seeking out the high-flier. “You don’t have to worry about him, you know-“he said lightly, taking another sip of his drink.
“I know, but-“the blonde then slowly turned, a surprised expression making its way onto his face before he then sighed slightly and quirked a wan smile, “I suppose I shouldn’t be completely surprised that someone knows. Did he tell you?” he didn’t think Evan had much to do with Randy face-to-face but the younger man had said about John and Randy being together so it could have slipped. He knew how hard it was for Evan to keep their relationship under wraps -it was hard for him too- but it was for the best right then. One day circumstances would change. He hoped.
“I saw you both together in the hotel hallway,” he said, didn’t need to drop Evan into any bother, or to give John any, he supposed. Chris nodded slightly and chuckled, looking to Randy when he said, “My boys aren’t gonna hurt him. They’re gonna give him a chance.” Not the usual MO of Legacy sure but meh, no one’d notice it. “I’ll take your word for that,” Chris said, watching as Evan waved to Kofi and headed out of the stands, John following and giving the dark-skinned man a high-five of greeting when he reached him.
“Well,” Chris said bracingly after getting lost looking at Evan for a few moments, Ted and Cody approaching them snapping him out of his stupor, “I’ll see you later, Orton. Have fun tonight.” He nodded to Cody and Ted as they passed by him and then made his way out of the ring area. Cody snagged Randy’s drink from his hand and drained a good portion of it before handing it to Ted. The blonde hesitated mere moments before draining the last of the bottle--- and almost choking when Randy commented they’d just had a three-way indirect kiss.
“We should put that bottle on eBay,” Cody said lightly as Ted continued to sputter and Randy smirked a he thumped him on the back, “We could sell it for a fortune if the fans found out.” Once the blonde recovered from his coughing fit he looked to Randy and asked, “What was up with Jericho?” he asked, and Randy lightly responded, “Oh, he was just asking how things were going. Said you two are shaping up well.” The two looked surprised and pleased and although Randy was bringing a subtext to front that hadn’t been explicitly expanded on he wasn’t lying and they wouldn’t know any different, “You should have a good match tonight and Monday.”
~:~
“Yeah, but we should talk things through with Evan and Kofi,” commented Ted absently. “It’s not cool to just go out there and beat Evan down, even if you’ll be off chasing Kofi somewhere.”
Randy shot him a rather amused look. “You’re very concerned about Evan today,” he mentioned.
“I’d hardly describe myself as very concerned,” Ted replied haughtily. “It’s just polite. I mean, we might want him to do us a favour one day and it pays to treat people fairly.”
“Uh-huh,” said Randy, not sounding convinced in the slightest. Inwardly though he was glad that Cody and Ted had chosen not to throw their weight around when they were in a position to do so.
“Look, there’s Kofi over there,” said Cody, pointing to where the man had just wandered in, looked around and made a beeline for Evan. “We’ll go collar them and then discuss what we’re doing tonight. Who’ve you got Randy?”
“Tonight? John.” Randy gave a wicked little grin. “Someone must think we need to practice wrestling together ahead of the pay-per-view.”
“That and people pay plenty to see you two make fuck-me-hard eyes at each other,” responded Cody. “Good luck with that. You’ll have to get together with Kofi before Monday to sort out your part, shall we suggest getting together after the show or something?”
“Suggest that we talk it over tomorrow,” suggested Randy with a slightly lecherous glance at John.
“What, he didn’t get enough of the champ last night?” Ted rolled his eyes. “Give the poor boy a break Randy!”
“Fine then, we’ll meet up after the show at the hotel bar,” said Randy with a little bad grace before brightening. “Hey, the Raw after that, there’ll probably be some kind of three on three match, John, Kofi and Evan against us!”
“Yeah, well it’ll be the Raw after the Pay-per-view so Shawn might have other ideas,” said Cody, wrinkling his nose. “He’ll have a loss to explain and a feud to set up.”
Randy nodded sombrely. “I suppose he will. But I think that he’ll decide to just do a speech at the start, then him and Hunter can probably collar you two while you show off over your win. Assuming we win. And then the loss’ll drag you into it.”
“And leave you to focus on John.” Cody smirked. “Come on Teddy, let’s grab them before they take off. See you later Randy!”
Randy watched them go over to Kofi and Evan, a slightly indulgent smile on his face - they would be fine, he hoped, Shawn and Hunter both valued their public appearances over their private lives and if his boys could give them a damned good feud then it would probably end up as the main event on a couple of pay-per-views and the mild animosity would turn to a grudging respect. Or so he hoped.
He took a swig of his water and considered Jericho’s intervention. It wasn’t wholly surprising but he hadn’t been expecting it. The man was pretty close-mouthed about his own life, to the Legacy at least, but he wasn’t afraid to stand up when he thought something was out of order. And they could do worse than to have Chris in their corner. He had plenty of sway of his own, he was canny about the business and perhaps most importantly, Vince McMahon thought a lot of him and was willing to give him leeway. If they needed Vince’s ear at any point, they could do worse than get some advice or information from the veteran.
He and John could throw a decent match together without even thinking about it and the man was still deep in talks with Evan, so he headed off to the Legacy locker room - and wasn’t at all surprised to see Shawn loitering in the area. Upon seeing Randy he smirked, his eyes darting behind the man to look for John and not seeing him. Randy’s eyes narrowed and he decided it might be a good time to text John, let him know someone was waiting for him and it wasn’t just him.
Shawn’s eyes darted from side to side and deciding they had enough privacy for him, approached Randy with a smug grin on his face. “Orton.”
“Michaels.”
“I heard that John managed to upset Hunter.” Shawn shook his head in mock sorrow. “He’s not gonna be getting away with that. I’d be able to chill Hunter out, but it’s not like I have a reason to. It might be better for John to really think about who can help him - and who his friends are.”
“John knows. He’s a big boy, though I’m sure I don’t have to remind you about that, he can make up his own mind and get himself out of trouble.” Randy’s entire aura was cold. “And neither of us want your help or your presence. I’m warning you Michaels, make yourself scarce. He’s not interested.”
“And I’m warning you Orton.” Shawn’s own expression was stony. “You don’t have as much pull around here as you seem to think you do.”
“Maybe it’s you who’s deluded about that.” Randy smirked suddenly. “Vince isn’t about to sacrifice half his main eventers to satisfy your ego, especially when you just can’t go anymore. You two might have a history but Vince is about the money. We bring it and we can bring it for years. You’ve made him pretty much all you can. All you’ve got is your sympathy run with DX and maybe some singles feud, some money farewell match. You might be able to draw in some big favours, but you’re damned close to being all washed up and Vince won’t sacrifice what he thinks is for the good of the company, not even for Hunter.”
“Vince won’t be in charge forever-“
“Oh please. Vince is gonna be in charge until he pegs out and that won’t be until long after even me and John are in your place - all washed up and ready to be taken ‘round back and put out of our misery, and everyone else’s.”
“Glad you think I’ve got that long left in me Orton,” said a voice from around the corner and a moment later, Vince McMahon himself walked into view. Both Randy’s and Shawn’s eyes widened - it was almost unheard of for Vince to show on a house show outside of Madison Square Gardens and no one had expected him there that night.
Shawn was the first to recover himself. “Vince! You’re looking well, my man.” He went over and made as if to sling a matey arm around the bosses shoulders. Vince’s look at him though was positively glacial and Shawn wilted mid-way through the action, his arms going to his side. Randy was pretty sure he was in for a bollocking of his own, since Vince had just heard him use a less than complimentary term for his death. And what the hell was Mr McMahon doing there anyway?
~:~
Even Shawn looked as though he was wondering how much Vince had heard of their conversation. He had always said he didn’t care what his wrestlers and divas did together behind closed doors, but as soon as things seemed as though they might veer into interfering with business then he got mad. And everyone who knew Vince knew that when he got mad something happened--- and more often than not it was not something good. Vince looked between the Heartbreak Kid and the Viper and then pointed to the other end of the corridor and said, darkly, “My office. Now.” Randy bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying something he’d get into more bother for.
The blonde man seemed to be trying to engage Vince in conversation as they walked but their boss wasn’t having any of it, and although he had no idea what was coming Randy couldn’t lie and say he didn’t get some small measure of satisfaction from the fact that their boss was completely ignoring the man who believed himself to be so in-tight with the head honcho that nothing would go as he -or Hunter- didn’t want it to. When they reached what appeared to be Vince’s office for however long he was there Vince shoved the door open firmly and then stood to the side, Randy sauntering in as Shawn seemed to hesitate.
Once inside the door closed after them both with a sharp ‘snap!’ and the two men turned to their boss as one, waiting to see what he was so pissed off about--- aside from Randy’s comment about how he’d never let go of the reins, of course. “Sit,” Vince all but growled and although Randy once again wanted to internally rebel against the command he waited until Shawn had seated himself before then doing the same himself. Vince seated himself on the other side of the desk in the not-entirely-surprisingly-lavish room and then steepled his fingers together as he looked across at them.
“I always knew this day would come,” he started and Randy arched a brow slightly in question as Shawn seemed to cock his head, neither man knowing if the comment was directed at him. “I let it pass when you seemed to have an interest in Cena, Shawn-“something about the way Vince said it seemed to make Shawn adopt a shame-faced expression and Randy almost snorted; the man had no shame whatsoever. “And when it seemed that the tension between you and Cena seemed to have boiled over I overlooked that too.” He’d never liked the knowledge that Shawn was messing around on his missus but since Shawn had been keeping things on a low with John in public and wasn’t neglecting his wife or anything he had passed it off. Randy had no such obligations, so...
“I will not overlook what I just heard out there in the hallway. This is a business not some… muscle-bound brothel!” it actually seemed to pain Vince to use the word and Randy found that slightly ironic since for all he gave off the paragon of family and such now he had been no saint back in the day when either his wife or children were involved even though realistically he did care for Linda and he loved his kids and grandkids. However, it seemed like the man wasn’t done, “Who you fuck makes no never-mind to me but when you’re messing around and going to fuck up business it does matter to me and I won’t have it!” Shawn opened his mouth.
“I don’t give a fuck who you think you are or how much sway you have, I am the man in charge -as you so graciously put it, Orton-“Randy didn’t bother to look too shamefaced, “and I’ll have no issue throwing you both out of here.” Deep down all three men knew that was a front though; too much money involved. However, Vince would punish them somehow and even Randy wouldn’t overlook that. If Vince really put his mind to it he could put a top-carder to a mid-carder or worse in mere hours. “You’re both gonna get a fine for this and if I have to call you up on this again---”
The threat was left hanging and neither Randy nor Shawn was left under any illusion as to what he was getting at. “You’ll receive the official fine form standard procedure by the end of the night. Now get out of my sight. Oh, and, boys?” Randy opened the door, not slowing his walk though Shawn didn’t seem to be about to follow despite being dismissed, “Put on some good matches tonight, got it?” Randy let the door slam behind him, growling underneath his breath as he made his way back towards the Legacy changing room. Techies, divas and superstars alike all moved aside when Randy passed by them, sensing the man was in a burgeoning mood for a fight--- something they hadn’t seen in a while actually, come to think of it.
John happened to be outside of the locker-room when Randy reached it, undoubtedly looking for his lover. Just as he was turning away he caught sight of Randy heading his way and beamed at him, dimples on full display. The expression forced Randy to put the brakes on his temper as he approached but it seemed that he hadn’t been fast enough because John’s smile slipped and he immediately looked concerned instead. He had left Evan and Kofi along with Cody and Ted not too long back and figured that he and Randy should at least talk through what they would do that night… and maybe get in a little snogging beforehand, you know?
“What happened?” he asked voice low and serious. Randy sighed and moved before John to open the locker-room door, letting himself and his lover in before closing the door behind him. As usual when John seemed uneasy he bounced expectantly on the balls of his feet as Randy slouched over to the nearby bench where his stuff rested and dropped down heavily beside it. Scrubbing his hands over his face and his hair Randy then hissed out a breath and rolled his shoulders; though his face seemed calm his muscles were bunched--- an unmistakeable sign of his tension.
“Let’s just say my paycheck is going to be really light this month,” was all Randy said by way of an explanation. John looked completely non-plussed and Randy hadn’t expected any different from him. A fine was pretty lucky considering Vince wasn’t exactly someone who could take personal things on the chin, but he was still pissed off that he was being punished alongside Shawn--- being grouped with the man even a little bit made his gorge rise. “Oh, one more thing: the boss knows we’re together. Well, he knows we’re fucking at least,” he added as an afterthought.
~:~
John managed to choke on nothing at all. “What do you mean Vince knows?”
“I mean he knows.” Randy shrugged, trying to make it not look like a big deal although he could tell that John was about five seconds away from exploding. “He uh, might have overheard me mouthing off at Shawn when the asshole saw me in the corridor.”
“Oh god.” John covered his eyes. “He didn’t know about me and Shawn before all of this-“
“He did actually,” snapped Randy, who didn’t like John talking about ‘me and Shawn’ even slightly. “He mentioned it. And he heard Shawn trying to threaten us with losing our place on the card and fined the pair of us.”
“I don’t think you’re looking at living in a cardboard box just yet,” replied John absently, rubbing his forehead as if he was getting a headache. “He heard you and Shawn arguing over me?”
“Yeah… and talking about when he’s gonna retire. Or die.”
“RANDY!!”
Randy took a step back - there was that explosion he’d been waiting for. “John, it’s not as bad as it sounds-“
“It couldn’t be any worse than it sounds!” John let out a deep breath. “Fuck, what did Vince have to say?”
Randy started to speak and John interrupted. “Word for word Randy, I wanna know what he knows about my private life thanks to the pair of you.”
Randy didn’t quite dare edit things in case John caught him out on it, although he wished he had when he mentioned the ‘musclebound brothel’ remark. John looked mortified and by the time he’d finished, John looked ready to sink through the floor. Randy didn’t so much finish what he had to say as run out of words, feeling rather unnerved as John didn’t resume shouting, didn’t even speak to him.
“Um, John?”
John looked at him wearily. “So, Vince thinks I’m some kinda whore?”
“No!”
“Sure sounds like it. And he’s gonna be watching us all the time now, you know that!”
“Could be a good thing.”
John growled. “Explain to me Orton, if you can, how being watched by the boss for signs that we’re gonna forget the script and fuck in the ring can be a good thing?”
“Think about it,” said Randy soothingly, although he was a little struck by the role reversal. Five minutes ago he’d been ready to punch the locker, now he was trying to stop John going into a rage of his own - and tempering that had put the lid on his own emotions a little. “Shawn’s gonna be on his best behaviour for a while now and he might have gotten over it by the time he feels like acting like a bad guy. And with Vince watching us at all times… well, let’s just say if there’s anyone in the world that Hunter doesn’t wanna piss off, it’s Vince McMahon. Can you imagine the bloodshed?”
John stopped before he started ranting and Randy pressed the advantage. “You can just bet that Vince is gonna have words with Hunter about reining Shawn in for a while and that’ll warn him off too.”
“Not forever.”
“For long enough. By the time it all blows over, he might have moved onto the next poor bastard.”
“Or it could be that Vince asks Hunter to keep an extra special close eye on us.”
Randy winced; that had actually occurred to him too and he told John the same thing as he had told himself. “I don’t know that he will actually. Vince knows how close those two are and I don’t think he’ll have missed how they turn into juvenile assholes around each other. He might ask Hunter to keep an eye on Shawn but us? I think he’ll pointedly suggest that they steer clear. Trips likes where his life is far too much to upset things, even for my hot body.”
John looked hopeful for a moment, then groaned again. “Oh no. This is so fucking embarrassing!”
“What is?” asked Randy. “The boss knowing you’re fucking me?”
Catching the slight undertone in Randy’s voice, John glanced at his lover. “That he has to call us out on it. Shit Randy!”
“What?” Randy was starting to look annoyed all over again. “I thought we decided we weren’t standing for it anymore and we were gonna tell them to fuck off in no uncertain words. Michaels decided to throw in the whole part about how much pull he had and I answered him back. Fuck, when has Vince ever shown up to a house show?”
“I know, I know.” John leaned his head back against the wall and sighed, something about his body language telling Randy that he wasn’t about to get any loving before the match at this rate. Hell, he’d be lucky to get any after either. “Dammit Randy, why does everything have to be a fight at the moment?”
“I wish I knew.”Randy shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Look, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I never intended on landing you in the shit with Vince… I’m not even sure you are to be honest. He’s pissed with me and Michaels but he’s not asked to see you yet, has he?”
“He’ll want words after the match, or Monday night if he’s only dropping by,” said John gloomily. “Probably warning me to keep it in my pants or to stop with half the roster chasing me-“
“Half the roster better not be chasing you, or I’ll be on the warpath-“
“Telling me to make sure we don’t get pictured making out or else there’s gonna be some serious trouble and he’ll sue or something-“
“We’re never gonna get a moment to ourselves any more and Hunter and Shawn can probably play this whole thing to their advantage in some way we don’t even see right now-“
“We can get through their shit no problem, we’ve done it so far.”
“It was hardly no problem and now-“
“I love you.”
“And-“ John’s mouth caught up to his ears and he stopped in a hurry, all thoughts of Vince and any potential payback wiped from his mind. Suddenly there was no one but him and Randy and the words still ringing in his ears. Randy looked completely sincere and suddenly mildly terrified. John would have bet that Randy hadn’t planned on letting that one slip but his lover’s mouth had a habit of running away with him. Whether or not he meant to say it, John didn’t doubt for a second that he meant it.