LDWS Round 1, Week 7 Voting
This week the prompt was "stuck in an elevator" and all drabbles had to be between 415-465 words
1. Author: deanmoxbrose
Title: The Old Familiar Sting
Characters: Dean Ambrose, Seth Rollins
Rating: PG
Warnings: Ex-boyfriends, mention of panic/anxiety attacks
Word Count: 462
“I’m gonna go out of my mind here.”
“Relax.”
“Feel like my bones are gonna crawl outta my skin.”
“You need to calm down.”
Dean glared Seth’s way, his eyes stormy and narrowed. He paced along one wall of the elevator, his shoulders a tense line and his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. It’d only been about fifteen minutes since the elevator had stopped, but if he was already this agitated, Seth really didn’t want to see what would happen at the thirty minute mark.
He’d known stepping into an elevator with Dean would be trouble - whatever they’d had a year ago, there was absolutely no love between them anymore - but it was late and he hadn’t wanted to wait. And look at him now. Trapped with a claustrophobic and impatient Dean Ambrose.
“I’m calm,” Dean grumped.
“Yeah, you really look like it.”
That earned Seth another dirty look. Dean even let out a rasp of a growl as he whirled away from him to keep pacing. There was so little space in the elevator that he resembled a hungry wolf in a cage. And as much as Seth didn’t want Dean to think he had any effect on him, he couldn’t help but squeeze further into his corner.
Dean came to a stop at the buttons, bracing a hand on the metal panel.
“Think if you scowl hard enough at them, they’ll start working again?” Seth asked.
“They forgot about us. We should call again.”
Us. We. It sounded foreign coming from Dean.
“They didn’t forget.”
And that was when Seth noticed something. Dean’s hand was still braced on the panel, and his arm was shaking slightly. Seth hadn’t known he still had panic attacks. Like Dean could read his mind, he yanked himself away from the panel and went back to pacing in an attempt to hide his uneasiness.
Seth sighed. He shuffled closer and bumped his hand against Dean’s elbow. Dean flinched, turning sharp eyes on him.
“They didn’t forget, Ambrose. We’ll be outta here in no time.”
Dean scoffed and bit out sarcastically, “Is that a promise?”
“Maybe. Does it make you feel better?”
They stared at one another for a moment, and Dean’s gaze flickered down to Seth’s mouth. The ice in his eyes melted some, and warmth crept up Seth’s neck as memories came to him. But then Dean’s expression turned to steel again, and the smile he gave was cold.
“Stop talking to me, Rollins. We’re not friends.”
As if on cue, the elevator shuddered and started moving. The minute the doors dinged open, Dean was gone, carrying a tempest with him. Seth remained in the elevator a little longer, trying to bury the hurt that he wasn’t supposed to feel.
~~~
2. Author: eric-idle-rules
Title: (Finding) Love in an Elevator
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Seth Rollins/Roman Reigns
Rating: PG
Warnings: language
Word count: 465
He never takes the elevator, doesn’t even like elevators, always opting for the stairs to get to his apartment. But today he spots his attractive neighbor from a couple doors down waiting for the elevator, so he makes an exception.
Roman heads to the elevator, standing next to Seth. Seth turns his head just enough to see Hot Guy from 506 waiting next to him, then quickly turns his head away, not wanting to get caught staring.
It seems to take forever for the elevator to get to the ground floor, but it finally does, and both men step inside. With a jerk, the elevator starts up, dinging as it gets to the 2nd and 3rd floors. And then, with another jerk, the elevator comes to a halt. The lights all flicker. Once. Twice. Then they go out and the emergency lights flash on.
“What the fuck?” Seth asks.
“Oh hell no,” Roman mutters, shaking his head as he pounds a fist on the doors. “Hey! Hey, open up!”
“Dude, we’re going anywhere anytime soon.” Seth leans against the back wall. “We’re stuck.” And he already knows their cells won’t work, the elevator blocking all signals.
“No. No, that’s not ok.” Roman pounds on the doors again. “Someone get me out of here!”
Seth pushes off from the wall and takes two steps to get to Roman. Placing a hand on his shoulder and says, “Hey, calm down.”
Roman turns his head, eyes blown wide. “Calm down? We’re stuck in an elevator and you expect me to calm down?!”
“Wait. Are you claustrophobic?”
“Do you actually like small spaces?” Roman asks.
“But this isn’t even that small! Look, I can walk around and everything.” Seth demonstrates, walking from Roman to the back wall, then to Roman.
“Oh, boy, so I might be stuck in a 5x5 box my whole life but at least I can take two steps in each direction!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Seth’s never been good at dealing with things like this, never knows the right things to say. “But, look, freaking out won’t do us any good. Can’t you just, I dunno, picture wide open spaces and green fields?” he asks.
That actually gets Roman to settle for a moment, long enough for him to raise an eyebrow at Seth. “No.”
“If you hate elevators so much, why’d you take this one?” Seth asks after a pause, not knowing what else to say.
That also stops Roman from going back to his freakout. He stutters and sputters a few times, starting sentences over before finally saying, “You?”
“Yeah?” That surprises Seth. If only he’d known Hot Guy from 506 was just as into him…
“Yeah.”
Seth grins, then, in a bold move, presses his lips to Roman’s. “I appreciate the company.”
~~~
3. Author: jackthesinisterjakethejust
Title: Stormy Revelations
Rating: PG
Warnings:
Word Count: 459
Cody sighed, listening to the raging storm outside the hotel. He’d heard that it was pretty severe, heavy rain, hail, lightening. He just wanted to get back to his room, his flight home already cancelled because of the weather.
That had been what he’d been thinking of when the doors opened on the fourth floor and in stepped someone he hadn’t seen in two years. Someone who’d been his best friend, his lover, one Ted Dibiase Jr. He stood there in shock, his eyes wide with just how good and happy Ted looked, a same look of shock on his handsome face.
“T-Ted?” he questioned, his heart starting to pound. He quickly looked away, trying to regain his composure, he hadn’t expected to ever see him again, not after how they’d broken up.
Ted felt a smile take over his lips, his own heart beating faster. Cody still looked so good. “Hey Cody,” he breathed, stepping onto the elevator. He pressed a few floors higher than Cody, turning to look at the younger male again.
Cody went to ask what Ted as doing there, ask how he was doing and a million other questions but was cut off at the sudden lurch, the elevator stopping and going dark, a crash of thunder echoing. He groaned, of all the things that could happen to him. What had he done so bad in a previous life?
“I guess the storm knocked the power out,” Ted murmured, pressing the emergency call button, receiving nothing but static.
“Great observation,” Cody groaned, leaning back against the wall.
Ted looked over at Cody, the sheer irritation in his voice causing Ted to look at the floor. “I uh… I know we haven’t seen each other in a while-“
“It’s been two years.”
Ted winced at that, nodding. Yeah it had been that long. “I’m sorry.”
Cody looked up, taken by surprise at the sudden apology. “W-What?”
“I’m sorry. For leaving like I did, I never wanted to hurt you like that.”
Cody stood there in shock, tears already filling his eyes. After everything he’d gone through to try and push Ted out of his heart, to forget about the other man, it only took that little apology to make his resolve crumble. “I loved you Teddy, I loved you so much.”
Ted felt his own heart start to break, taking a chance and walking over to wrap his arms around Cody. “I never stopped loving you Cody. I just wanted you to be free after I left. I didn’t want to tie you down.”
Cody clung to Teddy, a chuckle choked in his tight throat. “I wanted you to tie me down. You were all I wanted.”
Ted sighed, holding Cody a little tighter.
~~~
As of right now, voting will stay open until Monday at 6pm EST.
You all have 1 vote for most favorite and 1 vote for least favorite drabbles. Participants are encouraged to vote, but you may NOT vote for yourselves! I also need you to vote for BOTH most and least favorite! Your vote will not count if I don't have both!
I should explain a bit more how this works, I guess. The winner isn't decided by whoever gets the most most fav votes. Each most fav vote gets +1. Each least fav gets -1. Once those are tallied, a winner will be determined. If there's a tie, there will be a tie breaker so that there is one winner and one person is eliminated.
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Poll LDWS Week 7