Sugar, Spice, and Christmas with These Guys
Dec 27, 2020 19:21:15 GMT -5
The Madness Menagerie likes this
Post by mystifyingoracle on Dec 27, 2020 19:21:15 GMT -5
OOC: Thank you to Axton Gunn and The Madness Menagerie for this CD! Enjoy!
“Molasses, brown sugar, flour, eggs, spices...I think we have everything together. Got some cookie cutters and candies, too, for decorating.”
Silvio leaned back against the counter in his kitchen, raising a brow at Axton and grinning.
“Just missing your biggest fan.”
Dressed in an obnoxious, glittery green sweater embroidered with the words “Let’s Get Lit” in cursive gold, Axton stuck his tongue out playfully at Silvio, setting the carton of eggnog down next to his hot cocoa. He leaned over to check his phone.
“Said he’s five minutes away… that was six minutes ago.”
Just then the door burst open to reveal a snow covered Sebastian Hawke, his eyes glittering with wintery excitement, “Hi! Sorry I’m late, I was just… I felt like I should bring stuff, but I didn’t know what to bring, and the people at the bakery were SO nice that I…” He blushed slightly as he brought his arms up, each hand holding a couple bags a piece. “Might have bought more than was needed.”
Silvio beamed. “Nonsense! The more decked out we can make these the better.” Gesturing Seb in, he offered to take his hat and jacket. “Let me get those dried off for you. You and Ax can start making the gingerbread.”
“Holy shit dude,” Axton laughed, rushing to take some of the bags so Sebastian could have a free hand. “What’s in here? It smells goddamn delicious.”
Sebastian shrugged his shoulders as he accepted Silvio’s help. “I’m honestly not sure? I went to a local shop, ‘best in Baltimore’ according to the internet, and so I went in and asked about gingerbread. They kinda did the rest. Think there’s dough and whatever they use for decorating.”
“Nice!” Silvio said as he took Seb’s things and headed toward the dryer. “We should probably have enough for gingerbread men and a house, too. I’m sure Axton is about to explode with jingle jangle enthusiasm.”
“I’m about to jingle jangle the roof off this fuckin’ place,” Axton confirmed, scrolling through his phone. In seconds there was a Spotify holiday playlist jamming from a bluetooth speaker on the counter. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and dusted his hands together. “Alright. Let us be the architects of Christmas Present.”
Sebastian’s eyes lit up as he took a seat and started to poke at a package of the dough, “Honestly don’t know where to start, I’ve never really done anything like this before. Then again, snow is a pretty new thing to me too. Not sure why people hate the stuff, it’s fun to be sliding around! Only fell over once. Maybe twice…”
“Gotta do your penguin walk,” Silvio advised. “Looks goofy as heck, but it’ll keep you on your feet.” He returned to the kitchen, washed his hands, set the oven to preheat, and took out the rolling pin. “You two get started on the dough there; I’ll roll this out and get pieces for the house cut.”
Sebastian washed his hands in earnest and sat down in front of the laid-out ingredients. He looked down and looked like he was about to do something but then stopped. “So uhm… What exactly do I have to do here?”
“Oh yeah.” There was realization in Axton’s voice as he slid into a seat next to Sebastian, reaching for the bag of flour. “I guess we bought premade dough for the wrestling ring we made, huh? You’ve never made this from scratch before. Ok cool--you mix all the dry ingredients in that bowl, and I’ll do all the wet ones in this one, then we can combine them with a fork.”
It had actually been Silvio who had taught Axton how to make gingerbread from scratch; he’d never had the opportunity to learn from his own parents, but it had always been something he wanted to get a handle on. There was something… wholesome about it. Something satisfying about building something--really building something--from the ground up.
“Ax won’t steer you wrong,” Silvio assured, taking the rolling pin to the pre-made dough. “I had a house in mind if we wanna go classic, but we can make other stuff, too.” He looked at his young guest with a smile. “What do you wanna make, Seb?”
The possibilities flowed through Sebastian’s mind, but the day was young and it wasn’t like he had anything else planned. “Let’s go with a house first, I hear those are always fun and if there’s time, we’ll see what else we can come up with if that’s cool?”
“Sounds good!” With that, Silvio started cutting the rolled-out dough into shapes to build a house.
“We can do fun stuff with the house too,” Axton commented, beating the eggs into the molasses with a fork. It was clear from his slightly crooked posture that his back was still bothering him, as there wasn’t quite as much oomph in the motion of his shoulder. “Like one year I did a house on fire and all the candies were spicy. Pepper chocolates and cinnamon hearts…”
Seb stretched his knee before making a face. “My mom used to just eat those cinnamon hearts straight from the package. Used to love them and they added a certain punch to her cut out cookies…” Sebastian’s voice fades off as the memories catch up to him as he starts to mix all of the necessary dry ingredients in a bowl to whisk it all together with a fork.
Turning, Silvio rested a hand gently on Seb’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
Axton winced subtly, recalling the shouting match at Sebastian’s place… the one where Sebastian’s father had said some pretty terrible things about his mom. A little bubble of rage came up in his gut, but it was quickly fizzled out by concern for his friend and stablemate.
“You should make her some cookies today and send them,” he suggested gently, reaching over to gently tousle Sebastian’s hair. “I bet it’d make her day.”
Sebastian smiled. “Yeah, I don’t know, cookies are good no matter what. I just…” He looked between the two for a moment, considering his words as carefully as a twenty-two-year-old could. “Holidays were never really something my parents focused on. The cookies were always part of some church fundraiser and sometimes I was just lucky enough to have the extras.”
The Oracle frowned, brow knit. “That’s...a shame.” His own father had on more than one occasion left Silvio to fend for himself as far as putting together a holiday meal went; the old man preferring to spend his holidays in a bar or with his friends.
“Mood,” Axton muttered.
Seb shrugged making various circle patterns in his bowl with the fork. “I watched a few holiday movies growing up and I never really saw a reason to NOT believe in the magic of the season. I gave up hope on happy moments with my parents, so I created my own. Now I just want to have a little bit of stability if that’s possible in this line of work.” He snorted lightly. “I’m beginning to doubt that ‘stability’ is a possibility in our line of work.”
Axton reached over, dumping the contents of his mixing bowl into Sebastian’s and starting to stir.
“We’ll get there,” he said, with a tone trying for optimism. It was hard not to think about the new found family he was trying to create--The Entourage… and the state it was in. He had Silvio and Jon, and that was something he treasured, but there were still open wounds in places he wished there weren’t.
“If you were gonna make a dream gingerbread house, Sebby, what would it have on it?”
Sebastian stuck his tongue out slightly, deep in thought as he looked absently at the decorations. “Never really thought of it. Pointy icicles seem like a necessity and lots of frosting snow. Not big on gum drops though. Always think I’m going to get some kind of a fruit and end up getting stupid licorice or some other weird flavor that just doesn’t belong anywhere NEAR candy.”
Laughing, Silvio nodded to the cupboard nearby. “There’s some powdered sugar in there. We can use it to make royal icing and that’ll be perfect for making icicles. And I absolutely agree with you - spice drops look great, but jeez they’re deceptive.”
“I’m that bitch that likes black licorice,” Axton mentioned with a smirk, eyes on his work in the mixing bowl. “But I’ll still eat all the orange skittles in a bowl first if I can get away with it. Dust the table with some of that flour, would ya? Gonna roll this out now.”
Seb nodded and sprinkled the flour out where Ax had indicated, watching as the replica snow fell across the table. Peaks formed and reminded Sebastian of so many Christmas scenes in all of the movies he watched growing up. On the more than one occasion of his mom and him fending for themselves during the holidays while the patriarch of the family was, “out on orders.” He smiled slightly remembering the nights cuddled under a blanket, sharing a bowl of popcorn, to go with some mugs of hot chocolate. Shaking his head lightly, Sebastian brushed his hands over the flour to spread it out evenly so Ax could lay the dough out.
“Such a crazy time of year. Such a weird year to begin with. This time last year I was at a backyard Christmas party thrown by one of the promoters. Never thought I’d be here a year from then…” Sebastian put a little bit of flour on a nearby rolling pin before taking turns with Axton rolling out the flour covered dough.
“I thought I’d be on tour.” Axton shakes his head, leaning over to check the thickness of the dough against his finger. “This year might tank my record sales, but honestly? This whole thing with Carnage has been a breath of fresh air. It’s like getting to live another life for a year… a ‘what coulda been,’ kinda thing.”
Remaining quiet as he listened to the pair, Silvio’s eyes were drawn briefly to the bookshelves in the living room, the hopeful little additions of his test preparation books. Sooner or later, he knew he’d buy updated versions for this year; SAT, ACT, GRE. Right now wasn’t the time. Championships, the ring, and people in this company had voices that were more insistent; louder. But at some point in the next few months after he lost or left his crown, in a moment of vulnerability and fragile hope, he knew that tentative little voice in the back of his head would speak up again.
Maybe?
But not now. Not here.
“I bet your fans are loving this,” Silvio said with a grin as he took out a cookie sheet and began to arrange the house pieces upon it.
“You shoulda seen the comments on my instagram when I posted pics of the title belt and also my bruised-ass face.” Axton sounded almost giddy as he handed Sebastian a cookie cutter. “Some of them were about to go to war for my honour.”
Sebastian grinned as he pressed a cookie out. “Ok, but in my defense I did some stuff I wasn’t even sure I had potential to do and I’m willing to bet it looked super cool. If nothing else…?” He shrugged and stretched his stiff knees again. “You made a couple of those bumps look hella good. Couldn’t have done it without you.” He winks at Ax and punches out a few more cookies before passing the cutter back off to his Entourage stablemate.
Placing the tray of house pieces into the oven, Silvio set to making royal icing with powdered sugar and milk. “That match was bonkers,” he said. “If either of you need icy hot or tiger balm or something, there’s plenty in the bathroom. Thanks again to both of you for helping me out with those moves. I don’t think I’d be where I am without you guys.”
Sebastian smiled warmly, “The honor was mine honestly.”
Axton, on the other hand, scoffed through a smile, wagging a finger at Silvio as he leaned on the counter. “Credit where real credit’s due. You absolutely coulda done it without us--you’ve been doing it without us since before we signed our contracts, babe. But the fact that you thought to take little pieces of us with you into that ring? That’s the real honour. It’s what makes you the perfect World Champion.”
Actually blushing, Silvio gave his boyfriend a crooked, bashful smile.
“...Thanks.”
It was still so weird to even be here. Spooky might have been able to put him back together faster, but they couldn’t do anything for Silvio in the ring as far as ability went. Adrienne had said he was a natural at it, and he trusted her opinion - she’d been around and seen enough to know. Even so, there’d always been a nagging part of him that kept wondering if any of his success - here or otherwise - was more luck than skill-based. His eyes strayed to the World Title settled on the sofa, Christmas lights from the tree glinting off of its golden plates.
He knew what kind of responsibility came with the title; that there’d be expectations. While he was fairly confident he was equal to them, did he actually deserve this?
“Couldn’t have been happier with how Ultimate Carnage played out. Like, in regards to the matches I had personal interest in at least,” Sebastian winced as he remembered watching the gorefest that was the main event of the evening. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have wanted to be involved in someone eating him. “Ken needed a lesson in humility and when compared to other people I’ve met on the roster, I’m happy that you took the opportunity and ran with it. I think it will be nice going into the new year with a champion that actually wants to represent the brand he’s champion of… If that makes sense?” Sebastian paused and looked off into space, reciting his words to himself in silence to ensure he hadn’t misspoke.
“And when it comes to the tag division?” Sebastian looked over at Ax and smiled, “If it wasn’t going to be me carrying one of those belts, I’m happy it was Team Rock Lobster. I just wish…” He froze, trying to get his bearings as the sudden icy tension between Dom and Axton that had sprung up recently raced to the forefront of his mind. “Well, I’m happy for you guys at least.” Sebastian smiles weakly as he goes back to working on the task at hand.
Feeling a vortex of anxiety suddenly start swirling in his guts, Axton worked to quash the sensation as a dismissive smirk automatically found its way to his face. It was super cool how they weren’t going to talk about Dominick, or what he’d said in his promo, or like, anything to do with him, really. Especially the parts where Dom had called him out on all his personality flaws, which he was starkly and brutally aware of at all times, or the part where he’d implied that his feelings were fleeting and fake. Because a conversation like that would make him… not fun to be around, and spoil all the fun. For everyone. And then he’d be left alone again.
Nope! None of that was going to happen, which was great.
“I didn’t expect to ever be holding a belt at all,” the musician laughed, opening a bag of licorice intended for decorating and starting to eat directly out of it. “I owe Jon for all the practice and motivation. He’s a hell of a lucha, lemme tell you. I guess sometimes you don’t know you have a knack for something until it presents itself in a way you can’t really ignore.”
“Guess so.” Silvio smiled and raised a brow at Axton. “Hey, I like this song - how does the chorus to this one go?”
Axton, sensing an out, latched on to the music in the background and pitched his voice over the chorus in a full rockstar form.
“So please just fall in love with me this Christmas, There's nothing else that I would need this Christmas!”
Air mic.
“Won't be wrapped under the tree--I want something that lasts forever, So kiss me on this cold December night!”
“I don’t think I know that one…” Sebastian smiled as he watched Ax sing. As much as he enjoyed acting, he was never really one for actually SINGING. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing from this picture, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, “You and Jon really make one hell of a tag team dude. The work you put in with him showed and let’s just be honest here, you make those belts look damn good!” Seb winked and smiled over his gingerbread cutouts.
“Oh shit. I'm gonna freehand a little guitar cookie.” Suddenly inspired, Axton sat down again, grabbing a butter knife. “Let's all make ourselves to hang out at this gingerbread house party.”
"Sounds perfect," Silvio said.
Before long, the cookies were baked, and the house was being assembled. Once it was ready for decoration, Silvio laid out all the candies, icings, and various trimmings and they all got down to business. The Oracle seemed intent on creating designs on the outer walls with the royal icing; piping little mandalas and a few stylized hearts and daggers.
“Woah… That looks awesome!” Sebastian watches in awe as Silvio works the frosting into various patterns, suddenly envious of the gingerbread house’s design work. Holding up his freshly decorated Sebastian Hawke gingerbread cookie next to his face, Sebastian does his best cheesy smile to replicate the over exaggerated grin on the cookie, “The resemblance is stunning isn’t it?”
“Photo-realistic,” Silvio agreed with a grin, arranging jujubees on the top of the roof.
“Smile should be bigger,” Axton commented, carefully flooding his gingerbread guitar with green icing. He began studding the perimeter with silver chocolate beads. “Leave the door for me, Sil, I wanna do a wreath.”
Nodding, Silvio stepped back. “I’m pretty much done with my bit. Let’s see you give this your festive touch.”
“I saw this on Sugar Rush,” Axton muttered, taking his piping bag full of green icing; on the front of the door he carefully worked the mixture in thick loops, going around in a circle. Studding it with more silver beads, he finished the bottom with a licorice bow.
“Very nice,” his boyfriend said with a grin, leaning over to kiss Axton on the temple.
Sebastian sat in awe at the exchange, never really seeing what it meant to be a “happy couple.” Looking back, holidays and birthdays all melded together on it either being just another day like any other, or if his father was home, walking on eggshells in order to avoid a sudden outburst of anger. It was all he knew in terms of anything in regards to a relationship, so when he caught himself staring at Axton and Silvio, he blushed, and quickly looked away. He had to know though and if there was anyone to ask, it would be his newfound wrestling family.
“Do all families fight?”
Surprised by the question, Silvio looked up and blinked owlishly at Sebastian.
“I mean...I guess? I came from a pretty dysfunctional situation, so I dunno if I’m the best person to ask. But...there’s always going to be disagreements in relationships; doesn’t matter what kind they are. Doesn’t mean things have to get nasty, though.”
Sebastian sighed heavily, finally letting himself feel some of the emotion from the weeks leading up to now. The adrenaline rush of coming in as a hot headed novice, the humbling experience of getting some respect beaten into him, and then finding Axton. Sebastian couldn’t care any less about titles, partners, or whatever the case was. He just wanted to have fun and he wanted to have fun with the people that he felt close to. Feeling like he made up his mind, Sebastian nodded to himself and met Axton’s gaze.
“I… I haven’t been in the middle of many, any, fights between people I care about. You invited me to be a part of something special and when you invited me into The Entourage, I didn’t think things could get better. Then Jon came along and…” He spotted the look in Ax’s eye but plunged forward. “I don’t hate him. He wanted to be a friend to me and in all honesty the couple times we were in the ring together, he did what he said he was going to, push me to be better. I go out to that ring to have fun and I don’t care if we’re having a match with each other, against each other, or any variation thereof, moving forward, I want to be part of this group…” Sebastian tried to smile bravely. “I don’t care what happens, I’m sticking around no matter what… If you'll have me that is.”
Sebastian averted his eyes. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that. Felt like I needed to say something though. It’s been a long couple of months.”
Silvio exchanged a look with Axton before turning his gaze back to Sebastian. Smiling gently, he spread his arms a little and asked, “You wanna...bring it in for a sec here? It’s okay to not be okay.”
Sebastian nodded, accepting Silvio’s warm embrace. “I moved away from Vegas in order to not feel trapped by whatever was and is happening between my parents. Like, where is the love in that mess, right?” His voice raised an octave, sounding almost like he’s going to launch himself into hysterics, but he calmed down and continued. “I thought everything was going good here and… I don’t blame anyone for it, sometimes things just happen, but I was pretty blind to it all. Before I know it, Dom is at everyone’s throat but mine and I’m left to figure out where it all went wrong.”
“I gotta piss,” Axton said suddenly, visibly uncomfortable. Silvio would know the look--he was holding something back. He wouldn't look at anyone. “I'll uh. Be back in a minute.”
The Rockstar excused himself from the room, fist balled up in his sweater with white knuckles.
Silvio nodded before looking back at Seb. “Things will get worked out with all of you; I’m sure of it. The way you all synced with each other...the bond you have? Things might be difficult now, but they’re going to get better. And if there’s anything I can do to help, you know you just have to ask, right?”
Sebastian nodded, his eyes on where Axton had disappeared from the room. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, no,” Silvio assured him. “Ax just has kind of a hard time dealing with his emotions. It’s something he’s kinda gotta work on, but I’m helping him with it. Just for right now, I don’t know if he can really deal with the whole situation with Dominick. Probably better to leave that until after the holidays for him.”
He shrugged, raising a brow.
“Axton suffers what we might scientifically call, ‘emotional constipation.’”
Gesturing to the bathroom to which one half of Carnage’s tag champs had retreated, Silvio gave a half-smile.
“Hence the retreat.’”
Sebastian nodded again. “I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for Ax. I hope he knows that…” He shook his head clear and then looked back at the gingerbread house while doing his best to clear any dust particles that may have fallen in his eyes and caused some leakage without letting anyone notice. “So uhm, what do we have left on our gingerbread creation? I honestly don’t even think I’ve had gingerbread before now. Smells fan-friggin’-tastic though!”
Silvio grinned. “I think we’re good to go. I can get some real food together for dinner too. Got a chicken and some veggies and potatoes to cook.” Considering, he cocked his head slightly to one side. “Ax was going to stay over so we could have Christmas morning together. I’m sure he’d be happy to share that with you if you wanna spend the night. I could make the sofa up for you.”
Sebastian’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble. As small as it is, that studio can sometimes just feel… Empty and my first Christmas away from Vegas, that isn’t what I really want to feel.”
“It’s no trouble,” Silvio assured him, beaming. “You’re always welcome here.” He glanced down the hall. “Don’t worry about Ax. I’ll make sure he’s okay. He just needs a minute. Besides…”
The world champ cleared his throat and cupped a hand over his mouth.
“This gingerbread is ready and I was thinking of making some peppermint cocoa, and there was this chicken I was gonna cook up, but gosh I dunno if we can eat it all ourselves, Seb! What are we gonna do?”
The bathroom door burst open and Ax came powersliding back in on sock feet, eyes wide.
“Did you say we can eat the cookies now?”
“Yep!” Silvio said before slinging an arm around Seb’s shoulders. “And guess who’s staying over for Christmas?”
Sebastian nearly jumped out of his skin with excitement. “IT’S ME!” His excitement was quickly covered up though as he suddenly looked bashful. “You weren’t asking me to guess were you?”
Axton’s eyes widened before a grin broke out over his face, his earlier apprehension beginning to seep away.
“The more the merrier,” he declared, grabbing his Santa hat from the PPV segment off the back of his chair and donning it firmly. “Let’s jingle jangle, boys.”
“Molasses, brown sugar, flour, eggs, spices...I think we have everything together. Got some cookie cutters and candies, too, for decorating.”
Silvio leaned back against the counter in his kitchen, raising a brow at Axton and grinning.
“Just missing your biggest fan.”
Dressed in an obnoxious, glittery green sweater embroidered with the words “Let’s Get Lit” in cursive gold, Axton stuck his tongue out playfully at Silvio, setting the carton of eggnog down next to his hot cocoa. He leaned over to check his phone.
“Said he’s five minutes away… that was six minutes ago.”
Just then the door burst open to reveal a snow covered Sebastian Hawke, his eyes glittering with wintery excitement, “Hi! Sorry I’m late, I was just… I felt like I should bring stuff, but I didn’t know what to bring, and the people at the bakery were SO nice that I…” He blushed slightly as he brought his arms up, each hand holding a couple bags a piece. “Might have bought more than was needed.”
Silvio beamed. “Nonsense! The more decked out we can make these the better.” Gesturing Seb in, he offered to take his hat and jacket. “Let me get those dried off for you. You and Ax can start making the gingerbread.”
“Holy shit dude,” Axton laughed, rushing to take some of the bags so Sebastian could have a free hand. “What’s in here? It smells goddamn delicious.”
Sebastian shrugged his shoulders as he accepted Silvio’s help. “I’m honestly not sure? I went to a local shop, ‘best in Baltimore’ according to the internet, and so I went in and asked about gingerbread. They kinda did the rest. Think there’s dough and whatever they use for decorating.”
“Nice!” Silvio said as he took Seb’s things and headed toward the dryer. “We should probably have enough for gingerbread men and a house, too. I’m sure Axton is about to explode with jingle jangle enthusiasm.”
“I’m about to jingle jangle the roof off this fuckin’ place,” Axton confirmed, scrolling through his phone. In seconds there was a Spotify holiday playlist jamming from a bluetooth speaker on the counter. He tucked his phone back into his pocket and dusted his hands together. “Alright. Let us be the architects of Christmas Present.”
Sebastian’s eyes lit up as he took a seat and started to poke at a package of the dough, “Honestly don’t know where to start, I’ve never really done anything like this before. Then again, snow is a pretty new thing to me too. Not sure why people hate the stuff, it’s fun to be sliding around! Only fell over once. Maybe twice…”
“Gotta do your penguin walk,” Silvio advised. “Looks goofy as heck, but it’ll keep you on your feet.” He returned to the kitchen, washed his hands, set the oven to preheat, and took out the rolling pin. “You two get started on the dough there; I’ll roll this out and get pieces for the house cut.”
Sebastian washed his hands in earnest and sat down in front of the laid-out ingredients. He looked down and looked like he was about to do something but then stopped. “So uhm… What exactly do I have to do here?”
“Oh yeah.” There was realization in Axton’s voice as he slid into a seat next to Sebastian, reaching for the bag of flour. “I guess we bought premade dough for the wrestling ring we made, huh? You’ve never made this from scratch before. Ok cool--you mix all the dry ingredients in that bowl, and I’ll do all the wet ones in this one, then we can combine them with a fork.”
It had actually been Silvio who had taught Axton how to make gingerbread from scratch; he’d never had the opportunity to learn from his own parents, but it had always been something he wanted to get a handle on. There was something… wholesome about it. Something satisfying about building something--really building something--from the ground up.
“Ax won’t steer you wrong,” Silvio assured, taking the rolling pin to the pre-made dough. “I had a house in mind if we wanna go classic, but we can make other stuff, too.” He looked at his young guest with a smile. “What do you wanna make, Seb?”
The possibilities flowed through Sebastian’s mind, but the day was young and it wasn’t like he had anything else planned. “Let’s go with a house first, I hear those are always fun and if there’s time, we’ll see what else we can come up with if that’s cool?”
“Sounds good!” With that, Silvio started cutting the rolled-out dough into shapes to build a house.
“We can do fun stuff with the house too,” Axton commented, beating the eggs into the molasses with a fork. It was clear from his slightly crooked posture that his back was still bothering him, as there wasn’t quite as much oomph in the motion of his shoulder. “Like one year I did a house on fire and all the candies were spicy. Pepper chocolates and cinnamon hearts…”
Seb stretched his knee before making a face. “My mom used to just eat those cinnamon hearts straight from the package. Used to love them and they added a certain punch to her cut out cookies…” Sebastian’s voice fades off as the memories catch up to him as he starts to mix all of the necessary dry ingredients in a bowl to whisk it all together with a fork.
Turning, Silvio rested a hand gently on Seb’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
Axton winced subtly, recalling the shouting match at Sebastian’s place… the one where Sebastian’s father had said some pretty terrible things about his mom. A little bubble of rage came up in his gut, but it was quickly fizzled out by concern for his friend and stablemate.
“You should make her some cookies today and send them,” he suggested gently, reaching over to gently tousle Sebastian’s hair. “I bet it’d make her day.”
Sebastian smiled. “Yeah, I don’t know, cookies are good no matter what. I just…” He looked between the two for a moment, considering his words as carefully as a twenty-two-year-old could. “Holidays were never really something my parents focused on. The cookies were always part of some church fundraiser and sometimes I was just lucky enough to have the extras.”
The Oracle frowned, brow knit. “That’s...a shame.” His own father had on more than one occasion left Silvio to fend for himself as far as putting together a holiday meal went; the old man preferring to spend his holidays in a bar or with his friends.
“Mood,” Axton muttered.
Seb shrugged making various circle patterns in his bowl with the fork. “I watched a few holiday movies growing up and I never really saw a reason to NOT believe in the magic of the season. I gave up hope on happy moments with my parents, so I created my own. Now I just want to have a little bit of stability if that’s possible in this line of work.” He snorted lightly. “I’m beginning to doubt that ‘stability’ is a possibility in our line of work.”
Axton reached over, dumping the contents of his mixing bowl into Sebastian’s and starting to stir.
“We’ll get there,” he said, with a tone trying for optimism. It was hard not to think about the new found family he was trying to create--The Entourage… and the state it was in. He had Silvio and Jon, and that was something he treasured, but there were still open wounds in places he wished there weren’t.
“If you were gonna make a dream gingerbread house, Sebby, what would it have on it?”
Sebastian stuck his tongue out slightly, deep in thought as he looked absently at the decorations. “Never really thought of it. Pointy icicles seem like a necessity and lots of frosting snow. Not big on gum drops though. Always think I’m going to get some kind of a fruit and end up getting stupid licorice or some other weird flavor that just doesn’t belong anywhere NEAR candy.”
Laughing, Silvio nodded to the cupboard nearby. “There’s some powdered sugar in there. We can use it to make royal icing and that’ll be perfect for making icicles. And I absolutely agree with you - spice drops look great, but jeez they’re deceptive.”
“I’m that bitch that likes black licorice,” Axton mentioned with a smirk, eyes on his work in the mixing bowl. “But I’ll still eat all the orange skittles in a bowl first if I can get away with it. Dust the table with some of that flour, would ya? Gonna roll this out now.”
Seb nodded and sprinkled the flour out where Ax had indicated, watching as the replica snow fell across the table. Peaks formed and reminded Sebastian of so many Christmas scenes in all of the movies he watched growing up. On the more than one occasion of his mom and him fending for themselves during the holidays while the patriarch of the family was, “out on orders.” He smiled slightly remembering the nights cuddled under a blanket, sharing a bowl of popcorn, to go with some mugs of hot chocolate. Shaking his head lightly, Sebastian brushed his hands over the flour to spread it out evenly so Ax could lay the dough out.
“Such a crazy time of year. Such a weird year to begin with. This time last year I was at a backyard Christmas party thrown by one of the promoters. Never thought I’d be here a year from then…” Sebastian put a little bit of flour on a nearby rolling pin before taking turns with Axton rolling out the flour covered dough.
“I thought I’d be on tour.” Axton shakes his head, leaning over to check the thickness of the dough against his finger. “This year might tank my record sales, but honestly? This whole thing with Carnage has been a breath of fresh air. It’s like getting to live another life for a year… a ‘what coulda been,’ kinda thing.”
Remaining quiet as he listened to the pair, Silvio’s eyes were drawn briefly to the bookshelves in the living room, the hopeful little additions of his test preparation books. Sooner or later, he knew he’d buy updated versions for this year; SAT, ACT, GRE. Right now wasn’t the time. Championships, the ring, and people in this company had voices that were more insistent; louder. But at some point in the next few months after he lost or left his crown, in a moment of vulnerability and fragile hope, he knew that tentative little voice in the back of his head would speak up again.
Maybe?
But not now. Not here.
“I bet your fans are loving this,” Silvio said with a grin as he took out a cookie sheet and began to arrange the house pieces upon it.
“You shoulda seen the comments on my instagram when I posted pics of the title belt and also my bruised-ass face.” Axton sounded almost giddy as he handed Sebastian a cookie cutter. “Some of them were about to go to war for my honour.”
Sebastian grinned as he pressed a cookie out. “Ok, but in my defense I did some stuff I wasn’t even sure I had potential to do and I’m willing to bet it looked super cool. If nothing else…?” He shrugged and stretched his stiff knees again. “You made a couple of those bumps look hella good. Couldn’t have done it without you.” He winks at Ax and punches out a few more cookies before passing the cutter back off to his Entourage stablemate.
Placing the tray of house pieces into the oven, Silvio set to making royal icing with powdered sugar and milk. “That match was bonkers,” he said. “If either of you need icy hot or tiger balm or something, there’s plenty in the bathroom. Thanks again to both of you for helping me out with those moves. I don’t think I’d be where I am without you guys.”
Sebastian smiled warmly, “The honor was mine honestly.”
Axton, on the other hand, scoffed through a smile, wagging a finger at Silvio as he leaned on the counter. “Credit where real credit’s due. You absolutely coulda done it without us--you’ve been doing it without us since before we signed our contracts, babe. But the fact that you thought to take little pieces of us with you into that ring? That’s the real honour. It’s what makes you the perfect World Champion.”
Actually blushing, Silvio gave his boyfriend a crooked, bashful smile.
“...Thanks.”
It was still so weird to even be here. Spooky might have been able to put him back together faster, but they couldn’t do anything for Silvio in the ring as far as ability went. Adrienne had said he was a natural at it, and he trusted her opinion - she’d been around and seen enough to know. Even so, there’d always been a nagging part of him that kept wondering if any of his success - here or otherwise - was more luck than skill-based. His eyes strayed to the World Title settled on the sofa, Christmas lights from the tree glinting off of its golden plates.
He knew what kind of responsibility came with the title; that there’d be expectations. While he was fairly confident he was equal to them, did he actually deserve this?
“Couldn’t have been happier with how Ultimate Carnage played out. Like, in regards to the matches I had personal interest in at least,” Sebastian winced as he remembered watching the gorefest that was the main event of the evening. Not even in his wildest dreams would he have wanted to be involved in someone eating him. “Ken needed a lesson in humility and when compared to other people I’ve met on the roster, I’m happy that you took the opportunity and ran with it. I think it will be nice going into the new year with a champion that actually wants to represent the brand he’s champion of… If that makes sense?” Sebastian paused and looked off into space, reciting his words to himself in silence to ensure he hadn’t misspoke.
“And when it comes to the tag division?” Sebastian looked over at Ax and smiled, “If it wasn’t going to be me carrying one of those belts, I’m happy it was Team Rock Lobster. I just wish…” He froze, trying to get his bearings as the sudden icy tension between Dom and Axton that had sprung up recently raced to the forefront of his mind. “Well, I’m happy for you guys at least.” Sebastian smiles weakly as he goes back to working on the task at hand.
Feeling a vortex of anxiety suddenly start swirling in his guts, Axton worked to quash the sensation as a dismissive smirk automatically found its way to his face. It was super cool how they weren’t going to talk about Dominick, or what he’d said in his promo, or like, anything to do with him, really. Especially the parts where Dom had called him out on all his personality flaws, which he was starkly and brutally aware of at all times, or the part where he’d implied that his feelings were fleeting and fake. Because a conversation like that would make him… not fun to be around, and spoil all the fun. For everyone. And then he’d be left alone again.
Nope! None of that was going to happen, which was great.
“I didn’t expect to ever be holding a belt at all,” the musician laughed, opening a bag of licorice intended for decorating and starting to eat directly out of it. “I owe Jon for all the practice and motivation. He’s a hell of a lucha, lemme tell you. I guess sometimes you don’t know you have a knack for something until it presents itself in a way you can’t really ignore.”
“Guess so.” Silvio smiled and raised a brow at Axton. “Hey, I like this song - how does the chorus to this one go?”
Axton, sensing an out, latched on to the music in the background and pitched his voice over the chorus in a full rockstar form.
“So please just fall in love with me this Christmas, There's nothing else that I would need this Christmas!”
Air mic.
“Won't be wrapped under the tree--I want something that lasts forever, So kiss me on this cold December night!”
“I don’t think I know that one…” Sebastian smiled as he watched Ax sing. As much as he enjoyed acting, he was never really one for actually SINGING. Still, he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing from this picture, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, “You and Jon really make one hell of a tag team dude. The work you put in with him showed and let’s just be honest here, you make those belts look damn good!” Seb winked and smiled over his gingerbread cutouts.
“Oh shit. I'm gonna freehand a little guitar cookie.” Suddenly inspired, Axton sat down again, grabbing a butter knife. “Let's all make ourselves to hang out at this gingerbread house party.”
"Sounds perfect," Silvio said.
Before long, the cookies were baked, and the house was being assembled. Once it was ready for decoration, Silvio laid out all the candies, icings, and various trimmings and they all got down to business. The Oracle seemed intent on creating designs on the outer walls with the royal icing; piping little mandalas and a few stylized hearts and daggers.
“Woah… That looks awesome!” Sebastian watches in awe as Silvio works the frosting into various patterns, suddenly envious of the gingerbread house’s design work. Holding up his freshly decorated Sebastian Hawke gingerbread cookie next to his face, Sebastian does his best cheesy smile to replicate the over exaggerated grin on the cookie, “The resemblance is stunning isn’t it?”
“Photo-realistic,” Silvio agreed with a grin, arranging jujubees on the top of the roof.
“Smile should be bigger,” Axton commented, carefully flooding his gingerbread guitar with green icing. He began studding the perimeter with silver chocolate beads. “Leave the door for me, Sil, I wanna do a wreath.”
Nodding, Silvio stepped back. “I’m pretty much done with my bit. Let’s see you give this your festive touch.”
“I saw this on Sugar Rush,” Axton muttered, taking his piping bag full of green icing; on the front of the door he carefully worked the mixture in thick loops, going around in a circle. Studding it with more silver beads, he finished the bottom with a licorice bow.
“Very nice,” his boyfriend said with a grin, leaning over to kiss Axton on the temple.
Sebastian sat in awe at the exchange, never really seeing what it meant to be a “happy couple.” Looking back, holidays and birthdays all melded together on it either being just another day like any other, or if his father was home, walking on eggshells in order to avoid a sudden outburst of anger. It was all he knew in terms of anything in regards to a relationship, so when he caught himself staring at Axton and Silvio, he blushed, and quickly looked away. He had to know though and if there was anyone to ask, it would be his newfound wrestling family.
“Do all families fight?”
Surprised by the question, Silvio looked up and blinked owlishly at Sebastian.
“I mean...I guess? I came from a pretty dysfunctional situation, so I dunno if I’m the best person to ask. But...there’s always going to be disagreements in relationships; doesn’t matter what kind they are. Doesn’t mean things have to get nasty, though.”
Sebastian sighed heavily, finally letting himself feel some of the emotion from the weeks leading up to now. The adrenaline rush of coming in as a hot headed novice, the humbling experience of getting some respect beaten into him, and then finding Axton. Sebastian couldn’t care any less about titles, partners, or whatever the case was. He just wanted to have fun and he wanted to have fun with the people that he felt close to. Feeling like he made up his mind, Sebastian nodded to himself and met Axton’s gaze.
“I… I haven’t been in the middle of many, any, fights between people I care about. You invited me to be a part of something special and when you invited me into The Entourage, I didn’t think things could get better. Then Jon came along and…” He spotted the look in Ax’s eye but plunged forward. “I don’t hate him. He wanted to be a friend to me and in all honesty the couple times we were in the ring together, he did what he said he was going to, push me to be better. I go out to that ring to have fun and I don’t care if we’re having a match with each other, against each other, or any variation thereof, moving forward, I want to be part of this group…” Sebastian tried to smile bravely. “I don’t care what happens, I’m sticking around no matter what… If you'll have me that is.”
Sebastian averted his eyes. “Sorry, I don’t know why I said that. Felt like I needed to say something though. It’s been a long couple of months.”
Silvio exchanged a look with Axton before turning his gaze back to Sebastian. Smiling gently, he spread his arms a little and asked, “You wanna...bring it in for a sec here? It’s okay to not be okay.”
Sebastian nodded, accepting Silvio’s warm embrace. “I moved away from Vegas in order to not feel trapped by whatever was and is happening between my parents. Like, where is the love in that mess, right?” His voice raised an octave, sounding almost like he’s going to launch himself into hysterics, but he calmed down and continued. “I thought everything was going good here and… I don’t blame anyone for it, sometimes things just happen, but I was pretty blind to it all. Before I know it, Dom is at everyone’s throat but mine and I’m left to figure out where it all went wrong.”
“I gotta piss,” Axton said suddenly, visibly uncomfortable. Silvio would know the look--he was holding something back. He wouldn't look at anyone. “I'll uh. Be back in a minute.”
The Rockstar excused himself from the room, fist balled up in his sweater with white knuckles.
Silvio nodded before looking back at Seb. “Things will get worked out with all of you; I’m sure of it. The way you all synced with each other...the bond you have? Things might be difficult now, but they’re going to get better. And if there’s anything I can do to help, you know you just have to ask, right?”
Sebastian nodded, his eyes on where Axton had disappeared from the room. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, no,” Silvio assured him. “Ax just has kind of a hard time dealing with his emotions. It’s something he’s kinda gotta work on, but I’m helping him with it. Just for right now, I don’t know if he can really deal with the whole situation with Dominick. Probably better to leave that until after the holidays for him.”
He shrugged, raising a brow.
“Axton suffers what we might scientifically call, ‘emotional constipation.’”
Gesturing to the bathroom to which one half of Carnage’s tag champs had retreated, Silvio gave a half-smile.
“Hence the retreat.’”
Sebastian nodded again. “I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for Ax. I hope he knows that…” He shook his head clear and then looked back at the gingerbread house while doing his best to clear any dust particles that may have fallen in his eyes and caused some leakage without letting anyone notice. “So uhm, what do we have left on our gingerbread creation? I honestly don’t even think I’ve had gingerbread before now. Smells fan-friggin’-tastic though!”
Silvio grinned. “I think we’re good to go. I can get some real food together for dinner too. Got a chicken and some veggies and potatoes to cook.” Considering, he cocked his head slightly to one side. “Ax was going to stay over so we could have Christmas morning together. I’m sure he’d be happy to share that with you if you wanna spend the night. I could make the sofa up for you.”
Sebastian’s eyes lit up. “Yeah! I mean, if it isn’t too much trouble. As small as it is, that studio can sometimes just feel… Empty and my first Christmas away from Vegas, that isn’t what I really want to feel.”
“It’s no trouble,” Silvio assured him, beaming. “You’re always welcome here.” He glanced down the hall. “Don’t worry about Ax. I’ll make sure he’s okay. He just needs a minute. Besides…”
The world champ cleared his throat and cupped a hand over his mouth.
“This gingerbread is ready and I was thinking of making some peppermint cocoa, and there was this chicken I was gonna cook up, but gosh I dunno if we can eat it all ourselves, Seb! What are we gonna do?”
The bathroom door burst open and Ax came powersliding back in on sock feet, eyes wide.
“Did you say we can eat the cookies now?”
“Yep!” Silvio said before slinging an arm around Seb’s shoulders. “And guess who’s staying over for Christmas?”
Sebastian nearly jumped out of his skin with excitement. “IT’S ME!” His excitement was quickly covered up though as he suddenly looked bashful. “You weren’t asking me to guess were you?”
Axton’s eyes widened before a grin broke out over his face, his earlier apprehension beginning to seep away.
“The more the merrier,” he declared, grabbing his Santa hat from the PPV segment off the back of his chair and donning it firmly. “Let’s jingle jangle, boys.”