Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended.
Big Thank You to my beta reader Blazing Glory and my friend Writer Chica who make sure this story gets to you in readable fashion.
000
The night before the Backlash event saw the Hardys going out for an early dinner and maybe a drink or two. They were walking down the hallway, Jeff was listening to his music, zoning out as Matt remained quiet walking beside him. Suddenly Matt stopped, looking down at the floor.
Jeff walked a few more paces, before noticing the absence of his brother beside him. He stopped and looked back at Matt. "What's up man?"
"Um, there's something I've been putting off taking care of for a while." Matt answered vaguely looking up but not directly in his brother's eye. "I'll meet you at the restaurant in a little bit."
"Okay..." Was all a confused Jeff could say as Matt turned and took off in the other direction without saying another word.
Hunter was catching a cat nap so he wouldn't be quite so tired at the Pre-Backlash party, and maybe stay awake the whole time. He grumbled a little when he heard a rather loud knock at his door. Of all the people he expected to be at his door it certainly was not Matt Hardy. "Well, well Matt, if you're looking for MVP, he isn't here."
Matt shifted uncomfortably, clearly not happy about being here, but forcing himself anyway, plunged forward. "Hey."
"Hey yourself." Hunter raised a curious eyebrow at him, and tried to keep from snickering at the usually steadfast Hardy's discomfort. "Where's Jeff? I rarely see you guys without the other nearby when the two brands are together?"
"We're meeting up for dinner, but I wanted to take care of somethin' really quick..." Matt said though he turned his head and looked away from Hunter.
"And this involves me how...?" Hunter prompted casually though kept his body tense, in case that something was a punch to the face instead of words. Despite Matt's friendliness in the ring on Smackdown, he might have just been putting on a good face for Jeff and the crowd. Even now it was quite obvious that Matt did not want to be in Hunter's presence at all.
After an awkward pause Matt looked back at Hunter in the eye and swallowed every ounce of pride he had. "Thanks for what you did, saving my ass on RAW after the battle royal. I know that got you in trouble with MVP tonight so I just wanted to let you know that I did appreciate it, even if I didn't say so before.
Hunter blinked a couple of times speechless for the moment. Of all the things he was expecting Matt to say to him that was not one of them. "Uh, you're welcome..." He replied automatically, still trying to process what had just been said, but quickly collected his senses and resumed his Game posture. He leaned against the door frame arms folded across his chest a slightly smug smirk on his face. "Though really it's Jeff you should thank, he asked me to watch your back in his place.
Now it was Matt's turn to be surprised. "Jeff?"
"Yeah, Jeff. You yourself haven't given me any reason to save your ass, in fact you've been a downright cold shouldering dick to me lately, so I wouldn't have lifted finger to help even if Finlay and MVP had beaten you into the ground..." Hunter said indignantly, but then softened a little. "But... Jeff has kept up his end of our affair, so when he asked for that favor to help you if you needed it, even though I wasn't so particularly inclined, I came down to the ring and saved your ass."
Matt looked away again seeming to think about this new revelation, both that Jeff had been behind the save the whole time, and the fact that Hunter had honored the request even though it had earned him the ire of MVP who almost cost him the No. 1 contendership on Smackdown.
Chewing on his lower lip for a moment before he sighed, muttering affectionately about Jeff. "Little twerp..."
He finally turned to face Hunter again. "You wanna... join us for dinner? The place's a block away.."
Hunter raised an eyebrow at him again. "You're inviting me?"
"Guess I am..." Matt shrugged.
Hunter thought about it for awhile, he had the party to attend later, on the other hand he did not want to refuse Matt's good will, when the elder Hardy was finally warming up to him. "Well I do have a dinner date later," He flashed Matt a genuine smile. "But I could hang out with you guys for bit. Let me get my coat."
A few minutes later saw Matt and Hunter walking toward the restaurant. The two had been walking in silence since Hunter had rejoined Matt after retrieving his coat. Finally, Hunter decided to take the opportunity to extend the olive branch further to Matt for Jeff's sake.
"By the way never got a chance to thank you for saving my ass from MVP and JBL.
Matt waved it off with a shrug. "I owed ya one, and there was no way I was gonna let those guys win." Then Matt smirked. "And a good excuse to give MVP back some for the other night."
They eventually arrived at the restaurant only to find Jeff was not there. Matt let out a put upon sigh as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jeff's number.
"He's a firecracker." Hunter chuckled.
"Don't I know it, try being responsible for the little-" Matt stopped when Jeff answered. "Jeff, dude, where the hell are you?"
"Across the street man, didn't you get the text?"
"And what pray tell are you doin' across the street?"
"Trying to decide what sushi we should have, I kinda got a craving for tempura over pizza."
Matt let out a good natured chuckle. "You're like a puppy sometimes, ya know that Jeffro? On the other hand sushi does sound good..."
"Woof-woof. Now get your ass over here its on the corner."
Matt hung up sniggering. "He's fine, just followed his nose to a sushi place. C'mon."
Hunter grinned as he follows Matt out the door. "Ever impulsive, but that's not a bad thing."
Matt grinned back. "I wouldn't change a bit of him. Just uh... don't tell him that.
"Well I won't tell him intentionally, but I'll be honest with you I can't make any promises in the throes of passion okay?" Hunter said.
Matt grimaced, opening the door to the restaurant. "Okay, now see man. We're getting along, all civil and then you go and put THAT in my head. Not. Cool."
Hunter shrugged. "Sorry just trying to be as honest as possible, I thought you liked that. You don't trust me enough as it is, lying to you won't get me any brownie points."
Meanwhile Jeff looked up from his menu when he heard two familiar voices. To his utter shock he saw both Matt and Hunter enter together though they seem to be in a quiet verbal battle. "Hey!" He called out to them with a tone of voice that was both a greeting and "What the hell is going on?" question.
"Hey, I brought a date." Matt offered him a smile and sat down on one side of Jeff while Hunter took the seat on the other side other.
Jeff's gaze shifted warily between the two not sure if this was genuine or a joke. "I can see that... And you sure you're okay with this?" He raised an eyebrow at his brother.
A cheshire cat grin appeared on Hunter's face. "He invited me."
Matt merely ordered his drink, kinda liking that for once he seemed to have knocked Jeff for a loop as opposed to the other way around.
A slightly uncomfortable silence reigned as a confused Jeff tried to figure out what was going on. He settled for going back to look at his menu. The brothers decided in the end to go with the chef's special "omakase" where the sushi chef would chose what they would eat. Hunter just opted for a drink.
After their drinks arrived, in an effort to ease things up Hunter changed the subject. "Hey uh, how about we keep these good vibes up, um Jeff I was thinking about that story you told me a couple weeks ago."
Jeff raised an eyebrow. "You remember that? I thought you'd dozed off?"
"What story?" Matt asked curiosity piqued.
"The one mom used to tell us about that village back in the day, mysterious guy shows up, mayor's son makes friends with him, all the townspeople think the stranger is a witch." Jeff said.
Matt perked up even more at that, it was one of the few stories he could vividly remember his mother telling them. "The one where they make the son prepare him for the execution..."
"Yeah he cuts off the stranger's hair or shaves his head, I can't remember, All the colors gone. Real sad." Jeff said thoughtfully.
"But I was wondering at the end was it ever official that he was a witch for real or...?" Hunter asked.
"I think they leave for the audience to decide." Jeff said. "What do you think the stranger was Matt? A witch or a gypsy, a magician?"
Matt swirled his beer in thought for a moment before take a swig, and finally answering. "I always thought maybe he was a spirit, you know? The spirit of friendship or some cheesey shit like that. And once someone offered him true friendship he left."
"That was one of my thoughts too." Jeff grinned. "How about you Hunter?"
"I thought the guy might be an alien." Hunter said thoughtfully.
"An alien?" Jeff furrowed his brow and Matt got an expression that screamed 'seriously?'
"Yeah," Hunter said confident in his conviction. "He beamed down to earth, maybe to get a new experience or maybe to study humans, or maybe just exile from home. That's why he stayed away from everyone so he could observe them from far away. But he didn't count on making friends with them so when he did, he got a little close and let his guard down. When his friend betrayed him and cut off his hair, maybe that weakened him somehow or he lost will to live. But then when his friend stuck up for him, he found a reason again, but he knew it was too dangerous to stay so he beamed himself away."
"Huh, now why didn't I think of that," Jeff said thoughtfully. "Good theory, Hunter."
Matt remained silent and took another swig of his beer, though he pondered over Hunter's idea, or more he pondered over the fact that Hunter was not just tolerating Jeff's quirkiness but was genuinely engaged in the conversation and coming up with quirky ideas of his own.
"Didn't know I had a nerd side huh?" Hunter chuckled.
"Nope...You hide it pretty damn well. Luckily, Jeff's good at bringing that side out of people." Matt said, ruffling his little brother's hair.
"Yeah, I think my weirdness may be contagious," Jeff smoothed his hair back into place, with a smirk.
"Not a bad thing little brother." Matt clinked his beer bottle against Jeff's.
"Kinda helps someone let go of themselves." Hunter said looking down at his own drink. His eyes softened and grew distant. "Which can be a relief sometimes."
The brothers exchanged glances, before Jeff slid his hand over Hunter's under the table, and gazed at him sympathetically. "It's gotta be tiring to be "The Game" all the time."
Hunter looked back up at them and for a moment, even though Matt was there, the facade of King of Kings completely slipped, his eyes went soft and a little sad looking directly at Jeff. "Yeah... Sometimes. Sometimes I wish I could be like you. Just let go and do random crazy shit and not care about a reputation. I can kinda get away with it in DX but even still I gotta be the straight man to Shawn who's going all over the place."
Suddenly the jovial voice of John Cena rang through the place, startling the other three men. "Yo! I see where the party's at."
Matt watched with some disappointment as Hunter's "Game" face came back almost immediately when he was aware of John's presence, and he and Jeff parted hands, but he said nothing, only giving Cena a wave.
"Yo back. What's up John?" Hunter greeted him.
"Saw you in here from outside does that mean the Pre-Backlash party tonight is off?" Cena asked with a raised eyebrow.
Hunter glanced warily over at the Hardys quickly, then back John. "No, It's not till 8pm, I'm just hanging out for a bit with less formal company." He glanced at his watch. "But I'd better get going. Gotta go get ready and actually look like the King of Kings."
"Yeah, gotta look the part at this thing," John chuckled as Hunter got up and walked past him, then looked over at Jeff. "I guess I'll being seeing you there too, Jeff."
Hunter froze at the door.
Jeff looked at John in surprise, then weight of realizing he had been left out of a party that he could have been invited to by Hunter, hit him. He looked down away from John rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "I uh... Wasn't invited man."
Cena's eyes widened a little in his own surprise looking at Jeff. He looked over at Hunter who was glaring back at him, then back at Jeff. "I... Thought..." He stammered fiddling with the bill of his ball cap awkwardly. He looked the epitome of embarrassed and a little ashamed that he had revealed something that both hurt Jeff's feelings and made Hunter mad at him. To keep from putting his foot further into his mouth, he just gave the Hardys a congenial wave. "Nevermind. See you tomorrow at Backlash then. Good Luck!"
Without another word he quickly made a break for the door. And kept his eyes averted away from Hunter as he passed by him out the door.
Hunter glared at Cena on his way out, before looking warily back back at the Hardys.
Jeff himself was surprised at how hurt he felt at this, after all Hunter had his own group of friends and commitments, they'd made no promises to include each other in such things like friends do, but feeling that he might have been purposefully overlooked, or just plain snubbed, nagged at his own insecurities and it felt none too good. True, he made no pretense of actually wanting to go to whatever party Hunter was putting on, if it was anything like the Valentine's day shindig he would be bored out of his mind. Then again, he had not known Hunter that well then, not like he knew him now. Maybe this time it would have been different, now that he knew Hunter more personally he would feel less like an outsider at these fancy things. Perhaps what hurt the most was possibly being snubbed by someone you had just had fun with in front of a crowd last night.
He made eye contact with Hunter and offered him the best smile he could force. "It's cool man, you probably thought I'd be bored out of my mind, and I probably would."
Hunter saw right through it as Jeff's eyes that had grown much more trusting of him in the last few days, betrayed the disappointment he felt. Hunter's own eyes went downcast and he turned and left without a word.
Matt honestly tried his best to stay out of this, but once again he did not LIKE how Hunter treated his brother. And Just when he actually starting to like the guy. "That arrogant...I can't believe he just snubbed you after everything."
"Don't get into Matt, let's just have fun okay?" Jeff picked up his menu. "I think I need another drink to get things started."
"Whatever you say little brother," Matt shook his head. "I didn't know Hunter and Cena were so buddy-buddy."
"Cena was one of Hunter's lovers before me." Jeff said nonchalantly.
Matt nearly spit out his beer, but managed to swallow, although it sent him into a cough fit.
Jeff couldn't keep from laughing. "Nevermind about the drink, I think you'll cheer things up just fine man."
000
After dinner the brothers headed back to their hotel, chatting about Backlash and other random things. However when they reached their rooms that were next door to each other, they found Hunter standing in front of Jeff's.
Hunter now dressed in a nice suit for the party, looked up from his phone as the brothers approached. "Hey..."
Jeff walked up acting as if nothing had happened, though the air of uneasiness between them could be felt by anyone passing by. "Hey? Aren't you gonna be late?"
Matt remained behind Jeff at the door to his own room, just staring at Hunter, not exactly glaring, but not welcoming either.
"Eh, they can wait." Hunter shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you first."
Matt let out a sigh and unlocked the door to his room. "Guess that's my cue. G'night Jeff. He nodded at Hunter before going inside his hotel room, but then pressed his ear to the closed door. THIS he had to hear!
"Look Jeff," Hunter said once Matt was gone. "I don't want you to think I didn't invite you because I didn't want you to come. I just thought you'd be bored out of your mind like you were at the Valentine's day party. I don't want you drink yourself silly again."
Jeff looked down at the floor idly scraping it with his foot. "Is that the real reason Hunter? I'd rather you be honest with me than just telling me what's easy to say at the moment."
Hunter hesitated before answering, while his reason was 90% true he did keep have some reservations about actually inviting the rather oddball rainbow haired warrior to this swanky Pre-show party. He didn't want to be embarrassed if Jeff did something off the wall or alienated people with his random wonderings or tendency to "zone out". He didn't even know if Jeff knew to dress properly for the occasion. He sure hadn't for the Valentine's day party. At least then Hunter could put it off as just a nice gesture in return for the painting Jeff had made for him. But a straightforward invitation was not as easy to pass off. Then again Jeff hadn't known he had been invited to the Valentine's day party when he got there.
"Yes,Jeff." Hunter replied as honestly as he could. "That and Randy is going to be there, and with things between you and him getting even worse, I didn't think boredom and a rival at the party would make for a good time.
Jeff looked back up at him, his eyes softening a little. "You're probably right about that..."
"Next time I'll make the gesture though okay?" Hunter said with a smile.
Jeff shook his head with a sigh. "Hunter I don't want you to invite me to anything just because you feel you have to, I want you to invite me because you actually want me there. If you don't, then don't invite me."
Hunter's smile faded as Jeff spoke, and when he was finished, nodded. "Fair enough. I'll see you later Jeff, good luck at Backlash." He said evenly in a more business like tone than a casual one as he walked past Jeff down the hall.
Jeff stiffened a little bit at the change in tone. He did not mean to throw Hunter's offer of inclusion in his face, he just didn't want to be included in something where we wasn't truly wanted.
"Hunter!" Jeff called after him.
The other man turned around with a raised eyebrow, Jeff offered him a smile. "It was fun working the crowd with you last night. We should do it again sometime."
The smile returned to Hunter's face. "Sure."
000
Hunter swirled his champagne only half listening to Randy rambling on about something or other. Man he was bored. Same people, practically the same talk every time. Although he seemed more bored than before, (not even Ric couldn't get him interested in a conversation), it sure didn't help that Shawn opted out so as to not let the tension between him and Batista bring down the party.
Rainbow hair and a mysterious smile matched with green eyes flashed through his head. Jeff. If only he were here, he would think of something interesting or funny to say. They could have entertained each other during the lulls.
Why didn't he invite him again? Oh yeah, he was afraid that Jeff's quirkiness would embarrass him. Dear God he was acting like the lead cheerleader and her cliq excluding the artsy kid for no other reason than they found him "weird". But truth be told, Hunter had started to grow fond of that weirdness. Perhaps it was Jeff's uniqueness that made everything else seem dull, or perhaps it was because Jeff had brought some of his own quirkiness, that he kept under careful control, out more freely.
"Hey 'H'," Ric waved a hand in front of his face. "Still with us?"
Hunter blinked and answered automatically. "Oh yeah, just thinking."
"What's on your mind Hunter?" Cena asked.
Caught a little off guard and certainly not going to tell them he was thinking about Jeff, he glanced around for something to tell them, including out the window at the stars, specifically Orion's belt. "I wonder what it would be like to look at this planet as someone from outer space. I mean what would someone from Mars think of us?"
Where Jeff would have happily engaged him in the conversation, when Hunter looked back at the group he was with, everyone was looking at him like he had grown two heads. He swallowed a weary sigh, put back on his confident mask of the King of Kings and waved it off with a laugh. "Ha. Where the hell did that come from? Sorry I must have had more champagne than I thought."
000
Awwww, poor Hunter has to hide the quirkiness that Jeff is bringing out of him from everyone.