Misgivings and Misconceptions

Jean checked his email one last time as he entered the Tension gym, staring at the email his manager had sent him. He was supposed to meet him here to pick up a paycheck for his last match, and that he wanted to talk to him about something. Jean waved to the receptionist at the desk and walked towards the back of the buildings to the offices. Stopping at 169R, Jean knocked twice before being invited to enter. Pushing open the door, Jean saw his manager sitting at his desk, as well as a fellow wrestler Haru that he'd seen around the gym quite a bit. Haru looked fairly comfortable in the office as compared to him, he was slouched in his chair and his legs spread wide. Before he had started dating David, he had had quite a crush on Haru. He saw him around the gym a lot during workouts, running the track, lifting weights, watching the sweat roll down his chest towards….no! Jean shook his head, those were exactly the wrong kind of thoughts to be having right now.

”Have a seat Richards” his manager said in a gruff voice, wheeling around in his chair to a filing cabinet behind him. Jean moved to sit down in the chair next to Haru while his manager rummaged around in the cabinet. Chancing a glance at Haru, the dark-skinned Japanese boy caught him looking and winked at him, making Jean look away with slight embarrassment. He heard Haru snicker before the manager cleared his throat loudly, wheeling around his squeaky chair to face both wrestlers.

”It’s payday boys.” he announced, slapping a bank statement in front of each of them. Jean couldn’t help but notice that Haru’s had more zeroes than his dead, and he felt slightly sheepish for it. You didn’t get paid a lot to lose unless you were a popular jobber, and Jean didn’t want to be known as one. He had insisted on marketing himself as a face, and yet all his official matches had turned out to be losses. Jean quickly snatched his from the desk and held it close, hoping that Haru hadn’t gotten a glance.

”Yer killing it out there Fujiwara, the fans are eating you up. Richards, yer doing just alright. If yer gonna lose all your matches, at least let me market you as a jobber. As it is, billing you as a face is making us bleed money.”

Haru snickered again. Greaaaaaaaaat. Jean thought, sinking lower in his seat. At least it couldn’t get more embarrassing….

”Now I called you boys in here together for a reason. Richards, if yer really intent on being a face, yer gonna need to put in some extra time around here and win some matches. I’ve asked Fujiwara here to train you, non-negotiable.”

Nope, he was wrong, it could get more embarrassing. Jean looked over to see Haru smug as could be, grinning away at him.

”Unless you’re ready to commit to jobbing, then just keep doing what yer doing. Capiche?”
Jean was too mortified to argue. He simply shook his head.

”Then get yet ass out there and sweat it out” his manager said with a sense of finality, banging his fist on the table like a judge. Jean stashed his pay stub into his gym bag, slid it over his shoulder, and quickly exited to wait for Haru in the hall. Whatever his expectations had been for what his manager wanted to talk about, that was certainly far from it. He had told David to come pick him up in an hour, and that hour couldn’t pass quickly enough.

---

Haru had gotten a memo from his manager early that morning telling him his paycheck was here and that he had a paying side-job for him. Not knowing and not really caring what it was for, Haru had shown up to the gym and at his manager’s office. When he got there, he had been asked to sit and wait for a while. Slouching back in the chair and staring at the ceiling, the wait and the boredom became almost unimaginable and he started counting the tiles on the ceiling till a knock on the door surprised him.

Sitting up just a bit, Haru turned to find a lanky blonde wrestler come in. Haru recognized him immediately as the boy who always stared at him when he thought Haru wasn’t looking. He had no idea they had the same manager, this was going to be interesting. As the manager flipped through his filing cabinet, Haru found that the boy was looking at him again. He had a theory about why that was, and now he was going to test it. Haru flashed a wink and the boy looked away immediately. Yep, he was crushing on him. Haru snickered in amusement, now that he knew he could endless tease him.

Haru tuned out most of what his manager said until it pertained to him. He got praise for his work and a fat paycheck, so Haru grinned with pride. The Richards boy on the other hand was getting a scolding for being too much of a jobber, which made him snicker again. He was starting to put the pieces together as to why he was asked here, and sure enough, a few moments later his manager confirmed it. Richards all but ran out of the room when they were dismissed, making Haru shake his head in amusement. He grabbed his paycheck and tossed it in his bag, mock saluting the manager as he headed out the door.

He found the Richards guy waiting for him outside the door. Now his fun could really start. Haru put his hand against the wall above Richards’s head, leaning in close so that he his face was inches from Jean's. ”Ready to ‘sweat it out,’ just you and me?” he asked with a suggestive wink.

Dave was a little concerned....ok maybe a bit more concerned than that. It had to do with his boyfriend.

He was happy to have finally scheduled a meet up with Jean in the few weeks since their night together, but Dave noticed after that night together, Jean began to act a little strange. His mind began to wander back to when it all began a few weeks ago.

FLASHBACK: ONE MONTH PRIOR
DAVID'S APARTMENT

After David had showed him the Captain America costume he had made, Jean had gotten David to agree to help him make one for himself. He wanted to try getting into something that had meant so much to David so that they could share it together. In fact, their first official date had been going shopping for the materials together, looking at fabrics and accessories that they could use to make it match the concept art completely. And today it was finally finished. Jean was busy slipping it on in the bathroom, and when he was finally done, he looked at himself in the mirror.

Quicksilver Cosplay:

Very satisfied with their work, he stepped out into the bedroom to show David. "Well, how do I look?"

Dave's jaw dropped comically when he saw Jean.

"You look fantastic!!!! You're not half bad at making cosplay Jean. I dare say you could make a habit out of it! How does it feel?" he asked, looking over the costume in detail. The suit was based off of unused concept art for Age of Ultron, and Dave thought it would be a good look for Jean. The whole top and bottom seemed to flow together quite nicely.

Seeing David so happy and proud of their work together made Jean's smile widen. It clearly meant a lot to David that Jean was getting into his hobby too. He had learned far more than he ever expected to about sewing and fabric and cosplay in general. David was very eager to share everything he knew, and an even better teacher. He decided from that moment on that he was going to surprise David with a cosplay made completely on his own, as well as tickets to this huge convention that his boyfriend was always talking about.

FAST FORWARD TO 3 DAYS BEFORE PRESENT DAY


It was about 6 in the evening and Jean's phone dinged as a message from David lit up the screen, asking him if he wanted to come over and watch a movie. Jean felt like he cancelled on David for the thousandth time recently as he looked at his phone. He was always pretending to be busy or too tired to do anything with his boyfriend, when in reality he spent every waking moment perfecting every little detail on the Winter Soldier cosplay he was making to match David's Captain America.

It was very nearly finished, but Jean was in overdrive perfectionist mode. Everything had to be perfect so that he could stand proudly next to David's impeccable work. At times the work seemed grueling and his hands would cramp or he'd prick himself with a needle, but he kept telling himself how happy this was going to make David, and that seemed to make it all worth it.

Looking at his phone to the costume, Jean sighed and picked up the phone. He stared at the screen for a while in indecision, before finally sending a 'Sure '. One night off wasn't going to ruin the costume, and he felt bad after having bailed so many times. Jean yawned tiredly to himself as he grabbed a coat and his phone and headed out the door.

Jean arrived at David's door a good 30 mins later, letting himself in with the key David had given him. "Honey, I'm homeeee" Jean said in a tired joking voice, looking around for his boyfriend.

"Hey there!" Dave said, poking his head out of the hallway and smiling. He and Jean had decided to watch a movie at Dave's place that night, and Dave smiled at the prospect of hanging out more with his boyfriend.

"I got a bunch of movies in the binder near the TV. Help yourself and choose one!" he called out, getting some popcorn ready.

Jean smiled and nodded, kicking off his shoes near the door and walking towards the living room. He sat on the couch and began to flip through quite an impressive collection of movies as the heavenly smell of popcorn started to pervade the apartment. He ended up choosing Prometheus, the apparent prequel to the Aliens franchise that Jean never got around to seeing while it was in theaters. Jean popped it into the DVD player and laid down across the couch with a yawn. With all those late nights recently, sleep was a luxury he could hardly afford if he wanted to finish the cosplay on time. He just hoped he could stay awake long enough to finish the movie.

Dave soon walked up to him, holding a ball of nice hot buttered popcorn, sneaking a kiss on Jean's cheek as he sat down.

"Prometheus huh? Good choice!" he complimented with a smile as he moved so he had Jean leaning against his chest, Grabbing the remote, he pressed play as the movie began. Dave smiled again as he tossed some popcorn in his mouth, giving Jean a gentle squeeze with his arm.

Jean relaxed against David's chest as the movie started, snuggling in for the long haul as a ship sailed through the cosmos on screen. David provided warmth and comfort and Jean discovered that his eyelids were profoundly more heavy now than even ten minutes ago. The dialogue and the fantastical sets of the movie became more and more uninteresting as his focus shifted from the movie to just not falling asleep, including suppressing any further yawns. Barely at the 45 minute mark and Jean was fast asleep, breathing softly and steadily against his boyfriends chest. His face even asleep looked exhausted, and he pretty clearly needed the rest.

Dave heard the quiet breathing from Jean's slumbering form and quietly turned down the movie, before setting down the remote and stroking his boyfriend's hair. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep, and Dave could tell that Jean needed the rest, so it came as no surprise when the blonde wrestler passed out from sheer exhaustion.