~da beginning~



The click of his cowboy boots were the only sound as Lance navigated the hallways of the arena, heading for the dressing room. The unusual quietness didn't seem to faze him as he was lost in thought. After a series of mishaps in his personal life, he had finally decided to make the big move. Two days earlier, he signed the lease on a new apartment and moved his things in.

His back patio gave him a perfect view of the happiest place on earth, but even Mickey Mouse couldn't make him smile right now. The apartment was cold, empty - not quite a home yet. His heavy sigh bounced off the wall and he admonished himself for the pity party going on in his mind. All he needed was something to distract him, occupy his time, make him feel like himself again.

Rounding the corner of the hallway, still lost in thought, Lance never saw the bouncing blonde bundle of energy until Shannon had collided with his chest. Only slightly annoyed, he looked down at the spiky hair poking him in the chest. "Where's the fire, Moore?" he asked. Shannon giggled as he looked up - and up - into Lance's blue eyes.

"On my ass in about five seconds if he catches me," Shannon replied. Lance looked down the hallway, watching Bubba opening doors and calling for Shannon. He glanced down, but the mohawk had disappeared. Turning quickly, Lance saw the smaller man hiding behind him. "Don't say anything," Shannon whispered. "Maybe he won't see me."

Lance shook his head, chuckling at the childhood logic. D'von had joined Bubba in his hunt and Lance wondered what the blonde could have done to incur the wrath of the Dudleys. Noticing a doorway to his left, he quickly opened it, motioning for Shannon to slip inside. It barely had time to close, and Lance barely had time to lean against it before the pair was standing before him, fuming.

"Have you seen that little punk-ass bastard?" Bubba growled. Lance shook his head slowly, then drawled even more slowly. "Who ya talkin' bout, Bubba?" he asked, coughing to cover up the giggle that came from behind the door. "Shannon, the little shit." Lance cocked his head, studying the red face of Bubba Dudley and taking in the laughing eyes of D'Von.

"Jeez Bub," Lance said. "I'm sure if you just asked him, Shannon would go out with ya. You ain't gotta go all caveman on him and chase him around like some kinda wild prey." For a moment, he thought Bubba's head was going to explode. "I DON'T WANT TO TAKE HIM ON A DATE! I WANNA KILL THE LITTLE FREAK!" Lance held up a hand. "Why would you wanna do a thing like that?" he asked calmly.

It took everything Lance had not to laugh as Bubba showed him a comb stuck on his head. "Do you see this?" he asked, jabbing his finger at it. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?" Lance smiled, watching as D'Von grabbed his stomach and bent over, silent laughter shaking his entire body. "I'm not too sure what you call that where you're from," Lance said calmly, "but down here, we call it a comb."

Bubba's eyes narrowed. Lance could almost see the smoke pouring from his ears. "I know it's a comb, mothefucker," he said between clenched teeth. "Do you know how it got there?" Lance shrugged. "You were trying to comb what little hair you have left and it got stuck?" he offered. "The little fucker put glue in my hair glue," Bubba forced out. "Real Elmer's glue. Now it's all dried in my hair and my fucking comb is stuck there!"

Lance's brow furrowed as he tried to figure out why someone with so little hair would need hair glue to keep it in place anyway. Then he offered the most logical solution he could think of - "why don't you just wash your hair and the comb will come out?" Bubba's eyes narrowed, the surprise of Lance's logic registering on his face. D'Von lost it completely, falling to the floor with laughter. He rolled around, holding his sides as Bubba's face grew redder. Lance smiled, shrugged his shoulders and said, "that's what I would do."

Bubba stormed off, muttering something about torture and dismemberment under his breath as Lance helped D'Von off the floor. D'Von tried to thank him, but he was still gasping for air after his coughing fit. Lance waved him off, checking the hallway to make sure Bubba was gone before slowly opening the door behind him.

The room was dark so Lance pushed the door open a little farther, trying to let the light from the hallway guide him. He had stepped fully inside, looking around when the door slammed shut. He jumped, turning toward the door when he heard a giggle. "Is he gone?" Lance turned in the general direction of the voice and nodded before realizing Shannon couldn't see him.

"Yeah, he's gone," Lance said. "He went to wash his hair." Another giggle bounced off the walls. He sensed Shannon's movements more than saw them, even though his eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness. "Can I ask you something?" He heard a chair scrape softly across the carpet followed by the sound of Shannon's leather pants creaking as he sat.

"I did it cuz I could," Shannon answered without being asked the obvious. "Cuz Bubba is stupid. Ain't like he's got any hair to hold down anyway. I was just tryin' to prove how ridiculous it was." Lance chuckled. At least he wasn't the only one wondering why Bubba was so concerned with his half-inch long locks. "Besides," Shannon continued, "he ate all the cookies last time and I wanted one."

Lance laughed at loud at the last remark. He remembered the argument the two men had at the last taping. A huge tray of homemade chocolate chip cookies had been placed in the catering room and Bubba had made more than one trip through there, taking handfuls of the cookies as he passed. Shannon had told him to save a few before making his way out to go over his spot.

In the darkness, Lance saw the slight movement as Shannon shrugged his shoulders. "Fat bastard knew I wanted 'em and he just ate 'em all anyways. Serves him right." Lance smiled. "Yeah, it does," he said. He looked toward the door then back in Shannon's general direction. "I think it's safe to come out now," he said. He took a step toward Shannon as the smaller man stood from the chair.

They collided in the middle of the room, Lance reaching out to keep them from falling and failing miserably. A soft thud sounded as Shannon hit the floor, Lance landing on top of him. Shannon wiggled underneath him and for a moment, he just enjoyed the feeling before asking, "you okay down there?" He heard a grunt and felt a shove against his chest.

"I'd be better if'n you got off me," Shannon replied. Lance moved gently, trying not to injure Shannon any further. Sitting on the floor in the dark, Lance smiled. "Ya know Shan," he said as the younger man sat next to him, "this is the third time I've had to save you since you been here. Maybe I should just be your bodyguard or something."

Shannon giggled. "Well, AJ shoulda paid attention to his script," he said. "Then he woulda known I was gonna steal that award and I wouldn't a needed savin'." Lance nodded in the dark. "True," he said. "But what about Aby?" Another giggle pierced the darkness. "I was just tryin' to lighten him up!" Shannon protested. "He's way too serious alla time. I thought he needed to smile."

Lance chuckled, remembering the look on the huge man's face as he stared at his leather mask, covered in smiley face stickers from Walmart. Shannon had run down the hallway, again colliding with Lance and scaling him like a monkey running from a lion. The memory of the deceptively strong thighs wrapped around his waist from behind brought a slight tingle to Lance's groin.

"They say if someone saves your life, then you owe 'em," Lance said in the darkness. The giggle he was expecting was replaced by a slightly throaty laugh. "Oh yeah?" Shannon replied, moving a bit closer. "And what do ya think I owe you?" Lance jumped at the initial contact of Shannon's hand on his thigh and he tensed even further as it moved up his leg.

Lance never had a chance to answer. Shannon's lips were crushed against his, the small body pressing him to the floor before he could even form a thought. He heard a zipper being undone, but in the darkness he couldn't tell if it was his or Shannon's, until he felt a warm hand caressing his growing cock. Despite the darkness of the room, Lance can see the smile on Shannon's face.

"Ya like that, don't ya?" he asks, his voice low and thick. Lance tried to come up with some smart ass remark but his mind was clouded - and his mouth was suddenly busy, his tongue relishing the feel of a silver stud sliding over it. For a brief moment, he wondered what other delights that tongue could bring, but he didn't have to think about it for long.

His shirt had mysteriously become unbuttoned and that little pink tongue was swirling circles around his nipples, moving from side to side. The heat seemed to radiate from Shannon's tongue into the silver stud, creating a line of fire down Lance's chest. He jumped slightly when it embedded itself in his belly button, a laugh dying in his throat as said tongue meet his hardened flesh.

Lance moaned deeply as Shannon engulfed his cock, swallowing until the head butted against the back of his throat. The giggles vibrated his entire length before Shannon sucked in hard and began sliding his mouth up and down Lance's length. He felt Shannon's tongue flatten against the underside of his cock as his head bobbed in a slow and steady rhythm.

Strong fingers tapped the tightening skin of his balls, massaging them gently. Lance reached down to grasp something, anything as the pressure built inside him. His hand hit the hard spikes on top of Shannon's head and he winced. Shannon reached up and grabbed his hand, their fingers interlacing as he picked up speed, sucking Lance harder and faster than he thought humanly possible.

Tiny dots of light began to explode behind his closed eyes and Lance thought that he should warn Shannon, but the younger man needed to warning. His lips tightened around the base of Lance's cock and he sucked harder, pulling Lance over the edge and into screaming oblivion. Shannon made wet slurping sounds as he swallowed every drop.

Lance's chest was heaving as he felt a heavy weight lay across it, and tiny kisses rained down on his cheeks. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw the sweet smile on Shannon's face. Their lips met again and after a long, lazy kiss, Shannon said, "Thank you for savin' my life, Lance. Didya like your payback?" Lance laughed, shaking his head.

"If that's how you pay someone, I might have to make a habit of savin' you more often." Shannon nodded as he sprang off the floor. He reached out and offered Lance his hand, helping him to his feet. "You should see what I do if ya save me four times!" Shannon exclaimed. Lance pulled his pants back up, buckling his belt. He reached for the blonde, pulling him into a warm embrace.

Lance tried to find words to thank him, to ask Shannon what he was doing after the show - anything to keep the warm body from moving away from his. Suddenly, the room filled with light as the door was thrown open and the angry voice of Christian echoed off the walls. "THERE YOU ARE, YOU LITTLE MONKEY!" he screamed at Shannon. "YOU DRANK MY COFFEE, DIDN'T YOU?"

With a quick kiss on Lance's lips, Shannon giggled then bolted for the door, executing a perfect baseball slide under Christian's spread legs. He was up and running before Christian even had a chance to turn and chase him. Lance smiled and shrugged, whistling as he picked his bag up off the floor. Growling, Christian turned and headed down the hall in the same direction Shannon had gone, with Lance closely following them. He was really curious now to see what his reward would be for this one.



~da end~