He tries flickering the lights in the room – nothing. He stumbles blindly until he can find the bathroom. Still nothing. Power outages aren’t new to him, but being in a hotel room with no power is a new experience he’s never particularly wanted. He steals one of the blankets from the top of the bed and drapes it over his shoulders. His phone, resting to charge on the desk, is blinking with random email updates, so at least it’s not dead.

50%. Power must have died a few hours ago, a little after he’d fallen to sleep.

Hesitantly, he opens the door to the hallway. Pitch blackness except for the emergency lights, red flooding the empty hallway.

Well. Almost empty.

“The fuck are you doing out here, pretty boy?”

Seth doesn’t jump, exactly. But he’d thought the shape in the hallway was, like, a coatrack. Or something. He’s exhausted, so sue him. “That Drew?” he asks. He wraps the blanket more tightly around himself. Pride has no place in this hell.

“Aye,” Drew says. “And I’d know that cocky walk anywhere. What are you doing out here so late, Seth?”

“My room is freezing,” Seth says. “Seems like the power’s out in the whole place.”

“The whole block, if I had to wager a guess,” Drew says. “Come. Look out the window.”

Seth shuffles over next to Drew, who is positively radiating warmth. He feels his body stop shaking immediately. “Alright, yeah,” he admits. “That’s some serious snow in a short amount of time.”

“Is it, for here?” Drew asks. “I had the understanding that the Midwest had a lot of snow.”

“It does,” Seth says, “but Tennessee is more the south, you know? They don’t see nearly as much, especially this early in the season.”

Drew hums and nods. “Chilly in your room?”

“Freezing,” Seth says. “The blankets in there suck. Definitely not goose feather. I’m kind of disappointed in this place.”

“Really,” Drew says. “That’s odd to hear. My room has fantastic amenities, blankets included.”

“Then they clearly gave you priority treatment,” Seth scoffs. “I’m sure they would have given me what I needed if I’d given them my real name at check in.”

“You don’t sign in under Seth Rollins?” Drew asks. “What do you sign in as?”

“Baxter James,” Seth says. “Nondescript. Discrete. An everyman.”

“When was the last time you heard of a human named Baxter?” Drew asks. “My god, no wonder they gave you terrible blankets. They probably think you’re in hiding from the law.”

“Well, maybe I don’t believe your blankets are that nice,” Seth says. “It would be easy for you to lie to me. Probably fun, too, since you already know I’m miserable.”

Drew’s eyes reflect the moonlight. “Are you trying to get me to invite you to my room?”

“Are you propositioning me when I’m cold and vulnerable?”

Drew groaned. “Fuck off. Fine. I’ll show you the blankets.”

Seth walks in behind Drew to find a much larger room. It’s also a bit colder, but not too bad. He’s already an icicle. Suffering doesn’t increase exponentially with inside cold, he’s found.

“Oh, my god,” Seth says, flashing his phone light around. “That blanket looks amazing.”

“Well, you can just take it and –”

Seth dives into bed and groans. “I’m warmer already.”

“That – that is my bed,” Drew says. Seth’s not used to that befuddled tone.

“Your blankets are so much better than mine,” Seth says, burrowing under the covers. He chooses to ignore Drew’s response. They both know this is Drew’s bed. No use in stating the obvious.

“That’s because I asked for a suite instead of a single room,” Drew says. “They update the suites before the single rooms. I have the new blankets.”

Seth – he doesn’t exactly moan, but it’s definitely a noise as he burrows into cozy, warm space. “Fantastic. This is my bed now.”

“You can’t just usurp my hotel room,” Drew says. There’s a shift in the mattress and Seth peeks over to see Drew sitting gingerly on the bed. “This is where I’m supposed to sleep.”

“You weren’t sleeping earlier,” Seth points out. “In fact, it was wasteful of you not to be in a bed this comfortable. I’m treating this suite right.”

Drew snorts. “Certainly, you’d be the one treating someone right.”

“It’s a hotel room, Drew. Don’t be crass.”

“You’re the one moaning in my bed.”

“The blankets are comfortable, Drew, I don’t know what you expect from me.” He settles in more. “You’re more than welcome to join. Spread the warmth. Spirit of the season or whatever.”

“Are you inviting me into my own bed?” Drew asks. “And I thought you couldn’t get worse.”

“Sorry, you let me come into the room.” He pats the bed next to him. “We can cuddle. Conserve heat.”

“The power cannot come back on soon enough,” Drew grumbles, but the bed shifts again and Seth is briefly extremely cold before shifting to warm and comfortable.

“Oh, you really are hot,” Seth mutters, and it’s a second too late before he realizes he’s said it loud.

“Am I now?”

Seth clears his throat. “You have an elevated temperature that makes sleeping in this bed very nice.”

“Good to know I’m of use,” Drew chuckles. “Why don’t the two of us fall asleep and we can decide if this ever happened in the morning, yeah?”

Seth, already mostly asleep nods. He can use being asleep as an excuse for why he snuggles up under Drew’s arm and pillows his head on his chest. He’s sure Drew will use the same excuse for why his arm came around and settled on Seth’s waist. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “Morning.”

~

He tries flickering the lights in the room – nothing. He stumbles blindly until he can find the bathroom. Still nothing. Power outages aren’t new to him, but being in a hotel room with no power is a new experience he’s never particularly wanted. He steals one of the blankets from the top of the bed and drapes it over his shoulders. His phone, resting to charge on the desk, is blinking with random email updates, so at least it’s not dead.

50%. Power must have died a few hours ago, a little after he’d fallen to sleep.

Hesitantly, he opens the door to the hallway. Pitch blackness except for the emergency lights, red flooding the empty hallway.

Well. Almost empty.

“The fuck are you doing out here, pretty boy?”

Seth doesn’t jump, exactly. But he’d thought the shape in the hallway was, like, a coatrack. Or something. He’s exhausted, so sue him. “That Drew?” he asks. He wraps the blanket more tightly around himself. Pride has no place in this hell.

“Aye,” Drew says. “And I’d know that cocky walk anywhere. What are you doing out here so late, Seth?”

“My room is freezing,” Seth says. “Seems like the power’s out in the whole place.”

“The whole block, if I had to wager a guess,” Drew says. “Come. Look out the window.”

Seth shuffles over next to Drew, who is positively radiating warmth. He feels his body stop shaking immediately. “Alright, yeah,” he admits. “That’s some serious snow in a short amount of time.”

“Is it, for here?” Drew asks. “I had the understanding that the Midwest had a lot of snow.”

“It does,” Seth says, “but Tennessee is more the south, you know? They don’t see nearly as much, especially this early in the season.”

Drew hums and nods. “Chilly in your room?”

“Freezing,” Seth says. “The blankets in there suck. Definitely not goose feather. I’m kind of disappointed in this place.”

“Really,” Drew says. “That’s odd to hear. My room has fantastic amenities, blankets included.”

“Then they clearly gave you priority treatment,” Seth scoffs. “I’m sure they would have given me what I needed if I’d given them my real name at check in.”

“You don’t sign in under Seth Rollins?” Drew asks. “What do you sign in as?”

“Baxter James,” Seth says. “Nondescript. Discrete. An everyman.”

“When was the last time you heard of a human named Baxter?” Drew asks. “My god, no wonder they gave you terrible blankets. They probably think you’re in hiding from the law.”

“Well, maybe I don’t believe your blankets are that nice,” Seth says. “It would be easy for you to lie to me. Probably fun, too, since you already know I’m miserable.”

Drew’s eyes reflect the moonlight. “Are you trying to get me to invite you to my room?”

“Are you propositioning me when I’m cold and vulnerable?”

Drew groaned. “Fuck off. Fine. I’ll show you the blankets.”

Seth walks in behind Drew to find a much larger room. It’s also a bit colder, but not too bad. He’s already an icicle. Suffering doesn’t increase exponentially with inside cold, he’s found.

“Oh, my god,” Seth says, flashing his phone light around. “That blanket looks amazing.”

“Well, you can just take it and –”

Seth dives into bed and groans. “I’m warmer already.”

“That – that is my bed,” Drew says. Seth’s not used to that befuddled tone.

“Your blankets are so much better than mine,” Seth says, burrowing under the covers. He chooses to ignore Drew’s response. They both know this is Drew’s bed. No use in stating the obvious.

“That’s because I asked for a suite instead of a single room,” Drew says. “They update the suites before the single rooms. I have the new blankets.”

Seth – he doesn’t exactly moan, but it’s definitely a noise as he burrows into cozy, warm space. “Fantastic. This is my bed now.”

“You can’t just usurp my hotel room,” Drew says. There’s a shift in the mattress and Seth peeks over to see Drew sitting gingerly on the bed. “This is where I’m supposed to sleep.”

“You weren’t sleeping earlier,” Seth points out. “In fact, it was wasteful of you not to be in a bed this comfortable. I’m treating this suite right.”

Drew snorts. “Certainly, you’d be the one treating someone right.”

“It’s a hotel room, Drew. Don’t be crass.”

“You’re the one moaning in my bed.”

“The blankets are comfortable, Drew, I don’t know what you expect from me.” He settles in more. “You’re more than welcome to join. Spread the warmth. Spirit of the season or whatever.”

“Are you inviting me into my own bed?” Drew asks. “And I thought you couldn’t get worse.”

“Sorry, you let me come into the room.” He pats the bed next to him. “We can cuddle. Conserve heat.”

“The power cannot come back on soon enough,” Drew grumbles, but the bed shifts again and Seth is briefly extremely cold before shifting to warm and comfortable.

“Oh, you really are hot,” Seth mutters, and it’s a second too late before he realizes he’s said it loud.

“Am I now?”

Seth clears his throat. “You have an elevated temperature that makes sleeping in this bed very nice.”

“Good to know I’m of use,” Drew chuckles. “Why don’t the two of us fall asleep and we can decide if this ever happened in the morning, yeah?”

Seth, already mostly asleep nods. He can use being asleep as an excuse for why he snuggles up under Drew’s arm and pillows his head on his chest. He’s sure Drew will use the same excuse for why his arm came around and settled on Seth’s waist. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “Morning.”

~

"I hate you."

"You don't!"

The music is so loud that they can hear it as they skip toward the venue. Well. Seth is skipping. Mox is moodily trudging behind him.

"You're so fucking boring," Seth says, sliding into the line. "If you'd let me put you in that harness, you'd have guys crawling all over you by now."

Mox rolls his eyes. "It was itchy. I won't wear itchy stuff. You know that."

Seth shrugs. The music shifts to something distinctly EuroPop. "Oh, perfect."

"Next week we're going to a sports bar," Mox huffs. "It's so fuckin' loud."

Mox and Seth argue over the merits of sports bars vs. dance clubs until they're in front of the door, hit with a delicious wall of air conditioning.

"ID please," says a voice that nearly strips the shorts off of Seth on its own.

Seth looks up to see a gigantic, looming bodyguard, from whom he guesses the accent came from. He grins. "Sure," Seth says, fluttering his eyelashes. "But I think I'd rather do you in the backseat of my car."

"We walked here," Mox groans. "Stop hitting on people with factually incorrect pickup lines."

"Factually incor - do you hear this guy?" Seth asks the bouncer. His eyes are still locked on the gaps in Seth's shirt, so he thinks he's still doing okay. "God, what I would do to spend time with a real man."

"I'm the bouncer," he says. "I'm not here to pick up guys. Just to check IDs and kick out anyone who's being reckless."

Seth pouts. "Can't I be a little reckless?"

He rolls his eyes, but leans down. "If you stay around until my shift ends, maybe I'll show you what happens if you get on the bouncer's bad side."

Seth grins. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

"Don't antagonize me," he replies, accent going directly to Seth's dick. "ID."

Seth hands it to him. "I can write my number on the back, if that helps."

"it doesn't," the bouncer says. "But, since I know you're called Seth, I'm Drew."

"Drew," Seth says, testing the name in his mouth. "I'll see you later tonight, then."

Seth is buzzing with adrenaline as they walk into the bar, the music crashing into them and filling Seth with the kind of excitement only this kind of a place could create.

"I can't believe you picked up the bouncer."

Seth turns to Mox, who, for once, looks impressed and happy walking into a bar. "Why? Did you underestimate me that criminally?"