12-04-2022, 09:28 AM
12-06-2022, 11:50 PM
OOC: Selena’s roleplay.
Frost ‘Forever Home’
Manhattan, New York
December 2nd, 2022
7:06am
Selena’s eyes opened, the Snow Queen awakening to a room still not filled with the light of the day. First thing her eyes took in was the white of the ceiling, dimly lit from the night light plugged into the wall-outlet. The rest of her picked up slowly thereafter as her heart beat a little faster, changing to a more ‘active’ state.
Sapphire eyes blinked for a moment as Selena’s mind tried to recall the dream she was having. She had been running, trying to find Deanna, in a field? Or was it her father’s mine back in Nome? She couldn’t be certain as the memory of it was already slipping from her waking mind. Still, she remembered trying to find her beloved wife and not being able too.
Turning her head, which rested against the soft, but sturdy, pillow, Selena’s eyes widened as she saw the empty space where her wife often slept, the covers bundled up as if tossed off the occupant. Still, her eyes followed across the room to the closed door, the soft glow of amber light streaming between the small space between it and the floor. With another long inhale and exhale, the young woman threw the thick covers off herself and pushed herself out of the bed, her feet quickly finding the carpeted floor, allowing her to stand to her full height. With a quiet groan, the platinum-blonde stretched out her arms and back, feeling the crack in her spine, shoulders, and neck. Her feet were already moving her immediately after, one pale hand reaching up to scratch at her scalp while the other smoothed out her magenta nightgown that covered her lean frame.
Reaching the door, she was slow and quiet to open it, not wishing to make a sound, but almost flinched as the brighter light from the bathroom stung her eyes as she did so. Her sight adjusting quickly, Selena gazed into the familiar tiled bathroom, scanning the walls and various facilities until they finally settled on the large jacuzzi tub to the left. It was filled with steamy hot, soapy water, opaque but inviting. And within the tub was her beloved wife.
Selena said nothing at first, merely leaning to the left against the door frame to observe the younger woman. Deanna was submerged entirely in the hot water save for her head resting against the indented side of the tub (complete with head and neck supporter) and her left arm, which rested on the wide side of the tub. Despite Selena taking a second to admire her wife’s resting, beautifully calm face (the redhead’s eyes closed as if in sleep) and feeling the morning spike of arousal and desire to strip out of her nightgown and join her beloved in the more than big enough tub, it did not take long for the older Frost’s far stranger ‘protective’ emotions to break through and for her sapphire eyes to fly down towards the arm she could see.
The one that had been broken just last month.
Despite herself, the Snow Queen could not turn her gaze away from the appendage. She could see the scar running up the skin (darker than her own), the telltale sign of surgery that her beloved redhead had endured. Evidence of the plate that was placed over her bones to secure them and keep the healing constant.
Selena quietly sighed, her emotions a mixture of hatred and worry. She agreed with Deanna entirely. What The One had done was nothing short of intentional and full of malice. Because of you… Selena’s mind mocked, forcing the platinum-blonde to clamp down on the sudden thought and push it away. Still, the thoughts persisted.
Was this her fault? Yes, Deanna had insisted on being part of the chamber match, making her own choice, but that had only been because she had overheard her and Shaun Cruze talking about behind her back, both wanting to make the decision for her – of course she would have hated that and done the match out of spite of that! If anything, Selena’s actions had all but pushed her wife into the damn chamber!
Despite the absurdity, Selena could swear she felt the scars that lined her back burn against her skin, a reminder of the battles she had fought and marks that would cover her for the rest of her life. Scars from matches she had chosen, knowing the risks and dangers… Now Deanna would have that every time she looked at her arm.
How had everything spiraled so out of control so quickly? They had won the Tag-Team titles! A dream they both had shared since Deanna had begun wrestling in SCW, but unlike her last teaming with Frozen Hell or even 4Saken with Dawn Lohan, they hadn’t rushed things. They had simply kept training, Selena working through her reign as the World Champion and Deanna fighting in the various divisions of Television and Underground to hone her skills and enhance her versatility in match types, all while training and occasionally teaming together to keep their skills sharp. Yes, the ‘official matches’ and route had gone by quickly, but it had been the year and a half patience they had that made them ready for it when the opportunity had arrived.
And now? They were the tag-team champions of SCW, but to what end? They had barely had time to celebrate their win back at Under Attack before Lexy Chapel’s plan had come in full swing and Deanna had rushed out to participate in the chamber. After that? Selena barely remembered much as the days were filled with Deanna being the hospital for assessment and surgery, and then basically running around the house, handling the children and the house chores while Deanna recovered from said surgery and began physical therapy. Thank Odin that Gerda had come by every day to assist the platinum-blonde.
Despite herself, Selena crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes distant though still on Deanna’s arm. They hadn’t even been able to enjoy the first Breakdown post-Under-Attack as the tag-team champions! Oh no! Again, Lexy had whined and then, brilliantly, played the same trick Selena had unknowingly played that night in Shaun Cruze’s office, playing to Deanna ‘not being ready’ to defend the tag-titles. And, just like she had with Selena, Deanna had chomped at the bait and now? They were set to defend the tag-titles in a rematch against the Farmstead Friends, with her wife barely cleared to wrestle and still dealing with her injury.
It was almost laughable. In fact, if Dawn or Regan were here, they would be laughing at how the House of Frost (and especially the experienced Selena) had been played. They were fighting a handicap match and they both knew it, but Deanna refused to back down and see things clearly. She ‘had to prove something’. Had to prove her worth and all that. What was she had also said? Selena tried to remember. Something about ‘breaking the curse regarding her title reigns ending on the first defence’? What the hell did that even mean?
Deanna wasn’t thinking clearly. She didn’t see how wrestling this soon could very well reaggravate the injury. Hell, she shouldn’t even be in the Trios Tournament, but at least she had two other people that could look out for her for that. The Farmstead would not be that way. With Deanna like this, she was the weak-link, like blood in the water, and just like Lexy had come out the other night because of that, it would be her beloved redhead that the former tag champions, especially Bear, would target. Why else had Lexy rushed a rematch challenge rather than wait till the new year when The House of Frost could be at 100%? It may have reeked of desperation, but it was a brilliant ploy…
Again, Selena stood there, trying to keep her thought together and her feeling away from sheer panic. She had lost titles before and even if she had to wait to get another crack at them with her wife at full force, she would. She had waited four years to get a chance at the world title. She could wait however long it took if Farmstead, as good as they were, managed to get past the House of Frost with the latter being less than 100%. No, the focus for the Snow Queen was keeping her wife safe as possible.
Which meant I might have to fight them two on one for the majority… she reasoned with a resounding nod of her head. It was tough enough to fight them one-on-one, especially Hairless Penguin, who had held his own throughout the match. Both of them? Even if Deanna could help, Selena was sure she was willing to risk her wife getting too involved.
I just wish we had more time… the thought came quietly, sadly, almost like a whisper in her mind. Time to really show what we could do as tag-team champions at full strength. All those teams coming back and being formed… I mean… we didn’t even get a chance to celebrate…
Selena’s eyes widened, the idea cracking in her brain like a bolt of lighting. Because of Deanna’s injury in the chamber and dealing with the redhead’s recovery and subsequent spell of depression, neither she nor Selena had really had a chance to celebrate their becoming SCW World Tag-Team Champions for the first time! Sure, they had taken a quick photoshoot backstage before Deanna had to rush to the chamber match, but that was it!
No celebratory dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli.
No talking about the promising future.
No plans or anything.
The unfairness struck Selena to the core. When she had won the world title again, headlined her first Rise to Greatness, beaten Syren’s record for longest World title reign, won any tournament (and she had won several in SCW), Deanna had been there, ready to celebrate and make her feel like the most important and special woman on the planet…
And here her beloved had been… couped up in their house after achieving their dream as wife and wife… days before they could very well lose the tag-team titles. The thought both saddened and angered Selena at the same time, and she wasn’t sure if it was the malicious One or opportunistic Lexy she was more mad at.
Still, she refused to let either of them take everything away from her and Deanna. Even if they couldn’t truly celebrate like it was the beginning of their reign… they could at least celebrate like it could be the end of it – and that it had existed in the first place.
The idea set, Selena allowed a smile to cross her pale features before she silently stepped further into the bathroom, eventually taking her place down on the floor beside the tub. Closer to her wife, she admired Deanna’s calm, resting features once more before she leaned in, gently sliding her lips over Deanna’s.
Deanna was slow to respond, but the Snow Queen soon felt the wonderful response of returned pressure against her lips. She heard something break through the water of the bath seconds before she felt a hand press into the back of her head, pushing her further into the kiss, and a tongue gently run against her lower lip. A hum came from deep within the throat, though whether it was hers or Deanna’s, she wasn’t sure. Still, she eventually lifted her head back a little to gaze at her beloved, who sighed in contentment before slowly opening her eyes, emerald orbs immediately finding her sapphire ones.
“Hey.” Deanna smiled. “What time is it?”
“What time did you get in the tub?”
The bathing beauty merely shrugged her shoulders, Selena seeing one of them them rise above and then back below the water. “Didn’t you hear me?” she asked. “You’re normally a light sleeper.”
“I guess now.” It was Selena’s turn to shrug.
“Well…” the redhead thought a moment. “The water is still pretty hot.” She moved a little under the surface as if to test it. “So, I’m guessing it hasn’t been too long.” She offered innocently. “I guess I just fell asleep.”
“Did you sleep okay?” Selena asked, her eyes, inadvertently, eyeing Deanna’s scarred arm.
“Yeah.” The red head assured, reaching up the aforementioned arm to run a gentle set of fingers against Selena’s pale cheek. Only mild discomfort flashed across her features in doing so, but it was enough to send a bolt of worry (however temporary) through Selena. “I just woke up wanting to enjoy a hot bath for a change.” She rolled her eyes. “So sick of showering with a plastic bag over my arm.”
“You mean you didn’t like me cleaning and bathing you?” Selena teased with an eyebrow.
“Not when I can’t reciprocate.” Deanna shot back.
“Equal partners, I get it.”
She hadn’t meant anything by it, but seeing her wife’s face fall a little made Selena regret her words. It was the redhead’s turn to eye her arm.
“Answer me honestly.” She whispered, turning her arm this way and that despite the discomfort. “Did I fuck up the other night?”
“In what way?” Selena asked, though she knew what her wife was talking about.
“You know what way.” Deanna’s eyes shot back to her wife’s. “In readily accepting that rematch challenge.”
Looking away for a moment to study the wall, Selena moved herself up to sit on the side of the tub, sure to not sit on or near Deanna’s resting arm. “You want me to be honest?” she asked.
“Always.” Deanna pressed. “I was stupid, wasn’t I?”
“Yes.” Selena nodded her head. “We barely beat them at full strength, and now, we’re going in with a handicap.”
She heard her wife sigh a little, a tinge of bitterness in the sound. “I know you got cleared, Deanna, but I also know you know that I can see right through you. You’re still hurt, stiff and sore. And against them? With Lexy there? I don’t like our chances.”
“Then why did you let me accept the challenge in the first place?”
The question cut right through Selena, the Snow Queen lowering her head and turning it back to her wife, the pale woman’s closest hand to Deanna reaching out across the tub to gently take the hand.
“Because if you hadn’t.” Selena sighed. “I probably would have.”
The remark surprised Deanna, her emerald eyes going wide at the confession.
“Though I would have pressed for more time for you to recover. Perhaps End of the Year – I loved the idea of defending our titles on the anniversary of our debuts.” She smiled gently at her wife, concern laced in her eyes. “Although…” she looked away, playfully tracing her fingers along Deanna’s hand. “You might be busy that show as well.”
“Busy?” Deanna asked. “It’s our anniversary and Christmas, and Yuletide and Elsianna’s birthday, and your birthday… I’m not leaving your side.”
“Well, you say that.” Selena shrugged, pleased that her wife was distracted from the previous conversation. “But what if…what if you get picked to face the World Champion?”
She saw her wife’s eyes widen before a laugh escaped the redhead. “Okay, that was a good one, Selena.”
“I’m not joking, Deanna.” Selena smiled. “Who else beside you comes close?”
Deanna opened her mouth to answer but then slowly closed, causing Selena’s grin to widen. She wanted the topic to be of more positive things than what potentially awaited them in a few days at Breakdown.
“You’ve won three titles in your first ‘wrestling’ year, including a world tag-team title. You’ve headlined Breakdowns and you’re one of the few people that’s never had an SCW world title shot one-on-one.”
“But…” Selena watched her mostly submerged wife’s eyes dart left and right, her brain trying to make assessments and calculations. It was like the woman had never considered being world champion or even fighting for the title, which, given their heart to heart last month or so during Halloween regarding the chamber match actually made sense to Deanna.
The Snow Queen hadn’t, at first, considered herself world-champion-material, believing herself unworthy to hold the company on her shoulders. Nearly six years later, it was an entirely different story. And she’s so much farther along than I ever was… Selena smiled.
“I don’t want to think about it.” Deanna finally remarked. “Nobody thought I was ready to be in the chamber – and they were right…”
“Deanna…” Selena tried but Deanna ignored her.
“They aren’t going believe, in a hundred years, that I am capable of taking on Xander or Owen or being the SCW world champion.” Her eyes found Selena. “Not when they have you.”
Closing her mouth, Selena tilted her head sadly to Deanna. “You really are too considered about what they think of you.”
“Do you think I’m ready?” Deanna challenged, emerald eyes narrowing a little.
“Y…” Selena breathed, a little offguard by the question. “Yes.” She answered honestly. “But not if you further damage your arm this week.” She once more eyed her wife. “You know that I am going to be protective of you.”
“Overprotective you mean.” Deanna replied, no malice or ill-will in her voice.
“To you, maybe.” Selena answered. “But…You know that I need to in this….” She squeezed her wife’s hand. “You have to let me call the shots in this title match… and… and understand that my main concern isn’t us retaining, but getting you through it in one piece.”
“You…” Deanna breathed. “You don’t think we can win.”
“I…” Selena started but stopped when she heard the moderately loud barking coming from downstairs on the ground floor. “The children are up.” She observed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Deanna open her mouth as if to say something before slowly nodding her head, the younger Frost shifting herself up to rise out of the tub. Quickly, yet gently, Selena reached out, placing her pale on Deanna’s wet, yet warm shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.” She smiled back at her wife. “You stay here and continue to relax.”
Carefully, Selena pushed herself off the tub counter, making her exit before Deanna could object. “Oh…” she quickly remembered, turning her head back to her wife. “Make sure you’re feeling okay today, alright? I’m taking you to Tony’s.”
If Deanna’s eyes could go wider, Selena had never seen it in almost seven years of marriage. Her mouth hung open, bobbing up and down as the redhead tried to stammer out words, any words. “I…I… how…why…” before she finally settled on. “Okay…” in stunned reply.
Giving a wink, Selena fully exited the bathroom. Passing her nightstand in the adjacent room, the platinum-blonde quickly grabbed a hairband, using it to tie her long hair into a quick, loose ponytail. That accomplished, she made her way down stairs, where she immediately heard the shuffle of feet on the floor, as well as a stern but kind voice.
“Elbows off the table, David… And less noise Elsianna and Amiliah. Your mothers are still sleeping.”
With a knowing, and grateful smile, Selena closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, continuing her journey through the main floor until she stood in the large kitchen/dining room area that also linked into the family room.
There, sitting at the table, were her three children, their dog Oberon, and Gerda. David was eating Fruit Loops while Elsianna was eating Honey Nut Cheerios, with Amiliah, ever in idolization of her sister, was copying what she ate as well.
Seeing Selena enter the kitchen, Oberon abandoned his bowl of dog-chow and scampered over to the platinum-blonde, the large ball of white fluff barking excitedly. Immediately, Selena lowered herself to a knee to eagerly pet him all over. “Hey, boy.” She smiled, admiring his coal-black eyes and joyful expression (for a dog, that is) and the way his tongue moved as he panted his excitement. A few moments spend giving him due affection was all he desired before he was scampering back to his water and food.
Dusting her hands, Selena quickly moved around the room, giving each child a kiss on the head as she greeted them. Gerda was the last person and Selena hugged her warmly.
“Have you been up long, sweetheart?” the older woman asked as Selena moved around the kitchen.
“Not really.” Selena answered with a shrug. “Was just talking to Deanna. She’s relaxing in the jacuzzi.”
“Poor dear deserves it.” Gerda remarked. “I still don’t know how you two do it or put up with it. People wanting to hurt you like that.”
“We manage.” Selena sighed as she pulled out a coffee mug for herself and Deanna. Moving over to the fridge, she pulled out the large container of cold-brew she had made the evening before, pouring her ‘special blend’ (which was usually vanilla with a shot or two of caramel) into her cup. She would wait for Deanna to come down before pouring her a cup, the redhead sometimes going cold and other times going hot (While Selena’s stomach could only take cold and her tongue could only appreciate the cold-brew).
She didn’t hear Gerda approach her until the short woman was standing beside her. “I mean it, Selena.” She pressed gently. “This sort of thing is no life for mothers like you. What if Deanna had gotten really hurt? Or you? I don’t mean to nag…”
“I know.” Selena smiled sadly. “I’ve been thinking about that more and more. I’ve never really broken anything before… in nearly ten years… this…” she gazed down into the cold-brew in the mug she held in her hands. “This is very new to me… and I don’t like it.”
It was a quiet admission, and one she hadn’t even made to Deanna, but with the children distracted and Gerda her only ‘audience’, as it were, the compulsion to say it was too great. In truth, the moment was burned into her mind…
Her standing there, outside of the chamber of metal and chain, her beloved wife reaching out to her. And her, desperate to support her and comfort her, taking Deanna’s hand into her own two. She hadn’t even seen The One coming and with her holding Deanna’s hand, it was if she had held it in place for the stomp, unintentionally.
And seeing it happen up close like that, seeing the foot go down, her wife recoil in pain, and hearing, though she may have imagined it, the bone break in Deanna’s arm… For Deanna, it was like she was back at the beginning of the year, watching Regan being thrown from the ring, landing awkwardly, and her, the damn Face of SCW, powerless to stop it. Only now it was Deanna – her wife, her everything…
Shutting her eyes, Selena pushed the feelings and memories back as best she could, gripping the large glass mug in her hands tightly, taking a slow breath as she did. Conceal… her brain whispered on instinct. Don’t feel…
Slowly, she opened her eyes to see the concerned expression on Gerda’s face. “I’m fine.” She assured the woman.
“I didn’t mean to upset…”
“I know you didn’t.” the young wrestler breathed, placing a hand on Gerda’s shoulder. “But I don’t have an answer that you’ll understand. Some days, I don’t understand. Certainly haven’t this whole month…”
She was interrupted by the loud sound of something outside, her attention turning towards the house-entrance as Oberon bolted out of the kitchen/family room area and towards the door.
“He’s been like that all morning.” Gerda sighed. “Ever since that noise started half an hour ago.”
“Half an hour ago?” Selena asked, regarding the elder woman. “What is it?”
“No idea.” Gerda shrugged. “But it’s what woke the children. I’m surprised it didn’t wake you.”
It surprised Selena as well. Was she just more tired than she thought? Too much on her mind? Shaking her head, she heard the sound again, sounded more like a truck backing up or something, as well as a jackhammer?
With a sigh, she sipped a bit more of her cold-brew before making her way to the door. Reaching onto the standing coat-rack, she was quick to throw on a long, black coat and black running shoes, most of her frame now covered, before opening the door. Oberon was immediately outside, running around the yard this way and that as Selena walked into the cool, winter morning, breathing in deeply to invigorate herself further (as if the coffee wasn’t already helping with that).
She walked further, watching Oberon to ensure he didn’t dash off the property, until she stood on the roads that lead further into and out of the Black Arrow Neighbourhood, but it was the source of the loud noise (now increasing in volume the closer Selena drew to it) that got her attention.
For the noise was coming from Leslie Sanderson’s house, which, due to the style of noise surprised Selena, but as she drew closer, it started to make sense.
While most of the neighbourhood had long taken down their Halloween decorations, including the Frosts (which had taken a bit more time with their schedule and the life-size figures they had), the same could not be said for the Sandersons, particularly when they had seven stone statue gargoyles, each one life-size, some taller than Selena and all far heavier.
What had become Leslie’s ‘secret weapon’ to try and crush Deanna in the competition was now an eyesore to the woman and seeing the truck and number of men there, the sun having crested over the horizon, Selena could only imagine that these were the men hired, and paid a lot, to remove them.
Without a word, she watched the six or seven men gather around the statues, moving them towards the road and their truck. Moving closer, Selena spied Leslie, standing on the porch in what appeared to be a business suit… at just after 7:30 in the morning. What does a housewife… Selena stopped the thought from continuing, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole this early in the day. She still had to make accommodating for Tony’s tonight.
“That’s right!” she heard Leslie bark. “Take them all away! They’re junk!”
The remark almost made Selena snort in surprise. The largest one was work thousands of dollars! Now, they were worthless? What kind of logic was that?
Despite herself, Selena drew closer. “Stay in the yard, Oberon.” She told the white dog as she passed him, crossing the road and travelling the few spaces over until she was standing just a few steps from the Sanderson house, merely watching the men work.
“Son of a bitch is heavy…” she heard one man whine, while others griped and others told the ‘gripers’ to ‘shut up and work’.
She was so busy watching the whole affair, that she did not see the woman approach her until she heard that shrill voice.
“Morning stroll, Selena?” came the annoying sound, twinged with lingering bitterness. Turning her head, Selena acknowledged the shorter, yet louder woman. “Something I can help you with?” she added with a hint of venom.
“No.” Selena shook her head. “The noise just spooked Oberon.” She gestured to the dog in her yard. “Just thought I’d let him run in the yard to calm him down.” She turned her attention towards the statues. “I see you’re ‘redecorating’.”
“More like ‘undecorating’.” Leslie remarked.
“I’m actually surprised you are.” Selena stated, crossing her arms over her coated chest. “You spent so much on them.”
The shorter Leslie gave a snort as if it was no big deal, and maybe with her it wasn’t, but for even someone as well off as Selena and her family, the idea of such waste was just… it felt wrong.
“So what’s the plan?” Selena asked, turning her head to eye the statues. “You going to sell them.”
“Hardly.” Leslie snorted again at the question. “They’re just going to break them into the pieces and get those pieces off my lawn. Simple.”
Sapphire eyes widened at that as Selena eyed the innocent statues, her eyes moving to her favorite pair. Behind the one that David had been hanging from weeks ago (which had gotten him in trouble with Leslie and Deanna), there were two female gargoyles standing together. One was tall and slender with straight hair and a more agile and graceful physique, that such a thing could be. The other was more wild, with a mane of hair and sharp talons. The first was posed in a kneeling position, wings wrapped around itself like a cloak or cape while the other stood behind with its elbows bent and claws out as if read to pounce. To anyone else, it was just to gargoyles, but to Selena, it looked like the front was poised in front as if guarding, protecting the more ‘ready to fight’ gargoyle, who looked more like a hothead than anything else.
I haven’t named those two yet… she remarked to herself, her eyes moving to other ‘male’ gargoyles that had arrived in the neighbourhood first, which she had already named.
“I mean… why waste the money.” She finally shrugged, returning to the present. “I’m sure if you put it to the curb, someone will take it off your hands.”
“Take a bunch of stone statues that weigh 300-500 pounds each?” Leslie laughed. “Sometimes you say the dumbest things, Selena.”
Trying to ignore that remark, the Snow Queen shrugged her shoulders, her sapphire eyes still on the stone statues. “But if someone else wanted them, you wouldn’t be against that?”
“I just want them gone.” Leslie stated, her irritation beginning to grow. “I don’t care. Long as they’re gone by noon. Do. Not. Care.”
With that, she turned on her high heeled slipper and marched down the street, apparently off to some ‘meeting with a stylist’ or whatever else she was muttering. Selena let her go without saying anything. She didn’t really need Leslie or care where she was going. She had what she wanted.
Turning her head back to the Sanderson lawn, she saw the men bring out a bunch of sledgehammers from their large truck. Without thinking, she called out.
“Hey guys!” earning their attention with confused looks. “Uh…” she cast a glance back over towards the house, just in time to see a red-haired beauty (thankfully clothed) gazing at her from their bedroom window. Quickly, Selena gestured to the statues with her hand, pointing at them with her thumb. It took a second, but the redhead on high slowly nodded her head, causing Selena’s smile to brighten before turning back to the workers. “Feel like making an extra $500 each?”
_______________________________________________________________
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, right?
I’ve always liked that saying. My father first taught it to me. He just found the notion so satisfying. The idea that perception is the true determinant of value. You may own a million-dollar painting, but in someone else’s eyes, it may not be worth the canvas it’s painted on.
I know everyone was expecting me to start this off with some big celebration of becoming the SCW World tag-team champions, but let’s face it, that may not be the case this coming Breakdown. After all, Lexy Chapel and the Farmstead Friends are doubling down on this ‘plan’ Lexy concocted to put The House of Frost out of the way. And while the plan may have failed its intended purpose at Under Attack, it didn’t leave Deanna and I unscathed.
I’ll give you that, Lexy. You were an idiot to think the SCW World Tag-Team title match would go after the damn elimination chamber. If there were two chamber matches, I might have gotten your logic. But being the only one? No. But your ‘other plan’? Weakening Deanna down to the point where it would hurt us? Yeah, that worked.
What’s sad about that, Lexy, is that you think you’ve exposed this conspiracy. That you’ve revealed everything to the SCW Universe because your ‘booking skills’ or lack thereof don’t match that of the SCW management. You think that you’ve exposed us, but who you’ve really exposed are The Farmstead Friends and, moreso, yourself.
Like I said, perception.
Because with you, Lexy, I don’t see some victim of a conspiracy. I don’t see a woman that has all the answers. I see a woman desperate. A woman that has run every client that’s believed in her further and further into the ground. And you’re so terrified of being the one that’s exposed that you will do anything to get the tag titles, your only bargaining chip, back.
That’s the real reason you challenged us, isn’t it? Because when you think about it, the tag match at Under Attack? Why are you mad? Because you didn’t get the match you wanted where Deanna was weakened by the chamber? You didn’t get the outcome you wanted where the House of Frost was less than 100%? Seriously? You call yourself the manager of champions and the greatest tag-team and yet you do all you can to make the match anything but fair? And you call us winning ‘rigged’ because you didn’t get that advantage? Rigged because the match was a legitimately fair match?
Face it, Lexy. You’re mad because SCW saw your little ploy and decided to show integrity and respect to the tag-team division, something you’ve never shown it. So, they made us go first. When both teams were fresh and both teams were at their best. So it was fair, honest, and a tribute to the tag-team division of SCW. What such a division truly deserve! What you should want for your team and the division they championed.
But that doesn’t suit YOUR needs, does it? That doesn’t fit your narrative or help you but rather exposes you, so you scream bloody murder on conspiracy. Even now, Lexy, why are you challenging us? Because Deanna is injured. She’s still recovering, she’s still not 100%. Now, I could applaud your cunning on taking advantage of such a situation, if you were honest about it, but you can’t even be that. And that’s what so sad about this whole thing? You could be some real good for the Farmstead Friends. With your brilliance, you could reinvent the tag-team division with them into something worthwhile. Make it into something that more teams like Light in the Darkness and Bree’s new forming tag-team would come in and celebrate! Make it into something that teams from all over the wrestling world, various federations, would want to join and be part of.
But no! You only want things where you hold all the cards. Where you have all the advantages and if not, if the battlefield isn’t tipped in your favor, that’s not good enough. That’s the conspiracy working against you rather it just being integrity and respect for this sport and for SCW! And it’s because you, Lexy, in MY perception, are a damn coward!
And really, what does that say about you, Penguin. Honestly? I don’t care what crap Bear has to say. That man, or being, or whatever he is insulted my children and then proceeded to insult my wife after all she been through. You want me to discredit how he survived being set on fire or being bleached? Saying it was all an act, a publicity stunt, and not a horrifying experience?
No, I would never dishonor or disrespect what you two have endured in your amazing tag-title reign, but he wants to think that moment – that terrifying moment I had to witness – is some act? Fuck him and fuck Lexy Chapel. I’m sorry, Penguin, for cursing, but you weren’t there! You didn’t see or hear that bone crack before you. You didn’t see the tears of pain in Deanna’s eyes! You didn’t endure the weeks of surgery and therapy she went through, holding her good hand and helping her through it all just so she could be ready as soon as possible so she could be a good tag-team champion like you were, Penguin.
That’s what’s so disappointing in all of this. Because why would Lexy do any of this if she believed in you? Why would she claim to ‘make this the biggest title match on Breakdown’ but only when Deanna is injured? Why would she do this if she thought that you were good enough to beat us at our best?
Deanna and I believed you could.
Why do you think we trained so hard? Why do you think we worked so hard to be ready to face you? Not because we thought we ‘had it in the bag’, but because we know how good you are! You are easily the Tag-Team of the Year. There is NO competition in that. Certainly not from The House of Frost. You guys ran this division on your talent and strengths and toughness for the majority of the year! So why would Lexy need my Deanna in a chamber before facing you? Why would she want to rush this rematch known my wife’s arm was broken?
Because, Penguin, she doesn’t believe in you. She doesn’t think you and Bear can beat us when we are at 100%. Because she’s too scared to let you try and do just that. To do something amazing and incredible! And Bear doesn’t care. He only cares about the money and the fame.
But you… perception again, Penguin… wrestling you? How you wanted to fight me? I respect that. To me, you’re something else. You’re head and shoulders about the others. You’re someone that wants this. Wants to do this, win this, with integrity. And that’s why I am saying this to you now. Because you think they’re looking out for you, but when was the last time YOU – YOU, Hairless Penguin – saw yourself in the mirror and felt proud of yourself? Had that perception of yourself?
Want to know when I did last? This morning. When I looked in the mirror and saw my wife. My wife that is willing to risk her arm and this reign just to give the SCW Universe another classic match like we had at Under Attack! For us, for the SCW Universe, for the tag-team division, and even for you. When I saw myself and realized I was tag-team champion, fair and square, with such a beloved wife and partner as her, I was damn proud.
What about you, Hairless Penguin? When did you last feel pride for yourself? Was it when you were made to run away during Nicole’s ‘Birthday party’ by Bear and Lexy because Deanna and I were getting beat up? Was it when you were blamed by Lexy for losing to us because you let me into the ring? Was it when you realized you were going to be fighting House of Frost at less than 100%?
Or was it when you asked me to get in the ring with you and wrestle? When you WANTED to face the Snow Queen and Face of SCW Selena Frost? Not for ego. Not for a ‘future title shot’. Not to ‘make a name for yourself’ but to truly test yourself against one of the very best in SCW today?
Maybe you didn’t feel it, Penguin, and maybe you won’t care, but in that moment? I was proud of you. I was proud to be in that ring with you. I was proud to fight someone like you.
But Breakdown? I’m not looking for that pride. I am not looking for that same rush. I am not even looking for that integrity. Because I am not interested in finding it. Lexy and Bear have made this far beyond the tag-team titles at this point.
They want to hurt my wife.
They want to take her out of SCW.
They want to finish what The One did in that chamber.
All because they are too scared, unlike you, to face us at our best.
In their eyes, Deanna and I are wounded. Hurt birds with crippled wings. But that is their perception, Penguin. But what do you see?
Because I know that if you take a real look, Penguin, you won’t see some wounded birds. You’ll see two tigers – two beasts – backed into a corner. And what happens when you back a beast into a corner, Penguin? What happens when that beast gets angry, Penguin? What happens when you push too far?
Breakdown will not just be about the tag-team titles, Penguin. It will be not just be about standing for what Deanna and I earned at Under Attack. No, Breakdown will also be about survival! The survival of the House of Frost within the tag-team division and our place within SCW. The survival of the tag-team that same division being about championship matches with teams at their best and not ‘rigged’ with double bookings or injured superstars!
And if I have to choose between protecting my wife and that integrity… and tearing you, Bear, and even Lexy apart…
Then my answer is a simple one, Penguin. One that none of you are going to like…
Believe it.
Sincerely,
Selena Michelle Frost
The Witches of Alden
”Sapphire”
Frost ‘Forever Home’
Manhattan, New York
December 2nd, 2022
7:06am
Selena’s eyes opened, the Snow Queen awakening to a room still not filled with the light of the day. First thing her eyes took in was the white of the ceiling, dimly lit from the night light plugged into the wall-outlet. The rest of her picked up slowly thereafter as her heart beat a little faster, changing to a more ‘active’ state.
Sapphire eyes blinked for a moment as Selena’s mind tried to recall the dream she was having. She had been running, trying to find Deanna, in a field? Or was it her father’s mine back in Nome? She couldn’t be certain as the memory of it was already slipping from her waking mind. Still, she remembered trying to find her beloved wife and not being able too.
Turning her head, which rested against the soft, but sturdy, pillow, Selena’s eyes widened as she saw the empty space where her wife often slept, the covers bundled up as if tossed off the occupant. Still, her eyes followed across the room to the closed door, the soft glow of amber light streaming between the small space between it and the floor. With another long inhale and exhale, the young woman threw the thick covers off herself and pushed herself out of the bed, her feet quickly finding the carpeted floor, allowing her to stand to her full height. With a quiet groan, the platinum-blonde stretched out her arms and back, feeling the crack in her spine, shoulders, and neck. Her feet were already moving her immediately after, one pale hand reaching up to scratch at her scalp while the other smoothed out her magenta nightgown that covered her lean frame.
Reaching the door, she was slow and quiet to open it, not wishing to make a sound, but almost flinched as the brighter light from the bathroom stung her eyes as she did so. Her sight adjusting quickly, Selena gazed into the familiar tiled bathroom, scanning the walls and various facilities until they finally settled on the large jacuzzi tub to the left. It was filled with steamy hot, soapy water, opaque but inviting. And within the tub was her beloved wife.
Selena said nothing at first, merely leaning to the left against the door frame to observe the younger woman. Deanna was submerged entirely in the hot water save for her head resting against the indented side of the tub (complete with head and neck supporter) and her left arm, which rested on the wide side of the tub. Despite Selena taking a second to admire her wife’s resting, beautifully calm face (the redhead’s eyes closed as if in sleep) and feeling the morning spike of arousal and desire to strip out of her nightgown and join her beloved in the more than big enough tub, it did not take long for the older Frost’s far stranger ‘protective’ emotions to break through and for her sapphire eyes to fly down towards the arm she could see.
The one that had been broken just last month.
Despite herself, the Snow Queen could not turn her gaze away from the appendage. She could see the scar running up the skin (darker than her own), the telltale sign of surgery that her beloved redhead had endured. Evidence of the plate that was placed over her bones to secure them and keep the healing constant.
Selena quietly sighed, her emotions a mixture of hatred and worry. She agreed with Deanna entirely. What The One had done was nothing short of intentional and full of malice. Because of you… Selena’s mind mocked, forcing the platinum-blonde to clamp down on the sudden thought and push it away. Still, the thoughts persisted.
Was this her fault? Yes, Deanna had insisted on being part of the chamber match, making her own choice, but that had only been because she had overheard her and Shaun Cruze talking about behind her back, both wanting to make the decision for her – of course she would have hated that and done the match out of spite of that! If anything, Selena’s actions had all but pushed her wife into the damn chamber!
Despite the absurdity, Selena could swear she felt the scars that lined her back burn against her skin, a reminder of the battles she had fought and marks that would cover her for the rest of her life. Scars from matches she had chosen, knowing the risks and dangers… Now Deanna would have that every time she looked at her arm.
How had everything spiraled so out of control so quickly? They had won the Tag-Team titles! A dream they both had shared since Deanna had begun wrestling in SCW, but unlike her last teaming with Frozen Hell or even 4Saken with Dawn Lohan, they hadn’t rushed things. They had simply kept training, Selena working through her reign as the World Champion and Deanna fighting in the various divisions of Television and Underground to hone her skills and enhance her versatility in match types, all while training and occasionally teaming together to keep their skills sharp. Yes, the ‘official matches’ and route had gone by quickly, but it had been the year and a half patience they had that made them ready for it when the opportunity had arrived.
And now? They were the tag-team champions of SCW, but to what end? They had barely had time to celebrate their win back at Under Attack before Lexy Chapel’s plan had come in full swing and Deanna had rushed out to participate in the chamber. After that? Selena barely remembered much as the days were filled with Deanna being the hospital for assessment and surgery, and then basically running around the house, handling the children and the house chores while Deanna recovered from said surgery and began physical therapy. Thank Odin that Gerda had come by every day to assist the platinum-blonde.
Despite herself, Selena crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes distant though still on Deanna’s arm. They hadn’t even been able to enjoy the first Breakdown post-Under-Attack as the tag-team champions! Oh no! Again, Lexy had whined and then, brilliantly, played the same trick Selena had unknowingly played that night in Shaun Cruze’s office, playing to Deanna ‘not being ready’ to defend the tag-titles. And, just like she had with Selena, Deanna had chomped at the bait and now? They were set to defend the tag-titles in a rematch against the Farmstead Friends, with her wife barely cleared to wrestle and still dealing with her injury.
It was almost laughable. In fact, if Dawn or Regan were here, they would be laughing at how the House of Frost (and especially the experienced Selena) had been played. They were fighting a handicap match and they both knew it, but Deanna refused to back down and see things clearly. She ‘had to prove something’. Had to prove her worth and all that. What was she had also said? Selena tried to remember. Something about ‘breaking the curse regarding her title reigns ending on the first defence’? What the hell did that even mean?
Deanna wasn’t thinking clearly. She didn’t see how wrestling this soon could very well reaggravate the injury. Hell, she shouldn’t even be in the Trios Tournament, but at least she had two other people that could look out for her for that. The Farmstead would not be that way. With Deanna like this, she was the weak-link, like blood in the water, and just like Lexy had come out the other night because of that, it would be her beloved redhead that the former tag champions, especially Bear, would target. Why else had Lexy rushed a rematch challenge rather than wait till the new year when The House of Frost could be at 100%? It may have reeked of desperation, but it was a brilliant ploy…
Again, Selena stood there, trying to keep her thought together and her feeling away from sheer panic. She had lost titles before and even if she had to wait to get another crack at them with her wife at full force, she would. She had waited four years to get a chance at the world title. She could wait however long it took if Farmstead, as good as they were, managed to get past the House of Frost with the latter being less than 100%. No, the focus for the Snow Queen was keeping her wife safe as possible.
Which meant I might have to fight them two on one for the majority… she reasoned with a resounding nod of her head. It was tough enough to fight them one-on-one, especially Hairless Penguin, who had held his own throughout the match. Both of them? Even if Deanna could help, Selena was sure she was willing to risk her wife getting too involved.
I just wish we had more time… the thought came quietly, sadly, almost like a whisper in her mind. Time to really show what we could do as tag-team champions at full strength. All those teams coming back and being formed… I mean… we didn’t even get a chance to celebrate…
Selena’s eyes widened, the idea cracking in her brain like a bolt of lighting. Because of Deanna’s injury in the chamber and dealing with the redhead’s recovery and subsequent spell of depression, neither she nor Selena had really had a chance to celebrate their becoming SCW World Tag-Team Champions for the first time! Sure, they had taken a quick photoshoot backstage before Deanna had to rush to the chamber match, but that was it!
No celebratory dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli.
No talking about the promising future.
No plans or anything.
The unfairness struck Selena to the core. When she had won the world title again, headlined her first Rise to Greatness, beaten Syren’s record for longest World title reign, won any tournament (and she had won several in SCW), Deanna had been there, ready to celebrate and make her feel like the most important and special woman on the planet…
And here her beloved had been… couped up in their house after achieving their dream as wife and wife… days before they could very well lose the tag-team titles. The thought both saddened and angered Selena at the same time, and she wasn’t sure if it was the malicious One or opportunistic Lexy she was more mad at.
Still, she refused to let either of them take everything away from her and Deanna. Even if they couldn’t truly celebrate like it was the beginning of their reign… they could at least celebrate like it could be the end of it – and that it had existed in the first place.
The idea set, Selena allowed a smile to cross her pale features before she silently stepped further into the bathroom, eventually taking her place down on the floor beside the tub. Closer to her wife, she admired Deanna’s calm, resting features once more before she leaned in, gently sliding her lips over Deanna’s.
Deanna was slow to respond, but the Snow Queen soon felt the wonderful response of returned pressure against her lips. She heard something break through the water of the bath seconds before she felt a hand press into the back of her head, pushing her further into the kiss, and a tongue gently run against her lower lip. A hum came from deep within the throat, though whether it was hers or Deanna’s, she wasn’t sure. Still, she eventually lifted her head back a little to gaze at her beloved, who sighed in contentment before slowly opening her eyes, emerald orbs immediately finding her sapphire ones.
“Hey.” Deanna smiled. “What time is it?”
“What time did you get in the tub?”
The bathing beauty merely shrugged her shoulders, Selena seeing one of them them rise above and then back below the water. “Didn’t you hear me?” she asked. “You’re normally a light sleeper.”
“I guess now.” It was Selena’s turn to shrug.
“Well…” the redhead thought a moment. “The water is still pretty hot.” She moved a little under the surface as if to test it. “So, I’m guessing it hasn’t been too long.” She offered innocently. “I guess I just fell asleep.”
“Did you sleep okay?” Selena asked, her eyes, inadvertently, eyeing Deanna’s scarred arm.
“Yeah.” The red head assured, reaching up the aforementioned arm to run a gentle set of fingers against Selena’s pale cheek. Only mild discomfort flashed across her features in doing so, but it was enough to send a bolt of worry (however temporary) through Selena. “I just woke up wanting to enjoy a hot bath for a change.” She rolled her eyes. “So sick of showering with a plastic bag over my arm.”
“You mean you didn’t like me cleaning and bathing you?” Selena teased with an eyebrow.
“Not when I can’t reciprocate.” Deanna shot back.
“Equal partners, I get it.”
She hadn’t meant anything by it, but seeing her wife’s face fall a little made Selena regret her words. It was the redhead’s turn to eye her arm.
“Answer me honestly.” She whispered, turning her arm this way and that despite the discomfort. “Did I fuck up the other night?”
“In what way?” Selena asked, though she knew what her wife was talking about.
“You know what way.” Deanna’s eyes shot back to her wife’s. “In readily accepting that rematch challenge.”
Looking away for a moment to study the wall, Selena moved herself up to sit on the side of the tub, sure to not sit on or near Deanna’s resting arm. “You want me to be honest?” she asked.
“Always.” Deanna pressed. “I was stupid, wasn’t I?”
“Yes.” Selena nodded her head. “We barely beat them at full strength, and now, we’re going in with a handicap.”
She heard her wife sigh a little, a tinge of bitterness in the sound. “I know you got cleared, Deanna, but I also know you know that I can see right through you. You’re still hurt, stiff and sore. And against them? With Lexy there? I don’t like our chances.”
“Then why did you let me accept the challenge in the first place?”
The question cut right through Selena, the Snow Queen lowering her head and turning it back to her wife, the pale woman’s closest hand to Deanna reaching out across the tub to gently take the hand.
“Because if you hadn’t.” Selena sighed. “I probably would have.”
The remark surprised Deanna, her emerald eyes going wide at the confession.
“Though I would have pressed for more time for you to recover. Perhaps End of the Year – I loved the idea of defending our titles on the anniversary of our debuts.” She smiled gently at her wife, concern laced in her eyes. “Although…” she looked away, playfully tracing her fingers along Deanna’s hand. “You might be busy that show as well.”
“Busy?” Deanna asked. “It’s our anniversary and Christmas, and Yuletide and Elsianna’s birthday, and your birthday… I’m not leaving your side.”
“Well, you say that.” Selena shrugged, pleased that her wife was distracted from the previous conversation. “But what if…what if you get picked to face the World Champion?”
She saw her wife’s eyes widen before a laugh escaped the redhead. “Okay, that was a good one, Selena.”
“I’m not joking, Deanna.” Selena smiled. “Who else beside you comes close?”
Deanna opened her mouth to answer but then slowly closed, causing Selena’s grin to widen. She wanted the topic to be of more positive things than what potentially awaited them in a few days at Breakdown.
“You’ve won three titles in your first ‘wrestling’ year, including a world tag-team title. You’ve headlined Breakdowns and you’re one of the few people that’s never had an SCW world title shot one-on-one.”
“But…” Selena watched her mostly submerged wife’s eyes dart left and right, her brain trying to make assessments and calculations. It was like the woman had never considered being world champion or even fighting for the title, which, given their heart to heart last month or so during Halloween regarding the chamber match actually made sense to Deanna.
The Snow Queen hadn’t, at first, considered herself world-champion-material, believing herself unworthy to hold the company on her shoulders. Nearly six years later, it was an entirely different story. And she’s so much farther along than I ever was… Selena smiled.
“I don’t want to think about it.” Deanna finally remarked. “Nobody thought I was ready to be in the chamber – and they were right…”
“Deanna…” Selena tried but Deanna ignored her.
“They aren’t going believe, in a hundred years, that I am capable of taking on Xander or Owen or being the SCW world champion.” Her eyes found Selena. “Not when they have you.”
Closing her mouth, Selena tilted her head sadly to Deanna. “You really are too considered about what they think of you.”
“Do you think I’m ready?” Deanna challenged, emerald eyes narrowing a little.
“Y…” Selena breathed, a little offguard by the question. “Yes.” She answered honestly. “But not if you further damage your arm this week.” She once more eyed her wife. “You know that I am going to be protective of you.”
“Overprotective you mean.” Deanna replied, no malice or ill-will in her voice.
“To you, maybe.” Selena answered. “But…You know that I need to in this….” She squeezed her wife’s hand. “You have to let me call the shots in this title match… and… and understand that my main concern isn’t us retaining, but getting you through it in one piece.”
“You…” Deanna breathed. “You don’t think we can win.”
“I…” Selena started but stopped when she heard the moderately loud barking coming from downstairs on the ground floor. “The children are up.” She observed. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Deanna open her mouth as if to say something before slowly nodding her head, the younger Frost shifting herself up to rise out of the tub. Quickly, yet gently, Selena reached out, placing her pale on Deanna’s wet, yet warm shoulder. “I’ll take care of it.” She smiled back at her wife. “You stay here and continue to relax.”
Carefully, Selena pushed herself off the tub counter, making her exit before Deanna could object. “Oh…” she quickly remembered, turning her head back to her wife. “Make sure you’re feeling okay today, alright? I’m taking you to Tony’s.”
If Deanna’s eyes could go wider, Selena had never seen it in almost seven years of marriage. Her mouth hung open, bobbing up and down as the redhead tried to stammer out words, any words. “I…I… how…why…” before she finally settled on. “Okay…” in stunned reply.
Giving a wink, Selena fully exited the bathroom. Passing her nightstand in the adjacent room, the platinum-blonde quickly grabbed a hairband, using it to tie her long hair into a quick, loose ponytail. That accomplished, she made her way down stairs, where she immediately heard the shuffle of feet on the floor, as well as a stern but kind voice.
“Elbows off the table, David… And less noise Elsianna and Amiliah. Your mothers are still sleeping.”
With a knowing, and grateful smile, Selena closed her eyes for a moment before opening them, continuing her journey through the main floor until she stood in the large kitchen/dining room area that also linked into the family room.
There, sitting at the table, were her three children, their dog Oberon, and Gerda. David was eating Fruit Loops while Elsianna was eating Honey Nut Cheerios, with Amiliah, ever in idolization of her sister, was copying what she ate as well.
Seeing Selena enter the kitchen, Oberon abandoned his bowl of dog-chow and scampered over to the platinum-blonde, the large ball of white fluff barking excitedly. Immediately, Selena lowered herself to a knee to eagerly pet him all over. “Hey, boy.” She smiled, admiring his coal-black eyes and joyful expression (for a dog, that is) and the way his tongue moved as he panted his excitement. A few moments spend giving him due affection was all he desired before he was scampering back to his water and food.
Dusting her hands, Selena quickly moved around the room, giving each child a kiss on the head as she greeted them. Gerda was the last person and Selena hugged her warmly.
“Have you been up long, sweetheart?” the older woman asked as Selena moved around the kitchen.
“Not really.” Selena answered with a shrug. “Was just talking to Deanna. She’s relaxing in the jacuzzi.”
“Poor dear deserves it.” Gerda remarked. “I still don’t know how you two do it or put up with it. People wanting to hurt you like that.”
“We manage.” Selena sighed as she pulled out a coffee mug for herself and Deanna. Moving over to the fridge, she pulled out the large container of cold-brew she had made the evening before, pouring her ‘special blend’ (which was usually vanilla with a shot or two of caramel) into her cup. She would wait for Deanna to come down before pouring her a cup, the redhead sometimes going cold and other times going hot (While Selena’s stomach could only take cold and her tongue could only appreciate the cold-brew).
She didn’t hear Gerda approach her until the short woman was standing beside her. “I mean it, Selena.” She pressed gently. “This sort of thing is no life for mothers like you. What if Deanna had gotten really hurt? Or you? I don’t mean to nag…”
“I know.” Selena smiled sadly. “I’ve been thinking about that more and more. I’ve never really broken anything before… in nearly ten years… this…” she gazed down into the cold-brew in the mug she held in her hands. “This is very new to me… and I don’t like it.”
It was a quiet admission, and one she hadn’t even made to Deanna, but with the children distracted and Gerda her only ‘audience’, as it were, the compulsion to say it was too great. In truth, the moment was burned into her mind…
Her standing there, outside of the chamber of metal and chain, her beloved wife reaching out to her. And her, desperate to support her and comfort her, taking Deanna’s hand into her own two. She hadn’t even seen The One coming and with her holding Deanna’s hand, it was if she had held it in place for the stomp, unintentionally.
And seeing it happen up close like that, seeing the foot go down, her wife recoil in pain, and hearing, though she may have imagined it, the bone break in Deanna’s arm… For Deanna, it was like she was back at the beginning of the year, watching Regan being thrown from the ring, landing awkwardly, and her, the damn Face of SCW, powerless to stop it. Only now it was Deanna – her wife, her everything…
Shutting her eyes, Selena pushed the feelings and memories back as best she could, gripping the large glass mug in her hands tightly, taking a slow breath as she did. Conceal… her brain whispered on instinct. Don’t feel…
Slowly, she opened her eyes to see the concerned expression on Gerda’s face. “I’m fine.” She assured the woman.
“I didn’t mean to upset…”
“I know you didn’t.” the young wrestler breathed, placing a hand on Gerda’s shoulder. “But I don’t have an answer that you’ll understand. Some days, I don’t understand. Certainly haven’t this whole month…”
She was interrupted by the loud sound of something outside, her attention turning towards the house-entrance as Oberon bolted out of the kitchen/family room area and towards the door.
“He’s been like that all morning.” Gerda sighed. “Ever since that noise started half an hour ago.”
“Half an hour ago?” Selena asked, regarding the elder woman. “What is it?”
“No idea.” Gerda shrugged. “But it’s what woke the children. I’m surprised it didn’t wake you.”
It surprised Selena as well. Was she just more tired than she thought? Too much on her mind? Shaking her head, she heard the sound again, sounded more like a truck backing up or something, as well as a jackhammer?
With a sigh, she sipped a bit more of her cold-brew before making her way to the door. Reaching onto the standing coat-rack, she was quick to throw on a long, black coat and black running shoes, most of her frame now covered, before opening the door. Oberon was immediately outside, running around the yard this way and that as Selena walked into the cool, winter morning, breathing in deeply to invigorate herself further (as if the coffee wasn’t already helping with that).
She walked further, watching Oberon to ensure he didn’t dash off the property, until she stood on the roads that lead further into and out of the Black Arrow Neighbourhood, but it was the source of the loud noise (now increasing in volume the closer Selena drew to it) that got her attention.
For the noise was coming from Leslie Sanderson’s house, which, due to the style of noise surprised Selena, but as she drew closer, it started to make sense.
While most of the neighbourhood had long taken down their Halloween decorations, including the Frosts (which had taken a bit more time with their schedule and the life-size figures they had), the same could not be said for the Sandersons, particularly when they had seven stone statue gargoyles, each one life-size, some taller than Selena and all far heavier.
What had become Leslie’s ‘secret weapon’ to try and crush Deanna in the competition was now an eyesore to the woman and seeing the truck and number of men there, the sun having crested over the horizon, Selena could only imagine that these were the men hired, and paid a lot, to remove them.
Without a word, she watched the six or seven men gather around the statues, moving them towards the road and their truck. Moving closer, Selena spied Leslie, standing on the porch in what appeared to be a business suit… at just after 7:30 in the morning. What does a housewife… Selena stopped the thought from continuing, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole this early in the day. She still had to make accommodating for Tony’s tonight.
“That’s right!” she heard Leslie bark. “Take them all away! They’re junk!”
The remark almost made Selena snort in surprise. The largest one was work thousands of dollars! Now, they were worthless? What kind of logic was that?
Despite herself, Selena drew closer. “Stay in the yard, Oberon.” She told the white dog as she passed him, crossing the road and travelling the few spaces over until she was standing just a few steps from the Sanderson house, merely watching the men work.
“Son of a bitch is heavy…” she heard one man whine, while others griped and others told the ‘gripers’ to ‘shut up and work’.
She was so busy watching the whole affair, that she did not see the woman approach her until she heard that shrill voice.
“Morning stroll, Selena?” came the annoying sound, twinged with lingering bitterness. Turning her head, Selena acknowledged the shorter, yet louder woman. “Something I can help you with?” she added with a hint of venom.
“No.” Selena shook her head. “The noise just spooked Oberon.” She gestured to the dog in her yard. “Just thought I’d let him run in the yard to calm him down.” She turned her attention towards the statues. “I see you’re ‘redecorating’.”
“More like ‘undecorating’.” Leslie remarked.
“I’m actually surprised you are.” Selena stated, crossing her arms over her coated chest. “You spent so much on them.”
The shorter Leslie gave a snort as if it was no big deal, and maybe with her it wasn’t, but for even someone as well off as Selena and her family, the idea of such waste was just… it felt wrong.
“So what’s the plan?” Selena asked, turning her head to eye the statues. “You going to sell them.”
“Hardly.” Leslie snorted again at the question. “They’re just going to break them into the pieces and get those pieces off my lawn. Simple.”
Sapphire eyes widened at that as Selena eyed the innocent statues, her eyes moving to her favorite pair. Behind the one that David had been hanging from weeks ago (which had gotten him in trouble with Leslie and Deanna), there were two female gargoyles standing together. One was tall and slender with straight hair and a more agile and graceful physique, that such a thing could be. The other was more wild, with a mane of hair and sharp talons. The first was posed in a kneeling position, wings wrapped around itself like a cloak or cape while the other stood behind with its elbows bent and claws out as if read to pounce. To anyone else, it was just to gargoyles, but to Selena, it looked like the front was poised in front as if guarding, protecting the more ‘ready to fight’ gargoyle, who looked more like a hothead than anything else.
I haven’t named those two yet… she remarked to herself, her eyes moving to other ‘male’ gargoyles that had arrived in the neighbourhood first, which she had already named.
“I mean… why waste the money.” She finally shrugged, returning to the present. “I’m sure if you put it to the curb, someone will take it off your hands.”
“Take a bunch of stone statues that weigh 300-500 pounds each?” Leslie laughed. “Sometimes you say the dumbest things, Selena.”
Trying to ignore that remark, the Snow Queen shrugged her shoulders, her sapphire eyes still on the stone statues. “But if someone else wanted them, you wouldn’t be against that?”
“I just want them gone.” Leslie stated, her irritation beginning to grow. “I don’t care. Long as they’re gone by noon. Do. Not. Care.”
With that, she turned on her high heeled slipper and marched down the street, apparently off to some ‘meeting with a stylist’ or whatever else she was muttering. Selena let her go without saying anything. She didn’t really need Leslie or care where she was going. She had what she wanted.
Turning her head back to the Sanderson lawn, she saw the men bring out a bunch of sledgehammers from their large truck. Without thinking, she called out.
“Hey guys!” earning their attention with confused looks. “Uh…” she cast a glance back over towards the house, just in time to see a red-haired beauty (thankfully clothed) gazing at her from their bedroom window. Quickly, Selena gestured to the statues with her hand, pointing at them with her thumb. It took a second, but the redhead on high slowly nodded her head, causing Selena’s smile to brighten before turning back to the workers. “Feel like making an extra $500 each?”
_______________________________________________________________
The Royal Letter
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, right?
I’ve always liked that saying. My father first taught it to me. He just found the notion so satisfying. The idea that perception is the true determinant of value. You may own a million-dollar painting, but in someone else’s eyes, it may not be worth the canvas it’s painted on.
I know everyone was expecting me to start this off with some big celebration of becoming the SCW World tag-team champions, but let’s face it, that may not be the case this coming Breakdown. After all, Lexy Chapel and the Farmstead Friends are doubling down on this ‘plan’ Lexy concocted to put The House of Frost out of the way. And while the plan may have failed its intended purpose at Under Attack, it didn’t leave Deanna and I unscathed.
I’ll give you that, Lexy. You were an idiot to think the SCW World Tag-Team title match would go after the damn elimination chamber. If there were two chamber matches, I might have gotten your logic. But being the only one? No. But your ‘other plan’? Weakening Deanna down to the point where it would hurt us? Yeah, that worked.
What’s sad about that, Lexy, is that you think you’ve exposed this conspiracy. That you’ve revealed everything to the SCW Universe because your ‘booking skills’ or lack thereof don’t match that of the SCW management. You think that you’ve exposed us, but who you’ve really exposed are The Farmstead Friends and, moreso, yourself.
Like I said, perception.
Because with you, Lexy, I don’t see some victim of a conspiracy. I don’t see a woman that has all the answers. I see a woman desperate. A woman that has run every client that’s believed in her further and further into the ground. And you’re so terrified of being the one that’s exposed that you will do anything to get the tag titles, your only bargaining chip, back.
That’s the real reason you challenged us, isn’t it? Because when you think about it, the tag match at Under Attack? Why are you mad? Because you didn’t get the match you wanted where Deanna was weakened by the chamber? You didn’t get the outcome you wanted where the House of Frost was less than 100%? Seriously? You call yourself the manager of champions and the greatest tag-team and yet you do all you can to make the match anything but fair? And you call us winning ‘rigged’ because you didn’t get that advantage? Rigged because the match was a legitimately fair match?
Face it, Lexy. You’re mad because SCW saw your little ploy and decided to show integrity and respect to the tag-team division, something you’ve never shown it. So, they made us go first. When both teams were fresh and both teams were at their best. So it was fair, honest, and a tribute to the tag-team division of SCW. What such a division truly deserve! What you should want for your team and the division they championed.
But that doesn’t suit YOUR needs, does it? That doesn’t fit your narrative or help you but rather exposes you, so you scream bloody murder on conspiracy. Even now, Lexy, why are you challenging us? Because Deanna is injured. She’s still recovering, she’s still not 100%. Now, I could applaud your cunning on taking advantage of such a situation, if you were honest about it, but you can’t even be that. And that’s what so sad about this whole thing? You could be some real good for the Farmstead Friends. With your brilliance, you could reinvent the tag-team division with them into something worthwhile. Make it into something that more teams like Light in the Darkness and Bree’s new forming tag-team would come in and celebrate! Make it into something that teams from all over the wrestling world, various federations, would want to join and be part of.
But no! You only want things where you hold all the cards. Where you have all the advantages and if not, if the battlefield isn’t tipped in your favor, that’s not good enough. That’s the conspiracy working against you rather it just being integrity and respect for this sport and for SCW! And it’s because you, Lexy, in MY perception, are a damn coward!
And really, what does that say about you, Penguin. Honestly? I don’t care what crap Bear has to say. That man, or being, or whatever he is insulted my children and then proceeded to insult my wife after all she been through. You want me to discredit how he survived being set on fire or being bleached? Saying it was all an act, a publicity stunt, and not a horrifying experience?
No, I would never dishonor or disrespect what you two have endured in your amazing tag-title reign, but he wants to think that moment – that terrifying moment I had to witness – is some act? Fuck him and fuck Lexy Chapel. I’m sorry, Penguin, for cursing, but you weren’t there! You didn’t see or hear that bone crack before you. You didn’t see the tears of pain in Deanna’s eyes! You didn’t endure the weeks of surgery and therapy she went through, holding her good hand and helping her through it all just so she could be ready as soon as possible so she could be a good tag-team champion like you were, Penguin.
That’s what’s so disappointing in all of this. Because why would Lexy do any of this if she believed in you? Why would she claim to ‘make this the biggest title match on Breakdown’ but only when Deanna is injured? Why would she do this if she thought that you were good enough to beat us at our best?
Deanna and I believed you could.
Why do you think we trained so hard? Why do you think we worked so hard to be ready to face you? Not because we thought we ‘had it in the bag’, but because we know how good you are! You are easily the Tag-Team of the Year. There is NO competition in that. Certainly not from The House of Frost. You guys ran this division on your talent and strengths and toughness for the majority of the year! So why would Lexy need my Deanna in a chamber before facing you? Why would she want to rush this rematch known my wife’s arm was broken?
Because, Penguin, she doesn’t believe in you. She doesn’t think you and Bear can beat us when we are at 100%. Because she’s too scared to let you try and do just that. To do something amazing and incredible! And Bear doesn’t care. He only cares about the money and the fame.
But you… perception again, Penguin… wrestling you? How you wanted to fight me? I respect that. To me, you’re something else. You’re head and shoulders about the others. You’re someone that wants this. Wants to do this, win this, with integrity. And that’s why I am saying this to you now. Because you think they’re looking out for you, but when was the last time YOU – YOU, Hairless Penguin – saw yourself in the mirror and felt proud of yourself? Had that perception of yourself?
Want to know when I did last? This morning. When I looked in the mirror and saw my wife. My wife that is willing to risk her arm and this reign just to give the SCW Universe another classic match like we had at Under Attack! For us, for the SCW Universe, for the tag-team division, and even for you. When I saw myself and realized I was tag-team champion, fair and square, with such a beloved wife and partner as her, I was damn proud.
What about you, Hairless Penguin? When did you last feel pride for yourself? Was it when you were made to run away during Nicole’s ‘Birthday party’ by Bear and Lexy because Deanna and I were getting beat up? Was it when you were blamed by Lexy for losing to us because you let me into the ring? Was it when you realized you were going to be fighting House of Frost at less than 100%?
Or was it when you asked me to get in the ring with you and wrestle? When you WANTED to face the Snow Queen and Face of SCW Selena Frost? Not for ego. Not for a ‘future title shot’. Not to ‘make a name for yourself’ but to truly test yourself against one of the very best in SCW today?
Maybe you didn’t feel it, Penguin, and maybe you won’t care, but in that moment? I was proud of you. I was proud to be in that ring with you. I was proud to fight someone like you.
But Breakdown? I’m not looking for that pride. I am not looking for that same rush. I am not even looking for that integrity. Because I am not interested in finding it. Lexy and Bear have made this far beyond the tag-team titles at this point.
They want to hurt my wife.
They want to take her out of SCW.
They want to finish what The One did in that chamber.
All because they are too scared, unlike you, to face us at our best.
In their eyes, Deanna and I are wounded. Hurt birds with crippled wings. But that is their perception, Penguin. But what do you see?
Because I know that if you take a real look, Penguin, you won’t see some wounded birds. You’ll see two tigers – two beasts – backed into a corner. And what happens when you back a beast into a corner, Penguin? What happens when that beast gets angry, Penguin? What happens when you push too far?
Breakdown will not just be about the tag-team titles, Penguin. It will be not just be about standing for what Deanna and I earned at Under Attack. No, Breakdown will also be about survival! The survival of the House of Frost within the tag-team division and our place within SCW. The survival of the tag-team that same division being about championship matches with teams at their best and not ‘rigged’ with double bookings or injured superstars!
And if I have to choose between protecting my wife and that integrity… and tearing you, Bear, and even Lexy apart…
Then my answer is a simple one, Penguin. One that none of you are going to like…
Believe it.
Sincerely,
Selena Michelle Frost