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Hunter prided himself on his ability to identify and nurture talent. It was, after all, what NXT was all about, and why he'd spent months encouraging and mentoring Seth from the shadows, until he was ready to cut his dead weight and join the Authority for real.
Seth Rollins was as talented as they came. He was also, unfortunately, well aware of it, and it made him entitled and difficult to work with at best. If Hunter hadn't taken to shaving his head rather than watch his hair line recede day by day, he was sure he'd have gray hairs by now.
"I told you, I need more security. With Randy and Kane both gunning for me-"
"Seth, enough."
Hunter didn't raise his voice. He didn't have to. Seth was an arrogant diva with a propensity for riling up everyone around him, but he wasn't stupid, and he could recognize the end of the line when he heard it.
Seth shut up, looking sullen.
"We've had this talk. If you hadn't antagonized Kane-"
"Kane," Seth spat, good sense momentarily forgotten. "What do we need him for?"
Hunter took a deep breath. "Down." Seth looked like he wanted to argue. Hunter snapped his fingers and pointed to the floor at his feet. "Now."
Kneeling was easy for Seth in subspace and challenging outside of it. Seth struggled with it, every line of his body signalling resistance. Hunter waited. Finally Seth sank to his knees, jaws tight, fists clenched. Not exactly a model of submission and grace, but Seth was a model of few things beside wrestling, ambition, and workout ethic.
"Kane," Hunter said firmly, "is a friend and a valued member of the Authority. He's been here long before you and if you keep this up, he'll still be here after you’re gone. We put you where you are, Seth. Now is your time to prove that you belong there. Do you understand me?"
Seth nodded grimly, eyes blazing defiance. There was no doubt in Hunter's mind that if he let Seth off the hook now, he'd go out and make a repeat performance of exactly the deplorable behavior he’d been told to drop.
There was power in symbolism and lessons to be learned in pain. Hunter crouched down to pet Seth’s hair, then grabbed a handful and pulled back, baring Seth’s throat. Judging by Seth’s sharp, sucked in breath, he’d used a little more force than necessary. Well. Hunter was never one to err on the side of caution. ”What did I tell you right before I left?”
Seth shifted, jaws clenched, gaze locked somewhere above Hunter’s head. He had that sullen look on his face he often got when chastised, but they’d been doing this far too long for Hunter to cut him any slack. He pulled again, bringing a pained grimace to Seth’s face. ”Don’t make me ask twice."
”Behave,” Seth hissed through clenched teeth.
Now that wouldn’t do. Seth knew better. ”Excuse me?”
By now, he was familiar enough with Seth's tells to notice the slight shiver, the way his tongue darted out to wet his lips. He squirmed, and not in pain. ”You told me to behave.”
”And what did you do?”
”Not that.”
”No. Not that.” He released Seth, who straightened his head and rubbed his neck, looking more wary than relieved. Good. At least some lessons seemed to stick between their sessions. He was aware that he’d been neglecting Seth lately, busy with work and with his marriage, but that was no reason for him to grow an attitude or forget who was in charge. ”Did you set out to disappoint me?”
He kept his tone light and conversational, but Seth wasn’t fooled. He looked like he was planning out his escape route in his head. ”Sir, I can explain.”
The ’sir’ meant they were on the right track. That Seth still thought to save face with excuses meant they still had some ways to go. Hunter stood up and took off his jacket. As he loosened his tie, he noted the way Seth’s gaze was drawn to that strip of fabric. Fearing he might get tied up, or hoping he would be? ”Go ahead, then.”
Seth hesitated, like an animal knowing it's headed into a trap, but the impulse to voice all his grievances was too strong. ”We don’t need Kane. I get that there’s some feelings there, some, some loyalty or whatever, you guys go back, I know, I respect that, and I’m not saying kick him out on the curb, just, he’s a liability, he’s crazy, we don’t need him. You think he cares about what’s best for business? He doesn’t. He just wants to trip me up. The man hates me. And I wouldn’t have needed to do what I did, if he hadn’t-"
At times, Hunter found it amusing to feed Seth enough rope to hang himself, but his patience was wearing thin. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind for his first night back. He had hoped to be able to reward Seth, but with every passing word the likelihood of this going anywhere good was dwindling fast.
He held up his hand. Seth fell abruptly silent. Hunter hung his jacket over the back of a chair and poured himself some scotch. He took a sip, feeling the sweet burn in his throat, before he put down the tumbler and settled on the bed and remove his dress shoes and socks.
Maybe a little indulgence wouldn’t hurt. Seth was always more cooperative after a scene, and it had been a long week. Still, there was the matter of the punishment to consider. The problem with pain was that Seth tended to enjoy it. While Hunter did appreciate Seth's unabashed masochism, it made corporal punishment a bad deterrent. He had no doubt that he could find ways to hurt Seth that would go far beyond the pleasurable, but his body was a valuable investment and he needed Seth unmarked and ready to wrestle again tomorrow.
"I'm glad to hear you're so concerned about what's best for business,” Hunter said.
"Of course! I always-"
Hunter went on as is Seth hadn't spoken because really, he shouldn't have. "That's why I know that when we are done here, you will go straight to Kane, apologize for your behaviour, and offer to do whatever it takes to put this behind you. And Seth? I do mean whatever."
Seth paled several shades. ”I- he’ll never respect me again if I-”
He doesn't respect you now, Hunter very carefully didn’t say. "He will. He'll see that you’re man enough to own up to your mistakes.” He caught Seth’s gaze and held it. "Because if you don't, I'm going to have to assume that when you say 'what's best for business' what you really mean is 'what's best for Seth Rollins'. And if that's the case, I'm going to have to rethink your position in the Authority. And that would really disappoint me. Do you want to disappoint me, Seth?"
Seth had grown paler with every passing words.
"No, sir."
"And that means...?"
"I'll apologize to Kane. I'll do whatever he says." Seth's tone was sullen, but Hunter didn’t miss the little tremor that ran through him at the thought. Sometimes he thought Seth was about 75% pride and 25% unconscious desire to be stripped of it.
"You never take the mic from me. You never interrupt me when I talk. Is that clear?”
”Yes, sir.”
Hunter gave him a long, assessing look. It would have to do. Having to submit to Kane would be a worse punishment than anything Hunter could do to him. If Seth found a way to enjoy it, even better. The shame of that would make the lesson stick. But before that…
”Good. Come here, then. Show me how much you’ve missed me."