The End of Summer

by corneroffandom

Summary:

Orange and Hook look towards fall as they leave yet another difficult summer behind.

Notes:

This is another bingo challenge, similar to what I did last month. Expect eight little drabbles of various subjects for the next few days. Can I upload eight of them before September?! ... we'll see. Me and my horribly late starts, eh?

Chapter 1

Hook wanders into the living room, plates of pizza in each hand and diet Cokes held under his arms. He sighs, dropping down next to Orange and squinting at the TV, rolling his eyes at finding more Dirty Dancing clips playing from their youtube app. "You know, you could just watch the full movie," he says, biting into the crust of his pizza. "I know you have like five copies of it around here."

"Eh, this is easier," Orange says, lips twitching up as Hook huffs in disbelief. "I have my favorite parts all on a playlist right here."

Hook side eyes him and Orange smiles innocently as Hook shakes his head and hands him the other plate. "Whatever you say," he says, dropping their sodas onto the table in front of them. He's too busy eating to fully pay attention to the random movie clips until something about the sound of it shifts, music growing louder, dialogue gone. He looks up with a frown, finding two people circling each other slowly, slowly taking each other's hand and beginning to dance. "Uh, this isn't still the movie, is it?"

Orange chuckles. "No," he admits, taking a quick sip of his coke. "It's, uh. Well, when my playlist runs out, Youtube automatically plays things that it recommends. These are random videos of people dancing. This one is of the tango."

"Oh." Hook stares at the couple, how quickly they move, how gracefully they keep up with each other, moving so easily that his eyes can barely keep up with it. "That's ridiculous," he mumbles around another bite of his pizza. They watch a few more of the videos while finishing off their pizza and Hook shakes his head, bemused. "I could never move like that," he says, leaning back against the couch.

"Ah, I dunno," Orange says. "You're pretty light-footed when you wanna be."

Hook scoffs. "For fighting, sure, maybe. Lacrosse, sometimes. Dancing? Nah."

"Mm," Orange says, glancing over at him before turning his attention back to the screen, watching a couple of more short dancing videos before getting to his feet and collecting their plates. "You done, or want another slice?"

"Eh, I'm done," Hook says, stretching his arms up over his head as Orange walks off to the kitchen to put them in the sink. "Thanks."

"Yeah," Orange says, wandering back into the living room. Instead of sitting down on the couch, though, he continues to stand in front of Hook, hand outstretched.

Hook blinks and looks from Orange's hand to his face, then back up. "What?" he asks, looking confused.

Orange shrugs and wiggles his fingers. "I wanna show you my favorite dance."

Hook freezes. "You gotta be kidding."

"Nope. Hand," Orange says, continuing to wiggle his fingers. "C'mon. It won't hurt."

"You never know, it might," Hook mumbles, but he eventually takes Orange's hand and lets himself get dragged to his feet. "If I stomp your toes, you'd better not complain," he warns as Orange leads him out past the table, giving them more room to dance safely.

"I won't, because you won't," Orange says with a soft smile, drawing Hook flush against him.

Hook blinks hard, staring at him as Orange leans in and kisses him. "Oh," he says faintly.

Orange smirks at him and presses a button on the remote, soft music starting to build. "How's this feel?" he murmurs, moving in a slow circle.

"You tease," Hook huffs, lips twitching up into a fond smile. "Make me think you're gonna try to get me to do something outrageous, but you just wanted to slow dance this whole time." He drapes his arms over Orange's shoulders and sighs as Orange wraps his arms around Hook's waist, drawing him in closer.

"Yeah," Orange chuckles. "That I did."

"Hmm, all ya had to do was ask," Hook muses, smiling back at him. Pressing a kiss to his lips. 

"I'll keep that in mind for the next time," Orange says, spinning him slowly around their living room.

Chapter 2: Presents

New York is home. It's the lifeblood in Hook's veins, the beat of the city thrumming in his chest every time he steps outside to film a new promo or prepare for his next match. He loves the speed of it, the ease to blend in and disappear into the crowd, do his own thing in a place most people won't flinch or care. But there's something soothing about Pennsylvania, kind of a second home where he can find peace and comfort, his father's vacation home always a welcome place to rest, especially during things like the Philadelphia residency.

They spend a lot of time between AEW responsibilities at local parks, taking Rocco out on his leash to explore, and enjoy the last dredges of warm, summer weather. Hook sighs as he slumps down on a bench next to Orange, just breathing in nature, the sun baked grass and faint floral scents drawn by the soft breeze. Rocco is running around as far as his leash will let him go, and Hook smiles as he rests his head on Orange's shoulder for a minute, glancing at the article he's reading on his phone. "This is nice," he mumbles.

"It is," Orange agrees, wrapping an arm around Hook and holding him close. "I'm glad we have the time to do this, despite everything else going on."

"Mm hmm, me too," Hook muses. They're both expected at the show tonight, which means they'll have to take Rocco back to the house, to be with his mom, while Orange and Hook accompany Taz to the 2300 Arena for another night of commentary, but they still have a little time to relax and enjoy the sun, so Hook takes advantage of it for as long as he can.

He's drifting, lost in thought, enjoying listening to Orange's steady breathing against his ear, when something wet brushes against his leg and Rocco whines. "Hey, little guy, what's up?" Hook asks, sitting up and reaching out for him as he jumps up onto the bench next to Hook. "Whatcha got there?" He holds his hand out under Rocco's mouth and the puppy drops a slightly bullied looking orange flower into Hook's hand with a proud yip. Hook blinks, then smiles widely, twirling it around between his fingers. "Where did you get this thing at?" he asks with a laugh, glancing around until he spots a field of brightly colored flowers not that far away, easily in reach of Rocco even with his leash's limitations. "Huh. What do you know."

Orange glances up from his phone, then sets it aside, reaching out for Rocco, who comes to him willingly. "Silly puppy," he says, playing with Rocco's ears. "What are you trying to do, out-do me in the romance department this week?"

Rocco yips and wiggles, licking at Orange's fingers before panting happily up at him.

"Yeah yeah," Orange grumbles. "Bragger. Being cute isn't enough for guys like you, I know your type."

Hook laughs at him, then leans in to kiss the pout off of Orange's face. "Trust me, I find you plenty cute too."

Orange looks surprised, then pleased as they kiss again, Hook carefully setting the flower aside to take to his mother for help to press it so he can keep it forever.

Chapter 3: Spiders

There's weird forces at play in wrestling sometimes. Everyone knows this, especially in a place like AEW, where so many people from Lucha Underground migrated, looking for a place to ply their craft after the temple fell. Orange has, mostly, avoided being on the wrong side of most of it, but Hook, unfortunately, can't say the same, despite his immunity to Danhausen's curses when they'd first met. First, there was his being fireball'd and nearly blinded for over a month. And now... well...

Orange squares his shoulders as he approaches the dark, shadowy part of the arena he'd been directed to after asking where the Triangle of Madness spend their time. It's generally no place he would go, but he has little choice after Hook collapsed outside of catering and still hadn't regained consciousness after getting carried into medical.

As soon as he steps into the corridor, whispers and giggles echoing off of the walls around him stop him, his eyes flickering around uncertainly. It's creepier than he'd expected, but he can't turn back now. Not with Hook left so vulnerable back in medical, unresponsive. "I need to speak to Julia," he says, trying not to let his fear reflect in his voice.

"Why?" 

He recognizes Skye Blue's voice and steps forward, staring into the dark, amused eyes of the woman as she stands by the stairs, blocking his path forward. "Hook has been poisoned, somehow, and I need to know how to cure him."

"And you think Julia would know how, why?" she asks, eyes glinting in the dim lighting.

"Not her, exactly, but--" Orange remembers feeling a flush of heat under his hand when he touched Hook and seeing the shape of a spider form on his sternum, just below his heart. "She may know how to get Thekla to cure him."

Skye's lips part, a curious look on her face. "Thekla?" she muses, tapping one long fingernail against her chin. "Why do you suspect her?"

Orange runs his tongue over his teeth, debating how much information he wants to give. "Hook collapsed," he says. "And the shape of a spider formed on his chest. I assume it was Thekla's doing."

Skye hums. Turns without another word and disappears into the shadows, the soft whispers and giggles resuming once more, adding to his anxiety and frustration. He doesn't move, hands curling into fists as he tries to be patient, wait these mysterious women out. For Hook. Always.

Finally things shift and Julia approaches this time, her heavy makeup making her eyes look darker, somehow, hard to focus on through the shadows. She examines him, Skye close behind, and rolls her eyes, bored. "Tell your little boytoy to stop killing spiders. Thekla despises such cruelty."

Orange blinks. "That's...?" His words die away as she walks up to him, a glass vial glinting between her black fingernails. He fumbles but takes it as she holds it out to him, clutching it safely to his chest.

"As long as he ingests the entirety of that, he'll recover," she says.

"What--" But again his question doesn't even make it past his lips full formed as she turns and walks back into the shadows, Skye Blue step to step with her. He gapes and stumbles over more failed attempts at speaking before giving up, staring down at the vial still held in his hands. "Well, I hope this works," he mutters, hesitantly leaving the corridor and heading back towards medical.

Once he doesn't feel the creepy, crawling sensation of the shadows watching him any longer, he picks up speed and hurries down the hall, pushing the door to the medical office open. Taz looks up and stares at him, blinking. He looks tired, he looks emotionally on the edge, and Orange quickly walks up to him, not surprised to see things unchanged-- Hook still pale, still unconscious, the spider somehow looking even darker against his flesh since the last time Orange had seen it. 

"He hasn't moved at all," Taz says, holding his son's hand. "Not reacting to anything. Samson doesn't know what's wrong."

"I do," Orange says, moving to the front of the cot that he's sprawled out on and getting his arm under Hook's shoulders, guiding him into a sitting position.

"What is that?" Taz demands, rounding the bed and moving towards him as he holds the vial up, considering how best to do this. "Orange, what the fuck--?"

Before he can be stopped, Orange settles Hook against his chest and uncorks the vial. "Baby," he says to Hook. "I need you to drink this, alright?" He lightly presses down on Hook's chin, trying to get him to open his mouth. "I know you probably feel pretty sick, but if you open your mouth, I have something that'll help. I promise. Come on, handsome."

Taz freezes when Hook's lips slowly part and Orange nods, pressing a kiss to the side of his face. "That's my guy," he says, tipping the vial against his lips. "Drink it all," he murmurs, careful as he pours the elixir into his mouth little by little, so Hook won't choke while he's still unconscious.

Taz stands at the side of the bed and watches as Hook slowly downs the elixir until the vial is empty, Orange pressing his face against Hook's hair as he waits for a sign that it'd worked. "Orange," he says helplessly and Orange shakes his head, continuing to hold Hook upright.

"Give it a minute," he says, voice low, desperate. "It has to work. Just... just..." He's not even sure how long the elixir would take to work, he knows absolutely nothing about it. He begins doubting even giving Hook it at all, why he thought trusting Julia would be the wise path, but it was the only thing he had at the time to try to help.

"Orange, look," Taz mutters after a minute, and Orange pulls back reluctantly, looking over at Taz before following his gaze to where the spider had been on Hook's chest. It's fading before their very eyes, and between one blink and the next, disappears entirely. Then Hook's fingers twitch.

"Hey," Orange murmurs, brushing some hair out of Hook's eyes as he wraps his arms more securely around Hook's waist. "You hear me?"

Hook sighs and shifts, turning his face towards Orange, eyes fluttering sluggishly. "Orange," he mumbles, reaching out for him.

"Hey, there he is," Orange says, brushing a kiss against his temple, sharing a glance with Taz. "How are you feeling?"

"Weird," he grumbles, grimacing as he smacks his lips together distastefully. "What the fuck died in my mouth?"

Orange huffs out a shaky laugh, kissing Hook again. 

"You gotta stop scaring us like this, kid," Taz tells him, curling his fingers around Hook's foot and giving it a shake.

"What happened?" he asks, blinking down at his father.

Orange smooths his hand over Hook's forehead, staring at him with a frown. "You've been killing spiders lately?"

Hook looks confused. "What...?" he mumbles, reaching a shaky hand up to rub at his eye. "Spiders? There was one at the apartment that was tormenting Rocco before we left, I did take that one out. I think."

"Well, Thekla didn't take too kindly to it," Orange says, frowning. "She poisoned you. I guess."

"Huh," Hook sighs, resting his head back on Orange's shoulder. "Weird. How'd I get cured?"

"Boyfriend here braved the Triangle of Madness' lair and got an elixir that healed you up," Taz says, squeezing his foot.

Hook looks over at Orange, eyes dark with wonder. "You did all of that for me?"

"Of course I did," Orange says. "I had to do something, I wasn't going to let you just... slip away."

Hook examines Orange's face before leaning up and kissing him. "Thanks," he murmurs quietly.

"You're welcome," Orange says. "Now no more killing spiders. Alright?"

Hook frowns. "Alright. I'll try."

Chapter 4: Watching

Hook wakes up slowly, something disrupting his badly needed rest. He lays there for a moment, eyes closed, trying to register what exactly woke him up. He can tell it's not Rocco, the puppy still asleep against his left side. Which leaves... He opens his eyes and looks over to Orange's side of the bed, frowning. "Hey," he mumbles, rolling over and resting a hand on Orange's chest. He immediately freezes, realizing. The thing that'd woke him up was an uncomfortable warmth, leaving him restless and sweaty and kicking off the sheets- the heat originating from Orange. "Orange, hey-" He lightly shakes him, relieved when Orange's eyes flutter.

"Hook," he mumbles, voice faint. "I..."

"You have a fever," Hook says quietly, hand moving from Orange's chest to his forehead.

"Don't feel good," Orange admits, pressing into Hook's touch.

"Not surprised," he says, rubbing his thumb slowly over Orange's forehead. "I'll be right back." He moves to free himself from the bedding tangled around his ankles, but before he can scoot off of the bed, Orange grips his arm and holds on, shaking his head. "Hey, hey, I'll just be a second, alright?" he asks, kissing Orange's forehead. "Easy." He lays Orange back down and escapes the bed, turning back to hoist Rocco up into his arms, the puppy stretching and yawning, blinking sluggishly. "Keep him company, little guy," he tells the puppy, laying him down on Orange's chest.

Orange shudders and wraps his arms around Rocco, who whines worriedly and butts his head lightly against Orange's, tucking under his jaw. "'m ok," he mutters, petting Rocco's back. "You're nice and warm, lil guy."

Rocco licks at his chin and settles back in, nuzzling into Orange.

Hook returns with arms full of things, dropping them onto the bed next to Orange. "How long have you felt sick?" he wonders, resting his wrist against Orange's forehead with a frown. "Here, open up."

"Can't answer if you-" Orange's words are muffled as Hook gently sticks a thermometer into Orange's mouth. While they wait for it to beep, he digs around in the pile of things he'd brought out, finding a bottle of medicine, setting it aside. There's a bottle of water nearby and he sets that aside too. He's just returned again after wetting a wash cloth as the thermometer beeps and carefully takes it out of Orange's mouth, frowning at the numbers there. "101.9," he mutters, running a hand through his hair. "Alright." He sighs and rests the wash cloth on Orange's forehead, shaking out a couple of pills. "Take these," he says, helping Orange to swallow down the pills and some water.

"Thanks," Orange says, still holding Rocco as he shivers, the water and washcloth only making him even more chilled.

"You feel cold?" Hook asks, frowning down at him.

"Yeah," Orange mutters, eyes fluttering shut.

"Here," Hook says, pushing a couple of things aside and laying down next to him. "I'll keep an eye on you, we'll check your temp in a little bit, see if the meds helped. Alright?"

"Kay," Orange sighs, one hand still idly stroking over Rocco's back while he rests his other on Hook's forearm. "Sounds alright."

"Mm hmm," Hook murmurs. "Just rest." He kisses him on the temple and settles in to wait, watching closely as Orange dozes off, breathing sounding a little congested. "You're gonna be ok. Rocco and I'll make sure of it. Won't we, little guy?"

Rocco yips and looks up at Hook before resting his head back down on Orange's chest, content to lay there and try to help Orange feel better. Same as Hook.

Chapter 5: Weather

"Unbelievable," Orange mumbles, watching as Hook kneels down and scoops Rocco up. "Where the hell did this wind come from?"

"Eh, they did say there was a chance of elevated winds later today, but I didn't expect it this early," Hook says, bracing Rocco against his shoulder as they continue walking through the strong blusts. "It's ok, little guy, we've got you," he says as the puppy whines and digs his claws into Hook's hoodie.

Orange pats the puppy's back as they continue to maneuver around carefully, Hook squinting against the wind. "This is a mess," he sighs. His hair keeps getting whipped into his eyes and Orange grimaces, trying to brush it back with his hands. "Why is your hair not going all over the place like mine?" he grouses, looking over incredulously.

Hook looks up, then shrugs. "I don't know, I've told you you can borrow my hair products any time you want."

Orange grimaces. "My hair products," he teases, "work just fine when we're not out in gale force winds. Besides, I don't see you offering any to the puppy, and his fur is always messier than my hair."

Hook gasps and tightens his grip around the puppy protectively. "His fur is perfect just the way it is, isn't it, Rocco?" He clucks and kisses the puppy's forehead. "Yeah, au naturel looks best on you."

"You don't like me au naturel?" Orange asks, smirking when Hook glances over at him.

"You know the answer to that," he mumbles into Rocco's fur. When Orange laughs, Hook rolls his eyes and nudges him. "Not in public."

"Like anyone can hear us over this wind anyway," Orange says, flinching as a tree branch blows from somewhere at a startling speed and smacks into the ground just a few inches from his feet, causing him to jump. "Shit."

Hook immediately reaches out with his free hand and snags Orange's wrist, pulling him in against his side, looking around with a squinted grimace. "Alright?" he asks, running his fingers over Orange's side while he looks for any other potential flying debris as they step around the branch, continuing on their way down the sidewalk, both more eager to get home quickly- safely- after that.

"Yeah," Orange sighs, reaching out and rubbing Rocco's forehead when he whines and butts his face against Hook's shoulder, growing more and more fussy the longer it takes them to get home. "It's ok, little guy. We're almost there."

Hook takes a break from scanning the nearby trees for any other projectiles and sees that Orange is right, their apartment finally within sight once more. "C'mon," he says, holding both Rocco and Orange close as he walks determinedly up the street to their apartment. They all breathe a little easier once they're inside, even with the struggle to get the door shut securely behind them as the wind fights to rip the door out of their hands. It takes both of them but finally they get the door shut, Hook leaning against it with a deep sigh. "Damn," he mutters, nuzzling into Rocco as he whines and lifts his head, looking around the front lobby of the apartment building. "S'ok, we're safe now," he tells him, kissing the puppy's nose.

Orange exhales and brushes his hand through his hair, grimacing as he finds a couple of leaves stuck in the messy strands. "Damn," he mutters. "Look."

Hook's lips twitch as he looks at Orange's hand. "Geez," he says. "See anything in my hair?"

"With your hair products?" Orange teases, but looks anyway, running his fingers gently through the thick brown strands, succeeding in messing it up more than Hook had himself, or the wind. "Nah," he says after a minute. "You're clear."

"That's good," he says. "Come on, let's go upstairs. I think Rocco needs some quiet time."

"Yeah," Orange says, the two of them walking towards the elevator.

As soon as they enter their apartment, Hook kneels down and lets Rocco hop down onto the floor, where he immediately gives himself a good shake and runs into the living room, curling up in his doggy bed with Cinna, looking pitiful as he tracks Orange and Hook's path around the room with wide, fretful eyes.

Hook offers the puppy a tired smile as he kicks his shoes off into the closet and wanders over to the couch, collapsing down with a sigh. "Damn weather's really been ridiculous this summer," he murmurs, arm over his eyes as Orange ducks into the kitchen and returns with two bottles of diet Coke for them, settling in next to Hook.

"Yeah, it has," he muses, taking a long sip from his can. "Good to be home."

"Definitely," Hook murmurs, curling in and resting his head on Orange's shoulder. "This is good, too."

"Yeah, it is," Orange says, running his fingers through Hook's hair as Hook relaxes against him. When he finds a small piece of bark trapped in Hook's hair, he glances down at him and moves to say something, but wisely chooses not to, tossing it into a nearby trash can. "Very good." He kisses Hook's forehead and laughs silently, shaking his head.

Chapter 6: Fireflies

It's quiet. A beautiful, late summer Sunday evening, and Hook exhales, stretching his arms out as far up as they'll go, wincing a little as his muscles slowly crack and relax, leaving him yawning. Rocco is running around, enjoying the soft grass under his paws, and Orange is nearby, watching the two of them with a faint smile. Hook turns towards him, holding a hand out and Orange takes it, allowing himself to get pulled into Hook's side, a kiss pressed to his temple. 

They stand there and watch as Rocco enjoys himself, dusk creeping in, cooling things even further, Hook shrugging out of a sleeve enough to tuck his jacket around Orange when he starts to shiver slightly, the two of them sharing body heat as fireflies dance around Rocco, the puppy chasing them, yipping curiously when the little bugs flutter and glow, drifting away from his paws as he bats at them uncertainly.

"Better hope Rocco doesn't catch them," Orange says with a huff of laughter. 

"I don't think he will," Hook says with a fond shake of his head, watching as the puppy drops back on his haunches and watches with a whine as the glowing beetles drift higher and higher away from him before disappearing entirely. "Aw, poor little guy, all of his little ladybug friends left. Hey, Rocco," he says, whistling for the puppy's attention.

Rocco whines, then trots over to them, bumping his head against Hook's knee.

"Yeah, I know. It sucks, but it's late and we should go back inside," Hook says soothingly, shrugging out of the jacket the rest of the way so he can lean down to pet Rocco. "Your ladybug friends will be back out here tomorrow night, maybe we can visit them again then."

"Does he know they're supposed to be friends?" Orange asks, teeth flashing in the porch light as they head inside, Hook rolling his eyes at him. "I don't know, if a friend of mine spent their entire time chasing and batting at me, I would reconsider my friendships."

Hook mulls it over while unclipping Rocco from his leash, then shrugs, watching as the puppy runs out of the doorway, scrambling through the house to look for Mrs. Senerchia. "I feel like you actually just described wrestling, in all honesty." 

Orange pauses, then huffs. "Damn, I think you're right," he says. 

Hook winks at him, gripping the edges of his borrowed jacket, drawing Orange in. "Well, at the very least, my chasing you around and batting at you definitely ended up beneficial for our relationship," he says with a grin, dimples almost distracting Orange from the kiss that follows, his fingers twisting around in Hook's shirt.

"And here this whole time I thought I was the one chasing you," Orange murmurs, resting his forehead against Hook's.

"Eh, either way," Hook says with a shrug, not interested in debating the point right now. "It worked out pretty damn good for us."

"Yeah, it definitely did," Orange concedes, smiling as Hook leans in to kiss him breathless once more.