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❝ Wow, Tommaso, you own pants? ❞

-

Jordan was backstage.

She was wrestling for Shimmer that night, facing Adrienne.  Not only did she bring out the best possible version of her in the ring, but she was one of her best friends, and she always looked forward to their matches.  They would be going on before the main event – the closest Jordan has ever been to the end of the show.  They had faith in the two of them to put on a good match.

Already in her gear, she was watching the match currently going on in the ring, which was for the Shimmer Tag Team Championships.

"Jordan!"

When she turned around, she was greeted by a smiling Candice LeRae.

"Candice!" She exclaimed. "You finally came to Shimmer!"

"I said that I would," Candice reminded her. "I'm facing Veda Scott tonight.  We're the second match of the night."

"I'm sure it'll be great," Jordan said, smiling. "I'm facing Athena."

Candice's eyes lit up. "Oh, you two always have really good matches."

"Yeah, people seem to think so."

"As much as I'd love to see you guys wrestle again next time Shimmer does tapings," Candice said. "I'd love to face you, instead."

"I'd love that."

"Hopefully, we can make it happen." Candice smiled. "I have to go, though.  Joey is probably bothering people.  Plus, I think people just like me more."

Jordan laughed. "Okay.  Goodbye, Candice."

Candice left, and Jordan began stretching.  A few minutes later, Adrienne approached her, and she stopped.

"Are you ready to blow the roof off this place?" She asked, smiling at Jordan.

"I was born ready." She paused, then stuck her hand out.  Adrienne shook it, as Jordan said, "It'll be an honor to punch you in the face."

X X X

Jordan stood in Gorilla with Johnny and Tommaso. While the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic wouldn't begin until the next set of tapings, they had a regular match that night, and were about to be introduced.

"The following is a tag team match scheduled for one fall!  Introducing first, being accompanied by Jordan Lee: Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa – DIY!"

The three of them walked out.  Johnny and Tommaso parted, letting Jordan walk ahead of them.  They walked to the ring, doing the same entrance they did in Brooklyn.

Their opponents (Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli) were already in the ring.  Johnny and Tommaso headed to their corner, and Jordan hopped out of the ring.

The match didn't last long, only a few minutes.  It ended with DIY hitting their finisher on Riddick Moss, and Tommaso picked up the win for their team.

They walked backstage.  Jordan, who had changed into a DIY shirt and shorts after their interview, began heading to the women's locker room to change again, this time into her gear.  She would be facing Liv Morgan.

Once she was in her gear, Jordan had some time before her match actually began.  She found Tommaso, but Johnny wasn't with him.

"Hey," She greeted him, and he looked over at her.

"Are you done after your match?" He asked.

"Yeah," She replied. "Thank god.  I've never had to change clothes so many times in one day."

"That does seem pretty exhausting," He said.

"So, where's Johnny?" She asked.

He smirked. "Why?"

"Because you guys are normally together?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Is this some kind of trick question?"

"No," He said, shrugging innocently. "You just seemed to really appreciate him complimenting your dress earlier."

She frowned. "What?  Yeah, I did.  I appreciate compliments.  If you complimented it, I would've reacted the same way."

"But I did."

"No, you didn't," She protested. "You were all oh shit, Jordan owns a dress?  I've worn dresses plenty of times for people to not be surprised."

"We seem to have different ideas of what a compliment is."

Jordan looked down. "Wow, Tommaso, you own pants?"

He chuckled. "What?"

"You're normally in your gear," She said. "I don't normally see you in pants."

"Okay, this doesn't work with the roles reversed," He said. "You've seen me wear pants plenty of times.  That was the first time I'd ever seen you in a dress."

Liv Morgan walked by at that point, so Jordan looked at him and said, "I've got to go." She began walking away, but turned around to look at him one last time. "Don't get any more pants while I'm gone."

She could hear him laugh as she walked away.  Liv had also begun laughing, probably because that was the only part she'd overheard, and it sounded very strange without context.

"Hey."

Jordan stopped when she heard Johnny's voice, and she turned around to look at him.

"Hey." She smiled.

"Are you about to go out there?" He asked.

"Yeah."

"Can I come out with you?"

She tilted her head. "Why?"

"We're a team now," He told her. "That's what teams do."

"No, that's what managers do," She said. "And I'm the manager.  I come out with you guys.  You don't come out with me.  Plus, it would be a bit weird if only you came out, since I'm pretty sure Tommaso has left to find all the pants he can."

At that, Liv started laughing, but she quickly brought a hand to her mouth to muffle it.  Jordan tried to hide her smile, but couldn't.  Johnny gave her a confused look.

She continued on. "So, he wouldn't be able to come out with you.  I'm new to this whole managing thing, though, so if you talk to William Regal or someone, and they say that you can come out with me, then by all means, be ringside whenever you want.  But not right now."

He nodded. "Okay.  That makes sense." He paused. "Did... Did Tommaso lose his pants or something?  Should I go help him?"

Jordan grinned.  She brought a hand up, and pat Johnny on the arm. "You probably should.  You don't know whose pants he might try taking."

As he walked away, Jordan turned around to look at Liv, who was just grinning.

***

Had to give Joey Ryan a bit of a shoutout in that flashback, just because he's awesome (also he and Candice are tag team partners).

The flashback builds more on the last chapter, and doesn't have too much to do with this one. There are some people who wrestled each other a whole lot before they ever got to WWE (and had awesome matches), and once they both signed, ended up having even better matches. (Kinda like Sami Zayn/Kevin Owens, though Jordan/Adrienne didn't really have a feud; they just had good matches together, if that makes sense)

In case anyone is wondering, I wrote this chapter 10 days after NXT Takeover: Chicago (which OH MY GOD I'M STILL SAD ABOUT THAT).

Anyway, this chapter was a bit silly, but let me know what you think! :)