Ezra shifted achingly in his swivel chair, eyes locked on the computer screen, he was still a bit sore from his training session with Raphael. Still, when he thought back on it, he couldn't help but snicker. He hadn't expected that exact outcome but if anyone could withstand plummeting from an extraordinary height, only to crash through the center of a wrestling ring and be totally fine, it would be Raph. The fact that he had been transitioned into steel mode is what made it truly funny. The man clunked down into that wrestling ring like a wrecking ball, with similar results. Never would that have occurred if Ezra didn't charge up his fist though. No, without that super charge of electricity, Ezra would more than likely be sitting at his computer, nursing a severely shattered fist, after making the regrettable mistake of trying to uppercut a solid steel jaw. Thankfully, that was not the case, since he was a living live-wire, conduit of electricity. With a smirk, he briefly shot a glance at his hand as a small spark, sizzled and hopped from finger to finger.


"I got dinner."


Sudden but expected, the voice accompanied the sound of the front door to Ezra's apartment shutting and when Ezra heard it, he smiled. Turning away from his computer, he watched as Ivan Vaust, entered the living room.


"You look like you're in a good mood. I take it your training session with Raphael, went well."


Ivan set a pair of plastic bags onto the coffee table and proceeded to remove two styrofoam containers. That he then placed onto the table; open, revealing two Italian beefs, dipped (easy), with cheese and giardiniera, and fries on the side.


"Oh absolutely."


"Anything eventful happen?"


Venturing into the kitchen, Ivan inquired this over his shoulder, before walking over to the fridge and retrieving two cans of soda. After which, he returned to the living room and took a seat on the sofa. Where he rested both cans on the table. His attention fully placed on his boyfriend as he settled back, comfortably.


"I gave him an uppercut that sent him flying in the air and when he landed, his body caused a massive crater in the ring and basically destroyed the whole thing."


"Jesus. Is he okay?"


A quick burst of laughter shot forth from Ivan as he opened a can of pop and took a sip.


"Well, he was in full on steel mode, so yeah... he's fine."


"And you were able to uppercut him hard enough to do that? I don't know. That seems suspicious. Something doesn't add up."


"What? Are you questioning my ability to throw an impressive and devastatingly effective uppercut, just because my brother happened to be shifted into solid steel?"


"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm doing."


"Alright. Fine. I might have had some assistance when I infused my fist with an electrical charge."


Rolling his eyes, Ezra rose from his chair and joined Ivan on the sofa. A fry immediately lifted from his tray of food, it was not long meant for this world. Ezra hungrily ingested it and then sent a couple more after it, for good measure. Chasing it all down with some soda from the can he opened, shortly after.


"There you go. Still cool though. Was Raph pissed?"


Ivan put his can of pop down and grabbed his Italian beef, promptly taking a bite.


"No. Not so much, not at all, actually."


"Did Donovan join in or was he merely there to... well, to be Donovan."


"Basically. He did catch me off guard with his force powers at one point but that was from outside of the ring. In an effort to emphasize that I should be prepared for sneaky tactics."


"Seems like sound advice. I'm sure that was also done for his own amusement as well. Sorta a lesson, with a laugh."


Another hearty bite, Ivan laid his sandwich back in its container.


"Donovan doesn't do anything without having some underlining factor that caters to his entertainment."


"Touche."


Pause.


"One more question."


"Okay..."


"I'm not sure if I should ask it though."


Eyes averted to the ceiling, Ivan bit his bottom lip and uncomfortably nudged at the leg of the coffee table with his left sneaker.


"Did you remember to take your pills?"


Fears sprung to reality, the inquiry did not provoke a good reaction. As expected Ezra went on the defense. Brows furrowed and face scrunched up a tad, he fidgeted in his seat.


"You know you don't have to keep after me like that. I'm an adult. A fairly responsible one, I might add."


"I know."


While Ivan said this, he lowered his gaze. First to Ezra, then to the floor.


"I want to though. Your well being is important to me. I care about you, that's all."


Sights shot back to Ezra, a slight smile accented Ivan's face.


"I'm not trying to police you or make you think that I don't trust you. I only thought since this was a new thing, that isn't a part of your normal, everyday routine, maybe you might have forgot. In which case, I was reminding you."


Less on edge, Ezra's tone softened and with it, so did his expression.


"That's very kind of you but I really don't need you to remind me."


"So you took them."


"Mmhmm... yeah, I took them."


It was a lie. Ezra hadn't even opened the bag that the pharmacist put the pill bottles inside when he bought them. In truth, he was afraid of what they might do to him. How they might change or alter him. The whole thing made Ezra uneasy and scared. Which led him to avoiding the medication altogether, in the hopes, no one would ever bring it up again. No such luck, it would seem.


"Really?"


"Yep."


With a heavy sigh, Ivan shoved himself up from the sofa and walked over to the brown, leather messenger bag that was situated next to Ezra's workstation. Flipping the flap of the satchel back, he pulled out a white, paper bag. The kind that you might receive at the pharmacy. From there he casually strolled back over to the couch and dropped the bag next to Ezra.


"Really?"


The bag sat stark against the dark blue sofa, staring up at Ezra with intense accusation. Ezra reached up and tugged at a tuft of his hair as he nervously chuckled. Composing himself quickly, he took a deep breath and attempted an explanation.


"Okay, this looks bad but before you get upset, you should know that I intended to take them. Honestly, I did. Then, I looked up the side effects and I realized, the doctor had no idea what he was doing when he prescribed me these meds. I think I was miss diagnosed."


"Ezra."


"What? That's the truth."


"Look. I know what you're doing. I get it, really I do."


"Oh you do, do you?"


"Maybe I can't see everything precisely from your perspective but yeah, I think I can understand. It's hard to accept. Realizing something is out of your control and that you need to rely on medication in order to help, keep you in check but if your doctor thinks you need this..."


Instant walls, Ezra's guarded tone returned.


"That man is not my doctor, he's simply a doctor that I seen to shut my brothers up."


"Come on. You and I both know you went to see Dr. Ottoman for reasons beyond that. Can't you at least try and see if the pills help before you assume they won't?"


The question hung in the air as Ivan picked up the bag and sat next to Ezra.


"For me."


So quiet, the words barely registered with Ezra's ears. As much as hearing the soft plea tore at Ezra's heart, it also annoyed him, tenfold. He wanted to be mad at Ivan for guilt tripping him like this but try as he might, he couldn't. Instead Ezra took the bag from Ivan and ripped it open. Swiftly uncapping one bottle, followed by the next, he removed two pills and popped them into his mouth. Closing both bottles, he laid them on the table and flung the empty bag over his shoulder, before picking up his beverage. Ezra took an exceedingly, long lasting drink and set the can down, opening his mouth wide and even lifting up his tongue, in order to show that he in fact, swallowed the pills. This act was brief but it got the point across, Ezra shut his mouth and settled back into the sofa, passing a hand through his hair.


"Happy?"


An over-exaggerated eye roll, came conjoined with that sarcastic query, Ezra let out a huff in clear frustration. Lifting his leg off the floor, he brought it to himself and bent it, so that his knee came at chin level, while his foot was planted on the couch cushion. With his left hand he began tugging on a loose strand, located at the cuff of his pants' leg, focus fully planted on the stray string.


"Yes."


"Oh well, I hope that elation lasts when the pills kick in and I can't get an erection."



"That's one of the side effects?"


"Yeah."


"I guess this means we'll be switching positions then."


"So glad you've got it all figured out."


"One minor inconvenience shouldn't mean that we both suffer."


This of course was stated without even a shred of seriousness and Ezra knew that. It still didn't hinder him from kicking Ivan in the side. Ivan responded to this by seizing Ezra by the ankle, yanking him down further on the sofa, Ivan leaned in close so that his face was only a matter of a few inches away from Ezra's. And then Ivan kissed him.


"Thank you. I know that wasn't easy for you."


Trying his best not to smile and failing horribly, Ezra squirmed free and pushed himself up into a sitting position. Folding his legs Indian style, he snatched his container of food off of the table and rested it in his lap. The ill thwarted grin, never fading.


"Oh shut up, don't make a big deal out of it, I was going to take them anyway."


Small victories, Ivan knew when to appreciate them and say nothing more. So that's what he did as he too, followed suit and devoted his attention to his dinner.




"Tomorrow, I will be taking on Bobby Roode. Member of AGK and client of Paul Heyman. He seems to think this fight won't be difficult. That I'm a 'boy, who is ripe for the picking' which sounds super creepy, if I'm being totally honest here. I'm not sure what Bobby does on his spare time but I'm going to guess his ip address has been flagged more than a few times for registering with extremely questionable sites of the morally depraved, cringe worthy kind. In other words, you do not want to look at his hard drive, save that for the FBI and Chris Hansen."


"Well, Bobby Roode is in for quite the rude awakening... a real shocker, if you will and not just when he discovers that despite looking rather young for my age, I'm in fact an adult. No, I'm speaking more in the terms of when I sear the flesh, right off his bones, due to massive shocks of electricity. That's right, I intend to treat Bobby, to free electroshock therapy... times 1,000! I plan on turning him into a human french fry. He's going to be burnt to a crisp, when I get through with him. The only wrestler to start out in a match as a white guy and end it as a black man. Charcoal black, that is. Burnt black. Charred so badly, smoke will emit from his body, for weeks. People are going to come up to him; annoyed, when he's in public places and demand that he put out his cigarette, only to discover the smoke is literally radiating off of his body. On the plus side, he'll never get lost. If someone needs to locate Bobby, they can simply follow the trail of soot and ash."


"I am curious Bobby, how do you plan on striking down lightening, before it strikes you? Guess I'll simply have to see what unfolds on Saturday night, in order for that question to be answered. Although, if I were to make an educated guess, you won't be able to do anything except play the part of Thomas Edison's key, without a kite. What do you think, Bobby?"