Raven Strut

[Jack Ferriman]

The balcony doors slid open with a quiet click, and Jack stepped outside, the cool night air greeting him as he leaned against the railing. Nate was already there, sitting in one of the lounge chairs, staring up at the blanket of stars scattered across the dark sky. The distant hum of city life felt far away in the quiet, like they were in their own little world, high above everything.

Jack glanced at Nate, catching the soft silhouette of his face in the moonlight. Nate’s hair tousled slightly in the breeze, his expression peaceful but thoughtful. Jack grabbed two glasses of whiskey from the small table, handing one to Nate before sitting down beside him. For a while, neither of them spoke, they rarely needed to sometimes, content to simply be together and enjoy the tranquility.

“I never get tired of this,” Nate finally said, his voice low, almost lost in the sound of the wind. “Looking at the stars. Reminds me of how small we are... how much there is out there we haven’t figured out yet. Kinda makes me feel closer to where things were for our ancestors, you know?”

Jack smiled, taking a slow sip from his glass. “Yeah. Makes everything feel… possible.”

Nate chuckled, turning his head to meet Jack’s eyes. “That’s you. Always thinking about possibilities.”

“I mean it,” Jack replied, his tone a little more serious. “I’ve been thinking about our future, you know? Where we go from here. What happens next for us.”

Nate’s gaze softened. “I think about that too.Like Pax and I got some belts. Sooner or later we gonna get that tag team belt shot and things are gonna get fucking legit. For you too.”

Jack felt his chest tighten in a way that was unfamiliar yet comforting

“What do you see?” Jack asked, his voice quiet now, almost afraid of the answer.

Nate smiled, a kind of warmth spreading across his face as he looked back up at the stars. “I see us… building something real. Something lasting. I don’t know the exact path, but… as long as we’re together, I think we’ll figure it out. And I ain’t just talking about the career path, you know?”

Jack nodded, his throat tightening as the words he’d been holding in for so long began to rise. He stared down at his glass, watching the amber liquid swirl around, the silence between them growing heavier with each passing second.

He set the glass down on the table, taking a deep breath before turning back to Nate. “I’ve been meaning to tell you something…”

Nate looked over, curious. “What is it?”

Jack hesitated, feeling his heart pound in his chest. The words were right there, on the tip of his tongue, but the weight of them was almost too much to bear. Finally, he let them spill out, soft but certain.

“I can see a future with you. Like a…like we don’t need the government involved or a waste of money or a ring or anything. But a life long commitment kind thing. With you, Nate, a sort of forever.”

For a moment, time seemed to stop. The world around them faded, and it was just the two of them, locked in that single, fleeting moment.

Nate blinked, as if trying to process the words, and then a slow, radiant smile spread across his face. “You… you want to marry me?”

Jack nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over him. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t need a wedding or nothing. And we don’t have to do it now or anything. But yeah, I do.”

Nate set his glass aside and reached out, taking Jack’s hand in his. His grip was firm, reassuring, as if to anchor them both in that moment. “Damn, that’s fucking romantic as shit.”

“Too soon?” Jack asked.

“Nah, I love it. Like…Forever with you sounds nice.”

Jack felt a grin spread across his face, the tension melting away as they sat there, hands entwined, the stars shining down on them like silent witnesses to the beginning of something new.

The future didn’t seem so uncertain anymore.

---

“It has been a minute but I’m not gonna bitch too much. I got a match and that’s worth celebrating. Even if it’s against a…monster? An Orc?

Is that what Hellscream is?

He’s a cryptid of some kind that’s for fucking sure. I grew up as a street kid in Washington state. I’m no stranger to cryptids. I mean what kid didn’t take a bus to the woods and see if they could see could see Big Foot?

But you don’t scare me.

So come with your weird silent type. Come with your strength and come with your size. I can take you. I’ve taken worse.

You call yourself ‘Hellscream,’ but you are always silent as the grave. And I guess that makes a lot of sense. Having spent some time in some religious cults myself, there is one thing I know about Hell. Hell doesn’t scream. It whispers.

So the vibes check out there.

You ain’t Big Foot. You ain’t even the Owl witches course. I think he’s an orc. He’s all green and got the… is it an overbite or an underbote? Listen, I’m not gonna focus too much on that detail. I’ve got a match against a big motherfucker. And that’s what I am going to focus on. But coming face to face with something bigger than me to get a place to sleep for the night or just to survive isn’t new to me.

I’ve fought big motherfuckers before. They have humbled me but sometimes I’ve won. Depends on the situation.

But I feel pretty good about how things are gonna shake out here. I do. Like I might not be the most booked guy on the payroll but I always deliver a helluva a match. And that’s what this is, Hellscream. We are going to deliver a hell of a match."