Archive of Our Own ^beta

Finn stood outside of Damian’s hotel room, hands shoved in the pockets of his sweatpants. He rocked back and forth on his heels. 

It was late - too late, really, to be pulling something like this. A Monday night, or Tuesday morning, depending on how you looked at it, meaning they’d both just finished a grueling night on RAW. It had been a particularly rough one, a tag match that both Finn and Damian had been involved in that ended with Finn getting hit over the back with a chair. Rhea and Dominik had watched on from the outside.

He winced slightly at the memory, grimacing as the ache in his back once more came to the forefront of his mind. 

He felt bad for knocking on Damian’s door at three in the morning. But he couldn’t sleep. He’d been tossing and turning for hours, restless.

It’d been a long time since he’d been able to sleep. There was something going on with Finn, something he wasn’t entirely aware of and didn’t want to face. He hid it deep down within himself. He didn’t tell a soul.

He hadn’t even really told Damian. But somehow, he got the sense that the taller male knew. There was something empty in Finn, and Damian was always there to fill that missing piece.

Empty. Was that the right word? This depth in the pit of Finn’s stomach, a deep ache that stole the air from his lungs and the passion from his heart. It clawed at his insides, threatening at any moment to break free and spill out into the world, wreaking havoc on the people closest to him.

He likened it to the demons that previously resided there; the ones that came out when he wrestled. The ones that formed his alter ego. The Demon King.

But this was different. Last time it was anger, burning, bubbling rage that spilled over in violent tendencies and some of the best matches of his career. This… this was pain. Aching, scratching, desperate emptiness, a hollowness, a pit in his stomach that dragged him down with each passing day. When he wrestled now, it was a front. He was nothing . 

But he’d be damned if Damian didn’t make him feel like everything.

He could feel his lips curving into a smile as his mind replayed memories with Damian at top speed. The way the bigger man cared for him was like no other. He felt important. He felt comforted, cared for. With Damian, he felt safe. He didn’t ever want to lose that again.

Finn looked up at the door in front of him opened. Damian stood there, wearing only boxers, hair tied back in a messy bun. His eyes were tired, but they met Finn’s steadily, looking him over with some mix of concern and knowing. They were kind.

“Hey,” he said softly.

“Hey,” Finn replied.