Rust

Backstage was a strange place the day following his redebut. There was a strange mix of moods there; A lot of the production teams didn't seem to feel one way or the other about him save for some of the older sorts who may have been around to see him back when he performed before. It was a lot of professional handshakes and small talk and nothing else, just the sort of manners the industry had come to ingrain in everyone who worked anymore. He tried to do his best to remember faces and names but that was a losing battle.

The boys fell into three categories, and Warren felt he deserved all three. There were the guys who were here simply because they could be; A lot of college-level athletes who were scooped up not because of their passion for the sport but because it was a stepping stone to a larger career. They didn't seem to care one way or the other about his presence, instead seeing him as someone new they might have to work with.

There were the boys who were excited to have him on board because of his career. The ones who had been lovers of wrestling since they were children, soaking up late night television reruns of matches from out of state and county. They met him with friendly smiles and seemed pleased when he knew them by name, some of them anyway. It was a pleasant reminder that he hadn't been entirely forgotten in the circuits.

Finally, there were the select few who knew him and didn't like the fact he was being catapulted to the forefront after nearly a decade of not working at all. They were justified in their opinions; The paycheck had been large for his small contribution and if the writers had their way about things, he'd been skipping the mid-card and going straight for headlines. He felt a bit guilty about that but reminded himself he was paying his dues before most of these folks were anything beyond marks.

The one person he didn't run into backstage, and he wasn't sure if it was his intentions or his opponent's, was Daron Strong.

He hung out and watched the show, congratulating guys on their spots and bumps as they came back through the curtain. He smiled from faraway as Sarah came back through, her face excited as the rest of the women's division celebrated her debut in a circle around her. She seemed to have been making fast friends, which was good for her. The female circles of wrestling are notoriously difficult to breed camaraderie in.

Towards the end of the night, Strong cut his typical heel promo about how he had gone above and beyond the night before. He showed the clip of him defeating the returning Avalanche, adding in that he didn't even feel the Landslide. A complete and total burial on the mic of any threat Avalanche could have provided. Fortunately, the fans hated it. The camera cut to some pro-Avalanche signs. Strong was doing his part in the game, driving that passion that fueled the highest-billed matches. Warren felt it was coming naturally for him, given Strong's reputation as a diva. He felt it was a shame he wouldn't get to run out and lay him out for the fans since they were obviously thirsting for it.

The following week things went a bit differently. He was backstage watching most of the night, including Sarah's formal debut, and he was surprised with what he saw. She had a way about her that was going to give her an easy way to the top without needing the sorts of things the rumor mill was going to blame it on.

He was still sitting with the boys and making small talk, discussing the strides of the tag-team division to some of the members of it, when she returned. Before he could catch her eye, one of the technical crew gathered her up and lead her away. The promo they recorded immediately after aired in front of them on the backstage monitors and while they all watched, Warren felt himself choke on his surprise.

Following the bit there was a scheduled promo in the ring. Strong was supposed to go out and speak his piece again, only this time Avalanche was allowed to make his presence known. He didn't see Sarah before his time to go came, probably on account of her being in the back still.

The promo was more of the same, similar in structure to what was said last week. Before he could cite how easily he dumped Avalanche over the ropes, though, music cut him off. He strolled his way out to the top of the ramp and basked in the exaltation of the crowd. Strong completely no-sold the arrival, standing smirking in the ring with a beckoning motion of his hands.

Avalanche rushed the ring and Strong slid out the back, smiling to himself and waving off his opponent now in the squared circle. Heel cries of "Not today, we'll do this later" and the sort escaped him and he backpedaled towards the back, not going up the ramp and through the curtain but around the side.

It was the sort of non-confrontational methods he had used so well in his time as the heel. He wondered if Strong was watching his tapes. A few moments of playing up the crowd and then he was back on his way to the curtains again. Strong was of course nowhere to be seen in the back. The boys who he had become chummy with were all smiles and compliments but he couldn't help but be aware of the absence of the one person he was looking for.