What are you doing now that you're retired, bro?
How long ago did WWE fire you?
Where will we see you next?
Zack Ryder glowers down at his Twitter account, scanning various tweets sent to him recently. He's not sure if it's some sort of prank he's not privy to, or if everyone is just this stupid that they can't search WWE's roster pages on the website, but he's really tired of trying to convince people he's still with the WWE. Maybe for not much longer, at the rate things are going, but still...
"Are you trying to break that phone with the power of your mind?" a teasing voice asks him, warm hands resting against his as they pry the device out of his tense fingers. "What has you so hot?" Zack's jaw works angrily as he looks away, Dolph Ziggler skimming the phone, all hilarity leaving him as he realizes just how ridiculous some of the assumptions being made have become. "Oh... kid."
"It's nothing," he mutters, reaching out to take his phone back. "Just the usual stupidity. Could you-?" But Dolph holds the phone away from him, staring through more of the tweets, wincing at some of the more extreme ones. "Bro-"
"Kid, just-" He dodges his hands, continuing to read more of the short messages sent from the WWE Universe. "Good God." He skims through some more before Zack stands up and uses his slight height advantage to reach out and snag Dolph's hand, pulling the phone from his fingers. "Kid!"
"Stop reading the-... c'mon, you get a bunch of stupid tweets too, just- I don't want you reading this crap." He powers his phone down and stuffs it in his pocket, sitting down again, his back now to Dolph.
Dolph swallows and stares at him for a long moment before walking up to him and hugging him around the shoulders, kissing the side of his face. "Sorry, kid. I guess it's a little harder for you, huh, since you were the Internet champion, and you started the whole social media frenzy... now this all happens and it's kind of hard for you to avoid reading it, right?"
"Yeah." He leans into Dolph's warmth and releases a faint breath. "I guess they think it's funny to tweet this crap to me so often... which makes sense, I am basically just a joke anymore..." Ziggler stares at him, shaking his head softly as he continues trailing kisses along his cheek and across to his mouth until he quiets his words, Zack mumbling against his lips. "What was that for, bro?" he asks, a little dazed, once Dolph pulls away, smiling at him.
"You're not a joke to me, and I hate when you start talking like that about yourself. C'mon, kid. You're really going to let a few braindead tweets get the better of you? Just ignore them, they're not worth your time..." He stands up and grips Zack's hand, tugging him upright once more. "Let's get some sleep, alright? It's been a long day and you look pretty wiped out."
"So do you," he concedes, allowing himself to be dragged to the bedroom. They take their turns in the bathroom, Zack laying on the bed and staring at the ceiling while Dolph takes a quick shower, his physical and emotional exhaustion weighing him down like a heavy blanket.
When the platinum blond exits the bathroom nearly ten minutes later, rubbing a towel through his hair, he smiles upon finding Zack fast asleep on the bed. He finishes drying his hair and lays down next to him, kissing him softly before pulling the sheets up to cover them both. Snuggling closer, he wraps his arm around Zack's midsection and squeezes him slightly. "Night, kid. I love you."
The arena looks weird. Cold, empty. Faded, somehow. Like he's looking at it through someone else's eyes. Zack frowns and enters anyway, even the door's slam sounding muted. He glances around with a grimace. Nothing looks right and it scares him. He squares his shoulders and continues to walk, not understanding. Techs are racing around, doing this and that, but none of them seem to be noticing him. "Hello?" he offers experimentally to one of the referees as he rushes past. "Hey, Charles, bro, what's the hurry?"
The man doesn't respond and he winces, wondering if he'd done or said something to get on his bad side. "Great," he mutters, wandering towards the locker room. Miz walks past, busy on his phone, and Zack pauses. "Hey, bro! What-" But Mike turns the corner and is gone, not even bothering to look up, and Zack's eyes widen. "What, no one's even going to look at me?" Muttering to himself, he pushes the locker room door open angrily and looks around at the various people scattered inside. "Hey, what's happening, bros?" he calls out as loud as he can, once more freezing when absolutely no one reacts. "Are you serious, bro? What'd I do? Why are you all ignoring me?"
No matter what he does, waving his arms in front of faces, calling people's names right in their ears, no one notices. No one looks. No one cares. A horrified shiver creeps down his spine and he sits down, burying his face in his hands. He remains there until the door slams open once more, Dolph himself coming in and talking cheerfully into his cell phone. He sits not far from where Zack is at, the broski looking over at him as he finishes the conversation and hangs his phone up, digging around in his bag to find his gear. It's so familiar that it almost hurts somewhere deep in Zack's chest as he stands up and walks towards him, almost ready to throw his arms around him when Miz returns and drops down next to Dolph. "Sucks that Zack's gone, huh?"
"Yeah, well, the writing was on the wall a long time ago, no one just wanted to have to be the one to tell him," Miz says with such ease that Zack's jaw drops in disbelief.
"No, no, no," he mumbles. "Not you too! Bro, I'm right here, can't you see-?!" He reaches out for Dolph but his touch is ignored, Ziggler not even twitching in response. "Dolph!"
"Hey! Kid, whoa, whoa, it's ok, I'm here. Shhh." Warm arms are wrapped around him, soft breath tickling against his cheek, and he slowly gasps for air as Dolph soothes him. "Calm down, it was just a nightmare, kid. Breathe."
"No one could see me," he chokes out, clinging to Dolph. "No matter what I did, who I tried talking to, it's like I just... I just wasn't there..." He trembles and shivers in Dolph's arms. "I'm there, dammit, why can't anyone see me anymore?"
"I can," he whispers to him, brushing his fingers through his sleep-limp hair. "I always can, kid. It was just a dream, you're not invisible. We see you, those of us who really matter have always seen you."
Zack sighs and buries his face in Dolph's hair, sniffing morosely. "I guess." He sits up and cups Dolph's face, staring deep into his eyes. "Thanks, bro. I love you too." He leans in and kisses him softly, smirking when Dolph takes control, digging his fingers into Zack's arms as he pulls him closer, the kiss growing more intense.
"You heard me, huh?" he asks, pulling away after a couple of minutes.
"I always hear you." Zack smiles at him, brushing his fingers through his hair. "Thanks, bro." He ducks his head in embarassment, groaning softly at the reaction he'd had to such a ridiculous dream. "And thanks for always taking care of me."
"My pleasure," Dolph tells him lowly, kissing the side of his neck. "Do you want to try sleeping again?" Zack nods slowly and Dolph smiles. "Good, kid. Now c'mon. Just remember, if something happens, I'm here. I'm always gonna be here."
"I know." He sighs and leans into him, closing his eyes with a small smile. "'Night."