"Bro, are you sure you didn't go on Ziggler too hard last night?" Zack quietly asked into the phone, eyes glancing from the muted television to his sleeping roommate every few seconds.
Even though he wasn't going to be fighting for the time being, he still had to travel with the company, for publicity's sake. And now he was rooming with Miz yet again, the older man knocked out after the tiring day he had had.
"Maybe. He hurt AJ, Ryder. There's no way that he didn't deserve that." Ryback growled back, rubbing his eyes in his room after being woken up in the middle of the night.
But he hadn't been woken up by Zack, no, it had been AJ, once again begging to find a name for their team. In the middle of her yelling at him for them being called the Vampires his phone had rung, which quieted down the woman as he answered.
"Who is it, Ry-Ry? The Shield? Vickie?" Zack heard AJ's voice bounce through the speaker, along with Ryback's growl.
"The Shield are right next door and Vickie's visiting Chavo, AJ. You know this. It's Zack." Ryback answered, which got Zack to smile.
He was never going to understand the dynamics between the two. While Ryback was cold and rambunctious, attacking whenever he saw an opportunity, AJ was the complete opposite. She was fiery and planned everything out, even before you knew you were on her hit list.
"Ooh! Hi, Zacky! Can you tell Ry-Ry we should be called Team AJ?"
Zack could just imagine her trying to steal Ryback's phone from him, all the while he glared at her and moved it out of her reach.
"My name's the best name we can use!"
"Any name is better than Team AJ! What are we, Twilight fans?!" Ryback growled through the phone, which made Zack's smile falter.
The big man was getting mad.
"No! ... Well... Maybe, but that's not the point! We need a team name!" AJ had snapped back, and Zack swore to himself as Miz shifted in his sleep, mumbling to himself about getting revenge.
"Guys, please, shut up!" Zack hissed into the phone, staring as Miz moved around in the bed.
"Why don't you just get out of the room, Zack? It's not like you'll get attacked in the middle of the night."
Somehow AJ had grabbed Ryback's phone, which meant that the behemoth was now yelling and swearing as AJ ran around the room.
Zack only shook his head and threw the covers off of him, putting his phone down as he slipped into a Miz hoodie; gift/prank from the man himself; then walked out of the room with his phone to his cheek, dressed in some Transformers pajama bottoms, his jacket, and fuzzy bunny slippers. Which were a gift from Dolph Ziggler.
"Fine, I'm outside the room. You know what? I'm going to head out and eat something, seeing how you drove me out of my own room!" Zack harshly told AJ, who was now beaming at the ceiling.
"Aw, but Zacky, I just conquered Ryback! See, I'm sitting on his back as he glares up dangerously at me!"
Zack shook his head as he walked through the long hallway, making his way to the elevator to find a vending machine.
"Doesn't matter AJ. I just called to make sure that you two were okay." Zack informed as he looked from hallway to hallway at the end of his own, seeing if there was a vending machine on either side.
"Well, we're alive and well and Ryback still hasn't killed me or any of the Shield members, so I guess were alright." AJ informed, which made Zack smile once more.
"Okay. Well, call me whenever, just be sure that you're alone." Zack told him, getting inside the elevator as he sought the machines that were filled with candy.
"You just make sure you're alone when you answer. Buh-bye, Z-Z Top."
"Bye." And with that they both hung up, leaving Zack to shove his phone inside the pocket of his hoodie.
He ran a hand through his hair, finding it easier than any other time because it wasn't gelled up, just left in its natural loose self.
"Now to find Skittles." He muttered to himself, stepping off of the elevator to find the multi-colored candy.
He spent a good fifteen minutes wandering around the hotel, going around in circles at times because he was sleepy and got himself lost almost six times. But, just when he was about to call it quits and head back to his room he managed to find an old vending machine, dusty and barely full.
But, to his glee, it had one bag of Skittles left and he pounced at the chance, placing a one dollar bill and smiling widely as the bright red bag fell, leaving him to grab it.
"Come to papa." He said as he opened it, just to have the bag snatched out of his hand. "Hey! What's the big deal, bro?!" He asked, turning around to come fact to face with his friend, Dolph Ziggler.
The blonde was smirking at the bag in his hands, throwing it from side to side as he smirked at the younger man.
"Is that any way to talk to your friends, Ryder? I thought you were taught better!" Dolph joked, making Zack smile back at him.
"Of course, bro. But you don't mess with my Skittles!"
Dolph nodded and gave them back, his smile leaving him and replaced with a frown. "Zack, can I talk to you seriously?" Dolph asked as Zack opened his bag, throwing a purple skittle into his mouth.
"Sure thing, bro. Walking or Sitting?" Zack asked, offering Dolph a yellow treat.
"Whichever, really." Dolph answered, taking the offer and throwing it into his mouth.
He and Zack had a weird friendship, to tell the truth. While Dolph was a bad guy it was frowned upon to have friends like Zack, but the Long Island native would not shake and insisted on keeping their friendship. And Dolph was now glad he had kept the friendship, especially because he saw the real Zack, not only the annoying Broski that he portrayed to the millions of fans and even to his own co-workers.
Both men walked in silence for a while, Zack happily munching on his candies as Dolph mulled over his own thoughts, wondering he was to say what he wanted to.
"What did you want to talk about, bro?" Zack asked, offering Dolph yet another yellow treat.
Dolph smiled slightly, mostly because this is what always happened when Zack eat the candy. He would give either the yellow or orange ones to Dolph, eating the green, purple, and red himself.
"Thanks." Dolph mumbled, then swallowed his pride and asked, "How long have you been seeing AJ?"
Zack choked on a red skittle, smacking his chest with his right hand as he stared up at Dolph with wide eyes. The other man was stony faced, not a single emotion show.
"I'm not seeing AJ, bro. Why would you think that?"
Dolph looked around the hallway, most probably to make sure that no one would overhear them, and answered, "Well, first of all, ever since you got your push I've barely seen you around the backstage area. I didn't think much of it, I mean, you're finally winning matches again! But just yesterday, in my match with AJ she said something very Broski like."
Zack slowly freaked out internally, but still stared coolly at Dolph, trying to maintain his outward composure.
"She said 'you know it, bro'. Normally, I wouldn't think much of it," Dolph shrugged, then looked Zack directly in the eyes. "But both her and Ryback have been showing some Zack traits: finishing some sentences with bro, smiling your evil smirk, even going as far as calling something sick; AJ more than Ryback, but," Now Dolph glared, "You've also shown some traits from both Ryback and AJ."
Zack shook his head, trying his best to steer this conversation in a way that would convenience him, "Bro, people grow. You should know this."
Now Dolph grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie, frowning deeply, "Ryder, you're playing a very dangerous game. A game where people will get hurt, people will lose their trust in you, and a game where you will undoubtedly lose."
Zack pushed Dolph off of him, glaring darkly at him, "I'm not playing at any game, bro. Maybe instead of me having to take a rest from the ring action, maybe it should be you. All those hits to the head are making you delusional."
With that Zack turn around, walking away from Dolph.
"This is a game you'll lose, Ryder! Just don't come crying to me when your heart's broken by AJ!"
Zack shook his head as he waited for the elevator, already knowing that this would be exactly what would happen when he came out with his team. Everyone would hate him.
He glared darkly as he entered, pushing the button to his floor rather harshly.
"I'll just have to learn to deal with it."
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