"So we're going to make a bigger deal out of my injury than it actually is," Alicia says, hobbling around on a crutch while Ricardo half-heartedly listens to her. "Noam is going to wrestle Cedric tonight and I'm going to accompany him via phone!" He frowns at her and she beams. "He has a friend in the production truck, they're going to rig the phone into the loud speakers so everyone can hear me! It's going to confuse Cedric so much, it's gonna be great!"

Ricardo wants to say so much but she's hurt and he loves her, so he wisely bites his tongue and digs out what he's been looking for. "I'm not sure why you wanted my old neck brace," he says, old memories returning to him as he strokes the misshapen item, trying to make it look right once more. He remembers when Sheamus brogue kicked him, how Alberto had taken care of him, and the whole Big Show thing... Shivers slightly as Alicia reaches out and cups his hand.

"That's what we're doing. Instead of making it about my hamstring, we're going to say I did something to my neck." She claims the neck brace and kisses him. "Thank you, Ricardo."

He watches, bemused, as she struggles to put it on, her hair and the crutch and everything else giving her grief. "Here," he mumbles, expertly brushing her hair out of the way and attaching it for her. "There, that's better." She looks rumpled and beautiful and he leans in to kiss her, already aware of how to tilt his head to avoid the brace, and she whimpers into his mouth, leaning towards him before freezing, her leg protesting the angle she's now standing in.

"Rica- Ricardo," she breathes out, breaking the kiss and trying to straighten up. "I can't-" He immediately realizes, supports her as she walks over to the couch and slumps down, gripping her leg as fresh pain stabs up her thigh. "Ow."

"Sorry, sorry," he says, lightly rubbing around her fingers until she relaxes, a little sweaty and eyes unfocused from the pain. "Do you want some medicine? I think you're due a dose-"

But she shakes her head, grips his face and draws him back in to resume kissing him breathless.

-x

He's not there to witness all of it in person because he has plans to train all of this week as long as the students are interested, but he sees the footage later of Alicia yelling at Noam, at Cedric, at anyone who will listen. He's not sure what's funnier- her doing this, or Noam losing because of it. Noam may be a non-entity in their relationship, but part of Ricardo can't help but be amused when things go a bit wrong for him.

205 Live is even better, in a way, because Cedric still gets the upperhand on Noam, wins his match and succeeds at hanging up on Alicia, which leaves her stewing and angry when he returns from another night of training, happy with how much his students are advancing in such a short amount of time. Their heightened emotions seem to be all over the place, bouncing off of each other in the small apartment, so he takes her hand and guides her outside. Sits her on the edge of the grass, her crutch resting nearby for when she needs it again, and sits behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her shoulders, her neck. "Look at the stars," he breathes into her skin.

She does so and he begins tracing the constellations into her ribs and stomach as he tells her about them, reciting things his madre had told him so many years ago, when his sister was still a baby and he was wide eyed and unharmed by what the world would have to offer him. She shivers against his touch as he proceeds to explain about Altair and Vega, his hand now drifting down to massage some of the tension out of her injured leg, and his story becomes meaningless to her when she tilts her face back and kisses him, her eyes closed. He's still telling the story even as she nibbles his lips and licks lazily into his mouth, eyes now fixed on him as she waits for him to break, lose place of his story, something, but he keeps talking with a knowing smile on his face as she huffs at being all but ignored, his words finally forgotten when she presses back against him tightly, his breath stuttering into the nape of her neck.

"But magpies," he strains to continue, her body warm and solid against him, his hands still touching and massaging where he thinks will ease her pain most, "feel sympathetic towards them once a year and forms a bridge for them to cross to be together again, and-" His voice dies away as she shifts back once more, his breath punching out of him in a squeaky gasp that makes Alicia chuckle knowingly.

Giving up on the constellations, he gets to his feet and scoops her up, Alicia squealing and gripping him as he leans down to collect her crutch, careful not to drop her, before taking her inside.