Ricardo groans, slumping forward and exhaling as Alicia massages his shoulders. It had taken time to get everything set up so they could all be in the same video call during Wrestlemania. He's horrified at the thought of having to do it all over again for night two, but he hopes that with everything set up, it'd just take a few clicks and commands and everything would be set back up the way they have it tonight. "That shouldn't have been so difficult," he grumbles, but it's worth it as he sits back and glances at the TV as the preshow begins.
Alicia kisses him quickly before turning back to the webcam. "Hi, guys!" AJ is already in the call, Taya too, and Maryse and Heath are going in and out of frame as they deal with the kids and move snacks around.
"Hey," a chorus of voices greet her and she cheers.
"Yay, you all sound great," she says, clapping her hands together. "How's everyone doing?"
As they exchange small talk through out the analysis of the evening's matches, Ricardo scratches absently at his arm and tries once more to ignore just how badly he misses wrestling, tired of being able to do nothing but go walk his dogs to get a little bit of fresh air. "Hey, man," Heath calls out to him.
He snaps to attention and smiles. "Hey, Heath. Sorry, was lost in thought."
"I could tell," Heath chuckles warmly. "How ya doing? Got the jitters?"
"It's that obvious, huh?" Ricardo asks, frowning a little.
"Only to someone who's been through it, still going through it fairly regularly," Heath says dismissively. "Gotten to a point I almost don't really miss it, but ya know." He sighs. "I'm sorry ya can't get out there and compete though."
Ricardo thinks, for a second, about asking Heath what he means, but ultimately decides to keep his thoughts regarding Heath's statemtn to himself. "Yeah, man, thanks. I kinda wish I had a ring of my own set up here, at the very least." He chuckles, not for the first time, missing Alberto's set up back in Texas. "Oh well. I'll get through it."
"Course ya will," Heath says with a faint smile.
Chatter eases off when the preshow matches begin, Cesaro and Gulak managing some moves that leaves Ricardo gaping, his imagination going into overdrive about how he could implement some of the things they accomplish into his own move set. "Damn," he whispers when it's over, returning to the studio for analysis and discussion of a couple more matches before the night begins in earnest. "That was amazing."
"It was," Heath says, eyes shining though he sounds a fair deal less enthused than Ricardo. "Those guys always put on a good match."
"They do," Ricardo agrees, thinking about rewatching it when they have a chance.
Alicia gets up, grabs a bag of chips and some salsa, and sodas for both of them, before snuggling in close to Ricardo as Wrestlemania night one begins. No one is sure what to expect out of a crowd-free Wrestlemania, but it's better than any of them really expected, the matches interesting with some good results.
"Johnny! Yes!" Taya cheers for her husband, AJ equally as happy even though Mike has no hand in the actual finish.
"Oh man, that was incredible," Heath speaks up first once the Boneyard match comes to an end, Undertaker driving off in the dark after burying AJ alive.
"It was so good," Ricardo gasps, still mulling over everything they'd seen from these matches alone. "Wow, I wonder what'll happen tomorrow night."
They all stay up for awhile longer, discussing and joking over the matches, before AJ and Maryse have to excuse themselves, Heath and Taya not far behind.
"That was more fun than I imagined," Ricardo hums, kissing Alicia on the neck as they cuddle close.
"I know," she says softly. "I hope tomorrow is as good." She sits up and kisses him. "Thank you so much for doing this, I know setting it up was a pain but I think it was worth it. Do you agree?"
"Yeah," he says, if only for the soft, happy gleam in her eyes as she trails her fingers down his lips. "Absolutely worth it."
She beams at him.
Day two isn't as good as day one, but it has a couple of incredible moments- Firefly Fun House absolutely at the top of that list- and the slower matches give them more of a chance to sit and chat about random things in their lives, comfortable and relaxed in each other's presence as they discuss everything going on.
Ricardo hopes, once the evening comes to an end and they all say their goodnights after another lengthy debate about night two of the show, what it was lacking, if anything could've been done to make it feel as awesome as night one hand been, and he's just sitting there waiting for Alicia to rejoin him, that the others feel as content and pleased with everything as he does in this moment.