"Sooo... visiting Smackdown went great for you two, huh?"
The Miz releases a deep breath, pressing a hand against the handle of his locker room door as he watches Alex rub gingerly at his ribs in his peripheral, as if reminded of the pain by the mere mention of the blue brand. "What do you want, Morrison?" he asks, a bit of an edge to his voice as his former tag partner joins them, already dressed to wrestle since he has a match fairly early on in the card.
"Who says I want anything?" he responds, leaning against the doorway as they enter Miz's locker room and drop their things around the room, Miz immediately sorting through the things in his duffel to find what he'll need for the match against Edge.
"Then why are you here?" he shoots over his shoulder as Alex drops the briefcase next to him on the bench and flicks the monitor on to watch the opening part of the show. "Are you going to hover in my doorway all night?" he adds, rolling his eyes as John finally enters completely. Before another word can be spoken, they all freeze as Edge's music starts the show off, staring curiously at the TV screen to see what Miz's opponent later in the evening will have to say.
Morrison watches as Miz stiffens at the sound of the Email GM alert that comes a little later, his body tense until the GM finishes his announcement- that Edge will have to wrestle three men now. "Well. That sounds a bit familiar," he comments, remembering an almost similiar order made months before, smirking as Mike huffs slightly, displeased at the reminder. They all watch quietly as Edge throws the three competitors over the top rope easily enough.
Alex turns the TV off as soon as they see that the next segment involves New Nexus, Miz turning his attention to polishing his title belt as Morrison picks at his wrist tape. The silence between the three is a bit more strained than normal, the tension of the upcoming Rumble- and, to some extent, the ever looming presence of Wrestlemania- adding to their usual issues.
Finally John pushes away from the wall he's been leaning against since entering the locker room and turns to leave. "My match is next, I should go."
"Ooh, yes, teaming with Mark Henry," Miz comments drily, barely looking up from his title belt. "Have fun with that one."
Morrison releases a huffy sigh before pushing the door open, leaving without another word.
Before Miz can even look up, Alex, looking for a way to break the tension or at least not add more to it, has the monitor turned back on, settling down on the bench to watch the tag match with his mentor. Henry stays on the apron most of the match, John taking the beat down that ensues from Sheamus and Del Rio, until Henry finally tags in. Not long afterwards, Morrison goes flying out of the ring, taking out Sheamus.
Miz cringes as John instantly grabs for his knee after landing badly, his mind working quickly immediately at what an injury this close to the Rumble could mean, while also trying to remember which knee it was that Morrison's had issues with in the past.
"That didn't look good," Alex offers quietly, watching out of the corner of his eye as Miz nods grimly, somewhat unsurprised as the match concludes shortly afterwards with Mark Henry tapping out to ADR.
As tempted as it is to see how Morrison is doing after that match, he second guesses it every time he nears the trainer's office, ignoring the confused look on Alex's face whenever they walk past it. The last thing he'd want to see is me right now, he figures. Not only did I taunt him about the match but if he can't wrestle in the Rumble, he loses out on another chance at a heavyweight title match. Hell, if I was him, I'd want to punch me right now too. Aggravated at himself and the situation at large, he finds other things to keep busy- mainly interrupting Cena and wondering where standards went when it's revealed that Gail Kim is Daniel Bryan's girlfriend. "Is any of this making sense to you?"
"No," Alex comments, distracted by polishing his briefcase with what Miz had been using earlier.
Miz rolls his eyes, pressing the palm of his hand to his forehead before he gives up on watching any further and goes to get ready for his match against Edge, still distracted by what could possibly be going on with Morrison about now.
After the match, Alex and Miz escape Dolph and Vickie's nonstop rambling about how horrible Raw is between Orton, King and Cena, and return to the silence of the champ's locker room. Miz sighs in relief as he collapses back against the bench, shaking his head. "Meh, I have to tag with him on Friday? Damn."
Alex looks a little horrified at the idea too, piecing together that he'll have to listen to Vickie's yells and squeeches for the duration of the match as they'll both be on the outside of the ring, cheering on Miz and Dolph respectfully. "Great," he mumbles, feeling a headache coming on already.
They begin collecting their things quietly, looking forward to leaving the arena, when Alex accidentally presses a button on the remote while moving it, turning the monitor on once more. Cole has just finished reading out yet another email when the ring begins filling up in the annual pre-Rumble brawl, led by the Big Show of all people. Alex holds his breath as he looks at all of the guys in the ring, finally catching sight of Morrison in the melee. He chances a glance at Mike and takes in the subtle relief in his intense gaze, the only visible sign that he's seen his former tag partner as well. Well... this next week should be interesting, the protege thinks anxiously.