John Morrison watches quietly, shuffling through a pile of looseleaf papers, as Raw kicks off with a debate. He frowns at the TV, shaking his head. He definitely doesn't miss the fluff of the WWE; the steady stream of competition, though tiring after awhile, is something he hungers for at times, but these random, pointless talking segments were always the bane of his existence. His phone beeps mid-way through Truth's ramble about spider stew- and isn't that something, after months of doing nothing but beating down everyone and anyone in his way, he seems to have inched back to his old self. Obviously still insane, but not the person capable of attacking his friends over a title shot, at least. Or so it seems. He's not sure he trusts it, but since he's out of the business, it doesn't really matter anymore. However, it does leave Mike and, to a slightly lesser extent, Alex in his scope...
Shaking these thoughts from his head, he picks the phone up and scrolls through to his texts. I'm going to be staying with Mike for the next few days, so everything's ready on my end. How about yours? -A-Ri
A week ago, Alex and Morrison had begun bouncing ideas off of the other how to best make Mike just relax for a bit this week. With WWE in California this week following the short overseas tour, and no live event shows prior to the Elimination Chamber- giving the guys a brief break before the final pay per view leading into Wrestlemania- there seems no better time to make plans such as these.
Will be ready in time, see you then. He puts the phone down, running a hand through his hair, tucking it behind his ear before he turns his attention back to the TV in time to see Jericho get hit with Kofi's finisher. Despite having had months to adjust to life post-WWE, it's still weird to think that the things he's watching on TV are happening in real time only a few hours away, with him not having anything to do with it.
The show rolls on, pingponging between the Cena and Kane drama- he cringes as Zack witnesses his so-called broski and love interest kissing; despite the many problems they'd had, especially when Morrison had been fired and Zack had turned around, using cheap effects to make it seem Morrison had been killed on his show, he still feels bad for the younger man- and the elimination chamber matches that had been announced early in the show. He only half pays attention until Miz's match, which goes surprisingly quick. Miz taps fast to the anaconda vice, despite Morrison's trained senses immediately locking into Punk babying his arm early in the bout. An injury this close to the Elimination Chamber match this Sunday could be the turning point in the match, be all the advantage someone opportunistic enough could need to walk out the new WWE champion leading into Wrestlemania. Like Mike.
He leans back, barely listening as Cena rambles. He taps a pencil against the papers before him, sighing slightly. He's more relaxed than he's been in a long time, so it's hard to watch WWE and see just how stressed and tired Mike looks, due to his fruitless title aspirations and the ridiculous touring schedule. Hard to talk to Alex and hear how disillusioned he is at times after the freefall his career has taken the last year. "Yeah, this should be good for them."
The next day, California has one of its random attacks of weather and Morrison wakes up to a grey, drizzling mess of a day that leaves the natives freaking out and acting like pure lava was pouring from the sky instead of little droplets of water. He makes a face at the sky before going for his phone, an idea coming to him mid-text. Change of plans, he texts quickly as he grabs a few bags and some things from his fridge before rushing out of his apartment.
He's just finished setting up when his phone goes off, almost vibrating off of one of the tables he has it laid upon. We're here, where do we go? He texts some quick instructions back before heading out into the rain to wait, half-smiling as the cool liquid drips down his face. After a few minutes, he finally sees his former coworkers heading towards him, Miz hunched down in a hoodie as he trudges next to Alex, who's barely wearing a thin jacket over his short sleeved shirt. "Hey, guys," he greets them as they join him, Mike looking around with a frown.
"Hey, John. Good job on finding this place on short notice. Stupid weather-"
Mike, interrupting Alex with no hesitation or regret, shakes his head, looking from Alex to John. "What is this? What are we doing here?" He looks around once more, taking in the soft green foliage of the park, the soft babbling of a nearby river that mixes in soothingly with the repetitive sound of rain falling softly around them.
Morrison chuckles slowly, leading them back into the shelter he had rented for the day. Miz relaxes slightly once he's out of range of the chilly, steady rain. "Well, um. The setting is actually supposed to be the beach, but with the weather being what it is, we decided to change things up a little bit. Either way, it was Alex's idea that after the tour to Abu Dhabi and my responsibilities in Manila wrapped up, some fresh air would be good for all of us." He pauses, glancing at the hoodie Mike's still wrapped up in and sighs. "But if it's too cold for you, we could always go back to my apartment or your house, the point is for us all to just relax and decompress a little."
He straightens a bit, shaking his head. "No, John. This is good, it's... peaceful." It's so not his usual scene but he's visibly exhausted and worn ragged from the stress of the past few weeks so when he settles down on a wooden bench under the shelter and glances over at the bags scattered across the table behind him, John and Alex exchange quick grins, moving to join him. "So what all'd you bring?" he asks, pulling the cooler over to him to look.