Alex Riley sighs, his eyes slipping closed. He's alone on Smackdown again and, as much as he likes hanging out with Mike, it's also not that bad being on his own. The former world champion is so disillusioned and angry over the downfall of his career that it's hard to know where to step, what to say, that won't lead to another argument or snapped comment. He has a match against Antonio Cesaro, one of the newcomers to the blue brand, a little later in the show but for now, he lounges back and watches as the matches and promos carry on around him.
Teddy Long is forced into ring announcing his match, barely getting off a proper introduction for Alex before having to go right into a long spiel about Cesaro, and Teddy's former girlfriend, Aksana. Alex feels bad for him but barely has a minute to consider it before the match begins, his focus immediately turning to his opponent. Despite his best attempts, Antonio gets and keeps the upper hand early in the match, easily defeating him and leaving him dazed on the mat. As Aksana rejects Teddy once more, quickly making out with Antonio right in front of the poor former Smackdown General Manager, he makes his way to his feet outside of the feet and, leaning heavily on a referee, stumbles up the ramp to the trainer's office.
A quick examination later and he's on his way back to the hotel, perfectly content to crawl into bed and just lay there for awhile, enjoying the silence. He hasn't heard from Morrison in quite awhile, neither has Mike, and he can't help but think the older man is still somewhat bitter over the loss of his WWE career. I guess he just needs some time, he thinks tiredly, punching his pillow a bit before collapsing down into it, asleep within minutes.
That Monday, he's standing by a monitor in the hallway, picking at his unused roll of wrist tape while watching as Mike teams with Dolph Ziggler and Jack Swagger against Brodus, Kofi Kingston and R-Truth. The former Awesome Truth members barely register each other, much less acknowledge their former allegiance or the accompanying issues, and Alex breathes a sigh of relief. Despite being the only one of their little trio to not suffer an attack from him, he well remembers just what the somewhat crazy superstar is capable of, especially with water bottles.
"Hey, Riley," Punk greets him, pausing. "Whatcha doing?" He gazes over at the monitor, lip twisting in distaste. "Miz, huh?" Despite how they had acted during their feud the year prior, pretty much everyone in the locker room now know that Mike and Alex are friends once more, not even batting an eye when the two go from acting like they want to kill each other in the ring to best buddies in the back. Everyone has at least one rival a bit like that, there always being a fine line between outright contempt and friendship in the business.
"Oh, hey, Punk. Yeah." When Punk leans against the wall, making fun of Swagger, Ziggler and, sometimes, Mike, Alex listens with a half-smile on his face. It quickly fades away as Mike loses to a splash from Brodus, the tag champions and Brodus standing proudly in the middle of the ring. "Crap." He sighs, looking up as Punk nudges him, walking back through the hallways. Shrugging, he follows him, barely concentrating even as he responds to something the WWE champion says.
Their conversation- of exactly what Alex is unsure of- gets interrupted as AJ stops them, looking up at Punk with a strange, dreamy look on her tanned face. The younger man looks between the two, feeling the awkward vibe, and quickly excuses himself. As he walks off, Punk yells something at his back about him owing him $50. Alex half-waves at him, shaking his head, as he escapes whatever weirdness AJ is about to throw at her ex-boyfriend's opponent this Sunday.
He's barely taken two steps when he pulls up short, blinking in surprise to find Mike standing in front of him. "Er, hey, Mike-"
Dark, blazing blue eyes glare up at him as sweat is wiped off with a towel, Miz's hands twitching against the fabric. "Fifty bucks, huh? Now why would you owe Punk that, hmm?" There's an awkward pause as Alex tries to figure out where this vitrol is coming from, but Mike doesn't give him the chance. "You betting on my matches? Huh? Are you?"
He's just opened his mouth to defend himself when Mike's sweat-soaked towel slams into the side of his face, leaving him floundering even more. "What the hell! Mike-!"
"I don't want to hear your cheap excuses, Riley. In fact, I don't want to hear anything from you. Don't even look at me, understand, rookie?" He marches off, his very stance rigid and bleeding anger.
"What was that?" Alex mutters, still clutching Mike's discarded towel in his right hand. He doesn't see Mike for the rest of Raw, and when he tries to leave, the rental car is long gone. He stares at the empty parking spot numbly, fingers tangling in his hair. Now what? He has money, but the thought of waiting for a taxi and then booking a new hotel room exhausts him more than anything else this week so far.
"Hey, bro!" a familiar voice calls out, surprising him. "What're you doing out here?"
He looks up at Zack Ryder who, despite his own career freefalling, still has a large grin on his face. Now why can't Mike at least... be a little more like this? Try to see the silver lining in things, without biting everyone's head off all the time? But, he reflects grimly, if he was, he wouldn't be Mike and we probably wouldn't have made as a good a team as we did, or be as good friends as we are now... or... were. "Just... thinking about calling for a taxi," he says quietly, hopping off of the pillar he'd slumped down on earlier. "Miz went on ahead so I'm here all alone."
Zack's forehead crinkles in worry as he examines the other man, finally shrugging. "That's easy, bro. Just come back to the hotel with us." Despite his attitude, Zack's more astute in some things than people give him credit for, so after a minute of staring at Alex thoughtfully, he holds a finger up. "Just a sec, bro." Jogging over to a waiting Santino near one of the few rental cars remaining at this hour, the two talk for a minute before Zack motions him over.
"Here we go," he mutters, jogging over. "Yeah?"
"If you need a place to stay, we can make room." How exactly he had guessed, Alex isn't sure- for all he knows rumors had gone around that they had argued and Mike had left- but either way, the offer sounds a little like Heaven. "What do you say, bro?"
Alex grins too, slapping Zack and then Santino on the back, ignoring the Italian's slightly exaggerated wince. "I say thanks, guys. That sounds great."
The two men are, of course, louder than Mike, even when he's hyped up on ridiculous amounts of candy, but the beds are comfortable and after years on the road, A-Ri had grown used to noisy roommates and travel partners, so it's not a huge bother, his eyes fluttering shut as he hugs the pillow. It's not the same without Mike, no, but he figures some time apart won't hurt them. Things had been tense for a really long time anyway, between all three of them, so maybe when their heads have all cleared, it'll be easier to be friends once more.
That or it'll just be easier to be apart. His eyes slip open at this uncomfortable thought as he grimaces slightly. Maybe that's why John's stayed away for so long. It's just... easier. He sighs, once more trying to ease himself into sleep.