"I don't wanna go to work," Mike mutters against AJ's throat, keeping his eyes closed as she shifts against him, kissing up his jaw to his mouth. They're still in Washington, Tamina doing much better, slowly taking less and less pain medicine as she picks up on her rehab schedule, but AJ's not quite comfortable leaving yet so he had remained with her the last few days, helping where he can with whatever the two women had needed.
"Then don't," she whispers, cupping his face and trailing more kisses along his brow. "Stay with me and be lazy... It'll be fun." He sighs and nuzzles against her, gaze locked on her as she sits up and brushes her hair over her shoulder. "We'll lay in the backyard and eat junk food and do absolutely nothing... much." She smirks as his hands trail down her back, pulling her closer. "Please?" He makes faces at her as she leans over him, hovering a few inches from his mouth. "Come on, Mike, say yes... I'll make it worth your time. Besides, you came all the way here to stay... so stay." She digs her knees into his sides, pressed flush against him, and smiles when he swallows, hands trailing down to rest on her thighs.
"You really don't need to do the hard sell, AJ," he whispers back. "You had me on 'Stay with me'." She beams down at him and kisses him hungrily, burying her fingers in his hair. He smiles against her lips, relieved in his choice. Staying in Tamina's quiet, simple apartment seems much better than going all the way to Raw just to not be used yet again, with nothing to do but sit backstage and watch the business spin past him even faster than it had been before Marine 4's filming.
Alex winces from where he's watching Raw with the pre- and post-show panel, the entire thing with Vickie Guerrero occuring a few feet away, Alicia Fox, Layla El and Rosa Mendes dogging her to a pool of chocolate pudding... He can do nothing but watch as Vickie tosses each of the women into the mess, just to get tossed in herself by Stephanie McMahon. Alicia's too soaked in the mixture to get a good look at her, but Alex can only feel the cascade of emotions coming from her as she stumbles out and makes it backstage, his focus drifting as Vickie tosses Stephanie into the pool in response to being fired.
Considering she had already lost a match before all of that happened, he has no doubt she's going to be in quite the mood. He can't risk missing the post-show analysis so he stays where he's at, relieved when she doesn't try to come see him. He does his job, watching the rest of the show and handling all of the post-show activity despite his distraction of knowing that he'll have to take care of Alicia once he gets backstage.
As soon as they're done, he peels off his jacket and tie. I like this suit way too much to risk ruining it, he thinks, folding the jacket over his arm before he heads backstage to look for the diva. He ignores the smirk on Josh Mathews' face as he walks past him, rolling his eyes subtly before he finds his way to the divas locker room to find Alicia. Before he knocks, he leaves the jacket on a nearby trunk, which ends up being the right decision because as soon as the door is opened, she's standing there, still covered in the now dried, flaky substance, and her entire face lights up as she grips his collar and drags him inside, startling him. "Alicia... why didn't you get cleaned up yet?" he asks lowly, letting his hands rest on her hips as she leans up against him, her rough kiss tasting like chocolate and annoyance.
"I was waiting on you," she says coyly, gripping his hands and tugging him back towards the showers. "I thought perhaps you would like to wash my back..."
He stares down at her, swallowing heavily, before nodding dumbly. "Yeah, sure," he mutters.
She turns at the door and stares at him, slowly unbuttoning his dress shirt. "No point in ruining these nice clothes, I'm the dirty one, not you." She pouts up at him as he waits patiently, eyes locked on her. "I look terrible, don't I?"
"Hardly," he tells her honestly. "You're always gorgeous. Even when you're covered head to toe in chocolate..." He gently trails his fingers down her face, feeling the dried dessert against his fingers. She watches raptly as he licks his fingers, finding that it still tastes sweet. "Especially then, actually. It's a good look for you."
She smiles, waiting until he kicks his pants off to slink up his body, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Charmer."
He grins back at her. "It's always gotten me what I've wanted."
"I bet it has," she whispers, reaching back to turn on the hot water. While his grip on her slackens, she inches back into the room as it already begins to fill with steam. "Come on, Alex, I'm waiting."
He smirks and scrubs a hand through his hair before following her in, abruptly relieved for the Authority's odd decisions, if only for this moment.