Post-Wrestlemania is when people tend to relax. Fall into more stable habits, where they can actually sleep, and see their friends and family without obsessing about gear, and entrance, and what they'll win or lose that night. Usually, anyway. This year is fraught with new challenges. A draft the week after Wrestlemania. Mike's not sure what Vince and company are thinking, but he can guess. The McMahons have always liked turmoil, to keep their competitors on their feet. See how they roll with the punches.
For once, Mike's relieved AJ's not in the company anymore so he won't have to worry about being separated from her. He's sure he and Maryse, if drafted, will be drafted together but that brings about its own issues because... if they're moved to Raw, what will happen to her and Heath? She seems happier and more stable than he's ever known her since getting together with him, and Mike would hate to see her lose that after such a short amount of time.
As if she can hear him thinking in the middle of the night, AJ rolls over and presses a lazy kiss to the side of his mouth, running her fingers through his hair. "What's up, husband?" she mumbles, eyes closed as she presses against him. "Thinking about the Superstar Shakeup?"
"Yeah," he admits, nuzzling into her sleepy warmth. "Just thinking about Maryse and Heath. It'd suck if they were split up right now." She scrapes her nails down his bare skin and hums, half asleep. "Couples have split because of lesser reasons than that. Especially in this business."
She sighs and kisses him slowly, shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. They'll be fine, I'm sure. Heath and Maryse are the next AJ and Mike." She smiles at him and whispers, "Now get some sleep. You have to go back on tour tomorrow and I need to fly out to Chicago." He'd joined her for a couple of stops on the book tour and he's relieved for the time he'd had with his girls. "Come on." She settles against his chest, softly kissing him a couple of more times before yawning, giving into her exhaustion once more.
He listens to her breathing and slowly feels himself sinking under as well.
-x
They're about to fly out to Smackdown when a notice chimes both of their phones. Maryse freezes and looks over her shoulder at Mike. "They want us to fly to where Raw is being held," she says slowly. He nods, following her to the airport terminal where their tickets are exchanged for ones to Long Island and she grimaces, gripping his hand. Heath had been visiting family this week so he's not with her, probably flying to Smackdown and will be confused when she's not there.
She mumbles French all of the way onto the plane and Mike strokes her back. "It'll be ok." He feels bad for her and Heath, but there's not much he can do about it. It's just the business. They fly quietly, Maryse angrily scrolling through things on her phone until she tosses it into her bag and broods out of the window, bright lips twisted in aggravation. He grimaces at the thought of working with her when she's in this mood, but he can't blame her.
When they land, a driver is waiting for them and takes them to the Raw arena, Angle not even good enough to meet them at the door. Some tech confirms that yes they've been drafted to Raw, and... they're halfway to the locker room when Maryse lets out a loud cry and rushes forward, Mike looking up to find Heath meeting her halfway, scooping her up and spinning her around in midair. His jaw drops as he spots Rhyno behind Heath, his teeth bared in a grin. "Holy shit," he mumbles, walking up to the couple and nodding at the larger man, quickly shaking his hand before clapping Heath on the back as he slowly puts Maryse back down. "You stalking us, guys?" he teases, before Heath turns and hugs him, lifting him up off of the ground a few inches too. "Holy shit," he repeats, wheezing out a laugh.
"Someone was really stressed out when they thought we were separated from you two," Rhyno says, clapping Heath on the back as his tag partner struggles to contain his emotions. "Bad enough I got the text first, so he thought I was goin' to Raw without him." Shifting his hands to massage Heath's shoulders, Rhyno chuckles. "Like he was going to get rid of me that easily."
Heath laughs, a broken up little sound, before leaning against Rhyno for a moment. "Hell, guys, Raw. I ain't pictured this happenin', considering the last few months." Mike nods, feeling sympathetic towards him since his time as tag champion with Rhyno had drifted away so easily, leaving him nearly back where he'd started before the draft, when neither brand had chose him. Barely used, and even then only in multiman matches. Which is made worse by the fact that they really had connected with the crowd, and still get decent reactions at live events and such.
He sighs and nudges Maryse. "We have to go get ready for tonight. What do you say, wanna start Raw off tonight?"
Her eyes gleam as she cups Heath's face and kisses him softly. "Yes. Let's," she sighs, turning and smiling at Mike. "What do you want to do?"
He grins, a devious idea coming to him. "You mind donning the Nikki Bella nonsense just one more time?"
She mulls it over. Then nods before grabbing Heath's hand. "Come, you're helping me," she says briskly, leading him into the nearest empty room.
Mike chuckles awkwardly, raising his eyebrows at Rhyno. "I think... that's going to take awhile," he says and they quickly walk off.
-x
Maryse sighs, wiping at her lipstick and humming as Heath wraps his arms around her, staring at them in the mirror. "You're going to smudge my makeup again," she chides him with no heat to it, leaning into him as he kisses her shoulder.
"It's ok, I'll just reapply it for ya again... and again... and again..." he promises, tilting her face and kissing her slowly, hands trailing down her side as she groans against his lips.
She shakes her head with a laugh and presses her nails into his scalp. "You're going to make me late," she insists, shivering as his touch, the feel of his breath against her cheek leaves her tingling.
"Just a few more minutes," he whispers against her skin. "I swear, I was so scared when I thought I was gonna be on Raw without you. You gotta give me this, just for a little bit longer," he all but begs, dark eyes fixed on her with an intensity that makes her mouth go dry. She softens and watches as he sinks to his knees before her, nuzzling into her stomach as if he can't stop touching her, can't stop breathing her in. It's not sexual, really, this moment, he's just holding her and she wonders if he's crying again, her fingers carding through his hair gently as she waits for him to collect himself again.
Finally he slowly releases her, pulls himself up to his feet and stares at her with a shaky smile before examining her makeup with a quiet kind of intensity. He follows through on his promise, lightly applying more foundation to a smudged place on her cheek, and touching up her lipstick before carefully pressing his forehead to hers, staring into her eyes. She's still getting over how gentle he'd been applying the makeup, hand steady and confident in what he was doing, and this moment almost sends her over the edge as she grips his arms and stares back, sensing they're about to cross a line here that she's been teetering on the edge of for awhile now.
He licks his lips and she trembles, wishing that she didn't have to go out with Mike, didn't have to pretend to be Nikki Bella, could just be herself, kissing Heath's ridiculous mouth and playing with his bright orange hair late into the night, until the next week, for the rest of her life. He smiles as bright as if something's fallen into place and then says, "I'm in love with you, Maryse."
It's so simple. So beautiful. So life-affirming. She's choked by the emotion behind his words, the depth of the feelings in his dark eyes. He doesn't even seem to mind that she doesn't respond immediately, just stands there and smiles at her as if he knows, as if he can just tell. "Je suis amoureux de toi," she tells him after a moment, his smile growing as she throws away all of her worries about her make up and Raw and everything else, kissing him deeply.
He wraps his arms around her and kisses her back happily, the meaning behind her words clear enough that no translation is needed. He laughs once they pull away, gently reapplying her lipstick and helping her to put her wig on before trailing after her as she joins Mike in the locker room. Her gaze is fixed as she tugs on his arm. "Let's go, get this over with."
As she leaves, she casts a glance over her shoulder, Heath shivering at the intensity behind her gaze aimed at him. Rhyno's knowing chuckles behind him doing nothing to erase how happy he is.