Royal Rumble is always a busy time for WWE. There's the usual shows, there's promotion needed done, there's... just so much to do. When Mike hears that WWE is opening the doors, so to speak, for Raw guys to appear on Smackdown, he jumps at it. And where he leaps, John follows. Which ordinarily would be fine except that Big E calls them old, and John loses his temper over it, and one thing leads to another and the next thing Mike knows, they're losing a ten man tag match at the end of the night after Sheamus makes his way down and joins the fray.
Saturday is a quiet day, the two of them exploring parts of Florida they don't get to see that often, parks and beaches and whatever else they can find open that seems safe enough to visit. John is sitting on a rock, Mike fiddling with his phone, taking pictures for AJ and the babies, when Mike glances up and notices the distant look on his face. "Hey, you alright, Johnny?" he asks, stuffing his phone back in his pocket and struggling to climb the rock to sit next to him.
"Hmmm?" John glances over, then blinks. "Oh. Yeah, Mike, I'm fine. Just thinking." He kicks his feet against the side of the rock and exhales. "It doesn't feel like a full year's gone by since I rejoined WWE, you know?" He smirks mirthlessly. "Rumble was my first real PPV back, and then I was only in it a couple minutes. The whole rest of the year's been such a blur with the pandemic, it's a lot to wrap my head around."
"Yeah," Mike exhales. "I know what you mean." He nudges his friend. "But hey, ignoring that, we've been tag champions, we've released some absolute killer music, I'm MITB holder right now. It hasn't been an all bad year."
John's lips twitch up. "No, it absolutely has not been." He perks up. "I did have a kick ass match at Mania."
"You did, in some really tricky circumstances," Mike agrees, smiling at him. He still wishes he could've been there, actually helped John, but what's done is done, and now they're here, and the Rumble is on the horizon, and... He sighs. "All we can hope for is to do better than last year, right?"
John nods. "Yep, pretty much." They exchange glances before turning their attention back to the ocean cresting before them, waves creeping up towards the rock they're sitting on. "Guess we should head back, it's getting late and I know we both have early mornings." Mike for a few last minute radio interviews, and John for an early morning work out just to burn off some anxiety.
Mike checks his phone, and then nods. "Yeah, let's get out of here." They head side by side back to the rental car and drive back to the hotel, relieved in a way to be back inside after so much time out and about. "G'night, John," Mike says, settling down in bed with his phone resting on the table next to his bed.
"Night, Mike," he responds quietly, voice already sounding a little heavy with exhaustion.
Mike smiles up into the darkness, rolls over, and falls fast asleep.
Sunday goes fast. One minute, Mike's crawling out of bed to start his phone interviews, and the next he's in the arena, distracting himself by visiting Alicia- who was in the women's rumble, and even briefly won the 24/7 title- and then coming upon and mocking Bad Bunny. Until Booker T appears and stares them down for insulting him. The Rumble match is coming up next so they slink away, preparing to make their entrance when their turns come. He and John enter close to each other, and he thinks it'll help in the long run, but they're only in the match for a few minutes. Longer than the year prior for John, but still. Still a disappointment for them both. They trudge backstage afterwards and Mike sighs, nudging John. "Hey, don't worry about it," he says. "We'll figure it out. And I still have the briefcase, which is the important thing."
John brightens, a little, and then nods. "Yeah, of course. You're right."
Another night's sleep, not quite as restful as the night prior, and they're back in the car, heading for the arena. After Raw, home beckons, and Mike can't wait to see AJ, Sara, and George. "I guess Alicia's probably already heading back to quarantine at my guest house," Mike says, drumming his thumbs against the steering wheel. "Quite a year, huh?"
"Yeah," John sighs. "That's putting it mildly." They smirk at each other, John shifting and turning to get out of the car as soon as it's parked. They grab their bags and head inside, not surprised to learn MizTV with Bad Buddy is scheduled for later.
One thing leads to another, Bad Bunny is backed up by Damien Priest, and Mike finds himself in a match against the newest NXT call up. He knows very little about the man, hadn't expected much, and he pays for it drastically. Loses after a relatively short match, staring up at the lights overhead and grimacing. John's by his side, trying to help him get up, but Mike's content to lay still for a few minutes and just stare at the lights overhead.
"Are you ok?" John asks again, and finally Mike snaps out of it, looks over at him.
"Yeah," he says, though he's never sure if that's correct, and doubts it even more right now. "Let's get out of here." They have to lean on each other, making their way backstage, then grabbing their things and leaving entirely, which means John ends up driving, Mike shaking his head.
"I can't wait to get home," he mumbles.
"I know what you mean," John responds, careful not to speak loud enough to break the atmosphere entirely. "Tomorrow, we'll be there."
"Yeah," Mike sighs, his voice drifting away slowly as he stares out of the windshield and tries to consider their next move.