Mike smirks as he heads for the arena entrance, spotting Alex sitting outside, totally distracted with his cell phone. The most must-see WWE champion of all time rolls his eyes as his twitter addicted friend doesn't even look up at his approach, not pausing midstep at all before he bumps into Alex's knee, startling him into almost jerking clean off of the trunk. Wonder how long he's been waiting... and who for, he thinks despite already knowing, smirk easing into something a little more sincere. "Hey, man."
Alex relaxes as he realizes it's Mike standing before him, shaking his head while he pockets his cell phone. "Hey. I didn't see you..."
"Obviously," his former mentor comments, moving to enter the building and unsurprised when the younger man scrambles to follow him, as always. "What were you doing out there?"
He doesn't need to look to know he looks sheepish as he mumbles, "I was waiting for you. Erm, did John come by last week?"
"You mean for Psych?" Pausing in the middle of the hallway, Mike turns to stare at him, keeping his face blank. Alex nods, suddenly looking uncertain. "Yeah, he came by." He clings to his stoic reaction for as long as possible, his resolve cracking further as the younger man shifts anxiously, suddenly looking apologetic. "Do you know how annoying it is to watch TV with John?"
He scratches his cheek, his whole body tense as he waits, unsure how to react. "Umm, yeah, I mean, we have a time or two. Uh, was it a bad idea to invite him over? I mean, you were probably busy, I should've checked or-"
Mike waves his hand, cutting off the fretful babbling like he'd taken a sharp knife to it, leaving Alex wide eyed and slack jawed. It gets harder and harder for Miz to not just crack up, put him out of his misery already. "Really, I don't know if I should smack you or thank you," he says, barely holding onto the last shreds of his solemn gaze, lifting his hand. Alex glances down at it, his gaze turning a little darker as he waits for whatever will come next, not breathing as Mike finally loses it, grinning so wide his face almost hurts. "Oh, man, your face," he says with a chuckle, slapping Alex fondly on the cheek. "Thanks for inviting him over, I really did need the distraction." Nodding, he turns on his heel and continues down the hall, leaving the speechless man behind for a few minutes until his brain catches up with what just happened. His smile grows as the footsteps behind him finally pick up again, Alex mumbling in annoyance until they arrive at the locker room.
"You're a jerk," he says once he catches up, shaking his head as Mike's glee only seems to grow.
"You've known that for a really long time by now, Alex," he says simply, pushing the locker room door open. They set their things down and Mike wanders around, preparing his ring gear for the night ahead, his good mood slipping as he looks ahead, to Wrestlemania once more. Most of Alex's recent responsibilities have been on NXT or Smackdown lately so he doesn't move to do anything, sitting back to watch his former mentor instead.
"So what are you doing tonight?" he inquires, leaning back and stretching out, careful not to get in Mike's way as he wanders around the room.
"I'm not sure, I have to check the board to see if there's a match listed for me for the evening," he says slowly. "If not, I think I'm gonna try to get on Laurinaitis' team one more time."
Alex nods, eyes shining with sympathy. "Good luck, Mike." When the former champion leaves a little bit later, Alex sits up straighter and turns on the monitor. The show will start soon, but until then he flicks through channels, looking for something to fill the silence. When his phone finally shows that it's a couple minutes after eight, he turns to the USA Network and shakes his head as it starts with Chris Jericho once more attacking CM Punk's family.
Finally it's revealed that Mike will wrestle Sheamus and Alex cringes slightly, wondering why exactly Mike hasn't returned to the locker room since leaving to talk with Laurinaitis. He's probably trying just to get his thoughts straight, focus on what's ahead, he thinks, leaning forward as commercials end and Mike is shown in the ring, mic in hand.
Gone is the Mike who took great joy in mocking Alex earlier, replaced by a man desperate and stubborn to get a place on the Wrestlemania card. As he begins recapping the last few weeks, explaining that if he wins tonight, Laurinaitis has promised him a place on his team, Alex can't help but dwell on how tired and stressed out Mike looks, all of the trips he's taken lately to promote Wrestlemania, not to mention Psych and everything else, eating at him, along with how hard he's been fighting to get or earn a match on the biggest show of the year. Sheamus apparently gets tired of his rant and interrupts it, the match starting before Mike even seems fully ready.
Despite Alex's best hopes, it all ends quickly with Sheamus the victor, leaving Mike once more with no Wrestlemania prospects. Alex aches for him, shaking his head grimly. "Damn."
The trip back to the hotel a little later is quiet and tense, Mike not saying a word as he holds out the keys to Alex, silently ordering him to drive. It thankfully only takes a few minutes to go from the arena to where they're staying, Miz's tired blue eyes glaring out of the window, taking in the dark streets as they blur past. Even his walk is despondent, Alex making sure not to look anyone in the eye as they walk together through the hotel lobby and into the elevator, which thankfully only has a couple people inside of it.
He watches with a frown as Mike jerkily unlocks their hotel room, stomps over to his bed and immediately collapses face down on top of it, his bag slipping from his fingers to the floor next to the bed where it lands with a soft thud. Sighing, he goes to the bathroom and changes clothes for bed, unsurprised that Miz doesn't feel up to doing anything tonight- like the past few weeks. He's about to go drop on his own bed and just watch TV until either sleep overwhelms him or things are better, but he changes his mind as soon as he leaves the bathroom, his gaze dropping back on his unmoving friend.
Though he knows it might end with him really getting punched this time, he stalls by first moving Mike's bag to the end of the bed so neither of them will trip over its many straps in the middle of the night, before returning to Mike's side, dropping to his knees onto the rough, thin carpet next to the bed. "Mike?" he asks tentatively, resting a hand between the other man's shoulderblades. No vocal response and Mike doesn't try shrugging him off so, bolstered slightly, he leans closer. He had been considering this for awhile and, well aware that the simplest miswording could leave him knocked out on the floor of this room, he treads carefully. "Would you, ah, like to spend Wrestlemania week at my house?"
Mike stiffens beneath his hand and he holds his breath, hoping that an angry response won't follow, but soon enough the older man turns his head so they're eye to eye. "Why?" he asks, voice scratchy. "I'm just going to be a moody bitch that week, you won't want me around. Hell, it'd probably be easier on you if I weren't around now."
Alex sniffs dismissively, smiling. "I'm used to you being a moody bitch, Mike." His teasing eases as Mike frowns at him, holding his free hand up to stall him from saying whatever's on the tip of his tongue. "Look, you've had me over to your house in California so much, but I never get the chance to do the same for you. Just, lemme, please? I haven't managed to have many guests over since I moved because of all the traveling and everything, it seems fitting you'd be one of the first to come see my new place." When Mike still doesn't jump at the chance, he starts kneading at the tense muscles between Mike's shoulders. "Please?"
"Ugh, dammit," he groans, visibly giving in already. "You gonna cook me breakfast too?" He chuckles slightly when Alex's eyes widen in horror, wincing over how badly most breakfast foods he's ever tried cooking comes out in the end. "I'm kidding." He sighs, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, fine, if you're sure. It sounds good, man."
"Great." Alex grins, standing back up. He brushes his knees off, making a face as he returns to his own bed. "This'll be fun." I'll at least do my best to keep him busy if he still doesn't have a match by 'Mania...