A/N: Another Briz story. It's the sequel to "Coffe for breakfast" but can be read as a standalone. The outfit they're talking about is the one Mike wore on the 9/6/10 Raw, by the way. No one belongs to me and I make no money with this. Have fun reading it.
"Good promo, bro. They totally ate it up." Adam greeted him when Mike walked into the Gorilla Position. He wasn't surprised to see him there since his match was on next and smirked in return to the older man's praise.
"Did I mention that I fucking love my job?" he asked Adam, now openly grinning from ear to ear. Mike was still a little bit high from standing out there in front of thousands of people who practically booed when he told them. It was an amazing feeling to have that kind of power over an entire stadium and he suspected that he'd never get enough of it.
"Only about three thousand times in the last two weeks." the Canadian rolled his eyes and patted Mike on the back.
"I thought it were at least four thousand. It's scary how he never shuts up about it."
They both cringed at the voice of Bryan Danielson suddenly adding to the conversation, the man himself walking behind the curtain with a teasing smile on his face. He laughed at their startled expressions, putting his arms above his head and stretching himself with a pleased sigh.
For an instant Mike's eyes followed the way his body became longer, abs showing under his lightly tanned skin. He avoided his gaze only seconds later but from the short snicker Adam let off beside him Mike knew that the older man had seen his slip in vision. Fuck Copeland for never missing a detail.
"Come on, let's get back to the locker room. I need a shower." Bryan shot him a questioning look and with a short nod the brunette followed him into the backstage area. He deliberately ignored the leer Adam was giving him.
"No need to rush, we have until the end of the show to get all cleaned up." he waved at John and Chris who were both already back in their street clothes and sitting in the catering area.
"Yeah, but the longer we wait the fuller the showers will get and the longer we'll need." Danielson pushed open the door to the empty locker room, "It's a miracle we've never been locked in with the way John and Adam can't stop fooling around."
"Being stuck in the building for the entire night would mean no food until morning. John wouldn't survive it." Mike laughed, absently straightening the collar of his blue dress shirt.
Bryan propped down onto one of the wooden benches, not managing to hide a small laughter of his own. The thought of a starved John Cena driving Adam nuts was indeed quite amusing.
"Oh man, I'll be happy to be out of this thing." tugging roughly at his tie Mike tried to get some badly needed air. The lights on stage made you sweat while in trunks and being out there in a suit was nearly unbearable – the brunette would never understand how Chris didn't seem to be bothered by it in the least.
"Stop it." his hands automatically stilled at Bryans command and he shot the other man a puzzled look.
"You can't just rip it off." Danielson stood up and moved in front of a slightly confused Mike, batting his hands away from his collar, "That's a suit and no tee, be a little more careful."
Deft finger began to work at the knot of his tie, loosening it enough for Bryan to carefully untie the annoying item of clothing from around Mike's neck. The brunette lifted his head a little to assist the other man but avoided it to look directly at him. Danielson didn't notice but took a step back when he was done, holding the black tie in his right hand.
"Better?" he wanted to know.
"Yeah." Mike replied, feeling a little uncomfortable under the glance Bryan was giving him just now, "What are you looking at?"
"You look cute in that suit."
Mike's jaw dropped and his eyes widened a little in surprise what made Bryan chuckle in return. A dark look settled on the older man's face and he crossed his arms in front of this chest, "I. Am. Not. Cute."
"In that suit, with that light blue shirt? Of course." Bryan looked the brunette up and down before his gaze met Mike's narrowed eyes, "The color does wonders for your eyes and it looks rather stunning together with the black pants, vest and jacket. Creative did a really good job with the outfit."
A moment of silence ensured where Mike really didn't know what to say while Bryan clearly looked pleased with himself.
"Okay it may looks good, but it's not cute." he insisted, his pride not down with the fact that he – a grown up men pushing his thirties – had been called cute, and by a male coworker none the less.
Bryan looked up at Mike with a grin on his face while his hands started to unbutton the brunettes black vest, neat finger making quick work of the small black buttons.
"Yes, it looks good on you, but that's not the point." rising to full height he motioned for Mike to extend his arms a little so he could pull off the black blazer – if he noticed the curious look Mike was giving him he chose to ignore it.
"And what exactly is the point?" Mike growled impatiently.
Folding the expensive piece of clothing carefully, the younger man set it aside together with the black tie and started doing the same with the vest Mike was still wearing. The brunette quivered a little at the soft touch, the brush of Bryan's fingers against his body making him somewhat itchy.
"It makes you look younger, about six or seven years I guess." Danielson shrugged, sitting down on the bench when he had finished his task, "You look more like twenty-three than twenty-nine right now … don't know, it has probably something to do with flashy blue or the way the black suit makes your skin look less tanned."
Blinking once, Mike stared at Bryan in disbelief, "Really? …don't mess around with me, Danielson."
"I'd never." he grinned up at Mike, "But it's true, you really look younger … is it the suit, is it the color, is it the tie? I don't know what it is but it's definitely there."
"Having an issue with my tie, Danielson?" teasing Bryan about the incident was probably a bit of a low blow, but the older man didn't really care. He simply loved it to try getting Bryan Danielson riled up. Besides, he had seen him walking around with a shirt that read "Stop necktie violence" so the guy couldn't be that upset about the whole thing – or he had a very good dose of self-irony.
Rolling his eyes, Bryan got up from his bench to stand in front of the brunette. In a movement that was too fast for Mike's eyes to follow he picked up the black tie, slung it around the older man's neck and pulled so that Mike had to stumble closer to him if he didn't want to meet the floor face first.
"You wish, Mizanin." he pulled Mike's head down a little so they were on eye level, "Shit happens. I always go through with what I started, no matter if people like what I do or not."
"You do, hm? So why is it that I still wear half of my clothes?" the Miz decided to come out and play, displaying his usual brashness, cocky grin already on his lips when his blue eyes locked with Bryan's, an eyebrow raised in question mockingly.
Caught a little of guard Bryan stared at Mike for an instant before he slowly shook his head, chuckling, "Always playing games, aren't you? Fine, you get what you want."
Mike had expected the other man to back off, to be embarrassed and walk away but like always Bryan Danielson didn't do the thing he expected him to do – it was like the guy had to prove to Mike every damn time that he didn't know him in the least. Still smiling the younger man's hands let go of the tie and traveled down until they reached the first button of Mike's shirt.
A part of his brain told Mike that this was dump idea – as in really dump – but he couldn't, wouldn't back out now. So all he could do was to stare down at Bryan's fingers got to work, mesmerized by how the slender digits seemed to play with the fabric of his dress shirt. Subconsciously he knew very well that Danielson was playing with him and that he was drawing out the whole thing deliberately, but he noticed that he didn't really care – what actually scared him more than a little.
"If you always take that long it's no wonder you never get a girl." even though his voice was laced with disdain and mockery, the older man's eyes were still fixated on how Bryan's fingers undid the first bottom of his shirt, caressing the exposed skin almost randomly when they wandered down to the next button.
Danielson seemed amused by his words, "Did no one ever tell you that patience is a virtue?"
Hoarse laughter escaped Mike's dry throat. Bryan was punishing him for being a cocky bastard, that much was obvious. The problem was that he was on the verge of enjoying it and that Danielson was fully aware of that fact – hell, he was pushing him towards the edge deliberately with every fucking stroke of his fingers.
"Did anyone ever tell you that you are annoying?"
The question got him a slap onto his chest that startled Mike a little but hadn't anywhere near enough force behind it to actually hurt him or push him backwards. It was more of a warning to behave than anything else and from the way he rolled his eyes the older man was pretty sure than Bryan indeed had been told the exact same thing before.
"Look who's talking." huffing, he opened the last of the small buttons, putting his rough palms flat against Mike's chest, "The last time I checked you were the annoying brat who never shut up."
He knew that his behavior was rather childish, but Mike still couldn't resist the temptation to stick his tongue out at Danielson, "Shut up, nerd."
Giving him stern look the younger of the two opened his mouth to give a snide remark but was beaten to it by the sound of the door flying open.
"Mike, are you-" Kevin Kiley stopped dead in his tracks when he saw them, baby blue eyes widening at the sight before him.
Trying to keep his composure, Mike didn't move an inch. In fact he didn't even flinch when Kevin entered the room, remaining rooted on the spot with Danielson standing in front of him. His instinct told him to take a step back, to bring space between him and Bryan but Mike knew better – backing off would only show that he felt guilty, that Kevin had indeed walked in on something that he wasn't supposed to see, something more than the simple beginning of a good friendship.
A look down his torso confirmed Mike that Bryan hadn't moved either. Hands still firm on his chest the younger man had a deer in the headlight look on his face, staring at Kevin who stared right back, both seemingly unable to move.
"What is it, Kevin?" he asked his friend, sounding impatient and slightly annoyed.
That seemed to do the trick, because suddenly Kiley's eyes snapped up to Mike's face, his cheeks turning pink in the process, "It- it's nothing. Sorry for interrupting you guys. See you later, Mike."
Before any of them could say another word Kevin had bailed into the hallway, leaving the door to the locker room wide open. Mike gazed after him, brow furrowed in confusion.
"I think you can do the rest on your own." with that Danielson stepped back from him, turning his back to Mike when he walked across the room to his locker and started to untie his boots. The brunette's eyes followed his movements as the younger man began to take off the rest of his clothing and felt the warmth surging into his cheeks in response. Cursing quietly under his breath Mike turned his head away when Bryan hooked his thumbs into the waistband of his trunks.
His eyes now once again looking into the direction of the still open door, Mike's gaze met the green eyes of Adam that where sparkling with silent amusement. Fuck that man for always seeing things he wasn't supposed to see.
"I met Kiley in the hallway." Mike saw from the corner of his eye how Adam gave a short nod to Bryan who was on his way to the shower, "The kid looked like he'd seen a ghost."
Sitting down onto the bench beside the brunette's neatly folded clothes, Copeland smirked at Mike, "Or his half-naked man crush making out with his former nemesis."
"Oh shut the fuck up, idiot." cursing, Mike threw his dress shirt at Adam, who dodged the flying piece of clothing with ease. Laughing, the older man started to undress, all the while giving Mike knowing glances.
"Could it be that you have a thing for Bryan, Mikey?"
Adam was rewarded with a low, threatening growl from the other side of the room that made him laugh even harder. Walking up to Mike he patted the younger man softly on the shoulder, "It's not the end of the world, man."
"I don't want to have a thing for Bryan fucking Danielson." Mike snapped.
"Oh, I don't think you have much to say in the matter, though." the older wrestler replied in all honesty, earning a furious look from Mike in the process. Laughing, he too walked off into the direction of the showers, "If I were you I'd buy some lube. Your ass will thank you later, believe me."
"Copeland, you fucking bastard!" still laughing Adam bolted for the showers, an angry Mike close on his heels
There will definitely be a third part, I'm not sure about a fourth, though. And yes, Kevin (Alex Riley) was in it. He'll probably make another appearance later on. Reviews are always welcome.