A/N: A little Miz/Bryan (Briz?) story. Because they make a really interesting couple and I loved their segment at the 9/6/10 RAW. They do have a lot of chemistry in the ring and Bryan comes across like he really has a character, something I'm not used to after seeing Cena, Orton and the Nexus way to often over the last few weeks. Enjoy.
"That's not fair!" Mike pouted, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
Chris laughed at the childish behavior, "Get over it, Mike. You haven't gotten on your knees often enough to be considered a pro in the business."
They both laughed at that one, the younger man sticking his tongue out at the blonde mockingly who tried to hit him half-heartedly, not pursuing Mike when he stepped out of his reach. Chris grinned at his companion before his eyes wandered around the room, searching for a table to sit at.
"Hey Bryan, what're you doing up that early in the morning?" he walked up to where one of the newer members of the Raw roster was sitting, absorbed in the local newspaper and not noticing Chris until he pocked at the paper. His head shot up at the sudden interruption but the man's featured softened when he saw that it was Chris disturbing him.
"It's-" he looked at his watch, "eight in the morning. That's hardly considered early."
Smirking, the blonde leaned on one of the unoccupied chairs around the table, "Probably not in ROH standards, but if you wanna blend in with the average WWE wrestler you better don't get up before nine if you can prevent it."
Bryan cut him a grin in return, "Isn't worth it. I prefer a morning workout to sleeping in, I play computer games when others are out partying, I'm 5'8'', a vegan and have a 10 dollar haircut. I'm the oddball anyway, so why bother trying?"
Cerulean eyes sparkled with amusement when Chris burst out laughing, patting Bryan comradely on the back before he turned towards the breakfast buffet, "You have a point here, my friend. Now, breakfast anyone?"
"Coffee'd be good, actually." Bryan admitted and the blonde man's gaze shifted to Mike who meanwhile had taken a seat on one of the free chairs.
"They don't have White Chocolate Mocha I presume?"
Chris rolled his eyes, "It's the hotel cafeteria Mike, not Starbucks. John has really rubbed off on you, hasn't he? You've to settle for coffee, though – if you don't want orange juice or milk that is."
From the way Mikes face twisted into a grimace Chris knew that he would go with coffee, too. With one last glance at the two young wrestlers sitting at the table he turned around and walked up to the buffet, silently grinning to himself.
Leaning back in his chair, legs crossed in front of him, Mike eyed Bryan up and down with an indifferent look on his face. The man opposite him didn't even try to continue reading his newspaper, folding it carefully and setting it back on the table in front of him. His eyes met Mikes and for a moment they stared at each other in silence, one pair of blue eyes defiant and the other pair sparking with interest.
"You know" Bryan tilted his head to the side in question, "everybody always asks me: "What's going on with you and Mike? You two had a fight or something?" and I honestly don't know what to answer them. Because I really never had a problem with you, and I still haven't, but you obviously can't stand my guts."
Mike growled in annoyance but tried to remain civil, "I have my reasons, believe me."
Not satisfied with the answer he got, Bryans gaze remained fixed on his colleague – to the anger of Mike who didn't like to be stared at in the least, especially not by Bryan Danielson. He shot the other man an icy look but Bryan wasn't fazed at all.
"What do you think of me?" Mike eventually asked with disdain in his voice.
The man on the other side of the table considered his answer for a moment, "You are a good worker. From what I see you bust your ass every day to stay on the good side of management. You do everything they want you to and more. I like your promos, the way you handle the audience. You've got a lot of talent, kid."
When he saw Mikes eyes narrowing dangerously Bryan knew that he obviously had said something wrong but he unfortunately didn't know what it was that made his coworker even angrier with him than he already had been.
"You are younger than me, more than half a year to be exact." Mike informed him.
"Really?" Bryan's eyes widened a little in surprise, "Didn't know that."
Mike snorted, "No, obviously you didn't. To your information: I don't like to be called a kid, especially not by a guy younger than me."
Processing the information he had gotten Bryan studied Mikes features, noting that while you clearly saw that he hadn't had that much sleep in the last weeks he still looked younger than he actually was. There weren't many guys in the business blest with this gift of nature.
"I'm sorry if I offend you, it wasn't my intention. I assure you it won't happen again." he promised.
That however only prompted Mike to grind his teeth, his icy eyes still staring at Bryan with a burning hate. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, body getting more rigid with every passing second. It was obvious to Bryan that he was losing his cool right now.
"You remember SummerSlam?" he didn't wait for an answer, "When you and the others got backstage and you gave Adam a high five… "Great show, dude." he said it and you poked him in the ribs and you two laughed and were best friends all of a sudden. Do you know how long I worked my ass off to hear a sentence like that? But you, you are Bryan Danielson, the indie god, everybody's darling – you walked in and everybody loved you and praised your ugly face to the skies. You did nothing to earn your place here."
Bryan didn't miss the hate, the disdain, in Mike's words. The other man was livid, letting off steam he had been withholding for a while now. He didn't condemn him for doing so, but Bryan still had the feeling that he needed to clear some things.
"So you think I didn't have to work for the respect I get?" he asked calmly.
Mike gave a sharp nod in response.
"You entered Tough Enough when, in 2004?" another nod, "I started wrestling even before I graduated from high school, debuted on the Texas Wrestling Alliance in 2000 and wrestled main event matches for Ring of Honor in 2002. I have been in this business for about double the time you have … I have taken much shit in my career, but let me tell you one thing: I earned my right to stand in that ring and the respect that comes with it before you even really arrived there."
His statement made Mike glare daggers at Bryan, but this time he didn't care.
Hating him was one thing. Bryan could live with it. But being accused as basically having cheated his way to where he was now was the one thing he couldn't, wouldn't, tolerate. Bryan Danielson was proud of what he had accomplished in his wrestling career and he wouldn't let Mike Mizanin run down this accomplishments.
"You still aren't the god they make of you." Mike growled, "It's always "Danielson, look how good he is. Danielson he is the best. You'll never be as good as him." and I'm sick of it. Just go back you the indies where you belong."
Sighing, Bryan leant onto the table, propping his head up on his palms, returning Mikes gaze without so much as twitching. He studied the other man's face thoughtfully, noting the harsh lines that had formed around his mouth and eyes.
"Are you happy?"
The question caught Mike off guard, his brow furrowing in confusion and his eyes suddenly flashing with something that could have been insecurity.
"What a stupid question is that? I have the job I always wanted, I get paid more money than most people bring in in a decade and I can have every chick I want." Mike rolled his eyes.
A soft smile played around Bryans lips, "And still you aren't happy. I am, but you clearly aren't … come to think of it that's probably the reason you hate me: You are the cool guy who all the women worship and all the men want to be, but you aren't happy with your life. I on the other hand am a nerd, the plain boring guy next poor who goes crazy about the next Call of Duty release but I am still more content with my life than you are."
Mike scoffed, "Who in his right mind would choose you over me? You said it yourself: You're boring, plain, forgettable. No one forgets The Miz, though."
Bryan didn't rise to the challenge in the other man's icy blue eyes, keeping his cool and ignoring the provocation. It was pretty obvious that Mike wanted to piss him off big time but he had no intention of letting Mike dictate his actions.
"And still I am standing in the same ring you are. Pisses you off, doesn't it, Mizzy?"
Teeth clenched, fists trembling at his sides and former relaxed pose completely abandoned Mike couldn't have displayed how upset he was any better. Bryan actually couldn't completely exclude the possibility that the other wrestler would attack him. That knowledge however only helped to calm him down further. He didn't want to fight.
Slowly Bryan lifted one of his arms, bringing it close to the other man's face, his finger trailing along Mikes tense jawline, fingertips brushing over the light stubble of his still unshaven skin. Mike flinched away from the touch when he registered what was happening, trying to muster up his cold stare again. He failed.
Danielson smiled, "That's better. Now you look a lot more like Mike then The Miz."
He got no reply.
"You never wanted to be boring? …because there was a time when I wanted to be a guy as cool as you are now. But I quickly realized that it is exhausting to always play tough and brash. It's not who I am and I'm not gonna bend who I am only to make others happy. It only makes me miserable."
"But people don't like nerds, they look down on them. They make fun of them all the time." Mike argued with a bitter look on his face.
Bryan shrugged in response, "Who cares? If they don't accept who I am they're not worth my time."
Their eyes locked for a few seconds before Mike averted his gaze, seemingly looking into nothingness. His pose was a bit more relaxed now, the outline of his body once again smooth and no longer hard and edgy.
"What if nobody likes who you are?"
"Stop talking nonsense." Bryan shock his head, "They do like you. From what I see Chris enjoys flirting with you immensely and Adam sees something like his little brother in you. And what about Ted, Matthew and Matt? Don't try telling me that they aren't your friends, because they are."
Mikes opened his mouth to say something but closed it an instant later, looking at Bryan with a strange look in his eyes.
"Chris and I aren't flirting." he eventually denied.
Bryan chuckled, rolling his eyes, "Sure, you aren't."
"What are my boys doing?" Chris suddenly interrupted their conversation, approaching them with three cups of hot coffee in his hands. He first looked at Bryan and then winked at Mike. "Missed me already?"
Looking from Bryan to Chris and back to Bryan Mike cut a small smile at the latter man before he accepted the cup offered to him from Chris' hands and blew the blonde a playful kiss.
"Okay, we do." Mike admitted, he and Bryan both bursting into laughter at the same time, leaving Chris standing between them with an irritated expression on his face.
"Good to see you guys are enjoying yourself." he sat down, placing on cup in front of him and the other before Bryan, "And one with soya milk for our vegan friend … so what caused the sudden fit of laughter? Something funny I missed?"
They exchanged a short glance.
"Nothing." Mike grinned, "At least nothing that concerns you."
Chris was about to respond when another voice interrupted him, the loud shouting echoing through the big dining room, "Bryan, man, haven't seen you for more than five minutes in ages!"
Brandon Silvestry walked towards them, hand raised to wave at Bryan, a big smile on his face.
Bryan began to gather his things, coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other. He got up from his chair and made a step in Brandon's direction before he turned around one last time to give Mike a pointed look.
"I'd like to get to know you, if you don't mind hanging out with a nerd that is." he grinned.
"S- sure." Mike stammered, taken aback a little. The usual playful expression was back on his face a second later, "If you don't mind hanging out with a cool guy that is."
A laugh escaped Bryan's lips as he bend over so that his words wouldn't be heard in the whole room, "As long as his ass is as cute as yours? Never."
With one last wink he was gone.
"So that's nothing." Chris snickered.
Mike tried to hit him in the head but the blonde ducked away, grinning at the light pink color of Mikes cheeks. He brought his cup of coffee to his lips to prevent himself from laughing out loud.
"I assume you sorted out your differences?"
"We did, kinda." Mike too took a sip from his coffee.
"Very good." Chris smiled, "I was scared that you'd rip him apart but it seems I didn't need to worry. Looks like The Miz was no match for The American Dragon after all."
Setting down his cup Mike frowned, "Why do I get the feeling that you set this up?"
Chris grinned, setting aside his own cup and rising from his chair. Winking at Mike the blonde strode away from their table, "Maybe because I did."
"Chris, you bastard!"
The blonde was already running from the room when Mike got up from the table. Sighing he ran his finger through his short brown hair and sat down again, sipping the rest of his coffee with a content smile on his face.
There are some things left unanswered, but I didn't want to go into detail too much. I may write a sequel if some readers are interested. Reviews are welcome.
- The sequel is now out. It's called "Stop Necktie Violence", check it out at http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6371681/1/Stop_Necktie_Violence