"What is that, sweetheart?" Mike wonders, looking up from his phone in time to see AJ standing in front of him, a box of chocolates in hand. His knee feels better, but still not a hundred percent, so she had insisted yet again he have a stunt double in case the Authority had any notions of forcing him to wrestle tonight on Smackdown. "Is that another treat for me?" But when he reaches out for them, she shakes her head and pulls them away, adding to his confusion.
"No, sorry, Mike, not yet." She smiles up at him, hugging the chocolates close to her. "No, these are for my English muffin for after her match... after all, she should celebrate victories somehow, right? And what better way than with the woman she claims is her best friend?" She smirks up at him as he reaches out and brushes his hand down her bare arm, interlacing his fingers with hers while staring at her doubtfully. "I'm going to be fine, Mike." Shifting onto her tippy toes, she kisses him softly. "You stay out of trouble, alright? I'll be back in a little bit."
"Alright," he murmurs, reluctantly releasing her fingers as she slips away from him.
She's almost out of sight when she turns and tilts her head, eyes locked on him. "By the way, you look amazing in black, you should wear it more often." There's a look in her eyes that makes him feel pretty hot underneath the collar before she turns and skips away, his lips parted slightly as he watches her go.
"Noted," he mumbles, looking down at his clothes. "Damn..." Forcing himself to concentrate, he watches as Paige wrestles and beats Emma in minutes, AJ coming out afterwards and offering the candy to Paige. Paige dismisses it with a disgusted look on her face, which seems to annoy AJ, who orders her to eat a piece after failing to sway her into trying it with sweetness. Finally Paige plucks a piece from the box and chews it almost violently before scrunching her nose up in disgust, turning and spitting it out onto the other pieces. AJ looks hurt as she leaves, but while Paige is on the ramp, picks a piece up and eats it as if nothing had just happened. Mike blinks, frowning as he stares blankly at the screen. He can't tell if it was the same piece, but still... He grimaces and shudders a little. Yikes, AJ.
When she returns, she still has the box and smiles cheerfully up at him, thankfully settling it down on a nearby crate. "I'd offer you a piece, but you know..."
He shakes his head and pulls her closer, not quite up for a kiss just yet, but ok with a quick hug. She sighs and nuzzles closer to him, closing her eyes as he strokes her hair. "Hey, did you see Paige's photoshoot yesterday?" he mumbles, staring at the top of her head as she nods. "I wonder what they did to convince Del Rio to allow that." His chuckle turns into a swallow as she sneaks her hand under his top, lightly scratching at his back.
"You mean you wonder what Ricardo said to convince him."
"I'm sure Sofia helped," he concedes on a small laugh, sighing when she begins to knead his tense muscles. He's about to drift off standing up, her warm fingers working their soothing magic yet again, when she pulls away and kisses his neck softly, waking him up. He stares balefully at her but she kisses him again before turning to collect the candy box. "Where are you going?"
"Your phone's buzzing," she says cheerfully. "Answer that... I'll be back in a little bit. I just want to get rid of this while you do your movie star thing."
He grimaces but groggily grabs for the device, realizing that it is indeed buzzing. He listens for awhile to his agent, convincing him that everything'll be fine, especially since Roman is already booked for the evening, when someone taps him on the shoulder. He ignores it, continuing his phone call, when Kane makes his presence known, taking Mike's phone and hanging up on the hyperactive man, Mike closing his eyes as he imagines the freak out he'll be forced to deal with as soon as they talk again. Kane has no time for him or his excuses of needing to be on set, placing him in a match against Sheamus. Mike's face falls as soon as the camera crew and Kane are both gone, only imagining what AJ will say. "Dammit..."
His wife skips up to him a moment later, taking his hand and wrapping it snugly around her, the box of candy officially done away with now. He wonders briefly if she's dumped it on some unaware diva, but he has more pressing matters to deal with, so he doesn't bother to ask. "What's going on?"
"Kane put me in a match against Sheamus..." AJ's fingers dig into his wrist and he winces until she retracts her claws, staring up at him. "I guess I do need another stunt double now...
"Well, lucky for you, I've already handled that little problem." She looks up, a flash of white attracting his attention, and he smirks when he sees Sandow nearby, already donning his wrestling gear. "Let's start off with a fresh slate, hmm, boys?" She cups Mike's face and kisses him. "Good luck out there."
"Pardon me, I'm the one competing and risking grevious bodily harm because of-" But the looks that both Mike and AJ shoot Sandow shuts him up quickly. As they walk off, he glares after them. "You're welcome!"
There's almost no point for Mike to sit down at the commentary table. The match is almost shorter than Paige vs Emma was, Sheamus quickly overwhelming Sandow. "The things I do for you, AJ," Miz mumbles before sliding into the ring- but he second guesses himself, quickly escaping out the other side before Sheamus can snag him and do something to either make his knee worse, or injure his face. He thinks he's home free when Ziggler appears, grabs him and throws him back in the ring- just for Sandow to take a Brogue Kick in Mike's place, the former Intercontinental champion waving a hand over his pristine Moneymaker as he escapes for real this time through the audience. He slips backstage from one of the entrances there and finds AJ waiting for him, her brown eyes narrowed as she examines him thoroughly, her nails biting slightly into his jaw as her eyes search his features. "I'm alright, sweetheart. Thanks to you."
She releases a blustery little sigh before throwing her arms around him, clearly finding him whole and healthy. "Dammit, I don't know what Kane's problem is with you but I'm almost tempted to have a little... chat with him."
Mike thinks about AJ talking with her former demon ex-boyfriend and immediately shakes his head, holding her closer. "No, sweetheart, I'm fine. You don't need to fight my battles for me... I can handle Kane." She's about to protest when he lifts her up, pressing her against the wall and lazily kissing her. His knee twinges a little, but he ignores it, trying to distract her from what's been going on with him lately. "Relax, sweetheart. Everything's ok. It's just you and me here, huh? And these black clothes that you apparently like so much..." She shivers and tugs at the hem of the shirt, her fingers digging into the soft fabric as he laughs into her mouth.
He's brushing kisses against her jaw when Sandow walks past towards the exit, still looking a little off-balanced from that brogue kick. His focus on AJ fails when he realizes that Sandow is holding onto a familiar looking box of candy, Miz hissing a laugh into AJ's skin. "Oh God," he sighs when she pulls back to look at him curiously. "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, but wha-" Her words are muffled by another of his kisses, AJ willingly forgetting her curiosity as she snakes her arms around his neck.
-x
Mike's eyebrows raise as he watches footage of Ricardo in Puerto Rico, laughing in amazement at what he's up to in Del Rio's name now, lightly kissing AJ's forehead when she stirs next to him and blinks at the laptop. "What's that?"
"Ricardo," he tells her, closing the lid and putting the computer to the side. "I guess he's relaying messages for Del Rio while in Puerto Rico." She makes a soft noise and he sighs, pulling her closer. "He really will be alright, huh?"
"Of course he will," she says sleepily. "He's already proven he's strong enough to bounce back from pretty much anything, this is just one of those things..." She smiles and nuzzles into him, sighing. "I'm sorry you can't see his first match back tonight, I know you wanted to, but considering, I'm glad we're staying home this weekend." Her hand trails down to his knee, lightly stroking, and he grimaces.
"I am too, actually. Besides, he's said he'll try to send me video. It won't be the same, but he knows I'm rooting for him."
"Of course he does," she murmurs, kissing his jaw with a soft smile. "You're just loyal like that."
"I try." He closes his eyes and relaxes as she massages his knee, which is still a little sore but much better than it had been last week, hoping that he will be cleared to compete tomorrow. He wants his Intercontinental title back, to make Ziggler pay for causing him to be injured, for being so smug after winning the title, everything. But the weekend with AJ has been great, just the kind of recuperation he's needed. He smiles and kisses her, relaxing back into his pillows and dozing off.
They're on the way to Raw the next day when Mike receives an email from Ricardo with links to his match uploaded on Youtube, his eyes lighting up as he watches it. It's good to see how far Ricardo's grown between the things he's taking with him from WWE and the things he's learning from the dojo, leading his team to victory. He smiles at the happiness on Ricardo's face, releasing a soft breath as he squeezes AJ's hand, knowing for sure now that this is the best decision his friend could've made. This a relief to him, he then turns his focus back to his own career, determined to turn things around for himself as well.
When they arrive at the arena, however, she stops him with a hand on his upper arm, staring up at him. "Now, Mike, remember- if the trainer doesn't clear you, you get Sandow or anyone and you make sure not to injure yourself worse, alright? I know your knee's feeling better, but-"
He leans in, interrupting her train of thought, and lightly kisses her, nipping her nose. "I know, sweetheart, but I'm fine. I promise you. See, I could even skip with you if you wanted me to prove it to you." She makes a face at him and rolls her eyes, wrapping her arms around his neck and gasping when he lifts her up, arms warm around her waist as he nuzzles into her neck. "The trainer will clear me, and I'll compete tonight, and everything'll be fine. You'll see." He lightly teases her with ghosts of a touch against her bare stomach before setting her back down on the ground and taking her hand. "Come on." They walk side by side to the trainer's office and she sits on the edge of the cot, watching as the man begins to work over Mike's knee, examining it with deft fingers. Mike doesn't grimace once, lounging back on the cot and lazily checking through his phone.
AJ grimaces at him for seeming so much more at ease during this process than she is, watching as his knee is pressed on, moved around, manipulated. She holds her breath when the trainer finally concludes his examination, pulling his gloves off with a pop and tossing them in the garbage pail before turning to look at them. "Well, by what I've determined, you giving yourself time to rest was just what you needed. There's no sign of permanent or lasting damage, so I'm going to clear you." He signs some forms and sends his assistant off to the higher ups so they'll know Mike is good to go, before turning back to Mike and AJ. "Any questions?"
Mike starts to shake his head slowly before something dawns on him. "Actually, yeah, maybe." AJ glances at him curiously before turning to look at the man. "We've known you for years by now, and I don't think any of us have ever actually bothered to ask you. What's your name?"
The trainer looks surprised by this, and AJ fears for a moment that he'll be offended- Leave it to Mike to be able to ask a question like that without seeming embarrassed or horrified!- but instead he laughs. Honestly puts his clipboard down and laughs, harder than anyone AJ's seen laugh in a long time. They stare at him, they look at each other, turn their focus back to him. He continues to chuckle for a few minutes before wiping his eyes and turning back to face them. "Sorry, it's just kind of funny when you put it like that. I've been helping out so many of you for so long, I guess it never clicked with me that I've been virutally nameless to you all for so long." He smirks. "My name is Jason. Jason Harding."
Mike tries the name out, finds that he likes it. "Well, nice to officially meet you, Jason. It just dawned on me, especially after last week, you've been keeping all of us in one piece for so long, but we never really took the time to say much more than thanks."
Jason releases a faint laugh. "Well, honestly, it's more than I usually get. None of you seem to like me that much. Can't imagine why."
Miz smirks. "Yeah, what a mystery, man. But honestly, thanks for checking my knee out and making my wife feel more secure in letting me go out to the ring tonight." He squeezes AJ's shoulders, pulling her into him.
"Sure, anytime," Jason says, turning to check on his supplies. "Don't return too soon, right?"
"Ha, yeah, I'll definitely try not to." Mike kisses the top of AJ's head while they leave the room.
"I can't believe you asked him that!" she gasps as soon as they're out of hearing, pinching his side when he laughs at her.
"C'mon, sweetheart. Let's go see what matches are on tap for us." She's still shaking her head at him when he leads her towards gorilla to check the board out, AJ unsurprised to see no match for her but a tag match for the Total Divas women... and a tag match for Mike. He looks pleased by it, but she makes a face. "I'll be fine," he murmurs upon noticing how her nose is scrunched up, worry filling her eyes. "You heard what Jason said. I'm good to go."
"Well, you better still be good to go afterwards," she tells him simply. "I'd rather not spend another week walking with my limping husband because he didn't take care of himself like I told him to."
"Message received. Sandow will be out there, if it makes you feel any better?" he offers, relieved when some of the stress eases from her face.
"Actually, that does." She leans up and kisses him. "I'll be back in a little bit, I'm going to see how my little English muffin is doing before the show starts."
Mike blinks and watches her go before turning, just to stop short, Sandow seeming appearing out of nowhere and blocking his path. "Um." He winces and stares at the man. "What are you doing?"
"Miz, I have a proposition for you!" the intellectual exclaims, his booming voice echoing through the halls and causing everyone in the general vicinity to look at them. Not much embarrasses Miz, but this does, his ears turning a dull pink as he tries to ignore the prying eyes locked on him and his stunt double. He second guesses firing the man yet again when Sandow steps aside, revealing a woman with a makeup kit standing behind him. Mike stares at her blankly before turning to look at Damien, truly floored. "Before you attempt to show your gratitude to me for my impressive foresight, perhaps we should have a demonstration of what the lady can do, hmm?"
Before Mike knows what's happening, he's sitting in a chair, the woman rushing this way and that, applying foundation and touching up... whatever she appears to think needs touching up on his already flawless face. It's weird, it's obnoxious, and he kind of loves it. Until he sees AJ watching them with a frown on her face, her arms crossed over her chest, and he tries to say something just as the makeup artist swoops in with the huge brush yet again, coating his tongue with the crap and causing him to sputter and choke. "GAH!" Damien immediately begins rushing around, trying to help the woman clean his mouth out, while AJ watches them, her eyebrows raised in something resembling disbelief.
When she approaches, he's still struggling to get that taste out of his mouth, downing water desperately. She stares at the makeup artist for a moment before soothingly rubbing Mike's back, relieved when he stops sputtering and struggling around each swallow. "Are you ok?"
"Ye- yeah," he chokes out, nodding a little. "Never better." His eyes are watering and she almost feels sorry for him. Almost. "Don't ever do that again," he chides the makeup woman, who looks distinctly uncomfortable with both this mishap and AJ's presence. "When I'm talking, just... just stop with the makeup for awhile."
"Yes sir," she agrees after a moment. "It won't happen again, I promise."
"So you have a makeup artist now," AJ says, examining her keenly. "Well, isn't that something."
"It was Sandow's idea," Mike explains, wiping at his eyes and shaking his head when the woman's fingers twitch around her brush, wanting to fix him up all over again. "She'll accompany me to ringside and make sure I look my best during my match." And I will keep my mouth shut whenever I see her coming, he decides, eyeing her.
AJ sniffs derisively and shakes her head, hopping up into his lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You look just fine to me," she grouses, dusting off some of the remaining powder from his face before kissing him. He holds her close and sighs, enjoying the feel of her pressed against him, the small chair just the right size for them to sit like this.. "Guys, I'll see you at the ring," he mumbles, relieved when they walk off, the makeup artist's apologies echoing back to him as Sandow lectures her for being impatient and not focusing on Mike's needs properly.
"As if this face needs touched up," AJ mutters, stroking his jaw gently. "Stupid Sandow, thinking you need some makeup artist..."
Mike smirks, teasing his hands up her spine as she sighs and rests her head on his shoulder. "Sweetheart, it's just a one time thing probably. Don't get jealous."
"I'm not jealous." She nips at his lip for even suggesting such a thing, raising her eyebrow at him. "I highly doubt some random makeup artist would know how to do this..." She digs her fingers into his scalp and presses an open mouthed kiss against his throat, feeling as he shudders against her and smirking, her eyes flashing a challenge when she pulls away from him "What do you think?"
He looks dazed, the makeup artist the furthest thing from his mind, and AJ grins at her success... which quickly shifts and becomes something much more intense when he grips her by the jaw and guides her back up until they're eye to eye, staring at her. Before either could say anything, he's leaning into her, pressing an exploring kiss of his own against her mouth, smirking when she responds by parting her lips, allowing him to tease her in kind with soft licks and nips. He shakes his head and smiles, finally regaining enough control of himself to mutter, "You're right. She'd never know how to do this..." She squeaks as he stands and lifts her in one fluid motion, carrying her away to look for somewhere to have some privacy.
Mike's never really cared overly much for Cesaro, especially after some of the things he'd done to Ricardo last year, but he's a tag partner as good as anyone else, so he swallows down his misgivings and goes with the flow. Besides he has more problems with Sheamus and Ziggler combined than most other superstars, and tonight is just about surviving long enough to make sure his knee can for sure hold up during a rematch for his Intercontinental title. Having the makeup artist out there helps, the chair providing him a place to sit when things are just a little too hot in the ring, Sandow providing him with water as needed, and the woman dusting him with makeup- more carefully this time, at least.
When the right time comes, he pushes Sandow into the ring and forces him to be the distraction, allowing Mike to slide in from the side as Dolph hits Damien with the Zigzag, opening him up just enough to be hit with the Skullcrushing finale. Mike pins him easily after that, and Sandow rolls out of the ring, looking confused and out of sorts while offering Mike more water. Cesaro joins in, which Miz only allows because they'd won, before the group head backstage. It's awkward, looking at the makeup artist while AJ continues to stare holes through them, but Mike approaches her anyway. "Hey, thanks for helping out tonight... um, if we need you again, I'll let you know. Sandow has your contact info, right?"
"Yes, Mr. Mizanin," the woman says. "Thank you for the opportunity."
"You're welcome." Mumbling a somewhat strained bye, he turns back to his wife and strokes her hair out of her eyes as she watches the woman collect her things and go. "See? Simple as that, sweetheart."
AJ purses her lips at him and sighs. "Yeah, alright, fine, Mike." She curls her fingers around his hand, staring at him. "Keep it that way."
"You have no reason to be jealous of anyone," he whispers to her, leaning in and hovering a few inches from her lips. "I dedicated myself to you a long time ago, and that's not going to change for any woman." Her eyes flutter slowly as he pulls her into him and kisses her, AJ melting into him as he strokes her back.
"I believe you," she sighs. They stay together, checking in at catering and a few other places, just trying to find some way to stay hand-in-hand and not have to separate by returning to the locker rooms, but when AJ hears the confrontation going on in the ring between Stephanie McMahon and the Bellas, she has to interject because, dammit, last she checked, she had a rematch for the divas title, which makes her number one contender, not either of the Bella tramps. Steeling herself, she kisses Mike once more and heads for gorilla.
"Be careful," he calls after her, remembering vividly how it played out for him when he confronted the Authority. He has no choice but to stand and watch while his wife addresses the boss' daughter, reiterating that yes, she is the #1 contender... a fact that Stephanie looks down upon with derision and disinterest... which turns to pure annoyance when Paige herself comes to the ring shortly thereafter, the two divas arguing until everything becomes about the Bellas again. Nikki and Brie air their weird twin drama for the whole world to see before Brie pushes Nikki, who topples into Paige, both women down for the count. Mike blinks, watching AJ stand over her so-called frenemy, before collecting the divas title and skipping around the ring with it coyly. She's made a couple of cycles with it when Stephanie stops her short and orders her to return it.
AJ makes a face but does as ordered, skipping out of the ring as if she doesn't have a care in the world, Nikki and Paige only just regrouping enough to get to their feet afterwards, Paige posing with the title as she struggles to leave the ring herself. Mike watches as his wife skips all the way back to him, arching up to kiss him with a small, smug smile. "As if I'd let them forget that I'm the #1 contender," she sighs. "Now... about this MizTV set for Main Event tomorrow night..." She tilts her head and smiles up at him, a challenge in her brown eyes. "Considering someone has a Malaysian tour coming up and I may not get to see them for a few days..."
He stares at her for a long moment before finding his voice. "Yeah, you know, I think Sandow can handle that. Who wants to be in Nebraska longer than necessary, anyway? What do you have in mind, sweetheart?" She merely grins as he wraps his arms around her shoulders and leads her down the hallway.