Miz is aggravated. His week is not getting any better since last Smackdown- there's more Miz and Mrs filming going on, so he hasn't been home at all, and he loses at Starrcade in a tag match with Shinsuke against Rey and Rusev. This Smackdown he has high hopes for, last week just a taste of what he and Shane could be as a proper tag team, but nope. He confronts New Day, just for his movies to get ridiculed, the group of them to mock his budding friendship with Shane, and... he sees red, hands curling into fists at his side, but there are three of them, so he leaves, a new mission in mind.
Shane looks up from the business he's tending to, putting his phone down and giving Mike his full attention with a sigh. "How can I help you tonight, Miz?"
"So I want a match tonight," he barrels right into it and Shane lifts his eyebrows at him, clearly curious. "Against any member of the New Day, you pick. They're being very disrespectful, and I want-"
"Consider it done," Shane says and Mike lights up, hoping for a match against Xavier. Big E's too strong and Kofi's already scarred him up in the past, so- "The Miz vs Kofi KIngston will happen a little later."
Mike gapes at him, making a disbelieving noise. "But-"
"Is that a problem?"
Shane is fair. Shane wouldn't just throw Mike into the wolves' den like this. He steadies himself and shakes his head. "No, thanks! See you out there," he says, rushing out to prepare for the match.
Except that Shane doesn't come and it's Mike dealing with all three members of the New Day members, eventually losing to Kofi.
Sp yeah, he goes to confront Shane as soon as he can think straight enough to leave the ring and he's so pissed off and full of righteous indignance that he says something about the trophy being their child, and informs Shane that they're family now, before storming off to seethe quietly while he prepares to leave.
His hotel room is quiet, the lamps at their lowest setting as he sits on the edge of his bed, staring blankly at the wall. He'll be flying out in the morning to meet up with Maryse for more filming, and this is the longest he's gone without going home in, he's not sure how long. He blinks when his phone chirps, instinctively accepting the video call without looking.
He pauses when he sees his daughter, waving at the device. "Daddy," an over-exaggerated little girl's voice greets him, "I try so good to be good, but you still replace me with a big, ugly trophy, and nearly propose to a grown man on national TV, while my mommy watches on in confusion. It makes me so sad."
Despite the things being said, the little girl laughs and leans into the phone, revealing AJ holding onto her. "Daddy!"
"Hi Sara Louisa!" he greets her happily. "Daddy misses you. Are you having a good time with your silly mommy?"
"Yes," she exclaims, patting her hands against the phone's screen.
Mike laughs, not surprised when the call suddenly cuts off, just for AJ to dial back a second later. "Sara doesn't know her own strength," he jokes, smiling at the baby as she sticks her fingers in her mouth, unsure about what just happened. "So how are my girls tonight?"
"Just wanted to make sure you weren't really replacing us with Shane McMahon and an ugly statue," AJ says with a small laugh, bouncing Sara on her knee until she giggles and begins reaching for the phone again. "No, no, silly," she teases the girl so she can't reach. "We want to talk to daddy a little longer, not hang up on him."
"Absolutely not," Mike tells her with a small smile. "Shane and I are co-besties but there's only one person I wanna be married to, and one little girl who I really intend on claiming as my child and I'm looking at both of them right now."
"Good answer," AJ laughs as she tucks Sara into her shoulder, trying to get her to calm down to sleep. "When do you think you'll get home next, husband?"
"Hmm, probably after the next Smackdown episode. Maryse and I are filming things for the show and they want to get things wrapped up before the holidays take everyone away, so it's probably going to be a really busy couple of weeks."
"Right," AJ says softly, her attempt at a smile looking more like a grimace.
"Is everything ok? If something's wrong-"
"No no! Everything's fine, I promise. We just miss you, is all. Don't we, little Sara?" she asks, beaming down at the litltle girl.
"Daddy! Daddy!" she chants in time with AJ bouncing ehr on her knee.
"There you go, it's unanimous." AJ smiles at Mike as he watches them, guilt swirling within him once more.
"I'm really sorry," he says softly. "I'll be home as soon as I can, I promise."
"I know you will." She blows him a kiss. "I have to go give this one a bath before she goes to bed, so we have to go. Love you, Mike."
"Love you too," he says before the screen goes black and he pushes his phone away, only feeling worse than better. WWE affects every aspect of his life and now the people that he depends on will barely even acknowledge him. "What the hell am I even doing anymore?" he wonders, standing up and staring at himself in the mirror, cateloguing how redrimmed his eyes are, how all around exhausted he seems.
"Dammit, Mike, you're an absolute mess," he mumbles before escaping into the bathroom to get ready for bed.