Fortunate Son (Part 8/?)
Title: Fortunate Son (Part 8/?)
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Taking place in feudal England, Cody's family comes from a long line of farmers who work the land belonging to the DiBiase family. Despite the enormous class differences, Cody and Ted meet and form an instant connection with one another, both learning things from the other that they otherwise never would have known.
Word Count: 9243
A/N: I admit, I'm no expert on the life and times of feudal England, but I tried. Forgive any errors when it comes to time frames and whatnot...
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
How long he could stay there, though, was on his mind. He knew that at some point during the night he’d have to leave, there was no way he could get caught leaving from Cody’s room in the morning. That would raise too many eyebrows. For the time being, however, he was happy to have Cody in his arms, and Cody’s arms around him.
“Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have a roommate,” Cody muttered into Ted’s chest, a smile on his face.
Ted chuckled. “Guess so. If you did, I couldn’t do this,” he said as he ran his fingers over Cody’s nude backside. Then, when Cody gasped against his skin, he splayed his hand out, pulling his young lover closer to his body.
“Hmm, nope.” Cody raised his head and pushed himself up so his face was level with Ted’s. “Couldn’t do this, either.” With that, he planted a kiss on Ted’s mouth, tongue lightly teasing his lips.
“Definitely not.”
The pair fell into a comfortable silence, happy to just hold one another. It didn’t take long for them to fall into a light sleep. Ted woke up a few hours later, realizing quickly that the bed he had fallen asleep on was far less comfortable than his usual bed. And his arm was definitely still asleep, which he realized was because Cody was still lying on top of it. Which meant he was still down in Cody’s room.
Easing his arm from underneath Cody, Ted then rolled off the bed, planting his feet on the floor. He turned, kneeling by the side of the bed, placing a hand on Cody’s shoulder. “Cody,” he whispered, shaking him gently, hoping that Cody would awake for a brief moment so he wouldn’t think that he’d just left.
“Hmm?” Cody hummed, not even opening his eyes.
“Cody, I have to go back to my room.”
“Do you have to?” he croaked out, voice laden with sleep.
“I do,” he said, now bringing his hand to Cody’s head, stroking his fingers just behind his ear. With a brief kiss to Cody’s temple, he then searched around for his night shirt and pants, pulling them on in the dark. Then he was swiftly out the door, hoping to get to his room unseen by the many eyes of the castle.
Although Cody was glad Ted hadn't just left (he knew had the other done so he wouldn't have intended to be cruel, but Cody would have been inwardly devastated regardless) he was also pretty miserable almost instantaneously despite having been in a rather deep and contented sleep until he had been awoken. The ravenette shivered; without Ted there with him suddenly it felt much colder, and he got out of bed to redress himself.
He hoped that Ted didn't get caught leaving his room because he didn't want any unnecessary bother for the other. Oh, Cody was well-aware that should someone happen to tell on them about their relationship to Ted's father then he would be the one who was removed: it would be the quickest, easiest solution for a man of Lord DiBiase's means. And then the man would hold it over Ted's head to make him do whatever he said to 'get him over this phase.'
Navigating himself back to his room in the dark was no problem for Ted after all his years of practice -even taking away all the months he had been at school and so hadn't been there to refresh himself on the pathways- but he would have much rather remained with Cody. Had he been a servant too then he would have had an excuse to stay there, under the pretence that they were no more than platonic room-mates.
That had been something that Ted admittedly worried about: someone else taking a liking to Cody and then stealing him away from him. He doubted it would happen but Cody was dealing with a lot at the moment, and Ted couldn't be with him all the time to prevent anyone taking advantage of his gorgeous lover's vulnerability... hence why he had John keeping an eye on him, he reminded himself as he got into his own comfortable, but cold, bed.
As Cody eventually managed to get himself dozing off to sleep again -he did have to be up before Ted to go help out and then wake Ted after all and they had both had a busy night- he swore he heard a noise that sounded a lot like the ones he and Ted had made earlier. Curiosity peaked despite himself Cody stilled (as though the people next door might somehow know he was awake and listening) and then gasped softly as he made out one muffled, moaned word from a voice he definitely recognised as one John Cena: "Randy~~~!"
The words he heard next, this time flowing from Randy’s mouth, left him with no doubt whatsoever in his mind that John and Randy were, indeed, lovers. Cody’s eyes flew open as Randy spoke, “You like that John? You like my cock deep inside you?”
There was no way Cody was getting back to sleep after that. He felt as though he should cover his ears, move away from the wall, something, but he couldn’t do it. He was listening in on an obviously private moment, but he was more intrigued than anything.
Then it hit him. If he could hear them through the wall, could they hear…? Oh no. Oh, God no. How many times had he muttered Ted’s name throughout their time together that night? Had he gotten louder than he thought he had? John already knew, but what about Randy, would he keep his mouth shut? Now, with thoughts racing, all he could do was sit in his bed, head against the wall as he listened in on the obvious sounds of John and Randy making love in the room next door.
Things quieted down after a while, and, still leaning against the wall, Cody dozed off for a bit until he heard a knock on his door. He blinked his eyes open and sat up, rolling his head in an attempt to work the kinks out. “Yes?”
“It’s John.”
“Come in,” he said as he stood on the hard stone floor.
“Hey, I just wanted to show you this morning where all us servants bathe, where we… go, things of that nature.”
“Oh, ok.”
As Cody was grabbing his clothes, John said, “Quite the night last night, eh?”
Turning around, clothes gripped close to his chest, Cody’s eyes were wide with shock. So… so he had heard? “Did you… Oh, God, you heard?”
With a nod, as well, John answered, “Sure did.”
Taking a deep breath to strengthen his resolve, Cody countered, “I guess the same can be said for you, then.”
John grinned the biggest, toothiest grin Cody had ever seen. “Guess it can. Now come on, follow me.”
Biting his lip slightly, Cody then shifted just a little bit closer to John and murmured, "John, Randy won't-- he won't--" he couldn't even get the words out, fear momentarily choking him again. John's smile didn't falter, but his eyes did soften as he draped a casual arm around the other as they walked along, "Cody. Kid, relax? Why would Randy say anything about business that is not his own, and that he also does himself?" the older man soothed him, "Trust me, he won't say a word." Cody felt only minutely better at John's words, but it was better than nothing.
Leading Cody along a few corridors John whispered into Cody's ear, "There are at least two empty rooms between your room and everyone else’s, so don't worry about thinking that they may have heard you too-- they never heard me and Randy." That left Cody to curiously ponder just how long exactly John and Randy had been involved. They didn't seem that much older than Ted, but they just had a rapport between them that was so... strong. And yet so casual; either no one else noticed or were damn good at hiding it.
Exiting out of a side door Cody was slightly stumped to see John leave the building of the castle-- but then he ducked into a side one that was still much, much larger than his home was. Entering it Cody saw multiple wash basins and several bath-tubs. "The women have one on the other side of the stables." John said, and Cody was sure that there was some sort of reassurance in the other's words, which confused him, until he remembered Layla that was.
Randy was the only one inside of the room at the moment and Cody felt his face heating up; he had heard something very private between Randy and John, whether inadvertently or not, and although John seemed pretty chilled Randy was probably going to be a totally different kettle of fish. Randy's eyes flickered to John's sleep-clothing clad body before flicking to him, narrowing slightly. Cody faltered -he just had the feeling he pissed Randy off- but John merely pulled him along easily by the wrist, "Hey, Randy!" he greeted brightly, casual as anything.
“Good morning, John,” he greeted in return, still not taking his eyes off Cody, and he couldn’t help but like the look of fear that read in Cody’s eyes. “And Cody, to what do we owe this honour?”
“No need to be fresh, Randy. The kid’s all right, so quit lookin’ at him like that. ‘Sides, you know he knows ‘bout us and-”
“And we certainly know about him,” he cut in. “I must admit, I am rather impressed. The Lord’s son is a good catch.” He then took a handful of water and poured it over his face; a second handful was used to rinse his hair. “Oh, God, Teddy, yes!” Randy mimicked, causing Cody’s blush to deepen.
“Oh, c’mon, Randy, lookit what you’re doin’ to the poor kid.”
“You know,” Cody began shyly, though it still got both men to look at him, “you shouldn’t be teasing me about how loud I am when neither of you know how to keep your mouths shut.”
Surprised at Cody’s boldness, much like he was when Cody stood up to Eric, Randy nodded his head slightly. “You’re right, John, I suppose the kid is all right.” He then sat up in the tub and pushed himself out, his nude, muscular body dripping wet, and out of the corner of his eye, Cody saw John’s tongue dart out at the sight, licking his lips before he drew his lower lip between his teeth.
Voices were heard outside when a few of the servants were nearing the door to the bath house. John’s face quickly returned to a stoic state, tearing his eyes away from Randy’s body. “C’mon now, gotta take a quick bath before work today.”
Nodding, Cody walked over to a bath tub and quickly undressed behind it, leaving his uniform folded on the ground next to the tub. He stepped in, finding the water to be slightly cool, but he was used to bathing in the cold river during all times of the year, so it wasn’t as though he couldn’t handle it. He noticed John, too, was stepping into a tub, and the other two men that had entered the room were currently undressing to wash themselves. Randy had dried off and was getting dressed. He thought that he saw his eyes flicker to John’s, and John’s head was just happened to be turned in Randy’s direction. What was now so obvious to him, he realized, could be easily overlooked by anyone else. No wonder they managed to get by for so long (he assumed it had been a while since they had been together, what with them growing up knowing one another, but he still didn’t know for sure).
Once his bath was finished, he dried off, then pulled on his uniform. And then it was time for him to go wake Ted. Maybe he should do it with a slow, gentle kiss. Or maybe he could slip inside the room, crawl onto his bed and wrap a hand around that gorgeous cock he possessed. He decided to think about it on his deliberately slow walk up to Ted’s room.
Reaching Ted’s room Cody eased the door open and then slipped inside quickly. The room was semi-darkened because of the heavy curtains that covered Ted’s window, but a determined shaft of light that was spilling through a gap in the material allowed Cody to make out his sleeping lover-and what a vision of beauty Ted made lain on his bed.
The older teen had his arms curled around the pillow he obviously rested with as though he were cuddling it-and the adorable image that brought a large smile to Cody’s face got even better when the other murmured, “Cody…” and rolled over somewhat so his head was directed towards Cody instead. If he hadn’t have known better he would have thought that Ted was awake; but the other was still breathing deeply and his eyes were closed. Loathe though he was to wake him, but knowing he must, Cody began to cross the distance from the door to Ted’s bed, settling on how he’d wake the other.
Grinning with a slightly more impish air Cody gently eased himself onto the bed over the sleeping Ted. Carefully setting his weight against Ted’s waist, though mainly propped on his knees, Cody leant his head down and placed his mouth down by Ted’s ear, “Ted…” his voice came out low, showing how loathe he was to wake the sleeping God before him. However he knew he didn’t have that much time to be lingering with and so cleared his throat softly before then trying again, “Ted-dy~!” he let the name roll off of his tongue with an almost musical lilt directly into Ted’s ear… but the other merely murmured softly in protest and shifted slightly before settling down again.
Licking his lips slightly and daring himself to go through with his intentions to wake the other, Cody let his tongue trace first over the shell of Ted’s ear and then the sensitive spot underneath it. Ted shuddered beneath his body and his face creased in a desirous expression for a moment before turning lax once more, “Cody~~” this time his name came out distinctly as a moan and Cody shivered himself. Damn it he couldn’t let himself get carried away or else Ted would never get down to breakfast… and Cody wouldn’t be able to look John and Randy in the eye. He was going to have to ask them how they managed to be around one another so much and yet carried on as though there were no intimate feelings between them at all. Well, for the main part anyway; anyone could see that they had some sort of relationship between them even though probably no-one guessed that it was as intimate as it actually was. He’d ask them later though. Much, much later.
Letting his lips catch the lobe of Ted’s ear the ravenette gingerly sucked upon the soft flesh, and suddenly strong hands were securing his waist. “God, if this is a dream I don’t wanna be woken up unless it’s for the real thing… don’t stop, Cody.” Ted’s voice was husky with sleep but Cody was thrilled to note that he seemed perfectly coherent when he spoke his name like that, hands tightening around his waist somewhat and pulling him closer to his body.
Grinding his hips just so, Cody brushed their cocks together, as he whispered into his ear, “Morning, Teddy. How am I doing in my morning duties of waking you up?”
“You’re certainly making something rise,” he replied as he lifted his hips off his mattress, hands still gripped around Cody’s waist. “So I’d say you’re fulfilling your duties quite well.”
“Mmm, good to hear. I’d hate to disappoint you.”
“Trust me, this is far from disappointing.”
“I do have to inform you, though, that you’ve got to go down to breakfast soon. I wish we could stay here together for the rest of the morning, but…” he drifted off, hating to be the bearer of bad news.
“That is quite unfortunate. I suppose my parents wouldn’t quite understand if I refused breakfast so as I could stay in bed with my young male lover, would they?” He sighed, letting go of Cody’s hips. “Don’t worry, I’ll dine quickly, then we can have the rest of the day together.”
Scooting back, Cody allowed Ted to get off his bed, missing their contact already. As Ted dressed (right in front of him this time, now that Cody had seen him nude, what did it matter if he saw him again?), Cody sat on the edge of the bed, watching. And then a question hit him and he had to ask, “Do you know if anyone on your staff has… well, if any of them have had affairs amongst themselves?”
Buttoning up his shirt, Ted quirked his head and shrugged. “I don’t actually know. Although I think I recall one of the maids hastily marrying one of the other servants because she was pregnant and had no husband. I’m assuming that was the child’s father. What makes you ask?”
“Oh, no reason… Is that the only one affair you can think of, though? You know of no other people sleeping together?”
“No. It’s not like I insert myself into their business, anyway, but I can’t think of anyone. There has to be a reason you’re asking me this. Come on, out with it.”
Sitting up a bit straighter on the bed, Cody bit his bottom lip then told him, “Well, it’s… It’s John and Randy.”
A look of genuine shock crossed Ted's face and Cody would have assumed Ted would know; before reasoning with himself that Ted had just admitted that he didn't really have anything to do with the servants outside what they did for him. Which he knew was just a case of tradition more than an ignorance or anything. "John and Randy?" Ted repeated and Cody nodded his head, still nibbling his bottom lip somewhat. "How do you know?" Ted continued.
A slight flush covered Cody's cheeks and he gave a slightly awkward shrug out of need to be doing something with his body more than anything as he talked, "Let's just, um, say, that I heard some things last night and they were confirmed this morning by John himself..." and Randy too, but explaining about such looks was nowhere near as convincing of compelling as seeing them first hand. Exhaling a slight breath Ted moved to his dressing table and grabbed his hair-comb.
"I always knew they were close pretty much having grown up together but I would never have imagined..." whenever he had seen the two off-duty or even in the midst of duty they were usually surrounded by women. Hm, an intense cover-up indeed. Before Ted could ponder the thought further Cody gave a slight laugh, "At least I know Randy doesn't really have a problem with me now."
Turning to face his lover after he had finished combing his hair through, Ted arched a brow and asked, "What do you mean?" Cody waved a hand, "John told me Randy was a bit moody, but when he first took me down into the kitchen and was looking out for me and stuff Randy seemed really angry, and then next thing I heard was John appeasing his jealousy--"
The next thing that he had heard until the previous night that was. "Apparently Randy gets jealous whenever John devotes attention to a stray kitten like myself." his amused smile fell somewhat into a curious expression, desire lighting his eyes lowly as Ted approached, leaning into his ear and making Cody shiver as he murmured, "A stray kitten? Does that mean if I stroke you I can make you purr?" The elder teen stole a kiss from the momentarily stupefied Cody, dodging out of the room with a broad grin on his face. Shaking himself Cody hastened to follow him.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ted stood, waiting for Cody to arrive, and it didn’t take long for the younger of the two to catch up. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Ted asked.
“No. Shall I go have breakfast, then? And meet you by the dining room?”
“You’re catching on quick.” In the three days that Cody had been in the castle, they had formed a routine, which Ted was determined to follow as days went by. “I’ll see you soon, ok?”
As they parted ways, Ted thought back to what Cody told him about John and Randy. Were they really sleeping together? The two of them? It seemed… well, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. They had known each other for so long with no one else their age in the castle. As curious teenagers, well, maybe they had… Who knew?
But then another thing Cody told him struck a chord. Cody could hear John and Randy through the wall. That meant that they could have heard... No, that couldn’t happen. He stopped walking dead in his tracks, turning his head, but Cody was long gone. Taking a deep breath, Ted tried to calm his nerves, wanting no one to suspect anything once he walked into the dining room. Even when he thought he had gotten things under control, there was still a nagging voice in his head telling him that John and Randy knew and would somehow use it against him.
Cody, though, was in a fine mood. Even when Eric walked in to join a large amount of the staff for breakfast. He was sitting next to John and diagonally from Randy, realizing that he wasn’t as scary as he initially thought. Eric sat at a free spot at the other end of the table, avoiding all contact with the three of them. He couldn’t stand them, any of them, and the last thing he needed this early in the morning to do was start up again with the back talking kid.
“This beat rising every morning to get the chicken eggs and milk the cows?” John asked through a mouthful of egg.
“I suppose so. But isn’t that what you do now, anyway?” Cody asked, raising his brow. He had to admit, he liked having a bed and a room all to himself (well, to share with Ted), but he did miss being around the animals, being outdoors constantly, being able to work with the land. And he certainly missed being close to his father at all times.
"As a more minor part, yeah," John said with a slight nod after swallowing. Cody wondered how this man was so cheerful and boisterous all the time-- and it was apparent that it was all completely genuine as well. "--but I really take care of the horses more than the other animals." John just seemed to have a knack with the horses and so he was often placed with them. "Does each member of the family have a horse of their own?"
It might seem a stupid question (he was sure he caught Eric smirking to himself with some misguided attempt at superiority) but Cody was genuinely uncertain; he had never seen Brett or Lady DiBiase riding before, and Ted was always using the same horse like his father did when he had first begun heading down to the parcels-- it was a legitimate question.
"Yeah, each member of the family technically has a horse of their own." John said, "You've probably seen Young Ted on his; beautiful creature and he's very attached to it. The Lord's old horse was struck lame in a horrible accident and we had to put it down," John's eyes saddened before recovering somewhat, "It was better for him in the long run though. Young Brett has a horse too but doesn't seem to enjoy riding as much-- and the Lady rarely ever gets a chance to ride solo unless the Lord or one of her attendants is with her-- and even then she's often too busy.
It was hard to imagine a woman like Ted's mother being bogged down with things to do before he reminded himself that women of her standing had a lot of work to do in terms of social activities. "I'd like to see the horses sometime." he admitted with a bit of shyness and John nodded, "As I say: ask Young Ted for anything like that. I sure don't mind, but we can't be having him getting mad if you vanish off for an hour, can we?" his eyes glimmered with secrecy.
Ted meanwhile had found himself finishing breakfast faster than he had anticipated and so he decided to wait for Cody. As he was waiting though he noticed Layla and Michelle walking past; the pair had seemed to become attached at the hip since Layla started working there. "Lay, really? You think you can get him?" Michelle's nasal drawl sounded and Layla twittered, "'Shell, if I get my way Cody Runnels will be mine by the time the winter is out." Ted bit down on his tongue hard to keep from verbally lashing the woman, clenching his fists together. He startled slightly when a concerned voice said, "Ted? What's wrong?" and he turned to find himself looking at Cody.
“Nothing…” When he saw that Cody wasn’t buying that, he said, “I’ll explain in a bit, ok?” He watched the two of them jabbering away as they went off to do heavens knows what.
“Was that Layla?” Cody asked, his own mood souring instantly. The mere sight of her was torture.
“Yeah, that was her.”
“Does she have anything to do with your bad mood?” If so, that was completely understandable. He certainly knew the feeling.
“Come on, let’s go to my room,” Ted suggested, knowing that they’d have a bit more privacy. Soon, the pair was in Ted’s room, Ted taking up his favourite spot by the window while Cody sat on his bed. “So, you want to know the cause of this sour mood?” Cody nodded. “I was standing by the kitchens waiting for you, as you well know, and Michelle and Layla walked by, talking about you.”
Cody pointed to his chest and asked, “Me?”
“Yes, you. Michelle asked Layla if she believed she could get you, and Layla replied that you’ll be hers by the time winter is out. I was so close to saying to her that she better not so much as attempt to lay a hand on you if she knows what’s good for her.”
While he had been frowning at the start, utterly pissed off that Layla still had this notion that they would become an item of some sort, he couldn’t help but smile slightly when Ted told him what he wanted to tell her. “As if I’d ever want to be hers. I’m yours, and that’s all there is to it.” He truly wished that it could be that simple, but he knew that, so long as he had Ted by his side, they would get through anything together.
Standing from the window seat, Ted walked over to his bed and pushed Cody onto the mattress by his shoulders. Climbing onto the bed, straddling Cody’s hips, he leaned forward and claimed Cody’s mouth with his own. “You’re mine,” he said possessively between kisses. His hands were wrapped tight in Cody’s hair, and Cody’s hands, he could feel, were clawing at his back. ‘That’s right, Layla, Cody belongs to me,’ he thought as his tongue delved deep into Cody’s mouth.
Even his lingering doubts couldn't protest in the face of such possessive fierceness-- and he didn't want to protest either. Why deny what he already knew to be true? He had been Ted's since the first time he laid eyes on the other after all. The ravenette moaned as Ted's tongue plundered his mouth and caressed each crevice of his accepting mouth. The hands in his hair were almost desperately tight and Cody felt like he was struggling to grasp Ted even then.
The kiss broke with a gasp from both, Ted receiving a primal thrill when he noted how swollen Cody's lips looked and how flushed his cheeks were. He had no doubt that he was probably in a similar state himself, and that that would mean that they wouldn't be able to leave his room for a bit, but he couldn't say he was sorry. Cody was his, and he'd risk disinheritance or whatever else might come his way to lay public claim on his lover if Layla tried anything. She needed to focus her attention elsewhere, and soon, lest Ted really lose his temper; it didn't happen often, but when it did, watch out. "Cody... You're mine." Although the words were strongly, huskily whispered, Cody could see slight fear in the other's eyes-- almost as though he were expecting Cody to say no.
"I'm yours, Ted." the kiss-swollen lips curled into a soft smile, Cody's slightly lust and passion-clouded eyes radiating nothing but genuine love at him and Ted immediately felt blessed and humbled; he had to do everything he could to ensure that Cody never felt the need to stray. And if Layla made a move then he was going to do everything he possibly could to see her sabotaged. Probably ungentlemanly, but in her case he didn't care.
As he took Cody's mouth in another deep, passionate kiss, Ted thought that he would like to get the other a small keepsake. It was a tradition amongst lovers and that was what they were... though it would have to be something small given that it'd have to be something Cody could hide securely and keep safe. He'd find something... Admittedly Layla's words had increased that determined, unshakable need that Ted found he had of wanting to be the only one on Cody's mind all the time. As much as realistically possible anyway.
Sure, before this he wanted to make love to Cody, had dreamed about it night after night since meeting the object of his affection, but the urge was suddenly much stronger, wanting to take the man in that way to even further prove the point that they belonged to each other, and no one could come between that.
“Theodore!” cried his father’s booming voice, alerting them both to his close proximity. Ted got off of Cody instantly and pulled him into the wash room.
“Yes, Father?” he called back after splashing some water on himself, trying to cool his flushed face. He could hear the door opening, and knew that his father was wondering where he was. With a small, wet wash cloth over his mouth, he headed out of the room and into his bedroom, patting his face so his father couldn’t see his kiss swollen lips. “Did you need me for something?”
“Yes, I had some things to go over with you. I was going to show you how the profits from each parcel are divided so that you’ll know how that works once you take over.”
“Of course, Father. I’ll meet you in your study, then?”
“Yes, yes, hurry along now,” he said before leaving the room, not bothering to close the door behind him.
“Well… that was close,” he said, leaning back against the wall closest to the bathroom, where Cody was still hiding. He hated this, not being able to spend time with Cody like he wanted to. If his father hadn’t hollered, Ted knew that he’d never be able to explain the sight that he walked in on. “Dammit,” he muttered, dropping his head against the wall hard.
Cody gave him a sad look, knowing that they’d have to be even more careful now, seeing as anyone could just seemingly waltz into Ted’s room with very little warning. Dammit, indeed.
Feeling bad that he had caused such a look onto Cody's face (though he didn't doubt the other probably shared in the thoughts and feelings he did, or something close to them anyway) Ted reached and pressed a soft kiss to the other's lips before murmuring, "I'll see you later. This meeting with my father will be really dull, and well," he quirked a slight smile, "You already know how things work down on the parcels so it won't be too interesting or educational for you."
"What should I do?" Cody asked, feeling slightly uneasy about the thought of being without Ted in the castle and doing nothing; he didn't want someone to report to Ted Sr. that he was lazy or anything. Ted almost suggested that Cody write to his father-- but managed to catch the thoughtless suggestion at the last minute. That would be rather pointless seeing as how Virgil couldn't read and didn't know his son was learning to write.
"Why don't you go to your room and read a while?" he didn't want Cody always cooped up in his room (without him at least) or in his own room, but there was no way the other would be able to explain how he could read when no one expected the peasantry to be able to read. "Ok." Cody said, at a loss for anything else to do in Ted's absence, as it were.
They parted ways at the top of the stairs, sending one another a last lingering, longing look seconds after one another. However, Cody's plan to go read in his room was segued when John appeared and grabbed his arm, asking him if he could lend out a helping hand in the barn if he wasn't busy. Having missed working with the animals Cody nodded his head, allowing John to lead him along. It seemed a horse had injured itself and the wound needed dressing, but John couldn't keep the creature soothed and tend the wound solely by himself; since Cody knew he would be able to be useful in such a situation he was happy to help.
“The other stable boy isn’t as good with the horses as I am, he’s still in training and hasn’t had the kind of experience you do with animals,” John continued as he led Cody out to the barn. The distinct, familiar smell of the barnyard wafted towards Cody’s nose and be couldn’t help but breathe in deep. “That’s the true sign of someone growing up on a farm,” John said with a chuckle. “Usually when people come out here, they plug up their nose.”
“I can’t help it. It’s odd not smelling this all day. I never thought I’d find myself saying I miss the smell of horse manure, but here I am,” he said, grinning.
They walked into the barn and Cody saw the horse, his grin falling away instantly. It didn’t look too serious, on the surface anyway. But if they didn’t tend to it soon, it could easily go downhill and they would lose the horse. “This is Brett’s horse,” John told him. “I was exercisin’ him when he stumbled and then this happened,” he said, pointing to the blood that was dripping down its rear left leg. “Cut himself on a rock, nasty lookin’ cut this is. Need you to try ‘n soothe him if ya can. I don’t wanna risk him kickin’ me while I clean it.”
John had a pot of boiling water over a fire, which he dipped a rag into, planning on using that to clean out the dirt. Cody stood next to the injured horse, who was frantically limping about, pained noises coming from his mouth. “Shhh. You’ll be ok,” he said, patting the horse’s side in an attempt to calm him. “Be still, now, let John take care of you.” He noticed the horse became less jumpy and had stopped moving around.
“Think I can try it now?” John asked as he came closer to the horse.
“Yes, I think so.”
Kneeling down, John held the rag to the horse’s leg, and felt the horse kicking slightly as the wound was cleaned.
“I know it’s uncomfortable,” Cody said to the horse, “but you’ll be ok.” He ran his hand down the horse’s massive side over and over, smiling when he saw that he stilled. “See, look, isn’t this much better?” he asked when he saw John pull back to go grab some clean rags to wrap around the injury. “How’s it look?”
“Went in pretty deep, coulda turned out much worse than this, but I think I got all the dirt out. Gotta hope he doesn’t get infected, so I’ll keep a close eye on him. Looks like it didn’t cut up any nerves or tendons, though, so if all goes well, he should heal up pretty quick.” He then kneeled back down and wrapped the tight bandages around the leg, hoping to keep out any nasty diseases.
“I do hope it turns out well. He’s a beautiful horse; it’d be such a shame to see something happen to him,” Cody said.
“Sure would be. Thank you for all your help, never coulda done this by myself,” he said as he stood up and stepped back to inspect his work.
As John packed away the excess bandages and such from the little kit that he had had with him, Cody continued to pat the horse on the side and murmur soft praises to it. Some people didn't understand the magnitude of how their ministrations and such could affect an animal, and how strongly they felt pain; he had been in so much bother once when he'd nearly gotten into a fight with a man twice his age in the village over the way he was treating his mare. Needless to say he was glad that John seemed to understand that-- if he hadn't sought out help from someone who knew what they were doing then both John and the horse could have been hurt badly.
They left the horse to rest after John topped up its feed and Cody helped with the water, the older man turning to look to him when they were outside the section of stable where the horse had been in. "How come you're not with Young Ted anyway?" Cody arched a brow slightly in surprise at the boldish question; though he supposed that he shouldn't be surprised given what he already knew about John and vice versa. "He has a meeting with his father about how the parcels work and such... said it would be pointless and boring for me to be there."
John nodded as he led Cody to go and wash his hands before they carried on with any other jobs, "He's got a point: no one could know the parcels better than someone who's grown up on them." he tilted his head and asked, "How many generations of your family have been on that land?" Cody's brow furrowed as he tried to think. Great grandfather, grandfather, father, brother (before he left) and then himself; those were the people he knew about anyway, "Four before me if you count my brother..."
They used a nearby clean water trough to take water in a small bucket to wash their hands, John then pouring that away. "Fancy hanging around and helping me out a bit if you have nothing to do?" Cody nodded eagerly; doing this had reminded him how much he had been indoctrinated to doing such tasks over a long period of time, and eased his homesickness. Despite how Ted and John -and Randy a little he supposed- had been trying to help him feel welcome he still felt homesick.
He worked with John for two hours (Ted had said he'd come looking for him when he was done) and Cody figured that he'd better go back to his room to wait for the other. John said that he had nothing left but smaller jobs now which would be taken care of after dinner. They both went to have a quick wash and checked if their uniforms were still presentable to wear -they did have a spare though- and then parted ways: Cody went indoors and John, somewhat strangely, headed off to another part of the outside courtyard.
Just as Cody was heading towards his room via the entrance hall to go down to the kitchen, he spotted Ted. He went to call his name, but then recovered himself hastily, "Young Master!" the other stopped, turning towards him, and Cody could have sworn that Ted's eyes had saddened upon hearing Cody say that. But they were bright again as he drew close.
“Ah, Cody, I was wondering where you got off to.”
“John needed my help in the stables,” he told him enthusiastically. “One of the horses was injured-”
“It wasn’t Mercury, was it?” Ted cut in, concern evident in his voice. He loved that horse and would hate to see him injured.
“No, it was Brett’s. John was out with him and he stumbled and cut himself on a nasty rock. He was really fidgety because of all the pain he was in, so John needed me there to help calm him down while he cleaned and dressed the wound.”
“Bet you must have liked that. Working with the animals, I mean.”
“Oh, I did,” he said fondly. “I do miss our animals, the cows, even the chickens. But nothing can top working for you,” he added, his voice dropping low so only Ted could hear him.
“I know what you mean… Hmm, do you think you remember the way to the library?” Ted asked just then. People seemed to look for him far less if they didn’t first find him in his bedroom, and when he needed to get away from everything and everyone, he went straight to the library.
“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. He had only gone there once with Teddy, and it was after going through a great number of passageways. “I really don’t think I do.”
“Come on, then, I’ll show you the easy way to get there,” he said, leading him to one of the many little doorways the castle held. They walked along, quite unbothered, until they spotted Layla carrying a silver tray, and she was headed in their direction. Fantastic.
“Young Master Theodore, what brings you here?” she asked, quite bold on her part.
“I’m simply showing Cody some of the pathways that he may have to use in the future, Layla. Now be on your way,” he said dismissively.
She smiled at Cody as she walked past, and he could feel her eyes boring into him. He, on the other hand, showed no emotion as she passed, his eyes looking right straight at Ted. They didn’t move until they were sure she left the pathway, not wanting to risk her following them to the library.
As they walked Cody could read the tension in the set of Ted's shoulders; he knew none of it was directed at him but it bothered him that Layla upset the other so, and he understood the other's frustrations that neither of them could lay an open claim on one another and therefore chase off any potential rivals.
As they were passing through a secret hallway he reached and placed his hand on the small of Ted's back, making the other turn to look at him over his shoulder. Smiling softly, Cody merely held the other's eyes a moment-- and that look was all it took to calm Ted down again. No woman had ever frustrated him as much as Layla did... not even Kristen had gotten him this wound up and she had been after him directly. Smiling in return Ted nodded, silently reassuring the other he was alright now.
They reached the library not two minutes later and Ted immediately seemed to relax. This room really was his favourite in the entire castle because it was the only one where he truly felt he could act openly and without anyone else just dropping in; apart from himself no one seemed to even use the library. That wasn't to say his family didn't read, but he could count on one hand how many times he had seen each family member in there.
"So you didn't get a chance to do any reading then?" Cody went red and looked down sheepishly, shaking his head. Ted laughed softly, "Cody, I'm not angry, it's Ok: you had a reason to be doing something else after all." he clicked his fingers slightly, "Since our book is in your room how about I teach you how to write some more?" he offered and Cody immediately nodded enthusiastically.
Ted nodded to a side where some parchment, an ink and quill-pen lay, "Could you pass me those, please, Cody?" he asked politely and the other immediately nodded before turning to do so. Admittedly he watched Cody's backside for a few moments as he walked away from him, but, really, it would be an insult to Cody for him to not look. When the other turned back to him his eyes were quickly back to Cody's face, still smiling warmly.
“Perfect.” He popped the top off the ink bottle and dipped the quill in so he picked up just enough ink. “Now I need you to sit here.” He pulled out the desk chair, inviting Cody to sit so that he could help him along with the letters. Once Cody sat, he asked, “Do you remember how to hold the quill?”
“I don’t know,” he said, unsure.
“Here, try it.” Ted handed the younger teen the quill and watched him adjust it in his hand, trying to remember the proper way to hold it. “There you go, look at that.” Cody turned his head around, beaming at Ted, who happily returned the smile. “I’m going to help you write your name, ok?”
Cody nodded, “Ok.”
Leaning down, Ted pressed his front to Cody’s back as he wrapped his hand around Cody’s. His face was right next to his lover’s ear, and he whispered, “What’s the first letter of your name?”
He thought back to what his name looked like when Ted wrote it out for him, thinking of the alphabet that Ted showed him one day. “C,” he answered.
“Good. So, now we’ll write a ‘C’.” Slowly guiding Cody’s hand, Ted helped him to form the letter. He could feel how tense Cody’s arm was as he performed this unfamiliar task. “You can loosen your arm a bit, you know,” he said as he let his hand drag up Cody’s arm, watching the goosebumps rise wherever he touched. “Let’s try the next letter. Tell me what comes after the ‘c’.”
He sounded out his name, realizing that the next letter was straight forward. “O.”
“Excellent.” He placed his hand on Cody’s once more, helping him to make the ‘o,’ and this time he felt that Cody had relaxed his arm a bit, making it much easier to guide him along. “What comes next?” When the next two letters were done, both of them looked at the name written out on the page. “Look at that, Cody, you’re learning how to write.”
“I did it with your help, though,” he said, sounding as though he were disappointed.
“Do you want to try it by yourself this time?” Ted asked, hearing the tone of dissatisfaction in Cody’s voice. Obviously the younger man was used to being self-sufficient, not used to getting help from anyone else.
“Can I?”
Biting his lip in concentration, Cody furrowed his brow. Momentarily his hand tightened around the quill, arm muscles tautening and Ted made to tell him to relax when he did it himself. Although Cody's own desire to be self-sufficient may have spurred his desire to try writing solo, he had a feeling the other might be trying to impress him too to some degree.
Looking to the letters that Ted had helped him write, Cody then loaded the quill with ink once more the way Ted had taught him and then placed it down on the parchment. The ink immediately began to well in a bead of darkness and Cody was momentarily fascinated by the new sight-- but he shook himself quickly.
"C." he reminded himself as he shakily made the curvaceous letter appear on the paper. The shakiness was to be expected given that he had never done so on his own before (or even too many times with assistance) and also because of that subconscious fear of failing that he had remembered being filled with when he was first learning to write in school... Only Cody wouldn't get punished for mistakes like he had on occasion.
"O..." Cody licked his lip slightly, still visibly concentrating as he took his time; the letters still being somewhat shaky but definitely not something to turn your nose up at being that Cody hadn't even learnt to read fluently yet. "D... Y." Looking to Ted, Cody beamed proudly, eyes glittering with excitement, "I did it!" his expression fell slightly though as he seemed to compare the ones he had written and what Ted had written. "They don't look as good as yours." he said almost apologetically and Ted shook his head firmly, "They look fantastic."
Cody blushed slightly-- the slightly becoming 'a lot more' when Ted kissed his lips fleetingly, "Well done. I'm very proud of you. How about we try some other words?" Much like Ted had done the other day, Cody wrote his lover's name, and then his father's name, and then the names of Ted's family members before adding Randy and John to the list too.
What Cody had found hardest to write so far were his and Ted's last names; something Ted understood because they were longer words and Cody was still new to it all, and also because his name had two capital letters in it and Cody hadn't yet become acquainted with such an idea. They became totally involved in one another and what they were doing.
The more Cody worked at it, the more he improved. No, it wasn’t a drastic improvement, but his letters became slightly less shaky and his arm was more relaxed without having to be reminded. “You’re doing such a great job, Cody,” Ted praised. “Try your name one more time, then I think I’ve got to go to lunch with my family.” It was easy to lose track of time not only while in the library, but while spending the day with Cody.
“Yes, it is getting to be around that time,” Cody agreed. He’d once again be joining the servants in the kitchens to dine with them. Hopefully John and Randy would be there. Not only would they distract him from Eric but talking to them would mean he wouldn’t have to talk to Layla.
After trying his name one more time, he looked between that one and the first one he wrote unassisted. There was definitely a difference, but it still looked nothing like the one that Ted helped him with. And it was leaps and bounds away from the perfect lettering that Ted wrote out all by himself. “I wish I could write this well when I was first learning,” Ted told him.
“Well, you must have been much younger when you were first learning.”
Ted nodded. “I believe I was about five,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter how old I was, and it doesn’t matter how old you are. What matters is that you’re learning now and you’re doing so, so well.”
“Am I really? You’re not just… saying that?” Cody asked, still doubting his own progress.
“I would never just say that. If I believed you were doing something incorrectly, I’d help you to correct it. You got it?”
“I got it.”
“Good. I think next time I’ll have you write out the whole alphabet, that way you can get a better feel for all the letters, even though these ones you’d probably use more than the others, but it helps to have a good understanding off all the letters. Sound ok to you?”
“It does. Now you should probably get to the dining room before they decide to send out a search party for you.”
“Hmm, you’re right. Let’s go. We’ll meet up later, after we eat?” he said, a slight question in his tone.
“Yup.”
“Ok, you lead the way.” Before Cody opened the door, he pressed a quick kiss on Cody’s lips saying, “One for the road.”
Cody grinned, then headed through the passage in an attempt to take him down to the kitchens.
Reaching the foyer they broke apart once more, this situation becoming more and more familiar with each passing day. Cody was learning where he was supposed to be going and how he was supposed to get there even if he wasn't completely fluid in everything yet. He was still smiling somewhat -thrilled with his academic progress that day under Ted's tutelage- as he walked down into the kitchen to have lunch.
The smile he had been wearing slid fractionally when Eric appeared, giving him a haughty look down his nose. Cody merely smiled at him in return and then bit his lip as he noticed that Randy and John were currently missing... That was odd: the pair were usually so punctual from what he had seen.
When Layla and the blonde woman named Michelle appeared Cody tried to resist the urge to groan and let his head fall onto the table; the two women were terribly obvious in the way they looked at him and whispered behind their hands before then entering the kitchen with big smiles on their faces... Michelle seemed more amicable now that she knew Layla had an interest in him.
"Hey Cody!" Layla twittered, fluttering her lashes at him. Cody forced a smile and nodded politely, "Hello, Layla." Before the two women could sit down by him though John breezed in airily, "Hey all!" he grinned and Cody noticed only Eric seemed able to not return it. "Hey John," his relief must have shown concerning the other appearing to save him from Layla, because he winked before sitting down. Randy appeared a few moments after, brushing down his uniform and sitting on Cody's other side-- as much to Cody's surprise as everyone else's.
As he was reaching for his meal, Cody then paused and plucked something off of the back of John's shirt. "Hey, John..." he tilted his head curiously and held up the leaf. "Been walking through the forest lately?" Cody could have sworn that he saw a slight smirk curl Randy's lips, but he couldn't tell without looking to the other obviously. And, he also could have sworn that John was blushing slightly even as he chuckled, "Nah, not through the forest-- I just went through the orchard for a bit. It leads off from the courtyard and we're allowed in there." Hmm, it seemed that you learned something new every day didn't you? Cody nodded, letting the leaf drop to the floor for the moment, and concentrated on his food instead, pushing the odd thought from his mind for the moment.
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Taking place in feudal England, Cody's family comes from a long line of farmers who work the land belonging to the DiBiase family. Despite the enormous class differences, Cody and Ted meet and form an instant connection with one another, both learning things from the other that they otherwise never would have known.
Word Count: 9243
A/N: I admit, I'm no expert on the life and times of feudal England, but I tried. Forgive any errors when it comes to time frames and whatnot...
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7
How long he could stay there, though, was on his mind. He knew that at some point during the night he’d have to leave, there was no way he could get caught leaving from Cody’s room in the morning. That would raise too many eyebrows. For the time being, however, he was happy to have Cody in his arms, and Cody’s arms around him.
“Guess it’s a good thing I don’t have a roommate,” Cody muttered into Ted’s chest, a smile on his face.
Ted chuckled. “Guess so. If you did, I couldn’t do this,” he said as he ran his fingers over Cody’s nude backside. Then, when Cody gasped against his skin, he splayed his hand out, pulling his young lover closer to his body.
“Hmm, nope.” Cody raised his head and pushed himself up so his face was level with Ted’s. “Couldn’t do this, either.” With that, he planted a kiss on Ted’s mouth, tongue lightly teasing his lips.
“Definitely not.”
The pair fell into a comfortable silence, happy to just hold one another. It didn’t take long for them to fall into a light sleep. Ted woke up a few hours later, realizing quickly that the bed he had fallen asleep on was far less comfortable than his usual bed. And his arm was definitely still asleep, which he realized was because Cody was still lying on top of it. Which meant he was still down in Cody’s room.
Easing his arm from underneath Cody, Ted then rolled off the bed, planting his feet on the floor. He turned, kneeling by the side of the bed, placing a hand on Cody’s shoulder. “Cody,” he whispered, shaking him gently, hoping that Cody would awake for a brief moment so he wouldn’t think that he’d just left.
“Hmm?” Cody hummed, not even opening his eyes.
“Cody, I have to go back to my room.”
“Do you have to?” he croaked out, voice laden with sleep.
“I do,” he said, now bringing his hand to Cody’s head, stroking his fingers just behind his ear. With a brief kiss to Cody’s temple, he then searched around for his night shirt and pants, pulling them on in the dark. Then he was swiftly out the door, hoping to get to his room unseen by the many eyes of the castle.
Although Cody was glad Ted hadn't just left (he knew had the other done so he wouldn't have intended to be cruel, but Cody would have been inwardly devastated regardless) he was also pretty miserable almost instantaneously despite having been in a rather deep and contented sleep until he had been awoken. The ravenette shivered; without Ted there with him suddenly it felt much colder, and he got out of bed to redress himself.
He hoped that Ted didn't get caught leaving his room because he didn't want any unnecessary bother for the other. Oh, Cody was well-aware that should someone happen to tell on them about their relationship to Ted's father then he would be the one who was removed: it would be the quickest, easiest solution for a man of Lord DiBiase's means. And then the man would hold it over Ted's head to make him do whatever he said to 'get him over this phase.'
Navigating himself back to his room in the dark was no problem for Ted after all his years of practice -even taking away all the months he had been at school and so hadn't been there to refresh himself on the pathways- but he would have much rather remained with Cody. Had he been a servant too then he would have had an excuse to stay there, under the pretence that they were no more than platonic room-mates.
That had been something that Ted admittedly worried about: someone else taking a liking to Cody and then stealing him away from him. He doubted it would happen but Cody was dealing with a lot at the moment, and Ted couldn't be with him all the time to prevent anyone taking advantage of his gorgeous lover's vulnerability... hence why he had John keeping an eye on him, he reminded himself as he got into his own comfortable, but cold, bed.
As Cody eventually managed to get himself dozing off to sleep again -he did have to be up before Ted to go help out and then wake Ted after all and they had both had a busy night- he swore he heard a noise that sounded a lot like the ones he and Ted had made earlier. Curiosity peaked despite himself Cody stilled (as though the people next door might somehow know he was awake and listening) and then gasped softly as he made out one muffled, moaned word from a voice he definitely recognised as one John Cena: "Randy~~~!"
The words he heard next, this time flowing from Randy’s mouth, left him with no doubt whatsoever in his mind that John and Randy were, indeed, lovers. Cody’s eyes flew open as Randy spoke, “You like that John? You like my cock deep inside you?”
There was no way Cody was getting back to sleep after that. He felt as though he should cover his ears, move away from the wall, something, but he couldn’t do it. He was listening in on an obviously private moment, but he was more intrigued than anything.
Then it hit him. If he could hear them through the wall, could they hear…? Oh no. Oh, God no. How many times had he muttered Ted’s name throughout their time together that night? Had he gotten louder than he thought he had? John already knew, but what about Randy, would he keep his mouth shut? Now, with thoughts racing, all he could do was sit in his bed, head against the wall as he listened in on the obvious sounds of John and Randy making love in the room next door.
Things quieted down after a while, and, still leaning against the wall, Cody dozed off for a bit until he heard a knock on his door. He blinked his eyes open and sat up, rolling his head in an attempt to work the kinks out. “Yes?”
“It’s John.”
“Come in,” he said as he stood on the hard stone floor.
“Hey, I just wanted to show you this morning where all us servants bathe, where we… go, things of that nature.”
“Oh, ok.”
As Cody was grabbing his clothes, John said, “Quite the night last night, eh?”
Turning around, clothes gripped close to his chest, Cody’s eyes were wide with shock. So… so he had heard? “Did you… Oh, God, you heard?”
With a nod, as well, John answered, “Sure did.”
Taking a deep breath to strengthen his resolve, Cody countered, “I guess the same can be said for you, then.”
John grinned the biggest, toothiest grin Cody had ever seen. “Guess it can. Now come on, follow me.”
Biting his lip slightly, Cody then shifted just a little bit closer to John and murmured, "John, Randy won't-- he won't--" he couldn't even get the words out, fear momentarily choking him again. John's smile didn't falter, but his eyes did soften as he draped a casual arm around the other as they walked along, "Cody. Kid, relax? Why would Randy say anything about business that is not his own, and that he also does himself?" the older man soothed him, "Trust me, he won't say a word." Cody felt only minutely better at John's words, but it was better than nothing.
Leading Cody along a few corridors John whispered into Cody's ear, "There are at least two empty rooms between your room and everyone else’s, so don't worry about thinking that they may have heard you too-- they never heard me and Randy." That left Cody to curiously ponder just how long exactly John and Randy had been involved. They didn't seem that much older than Ted, but they just had a rapport between them that was so... strong. And yet so casual; either no one else noticed or were damn good at hiding it.
Exiting out of a side door Cody was slightly stumped to see John leave the building of the castle-- but then he ducked into a side one that was still much, much larger than his home was. Entering it Cody saw multiple wash basins and several bath-tubs. "The women have one on the other side of the stables." John said, and Cody was sure that there was some sort of reassurance in the other's words, which confused him, until he remembered Layla that was.
Randy was the only one inside of the room at the moment and Cody felt his face heating up; he had heard something very private between Randy and John, whether inadvertently or not, and although John seemed pretty chilled Randy was probably going to be a totally different kettle of fish. Randy's eyes flickered to John's sleep-clothing clad body before flicking to him, narrowing slightly. Cody faltered -he just had the feeling he pissed Randy off- but John merely pulled him along easily by the wrist, "Hey, Randy!" he greeted brightly, casual as anything.
“Good morning, John,” he greeted in return, still not taking his eyes off Cody, and he couldn’t help but like the look of fear that read in Cody’s eyes. “And Cody, to what do we owe this honour?”
“No need to be fresh, Randy. The kid’s all right, so quit lookin’ at him like that. ‘Sides, you know he knows ‘bout us and-”
“And we certainly know about him,” he cut in. “I must admit, I am rather impressed. The Lord’s son is a good catch.” He then took a handful of water and poured it over his face; a second handful was used to rinse his hair. “Oh, God, Teddy, yes!” Randy mimicked, causing Cody’s blush to deepen.
“Oh, c’mon, Randy, lookit what you’re doin’ to the poor kid.”
“You know,” Cody began shyly, though it still got both men to look at him, “you shouldn’t be teasing me about how loud I am when neither of you know how to keep your mouths shut.”
Surprised at Cody’s boldness, much like he was when Cody stood up to Eric, Randy nodded his head slightly. “You’re right, John, I suppose the kid is all right.” He then sat up in the tub and pushed himself out, his nude, muscular body dripping wet, and out of the corner of his eye, Cody saw John’s tongue dart out at the sight, licking his lips before he drew his lower lip between his teeth.
Voices were heard outside when a few of the servants were nearing the door to the bath house. John’s face quickly returned to a stoic state, tearing his eyes away from Randy’s body. “C’mon now, gotta take a quick bath before work today.”
Nodding, Cody walked over to a bath tub and quickly undressed behind it, leaving his uniform folded on the ground next to the tub. He stepped in, finding the water to be slightly cool, but he was used to bathing in the cold river during all times of the year, so it wasn’t as though he couldn’t handle it. He noticed John, too, was stepping into a tub, and the other two men that had entered the room were currently undressing to wash themselves. Randy had dried off and was getting dressed. He thought that he saw his eyes flicker to John’s, and John’s head was just happened to be turned in Randy’s direction. What was now so obvious to him, he realized, could be easily overlooked by anyone else. No wonder they managed to get by for so long (he assumed it had been a while since they had been together, what with them growing up knowing one another, but he still didn’t know for sure).
Once his bath was finished, he dried off, then pulled on his uniform. And then it was time for him to go wake Ted. Maybe he should do it with a slow, gentle kiss. Or maybe he could slip inside the room, crawl onto his bed and wrap a hand around that gorgeous cock he possessed. He decided to think about it on his deliberately slow walk up to Ted’s room.
Reaching Ted’s room Cody eased the door open and then slipped inside quickly. The room was semi-darkened because of the heavy curtains that covered Ted’s window, but a determined shaft of light that was spilling through a gap in the material allowed Cody to make out his sleeping lover-and what a vision of beauty Ted made lain on his bed.
The older teen had his arms curled around the pillow he obviously rested with as though he were cuddling it-and the adorable image that brought a large smile to Cody’s face got even better when the other murmured, “Cody…” and rolled over somewhat so his head was directed towards Cody instead. If he hadn’t have known better he would have thought that Ted was awake; but the other was still breathing deeply and his eyes were closed. Loathe though he was to wake him, but knowing he must, Cody began to cross the distance from the door to Ted’s bed, settling on how he’d wake the other.
Grinning with a slightly more impish air Cody gently eased himself onto the bed over the sleeping Ted. Carefully setting his weight against Ted’s waist, though mainly propped on his knees, Cody leant his head down and placed his mouth down by Ted’s ear, “Ted…” his voice came out low, showing how loathe he was to wake the sleeping God before him. However he knew he didn’t have that much time to be lingering with and so cleared his throat softly before then trying again, “Ted-dy~!” he let the name roll off of his tongue with an almost musical lilt directly into Ted’s ear… but the other merely murmured softly in protest and shifted slightly before settling down again.
Licking his lips slightly and daring himself to go through with his intentions to wake the other, Cody let his tongue trace first over the shell of Ted’s ear and then the sensitive spot underneath it. Ted shuddered beneath his body and his face creased in a desirous expression for a moment before turning lax once more, “Cody~~” this time his name came out distinctly as a moan and Cody shivered himself. Damn it he couldn’t let himself get carried away or else Ted would never get down to breakfast… and Cody wouldn’t be able to look John and Randy in the eye. He was going to have to ask them how they managed to be around one another so much and yet carried on as though there were no intimate feelings between them at all. Well, for the main part anyway; anyone could see that they had some sort of relationship between them even though probably no-one guessed that it was as intimate as it actually was. He’d ask them later though. Much, much later.
Letting his lips catch the lobe of Ted’s ear the ravenette gingerly sucked upon the soft flesh, and suddenly strong hands were securing his waist. “God, if this is a dream I don’t wanna be woken up unless it’s for the real thing… don’t stop, Cody.” Ted’s voice was husky with sleep but Cody was thrilled to note that he seemed perfectly coherent when he spoke his name like that, hands tightening around his waist somewhat and pulling him closer to his body.
Grinding his hips just so, Cody brushed their cocks together, as he whispered into his ear, “Morning, Teddy. How am I doing in my morning duties of waking you up?”
“You’re certainly making something rise,” he replied as he lifted his hips off his mattress, hands still gripped around Cody’s waist. “So I’d say you’re fulfilling your duties quite well.”
“Mmm, good to hear. I’d hate to disappoint you.”
“Trust me, this is far from disappointing.”
“I do have to inform you, though, that you’ve got to go down to breakfast soon. I wish we could stay here together for the rest of the morning, but…” he drifted off, hating to be the bearer of bad news.
“That is quite unfortunate. I suppose my parents wouldn’t quite understand if I refused breakfast so as I could stay in bed with my young male lover, would they?” He sighed, letting go of Cody’s hips. “Don’t worry, I’ll dine quickly, then we can have the rest of the day together.”
Scooting back, Cody allowed Ted to get off his bed, missing their contact already. As Ted dressed (right in front of him this time, now that Cody had seen him nude, what did it matter if he saw him again?), Cody sat on the edge of the bed, watching. And then a question hit him and he had to ask, “Do you know if anyone on your staff has… well, if any of them have had affairs amongst themselves?”
Buttoning up his shirt, Ted quirked his head and shrugged. “I don’t actually know. Although I think I recall one of the maids hastily marrying one of the other servants because she was pregnant and had no husband. I’m assuming that was the child’s father. What makes you ask?”
“Oh, no reason… Is that the only one affair you can think of, though? You know of no other people sleeping together?”
“No. It’s not like I insert myself into their business, anyway, but I can’t think of anyone. There has to be a reason you’re asking me this. Come on, out with it.”
Sitting up a bit straighter on the bed, Cody bit his bottom lip then told him, “Well, it’s… It’s John and Randy.”
A look of genuine shock crossed Ted's face and Cody would have assumed Ted would know; before reasoning with himself that Ted had just admitted that he didn't really have anything to do with the servants outside what they did for him. Which he knew was just a case of tradition more than an ignorance or anything. "John and Randy?" Ted repeated and Cody nodded his head, still nibbling his bottom lip somewhat. "How do you know?" Ted continued.
A slight flush covered Cody's cheeks and he gave a slightly awkward shrug out of need to be doing something with his body more than anything as he talked, "Let's just, um, say, that I heard some things last night and they were confirmed this morning by John himself..." and Randy too, but explaining about such looks was nowhere near as convincing of compelling as seeing them first hand. Exhaling a slight breath Ted moved to his dressing table and grabbed his hair-comb.
"I always knew they were close pretty much having grown up together but I would never have imagined..." whenever he had seen the two off-duty or even in the midst of duty they were usually surrounded by women. Hm, an intense cover-up indeed. Before Ted could ponder the thought further Cody gave a slight laugh, "At least I know Randy doesn't really have a problem with me now."
Turning to face his lover after he had finished combing his hair through, Ted arched a brow and asked, "What do you mean?" Cody waved a hand, "John told me Randy was a bit moody, but when he first took me down into the kitchen and was looking out for me and stuff Randy seemed really angry, and then next thing I heard was John appeasing his jealousy--"
The next thing that he had heard until the previous night that was. "Apparently Randy gets jealous whenever John devotes attention to a stray kitten like myself." his amused smile fell somewhat into a curious expression, desire lighting his eyes lowly as Ted approached, leaning into his ear and making Cody shiver as he murmured, "A stray kitten? Does that mean if I stroke you I can make you purr?" The elder teen stole a kiss from the momentarily stupefied Cody, dodging out of the room with a broad grin on his face. Shaking himself Cody hastened to follow him.
At the bottom of the stairs, Ted stood, waiting for Cody to arrive, and it didn’t take long for the younger of the two to catch up. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Ted asked.
“No. Shall I go have breakfast, then? And meet you by the dining room?”
“You’re catching on quick.” In the three days that Cody had been in the castle, they had formed a routine, which Ted was determined to follow as days went by. “I’ll see you soon, ok?”
As they parted ways, Ted thought back to what Cody told him about John and Randy. Were they really sleeping together? The two of them? It seemed… well, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. They had known each other for so long with no one else their age in the castle. As curious teenagers, well, maybe they had… Who knew?
But then another thing Cody told him struck a chord. Cody could hear John and Randy through the wall. That meant that they could have heard... No, that couldn’t happen. He stopped walking dead in his tracks, turning his head, but Cody was long gone. Taking a deep breath, Ted tried to calm his nerves, wanting no one to suspect anything once he walked into the dining room. Even when he thought he had gotten things under control, there was still a nagging voice in his head telling him that John and Randy knew and would somehow use it against him.
Cody, though, was in a fine mood. Even when Eric walked in to join a large amount of the staff for breakfast. He was sitting next to John and diagonally from Randy, realizing that he wasn’t as scary as he initially thought. Eric sat at a free spot at the other end of the table, avoiding all contact with the three of them. He couldn’t stand them, any of them, and the last thing he needed this early in the morning to do was start up again with the back talking kid.
“This beat rising every morning to get the chicken eggs and milk the cows?” John asked through a mouthful of egg.
“I suppose so. But isn’t that what you do now, anyway?” Cody asked, raising his brow. He had to admit, he liked having a bed and a room all to himself (well, to share with Ted), but he did miss being around the animals, being outdoors constantly, being able to work with the land. And he certainly missed being close to his father at all times.
"As a more minor part, yeah," John said with a slight nod after swallowing. Cody wondered how this man was so cheerful and boisterous all the time-- and it was apparent that it was all completely genuine as well. "--but I really take care of the horses more than the other animals." John just seemed to have a knack with the horses and so he was often placed with them. "Does each member of the family have a horse of their own?"
It might seem a stupid question (he was sure he caught Eric smirking to himself with some misguided attempt at superiority) but Cody was genuinely uncertain; he had never seen Brett or Lady DiBiase riding before, and Ted was always using the same horse like his father did when he had first begun heading down to the parcels-- it was a legitimate question.
"Yeah, each member of the family technically has a horse of their own." John said, "You've probably seen Young Ted on his; beautiful creature and he's very attached to it. The Lord's old horse was struck lame in a horrible accident and we had to put it down," John's eyes saddened before recovering somewhat, "It was better for him in the long run though. Young Brett has a horse too but doesn't seem to enjoy riding as much-- and the Lady rarely ever gets a chance to ride solo unless the Lord or one of her attendants is with her-- and even then she's often too busy.
It was hard to imagine a woman like Ted's mother being bogged down with things to do before he reminded himself that women of her standing had a lot of work to do in terms of social activities. "I'd like to see the horses sometime." he admitted with a bit of shyness and John nodded, "As I say: ask Young Ted for anything like that. I sure don't mind, but we can't be having him getting mad if you vanish off for an hour, can we?" his eyes glimmered with secrecy.
Ted meanwhile had found himself finishing breakfast faster than he had anticipated and so he decided to wait for Cody. As he was waiting though he noticed Layla and Michelle walking past; the pair had seemed to become attached at the hip since Layla started working there. "Lay, really? You think you can get him?" Michelle's nasal drawl sounded and Layla twittered, "'Shell, if I get my way Cody Runnels will be mine by the time the winter is out." Ted bit down on his tongue hard to keep from verbally lashing the woman, clenching his fists together. He startled slightly when a concerned voice said, "Ted? What's wrong?" and he turned to find himself looking at Cody.
“Nothing…” When he saw that Cody wasn’t buying that, he said, “I’ll explain in a bit, ok?” He watched the two of them jabbering away as they went off to do heavens knows what.
“Was that Layla?” Cody asked, his own mood souring instantly. The mere sight of her was torture.
“Yeah, that was her.”
“Does she have anything to do with your bad mood?” If so, that was completely understandable. He certainly knew the feeling.
“Come on, let’s go to my room,” Ted suggested, knowing that they’d have a bit more privacy. Soon, the pair was in Ted’s room, Ted taking up his favourite spot by the window while Cody sat on his bed. “So, you want to know the cause of this sour mood?” Cody nodded. “I was standing by the kitchens waiting for you, as you well know, and Michelle and Layla walked by, talking about you.”
Cody pointed to his chest and asked, “Me?”
“Yes, you. Michelle asked Layla if she believed she could get you, and Layla replied that you’ll be hers by the time winter is out. I was so close to saying to her that she better not so much as attempt to lay a hand on you if she knows what’s good for her.”
While he had been frowning at the start, utterly pissed off that Layla still had this notion that they would become an item of some sort, he couldn’t help but smile slightly when Ted told him what he wanted to tell her. “As if I’d ever want to be hers. I’m yours, and that’s all there is to it.” He truly wished that it could be that simple, but he knew that, so long as he had Ted by his side, they would get through anything together.
Standing from the window seat, Ted walked over to his bed and pushed Cody onto the mattress by his shoulders. Climbing onto the bed, straddling Cody’s hips, he leaned forward and claimed Cody’s mouth with his own. “You’re mine,” he said possessively between kisses. His hands were wrapped tight in Cody’s hair, and Cody’s hands, he could feel, were clawing at his back. ‘That’s right, Layla, Cody belongs to me,’ he thought as his tongue delved deep into Cody’s mouth.
Even his lingering doubts couldn't protest in the face of such possessive fierceness-- and he didn't want to protest either. Why deny what he already knew to be true? He had been Ted's since the first time he laid eyes on the other after all. The ravenette moaned as Ted's tongue plundered his mouth and caressed each crevice of his accepting mouth. The hands in his hair were almost desperately tight and Cody felt like he was struggling to grasp Ted even then.
The kiss broke with a gasp from both, Ted receiving a primal thrill when he noted how swollen Cody's lips looked and how flushed his cheeks were. He had no doubt that he was probably in a similar state himself, and that that would mean that they wouldn't be able to leave his room for a bit, but he couldn't say he was sorry. Cody was his, and he'd risk disinheritance or whatever else might come his way to lay public claim on his lover if Layla tried anything. She needed to focus her attention elsewhere, and soon, lest Ted really lose his temper; it didn't happen often, but when it did, watch out. "Cody... You're mine." Although the words were strongly, huskily whispered, Cody could see slight fear in the other's eyes-- almost as though he were expecting Cody to say no.
"I'm yours, Ted." the kiss-swollen lips curled into a soft smile, Cody's slightly lust and passion-clouded eyes radiating nothing but genuine love at him and Ted immediately felt blessed and humbled; he had to do everything he could to ensure that Cody never felt the need to stray. And if Layla made a move then he was going to do everything he possibly could to see her sabotaged. Probably ungentlemanly, but in her case he didn't care.
As he took Cody's mouth in another deep, passionate kiss, Ted thought that he would like to get the other a small keepsake. It was a tradition amongst lovers and that was what they were... though it would have to be something small given that it'd have to be something Cody could hide securely and keep safe. He'd find something... Admittedly Layla's words had increased that determined, unshakable need that Ted found he had of wanting to be the only one on Cody's mind all the time. As much as realistically possible anyway.
Sure, before this he wanted to make love to Cody, had dreamed about it night after night since meeting the object of his affection, but the urge was suddenly much stronger, wanting to take the man in that way to even further prove the point that they belonged to each other, and no one could come between that.
“Theodore!” cried his father’s booming voice, alerting them both to his close proximity. Ted got off of Cody instantly and pulled him into the wash room.
“Yes, Father?” he called back after splashing some water on himself, trying to cool his flushed face. He could hear the door opening, and knew that his father was wondering where he was. With a small, wet wash cloth over his mouth, he headed out of the room and into his bedroom, patting his face so his father couldn’t see his kiss swollen lips. “Did you need me for something?”
“Yes, I had some things to go over with you. I was going to show you how the profits from each parcel are divided so that you’ll know how that works once you take over.”
“Of course, Father. I’ll meet you in your study, then?”
“Yes, yes, hurry along now,” he said before leaving the room, not bothering to close the door behind him.
“Well… that was close,” he said, leaning back against the wall closest to the bathroom, where Cody was still hiding. He hated this, not being able to spend time with Cody like he wanted to. If his father hadn’t hollered, Ted knew that he’d never be able to explain the sight that he walked in on. “Dammit,” he muttered, dropping his head against the wall hard.
Cody gave him a sad look, knowing that they’d have to be even more careful now, seeing as anyone could just seemingly waltz into Ted’s room with very little warning. Dammit, indeed.
Feeling bad that he had caused such a look onto Cody's face (though he didn't doubt the other probably shared in the thoughts and feelings he did, or something close to them anyway) Ted reached and pressed a soft kiss to the other's lips before murmuring, "I'll see you later. This meeting with my father will be really dull, and well," he quirked a slight smile, "You already know how things work down on the parcels so it won't be too interesting or educational for you."
"What should I do?" Cody asked, feeling slightly uneasy about the thought of being without Ted in the castle and doing nothing; he didn't want someone to report to Ted Sr. that he was lazy or anything. Ted almost suggested that Cody write to his father-- but managed to catch the thoughtless suggestion at the last minute. That would be rather pointless seeing as how Virgil couldn't read and didn't know his son was learning to write.
"Why don't you go to your room and read a while?" he didn't want Cody always cooped up in his room (without him at least) or in his own room, but there was no way the other would be able to explain how he could read when no one expected the peasantry to be able to read. "Ok." Cody said, at a loss for anything else to do in Ted's absence, as it were.
They parted ways at the top of the stairs, sending one another a last lingering, longing look seconds after one another. However, Cody's plan to go read in his room was segued when John appeared and grabbed his arm, asking him if he could lend out a helping hand in the barn if he wasn't busy. Having missed working with the animals Cody nodded his head, allowing John to lead him along. It seemed a horse had injured itself and the wound needed dressing, but John couldn't keep the creature soothed and tend the wound solely by himself; since Cody knew he would be able to be useful in such a situation he was happy to help.
“The other stable boy isn’t as good with the horses as I am, he’s still in training and hasn’t had the kind of experience you do with animals,” John continued as he led Cody out to the barn. The distinct, familiar smell of the barnyard wafted towards Cody’s nose and be couldn’t help but breathe in deep. “That’s the true sign of someone growing up on a farm,” John said with a chuckle. “Usually when people come out here, they plug up their nose.”
“I can’t help it. It’s odd not smelling this all day. I never thought I’d find myself saying I miss the smell of horse manure, but here I am,” he said, grinning.
They walked into the barn and Cody saw the horse, his grin falling away instantly. It didn’t look too serious, on the surface anyway. But if they didn’t tend to it soon, it could easily go downhill and they would lose the horse. “This is Brett’s horse,” John told him. “I was exercisin’ him when he stumbled and then this happened,” he said, pointing to the blood that was dripping down its rear left leg. “Cut himself on a rock, nasty lookin’ cut this is. Need you to try ‘n soothe him if ya can. I don’t wanna risk him kickin’ me while I clean it.”
John had a pot of boiling water over a fire, which he dipped a rag into, planning on using that to clean out the dirt. Cody stood next to the injured horse, who was frantically limping about, pained noises coming from his mouth. “Shhh. You’ll be ok,” he said, patting the horse’s side in an attempt to calm him. “Be still, now, let John take care of you.” He noticed the horse became less jumpy and had stopped moving around.
“Think I can try it now?” John asked as he came closer to the horse.
“Yes, I think so.”
Kneeling down, John held the rag to the horse’s leg, and felt the horse kicking slightly as the wound was cleaned.
“I know it’s uncomfortable,” Cody said to the horse, “but you’ll be ok.” He ran his hand down the horse’s massive side over and over, smiling when he saw that he stilled. “See, look, isn’t this much better?” he asked when he saw John pull back to go grab some clean rags to wrap around the injury. “How’s it look?”
“Went in pretty deep, coulda turned out much worse than this, but I think I got all the dirt out. Gotta hope he doesn’t get infected, so I’ll keep a close eye on him. Looks like it didn’t cut up any nerves or tendons, though, so if all goes well, he should heal up pretty quick.” He then kneeled back down and wrapped the tight bandages around the leg, hoping to keep out any nasty diseases.
“I do hope it turns out well. He’s a beautiful horse; it’d be such a shame to see something happen to him,” Cody said.
“Sure would be. Thank you for all your help, never coulda done this by myself,” he said as he stood up and stepped back to inspect his work.
As John packed away the excess bandages and such from the little kit that he had had with him, Cody continued to pat the horse on the side and murmur soft praises to it. Some people didn't understand the magnitude of how their ministrations and such could affect an animal, and how strongly they felt pain; he had been in so much bother once when he'd nearly gotten into a fight with a man twice his age in the village over the way he was treating his mare. Needless to say he was glad that John seemed to understand that-- if he hadn't sought out help from someone who knew what they were doing then both John and the horse could have been hurt badly.
They left the horse to rest after John topped up its feed and Cody helped with the water, the older man turning to look to him when they were outside the section of stable where the horse had been in. "How come you're not with Young Ted anyway?" Cody arched a brow slightly in surprise at the boldish question; though he supposed that he shouldn't be surprised given what he already knew about John and vice versa. "He has a meeting with his father about how the parcels work and such... said it would be pointless and boring for me to be there."
John nodded as he led Cody to go and wash his hands before they carried on with any other jobs, "He's got a point: no one could know the parcels better than someone who's grown up on them." he tilted his head and asked, "How many generations of your family have been on that land?" Cody's brow furrowed as he tried to think. Great grandfather, grandfather, father, brother (before he left) and then himself; those were the people he knew about anyway, "Four before me if you count my brother..."
They used a nearby clean water trough to take water in a small bucket to wash their hands, John then pouring that away. "Fancy hanging around and helping me out a bit if you have nothing to do?" Cody nodded eagerly; doing this had reminded him how much he had been indoctrinated to doing such tasks over a long period of time, and eased his homesickness. Despite how Ted and John -and Randy a little he supposed- had been trying to help him feel welcome he still felt homesick.
He worked with John for two hours (Ted had said he'd come looking for him when he was done) and Cody figured that he'd better go back to his room to wait for the other. John said that he had nothing left but smaller jobs now which would be taken care of after dinner. They both went to have a quick wash and checked if their uniforms were still presentable to wear -they did have a spare though- and then parted ways: Cody went indoors and John, somewhat strangely, headed off to another part of the outside courtyard.
Just as Cody was heading towards his room via the entrance hall to go down to the kitchen, he spotted Ted. He went to call his name, but then recovered himself hastily, "Young Master!" the other stopped, turning towards him, and Cody could have sworn that Ted's eyes had saddened upon hearing Cody say that. But they were bright again as he drew close.
“Ah, Cody, I was wondering where you got off to.”
“John needed my help in the stables,” he told him enthusiastically. “One of the horses was injured-”
“It wasn’t Mercury, was it?” Ted cut in, concern evident in his voice. He loved that horse and would hate to see him injured.
“No, it was Brett’s. John was out with him and he stumbled and cut himself on a nasty rock. He was really fidgety because of all the pain he was in, so John needed me there to help calm him down while he cleaned and dressed the wound.”
“Bet you must have liked that. Working with the animals, I mean.”
“Oh, I did,” he said fondly. “I do miss our animals, the cows, even the chickens. But nothing can top working for you,” he added, his voice dropping low so only Ted could hear him.
“I know what you mean… Hmm, do you think you remember the way to the library?” Ted asked just then. People seemed to look for him far less if they didn’t first find him in his bedroom, and when he needed to get away from everything and everyone, he went straight to the library.
“I don’t know,” he said truthfully. He had only gone there once with Teddy, and it was after going through a great number of passageways. “I really don’t think I do.”
“Come on, then, I’ll show you the easy way to get there,” he said, leading him to one of the many little doorways the castle held. They walked along, quite unbothered, until they spotted Layla carrying a silver tray, and she was headed in their direction. Fantastic.
“Young Master Theodore, what brings you here?” she asked, quite bold on her part.
“I’m simply showing Cody some of the pathways that he may have to use in the future, Layla. Now be on your way,” he said dismissively.
She smiled at Cody as she walked past, and he could feel her eyes boring into him. He, on the other hand, showed no emotion as she passed, his eyes looking right straight at Ted. They didn’t move until they were sure she left the pathway, not wanting to risk her following them to the library.
As they walked Cody could read the tension in the set of Ted's shoulders; he knew none of it was directed at him but it bothered him that Layla upset the other so, and he understood the other's frustrations that neither of them could lay an open claim on one another and therefore chase off any potential rivals.
As they were passing through a secret hallway he reached and placed his hand on the small of Ted's back, making the other turn to look at him over his shoulder. Smiling softly, Cody merely held the other's eyes a moment-- and that look was all it took to calm Ted down again. No woman had ever frustrated him as much as Layla did... not even Kristen had gotten him this wound up and she had been after him directly. Smiling in return Ted nodded, silently reassuring the other he was alright now.
They reached the library not two minutes later and Ted immediately seemed to relax. This room really was his favourite in the entire castle because it was the only one where he truly felt he could act openly and without anyone else just dropping in; apart from himself no one seemed to even use the library. That wasn't to say his family didn't read, but he could count on one hand how many times he had seen each family member in there.
"So you didn't get a chance to do any reading then?" Cody went red and looked down sheepishly, shaking his head. Ted laughed softly, "Cody, I'm not angry, it's Ok: you had a reason to be doing something else after all." he clicked his fingers slightly, "Since our book is in your room how about I teach you how to write some more?" he offered and Cody immediately nodded enthusiastically.
Ted nodded to a side where some parchment, an ink and quill-pen lay, "Could you pass me those, please, Cody?" he asked politely and the other immediately nodded before turning to do so. Admittedly he watched Cody's backside for a few moments as he walked away from him, but, really, it would be an insult to Cody for him to not look. When the other turned back to him his eyes were quickly back to Cody's face, still smiling warmly.
“Perfect.” He popped the top off the ink bottle and dipped the quill in so he picked up just enough ink. “Now I need you to sit here.” He pulled out the desk chair, inviting Cody to sit so that he could help him along with the letters. Once Cody sat, he asked, “Do you remember how to hold the quill?”
“I don’t know,” he said, unsure.
“Here, try it.” Ted handed the younger teen the quill and watched him adjust it in his hand, trying to remember the proper way to hold it. “There you go, look at that.” Cody turned his head around, beaming at Ted, who happily returned the smile. “I’m going to help you write your name, ok?”
Cody nodded, “Ok.”
Leaning down, Ted pressed his front to Cody’s back as he wrapped his hand around Cody’s. His face was right next to his lover’s ear, and he whispered, “What’s the first letter of your name?”
He thought back to what his name looked like when Ted wrote it out for him, thinking of the alphabet that Ted showed him one day. “C,” he answered.
“Good. So, now we’ll write a ‘C’.” Slowly guiding Cody’s hand, Ted helped him to form the letter. He could feel how tense Cody’s arm was as he performed this unfamiliar task. “You can loosen your arm a bit, you know,” he said as he let his hand drag up Cody’s arm, watching the goosebumps rise wherever he touched. “Let’s try the next letter. Tell me what comes after the ‘c’.”
He sounded out his name, realizing that the next letter was straight forward. “O.”
“Excellent.” He placed his hand on Cody’s once more, helping him to make the ‘o,’ and this time he felt that Cody had relaxed his arm a bit, making it much easier to guide him along. “What comes next?” When the next two letters were done, both of them looked at the name written out on the page. “Look at that, Cody, you’re learning how to write.”
“I did it with your help, though,” he said, sounding as though he were disappointed.
“Do you want to try it by yourself this time?” Ted asked, hearing the tone of dissatisfaction in Cody’s voice. Obviously the younger man was used to being self-sufficient, not used to getting help from anyone else.
“Can I?”
Biting his lip in concentration, Cody furrowed his brow. Momentarily his hand tightened around the quill, arm muscles tautening and Ted made to tell him to relax when he did it himself. Although Cody's own desire to be self-sufficient may have spurred his desire to try writing solo, he had a feeling the other might be trying to impress him too to some degree.
Looking to the letters that Ted had helped him write, Cody then loaded the quill with ink once more the way Ted had taught him and then placed it down on the parchment. The ink immediately began to well in a bead of darkness and Cody was momentarily fascinated by the new sight-- but he shook himself quickly.
"C." he reminded himself as he shakily made the curvaceous letter appear on the paper. The shakiness was to be expected given that he had never done so on his own before (or even too many times with assistance) and also because of that subconscious fear of failing that he had remembered being filled with when he was first learning to write in school... Only Cody wouldn't get punished for mistakes like he had on occasion.
"O..." Cody licked his lip slightly, still visibly concentrating as he took his time; the letters still being somewhat shaky but definitely not something to turn your nose up at being that Cody hadn't even learnt to read fluently yet. "D... Y." Looking to Ted, Cody beamed proudly, eyes glittering with excitement, "I did it!" his expression fell slightly though as he seemed to compare the ones he had written and what Ted had written. "They don't look as good as yours." he said almost apologetically and Ted shook his head firmly, "They look fantastic."
Cody blushed slightly-- the slightly becoming 'a lot more' when Ted kissed his lips fleetingly, "Well done. I'm very proud of you. How about we try some other words?" Much like Ted had done the other day, Cody wrote his lover's name, and then his father's name, and then the names of Ted's family members before adding Randy and John to the list too.
What Cody had found hardest to write so far were his and Ted's last names; something Ted understood because they were longer words and Cody was still new to it all, and also because his name had two capital letters in it and Cody hadn't yet become acquainted with such an idea. They became totally involved in one another and what they were doing.
The more Cody worked at it, the more he improved. No, it wasn’t a drastic improvement, but his letters became slightly less shaky and his arm was more relaxed without having to be reminded. “You’re doing such a great job, Cody,” Ted praised. “Try your name one more time, then I think I’ve got to go to lunch with my family.” It was easy to lose track of time not only while in the library, but while spending the day with Cody.
“Yes, it is getting to be around that time,” Cody agreed. He’d once again be joining the servants in the kitchens to dine with them. Hopefully John and Randy would be there. Not only would they distract him from Eric but talking to them would mean he wouldn’t have to talk to Layla.
After trying his name one more time, he looked between that one and the first one he wrote unassisted. There was definitely a difference, but it still looked nothing like the one that Ted helped him with. And it was leaps and bounds away from the perfect lettering that Ted wrote out all by himself. “I wish I could write this well when I was first learning,” Ted told him.
“Well, you must have been much younger when you were first learning.”
Ted nodded. “I believe I was about five,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter how old I was, and it doesn’t matter how old you are. What matters is that you’re learning now and you’re doing so, so well.”
“Am I really? You’re not just… saying that?” Cody asked, still doubting his own progress.
“I would never just say that. If I believed you were doing something incorrectly, I’d help you to correct it. You got it?”
“I got it.”
“Good. I think next time I’ll have you write out the whole alphabet, that way you can get a better feel for all the letters, even though these ones you’d probably use more than the others, but it helps to have a good understanding off all the letters. Sound ok to you?”
“It does. Now you should probably get to the dining room before they decide to send out a search party for you.”
“Hmm, you’re right. Let’s go. We’ll meet up later, after we eat?” he said, a slight question in his tone.
“Yup.”
“Ok, you lead the way.” Before Cody opened the door, he pressed a quick kiss on Cody’s lips saying, “One for the road.”
Cody grinned, then headed through the passage in an attempt to take him down to the kitchens.
Reaching the foyer they broke apart once more, this situation becoming more and more familiar with each passing day. Cody was learning where he was supposed to be going and how he was supposed to get there even if he wasn't completely fluid in everything yet. He was still smiling somewhat -thrilled with his academic progress that day under Ted's tutelage- as he walked down into the kitchen to have lunch.
The smile he had been wearing slid fractionally when Eric appeared, giving him a haughty look down his nose. Cody merely smiled at him in return and then bit his lip as he noticed that Randy and John were currently missing... That was odd: the pair were usually so punctual from what he had seen.
When Layla and the blonde woman named Michelle appeared Cody tried to resist the urge to groan and let his head fall onto the table; the two women were terribly obvious in the way they looked at him and whispered behind their hands before then entering the kitchen with big smiles on their faces... Michelle seemed more amicable now that she knew Layla had an interest in him.
"Hey Cody!" Layla twittered, fluttering her lashes at him. Cody forced a smile and nodded politely, "Hello, Layla." Before the two women could sit down by him though John breezed in airily, "Hey all!" he grinned and Cody noticed only Eric seemed able to not return it. "Hey John," his relief must have shown concerning the other appearing to save him from Layla, because he winked before sitting down. Randy appeared a few moments after, brushing down his uniform and sitting on Cody's other side-- as much to Cody's surprise as everyone else's.
As he was reaching for his meal, Cody then paused and plucked something off of the back of John's shirt. "Hey, John..." he tilted his head curiously and held up the leaf. "Been walking through the forest lately?" Cody could have sworn that he saw a slight smirk curl Randy's lips, but he couldn't tell without looking to the other obviously. And, he also could have sworn that John was blushing slightly even as he chuckled, "Nah, not through the forest-- I just went through the orchard for a bit. It leads off from the courtyard and we're allowed in there." Hmm, it seemed that you learned something new every day didn't you? Cody nodded, letting the leaf drop to the floor for the moment, and concentrated on his food instead, pushing the odd thought from his mind for the moment.