More of that fic :)
Title: Fortunate Son (Part 3/?)
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairing: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Rhodes
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: 8662
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... As usual, flocked in codiasi, so I'm posting it here too :)
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2
The following morning, Ted awoke with a smile still on his face. He wrapped himself in one of his robes after washing off his face, then padded downstairs for breakfast. His mother and father were already seated, and his brother soon joined them. “Good morning, Mother, Father,” Ted greeted as he sat in his usual seat.
“Good morning, Theodore,” his father returned, his mother simply smiled and nodded. “Did you sleep well? I hear you’ve got a long day ahead of you.”
“I did, yes. Did Virgil tell you that today the first of the cows is due to have her calf?” He truly had no idea what birthing a cow would entail, and the more he thought about it, the more he was wondering if he had the right stuff to help.
“He did. I remember when I was your age, I had gone down to one of the parcels with my father when they were birthing cows. I was rather curious, so I pleaded with my father to watch. He laughed at me, and said that was fine. To this day, I wish I had never seen such a thing. But the choice is yours to make.”
Hearing his father’s story made him even more wary. “I guess I’ll still go down there and… attempt to watch. Although last night, Cody told me that if I passed out, I had received a fair warning.”
“As I said, the choice is yours. But you must draw the line somewhere with all the field work that you’ve been doing.”
“I haven’t been doing all that much, Father. But, even as such, my muscles have gotten far more defined,” he told him. He never would have thought that a bit of field work here and there would really help his body’s muscular development, but it had. Maybe if he continued, his physique would be as hard and defined as Cody’s, he thought, mind drifting off into a daydream about the young man.
“A man of your wealth and stature has no need for such a muscular build.”
“It’s certainly a benefit for any bride he may choose,” his mother chimed in, giving her son a smile, her eyes twinkling.
Ted blushed. “I best get ready,” he said after finishing up his meal. He excused himself from the table and headed back upstairs to dress. He had to search through his closet to find some of his more ratty clothing, because he didn’t want to soil anything nice. Going into his washroom once more, he found that Cody’s clothes were still in a pile on the floor, something he must have overlooked earlier on, as he was still somewhat sleepy. Grabbing those and tucking them into his sack, he once more went down the stairs, his father and mother wishing him a good day before he left the castle for the day.
Down on the farm Cody and Virgil had already breakfasted; the impending possibility of birthing cattle meant that they were all going to have to be on complete alert, and that that in turn could mean food would be put on a back-burner whilst they attended to the animals. Virgil watched as Cody moved about their small home, setting the dishes aside to dry... and actually humming as he did.
"You're in a good mood this morning Cody," Virgil stated, his words slightly careful and obviously curious. "Why?" Cody turned and regarded his father with an amused look and arched brow, "Would you rather that I was miserable? Odd thing to wish for your child, don't you think?" he was only teasing of course and the light blush Virgil suddenly sported showed that he knew it, "Cheeky boy."
Poking his head around the front door, Cody beamed as he spotted Ted hastily coming towards him. "Morning Ted!" he could hear his father cluck his tongue disapprovingly, but for once he ignored it. Ted's returning smile was breath-taking and Cody actually wondered if it was possible, once again, that Ted was something more than mere human-- a ridiculous notion, but prudent all the same.
"Morning Cody!" Virgil appeared behind his son and Ted gave a slight bow, "Morning Mr. Runnels-- I do hope you don't mind entertaining me again." Virgil shook his head, though sent Cody a look, "Didn't you warn the Young Master about today's activities?" he asked. The impish grin on Cody's face had Ted wondering if he'd make that expression at other more... ahem, intimate times.
"Oh I did. I gave him fair warning--" Once they had pulled away from kissing one another long enough that was. Both young men cleared their throats almost inaudibly, each suddenly finding the sky and ground more interesting to look at. "--But the fact that he's here shows that he feels he has the stomach for such an endeavour. And he did say he wanted the full experience, father... What better to witness than an animal's birth?"
Reluctantly Virgil knew that he couldn't fault his son's logic but then assured Ted that should he feel faint or sick then he should move away immediately. Something that Ted had no intention of doing regardless of how squeamish he might turn out. Admittedly ego was making its presence known; if Cody could stand it then he could too, damn it.
"Well, come on then-- we should go check on her." Virgil had had much experience with such instances, obviously, in his lifetime, and so he seemed to have developed an uncanny knack of knowing when the animal was going to go into labour. As they were in the barn Ted remembered that he had Cody's clothing, and leant in to murmur low into the younger man's ear to inform him as such. He kept close and quiet so as not to disturb Virgil and the shockingly swollen cow, but also because it gave him an excuse to feel Cody's body heat and to steal a faint hint of the younger man's earthy, exotic scent. His lips were so close to Cody's ear that they brushed them when he spoke, and the resulting shiver made him grin slightly with pride and minute teasing.
Gently elbowing Ted in the side, Cody gave him a sly glance out the corner of his eye. “Not here,” he mouthed.
“Cody, Theodore, come here!” Virgil shouted to them as he examined the cow. She was getting restless, and began lying down on the hay that had been spread out just for the birthing. “This means she’s nearing her time to give birth.” When Virgil had awoken that morning, his first task was to check on her, and he found that her labour had begun, but it would still be a while before she would deliver. “We’ve got to watch her closely from here on in.”
It was a mere matter of minutes before she stood again, and her natural birthing instincts kicked in. She stomped her hoofs a few times, and soon, a single hoof could be seen.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” Cody asked as he saw a worried look cross his face.
“This is what I was afraid of. He’s backwards.”
“How can you tell?” Ted asked, only seeing a single hoof was enough to know that the entire calf was coming out the wrong way?
“A lifetime of experience,” Virgil answered. “Usually, the cows are fit to birth by themselves. They’ve been doing it for longer than we’ve been herding them, after all. But, sometimes there are difficulties, like this, which, if go unaided, can kill the mother in the process.”
“Oh my God!” Ted gasped when Virgil stuck his hand inside the cow. His face grew pale and his eyes widened.
“We’ve got to get this calf out somehow,” he said, finding the other hoof and pulling it out alongside the first.
“If the calf doesn’t get out soon,” Cody explained, patting the cow’s side, trying to soothe it so it wouldn’t attempt to kick his father as he bulled the newborn animal from its mother, “then it could die because it can’t breathe.”
She stepped forward and Virgil fell backwards into the hay, a calf also on the ground with him. Backing up from the cow, Cody watched as she turned towards her calf, licking its face clean. He then smiled to his father, who was standing up from his spot on the barn floor, watching on as the mother took to her calf.
Turning to smile at Ted, Cody found that he had crouched down near one of the barn walls, back towards him. “Ted? You ok?”
What in the world have ever possessed him to want to watch that? He could feel bile rising in his throat as the images of that calf coming out of its mother flashed through his mind. “Not really,” he answered honestly.
“I did warn you,” Cody said, crouching down next to him, running a soothing hand over his back. “But look at them now, the baby’s fine.” He quickly turned his head to see that the cow was chewing the umbilical cord, then said, “Ok, maybe you don’t want to look right now, but the baby’s fine, I assure you.”
“Your father had his hand…” he drifted off, another wave of nausea washing over him.
“You have to do what you have to do when you’re living on a farm.”
"At least you're still standing." Virgil's voice sounded before Cody could say anymore, and both young men turned to look-- Cody without problem and Ted with slow reluctance. "What do you mean, dad?" the dark haired male asked curiously and Virgil huffed out a small chuckle before giving a conspiratorial wink. "Back when I was your age and my father and I were tending a birthing cow, your father happened by with his, Young Master. He insisted that he wanted to stay and watch, so your grandfather left him to it..."
Another chuckle sounded as Virgil kept his post near the animal just to make sure that everything was indeed alright. "And we had to carry him out of the barn unconscious before too long. He had no stomach whatsoever for our work down here."
Momentarily Ted's own nausea was forgotten as he tried to picture his large, booming-voiced father being squeamish or fainting before anyone, let alone those that he considered beneath him in class standing. "He really fainted?" he piped up lightly, curious.
"Oh yes." the blonde man nodded and grinned, "I swear to this day whenever I mention the cows' birthing time approaching he turns green..." the older man trailed off, and Cody couldn't stop the smile on his face. It wasn't often he'd confide stories like that of his youth, and even though Cody knew it had been to make Ted feel better he'd got to listen in on it. He'd never look at the Lord the same way again.
The process had taken quite a bit of time though in all the excitement it seemed to have flown by. When they had been assured the calf was well and had given its mother some food and drink Virgil then gently ushered them out of the way. "Come on now, let's give her some peace and quiet." The teens left obediently.
Seeing that Ted still looked a little green around the gills, as it were, Virgil motioned that they go and have a few minutes break. "We still have some work to do, but nothing too pressing for the moment since the cow seems alright; go and have a few minutes rest." Cody nodded, a hand going to Ted's arm and gently pulling.
Taking the other to the stream he motioned Ted to sit down and then filled his old decanter with water and handed it to the older teen. "It takes some getting used to." he said apologetically. "It'll wear off in a few minutes-- have a drink and take deep breaths. I was the same when I first saw one." he admitted, "I was about seven at the time."
"Yes, but you were seven, that's understandable." Ted spoke after he'd taken a drink and Cody could see a small flush of embarrassment colouring the other's peaky cheeks once more, "I'm nineteen for goodness sake." Ah, so Ted was indeed older than him, Cody mused to himself for a moment before responding, "Ted, I was born around this sort of thing, and you're new to it. Even so we're both learning together." When Cody sent him that smile Ted found it hard to be mad at himself.
“So, how many more cows do you have? They all give birth at the same time?” Ted wondered. Why he asked, he didn’t know, considering he wanted that image out of his head forever.
“We have four more,” he answered now sitting down cross legged next to Ted, “and they all birth around the same time because we get the pregnant around the same time. It makes things easier on our end as we know when to expect the calves to be coming.”
“Cody Runnels, is that you?” came a woman’s voice on his right. He turned his head, putting on his best false smile as Layla walked towards them with a pile of clothes in her hand.
“Good morning Layla,” he greeted. “What brings you out here today?” More specifically, what brings you down to this end of the river where Ted and I had been enjoying our time in peace?
“I have some wash to do, and I saw someone sitting down here, so I had to come and see who it was. Lucky for me, it happened to be you. And who is this?” she asked, looking around Cody to see another handsome young man sitting on the river bank.
“This is…” Cody glanced at Ted, not sure how he wanted to be introduced.
Standing, Ted walked to Layla and said, “I am Theodore DiBiase, son of Lord DiBiase.”
Her eyes went wide as she fell into a curtsey before the high powered young man. “Good morning, Young Master DiBiase,” she said at the lowest point of her curtsey. Though, as she spoke, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing out here with Cody of all people.
“You may rise,” Ted told her, fighting to keep his face stoic as he did so. “El is the last name, correct? I met your father and brothers last week, do tell them I said that their harvest was spectacular this year.”
“Yes, of course, Young Master DiBiase.”
Cody rolled his eyes, wouldn’t this girl ever leave. He stood, placing himself next to Ted. “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to get back to the farm now. Today he’s here to watch and learn about the birthing of calves, and I’ve got to go with my father to check on our newborn. Have a nice day,” he said before leaving her standing alone at the river bank. Once out of ear shot, he muttered to Ted, “That girl does not know how to stop talking. Although you did a pretty good job of making her speechless.”
“I may not like the formalities, but I do know how to use them to my advantage. I swear I could hear you snickering behind me,” he told Cody with a grin. And then his grin dipped slightly as he continued, “She does seem to like you quite a lot… Are you two…?” he trailed off, leaving his question hanging.
Immediately Cody's eyes widened, mouth dropping open slightly and showing Ted a glimpse of that bewitching tongue that tested his restraint whenever it made itself known whenever Cody licked his lips or anything. "No! No no no no no!" The ravenette shook his head firmly, as though trying to dispel Ted's suggestion physically rather than just verbally. Ted knew he should protest this, claim Layla was a decent seeming young lady, but his heart soared at Cody's vehement denial.
"She likes me." Cody almost looked crippled with embarrassment admitting it, "And, she um, hasn't exactly made it a secret that she feels as such. My father's keen on the idea." Cody's expression soured and Ted noted that it was probably the first time he'd seen Cody react negatively to the topic of his father. That admittance made his stomach drop with a strange combination of dread and jealousy.
"I have no intention of accepting though." Cody seemed to be talking more to himself than Ted at this point, but Ted was listening avidly all the same. "She's not the one for me." At that point Ted found that he couldn't hold his tongue any longer; the fact that they were alone aiding to this sudden urge, "Who is the one for you?" Cody turned his head to look to him, a slight, mischievous smile curving those tempting lips.
"I'm beginning to get an idea..." Cody's tone and words were evasive, but Ted didn't think it was too presumptuous to believe that he was the person in question; the look in Cody's eyes was too open for it not to be, and the previous times where they had indulged one another in (innocent) activities that were legally and supposedly morally illicit denoted that this wasn't some passing fancy between the two of them. Well, it sure as hell wasn't that way as far as Ted was concerned-- Cody had already worked himself firmly into his life, and was well on his way to doing the same to his heart.
"I see." Ted was unable to stop a smile of his own appearing as they continued to walk, and Cody had the strongest urge to lean in and press a kiss to one of the lightly pinkened apples that were Ted's cheeks. However, they had reached his home by this point and there was no way he could risk such an open display of intimate affection... Maybe later when they had finished their work with the cows and they would have time to do his reading lesson that day. They had to be well-timed, lest Virgil find out.
On many things he might side with, and support, his son, but Cody doubted that the reading lessons would fall under the same categories. "Right on time you two!" Virgil said brightly, waving them across, "The second is about ready!" Cody heard Ted give a small moan of nausea behind him, and couldn't help but laugh as he quickened his stride, "C'mon Ted!"
“There’s another one? Right now? Really?” Ted questioned, though he still followed Cody into the barn. He saw the one cow that had to be the one about to pop, then looked around and saw that the small calf from earlier was now standing, walking around behind its mother. The sight brought a smile to his face, despite the event he had witnessed earlier.
“This one should be much easier,” Virgil insisted, walking around the cow to do his last minute inspections of her. “Look, there, you can see its front hoof. This one will be fine, and she should be able to do it all by herself.”
While his father’s focus was solely on the cow, Cody placed an arm around Ted’s back, trying to keep him calm as the calf was slowly coming out of its mother. “You feelin’ all right?” he asked, noticing the colour had drained out of his face once more.
“A little better than last time.”
“It does get easier the more births you see,” Cody promised him. “Sometimes it’s still hard, watching her have to struggle, or when the mother rejects the calf, especially when the calf dies or is stillborn. But, more often than not, things go smoothly, like this one is going.”
Before too long, yet another new calf was born, lying in the hay as its mother tended to it. Virgil walked around, checking the other cows’ health. “Doesn’t look like any of the others will be due today. I’d say we’ll have one tomorrow and then the last two the following day.”
“What do you do once they’re all… born?” Ted asked.
“We have to sex them all, and castrate any of the males,” Virgil told him. “Can’t say that’s my favourite part of the job, but it has to be done. We have two bulls right now, and they take care of all the females. When the female calves are older, they’ll be sold and we receive a take of the money, while the rest goes to your family. The males will eventually work on the farms, in the fields, things like that.”
“I don’t know how you do it all. You have to know so much to keep this running smoothly,” Ted said, in awe of the older man.
“Like I said before, it takes a lifetime of experience to be able to do this properly. Now, did you have to get back to the castle anytime soon?”
“No. I was just hoping that I could maybe stay and watch the calves some more?” he asked tentatively.
“Of course you may. I have to run into town for a bit to pick up more feed. The cows need to eat to produce enough milk, after all. I’ll see you in a little while, boys,” he said before he left the barn and grabbed some coins from the house, heading to the village.
A sly grin appeared on Cody’s face as he turned to Ted, grabbing his arms and pulling him to the far corner where the bales of hay were stacked. He wrapped his arms around Ted’s neck and kissed him, falling onto the hay, Ted landing on top of him, never breaking the kiss.
A sound that was part growl, part moan and definitive lust left Ted as he eagerly participated in the kiss that Cody bestowed upon him. As it had been the previous night there was no finesse between them due to their inexperience, but they were rapidly beginning to gain a semblance of technique with one another. The feeling of Cody's body arching into his from where they lay out on the hay bale was just fuel to Ted's fire; he knew how smooth and tanned Cody was without his shirt on, and he couldn't help imagining now whether that smooth tan covered the rest of his body.
Cody's long fingers buried into Ted's hair, causing the older man to shiver. Their kisses only broke when they were desperate for air, lungs screaming in protest at their prolonged embraces. However they merely allowed themselves the swiftest respite to gain air before their mouths fused together again. Ted knew he would soon have to take even a minor hiatus from the farm-work, just to appease his father, to increase the possibility that he might return... and it was that thought in the back of his mind of not seeing Cody for a few days that made his kisses all the more desperate.
The sounds of their panting breaths and soft moans and growls of pleasure echoed only briefly in the barn before they were swallowed into the considerable space. The barn was bigger than the Runnels home, but neither of them had the desire to try and move into the barn along with their animals just for more room.
"We-- should-- get on with-- your lessons~~" Ted breathed against Cody's lips when their latest kiss broke. Honestly, that had been his intention, because he A) was only technically there to teach Cody under the cover of farm-work, and B) he didn't trust his body to behave if he allowed himself to drink the heady wine that was a kiss from Cody Runnels much longer. The thought however was immediately banished when Cody looked up at him.
The exotic sapphires framed by thick lashes seemed almost black with desire, and the pouty lips that had driven him to distraction even before he had been blessed with a taste of them were even more swollen. The blush on Cody's high cheek bones and the way he could hear the low, breathy, "Hah... hah..." mews of Cody trying to draw breath all conspired to break his resolve even a little.
"You don't know what you do to me, Cody..." Ted murmured, a thumb stroking over the plump appendage that was Cody's lower-lip, thrilled in a strangely primal way to consider that the boy beneath him looked so thoroughly dazed because of his kisses.
"Since the first time I saw you, you've bewitched me." The confession was low, coarse, tone gravelly with desire and honesty. The sheer sentiment in that single sentence had Cody mewling softly, a hand moving from Ted's hair and down his shirted back at the other hand still in his short hair tried to guide his head down again, "Teddy, please~~"
Fighting against his need for Cody was hopeless. He gave in, capturing Cody’s lips once again. His hands slid along the lean body of the young teen, fingers slipping underneath the thin fabric of Cody’s shirt. His fingertips brushed that soft, smooth skin, and soon his entire hand was splayed out over Cody’s torso.
The feeling that spread through his body at Ted’s touch, Cody could think of no words for it. Letting his own hand raise Ted’s shirt, he finally felt his partner’s flesh, and now he wanted more. His hips arched upwards, out of no control of his own, and he could feel their erections pressing against one another. God, did he want to hold Ted in his hand, to stroke him as he stroked himself on numerous occasions. However, he knew that was not a possibility. Not now, not here.
“Cody,” Ted moaned as their kiss broke off. “I want you so badly,” he whispered.
A shudder moved down Cody’s spine as Ted’s words were breathed into his ear. His eyes fell shut as images flashed before him. One day they would have each other. It wouldn’t be today, not with the risk of Virgil returning at any time. And neither Cody nor Ted wanted to have cows and their calves watching them. “I want you, too.”
“Right now, though, we should get on with your lessons before your father returns. I’ll make sure to reward you when you do a good job,” he added, giving Cody a wink.
“I like rewards,” Cody said, grinning.
Breaking away, Ted grabbed his bag, which he had set in the barn earlier, and removed the book, brining it back over to Cody. “Ok, let’s continue from here. Do you remember what sound these letters make?”
“Thhh,” he sounded out, taking the word apart, “ee-ss-ee. These?”
“Good job.” Leaning forward, Ted gave Cody a kiss before continuing. It had been a couple days since they had been able to crack the book open, so Ted wasn’t sure how much Cody would remember from last time. As he continued, he stumbled here and there, which was only natural for a beginner. He did improve though, slowly but surely. “Cody, this is fantastic,” he said, smiling as Cody read out nearly an entire sentence to him, kissing him once more.
The distraction of his reading really helped Cody balance himself out once more because although Ted's kisses gently stoked that inner-flame the other had made him aware he possessed, his mind was so busy trying to focus on the still somewhat alien text before him that he didn't give the kiss his full attention as he had previously done.
With each progression, word by word, and then back over to see if he could formulate the entire sentence, Ted rewarded Cody with a kiss. They were not always on the lips -though that was admittedly his favourite target- but occasionally on his neck, his cheek, or even the spot below his ear. They were gentle touches this time, lacking in the former passionate ardour, because deep down both knew that they were helpless against the other enough as it was, and circumstances just wouldn't allow them to comfortably fall into temptation.
"And... So... The knights... All consented..." Cody's brow furrowed as he let his gaze wander over the letters, finger moving underneath them to help him keep them in focus. They had reached halfway through a particularly sizable chapter when Cody heard the sound of whistling; his father always returned from the market whistling. No matter the weather and no matter how his time at the market had gone, he always whistled.
"Damn!" Cody cursed softly, huffing out a breath as he watched Ted swiftly slip the book back into his bag after using an old scrap of paper to mark their place. "I was just getting it!" Chuckling softly, Ted leant in and brushed his lips chastely over Cody's, "I am very proud of you; your progress is incredible." Blushing (and trying to hide the admittedly goofy smile that wanted to make itself known at Ted's praise) Cody stood, grabbing the other's hand to pull him up too with him. "Quick, let's go out there before he comes in here."
As they began heading towards where his father was returning from, Cody noticed a piece of hay sticking to the back of Ted's shirt. Oops... He must have left that there when he had grabbed at the other's back. Swiftly he plucked it away, unnoticed by Ted, and turned his head as much as possible to remove any stray straws that may have clung to him in turn. After a moments consideration though he deemed himself safe-- and knew he could come up with a quick lie about having startled the cow and fallen onto the bale or something if he had indeed missed some.
“Did you find everything you needed?” Cody asked, taking one of the bags out of the wooden cart.
“I did. Come, let’s go fill the troughs. Are both calves all right? And their mothers?” Dusty asked, hefting up another bag of feed.
“All parties are doing fine. Both were suckling when we just left them,” Cody told him, having taken a quick glance at them before they headed out.
“Good, good. And you didn’t find my son to be too boring of company did you?” Virgil asked Ted, taking him by surprise.
“Oh, no, not at all Mr. Runnels, I assure you,” he said. Not boring at all. Far from it if the hardness in his trousers spoke for anything. At that moment, he had never been so thankful to be wearing loose clothing, able to hide his erection beneath it.
“Very well. Now, come along you two,” he said, leading them into the barn. He dumped the feed into the trough, slowly so as not to pour out too much. It had taken him years of trying to perfect his method, and he had started teaching Cody how to do it properly.
Watching the two Runnels, Ted couldn’t help but admire their strength and the determination they had. With a bag hoisted over his shoulder, Cody mimicked his dad in pouring the feed out, and Ted’s brain substituted the sight he had seen the other week, of Cody shirtless in the field, muscles rippling under that tanned skin.
Soon, the cows were eating while their calves continued to suckle. Ted couldn’t help but chuckle when one of the calves walked away, stumbling onto the hay covered floor. “It’s just like when I was watching my younger brother Brett learn how to walk.”
Dusty looked at the two boys. They really did get along quite well. However, he knew that it couldn’t last. One day, Ted would realize that he had all this land to run, and that Cody simply worked on that land for him. They couldn’t ever be real friends, not when Ted began to let his class distinction come to the forefront of his life. Why would he want to be friends with someone that was so far below his equal?
Cody and Ted were completely unaware of the scrutiny, both of them laughing softly in amused fondness as the young calf determinedly tried to get its legs working. "Dustin always used to say I had less-grace than a newborn when I was small." This sentiment was given in a low tone because Cody knew that mentions of his brother had the hurt of his leaving stinging anew.
"I find that hard to believe." Ted mused as the calf eventually seemed to give in and returned to its mother to have something more to eat and a rest. Cody chuckled softly, the smallest hint of pink appearing on his cheeks this time; though that could have been attributed to the heavy sack that the ravenette had just been hefting onto and then off of his shoulder not moments before.
Turning -intending to ask his father something- Cody completely forgot what question he had had in mind when he noticed the somewhat somber and almost regretfully determined expression on his father's face. Considering that Virgil was usually all smiles, despite their hard lifestyle, this was an unnerving expression indeed.
A moment of silent communication passed between them unbeknownst to Ted and Cody felt a cold shiver of expectancy running down his spine. Everything between himself and Ted seemed to have been going so well lately, in the days that they had been spending together, that he should have been anticipating something going on.
As the day drew on, and evening drew in, Ted found himself alone with Cody once more to help him gather water for the meal that evening that they'd be having once Ted had returned to his family. "Cody... Is everything Ok?" Even he had noticed the odd mood between father and son, despite how both had strived to act so normally. No doubt for his benefit and to save themselves embarrassment.
"I don't know." Cody admitted softly, "I have a bad feeling." Ted wished he could take Cody into his arms and offer him a small glimmer or support. However, although the stream was a decent distance from the house it wasn't wise to push contact between them. Instead he reached over and squeezed Cody's shoulder, letting his hand rest there a while. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be Ok." Cody forced a smile and nodded, wishing he could believe him. Gut-instinct told him that it wouldn't be that simple though.
“You know, I won’t be able to come back for a while,” Ted told him after a few minutes silence. “I witnessed the birth of two calves, that will be enough for my father.”
Cody sighed. He knew this day would be coming. However, he still had his position at the castle, and would be able to see Ted then. “I figured as much.”
“I… I also think my father may have something planned for us. We usually go on a trip to the coast before the frost hits every year, so I won’t be around for a good few weeks.” This had to be the worst time in the world for them to be separating. They had only just met for God’s sake! Of course, refusing to go on the trip would be a far worse thing to do, so he had to go.
“It’s ok, Teddy. We’ll see each other again, I’m sure. I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”
A small smile rose on Ted’s lips, “And I can’t wait to tell you when you’ll be able to move into the castle.”
Though it was now dark, neither wanted to risk being seen kissing at the riverbank, so instead, Ted bid Cody a goodnight and they parted with a handshake. Slowly, Cody walked home, Ted going in the opposite direction. As soon as he was inside his house, the aroma of the fire roaring in the hearth filled his nostrils. He spotted his father at his usual seat, once more whittling a figurine out of a hunk of wood.
In silence, Cody began preparing the meal, boiling a piece of chicken breast with several herbs they grew in a small plot next to the house. It wasn’t until he served the meat to his father that anyone said a word.
“Cody, what exactly is going on with you and young Theodore?”
“What?” Cody looked up from his plate, unsure of how to answer that question.
“You and Theodore, what is going on between the two of you?” he asked again.
“I don’t know,” he said, though he could feel his cheeks growing redder. “I guess we’re just… Well, what I mean to say is that he is the Lord’s son, and I’m merely teaching him about what we do here.”
“Because you’re not friends, you know that, don’t you?”
Casting his eyes downwards, Cody nodded his head. Yes, he was aware of the fact that they could never call one another “friend,” but he also knew that, despite everything that separated them, both parties wanted to be closer than ever.
Virgil hated the slight flicker he had seen on his son's features, but he didn't want the boy getting hurt over things that could just not be; Ted might be idealistic and uncaring of the class-structure now, but when he got older society would force him to adhere to the age-old traditions-- whether he wanted to do so or not.
The meal was conducted in relative silence after that. The sound of the still-burning fire crackling and the occasional 'chink' of their spoons tapping against the side of the clay bowls comprised of the only noise as the two Runnels men ate; each lost in thought, and neither especially happy with that. When they finished Cody went to go wash the dishes up, and then returned back to their home to prepare himself for bed. To think, soon he wouldn't see Ted for a few weeks-- and when it came to the wealthy when they took a "short break" that was usually a month bare minimum.
Cody knew that he had become too attached to Ted, but he knew that he couldn't -wouldn't- stop these feelings. He had felt things for Ted that he had never even imagined that he could feel before; Ted had come to mean a great deal to him, and he knew that regardless of the consequences he was going to endeavour to keep his relationship with Ted (such as it was) for as long as he possibly could.
Back at the castle (with Ted Sr. smirking and giving his son an 'I-told-you-so' expression-- until learning that his son had actually kept his feet and his stomach whilst witnessing both animal births) Ted was run a bath by the servants, and he leisurely soaked in the water until the servants arrived to let him know that dinner was ready and he was to dry and dress.
As he pulled on some loose evening clothing to tide him over until he could retire to bed, Ted noted that he didn't take his lifestyle for granted as much as he used to since he had met Cody. Now, he appreciated the burning fires in the numerous hearths, and the ability to have a hot bath and comfortable bed-- Cody and his father didn't have any of those things really.
Heading down to the dining hall, Ted casually glanced over the details of his day to his mother (and wickedly entertained the thought of telling his family that he'd kissed Cody, y'know, just to see if they were listening) before they settled down to their food.
Dinner passed by with idle chat, just like always. Ted ate all that was placed in front of him, simply because he knew that what he didn’t eat would be gone to waste, and after meeting Cody, he’d never let anything go to waste again. Once dinner was finished, Ted headed to his room, not looking forward to the next day at all. Nearly the entire day would be taken up by him telling the servants what to pack for him for their trip. And, of course, there would be no Cody for the next few weeks, or however long they would be gone.
A knock came upon his door as he was changing into his sleepwear. “One minute!” he shouted as he finished dressing. “Yes?”
“May I come in?” came his mother’s voice.
Ted padded over to the door, smiling as he opened it for her. “What brings you in here?” he asked, though he did love when his mother paid him a visit before bed. He always felt like he could talk to her far better than he could his father.
“I just wanted to talk, that’s all. Tonight at dinner it felt as though there was something you were leaving out. And, I don’t know why, but this morning, you looked happier than you usually do,” she told him, looking straight at him.
He sat on his seat at the window, glancing out at their land again, seeking out the Runnels homestead. “Did I?”
“Teddy, you and Cody…”
“What about Cody?” Could she tell that they kissed? Should he tell her?
“I know that you like him, but has something… come of that?” she asked.
“Mother, I don’t know-”
“You know what you tell me will stay between us, right? I won’t speak a word of any of this to your father, I can assure you of that.”
He knew that his mother was telling the truth. His father was completely oblivious to these sorts of things anyway, so the fact that he hadn’t noticed a change was no surprise to either him or his mother. But he knew that he couldn’t lie to his mother, especially not after she had just asked about the relationship. So, he took a deep breath and confessed everything to her, “Before dinner last night we kissed. And after dinner when I walked him up the road I kissed him again. And today in the barn when Virgil was at the market… Mother, I don’t know why I feel these things for him, but he feels them back. I don’t even know what I’m feeling for him, but it’s something I’ve never felt before with anyone, not even Kristen.”
“Come here,” she said, patting the bed beside her and opening her arms. Ted headed over to her, accepting her hug, her touch helping to soothe his nerves, but only slightly.
Enveloped in his mother's arms, Ted had a sudden sense of déjà vu to instances when he had sought her comfort and they had had their 'heart-to-hearts' when he had been merely a boy; weakness was never shown before his father, only his mother. Even though some might consider it degrading and embarrassing to show their emotions to a woman, Ted knew his mother would never ever betray his confidence and would be more open and honest with him than anyone else in the world ever would... even Cody, his mind supplied softly. "Ma..." Ted pressed his face into his mother's shoulder and Caroline gently stroked a slender hand through Ted's hair as she soothed, "Hush darling, it's alright..."
Was it really though? Ted knew his mother would never tell, might even possibly give him some semblance of a blessing-- but it wasn't as though he and Cody would ever be able to be together regardless of whether they ran to somewhere new or they stayed their on the land they lived. No society would ever condone two men being together, class-standing not even being called into the equation. Ted closed his eyes, just focusing on his mother's scent and soft embrace, trying to calm down the tumultuous thoughts and the tight sensation that had sprung up in his chest.
Seeing her usually composed and meticulous son in an outwardly-cool but internally fraught state made Caroline's arms tighten around him a fraction as she continued to stroke his hair. She had always wondered about Ted's lack of interest in any gender, not just female, but she'd never have assumed that...
Mother's intuition told her that Ted was in love with Cody, but she knew that telling her son that would completely throw him and frighten him-- so she kept the knowledge to herself for the moment. "I know you must be very confused, Ted, but I want you to listen to me carefully." Ted lifted his head from her shoulder, meeting her eyes; the frightened expectancy in his gaze breaking her heart. "I told you never to lie to yourself, didn't I? To always be true to your heart?" Ted nodded: that had been his mother's favourite saying and was often thrown into the bedtime stories she had told him as a child. "And that stands true, but... You must be careful. Not just for your own sake, but for Cody's." Ted heaved a sigh, shoulders dropping, "I know, Ma."
Caroline remained with him a little longer, just letting Ted vent all he had been keeping inside before she kissed his forehead and bade him to get some sleep. Sleep made everything better, she promised as the door closed behind her.
When he awoke in the morning, he found his clothing and sheets to be sticky from the dreams that had floated into his mind last night. He knew that Cody had played the starring role in those dreams, and that only reminded him of the fact that he wouldn’t be seeing the object of his affection for a long time. It hit him just then that he should have left Cody with a book so he could practice, even though he wasn’t around.
He quickly changed, burying his soiled clothes in a hamper the servants would pick up when they came to do the washing later. Once downstairs for breakfast he asked, “Father, may I go riding today?”
“We’re leaving tomorrow, do you have time for such activity?” he replied.
“Oh, packing won’t take that long. They take nearly our entire wardrobe, anyway, why do I even need to be there. It’s not like they’ve never packed bags before. Please, Father, I’d love to get one more riding session in before we leave and I won’t be able to go as often. Besides, Mercury needs his exercise.”
“Fine, but don’t be out for too long,” his father said, granting him permission.
His mother gave him a small smile, having a very strong hunch where he would be going.
They finished their meal and Ted ran up the stairs to change into his riding clothes. He found another book he used to read as a child, a book of fables, and slipped that into his bag before going down to the kitchens. There he grabbed a carrot for his horse and a freshly baked loaf of bread for the Runnels. From the kitchens, he headed directly to the stables. He had one of the stable boys prepare Mercury for the ride, and in a few minutes, he was off. First he did a slow walk around the fields, picking it up to a canter, eventually a run as he rode through the open space. There was nothing quite like riding at full speed, the air whipping across his face. But he had to slow down soon as he headed into the valley, going down the winding road at a walking pace.
Before going directly to the Runnels home, Ted rode by the river, eyes going wide when he spotted the black head of hair poking out of the water. He dismounted, Mercury staying put despite not being tied up. Walking up to the shore, Ted smiled at the sight of Cody splashing water over himself, back turned towards Ted. And he was humming, just as his father had done. Ted couldn’t help but wonder if he even realized what he was doing. “Cody!” he called after he watched him for a good while.
Recognizing that voice, Cody turned around, a look of surprise on his face. “Ted?” Wasn’t he supposed to be gone? “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to go for a ride,” he answered, pointing to his horse. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the bread and said, “I also got something for you and your father. Just a small token of my appreciation.”
“Thank you, I know my dad will love it.”
“You getting out of there any time soon?” Ted teased, wanting nothing more than to see Cody’s nude body once more.
The previous night Cody had pretty much given himself a very stern talking-to about not being so... dependent, on Ted's presence, but already the mere sight of him had Cody's heart pounding and his arms aching to hold him and embrace him once more. The ravenette momentarily wondered whether it was fair to either of them to bare himself, as it were, but it wasn't as though he had much choice-- his clothing was on the large rock closest to Ted, having been briefly washed and then left to dry out in the sun. "Yes... I've finished now anyway." he sent Ted one of those little smiles that revealed the gap in his teeth and it took all Ted had not to go to the other to steal even the smallest kiss from the younger.
The gesture of the bread might not seem like much to anyone else, but to Cody it meant a lot and he knew that his father would appreciate it too-- though maybe it was a good thing as far as Virgil was concerned that Ted was going away; maybe he and Cody would be able to work through this phase of friendship and just fall into the category of future-master and worker. That would be kindest on them both in the long run, but it seemed that they didn't realize it yet.
Taking a subtle and deep breath to calm himself and keep as much composure as possible, Cody then braced his hands on the bank and pulled himself back up. The sunlight immediately began to sparkle and glitter upon the smooth, tanned skin and the sheer beauty of Cody's image was almost ethereal; Ted felt like he should be on his knees and paying homage to him. Forget whatever other Deity might be considered the one to worship-- as far as Ted was concerned Cody was the one who needed to be worshipped and treasured and... everything. For the briefest of moments he got to see Cody, all of him, and knew that that which he had felt pressed against him yesterday in the hay when they had been kissing had definitely not been an exaggeration brought on by his eager imagination and body.
However sadly he was to lose that view he wouldn't deny the one of Cody's back and adorably rounded and toned backside was more than enough compensation. Cody pulled his breaches on swiftly and Ted couldn't help admiring the way Cody's spine curved and arched gracefully with each of his movements as he dressed. The urge to caress the length of Cody's spine with his lips and tongue was overwhelming and he actively had to clench his fists to stop him reaching out for the younger man.
When Cody pulled his shirt on (the clothing sticking to his damp skin and his dark hair still sparkling with water-droplets) Ted smiled slightly ruefully; what he wouldn't give just to see his Cody all free of covering one more... preferably with himself in equal states of undress, a comfortable setting and no chance of interruptions. Shaking the thought away, Ted then said, "And, Cody, I have brought something for you." The way Cody seemed to perk up, like a small puppy, was both adorable and slightly heart-breaking; the gift wasn't even exactly a true gift after all, it was just a book. One day Ted decided then and there he would get Cody a real present. "For me?" the younger asked with a shy excitement.
Part 4
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairing: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Rhodes
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: 8662
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... As usual, flocked in codiasi, so I'm posting it here too :)
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2
The following morning, Ted awoke with a smile still on his face. He wrapped himself in one of his robes after washing off his face, then padded downstairs for breakfast. His mother and father were already seated, and his brother soon joined them. “Good morning, Mother, Father,” Ted greeted as he sat in his usual seat.
“Good morning, Theodore,” his father returned, his mother simply smiled and nodded. “Did you sleep well? I hear you’ve got a long day ahead of you.”
“I did, yes. Did Virgil tell you that today the first of the cows is due to have her calf?” He truly had no idea what birthing a cow would entail, and the more he thought about it, the more he was wondering if he had the right stuff to help.
“He did. I remember when I was your age, I had gone down to one of the parcels with my father when they were birthing cows. I was rather curious, so I pleaded with my father to watch. He laughed at me, and said that was fine. To this day, I wish I had never seen such a thing. But the choice is yours to make.”
Hearing his father’s story made him even more wary. “I guess I’ll still go down there and… attempt to watch. Although last night, Cody told me that if I passed out, I had received a fair warning.”
“As I said, the choice is yours. But you must draw the line somewhere with all the field work that you’ve been doing.”
“I haven’t been doing all that much, Father. But, even as such, my muscles have gotten far more defined,” he told him. He never would have thought that a bit of field work here and there would really help his body’s muscular development, but it had. Maybe if he continued, his physique would be as hard and defined as Cody’s, he thought, mind drifting off into a daydream about the young man.
“A man of your wealth and stature has no need for such a muscular build.”
“It’s certainly a benefit for any bride he may choose,” his mother chimed in, giving her son a smile, her eyes twinkling.
Ted blushed. “I best get ready,” he said after finishing up his meal. He excused himself from the table and headed back upstairs to dress. He had to search through his closet to find some of his more ratty clothing, because he didn’t want to soil anything nice. Going into his washroom once more, he found that Cody’s clothes were still in a pile on the floor, something he must have overlooked earlier on, as he was still somewhat sleepy. Grabbing those and tucking them into his sack, he once more went down the stairs, his father and mother wishing him a good day before he left the castle for the day.
Down on the farm Cody and Virgil had already breakfasted; the impending possibility of birthing cattle meant that they were all going to have to be on complete alert, and that that in turn could mean food would be put on a back-burner whilst they attended to the animals. Virgil watched as Cody moved about their small home, setting the dishes aside to dry... and actually humming as he did.
"You're in a good mood this morning Cody," Virgil stated, his words slightly careful and obviously curious. "Why?" Cody turned and regarded his father with an amused look and arched brow, "Would you rather that I was miserable? Odd thing to wish for your child, don't you think?" he was only teasing of course and the light blush Virgil suddenly sported showed that he knew it, "Cheeky boy."
Poking his head around the front door, Cody beamed as he spotted Ted hastily coming towards him. "Morning Ted!" he could hear his father cluck his tongue disapprovingly, but for once he ignored it. Ted's returning smile was breath-taking and Cody actually wondered if it was possible, once again, that Ted was something more than mere human-- a ridiculous notion, but prudent all the same.
"Morning Cody!" Virgil appeared behind his son and Ted gave a slight bow, "Morning Mr. Runnels-- I do hope you don't mind entertaining me again." Virgil shook his head, though sent Cody a look, "Didn't you warn the Young Master about today's activities?" he asked. The impish grin on Cody's face had Ted wondering if he'd make that expression at other more... ahem, intimate times.
"Oh I did. I gave him fair warning--" Once they had pulled away from kissing one another long enough that was. Both young men cleared their throats almost inaudibly, each suddenly finding the sky and ground more interesting to look at. "--But the fact that he's here shows that he feels he has the stomach for such an endeavour. And he did say he wanted the full experience, father... What better to witness than an animal's birth?"
Reluctantly Virgil knew that he couldn't fault his son's logic but then assured Ted that should he feel faint or sick then he should move away immediately. Something that Ted had no intention of doing regardless of how squeamish he might turn out. Admittedly ego was making its presence known; if Cody could stand it then he could too, damn it.
"Well, come on then-- we should go check on her." Virgil had had much experience with such instances, obviously, in his lifetime, and so he seemed to have developed an uncanny knack of knowing when the animal was going to go into labour. As they were in the barn Ted remembered that he had Cody's clothing, and leant in to murmur low into the younger man's ear to inform him as such. He kept close and quiet so as not to disturb Virgil and the shockingly swollen cow, but also because it gave him an excuse to feel Cody's body heat and to steal a faint hint of the younger man's earthy, exotic scent. His lips were so close to Cody's ear that they brushed them when he spoke, and the resulting shiver made him grin slightly with pride and minute teasing.
Gently elbowing Ted in the side, Cody gave him a sly glance out the corner of his eye. “Not here,” he mouthed.
“Cody, Theodore, come here!” Virgil shouted to them as he examined the cow. She was getting restless, and began lying down on the hay that had been spread out just for the birthing. “This means she’s nearing her time to give birth.” When Virgil had awoken that morning, his first task was to check on her, and he found that her labour had begun, but it would still be a while before she would deliver. “We’ve got to watch her closely from here on in.”
It was a mere matter of minutes before she stood again, and her natural birthing instincts kicked in. She stomped her hoofs a few times, and soon, a single hoof could be seen.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” Cody asked as he saw a worried look cross his face.
“This is what I was afraid of. He’s backwards.”
“How can you tell?” Ted asked, only seeing a single hoof was enough to know that the entire calf was coming out the wrong way?
“A lifetime of experience,” Virgil answered. “Usually, the cows are fit to birth by themselves. They’ve been doing it for longer than we’ve been herding them, after all. But, sometimes there are difficulties, like this, which, if go unaided, can kill the mother in the process.”
“Oh my God!” Ted gasped when Virgil stuck his hand inside the cow. His face grew pale and his eyes widened.
“We’ve got to get this calf out somehow,” he said, finding the other hoof and pulling it out alongside the first.
“If the calf doesn’t get out soon,” Cody explained, patting the cow’s side, trying to soothe it so it wouldn’t attempt to kick his father as he bulled the newborn animal from its mother, “then it could die because it can’t breathe.”
She stepped forward and Virgil fell backwards into the hay, a calf also on the ground with him. Backing up from the cow, Cody watched as she turned towards her calf, licking its face clean. He then smiled to his father, who was standing up from his spot on the barn floor, watching on as the mother took to her calf.
Turning to smile at Ted, Cody found that he had crouched down near one of the barn walls, back towards him. “Ted? You ok?”
What in the world have ever possessed him to want to watch that? He could feel bile rising in his throat as the images of that calf coming out of its mother flashed through his mind. “Not really,” he answered honestly.
“I did warn you,” Cody said, crouching down next to him, running a soothing hand over his back. “But look at them now, the baby’s fine.” He quickly turned his head to see that the cow was chewing the umbilical cord, then said, “Ok, maybe you don’t want to look right now, but the baby’s fine, I assure you.”
“Your father had his hand…” he drifted off, another wave of nausea washing over him.
“You have to do what you have to do when you’re living on a farm.”
"At least you're still standing." Virgil's voice sounded before Cody could say anymore, and both young men turned to look-- Cody without problem and Ted with slow reluctance. "What do you mean, dad?" the dark haired male asked curiously and Virgil huffed out a small chuckle before giving a conspiratorial wink. "Back when I was your age and my father and I were tending a birthing cow, your father happened by with his, Young Master. He insisted that he wanted to stay and watch, so your grandfather left him to it..."
Another chuckle sounded as Virgil kept his post near the animal just to make sure that everything was indeed alright. "And we had to carry him out of the barn unconscious before too long. He had no stomach whatsoever for our work down here."
Momentarily Ted's own nausea was forgotten as he tried to picture his large, booming-voiced father being squeamish or fainting before anyone, let alone those that he considered beneath him in class standing. "He really fainted?" he piped up lightly, curious.
"Oh yes." the blonde man nodded and grinned, "I swear to this day whenever I mention the cows' birthing time approaching he turns green..." the older man trailed off, and Cody couldn't stop the smile on his face. It wasn't often he'd confide stories like that of his youth, and even though Cody knew it had been to make Ted feel better he'd got to listen in on it. He'd never look at the Lord the same way again.
The process had taken quite a bit of time though in all the excitement it seemed to have flown by. When they had been assured the calf was well and had given its mother some food and drink Virgil then gently ushered them out of the way. "Come on now, let's give her some peace and quiet." The teens left obediently.
Seeing that Ted still looked a little green around the gills, as it were, Virgil motioned that they go and have a few minutes break. "We still have some work to do, but nothing too pressing for the moment since the cow seems alright; go and have a few minutes rest." Cody nodded, a hand going to Ted's arm and gently pulling.
Taking the other to the stream he motioned Ted to sit down and then filled his old decanter with water and handed it to the older teen. "It takes some getting used to." he said apologetically. "It'll wear off in a few minutes-- have a drink and take deep breaths. I was the same when I first saw one." he admitted, "I was about seven at the time."
"Yes, but you were seven, that's understandable." Ted spoke after he'd taken a drink and Cody could see a small flush of embarrassment colouring the other's peaky cheeks once more, "I'm nineteen for goodness sake." Ah, so Ted was indeed older than him, Cody mused to himself for a moment before responding, "Ted, I was born around this sort of thing, and you're new to it. Even so we're both learning together." When Cody sent him that smile Ted found it hard to be mad at himself.
“So, how many more cows do you have? They all give birth at the same time?” Ted wondered. Why he asked, he didn’t know, considering he wanted that image out of his head forever.
“We have four more,” he answered now sitting down cross legged next to Ted, “and they all birth around the same time because we get the pregnant around the same time. It makes things easier on our end as we know when to expect the calves to be coming.”
“Cody Runnels, is that you?” came a woman’s voice on his right. He turned his head, putting on his best false smile as Layla walked towards them with a pile of clothes in her hand.
“Good morning Layla,” he greeted. “What brings you out here today?” More specifically, what brings you down to this end of the river where Ted and I had been enjoying our time in peace?
“I have some wash to do, and I saw someone sitting down here, so I had to come and see who it was. Lucky for me, it happened to be you. And who is this?” she asked, looking around Cody to see another handsome young man sitting on the river bank.
“This is…” Cody glanced at Ted, not sure how he wanted to be introduced.
Standing, Ted walked to Layla and said, “I am Theodore DiBiase, son of Lord DiBiase.”
Her eyes went wide as she fell into a curtsey before the high powered young man. “Good morning, Young Master DiBiase,” she said at the lowest point of her curtsey. Though, as she spoke, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing out here with Cody of all people.
“You may rise,” Ted told her, fighting to keep his face stoic as he did so. “El is the last name, correct? I met your father and brothers last week, do tell them I said that their harvest was spectacular this year.”
“Yes, of course, Young Master DiBiase.”
Cody rolled his eyes, wouldn’t this girl ever leave. He stood, placing himself next to Ted. “I’m sorry, but we’ve got to get back to the farm now. Today he’s here to watch and learn about the birthing of calves, and I’ve got to go with my father to check on our newborn. Have a nice day,” he said before leaving her standing alone at the river bank. Once out of ear shot, he muttered to Ted, “That girl does not know how to stop talking. Although you did a pretty good job of making her speechless.”
“I may not like the formalities, but I do know how to use them to my advantage. I swear I could hear you snickering behind me,” he told Cody with a grin. And then his grin dipped slightly as he continued, “She does seem to like you quite a lot… Are you two…?” he trailed off, leaving his question hanging.
Immediately Cody's eyes widened, mouth dropping open slightly and showing Ted a glimpse of that bewitching tongue that tested his restraint whenever it made itself known whenever Cody licked his lips or anything. "No! No no no no no!" The ravenette shook his head firmly, as though trying to dispel Ted's suggestion physically rather than just verbally. Ted knew he should protest this, claim Layla was a decent seeming young lady, but his heart soared at Cody's vehement denial.
"She likes me." Cody almost looked crippled with embarrassment admitting it, "And, she um, hasn't exactly made it a secret that she feels as such. My father's keen on the idea." Cody's expression soured and Ted noted that it was probably the first time he'd seen Cody react negatively to the topic of his father. That admittance made his stomach drop with a strange combination of dread and jealousy.
"I have no intention of accepting though." Cody seemed to be talking more to himself than Ted at this point, but Ted was listening avidly all the same. "She's not the one for me." At that point Ted found that he couldn't hold his tongue any longer; the fact that they were alone aiding to this sudden urge, "Who is the one for you?" Cody turned his head to look to him, a slight, mischievous smile curving those tempting lips.
"I'm beginning to get an idea..." Cody's tone and words were evasive, but Ted didn't think it was too presumptuous to believe that he was the person in question; the look in Cody's eyes was too open for it not to be, and the previous times where they had indulged one another in (innocent) activities that were legally and supposedly morally illicit denoted that this wasn't some passing fancy between the two of them. Well, it sure as hell wasn't that way as far as Ted was concerned-- Cody had already worked himself firmly into his life, and was well on his way to doing the same to his heart.
"I see." Ted was unable to stop a smile of his own appearing as they continued to walk, and Cody had the strongest urge to lean in and press a kiss to one of the lightly pinkened apples that were Ted's cheeks. However, they had reached his home by this point and there was no way he could risk such an open display of intimate affection... Maybe later when they had finished their work with the cows and they would have time to do his reading lesson that day. They had to be well-timed, lest Virgil find out.
On many things he might side with, and support, his son, but Cody doubted that the reading lessons would fall under the same categories. "Right on time you two!" Virgil said brightly, waving them across, "The second is about ready!" Cody heard Ted give a small moan of nausea behind him, and couldn't help but laugh as he quickened his stride, "C'mon Ted!"
“There’s another one? Right now? Really?” Ted questioned, though he still followed Cody into the barn. He saw the one cow that had to be the one about to pop, then looked around and saw that the small calf from earlier was now standing, walking around behind its mother. The sight brought a smile to his face, despite the event he had witnessed earlier.
“This one should be much easier,” Virgil insisted, walking around the cow to do his last minute inspections of her. “Look, there, you can see its front hoof. This one will be fine, and she should be able to do it all by herself.”
While his father’s focus was solely on the cow, Cody placed an arm around Ted’s back, trying to keep him calm as the calf was slowly coming out of its mother. “You feelin’ all right?” he asked, noticing the colour had drained out of his face once more.
“A little better than last time.”
“It does get easier the more births you see,” Cody promised him. “Sometimes it’s still hard, watching her have to struggle, or when the mother rejects the calf, especially when the calf dies or is stillborn. But, more often than not, things go smoothly, like this one is going.”
Before too long, yet another new calf was born, lying in the hay as its mother tended to it. Virgil walked around, checking the other cows’ health. “Doesn’t look like any of the others will be due today. I’d say we’ll have one tomorrow and then the last two the following day.”
“What do you do once they’re all… born?” Ted asked.
“We have to sex them all, and castrate any of the males,” Virgil told him. “Can’t say that’s my favourite part of the job, but it has to be done. We have two bulls right now, and they take care of all the females. When the female calves are older, they’ll be sold and we receive a take of the money, while the rest goes to your family. The males will eventually work on the farms, in the fields, things like that.”
“I don’t know how you do it all. You have to know so much to keep this running smoothly,” Ted said, in awe of the older man.
“Like I said before, it takes a lifetime of experience to be able to do this properly. Now, did you have to get back to the castle anytime soon?”
“No. I was just hoping that I could maybe stay and watch the calves some more?” he asked tentatively.
“Of course you may. I have to run into town for a bit to pick up more feed. The cows need to eat to produce enough milk, after all. I’ll see you in a little while, boys,” he said before he left the barn and grabbed some coins from the house, heading to the village.
A sly grin appeared on Cody’s face as he turned to Ted, grabbing his arms and pulling him to the far corner where the bales of hay were stacked. He wrapped his arms around Ted’s neck and kissed him, falling onto the hay, Ted landing on top of him, never breaking the kiss.
A sound that was part growl, part moan and definitive lust left Ted as he eagerly participated in the kiss that Cody bestowed upon him. As it had been the previous night there was no finesse between them due to their inexperience, but they were rapidly beginning to gain a semblance of technique with one another. The feeling of Cody's body arching into his from where they lay out on the hay bale was just fuel to Ted's fire; he knew how smooth and tanned Cody was without his shirt on, and he couldn't help imagining now whether that smooth tan covered the rest of his body.
Cody's long fingers buried into Ted's hair, causing the older man to shiver. Their kisses only broke when they were desperate for air, lungs screaming in protest at their prolonged embraces. However they merely allowed themselves the swiftest respite to gain air before their mouths fused together again. Ted knew he would soon have to take even a minor hiatus from the farm-work, just to appease his father, to increase the possibility that he might return... and it was that thought in the back of his mind of not seeing Cody for a few days that made his kisses all the more desperate.
The sounds of their panting breaths and soft moans and growls of pleasure echoed only briefly in the barn before they were swallowed into the considerable space. The barn was bigger than the Runnels home, but neither of them had the desire to try and move into the barn along with their animals just for more room.
"We-- should-- get on with-- your lessons~~" Ted breathed against Cody's lips when their latest kiss broke. Honestly, that had been his intention, because he A) was only technically there to teach Cody under the cover of farm-work, and B) he didn't trust his body to behave if he allowed himself to drink the heady wine that was a kiss from Cody Runnels much longer. The thought however was immediately banished when Cody looked up at him.
The exotic sapphires framed by thick lashes seemed almost black with desire, and the pouty lips that had driven him to distraction even before he had been blessed with a taste of them were even more swollen. The blush on Cody's high cheek bones and the way he could hear the low, breathy, "Hah... hah..." mews of Cody trying to draw breath all conspired to break his resolve even a little.
"You don't know what you do to me, Cody..." Ted murmured, a thumb stroking over the plump appendage that was Cody's lower-lip, thrilled in a strangely primal way to consider that the boy beneath him looked so thoroughly dazed because of his kisses.
"Since the first time I saw you, you've bewitched me." The confession was low, coarse, tone gravelly with desire and honesty. The sheer sentiment in that single sentence had Cody mewling softly, a hand moving from Ted's hair and down his shirted back at the other hand still in his short hair tried to guide his head down again, "Teddy, please~~"
Fighting against his need for Cody was hopeless. He gave in, capturing Cody’s lips once again. His hands slid along the lean body of the young teen, fingers slipping underneath the thin fabric of Cody’s shirt. His fingertips brushed that soft, smooth skin, and soon his entire hand was splayed out over Cody’s torso.
The feeling that spread through his body at Ted’s touch, Cody could think of no words for it. Letting his own hand raise Ted’s shirt, he finally felt his partner’s flesh, and now he wanted more. His hips arched upwards, out of no control of his own, and he could feel their erections pressing against one another. God, did he want to hold Ted in his hand, to stroke him as he stroked himself on numerous occasions. However, he knew that was not a possibility. Not now, not here.
“Cody,” Ted moaned as their kiss broke off. “I want you so badly,” he whispered.
A shudder moved down Cody’s spine as Ted’s words were breathed into his ear. His eyes fell shut as images flashed before him. One day they would have each other. It wouldn’t be today, not with the risk of Virgil returning at any time. And neither Cody nor Ted wanted to have cows and their calves watching them. “I want you, too.”
“Right now, though, we should get on with your lessons before your father returns. I’ll make sure to reward you when you do a good job,” he added, giving Cody a wink.
“I like rewards,” Cody said, grinning.
Breaking away, Ted grabbed his bag, which he had set in the barn earlier, and removed the book, brining it back over to Cody. “Ok, let’s continue from here. Do you remember what sound these letters make?”
“Thhh,” he sounded out, taking the word apart, “ee-ss-ee. These?”
“Good job.” Leaning forward, Ted gave Cody a kiss before continuing. It had been a couple days since they had been able to crack the book open, so Ted wasn’t sure how much Cody would remember from last time. As he continued, he stumbled here and there, which was only natural for a beginner. He did improve though, slowly but surely. “Cody, this is fantastic,” he said, smiling as Cody read out nearly an entire sentence to him, kissing him once more.
The distraction of his reading really helped Cody balance himself out once more because although Ted's kisses gently stoked that inner-flame the other had made him aware he possessed, his mind was so busy trying to focus on the still somewhat alien text before him that he didn't give the kiss his full attention as he had previously done.
With each progression, word by word, and then back over to see if he could formulate the entire sentence, Ted rewarded Cody with a kiss. They were not always on the lips -though that was admittedly his favourite target- but occasionally on his neck, his cheek, or even the spot below his ear. They were gentle touches this time, lacking in the former passionate ardour, because deep down both knew that they were helpless against the other enough as it was, and circumstances just wouldn't allow them to comfortably fall into temptation.
"And... So... The knights... All consented..." Cody's brow furrowed as he let his gaze wander over the letters, finger moving underneath them to help him keep them in focus. They had reached halfway through a particularly sizable chapter when Cody heard the sound of whistling; his father always returned from the market whistling. No matter the weather and no matter how his time at the market had gone, he always whistled.
"Damn!" Cody cursed softly, huffing out a breath as he watched Ted swiftly slip the book back into his bag after using an old scrap of paper to mark their place. "I was just getting it!" Chuckling softly, Ted leant in and brushed his lips chastely over Cody's, "I am very proud of you; your progress is incredible." Blushing (and trying to hide the admittedly goofy smile that wanted to make itself known at Ted's praise) Cody stood, grabbing the other's hand to pull him up too with him. "Quick, let's go out there before he comes in here."
As they began heading towards where his father was returning from, Cody noticed a piece of hay sticking to the back of Ted's shirt. Oops... He must have left that there when he had grabbed at the other's back. Swiftly he plucked it away, unnoticed by Ted, and turned his head as much as possible to remove any stray straws that may have clung to him in turn. After a moments consideration though he deemed himself safe-- and knew he could come up with a quick lie about having startled the cow and fallen onto the bale or something if he had indeed missed some.
“Did you find everything you needed?” Cody asked, taking one of the bags out of the wooden cart.
“I did. Come, let’s go fill the troughs. Are both calves all right? And their mothers?” Dusty asked, hefting up another bag of feed.
“All parties are doing fine. Both were suckling when we just left them,” Cody told him, having taken a quick glance at them before they headed out.
“Good, good. And you didn’t find my son to be too boring of company did you?” Virgil asked Ted, taking him by surprise.
“Oh, no, not at all Mr. Runnels, I assure you,” he said. Not boring at all. Far from it if the hardness in his trousers spoke for anything. At that moment, he had never been so thankful to be wearing loose clothing, able to hide his erection beneath it.
“Very well. Now, come along you two,” he said, leading them into the barn. He dumped the feed into the trough, slowly so as not to pour out too much. It had taken him years of trying to perfect his method, and he had started teaching Cody how to do it properly.
Watching the two Runnels, Ted couldn’t help but admire their strength and the determination they had. With a bag hoisted over his shoulder, Cody mimicked his dad in pouring the feed out, and Ted’s brain substituted the sight he had seen the other week, of Cody shirtless in the field, muscles rippling under that tanned skin.
Soon, the cows were eating while their calves continued to suckle. Ted couldn’t help but chuckle when one of the calves walked away, stumbling onto the hay covered floor. “It’s just like when I was watching my younger brother Brett learn how to walk.”
Dusty looked at the two boys. They really did get along quite well. However, he knew that it couldn’t last. One day, Ted would realize that he had all this land to run, and that Cody simply worked on that land for him. They couldn’t ever be real friends, not when Ted began to let his class distinction come to the forefront of his life. Why would he want to be friends with someone that was so far below his equal?
Cody and Ted were completely unaware of the scrutiny, both of them laughing softly in amused fondness as the young calf determinedly tried to get its legs working. "Dustin always used to say I had less-grace than a newborn when I was small." This sentiment was given in a low tone because Cody knew that mentions of his brother had the hurt of his leaving stinging anew.
"I find that hard to believe." Ted mused as the calf eventually seemed to give in and returned to its mother to have something more to eat and a rest. Cody chuckled softly, the smallest hint of pink appearing on his cheeks this time; though that could have been attributed to the heavy sack that the ravenette had just been hefting onto and then off of his shoulder not moments before.
Turning -intending to ask his father something- Cody completely forgot what question he had had in mind when he noticed the somewhat somber and almost regretfully determined expression on his father's face. Considering that Virgil was usually all smiles, despite their hard lifestyle, this was an unnerving expression indeed.
A moment of silent communication passed between them unbeknownst to Ted and Cody felt a cold shiver of expectancy running down his spine. Everything between himself and Ted seemed to have been going so well lately, in the days that they had been spending together, that he should have been anticipating something going on.
As the day drew on, and evening drew in, Ted found himself alone with Cody once more to help him gather water for the meal that evening that they'd be having once Ted had returned to his family. "Cody... Is everything Ok?" Even he had noticed the odd mood between father and son, despite how both had strived to act so normally. No doubt for his benefit and to save themselves embarrassment.
"I don't know." Cody admitted softly, "I have a bad feeling." Ted wished he could take Cody into his arms and offer him a small glimmer or support. However, although the stream was a decent distance from the house it wasn't wise to push contact between them. Instead he reached over and squeezed Cody's shoulder, letting his hand rest there a while. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it will be Ok." Cody forced a smile and nodded, wishing he could believe him. Gut-instinct told him that it wouldn't be that simple though.
“You know, I won’t be able to come back for a while,” Ted told him after a few minutes silence. “I witnessed the birth of two calves, that will be enough for my father.”
Cody sighed. He knew this day would be coming. However, he still had his position at the castle, and would be able to see Ted then. “I figured as much.”
“I… I also think my father may have something planned for us. We usually go on a trip to the coast before the frost hits every year, so I won’t be around for a good few weeks.” This had to be the worst time in the world for them to be separating. They had only just met for God’s sake! Of course, refusing to go on the trip would be a far worse thing to do, so he had to go.
“It’s ok, Teddy. We’ll see each other again, I’m sure. I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”
A small smile rose on Ted’s lips, “And I can’t wait to tell you when you’ll be able to move into the castle.”
Though it was now dark, neither wanted to risk being seen kissing at the riverbank, so instead, Ted bid Cody a goodnight and they parted with a handshake. Slowly, Cody walked home, Ted going in the opposite direction. As soon as he was inside his house, the aroma of the fire roaring in the hearth filled his nostrils. He spotted his father at his usual seat, once more whittling a figurine out of a hunk of wood.
In silence, Cody began preparing the meal, boiling a piece of chicken breast with several herbs they grew in a small plot next to the house. It wasn’t until he served the meat to his father that anyone said a word.
“Cody, what exactly is going on with you and young Theodore?”
“What?” Cody looked up from his plate, unsure of how to answer that question.
“You and Theodore, what is going on between the two of you?” he asked again.
“I don’t know,” he said, though he could feel his cheeks growing redder. “I guess we’re just… Well, what I mean to say is that he is the Lord’s son, and I’m merely teaching him about what we do here.”
“Because you’re not friends, you know that, don’t you?”
Casting his eyes downwards, Cody nodded his head. Yes, he was aware of the fact that they could never call one another “friend,” but he also knew that, despite everything that separated them, both parties wanted to be closer than ever.
Virgil hated the slight flicker he had seen on his son's features, but he didn't want the boy getting hurt over things that could just not be; Ted might be idealistic and uncaring of the class-structure now, but when he got older society would force him to adhere to the age-old traditions-- whether he wanted to do so or not.
The meal was conducted in relative silence after that. The sound of the still-burning fire crackling and the occasional 'chink' of their spoons tapping against the side of the clay bowls comprised of the only noise as the two Runnels men ate; each lost in thought, and neither especially happy with that. When they finished Cody went to go wash the dishes up, and then returned back to their home to prepare himself for bed. To think, soon he wouldn't see Ted for a few weeks-- and when it came to the wealthy when they took a "short break" that was usually a month bare minimum.
Cody knew that he had become too attached to Ted, but he knew that he couldn't -wouldn't- stop these feelings. He had felt things for Ted that he had never even imagined that he could feel before; Ted had come to mean a great deal to him, and he knew that regardless of the consequences he was going to endeavour to keep his relationship with Ted (such as it was) for as long as he possibly could.
Back at the castle (with Ted Sr. smirking and giving his son an 'I-told-you-so' expression-- until learning that his son had actually kept his feet and his stomach whilst witnessing both animal births) Ted was run a bath by the servants, and he leisurely soaked in the water until the servants arrived to let him know that dinner was ready and he was to dry and dress.
As he pulled on some loose evening clothing to tide him over until he could retire to bed, Ted noted that he didn't take his lifestyle for granted as much as he used to since he had met Cody. Now, he appreciated the burning fires in the numerous hearths, and the ability to have a hot bath and comfortable bed-- Cody and his father didn't have any of those things really.
Heading down to the dining hall, Ted casually glanced over the details of his day to his mother (and wickedly entertained the thought of telling his family that he'd kissed Cody, y'know, just to see if they were listening) before they settled down to their food.
Dinner passed by with idle chat, just like always. Ted ate all that was placed in front of him, simply because he knew that what he didn’t eat would be gone to waste, and after meeting Cody, he’d never let anything go to waste again. Once dinner was finished, Ted headed to his room, not looking forward to the next day at all. Nearly the entire day would be taken up by him telling the servants what to pack for him for their trip. And, of course, there would be no Cody for the next few weeks, or however long they would be gone.
A knock came upon his door as he was changing into his sleepwear. “One minute!” he shouted as he finished dressing. “Yes?”
“May I come in?” came his mother’s voice.
Ted padded over to the door, smiling as he opened it for her. “What brings you in here?” he asked, though he did love when his mother paid him a visit before bed. He always felt like he could talk to her far better than he could his father.
“I just wanted to talk, that’s all. Tonight at dinner it felt as though there was something you were leaving out. And, I don’t know why, but this morning, you looked happier than you usually do,” she told him, looking straight at him.
He sat on his seat at the window, glancing out at their land again, seeking out the Runnels homestead. “Did I?”
“Teddy, you and Cody…”
“What about Cody?” Could she tell that they kissed? Should he tell her?
“I know that you like him, but has something… come of that?” she asked.
“Mother, I don’t know-”
“You know what you tell me will stay between us, right? I won’t speak a word of any of this to your father, I can assure you of that.”
He knew that his mother was telling the truth. His father was completely oblivious to these sorts of things anyway, so the fact that he hadn’t noticed a change was no surprise to either him or his mother. But he knew that he couldn’t lie to his mother, especially not after she had just asked about the relationship. So, he took a deep breath and confessed everything to her, “Before dinner last night we kissed. And after dinner when I walked him up the road I kissed him again. And today in the barn when Virgil was at the market… Mother, I don’t know why I feel these things for him, but he feels them back. I don’t even know what I’m feeling for him, but it’s something I’ve never felt before with anyone, not even Kristen.”
“Come here,” she said, patting the bed beside her and opening her arms. Ted headed over to her, accepting her hug, her touch helping to soothe his nerves, but only slightly.
Enveloped in his mother's arms, Ted had a sudden sense of déjà vu to instances when he had sought her comfort and they had had their 'heart-to-hearts' when he had been merely a boy; weakness was never shown before his father, only his mother. Even though some might consider it degrading and embarrassing to show their emotions to a woman, Ted knew his mother would never ever betray his confidence and would be more open and honest with him than anyone else in the world ever would... even Cody, his mind supplied softly. "Ma..." Ted pressed his face into his mother's shoulder and Caroline gently stroked a slender hand through Ted's hair as she soothed, "Hush darling, it's alright..."
Was it really though? Ted knew his mother would never tell, might even possibly give him some semblance of a blessing-- but it wasn't as though he and Cody would ever be able to be together regardless of whether they ran to somewhere new or they stayed their on the land they lived. No society would ever condone two men being together, class-standing not even being called into the equation. Ted closed his eyes, just focusing on his mother's scent and soft embrace, trying to calm down the tumultuous thoughts and the tight sensation that had sprung up in his chest.
Seeing her usually composed and meticulous son in an outwardly-cool but internally fraught state made Caroline's arms tighten around him a fraction as she continued to stroke his hair. She had always wondered about Ted's lack of interest in any gender, not just female, but she'd never have assumed that...
Mother's intuition told her that Ted was in love with Cody, but she knew that telling her son that would completely throw him and frighten him-- so she kept the knowledge to herself for the moment. "I know you must be very confused, Ted, but I want you to listen to me carefully." Ted lifted his head from her shoulder, meeting her eyes; the frightened expectancy in his gaze breaking her heart. "I told you never to lie to yourself, didn't I? To always be true to your heart?" Ted nodded: that had been his mother's favourite saying and was often thrown into the bedtime stories she had told him as a child. "And that stands true, but... You must be careful. Not just for your own sake, but for Cody's." Ted heaved a sigh, shoulders dropping, "I know, Ma."
Caroline remained with him a little longer, just letting Ted vent all he had been keeping inside before she kissed his forehead and bade him to get some sleep. Sleep made everything better, she promised as the door closed behind her.
When he awoke in the morning, he found his clothing and sheets to be sticky from the dreams that had floated into his mind last night. He knew that Cody had played the starring role in those dreams, and that only reminded him of the fact that he wouldn’t be seeing the object of his affection for a long time. It hit him just then that he should have left Cody with a book so he could practice, even though he wasn’t around.
He quickly changed, burying his soiled clothes in a hamper the servants would pick up when they came to do the washing later. Once downstairs for breakfast he asked, “Father, may I go riding today?”
“We’re leaving tomorrow, do you have time for such activity?” he replied.
“Oh, packing won’t take that long. They take nearly our entire wardrobe, anyway, why do I even need to be there. It’s not like they’ve never packed bags before. Please, Father, I’d love to get one more riding session in before we leave and I won’t be able to go as often. Besides, Mercury needs his exercise.”
“Fine, but don’t be out for too long,” his father said, granting him permission.
His mother gave him a small smile, having a very strong hunch where he would be going.
They finished their meal and Ted ran up the stairs to change into his riding clothes. He found another book he used to read as a child, a book of fables, and slipped that into his bag before going down to the kitchens. There he grabbed a carrot for his horse and a freshly baked loaf of bread for the Runnels. From the kitchens, he headed directly to the stables. He had one of the stable boys prepare Mercury for the ride, and in a few minutes, he was off. First he did a slow walk around the fields, picking it up to a canter, eventually a run as he rode through the open space. There was nothing quite like riding at full speed, the air whipping across his face. But he had to slow down soon as he headed into the valley, going down the winding road at a walking pace.
Before going directly to the Runnels home, Ted rode by the river, eyes going wide when he spotted the black head of hair poking out of the water. He dismounted, Mercury staying put despite not being tied up. Walking up to the shore, Ted smiled at the sight of Cody splashing water over himself, back turned towards Ted. And he was humming, just as his father had done. Ted couldn’t help but wonder if he even realized what he was doing. “Cody!” he called after he watched him for a good while.
Recognizing that voice, Cody turned around, a look of surprise on his face. “Ted?” Wasn’t he supposed to be gone? “What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to go for a ride,” he answered, pointing to his horse. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the bread and said, “I also got something for you and your father. Just a small token of my appreciation.”
“Thank you, I know my dad will love it.”
“You getting out of there any time soon?” Ted teased, wanting nothing more than to see Cody’s nude body once more.
The previous night Cody had pretty much given himself a very stern talking-to about not being so... dependent, on Ted's presence, but already the mere sight of him had Cody's heart pounding and his arms aching to hold him and embrace him once more. The ravenette momentarily wondered whether it was fair to either of them to bare himself, as it were, but it wasn't as though he had much choice-- his clothing was on the large rock closest to Ted, having been briefly washed and then left to dry out in the sun. "Yes... I've finished now anyway." he sent Ted one of those little smiles that revealed the gap in his teeth and it took all Ted had not to go to the other to steal even the smallest kiss from the younger.
The gesture of the bread might not seem like much to anyone else, but to Cody it meant a lot and he knew that his father would appreciate it too-- though maybe it was a good thing as far as Virgil was concerned that Ted was going away; maybe he and Cody would be able to work through this phase of friendship and just fall into the category of future-master and worker. That would be kindest on them both in the long run, but it seemed that they didn't realize it yet.
Taking a subtle and deep breath to calm himself and keep as much composure as possible, Cody then braced his hands on the bank and pulled himself back up. The sunlight immediately began to sparkle and glitter upon the smooth, tanned skin and the sheer beauty of Cody's image was almost ethereal; Ted felt like he should be on his knees and paying homage to him. Forget whatever other Deity might be considered the one to worship-- as far as Ted was concerned Cody was the one who needed to be worshipped and treasured and... everything. For the briefest of moments he got to see Cody, all of him, and knew that that which he had felt pressed against him yesterday in the hay when they had been kissing had definitely not been an exaggeration brought on by his eager imagination and body.
However sadly he was to lose that view he wouldn't deny the one of Cody's back and adorably rounded and toned backside was more than enough compensation. Cody pulled his breaches on swiftly and Ted couldn't help admiring the way Cody's spine curved and arched gracefully with each of his movements as he dressed. The urge to caress the length of Cody's spine with his lips and tongue was overwhelming and he actively had to clench his fists to stop him reaching out for the younger man.
When Cody pulled his shirt on (the clothing sticking to his damp skin and his dark hair still sparkling with water-droplets) Ted smiled slightly ruefully; what he wouldn't give just to see his Cody all free of covering one more... preferably with himself in equal states of undress, a comfortable setting and no chance of interruptions. Shaking the thought away, Ted then said, "And, Cody, I have brought something for you." The way Cody seemed to perk up, like a small puppy, was both adorable and slightly heart-breaking; the gift wasn't even exactly a true gift after all, it was just a book. One day Ted decided then and there he would get Cody a real present. "For me?" the younger asked with a shy excitement.
Part 4