Fortunate Son Part 9
Title: Fortunate Son (Part 9/?)
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton
Rating: NC-17
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: 9398
A/N: I admit, I'm no expert on the life and times of feudal England, but I tried. Forgive any errors when it comes to time frames and whatnot...
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
“Thank you again for your help today,” John said as he shoveled some more food into his mouth.
“Speak, then put food in your mouth, not the other way around. You could at least pretend to be civilized, John,” Randy said before Cody could say anything, shaking his head as he heard John speaking with a mouthful of food.
Cody chuckled. Now that he knew the banter between them wasn’t of some hateful nature, he was able to read better into it. This was how they kept up appearances. Despite being friends since childhood and roommates and lovers now, to the public eye, they appeared to quarrel quite a bit and bicker back and forth. “You’re welcome, John,” he replied.
“What did you have to go help with, Cody?” Layla asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Why was she even involving herself in a conversation that clearly wasn’t directed towards her?
But he appeased her, anyway, turning to look at her as he answered, “Helped him bandage up one of the horses.”
“Oh no,” Michelle and Layla said at the same time in an attempt at concern. “That’s terrible,” Layla continued. “He’s ok now, though, thanks to you, right?”
“Actually, it was John that did all the bandaging up and cleaning of the wound. I was just there to make sure it didn’t kick him,” Cody told them.
“Well, that’s still very important,” Layla insisted, nodding her head, getting Michelle to follow suit.
Goddamn, wouldn’t she ever back off? At least Kristen had turned to Brett, although it sounded like he had been her true desire since the start. Layla, on the other hand, seemed to be set on getting Cody all to herself. “Yes, I suppose. Now I’ve got to be going, Young Master Ted is surely waiting for me,” he said as he dismissed himself from the table, much to the disappointment of Layla.
“I should be going, too,” Randy said, standing up from his seat. “I must be needed somewhere. The head valet usually is,” he added as a nice slap to Eric’s face.
No matter how many times he had seen Randy give it out to Eric it never failed to amuse him, and John had to look down to the last of his food to hide his grin. He looked up just before Randy left though and caught the almost imperceptible wink that he was sent. John was once again grinning as he stood up; Randy might be a bit of a bitch sometimes, but John loved him that way.
In the foyer Ted was indeed waiting for him, and when he saw the expression on Cody's face he immediately wanted to ask what was wrong. However, there were other people about and neither of them could risk seemingly overly familiar... even though it seemed for the main part they had already broken that rule in the eyes of some. "What happened?" he asked curiously as they were well up the stairs towards Ted's room, "You don't look very impressed about something." Cody shivered and sent Ted an almost pained look. No, scratch that, that was pain.
"Layla forced herself into mine and John's conversation and immediately started singing my praises as though I'm the one who did something when actually it was John, and I told her so." he shook his head, a little unnerved. Thanks to earlier he knew that Ted had a possessive streak in him (a soothing realisation considering Cody knew he had one too) and he didn't want to set the other off, per se, he was just telling him what went on. Something told him that Ted would be mad if he didn't know.
"A bit obstinate then, is she?" Ted said, lips compressing slightly into a thin line of anger. Being the gentleman he was though he didn't badmouth Layla outwardly... but he was cursing her in his head. Despite how he knew her working there must be helping her family down on the parcel, he couldn't help wishing that something would happen so that she was forced to leave. Without Cody. When they reached his room Ted opened the door, and Cody noticed for the first time that he was holding something in his hand, "What's that?" he asked curiously and Ted rolled his eyes before pulling a face, "Some letters I have to reply to from school friends."
“What? Do you not want to reply to them?”
“Well, it’s not that I mind it, but there are definitely things I’d rather be doing,” he replied, winking at Cody as he did.
“Could we go to the orchard?” Cody asked suddenly. Hey, if Ted wanted to do something else, why not explore the grounds?
“How do you know about the orchard?” Ted questioned. He hadn’t shown or told Cody about it before, saving that for some other time.
“Oh, well, at lunch today John had this leaf on his shirt and he said he had been down in the orchard. I didn’t even know you had one.”
“If you’d really like to go down there, I suppose we can. It’s quite nice there, peaceful. Again, not many people go down there. Wonder why John was there, though,” he pondered, not able to figure out a reason.
“Yes, let’s go,” he said, nodding his head vigorously.
“All right, let’s go.” Ted led Cody downstairs and they headed out back to the courtyard. “It’s really out of the way of everything. Which is why people aren’t out here very often, especially at this time of year, since it’s getting colder,” he explained.
“Do you ever come out here by yourself?”
“Sometimes. Came out here more often when I was a kid, though, to be honest with you. One day I snuck out here and saw John and Randy climbing one of the trees and I started running around here with them. They’re a few years older than me, and since they were children of servants, I wasn’t able to play with them, or anything. Until I snuck off all by myself. My parents never wanted me to climb trees, said it was improper, but that day I did. The two of ‘em helped me up there. My parents weren’t too happy when they sent Eric out and he found the three of us there,” he said with a chuckle. “That was one of the best days of my childhood.”
Chuckling slightly Cody nodded, "I had noticed that Randy and John seem to enjoy tormenting Eric." he admitted and Ted grinned somewhat in fond nostalgia. It was so different to his own childhood... his father had admittedly tried to do the best he could by his boys given the means they had, and always placed them before him, but Cody had had to work since he was literally old enough to walk. He hadn't really had time to play with any of the other children in the village. However, since he knew how such things upset Ted in their injustice he didn't mention them.
They walked down together, once again with Cody somewhat behind, and then went straight out through the main doors. Servants (as Cody had been told by John) were not encouraged to use the main doors as much as they could avoid it, and to take the long way around and go down by the back of the kitchens whenever they had to be somewhere-- unless, of course, they were attending to a visitor or a member of the family at the door. Shivering somewhat as the change in temperature washed over him, Cody fell into step besides Ted once they were away from the front doors.
"How many trees do you have in the orchard?" Cody asked curiously, never having actually seen one. Ted's brow furrowed, "I couldn't tell you." he admitted, "A lot, that much I do know... and some have been around for a loooonnnggg time." Cody giggled slightly at the way Ted elongated the word and the older teen took on a delighted blush in turn; when Cody laughed, whether lightly or more heartily, the sound was like music to Ted's ears. Reaching the orchard gate, Ted undid the latch and then indicated Cody go before him, and then following himself. Waiting as Ted wrestled with the rusty latch momentarily to close the gate once more, Cody then followed as the other began leading him more towards the centre of the frost-sprinkled trees.
When Ted veered off of the main path when he neared the center of the orchard, Cody raised a brow, but followed along. He looked down and noticed that there was a definite pathway there that had been worn down from use. Strange, he thought, since Ted told him people weren’t here that often. “It’s not too far now,” Ted declared.
“Where are we going, anyway?” Cody asked.
“I’m showing you now. Like I told you, years ago I ran back here and the gate was open. I heard people laughing and I followed the sound right down here,” he explained. And then he stopped, smiling when he looked at the old crab apple tree. The main trunk split off into a ‘V’, with many more branches and splits coming off of that. It really did look like the perfect climbing tree.
Cody stopped behind him, pressing his body close to Ted’s as he rested his chin on his shoulder. “No wonder John and Randy ran off here as kids. Looks like this would be a lot of fun.”
“It was. Come on,” he said, walking them closer. He began circling the tree, smiling as he did. But then something caught his eye that gave him pause. “Cody, come look at this.” Going to join Ted on the opposite side of the tree, Cody looked right where Ted pointed. There were two letters carved into the tree. “Can you tell me what those two letters are?”
Recalling his letters, he recognized the ‘R’ right off the bat, since that’s what his last name started with. “That’s an ‘R’,” he said as he pointed to the second letter that had been carved. “This looks like a ‘t’,” he added when he pointed to an addition sign between the two letters.
“That’s a plus sign. What’s the first letter? Come on, I know you know this,” Ted encouraged, though he still couldn’t believe that right here before his face was definitive proof of…
“I think it’s a ‘J’,” he said, though he was still unsure.
“Good. So this says J plus R. Do you know whose names begin with those letters?”
Thinking back to his writing lesson, he realized that two names were added to the list that he hadn’t seen before. “John and Randy.”
"John and Randy..." Ted echoed quietly, looking to Cody as Cody looked to him. "So... Looks like you might have been right about what you said you saw and heard." he reached and traced the letters. Sure, if you didn't come into this part of the orchard, didn't come to the tree and really look you wouldn't see it; but that proof of Randy and John's relationship was right there before them.
"How long has this been here?" Cody's voice softened somewhat, as though speaking loudly would ruin the atmosphere of the little clearing and affect the intimate sight of adolescent commitment that lay before them. Only, it didn't seem quite so adolescent to the two being that John and Randy seemed to be going strong as a couple... a carefully hidden couple. "I don't know... A long time." he was sure as heck sure that they hadn't been there when he had climbed the tree, but he wouldn't have even noticed them even if they had been being that he had never paid such close attention to the tree before.
Cody suddenly had visions of carving the image of 'C + T' into the tree underneath John and Randy's 'confession' and giving a declaration of his own feelings... however, he wasn't sure how Ted might feel about this and so he figured that he'd probably wait to broach the subject sometime when they had been together a bit longer than a few weeks.
"That's sweet." Cody said softly, eyes misting a little bit in admiration. Ted's face softened as he looked to his lover and saw the expression on Cody's face. He was definitely sure what he was going to get Cody for his Christmas present: something to cement his, well, his belonging to Ted, he supposed, though it wasn't ownership in the strictest sense... Urgh, hopefully Cody's just understand from the gift.
"What sort of trees do you have then?" Cody backed away from the climbing tree and Ted grinned slightly and pointed, "Apples... We have a lot of apple trees." Ted went about naming the other trees that were in the orchard and also the plants that appeared now and again in the grounds. As they walked around Ted and Cody seemed to gravitate towards one another until their hands were loosely clasped... and then clasped tighter as they seemed assured no one would happen upon them like this; both blushing and grinning slightly to themselves.
“It’s really nice out here,” Cody said after a while of them simply walking around, holding hands, his eyes shifting towards Ted’s.
Grinning, Ted replied, “It is. It really is. Especially since I’m here with you,” he added shyly.
“Oh, well, I just liked it for the trees,” Cody snarked, though he pulled Ted in even closer after speaking. They paused as Cody’s arm wrapped around Ted’s waist, bringing their fronts together. And then they kissed under the shade of an apple tree, the cool wind whipping around their hot bodies, the slight chill prickling at their flesh.
“I love you, Cody,” he whispered as their foreheads touched once they broke apart from the kiss.
“I love you, too,” Cody replied, now bringing his hand up to Ted’s rosy red cheeks, feeling the cold settling in. “Did you want to get inside? You’re feeling quite cold.”
“Mmm, but I’ve got you to warm me up,” Ted protested, loving being outside with Cody. He had to admit, though, it was getting somewhat chilly, even with Cody’s body pressed to his.
“I bet I could warm you up even better if we were lying on your bed underneath your layers of blankets, my naked body on top of yours,” Cody told him, a glint in his eye as he said those words right in his lover’s ear. At the mere thought, Ted could feel his cock beginning to stir, and he knew that Cody knew. “I take it you like that idea, then?”
Ted nodded. “I do. But we can’t right now. Not with everyone around. We can’t risk it.”
Sighing, Cody dropped his eyes and pulled back slightly before taking a quick glance back into Ted’s eyes. “I know. But it doesn’t mean that I won’t wish we could do these things during the day.”
“Me, too, Cody. Me, too.”
With yet another sigh, Cody stepped to the side and held Ted’s hand in his as they began walking back to the castle. However, once they hit the gate, their hands separated and didn’t come together again.
Do you have any idea how painful it is to be the reason your loved one loses their smile? Ted found that he was rapidly beginning to become almost unnervingly aware of that feeling more and more as each day passed between he and Cody.
"I--" he started before they went to enter the house (also in separate ways) and Cody turned towards him without quite meeting his eyes, "If you'll wait a few minutes I'll just go warm up and then come in and run your bath for you; we can't have you catching a cold." Ted nodded mutely and watched as Cody went around to the servant's entrance as he did the front door; the separation once again seeming to highlight just how their relationship would never come to any real fruition. As he headed into the foyer he almost banged into Randy-- apologising to the taller man and feeling momentarily uncomfortable underneath that level gaze.
When Randy's large hand squeezed his shoulder Ted's head popped up, eyes wide in surprise, but Randy merely made out as though he were removing his coat; the meaningful, if small look he was sent though offered Ted slight reassurance and he nodded with a thanks before heading upstairs. Deep down he knew that Cody wasn't angry at him, but at their situation. It was unfair to both of them that they had to hide their love. He wished that he could have taken Randy aside and asked him how he managed to cope with it... they'd been together longer than he and Cody.
John caught Cody as he was exiting his room, stilling the younger man when he saw his eyes looked glassy. Cody gave a very nervous laugh that was trying too hard to be boisterous and waved it off as having been the shock of the warmth indoors as opposed to outdoors. John didn't buy it for a moment, but it was hardly the time or place for discussion and so he had no choice but to let the other go. Cody took a breath and fought to compose himself before he saw Ted, because he never wanted to know he was the cause of that hurt in Ted's eyes again, as he continued upstairs to go to Ted's room and run him his bath.
Entering Ted’s bathroom, Cody glanced down at the large stone tub. Pouring the water in, he checked once it was full to make sure it was heated to the right temperature. A few minutes prior, he heard Ted’s door open and close and knew that his lover was right through the bathroom door. “Ted, your bath is ready,” he said, stepping out into Ted’s bedroom.
Ted’s eyes met his and he smiled, though the normal twinkle in his eyes was missing. At first, anyway. “Thank you,” he replied, heading into the adjoining room. Cody was about to leave, but he grabbed his wrist, pulling him back towards him. “And where do you think you’re going?” he asked, that glint in his eye beginning to return.
“I was going to leave you to your bath…”
Wrapping his arms around Cody’s shoulders, hands wrapping themselves in his hair, he brought the other’s body in tight. “I want you to join me.”
Cody shivered. What an invitation this was. “I shouldn’t…” he replied, thinking of how just about anyone could come and see them.
“I don’t care. Please, bathe with me,” Ted pleaded, wanting to sink into that hot water alongside Cody.
Nodding, Cody accepted like he had wanted to do originally. “I would love to.”
They quickly undressed, Cody folding up his uniform and placing it off to the side so it wouldn’t get wet. Once again, they took some time to admire one another’s naked forms before Ted stepped into the tub first. Holding out his hand, Cody grabbed it and followed suit. “Wait, did you put the bubbles in?” Ted asked, raising one eyebrow suggestively.
“You have bubbles?”
Stepping out of the tub, Ted grabbed a small jar that was in a cabinet (Cody admiring Ted’s backside the entire time, the two perfect globes never leaving his line of vision until Ted returned and his eyes fought between his face and cock), and brought the jar back, popping the top off. He poured a small amount of the viscous liquid into the water and said, “Swish it around a bit with your foot.”
Cody did so, and couldn’t help but smile as the bubbles began to form as he kicked his foot around in the water. This time it was the younger man that held his hand out, which Ted took as he stepped into the tub. When he sank down into the water, Cody followed, the hot liquid rising to his chest, the bubbles going up even higher. They sat across from one another to start, Cody fascinated by the bubbles, picking them up and blowing them at Ted.
The face splitting grin grew on Ted’s face as he watched Cody, in awe of the bubbles surrounding him, and soon the pair was laughing as Ted, too, began playing with the light bubbles as he did when he was much younger.
Reaching, Cody placed bubbles over Ted's jaw and giggled slightly as his amused lover looked as though the lower-half of his face had aged about twenty years. "I think I'm a bit young for white facial hair." he mused, and Cody pretended to contemplate him seriously. "I think you look very distinguished." he assured the other and then grinned broadly again.
"Would you think I look distinguished if I gained fifty pounds, lost all my hair and had a beard of white that went to my knees?" The sheer ridiculousness of that mental image almost had Cody drowning himself with laughter as he slipped in the water and vanished below the bubbly surface for a few moments before Ted hastily pulled him upright.
Coughing, Cody wiped bubbles from his eyes as Ted patted him on the back, "Thanks." he managed to gasp after a few moments and Ted exhaled, shaking his own wet head, "Jeez Cody, I think you just gave me a heart-attack!" On that note Ted drew Cody's naked body so his back was to Ted's chest, and wrapped his arms around him.
"Do you like the bubbles?" he asked softly into Cody's ear, hands absently caressing the slender thighs and delicious hip-lines that were currently hidden underneath the water and bubbles. With a shy smile and blush Cody nodded, "I love them." he admitted with an almost childlike shyness, "They're so... so beautiful." Ted tilted Cody's head in his direction and murmured, "Not as beautiful as you." Nothing would ever be as beautiful as Cody, and that was what he honestly believed. Cody gasped softly, eyes locking onto Ted's, heart pounding at the admission even more-so than it had been.
Unable to resist any longer, one of Ted's bubble-covered hands came up and cupped Cody's cheek as he drew the younger man in so close that even the bubbles couldn't get between them. Submitting to the kiss almost immediately, Cody mewed into Ted's mouth as the other's tongue began to caress his own. When air became a necessity they were forced to break apart, but even then they remained so close that their panting breaths fanned over the other's lips.
"You need to have baths with me more often." Although they did get decent temperatured water in the servants' bathrooms, Ted knew that this lavish experience was a brand-new novelty to Cody, and he would love to show the other more of such instances; in his mind no-one deserved the luxuries as much as Cody did. The water caressed their bodies the way the other's hands did as they resumed kissing once more, neither thinking about the chance that someone might happen upon them, because right then the only one who mattered to either of them was the other. "Hmm..." Ted sighed blissfully when their next kisses broke, taking in the sight of Cody's flushed face and slightly swollen lips, gorgeous body tantalizing hidden by bubbles.
“What?” Cody asked when Ted stared at him for quite some time, feeling slightly bashful at the moment.
“Nothing. Just… appreciating all the things I have in my life,” he explained, placing his hand over Cody’s chest.
Smiling, Cody kissed him, then turned his body so he was now straddling Ted’s extended legs. His hands held onto Ted’s shoulders as he scooted forward, cocks brushing as he did so. “Am I one of those things?”
“Of course,” he said, gripping Cody’s hips. “You’re at the top of my list.” With that, he used his grip to arch his hips up, rubbing even more of their cocks together.
With a gasp, Cody’s head fell back, the warm water making Ted’s actions feel so much smoother than they had the night before as they did this on his bed. “Oh, God, you feel so good,” he muttered, eyes shut tight as Ted continued to rub against him.
“You do, too, Cody.” It never ceased to amaze him just how good this felt, how good Cody felt. Since he met the young teen, he had used his image, his voice, to bring himself to completion night after night with the use of his own hand. But he never thought that having Cody’s hand around him would feel even better. And never in a million years could he have known how good it would feel to have his cock brush against his over and over. Oh, but it did, and he wanted so much more. He released his grip with one hand, letting it drift upwards to the expanse of skin that Cody had exposed when his head tipped backwards. Dragging his entire hand down Cody’s throat and chest, he could feel the other’s ragged, panting breaths. “Are you close, Cody?” he asked, sensing the tension in his body and the changes in his breathing.
“Yesssss,” he breathed out, letting one of his hands dip below the water, gripping their cocks as they had done before. It wasn’t much long after that, with his hand sliding over himself and Ted, that the pair were arching up, coming to their completion. “God, Teddy,” Cody began as he brought his head back forward, leaning it against Ted’s shoulder, “you always make me finish so soon.”
Ted chuckled. “As you do to me,” he said, now rubbing small circles on Cody’s back. “But I wouldn’t change a single second of it.”
The water washed the evidence of what they had done away almost immediately and Cody momentarily let himself just rest his forehead on Ted's shoulder and savoured the feeling of once again being held in the other's arms. That had been... amazing. Well, each time they were together was amazing, but this time had been something brand-new indeed. "I did intend for you to actually bathe, you know." he mused softly, chuckling against Ted's neck.
Ted laughed softly himself and nodded, "I know, Cody." the ravenette then eased out of the bath a little while later when the water began to cool, drying himself off quickly with the towel that Ted indicated-- pretending not to be aware of the fact that Ted was watching the mundane act of drying himself... and watching as though it was the most fascinating thing that he had ever seen in his life. And, seeing as how cultured Ted was this was unlikely.
Holding Ted's towel up for him after he had pulled his own uniform back on, beginning to rub the other down and then helping him to dress afterwards. He enjoyed the intimacy between them with the act; no-one else would ever get to do such a thing if Cody had his way, and according to the other servants Ted hadn't had a personal valet since he had been young. "Did you warm up?" Cody asked with a soft chuckle and Ted moved to his lover before kissing his cheek, just at the corner of his lips. "I did indeed. So thoughtful of you." The ravenette exhaled softly and looked to the clock that Ted had atop the mantle of the fireplace in his room. "You still have time before dinner." he noted, "Is there anything that you would like to do?" he went and placed Ted's towels in his hamper.
Ted immediately wanted to say, "Yes," but what he wanted to do with the other involved them being undressed once more and they had been pushing it enough as it was he supposed, given that they had had two intimate encounters that day alone. Instead he merely said, "Well, I don't have anything but those letters," he frowned softly, "But will you get bored just watching me write until it's time to go down?" Cody immediately shook his head; he was fascinated watching Ted write, just because of the expressions that played over his face and the grace in which Ted commanded his pen, "I don't mind at all."
“You’re positive?” he asked once more, wondering why anyone would be interested in watching him write.
“Teddy, you watched me dry myself off. Watching you write is far more interesting than that,” Cody insisted.
“Well, if you say so. But, at least when you’re drying off, I get to look at your body,” he said, biting his lower lip, unsure if his words were too bold.
Cody blushed and looked away, suddenly feeling naked again. And while they had now seen one another’s bodies on several occasions, he still grew shy about the subject. “I…” he began, really unsure of what to say. “Just write your letters. I promise I won’t get bored of it. Although if you wanted to do so naked, I wouldn’t object.”
Now it was Ted’s turn to blush as he stared at Cody, jaw dropped. Now those had been some bold words. “Cody!” he shouted, playfully swatting the younger teen’s arm with the back of his hand.
“Well… it’s true. But as I doubt that will happen, I’m more than happy to watch you write while fully clothed.”
Chuckling, Ted turned his attention back to the letters. Grabbing the first one on top, he opened it and read it over quickly. On a fresh piece of parchment, he added a header to the letter, asking Cody if he recognized the letters. “Can you sound out his name for me?” Might as well make the letter writing a small teaching exercise, he figured.
“H,” he breathed out, recalling the sound an ‘h’ made. “En,” he continued. “Hen,” he said, putting the sounds together. “Reee,” he elongated the final syllable. “Henry,” he concluded.
“Good job! This one’s to my friend Henry who lives in another city in England far away from here.”
“If you’re all from so many different places, how come you all went to school at the same place?” Cody asked. He knew that Ted’s family traveled, but he had no idea really what was out in the world beyond the city limits. In fact, he had no idea, until just days ago, what life was like outside of their little village.
"Because we didn't exactly get to choose where we went to school." Ted admitted, looking away from his writing to look to Cody, Cody amazed by how neat and well formed the letters where even when the other wasn't looking-- and he knew Ted wasn't trying to show off or anything like that. "Our fathers chose where we went to school, and it's also affected by class."
An embarrassed and apologetic look crossed Ted's face at that, as though he were frightened Cody was going to get offended and leave. Cody shook his head slightly to signal the other he was fine. After all, he knew how nearly everything in their time was defined by class, or birth-right. "So..." Cody tried to figure it out, "--did you go to a 'good' school?"
On occasion in the village someone mentioned schools, and Cody had always heard them calling them 'good schools'... only their tones hadn't suggested anything to positive about them and now he felt that he understood why. People in the village had never been to school either and probably didn't know anything about it.
"Yes... it was a tough place though." he wrinkled his nose, "I'm glad I no longer need to go back, in one sense, but in another I know that I am going to miss it." He also wished that Cody could have had the school experience... but he had no doubt that had Cody gone with him to his all-boys school then he would have been fighting off a whole lot of short-term suitors; Cody's beauty was just too captivating to make you worry about something like gender, even though Ted was pretty assured now that he liked Cody just as he was, the fact that he was male included.
"And now," Ted said after sealing his letter, "Say this name." he wrote the letter head out once more and then leant aside for Cody to see. "Suh-- Cee." Cody sounded out, recognising it from his own name. "Cee-huh..." he soon had 'a' 'r' 'l' 'e' and 's' sounded out, but struggled a bit on putting it together. However, he eventually got it, and Ted had only given minimal guidance. "Charles!"
“Look at you! You’re really getting better at this every day,” he said, reaching behind Cody’s head to pull him in for a quick kiss. “Who ever thought I’d be able to teach someone to read and to write?” Ted asked, more to himself than to Cody. Yes, he had gone through years of rigorous schooling, but that didn’t mean he was capable of teaching someone the things that he learned there.
“Well, you’re very good at it. And I must admit, I really like the way you encourage me along.”
Ted chuckled. “They certainly didn’t do that at school.” He then turned back to his letters, glancing back at what Charles wrote to him so he could answer any necessary questions. He wrote and wrote, Cody over his shoulder the entire time. After signing, ‘Sincerely, Ted,’ he set the note aside to let it dry. Reaching for the next letter, he opened it up and read who it was from so he could address it properly. He wrote the name out, though just as he went to ask Cody to read the name for him, a knock came on the door.
“Young Master Theodore, dinner is ready,” came Eric’s voice.
“I’ll be right there!” he shouted back, standing from his desk. “Look like we’ve got dinner to eat now. But you can come back to my room after, take care of all your necessary duties,” he added, the last part he said loud enough that Eric could hear if he was still standing outside his room. At the same time, he also threw Cody a wink.
“But of course,” Cody said, heading to the door. He held it open, finding that Eric was, indeed, still there. “After you, Young Master Theodore.” Ted left the room, hoping that Cody would stay close behind, though there was nothing that he could do once they split off and Ted headed to the familial dining room and Cody was off to the kitchens. Right before they broke apart, Cody said, “Enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you very much, Cody. I shall meet you here after dinner.” With a nod, nothing more, nothing less, they headed in their separate directions.
“You know, you should be the one announcing that dinner is ready for Young Master Theodore, not me,” Eric said once they were inside the kitchens.
“I’ll remember that next time.”
“Maybe if you did your job properly as opposed to loafing about in his room, then-”
“God, would you just give it a rest?” Cody snipped back. “I understand that, for some reason or another, you don’t like me, so how about we leave it at that. You make it as though Young Master Theodore didn’t want me to be in his room, though had he not asked me to stay, I wouldn’t have.
Huffing in anger (and perhaps a touch of jealousy), Eric turned on his heel and walked to the far end of the table where he sat by himself as Cody sat down next to John, Randy across the table from them. Leaning his head down to whisper in Cody’s ear, John said, “Think you only managed to piss him off even more.” However, it was said with a big grin plastered on his face.
Momentarily, Cody felt like he should apologise for what he had done; but the feeling was short-lived and he shook it off before grinning sheepishly at John, "Ok, I might have lost my temper a little bit." his grin fell, "But it really isn't fair the way he keeps trying to single me out." he rolled his eyes, "Though, of course, he didn't attempt to do such a thing before T- Young Master Theodore." It was so hard to remember to call Ted that before John (and by proxy Randy) because he felt he would trust them and as such let his guard down somewhat.
"If you don't show Eric you won't take none-a his bullyin' then he'll just keep doin' it." John said, giving his shoulder a squeeze before indicating Cody tuck into the beef and vegetable stew that they had been served that evening. ("Something to warm you all up," Chef Wade Barrett, naturally of English descent, had proclaimed when they had been served). Randy nodded his head and murmured, "He's right." and Cody almost startled as he hadn't realised that the other was evening listening in... though he supposed he should have expected it as Randy always seemed involved if John was.
The stew was delicious, and filling, and Cody wondered whether he could barter with Wade somehow to take any leftovers to his father when he went to go see him the following day. It had been a few days since he had last seen him and Cody was feeling terrible about neglecting his father even though he had reason to being that he was busy. Maybe Wade'd give him it if he offered to do a job for him sometime or something...
When he finished his food Cody excused himself from John and Randy (the older man telling him that he should stop by their room if Ted didn't keep him too long-- and Cody was sure that he didn't imagine the wink he was slipped) and then went into the foyer. He was there before Ted and he momentarily leant against the wall as he waited since there was no one around to scold him about bad posture. He hadn't seen Layla or Michelle at dinner, he reflected, and wondered whether she had maybe given up on pursuing him and the two women had been off somewhere gossiping.
As Ted exited the doors Cody sent him the briefest, most subtle of smiles and then they began heading up the stairs with one another. They reached Ted's room and then entered, Cody reluctantly admitting to the other about how he had been short with Eric-- and Ted actually fell onto his bed with hearty laughter as Cody finished. "I didn't think it was that funny." Cody giggled despite his words, Ted's laughter infectious; it was so warm and rich, sending shivers down his spine. Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes Ted managed a breathless apology.
"I'm just trying to imagine you losing your temper." Ted admitted. Cody had never done so around him, not even badly when Layla (little strumpet, Ted mentally huffed) was involved in the circumstances. Cody pretended to pout, leaning over Ted from where the other was still on his bed, "Hey Teddy, I can be plenty aggressive if the occasion calls for it." he playfully snapped his teeth. Ted gave a mock serious nod, though in truth thought Cody was too adorable to be considered a threat... he was like a puppy with his first teeth.
“Of course you can be, Cody,” he said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He wrapped his hands around Cody’s waist and pulled him on top of him on the bed, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the letters he’d left unfinished earlier.
Giggling as he landed atop the older teen, Cody held his hands up to Ted’s cheeks, holding his face as he leaned in and kissed him properly. “Shall I get about to my duties?” he asked once their kiss broke off.
“If you’d like. I feel somewhat silly, having you do all this for me, I mean. I am capable of taking my own jacket off.”
“Nonsense. Your father brought me on here, and he’s paying me to do my job, so I don’t intend to slack off. In fact,” he began as he slid off Ted’s lap, hands dragging on downwards over his leg, “I like to go above and beyond.”
“Mmm, I don’t doubt that at all. If anything, I encourage it.”
Slipping Ted’s shoes off, Cody once again gently placed them to the side of the bed, socks following. On his knees, he bent forward and dropped a kiss on the top of each of Ted’s feet.
Inhaling sharply, Ted sat in shock. It was one thing to feel Cody’s naked body against his, but for Cody to place a kiss atop his feet like that? It was such an intimate act, one like he’d never experienced. “Oh, God,” he breathed out.
Glancing upwards, Cody met Ted’s eyes, smiling shyly. “You liked that?”
“Did I ever,” he answered, now pulling Cody up to him by his arms. “You don’t even know the things you make me feel,” he muttered into Cody’s neck.
“I bet I do. Because you do the same things to me,” he replied, smiling as he pressed his face into Ted’s neck.
They held the embrace for a few minutes longer before Cody then pulled back to smile; dusting a feather light kiss to Ted's lips as he then moved, hands going to remove Ted's jacket for him. "Am I Ok to go and see my father in the morning?" Cody asked somewhat shyly. It seemed ridiculous to be asking Ted permission when he knew the other would grant it, but he didn't want Ted freaking out if he wasn't around in the morning-- and he didn't want to give anyone *cough*Eric*cough* chance to try and sabotage his position amongst the staff in the household.
"Of course you can." Ted blinked slightly as Cody suddenly left the bed -and him- to go and close the shutters and heavy curtains as the wind suddenly began to pick up; the Winter was certainly temperamental that year and a shiver ran over him involuntarily, whereas Cody looked strangely unperturbed. And then it hit him just why Cody didn't seem affected: he had probably suffered worse whilst he had been in that little shack. "Say hello to him for me, won't you?" he didn't think he'd be able to get away too.
A slight blush touched Cody's cheeks and his heart thudded slightly as he nodded, moving to resume assisting Ted in dressing for bed. Although Virgil might never know just what Ted was to him, Cody appreciated the effort that Ted put in in concerns to his father and giving a positive impression to him.
"I will." he promised, Ted standing by this point, naked, and holding his arms out for Cody to put his night-shirt on. Cody did so, saddened by the loss of Ted's body heat on his. "I'll try to come and see you again tonight." Ted murmured softly when the shirt settled around mid-thigh, a hand caressing Cody's cheek, "It was like torture not having you in my arms last night." All night, every night, was what he really wanted, but knew he'd probably never get. Still, a man could dream... and he did. Frequently.
“When you left, and I no longer had your arms around me, the room felt so much colder,” Cody admitted. Something he knew that he’d have to get used to, but the thought of that made him grow sad, so he attempted to brush that thought of his mind.
“I’m so sorry that you have to go through this.” Ted spoke with sincerity, as he always did, and he was truly sorry that because of their social standing and their gender, they could never have a true relationship in the eyes of society.
“We’ll get through it,” Cody assured him, his hand mirroring Ted’s now. “I should go now, but I’ll see you later?”
“Of course,” Ted replied.
And with one final kiss, Cody was out of the room and on his way downstairs. Deciding to take up John and Randy’s offer, before he reached his own room, he stopped and knocked on their door. “Hello?” he called.
The door opened, and before him stood John, dressed in his sleep clothes, Randy behind him, still in his valet uniform. “Well, hey, Cody!” John greeted cheerily, ushering him into the room. “Ted didn’t keep you that long, after all?” he asked, winking at him once the door had been shut.
“Well… he’s coming down here later,” Cody told him shyly.
Randy grinned. “You know how many women Ted Sr. has thrown in front of Ted? Well, over the past couple years, ever since Mike left, it’s been a lot. And then you come along. I have seen Ted greet all these hopeful suitors as they come through the door, and his eyes never lit up the way they do when you’re in his line of sight. You’d have many women jealous of your position, Cody, let me tell you.”
“I don’t doubt that at all. Ted’s quite the man,” he said, unaware of the smile that had formed on his face. “I can’t help but wonder myself how he managed to fall in love with me.”
“Well, I can’t help but wonder how I managed to fall in love with him,” John said, jerking his thumb behind him, pointing it to Randy, though his eyes said something completely different.
Randy huffed a slight chuckle, pretending to be deadly offended by John's joke, "Don't make me put you across my knee again..." his smirk turned sly, "--John-John." Cody watched with amusement as John's cheeks bloomed red. He hadn't even thought it was possible that John could be embarrassed.
"Randy," John faux-whined when he seemed to have recovered himself, "What did we say about saying things like that in front of guests?" Randy pretended to think as he stood up, moving from where he had been lounging on the bed (they had pushed the two singles together, and Cody wondered how they could be so brazen) before answering, "Don't do it. But," he wagged a finger at them, "Cody's not a guest," he grinned teasingly, "He's your pet."
Cody stuck his tongue out at Randy, and the tallest man chuckled; it seemed he was warming up to Cody more and more with each passing day. And then, to Cody's surprise (and strange momentary delight and curiosity) Randy cupped the back of John's neck and drew him up for a kiss, "I'll be back in a minute." John murmured a soft agreement, expression softening, and Cody found himself looking away-- he felt a little bit shy and almost unworthy to be witnessing such a tender moment. However, his discomfort was dispelled with a small yelp when Randy ruffled his hair before sauntering out.
John grinned slightly and motioned Cody to sit, that same softened light in his eyes. As Cody settled besides John as directed he asked softly, "You really love him, don't you?" the question didn't appear to have startled John at all, but the strong arm around his shoulder and the head that rested against his own told him that the momentary understanding that had appeared in the other's eyes wasn't a fluke, "I really do."
"How do you cope?" Cody asked, really feeling that he could open up to John, "I mean... it's so hard." John sighed softly, giving Cody a small squeeze, "I know it is. I know. But, when you love them you need to be prepared to make sacrifices." he sounded strangely serious and Cody wondered what sacrifice John had made. When he voiced this thought aloud John gave a slightly sad, but accepting smile as he gave the ambiguous answer, "You'll find out soon enough."
Unsure of just what John was talking about, he simply took his word. They hadn’t known each other that long, after all, and things would surely come out in time. “Ok.”
The door opened, and Randy quirked an eyebrow as he took in the sight before him. “What’s this? I leave the room for mere minutes, and you start moving in on another man? Knew this kid was bad news,” he said, scowling.
Cody, thinking that, once again, he was on Randy’s bad side, scooted away from John, rising from the bed completely as he apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I’d never… he’d never…!” he said, stumbling over his words, not knowing quite what to say.
“Cody,” John said, causing the youngest to turn towards him. “He’s joking.”
“Oh. I… well, I guess I should have known… Oops,” he said sheepishly, blushing slightly after all that.
“It’s ok, I got just the reaction I was looking for,” Randy told him with a grin before he joined John on the bed.
Changing the subject, Cody decided to ask them, “What was it like growing up here in the castle?”
“Oh, it was a lot of fun,” John began. “There were so many places we could run off to. Me ‘n him would go everywhere together. And from time to time, we’d talk Mike into joining us, since he was right about our age. Teddy was a bit too young to sneak off, since eyes were always on him and Brett.”
“Yeah, it was great growing up here. I still know my family down in the village, of course, saw them more often when I was younger, snuck ‘em food and the like, but nothing beats growing up here. Three square meals a day, a solid roof over my head, a decent place to bathe… plus I guess it was pretty nice to have him around,” Randy added, wrapping an arm around John’s shoulders and pulling his body in close, ruffling his hair.
Clucking his tongue slightly with a mock-irritated look, John then jokingly nudged his nose into Randy's cheek, "Hey, I'm the best thing about living here and you know it." Randy pretended to consider this and then conceded with a nod when John pretended to take a swipe for him. Cody smiled slightly at their horseplay and also their sentiments, "It does sound really nice." he admitted.
Turning to look to the other, though not moving from where Randy had hold of him, John said, "Hey, it's the people like you who really have character; you work for everything you get in life, and although it's hard it's worth it." He then paused and amended, "The DiBiase's aren't as bad as some families born into wealth and privilege, but some of them..." his expression soured.
Suddenly recalling where he and Ted had been that morning, Cody then asked, "Hey... do you know the clearing in the orchard?" That simple question yielded surprising results from both men: a little colour came to their cheeks in turn, but Randy merely gave a devious and sultry smirk as John's bright eyes darkened and he bit down on his bottom lip somewhat. Cody immediately got the feeling that there was something he was missing out on and he naively looked between the two of them confusedly. This time Randy was the first to recover, "Why do you ask that?" he rumbled smoothly, hand almost subconsciously caressing John's stomach.
Blushing slightly, Cody mumbled shyly, "Um... Ted and I were down there earlier, he was showing me where it was, and then we came across this tree in the middle that Ted told me that you taught him to climb..." The two men waited and that was when that Cody understood they were just waiting to see whether he'd have the balls to go through with actually saying it. "Initials were on the tree... Ted's teaching me how to read," he admitted almost nervously, as though they'd be mad or something, "-And, well, they were an 'R' and a 'J', so..."
“Oh, really? You saw that, then?” Randy asked. “So, what did you think when you saw the R and the J carved into that tree?”
“That you two did it. I mean, it stands for Randy and John, doesn’t it?” Cody replied, though his voice sounded unsure, like there may be another J and another R around somewhere on the property.
“Sure does,” John told him. “What made you go out to the orchard, anyway?”
“Well, you had that leaf stuck to you, and you said you were out in the orchard. So I asked Ted if he could show me where it was. How long ago did you do that? For that matter,” he went on, wondering if they’d tell him, “how long have you two been together?”
“Oh, Gods, when did we carve that tree?” John asked aloud, both to Randy and to himself.
Randy glanced up at the ceiling, trying to recall how long ago it had been. “A long time ago. But we’ve been together even longer. We shared our first kiss underneath that tree when I was thirteen, he was fourteen.”
Cody’s eyes grew wide. Of course, he didn’t know how old they were now, but he knew that they were older than him, so they had been together for a long time. “Wow.”
“How time flies, right?” John said. “It had been this unusually warm day in March, not too long before his fourteenth birthday,” he continued, “and we headed out to the orchard, since we were too young to really do anything productive, but too old to need watching over, thank God. Anyway, one thing lead to another, next thing I know, we’re kissin’.”
“I think I was sixteen when we finally decided to carve our initials into that tree,” Randy told Cody, though he was looking fondly at John. “I’m twenty-two now, he’s twenty-three, and look where we are.”
“Wow,” Cody said once more. Still, despite how happy they looked together, he couldn’t help but wonder the sorts of sacrifices they made to remain with one another. Everything between them seemed to fall so perfectly into place.
They had been together for so long already, it seemed, and Cody wondered whether he and Ted would last that long... or what would happen if something happened to cause their relationship to be terminated. "What about you and Ted?" John asked interestedly, "When was your first kiss?" Of course he knew they had kissed, considering what he and Randy had heard from that room the other night.
A blush touched Cody's cheeks as he reiterated his first kiss with Ted, and when he mentioned they had kissed in the barn Randy smirked, "I knew it-- all you country-boys seem to like that." Randy may be form the village, but he wasn't considered a country-boy in the sense that he had worked with animals before on the farmland.
"Huh?" Cody asked, confused, and John whacked his lover lightly across the head from where he was essentially sitting on his knee. "Don't mind him, Cody--" he turned to Randy and then arched a brow, "I don't remember you complaining about my country-boy habits before." There was a wicked glimmer in Randy's eyes and something told John that he was going to regret giving the other an apparent opening-- but it was more for the sake of Cody's embarrassment than anything else.
"Oh I don't," Randy's tone was light, innocent... and then he went in for the kill, "--What I enjoy most is the way that you country boys ride." Cody and John gasped simultaneously, each immediately getting an image in their minds: John picturing himself atop Randy in a position they had attempted many a time before, and Cody was taken back to all the times he had straddled Ted... but this time the image went further.
Satisfied that he had rendered both men speechless, Randy then stood up. "It's getting late, Cody." he reminded lightly, and Cody recalled Ted was supposed to be visiting him and stood. "Yeah... G'night you two." He received two goodbyes in turn, John telling him that he could come into their room anytime if he wanted some company. Mind still full of what he had just seen, Cody wandered back to his own room almost in a daze.
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton
Rating: NC-17
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: 9398
A/N: I admit, I'm no expert on the life and times of feudal England, but I tried. Forgive any errors when it comes to time frames and whatnot...
Disclaimer: Neither of us own the WWE.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8
“Thank you again for your help today,” John said as he shoveled some more food into his mouth.
“Speak, then put food in your mouth, not the other way around. You could at least pretend to be civilized, John,” Randy said before Cody could say anything, shaking his head as he heard John speaking with a mouthful of food.
Cody chuckled. Now that he knew the banter between them wasn’t of some hateful nature, he was able to read better into it. This was how they kept up appearances. Despite being friends since childhood and roommates and lovers now, to the public eye, they appeared to quarrel quite a bit and bicker back and forth. “You’re welcome, John,” he replied.
“What did you have to go help with, Cody?” Layla asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him. Why was she even involving herself in a conversation that clearly wasn’t directed towards her?
But he appeased her, anyway, turning to look at her as he answered, “Helped him bandage up one of the horses.”
“Oh no,” Michelle and Layla said at the same time in an attempt at concern. “That’s terrible,” Layla continued. “He’s ok now, though, thanks to you, right?”
“Actually, it was John that did all the bandaging up and cleaning of the wound. I was just there to make sure it didn’t kick him,” Cody told them.
“Well, that’s still very important,” Layla insisted, nodding her head, getting Michelle to follow suit.
Goddamn, wouldn’t she ever back off? At least Kristen had turned to Brett, although it sounded like he had been her true desire since the start. Layla, on the other hand, seemed to be set on getting Cody all to herself. “Yes, I suppose. Now I’ve got to be going, Young Master Ted is surely waiting for me,” he said as he dismissed himself from the table, much to the disappointment of Layla.
“I should be going, too,” Randy said, standing up from his seat. “I must be needed somewhere. The head valet usually is,” he added as a nice slap to Eric’s face.
No matter how many times he had seen Randy give it out to Eric it never failed to amuse him, and John had to look down to the last of his food to hide his grin. He looked up just before Randy left though and caught the almost imperceptible wink that he was sent. John was once again grinning as he stood up; Randy might be a bit of a bitch sometimes, but John loved him that way.
In the foyer Ted was indeed waiting for him, and when he saw the expression on Cody's face he immediately wanted to ask what was wrong. However, there were other people about and neither of them could risk seemingly overly familiar... even though it seemed for the main part they had already broken that rule in the eyes of some. "What happened?" he asked curiously as they were well up the stairs towards Ted's room, "You don't look very impressed about something." Cody shivered and sent Ted an almost pained look. No, scratch that, that was pain.
"Layla forced herself into mine and John's conversation and immediately started singing my praises as though I'm the one who did something when actually it was John, and I told her so." he shook his head, a little unnerved. Thanks to earlier he knew that Ted had a possessive streak in him (a soothing realisation considering Cody knew he had one too) and he didn't want to set the other off, per se, he was just telling him what went on. Something told him that Ted would be mad if he didn't know.
"A bit obstinate then, is she?" Ted said, lips compressing slightly into a thin line of anger. Being the gentleman he was though he didn't badmouth Layla outwardly... but he was cursing her in his head. Despite how he knew her working there must be helping her family down on the parcel, he couldn't help wishing that something would happen so that she was forced to leave. Without Cody. When they reached his room Ted opened the door, and Cody noticed for the first time that he was holding something in his hand, "What's that?" he asked curiously and Ted rolled his eyes before pulling a face, "Some letters I have to reply to from school friends."
“What? Do you not want to reply to them?”
“Well, it’s not that I mind it, but there are definitely things I’d rather be doing,” he replied, winking at Cody as he did.
“Could we go to the orchard?” Cody asked suddenly. Hey, if Ted wanted to do something else, why not explore the grounds?
“How do you know about the orchard?” Ted questioned. He hadn’t shown or told Cody about it before, saving that for some other time.
“Oh, well, at lunch today John had this leaf on his shirt and he said he had been down in the orchard. I didn’t even know you had one.”
“If you’d really like to go down there, I suppose we can. It’s quite nice there, peaceful. Again, not many people go down there. Wonder why John was there, though,” he pondered, not able to figure out a reason.
“Yes, let’s go,” he said, nodding his head vigorously.
“All right, let’s go.” Ted led Cody downstairs and they headed out back to the courtyard. “It’s really out of the way of everything. Which is why people aren’t out here very often, especially at this time of year, since it’s getting colder,” he explained.
“Do you ever come out here by yourself?”
“Sometimes. Came out here more often when I was a kid, though, to be honest with you. One day I snuck out here and saw John and Randy climbing one of the trees and I started running around here with them. They’re a few years older than me, and since they were children of servants, I wasn’t able to play with them, or anything. Until I snuck off all by myself. My parents never wanted me to climb trees, said it was improper, but that day I did. The two of ‘em helped me up there. My parents weren’t too happy when they sent Eric out and he found the three of us there,” he said with a chuckle. “That was one of the best days of my childhood.”
Chuckling slightly Cody nodded, "I had noticed that Randy and John seem to enjoy tormenting Eric." he admitted and Ted grinned somewhat in fond nostalgia. It was so different to his own childhood... his father had admittedly tried to do the best he could by his boys given the means they had, and always placed them before him, but Cody had had to work since he was literally old enough to walk. He hadn't really had time to play with any of the other children in the village. However, since he knew how such things upset Ted in their injustice he didn't mention them.
They walked down together, once again with Cody somewhat behind, and then went straight out through the main doors. Servants (as Cody had been told by John) were not encouraged to use the main doors as much as they could avoid it, and to take the long way around and go down by the back of the kitchens whenever they had to be somewhere-- unless, of course, they were attending to a visitor or a member of the family at the door. Shivering somewhat as the change in temperature washed over him, Cody fell into step besides Ted once they were away from the front doors.
"How many trees do you have in the orchard?" Cody asked curiously, never having actually seen one. Ted's brow furrowed, "I couldn't tell you." he admitted, "A lot, that much I do know... and some have been around for a loooonnnggg time." Cody giggled slightly at the way Ted elongated the word and the older teen took on a delighted blush in turn; when Cody laughed, whether lightly or more heartily, the sound was like music to Ted's ears. Reaching the orchard gate, Ted undid the latch and then indicated Cody go before him, and then following himself. Waiting as Ted wrestled with the rusty latch momentarily to close the gate once more, Cody then followed as the other began leading him more towards the centre of the frost-sprinkled trees.
When Ted veered off of the main path when he neared the center of the orchard, Cody raised a brow, but followed along. He looked down and noticed that there was a definite pathway there that had been worn down from use. Strange, he thought, since Ted told him people weren’t here that often. “It’s not too far now,” Ted declared.
“Where are we going, anyway?” Cody asked.
“I’m showing you now. Like I told you, years ago I ran back here and the gate was open. I heard people laughing and I followed the sound right down here,” he explained. And then he stopped, smiling when he looked at the old crab apple tree. The main trunk split off into a ‘V’, with many more branches and splits coming off of that. It really did look like the perfect climbing tree.
Cody stopped behind him, pressing his body close to Ted’s as he rested his chin on his shoulder. “No wonder John and Randy ran off here as kids. Looks like this would be a lot of fun.”
“It was. Come on,” he said, walking them closer. He began circling the tree, smiling as he did. But then something caught his eye that gave him pause. “Cody, come look at this.” Going to join Ted on the opposite side of the tree, Cody looked right where Ted pointed. There were two letters carved into the tree. “Can you tell me what those two letters are?”
Recalling his letters, he recognized the ‘R’ right off the bat, since that’s what his last name started with. “That’s an ‘R’,” he said as he pointed to the second letter that had been carved. “This looks like a ‘t’,” he added when he pointed to an addition sign between the two letters.
“That’s a plus sign. What’s the first letter? Come on, I know you know this,” Ted encouraged, though he still couldn’t believe that right here before his face was definitive proof of…
“I think it’s a ‘J’,” he said, though he was still unsure.
“Good. So this says J plus R. Do you know whose names begin with those letters?”
Thinking back to his writing lesson, he realized that two names were added to the list that he hadn’t seen before. “John and Randy.”
"John and Randy..." Ted echoed quietly, looking to Cody as Cody looked to him. "So... Looks like you might have been right about what you said you saw and heard." he reached and traced the letters. Sure, if you didn't come into this part of the orchard, didn't come to the tree and really look you wouldn't see it; but that proof of Randy and John's relationship was right there before them.
"How long has this been here?" Cody's voice softened somewhat, as though speaking loudly would ruin the atmosphere of the little clearing and affect the intimate sight of adolescent commitment that lay before them. Only, it didn't seem quite so adolescent to the two being that John and Randy seemed to be going strong as a couple... a carefully hidden couple. "I don't know... A long time." he was sure as heck sure that they hadn't been there when he had climbed the tree, but he wouldn't have even noticed them even if they had been being that he had never paid such close attention to the tree before.
Cody suddenly had visions of carving the image of 'C + T' into the tree underneath John and Randy's 'confession' and giving a declaration of his own feelings... however, he wasn't sure how Ted might feel about this and so he figured that he'd probably wait to broach the subject sometime when they had been together a bit longer than a few weeks.
"That's sweet." Cody said softly, eyes misting a little bit in admiration. Ted's face softened as he looked to his lover and saw the expression on Cody's face. He was definitely sure what he was going to get Cody for his Christmas present: something to cement his, well, his belonging to Ted, he supposed, though it wasn't ownership in the strictest sense... Urgh, hopefully Cody's just understand from the gift.
"What sort of trees do you have then?" Cody backed away from the climbing tree and Ted grinned slightly and pointed, "Apples... We have a lot of apple trees." Ted went about naming the other trees that were in the orchard and also the plants that appeared now and again in the grounds. As they walked around Ted and Cody seemed to gravitate towards one another until their hands were loosely clasped... and then clasped tighter as they seemed assured no one would happen upon them like this; both blushing and grinning slightly to themselves.
“It’s really nice out here,” Cody said after a while of them simply walking around, holding hands, his eyes shifting towards Ted’s.
Grinning, Ted replied, “It is. It really is. Especially since I’m here with you,” he added shyly.
“Oh, well, I just liked it for the trees,” Cody snarked, though he pulled Ted in even closer after speaking. They paused as Cody’s arm wrapped around Ted’s waist, bringing their fronts together. And then they kissed under the shade of an apple tree, the cool wind whipping around their hot bodies, the slight chill prickling at their flesh.
“I love you, Cody,” he whispered as their foreheads touched once they broke apart from the kiss.
“I love you, too,” Cody replied, now bringing his hand up to Ted’s rosy red cheeks, feeling the cold settling in. “Did you want to get inside? You’re feeling quite cold.”
“Mmm, but I’ve got you to warm me up,” Ted protested, loving being outside with Cody. He had to admit, though, it was getting somewhat chilly, even with Cody’s body pressed to his.
“I bet I could warm you up even better if we were lying on your bed underneath your layers of blankets, my naked body on top of yours,” Cody told him, a glint in his eye as he said those words right in his lover’s ear. At the mere thought, Ted could feel his cock beginning to stir, and he knew that Cody knew. “I take it you like that idea, then?”
Ted nodded. “I do. But we can’t right now. Not with everyone around. We can’t risk it.”
Sighing, Cody dropped his eyes and pulled back slightly before taking a quick glance back into Ted’s eyes. “I know. But it doesn’t mean that I won’t wish we could do these things during the day.”
“Me, too, Cody. Me, too.”
With yet another sigh, Cody stepped to the side and held Ted’s hand in his as they began walking back to the castle. However, once they hit the gate, their hands separated and didn’t come together again.
Do you have any idea how painful it is to be the reason your loved one loses their smile? Ted found that he was rapidly beginning to become almost unnervingly aware of that feeling more and more as each day passed between he and Cody.
"I--" he started before they went to enter the house (also in separate ways) and Cody turned towards him without quite meeting his eyes, "If you'll wait a few minutes I'll just go warm up and then come in and run your bath for you; we can't have you catching a cold." Ted nodded mutely and watched as Cody went around to the servant's entrance as he did the front door; the separation once again seeming to highlight just how their relationship would never come to any real fruition. As he headed into the foyer he almost banged into Randy-- apologising to the taller man and feeling momentarily uncomfortable underneath that level gaze.
When Randy's large hand squeezed his shoulder Ted's head popped up, eyes wide in surprise, but Randy merely made out as though he were removing his coat; the meaningful, if small look he was sent though offered Ted slight reassurance and he nodded with a thanks before heading upstairs. Deep down he knew that Cody wasn't angry at him, but at their situation. It was unfair to both of them that they had to hide their love. He wished that he could have taken Randy aside and asked him how he managed to cope with it... they'd been together longer than he and Cody.
John caught Cody as he was exiting his room, stilling the younger man when he saw his eyes looked glassy. Cody gave a very nervous laugh that was trying too hard to be boisterous and waved it off as having been the shock of the warmth indoors as opposed to outdoors. John didn't buy it for a moment, but it was hardly the time or place for discussion and so he had no choice but to let the other go. Cody took a breath and fought to compose himself before he saw Ted, because he never wanted to know he was the cause of that hurt in Ted's eyes again, as he continued upstairs to go to Ted's room and run him his bath.
Entering Ted’s bathroom, Cody glanced down at the large stone tub. Pouring the water in, he checked once it was full to make sure it was heated to the right temperature. A few minutes prior, he heard Ted’s door open and close and knew that his lover was right through the bathroom door. “Ted, your bath is ready,” he said, stepping out into Ted’s bedroom.
Ted’s eyes met his and he smiled, though the normal twinkle in his eyes was missing. At first, anyway. “Thank you,” he replied, heading into the adjoining room. Cody was about to leave, but he grabbed his wrist, pulling him back towards him. “And where do you think you’re going?” he asked, that glint in his eye beginning to return.
“I was going to leave you to your bath…”
Wrapping his arms around Cody’s shoulders, hands wrapping themselves in his hair, he brought the other’s body in tight. “I want you to join me.”
Cody shivered. What an invitation this was. “I shouldn’t…” he replied, thinking of how just about anyone could come and see them.
“I don’t care. Please, bathe with me,” Ted pleaded, wanting to sink into that hot water alongside Cody.
Nodding, Cody accepted like he had wanted to do originally. “I would love to.”
They quickly undressed, Cody folding up his uniform and placing it off to the side so it wouldn’t get wet. Once again, they took some time to admire one another’s naked forms before Ted stepped into the tub first. Holding out his hand, Cody grabbed it and followed suit. “Wait, did you put the bubbles in?” Ted asked, raising one eyebrow suggestively.
“You have bubbles?”
Stepping out of the tub, Ted grabbed a small jar that was in a cabinet (Cody admiring Ted’s backside the entire time, the two perfect globes never leaving his line of vision until Ted returned and his eyes fought between his face and cock), and brought the jar back, popping the top off. He poured a small amount of the viscous liquid into the water and said, “Swish it around a bit with your foot.”
Cody did so, and couldn’t help but smile as the bubbles began to form as he kicked his foot around in the water. This time it was the younger man that held his hand out, which Ted took as he stepped into the tub. When he sank down into the water, Cody followed, the hot liquid rising to his chest, the bubbles going up even higher. They sat across from one another to start, Cody fascinated by the bubbles, picking them up and blowing them at Ted.
The face splitting grin grew on Ted’s face as he watched Cody, in awe of the bubbles surrounding him, and soon the pair was laughing as Ted, too, began playing with the light bubbles as he did when he was much younger.
Reaching, Cody placed bubbles over Ted's jaw and giggled slightly as his amused lover looked as though the lower-half of his face had aged about twenty years. "I think I'm a bit young for white facial hair." he mused, and Cody pretended to contemplate him seriously. "I think you look very distinguished." he assured the other and then grinned broadly again.
"Would you think I look distinguished if I gained fifty pounds, lost all my hair and had a beard of white that went to my knees?" The sheer ridiculousness of that mental image almost had Cody drowning himself with laughter as he slipped in the water and vanished below the bubbly surface for a few moments before Ted hastily pulled him upright.
Coughing, Cody wiped bubbles from his eyes as Ted patted him on the back, "Thanks." he managed to gasp after a few moments and Ted exhaled, shaking his own wet head, "Jeez Cody, I think you just gave me a heart-attack!" On that note Ted drew Cody's naked body so his back was to Ted's chest, and wrapped his arms around him.
"Do you like the bubbles?" he asked softly into Cody's ear, hands absently caressing the slender thighs and delicious hip-lines that were currently hidden underneath the water and bubbles. With a shy smile and blush Cody nodded, "I love them." he admitted with an almost childlike shyness, "They're so... so beautiful." Ted tilted Cody's head in his direction and murmured, "Not as beautiful as you." Nothing would ever be as beautiful as Cody, and that was what he honestly believed. Cody gasped softly, eyes locking onto Ted's, heart pounding at the admission even more-so than it had been.
Unable to resist any longer, one of Ted's bubble-covered hands came up and cupped Cody's cheek as he drew the younger man in so close that even the bubbles couldn't get between them. Submitting to the kiss almost immediately, Cody mewed into Ted's mouth as the other's tongue began to caress his own. When air became a necessity they were forced to break apart, but even then they remained so close that their panting breaths fanned over the other's lips.
"You need to have baths with me more often." Although they did get decent temperatured water in the servants' bathrooms, Ted knew that this lavish experience was a brand-new novelty to Cody, and he would love to show the other more of such instances; in his mind no-one deserved the luxuries as much as Cody did. The water caressed their bodies the way the other's hands did as they resumed kissing once more, neither thinking about the chance that someone might happen upon them, because right then the only one who mattered to either of them was the other. "Hmm..." Ted sighed blissfully when their next kisses broke, taking in the sight of Cody's flushed face and slightly swollen lips, gorgeous body tantalizing hidden by bubbles.
“What?” Cody asked when Ted stared at him for quite some time, feeling slightly bashful at the moment.
“Nothing. Just… appreciating all the things I have in my life,” he explained, placing his hand over Cody’s chest.
Smiling, Cody kissed him, then turned his body so he was now straddling Ted’s extended legs. His hands held onto Ted’s shoulders as he scooted forward, cocks brushing as he did so. “Am I one of those things?”
“Of course,” he said, gripping Cody’s hips. “You’re at the top of my list.” With that, he used his grip to arch his hips up, rubbing even more of their cocks together.
With a gasp, Cody’s head fell back, the warm water making Ted’s actions feel so much smoother than they had the night before as they did this on his bed. “Oh, God, you feel so good,” he muttered, eyes shut tight as Ted continued to rub against him.
“You do, too, Cody.” It never ceased to amaze him just how good this felt, how good Cody felt. Since he met the young teen, he had used his image, his voice, to bring himself to completion night after night with the use of his own hand. But he never thought that having Cody’s hand around him would feel even better. And never in a million years could he have known how good it would feel to have his cock brush against his over and over. Oh, but it did, and he wanted so much more. He released his grip with one hand, letting it drift upwards to the expanse of skin that Cody had exposed when his head tipped backwards. Dragging his entire hand down Cody’s throat and chest, he could feel the other’s ragged, panting breaths. “Are you close, Cody?” he asked, sensing the tension in his body and the changes in his breathing.
“Yesssss,” he breathed out, letting one of his hands dip below the water, gripping their cocks as they had done before. It wasn’t much long after that, with his hand sliding over himself and Ted, that the pair were arching up, coming to their completion. “God, Teddy,” Cody began as he brought his head back forward, leaning it against Ted’s shoulder, “you always make me finish so soon.”
Ted chuckled. “As you do to me,” he said, now rubbing small circles on Cody’s back. “But I wouldn’t change a single second of it.”
The water washed the evidence of what they had done away almost immediately and Cody momentarily let himself just rest his forehead on Ted's shoulder and savoured the feeling of once again being held in the other's arms. That had been... amazing. Well, each time they were together was amazing, but this time had been something brand-new indeed. "I did intend for you to actually bathe, you know." he mused softly, chuckling against Ted's neck.
Ted laughed softly himself and nodded, "I know, Cody." the ravenette then eased out of the bath a little while later when the water began to cool, drying himself off quickly with the towel that Ted indicated-- pretending not to be aware of the fact that Ted was watching the mundane act of drying himself... and watching as though it was the most fascinating thing that he had ever seen in his life. And, seeing as how cultured Ted was this was unlikely.
Holding Ted's towel up for him after he had pulled his own uniform back on, beginning to rub the other down and then helping him to dress afterwards. He enjoyed the intimacy between them with the act; no-one else would ever get to do such a thing if Cody had his way, and according to the other servants Ted hadn't had a personal valet since he had been young. "Did you warm up?" Cody asked with a soft chuckle and Ted moved to his lover before kissing his cheek, just at the corner of his lips. "I did indeed. So thoughtful of you." The ravenette exhaled softly and looked to the clock that Ted had atop the mantle of the fireplace in his room. "You still have time before dinner." he noted, "Is there anything that you would like to do?" he went and placed Ted's towels in his hamper.
Ted immediately wanted to say, "Yes," but what he wanted to do with the other involved them being undressed once more and they had been pushing it enough as it was he supposed, given that they had had two intimate encounters that day alone. Instead he merely said, "Well, I don't have anything but those letters," he frowned softly, "But will you get bored just watching me write until it's time to go down?" Cody immediately shook his head; he was fascinated watching Ted write, just because of the expressions that played over his face and the grace in which Ted commanded his pen, "I don't mind at all."
“You’re positive?” he asked once more, wondering why anyone would be interested in watching him write.
“Teddy, you watched me dry myself off. Watching you write is far more interesting than that,” Cody insisted.
“Well, if you say so. But, at least when you’re drying off, I get to look at your body,” he said, biting his lower lip, unsure if his words were too bold.
Cody blushed and looked away, suddenly feeling naked again. And while they had now seen one another’s bodies on several occasions, he still grew shy about the subject. “I…” he began, really unsure of what to say. “Just write your letters. I promise I won’t get bored of it. Although if you wanted to do so naked, I wouldn’t object.”
Now it was Ted’s turn to blush as he stared at Cody, jaw dropped. Now those had been some bold words. “Cody!” he shouted, playfully swatting the younger teen’s arm with the back of his hand.
“Well… it’s true. But as I doubt that will happen, I’m more than happy to watch you write while fully clothed.”
Chuckling, Ted turned his attention back to the letters. Grabbing the first one on top, he opened it and read it over quickly. On a fresh piece of parchment, he added a header to the letter, asking Cody if he recognized the letters. “Can you sound out his name for me?” Might as well make the letter writing a small teaching exercise, he figured.
“H,” he breathed out, recalling the sound an ‘h’ made. “En,” he continued. “Hen,” he said, putting the sounds together. “Reee,” he elongated the final syllable. “Henry,” he concluded.
“Good job! This one’s to my friend Henry who lives in another city in England far away from here.”
“If you’re all from so many different places, how come you all went to school at the same place?” Cody asked. He knew that Ted’s family traveled, but he had no idea really what was out in the world beyond the city limits. In fact, he had no idea, until just days ago, what life was like outside of their little village.
"Because we didn't exactly get to choose where we went to school." Ted admitted, looking away from his writing to look to Cody, Cody amazed by how neat and well formed the letters where even when the other wasn't looking-- and he knew Ted wasn't trying to show off or anything like that. "Our fathers chose where we went to school, and it's also affected by class."
An embarrassed and apologetic look crossed Ted's face at that, as though he were frightened Cody was going to get offended and leave. Cody shook his head slightly to signal the other he was fine. After all, he knew how nearly everything in their time was defined by class, or birth-right. "So..." Cody tried to figure it out, "--did you go to a 'good' school?"
On occasion in the village someone mentioned schools, and Cody had always heard them calling them 'good schools'... only their tones hadn't suggested anything to positive about them and now he felt that he understood why. People in the village had never been to school either and probably didn't know anything about it.
"Yes... it was a tough place though." he wrinkled his nose, "I'm glad I no longer need to go back, in one sense, but in another I know that I am going to miss it." He also wished that Cody could have had the school experience... but he had no doubt that had Cody gone with him to his all-boys school then he would have been fighting off a whole lot of short-term suitors; Cody's beauty was just too captivating to make you worry about something like gender, even though Ted was pretty assured now that he liked Cody just as he was, the fact that he was male included.
"And now," Ted said after sealing his letter, "Say this name." he wrote the letter head out once more and then leant aside for Cody to see. "Suh-- Cee." Cody sounded out, recognising it from his own name. "Cee-huh..." he soon had 'a' 'r' 'l' 'e' and 's' sounded out, but struggled a bit on putting it together. However, he eventually got it, and Ted had only given minimal guidance. "Charles!"
“Look at you! You’re really getting better at this every day,” he said, reaching behind Cody’s head to pull him in for a quick kiss. “Who ever thought I’d be able to teach someone to read and to write?” Ted asked, more to himself than to Cody. Yes, he had gone through years of rigorous schooling, but that didn’t mean he was capable of teaching someone the things that he learned there.
“Well, you’re very good at it. And I must admit, I really like the way you encourage me along.”
Ted chuckled. “They certainly didn’t do that at school.” He then turned back to his letters, glancing back at what Charles wrote to him so he could answer any necessary questions. He wrote and wrote, Cody over his shoulder the entire time. After signing, ‘Sincerely, Ted,’ he set the note aside to let it dry. Reaching for the next letter, he opened it up and read who it was from so he could address it properly. He wrote the name out, though just as he went to ask Cody to read the name for him, a knock came on the door.
“Young Master Theodore, dinner is ready,” came Eric’s voice.
“I’ll be right there!” he shouted back, standing from his desk. “Look like we’ve got dinner to eat now. But you can come back to my room after, take care of all your necessary duties,” he added, the last part he said loud enough that Eric could hear if he was still standing outside his room. At the same time, he also threw Cody a wink.
“But of course,” Cody said, heading to the door. He held it open, finding that Eric was, indeed, still there. “After you, Young Master Theodore.” Ted left the room, hoping that Cody would stay close behind, though there was nothing that he could do once they split off and Ted headed to the familial dining room and Cody was off to the kitchens. Right before they broke apart, Cody said, “Enjoy your meal.”
“Thank you very much, Cody. I shall meet you here after dinner.” With a nod, nothing more, nothing less, they headed in their separate directions.
“You know, you should be the one announcing that dinner is ready for Young Master Theodore, not me,” Eric said once they were inside the kitchens.
“I’ll remember that next time.”
“Maybe if you did your job properly as opposed to loafing about in his room, then-”
“God, would you just give it a rest?” Cody snipped back. “I understand that, for some reason or another, you don’t like me, so how about we leave it at that. You make it as though Young Master Theodore didn’t want me to be in his room, though had he not asked me to stay, I wouldn’t have.
Huffing in anger (and perhaps a touch of jealousy), Eric turned on his heel and walked to the far end of the table where he sat by himself as Cody sat down next to John, Randy across the table from them. Leaning his head down to whisper in Cody’s ear, John said, “Think you only managed to piss him off even more.” However, it was said with a big grin plastered on his face.
Momentarily, Cody felt like he should apologise for what he had done; but the feeling was short-lived and he shook it off before grinning sheepishly at John, "Ok, I might have lost my temper a little bit." his grin fell, "But it really isn't fair the way he keeps trying to single me out." he rolled his eyes, "Though, of course, he didn't attempt to do such a thing before T- Young Master Theodore." It was so hard to remember to call Ted that before John (and by proxy Randy) because he felt he would trust them and as such let his guard down somewhat.
"If you don't show Eric you won't take none-a his bullyin' then he'll just keep doin' it." John said, giving his shoulder a squeeze before indicating Cody tuck into the beef and vegetable stew that they had been served that evening. ("Something to warm you all up," Chef Wade Barrett, naturally of English descent, had proclaimed when they had been served). Randy nodded his head and murmured, "He's right." and Cody almost startled as he hadn't realised that the other was evening listening in... though he supposed he should have expected it as Randy always seemed involved if John was.
The stew was delicious, and filling, and Cody wondered whether he could barter with Wade somehow to take any leftovers to his father when he went to go see him the following day. It had been a few days since he had last seen him and Cody was feeling terrible about neglecting his father even though he had reason to being that he was busy. Maybe Wade'd give him it if he offered to do a job for him sometime or something...
When he finished his food Cody excused himself from John and Randy (the older man telling him that he should stop by their room if Ted didn't keep him too long-- and Cody was sure that he didn't imagine the wink he was slipped) and then went into the foyer. He was there before Ted and he momentarily leant against the wall as he waited since there was no one around to scold him about bad posture. He hadn't seen Layla or Michelle at dinner, he reflected, and wondered whether she had maybe given up on pursuing him and the two women had been off somewhere gossiping.
As Ted exited the doors Cody sent him the briefest, most subtle of smiles and then they began heading up the stairs with one another. They reached Ted's room and then entered, Cody reluctantly admitting to the other about how he had been short with Eric-- and Ted actually fell onto his bed with hearty laughter as Cody finished. "I didn't think it was that funny." Cody giggled despite his words, Ted's laughter infectious; it was so warm and rich, sending shivers down his spine. Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes Ted managed a breathless apology.
"I'm just trying to imagine you losing your temper." Ted admitted. Cody had never done so around him, not even badly when Layla (little strumpet, Ted mentally huffed) was involved in the circumstances. Cody pretended to pout, leaning over Ted from where the other was still on his bed, "Hey Teddy, I can be plenty aggressive if the occasion calls for it." he playfully snapped his teeth. Ted gave a mock serious nod, though in truth thought Cody was too adorable to be considered a threat... he was like a puppy with his first teeth.
“Of course you can be, Cody,” he said, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He wrapped his hands around Cody’s waist and pulled him on top of him on the bed, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the letters he’d left unfinished earlier.
Giggling as he landed atop the older teen, Cody held his hands up to Ted’s cheeks, holding his face as he leaned in and kissed him properly. “Shall I get about to my duties?” he asked once their kiss broke off.
“If you’d like. I feel somewhat silly, having you do all this for me, I mean. I am capable of taking my own jacket off.”
“Nonsense. Your father brought me on here, and he’s paying me to do my job, so I don’t intend to slack off. In fact,” he began as he slid off Ted’s lap, hands dragging on downwards over his leg, “I like to go above and beyond.”
“Mmm, I don’t doubt that at all. If anything, I encourage it.”
Slipping Ted’s shoes off, Cody once again gently placed them to the side of the bed, socks following. On his knees, he bent forward and dropped a kiss on the top of each of Ted’s feet.
Inhaling sharply, Ted sat in shock. It was one thing to feel Cody’s naked body against his, but for Cody to place a kiss atop his feet like that? It was such an intimate act, one like he’d never experienced. “Oh, God,” he breathed out.
Glancing upwards, Cody met Ted’s eyes, smiling shyly. “You liked that?”
“Did I ever,” he answered, now pulling Cody up to him by his arms. “You don’t even know the things you make me feel,” he muttered into Cody’s neck.
“I bet I do. Because you do the same things to me,” he replied, smiling as he pressed his face into Ted’s neck.
They held the embrace for a few minutes longer before Cody then pulled back to smile; dusting a feather light kiss to Ted's lips as he then moved, hands going to remove Ted's jacket for him. "Am I Ok to go and see my father in the morning?" Cody asked somewhat shyly. It seemed ridiculous to be asking Ted permission when he knew the other would grant it, but he didn't want Ted freaking out if he wasn't around in the morning-- and he didn't want to give anyone *cough*Eric*cough* chance to try and sabotage his position amongst the staff in the household.
"Of course you can." Ted blinked slightly as Cody suddenly left the bed -and him- to go and close the shutters and heavy curtains as the wind suddenly began to pick up; the Winter was certainly temperamental that year and a shiver ran over him involuntarily, whereas Cody looked strangely unperturbed. And then it hit him just why Cody didn't seem affected: he had probably suffered worse whilst he had been in that little shack. "Say hello to him for me, won't you?" he didn't think he'd be able to get away too.
A slight blush touched Cody's cheeks and his heart thudded slightly as he nodded, moving to resume assisting Ted in dressing for bed. Although Virgil might never know just what Ted was to him, Cody appreciated the effort that Ted put in in concerns to his father and giving a positive impression to him.
"I will." he promised, Ted standing by this point, naked, and holding his arms out for Cody to put his night-shirt on. Cody did so, saddened by the loss of Ted's body heat on his. "I'll try to come and see you again tonight." Ted murmured softly when the shirt settled around mid-thigh, a hand caressing Cody's cheek, "It was like torture not having you in my arms last night." All night, every night, was what he really wanted, but knew he'd probably never get. Still, a man could dream... and he did. Frequently.
“When you left, and I no longer had your arms around me, the room felt so much colder,” Cody admitted. Something he knew that he’d have to get used to, but the thought of that made him grow sad, so he attempted to brush that thought of his mind.
“I’m so sorry that you have to go through this.” Ted spoke with sincerity, as he always did, and he was truly sorry that because of their social standing and their gender, they could never have a true relationship in the eyes of society.
“We’ll get through it,” Cody assured him, his hand mirroring Ted’s now. “I should go now, but I’ll see you later?”
“Of course,” Ted replied.
And with one final kiss, Cody was out of the room and on his way downstairs. Deciding to take up John and Randy’s offer, before he reached his own room, he stopped and knocked on their door. “Hello?” he called.
The door opened, and before him stood John, dressed in his sleep clothes, Randy behind him, still in his valet uniform. “Well, hey, Cody!” John greeted cheerily, ushering him into the room. “Ted didn’t keep you that long, after all?” he asked, winking at him once the door had been shut.
“Well… he’s coming down here later,” Cody told him shyly.
Randy grinned. “You know how many women Ted Sr. has thrown in front of Ted? Well, over the past couple years, ever since Mike left, it’s been a lot. And then you come along. I have seen Ted greet all these hopeful suitors as they come through the door, and his eyes never lit up the way they do when you’re in his line of sight. You’d have many women jealous of your position, Cody, let me tell you.”
“I don’t doubt that at all. Ted’s quite the man,” he said, unaware of the smile that had formed on his face. “I can’t help but wonder myself how he managed to fall in love with me.”
“Well, I can’t help but wonder how I managed to fall in love with him,” John said, jerking his thumb behind him, pointing it to Randy, though his eyes said something completely different.
Randy huffed a slight chuckle, pretending to be deadly offended by John's joke, "Don't make me put you across my knee again..." his smirk turned sly, "--John-John." Cody watched with amusement as John's cheeks bloomed red. He hadn't even thought it was possible that John could be embarrassed.
"Randy," John faux-whined when he seemed to have recovered himself, "What did we say about saying things like that in front of guests?" Randy pretended to think as he stood up, moving from where he had been lounging on the bed (they had pushed the two singles together, and Cody wondered how they could be so brazen) before answering, "Don't do it. But," he wagged a finger at them, "Cody's not a guest," he grinned teasingly, "He's your pet."
Cody stuck his tongue out at Randy, and the tallest man chuckled; it seemed he was warming up to Cody more and more with each passing day. And then, to Cody's surprise (and strange momentary delight and curiosity) Randy cupped the back of John's neck and drew him up for a kiss, "I'll be back in a minute." John murmured a soft agreement, expression softening, and Cody found himself looking away-- he felt a little bit shy and almost unworthy to be witnessing such a tender moment. However, his discomfort was dispelled with a small yelp when Randy ruffled his hair before sauntering out.
John grinned slightly and motioned Cody to sit, that same softened light in his eyes. As Cody settled besides John as directed he asked softly, "You really love him, don't you?" the question didn't appear to have startled John at all, but the strong arm around his shoulder and the head that rested against his own told him that the momentary understanding that had appeared in the other's eyes wasn't a fluke, "I really do."
"How do you cope?" Cody asked, really feeling that he could open up to John, "I mean... it's so hard." John sighed softly, giving Cody a small squeeze, "I know it is. I know. But, when you love them you need to be prepared to make sacrifices." he sounded strangely serious and Cody wondered what sacrifice John had made. When he voiced this thought aloud John gave a slightly sad, but accepting smile as he gave the ambiguous answer, "You'll find out soon enough."
Unsure of just what John was talking about, he simply took his word. They hadn’t known each other that long, after all, and things would surely come out in time. “Ok.”
The door opened, and Randy quirked an eyebrow as he took in the sight before him. “What’s this? I leave the room for mere minutes, and you start moving in on another man? Knew this kid was bad news,” he said, scowling.
Cody, thinking that, once again, he was on Randy’s bad side, scooted away from John, rising from the bed completely as he apologized. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean… I’d never… he’d never…!” he said, stumbling over his words, not knowing quite what to say.
“Cody,” John said, causing the youngest to turn towards him. “He’s joking.”
“Oh. I… well, I guess I should have known… Oops,” he said sheepishly, blushing slightly after all that.
“It’s ok, I got just the reaction I was looking for,” Randy told him with a grin before he joined John on the bed.
Changing the subject, Cody decided to ask them, “What was it like growing up here in the castle?”
“Oh, it was a lot of fun,” John began. “There were so many places we could run off to. Me ‘n him would go everywhere together. And from time to time, we’d talk Mike into joining us, since he was right about our age. Teddy was a bit too young to sneak off, since eyes were always on him and Brett.”
“Yeah, it was great growing up here. I still know my family down in the village, of course, saw them more often when I was younger, snuck ‘em food and the like, but nothing beats growing up here. Three square meals a day, a solid roof over my head, a decent place to bathe… plus I guess it was pretty nice to have him around,” Randy added, wrapping an arm around John’s shoulders and pulling his body in close, ruffling his hair.
Clucking his tongue slightly with a mock-irritated look, John then jokingly nudged his nose into Randy's cheek, "Hey, I'm the best thing about living here and you know it." Randy pretended to consider this and then conceded with a nod when John pretended to take a swipe for him. Cody smiled slightly at their horseplay and also their sentiments, "It does sound really nice." he admitted.
Turning to look to the other, though not moving from where Randy had hold of him, John said, "Hey, it's the people like you who really have character; you work for everything you get in life, and although it's hard it's worth it." He then paused and amended, "The DiBiase's aren't as bad as some families born into wealth and privilege, but some of them..." his expression soured.
Suddenly recalling where he and Ted had been that morning, Cody then asked, "Hey... do you know the clearing in the orchard?" That simple question yielded surprising results from both men: a little colour came to their cheeks in turn, but Randy merely gave a devious and sultry smirk as John's bright eyes darkened and he bit down on his bottom lip somewhat. Cody immediately got the feeling that there was something he was missing out on and he naively looked between the two of them confusedly. This time Randy was the first to recover, "Why do you ask that?" he rumbled smoothly, hand almost subconsciously caressing John's stomach.
Blushing slightly, Cody mumbled shyly, "Um... Ted and I were down there earlier, he was showing me where it was, and then we came across this tree in the middle that Ted told me that you taught him to climb..." The two men waited and that was when that Cody understood they were just waiting to see whether he'd have the balls to go through with actually saying it. "Initials were on the tree... Ted's teaching me how to read," he admitted almost nervously, as though they'd be mad or something, "-And, well, they were an 'R' and a 'J', so..."
“Oh, really? You saw that, then?” Randy asked. “So, what did you think when you saw the R and the J carved into that tree?”
“That you two did it. I mean, it stands for Randy and John, doesn’t it?” Cody replied, though his voice sounded unsure, like there may be another J and another R around somewhere on the property.
“Sure does,” John told him. “What made you go out to the orchard, anyway?”
“Well, you had that leaf stuck to you, and you said you were out in the orchard. So I asked Ted if he could show me where it was. How long ago did you do that? For that matter,” he went on, wondering if they’d tell him, “how long have you two been together?”
“Oh, Gods, when did we carve that tree?” John asked aloud, both to Randy and to himself.
Randy glanced up at the ceiling, trying to recall how long ago it had been. “A long time ago. But we’ve been together even longer. We shared our first kiss underneath that tree when I was thirteen, he was fourteen.”
Cody’s eyes grew wide. Of course, he didn’t know how old they were now, but he knew that they were older than him, so they had been together for a long time. “Wow.”
“How time flies, right?” John said. “It had been this unusually warm day in March, not too long before his fourteenth birthday,” he continued, “and we headed out to the orchard, since we were too young to really do anything productive, but too old to need watching over, thank God. Anyway, one thing lead to another, next thing I know, we’re kissin’.”
“I think I was sixteen when we finally decided to carve our initials into that tree,” Randy told Cody, though he was looking fondly at John. “I’m twenty-two now, he’s twenty-three, and look where we are.”
“Wow,” Cody said once more. Still, despite how happy they looked together, he couldn’t help but wonder the sorts of sacrifices they made to remain with one another. Everything between them seemed to fall so perfectly into place.
They had been together for so long already, it seemed, and Cody wondered whether he and Ted would last that long... or what would happen if something happened to cause their relationship to be terminated. "What about you and Ted?" John asked interestedly, "When was your first kiss?" Of course he knew they had kissed, considering what he and Randy had heard from that room the other night.
A blush touched Cody's cheeks as he reiterated his first kiss with Ted, and when he mentioned they had kissed in the barn Randy smirked, "I knew it-- all you country-boys seem to like that." Randy may be form the village, but he wasn't considered a country-boy in the sense that he had worked with animals before on the farmland.
"Huh?" Cody asked, confused, and John whacked his lover lightly across the head from where he was essentially sitting on his knee. "Don't mind him, Cody--" he turned to Randy and then arched a brow, "I don't remember you complaining about my country-boy habits before." There was a wicked glimmer in Randy's eyes and something told John that he was going to regret giving the other an apparent opening-- but it was more for the sake of Cody's embarrassment than anything else.
"Oh I don't," Randy's tone was light, innocent... and then he went in for the kill, "--What I enjoy most is the way that you country boys ride." Cody and John gasped simultaneously, each immediately getting an image in their minds: John picturing himself atop Randy in a position they had attempted many a time before, and Cody was taken back to all the times he had straddled Ted... but this time the image went further.
Satisfied that he had rendered both men speechless, Randy then stood up. "It's getting late, Cody." he reminded lightly, and Cody recalled Ted was supposed to be visiting him and stood. "Yeah... G'night you two." He received two goodbyes in turn, John telling him that he could come into their room anytime if he wanted some company. Mind still full of what he had just seen, Cody wandered back to his own room almost in a daze.