How about some more Fortunate Son?
Title: Fortunate Son (Part 16/?)
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Taking place in feudal England, Cody's family comes from a long line of farmers who work the land belonging to the DiBiase family. Despite the enormous class differences, Cody and Ted meet and form an instant connection with one another, both learning things from the other that they otherwise never would have known.
Word Count: 8224
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, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 16
“Wait… your what?!” Cody asked. Surely he heard things wrong. And he was most definitely seeing things. Because he thought Randy just said that he was married about he thought he saw Randy slip a wedding band around his finger.
“My wife,” Randy repeated.
“But… you two… and… married?” Ted stuttered, just as disbelieving as Cody.
“All the staff knows that I’m married. Well, the staff that was around when it happened,” he added, looking at Cody. “See, it was one thing when we were inseparable as kids, but when we got older and we were still joined at the hip, people started to talk.”
“Lots of nasty rumours spread around,” John told them. “O’ course, they weren’t exactly wrong, because, as you well know, we are sleepin’ together… But we didn’t want everyone to know.”
“Those rumours started making their way up the chain of command, and we couldn’t risk your dad finding out. So… Down in the village, I knew Samantha. See, she’s got a bit of a… reputation, shall we say?”
“You’re married to a prostitute?!” Cody chimed in.
“More or less,” Randy said with a shrug. “But her family was looking at her as a disgrace. They wanted her to settle down, although they didn’t know what sort of man would settle down with a woman such as her. Until I came along. She knows about us, John and I. And, well, she can carry on with, umm, her business.”
"Now you know what I mean by having to make sacrifices," John said, Randy removing his ring and returning his arm around his lover's shoulders, John's head settling on his shoulder once more. "--as far as the world shall ever know, Samantha is Mrs. Orton, but she and Randy haven't even consummated their marriage."
"Seriously?" Ted couldn't help asking and Randy chuckled, knowing at least one of them would ask, "I know Samantha wouldn't say no to me, but I'd rather not pay for what I can get for free and, well, I lost interest in women when John and I became intimate." A relationship with a woman couldn't be as sexually equal as the one he and John had.
A woman wouldn't be able to take it when he got rougher, and a woman couldn't give him a chance to be submissive if he wanted it. And his John was the only man he would ever submit to.
"I don't understand," Cody said, slightly embarrassed by the admittance, "John... Randy... You're both Ok with it?" Randy rolled his neck out slightly, "We had to do it. The rumours were getting too much and we couldn't risk..." he trailed off, but the unspoken words were there: couldn't risk being separated.
John gave them both a sympathetic look, "I know it might not seem like an issue now guys, but it has come up right?" when they both looked confused he elaborated, "The marriage thing." Cody immediately thought of Layla and grimaced, causing John to laugh before turning serious again. "One day you two might be making this choice."
“But…” Cody began in attempt to protest, then realized that they just might be right. So he began again. “But you said Samantha knows about you two. If… if either of us were to marry, I doubt it’d be that easy. Layla’s been wanting me for quite some time now, and I don’t think she’d be ok with me telling her that I’m involved with Young Theodore over here.”
“And if I were to marry, it would be to some other noble family to bring more power to our own.”
“Oh, come on now. How many of those marriages are actually legitimate?” John asked. “Those marriages are made for power for power’s sake. So many of those other lords and ladies have secret lovers on the side.”
“I know, I know,” Ted agreed. It would be easy enough to tell some foreign dignitary to sleep with whomever she liked, so long as he could do the same. “That doesn’t mean that I want to make this decision.”
“You may have to, though,” Randy said. “I know for Samantha and I, things have worked out for the best. Although she does still manage to come between us from time to time,” he added, turning to give a stern look at John. “Even though I haven’t been sleeping with her since I’ve been fourteen, and I’m not in love with her. Isn’t that right, John-John?”
Flushing red, John nodded, mumbling, “I know, Randy.”
Randy nodded firmly at that, turning his attention back to the youngers. They looked upset, but that was understandable; even though he and John had agreed his marriage to Samantha would be for the best his lover hadn't spoken to him for a fortnight after his marriage. "Not being funny, Ted, but you avoiding marriage is much more noticeable than Codes here."
Reluctantly nodding his head, Ted acknowledged what the other said. However, Cody knew that his father would want to see him married before he passed on... and despite what the man said the ravenette knew he wouldn't be around forever the way he had always claimed when Cody was a boy. He'd "want Cody happy" as his reasoning always was.
"Well, this... this is depressing." Cody sighed heavily. John reached and squeezed Cody's shoulder, "You'll get through it. You'll just need to trust one another about it." Ted looked confused and John elaborated for him.
"If Randy did ever sleep with Samantha, defacto since they're married they can sleep together, and didn't tell me, and I found out, then I'd end it. I need to know whenever Randy does something with her even if I don't like it. And, well, if I ever did something with someone else--" Cody noticed Randy's cheek work slightly at that, "--then I'd want the same courtesy. There's enough deceit without deceiving one another too." The two younger men nodded; that was understandable.
“Of course,” Randy began in an attempt to lighten the mood, “you two need to sleep with one another first. And I take it you two still haven’t?”
Blushing, Cody turned his eyes up towards the ceiling while Ted’s focus was on the far wall. “No, not yet,” Cody finally answered, though it was obvious Randy knew the answer already.
“Boys, boys, boys, you know that you’re not getting any younger.”
“Oh, come on, Randy. Give them some time. They haven’t known each other as long as we have. Maybe they need to wait until they feel the time is right.”
“The time is always right,” Randy countered, to which John gave a small nod.
“Our situation is just… a bit tricky, that’s all,” Ted told him. “See… It’s a lot easier for me to come down here in the middle of the night than it is for Cody to come to mine in the middle of the night. And, well, we don’t really want to be, um, overheard in the process, if you get what I mean.”
Randy grinned, “I do. We were lucky we weren’t walked in on our first time. Remember that, John?”
“Like I could forget that. William, the other farmhand that was here for years, you must remember him, don’t you, Ted?” John asked, and when Ted nodded, he went on, “He had left for the day, might have been to visit his family, and that’s when Randy and I snuck out to the barn. This was before I thought about the whole… greasing up thing, so Randy was close to tears he hurt so much… Well, jus’ when he tells me I gotta stop, I hear William comin’ back.”
“Honestly, I’m shocked we haven’t been interrupted more,” Randy said. “Especially considering how often we go at it wherever…”
They were so bold. Ted had never met two people as bold as John and Randy were. Something told him that even when he and Cody had passed the hurdle of actually sleeping together, they weren't going to be as brazen as John and Randy. "There's still a chance though--" John touched the wooden side-table in their room, "--we should hope it doesn't ever happen."
Exhaling softly Cody shook his head; there was so much information to take in that he felt like his head might explode, Ted's hand rubbing the back soothing him somewhat from freaking out entirely because it was just so... surreal.
"So," Randy said, eying them both, "You want privacy for your first time, but you won't use the barn like we did, understandable I guess with Teddy here having high standards and all." he teased, making Ted turn red, "Isn't there an out of the way room you could use?"
What if there was somewhere they could both sneak into at night? Cody bit his lip slightly, momentarily feeling guilty because last night he had had a thought before he had fallen asleep. The library. What about there?
However, he had scrapped that idea because he had felt that Ted might be offended and he didn't want to seem that he was attempting to deface Ted's precious grandfather's memory. It was the only room that seemed private enough though scrapping both of their own.
John shrugged slightly, "M'afraid I don't know anywhere." he then chuckled, "Unless you ask Sam to vacate your house for a bit--" Randy laughed, "She'd charged me the missed money!" they both laughed and were oblivious to the way Ted and Cody were stunned they were laughing about it given that they had been so frosty and tense towards one another not several days before over it all.
“We’ll figure something out,” Ted said assuringly. Because they would… right? Then he had an idea. He pressed a kiss to Cody’s cheek and wrapped his arms around him tighter. “Our holiday party is coming up soon. There will be so many people around, everyone is going to be drunk… No one would even care about seeing people walking about in the halls, because there will be so many people walking about in the halls. It’d be so easy for you to slip up to my room that night…”
Unable to control himself, Cody turned in Ted’s arms and kissed him right on the lips. “Teddy, you’re brilliant.”
Still, that party was a couple weeks away, and day by day, Cody was becoming more and more willing to throw all thoughts of privacy out the window to have Ted take him leaning over the sink in the washroom.
“Well, there goes any spontaneity,” Randy said.
“Randy, they’re already about two seconds away from jumping one another. I doubt they care about being spontaneous.”
“But they’ve just planned out when it’s all going to happen. Look, just go next door right now, and I promise you that we won’t listen,” Randy told them.
“Like we could believe you. Last night I was trying to read, not trying to listen in on you two going at it like wild goats, yet it was all I could do. Hear you two, that is,” Cody said.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“You know, Randy, if my parents knew that you were like this-”
“There’s no chance in hell that I’d be head valet? Oh, I know. John likes to tell me this frequently. But I’m willing to put up whatever façade I need in order to maintain my professional appearance,” Randy said, grinning.
"He has no shame," John said to Ted, "Don't bother trying to tell him things like that." Randy arched a brow at John and returned with, "Oh, and you have shame?" the brunette seemed to consider before then giving a cheeky grin, "Well, more than you, you hussy--" Randy returned with a playful comment and the pair went back and forth affectionately slanging sexual insults at one another. It was amusing to one degree, and then to the other degree it was just kind of awkward to witness something so intimate.
The Christmas party seemed really appealing, because something told Cody that once they got the initial embarrassing, fumbly intercourse out of the way then there would be some pressure taken off of them in their relationship. Despite how much they may feel for one another they needed to feel each other on a physical level too.
Ted found himself absently imagining himself in the office that would be his when his father passed on and he took over as head of the family, bending the young man over the desk and taking him or having the other ride him on the chaise-lounge that his father had in his office. But, he didn't just imagine him taking Cody. He did imagine it the other way around.
He imagined Cody taking him during one of their bubble-baths, or even outside the way they had seen John and Randy. Ok, so, yes, he had been giving this some involved thought but could you blame him, really? Had you seen Cody?
Ted wanted to ask Randy more questions about balancing his marriage and his relationship with John (it didn't seem right to call it an affair) but he didn't want to say anything more with Cody there in case it upset the other. They chatted and joked some more, John's hand caressing Randy's stomach over his shirt as they talked, seeming unaware he was even doing it.
“I should head out. I’m sure someone in my family is wondering where I am right now,” Ted said after a while. He knew that he was going to arrive late to lunch, if he hadn’t missed it all together.
“If you must. Remember, our door is always open if you need to talk.”
“Well, unless it’s locked,” Randy said. “Just… make sure you knock first. Although it’s not like you’d be seeing something you haven’t already seen.”
Both Ted and Cody blushed. “We really didn’t mean to…” Cody began, but then drifted off, still embarrassed about that moment. And, well, embarrassed about what happened afterwards, when John and Randy wound up watching them.
“It’s ok. I think you learned a very valuable lesson that day,” Randy said with a stern nod. “That being, of course, how to go about having sex. Now I should probably go back to work myself. I’m sure there are a few people that I’ll be able to boss around,” he said with a smile.
Bidding John and Cody goodbye, Randy and Ted headed out of the room, Ted leading the way, Randy right behind him. Ted walked into the kitchen, starting when he saw his mother in there, checking on the cider with Nancy.
"Mother!" he faltered slightly in surprise and Caroline merely smiled at him -a small glimmer of knowledge in her eyes- before she then smiled to Randy too. "Hello Randal." she always teased him by calling him his full name because he used to pout whenever she did it to him as a boy-- and still pouted now.
"Lady DiBiase." Randy kissed the back of her hand in a jokingly gallant fashion and Caroline laughed; she was fond of John and Randy, the pair having officially been in her husband's service not long before she had arrived when she'd married him.
Wrinkling his nose as Randy kissed his mother's hand, Ted then shook himself and moved to his mother, "What are you down here for?" he asked curiously and she sent him an innocent look before looking to Nancy as Randy headed off to see who he could order about.
"I came to get another cider." she admitted, "It won't be long before it turns alcoholic and you know I prefer it the other way." his mother would have a drink socially but he knew she didn't care for it much; she was much happier to merely have a cup of tea or something like that.
"Have I missed lunch? I was talking to Cody about some things..." he said casually, and his mother shook her head, smiling when Nancy affectionately rolled her eyes and got her another glass -and one for Ted- "No dear, we haven't started yet-- your father was busy with some work so we postponed for a while." Ted exhaled a breath; that had been lucky.
“Do you know when Father will be done with all his work?” Ted asked, sipping at the cider. He was also hoping that his mother wouldn’t ask him to elaborate on the whole reason he was down here, and he was especially hoping she wouldn’t bring it up to his father later as they ate.
“Not a clue. It probably won’t be too much longer. At least I hope not. I don’t know about you, but I am quite hungry,” she said, finishing her second glass. “Thank you so much, Nancy. I promise you, I’m done for now. I suppose I’ll have to leave some for our party guests.”
Nancy took the empty cup and set it down to wash out later. “It would be much appreciated Lady DiBiase,” she teased. She never would have said anything like that to the Lord, but the Lady? She was far more easy going that her husband, and she always made an attempt to at least get to know some of the staff.
“You’ll have to hide it from me before I do decide to sneak down and grab myself even more,” Caroline told her, giggling.
While they chatted in the kitchen, Cody stayed in John’s room, talking to him about this and that. Topics ranged from Randy to the barn to his family down on the parcels and everything in between. “How did you decide it would be Randy to marry, not you?” Cody asked, one foot tucked under his leg as the other foot rested on the floor. His head was turned to the side, looking at John.
Exhaling a soft breath, John rolled his neck to rid some of the kinks in it before answering. "It wasn't through me not having female admirers of my own-- a woman by the name of Elizabeth in the village isn't too fond of me anymore actually." his dimpled smile turned wan, "She wanted me to marry her."
Biting his lip slightly John looked to Cody and said, "Ya have-ta understand that Randy and I were very young by standards and we were having to make such a big decision together. I told Randy if he wanted to go off and marry some woman he could-- he got very mad about that." he laughed softly, "I already knew I wouldn't be able to face marrying someone when I had him."
Cody's heart went out to John and Randy; they might both be big tough-guys who acted like nothing bothered them or whatever, but they were both clearly in love with one another at the end of the day. "Randy had known Samantha since we were younger, but I only knew her by name, and, of course, eventually reputation." John sighed, "I told you they hadn't consummated their marriage but like he said- they slept together when Randy was fourteen."
Suddenly, Cody understood, "That's why you said that stuff about being honest before." John nodded, running a hand through his dark-brown hair, "Samantha hadn't had quite her reputation by that point. Point of fact she'd been a virgin. Randy hadn't been as you know, but I..." he looked almost embarrassed, "I was furious when I found out, and then I received news of their engagement when I was running an errand in the village not from Randy." Cody whistled lowly.
“That’s… that’s got to be rough.” Cody couldn’t imagine hearing news like that through the grapevine. He shook his head, then recalled the look on Randy’s face, that little tick in his jaw showing that he was clenching his teeth together, when John spoke of doing something with another. So, he had to ask, “And… well, what about you? Did you ever, that is, sleep with anyone else?”
John chuckled at that. “Why do you think Elizabeth dislikes me so much these days? Not days after I heard news of this engagement, I didn’t talk to Randy for quite some time, despite the fact that I told him he could marry some woman if he wanted to, I found Elizabeth in the village. One thing lead to another, n’ the next thing I know…”
“You two slept together?” Cody finished for him, though he said it questioningly.
“We did. But only that once. I knew then for sure that I couldn’t do that. Not to myself, not to Randy, not to Elizabeth. Told her that afterwards that it’d just all been a big mistake. Didn’t go over so well… She felt humiliated. I was this person she admired for so long and when she finally got me, I turned out to be the biggest jackass in the world.”
“That’s… really shitty,” Cody said.
John nodded. He hadn’t talked about this in years. Neither he nor Randy liked to talk about that point in their lives much. Their relationship started out so heated. One day they go from being friends to kissing under a tree to months later having sex in the barn. They were young when they started together, and at such a young age, those rumours stung. Sleeping with Samantha that one day led them to an engagement and eventually a marriage that would last them the rest of their lifetime. “It’s ok now though. As I know you’ve seen with us. We was jus’ stupid kids. Our feelin’s for one another was jus’ too much for us to handle back then. I don’ want you n’ Teddy to make the same mistakes me n’ Randy did.”
Shaking his head somewhat, Cody bit his lip. "I don't see which'd be easier for us to marry though," he said in reference to himself and Ted, "Both of our fathers really want us married. My father had Layla hired into the castle in the hopes that being around her will make me like her," John snorted and Cody nodded in wry agreement, "And now this French woman's coming here and--"
Holding up a hand John arched a brow, "Woah, hold on a minute. A French woman?" Cody then paused and recounted what Ted Sr. had said to Ted about this Ouellet woman. The baby-blue eyed male shook his head and this time he was the one to whistle lowly, "Well, aren't you popular?" he teased to break the tension somewhat and Cody laughed, so he knew it had worked. "It's a hard choice." he repeated when he sobered a little.
Cody knew Layla would want him to sleep with her, and he didn't find her attractive even before Ted had come onto the scene, so he didn't know how to explain that away without causing himself, his family, and, yes, even Layla embarrassment. And, well, obviously it would be expected that Ted would have children with that... that... woman.
"I wouldn't worry," John clapped Cody on the shoulder, "As we said, you'll have a while to worry about this yet, and, well, if there's ever anything Randy and I can do to help don't be afraid to ask either of us." Somehow Cody couldn't imagine himself going to Randy to ask for any sort of advice at all, let alone relationships... though he seemed more than happy to impart sexual wisdom.
"Ok, now, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving." the brunette led the way out of the room with Cody in tow. It seemed that lunch had been in swing for a bit but it was pretty lucky as there was still a decent choice of food left for them to have. Cody was quiet, thoughtful as he continued eating, because he had so much on his mind. John was his usual cheery, chatty self.
After lunch (Cody ate his food quickly, mind so much on other things that he didn’t even know what he was eating), Cody walked past the dining room, standing close to the door, able to hear the family talking. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, Theodore, I invited the Ouellets to our holiday party,” his father said excitedly.
“Did you, now?” Ted asked, turning his head towards his father, who was seated at the head of the table.
At almost the same time, Caroline asked, “Oh, you did? I’ll have to let the staff know to prepare some extra quarters that day.”
“Yes, I did. I thought it would be a great opportunity for Theodore here to meet young Maryse before Brett’s wedding. Maybe we can make it a joint wedding if all things go well!” When he said it, Ted couldn’t tell if the man was joking or if he was being completely serious. Something told him it was a mix of both.
“Theodore, it will not be a double wedding, and that’s that. Not only is it Brett’s big day,” Caroline said, smiling at her youngest blushing son, “it’s also Kristen’s. And a bride doesn’t want to share the spotlight with anybody.”
Out in the hallway, Cody stood, shoulder pressed against the wall as he slumped over. He had so many thoughts still running around in his head. Mainly about marriage, about their relationship, about John and Randy’s relationship… God, it was just all too much.
When Ted (thankfully) got to leave the table he exited the dining-hall as swiftly as he dared; immediately slowing when he saw Cody there. The ashen look on the other's face initially made Ted think he was ill... and then he realised that Cody must have heard what his father said. Almost forgetting himself Ted went to apologise then and there but Cody didn't look at him for the moment. Collecting himself Ted began to lead Cody up to his room.
As soon as the door was closed Ted looked to his lover, the younger man not paying any attention to him for the moment. "Cody, please, look at me--" he understood how Cody was feeling, he really did. And, he knew that if Cody turned around and announced an engagement to Layla then he'd feel even worse... but that couldn't have been nice for Cody to hear. Moving to his younger lover he used one hand to tilt his chin, the other resting on his waist.
"Baby, I'm sorry you had to hear that." God, it was so hard to keep Cody reassured that he was his one and only when these sorts of things kept happening, and vice-versa. What could he do to show Cody that he'd never give him up?
Even if he did end up having to marry this Maryse, he wasn't giving Cody up. He knew it would probably end up hurtful somewhere along the line to all of them, but Theodore DiBiase Junior was not willing, was not able to give up his feelings for Cody Runnels.
“Ted, John didn’t know when Randy got engaged,” Cody said, shutting his eyes so he didn’t have to look at Ted when he said it. “He didn’t know...” Finally he opened his eyes, tears threatening to fall over. “You know that… that I don’t want you to marry. But if you do, or if you plan to… just tell me.”
“Oh, Cody,” Ted whispered, pulling the younger man’s body in tight to his. His hands roamed over his back and he placed light kisses into his neck.
“Make love to me,” Cody said suddenly.
“What?” Ted asked, pulling back slightly so he could look into Cody’s eyes.
“Please. Right now, make love to me,” he pleaded.
“We can’t,” Ted told him. Of course he wanted nothing more than to show his love to Cody, but if they did it now, after such an emotional morning, it was possible they would both end up regretting it. “Not here, not while people are still around. You know that. We already said-”
Now the tears had begun to fall. “I don’t care, Teddy,” he interrupted. “I want you now. Please. I don’t want to wait until the Christmas party. And I know you don’t want to wait that long, either. Please, Teddy?”
But Ted shook his head. “No, Cody, we just… we can’t.”
Humiliation welled in Cody the same way the currently falling tears had welled in his eyes. Oh God, Ted'd just rejected him. The ravenette moved before he had even consciously decided to, moving past Ted and to the door to the other's room, shoving it open and then slamming it behind him.
Even in his upset he knew he was risking it being caught in the open like this, but he couldn't have remained in that room any longer. Ted had just rejected him. It didn't matter whatever reasons he would insist upon: he had still rejected him. And over something so crucial, intimate and personal between them.
Luckily he didn't run into anyone on his way to the kitchens or in the kitchen... but he crashed into Randy heading down the stairs to the servant's quarters. Embarrassed for anyone, but especially Randy, seeing him in such a state he mumbled an apology and tried to hide his face as he fumbled for the key to his room.
Randy however, caught him by the shoulders and looked into the tear-stained face. "Go lay down," he rumbled lowly, "I'll let everyone know you're not feeling well." Surprised the other would cover for him, but not protesting right then, Cody nodded and stumbled into his room, door closing firmly behind him before he sank to his knees.
He was really beginning to think he couldn't do this.
Up in his own room, Ted had yet to move. He was simply frozen in place. One second Cody was standing before him. And then… then he was gone. Out the door. Oh god. What had he just done? He still couldn’t move.
Cody’s face was buried in his hands, silent sobs choking him as all his feelings came rushing to the forefront. What was it he had done wrong? All he wanted, all he asked for was to be loved by Ted. Finally. He thought that Ted wanted him, wanted to make love to him. How wrong he was.
Finally, Ted managed to tell his brain to move his feet. He merely shuffled forward, not even picking his feet up off the floor as he dragged his way over to his bed. He laid himself down underneath the covers and finally let his own tears spill over onto his pillow.
“Cody?” came a call through the door, followed by a knock a few minutes after he entered the room. It was John. Randy told him the state that the kid was in, and while he was in the middle of working, he couldn’t go talk to him, but he thought John could at least try.
Cody didn’t answer. He hardly even heard the voice or the knocking on the door, for that matter.
“Come on, Codes, open up!” John said, trying the door handle, discovering the boy had locked it. He pounded on the door, hoping that maybe he’d finally answer.
Eventually, through fear that John would somehow manage to put his door through, Cody forced himself up and then moved to open the door. John shouldered his way in and stood before him, hands planted on his hips and face concerned.
Still not making any noise, Cody continued to cry and John's previously concerned/irritation expression immediately melted into a softer one and he moved forward to direct Cody to sit down on his bed and then wrapped his arms around the younger man, Cody leaning into his chest at the action. And still he cried.
The pillow was soaking underneath his face and he was rapidly running out of air with his muffled sobs-- but he couldn't bring himself to pull away from the pillow. That horrified, hurt look on Cody's face would forever be imprinted on his mind. He ground his teeth together to try and stop his tears.
Truthfully he had never meant to upset the other so badly; he hadn't meant it as in not wanting to sleep with Cody, he was just merely thinking about the fact that it was the middle of the day and there were goodness knows how many people walking around who could hear them in the midst of that.
"Cody?" John inquired softly after a few minutes when the younger man's body stopped shaking so much, "D'ya wanna tell me what happened?" Cody's arms tightened around John's waist slightly as he tried to bring himself to face the other and tell him what had just happened between himself and Ted.
John listened to every word. His palms were flat on Cody’s back, rubbing soothing circles on the surface. When Cody was done talking, he spoke, “Oh, Cody. You gotta know that nothin’ has changed between ya, right?”
“But… but he didn’t want me!” Cody protested, marks from his tears still evident on his cheeks, eyes red and puffy, sniffling his nose.
“I can almost guarantee you that he did,” John said to him, pulling back slightly from the embrace to grin at Cody.
“But he said-”
“Listen to me. Lotsa times I think back on me and Randy’s first time, and can’t help but wish that we had taken more time before actually…”
“But-” Cody cut in again.
“Listen to me,” John said once more. “If you two slept together today, just because your emotions were runnin’ wild, then you couldn’t ever get that moment back. You’d never get that first time back. That what ya want?”
Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, Cody shook his head back and forth, eyes cast downward. “No… But… but I do want to, you know… sleep with him.”
Lifting his head off the pillow, just enough to turn his head to the other side, Ted caught sight of the items Cody bought for him earlier that morning. Such beautiful, thoughtful gifts… He reached over and grabbed the shark, admiring the craftsmanship some more. And then he grabbed the journal, opening to the first blank page. Maybe now was the time to start filling those pages with some words.
Although Cody knew in the back of his mind John was right and he understood that, the major point that he was upset over was the fact that Ted had rejected him in the first place. Even with good reasons that wasn't something that the ego could just bounce back from; especially when their situation was as delicate as it was anyway. The ravenette wiped his cuff at his eyes without much effort.
"Here now." John said with a mild firmness, tilting Cody's head up and using his large thumbs to wipe the tears staining Cody's cheeks. "-let's have no more of this silliness about Ted not wantin' you because he does. I mean," he reminded, "You said so yourself you didn't wanna be heard the first time, and you sure as hell don't wanna risk gettin' caught doin' it..."
No one would ever get to see in this book except himself, Ted decided. And then he amended that Cody should probably get to look being that the he was near-enough the subject of the book. His thoughts about Cody, his feelings about Cody-- hell, even thoughts on their relationship in general would be noted down in that book. And Ted would guard it with everything he had.
The book and their relationship, that was. Using his best penmanship Ted recorded the date at the top of the page. The entry probably wasn't as cheering as it could be, but Ted felt that maybe this would help him, to vent as such, and then at the same time it may eventually soothe him in situations where he wouldn't be around Cody for a while; like the numerous holidays his family took when the seasons changed.
He wrote down everything he could think of. Whatever popped into his mind he jotted down in the journal. It probably wouldn’t even make sense when read back, but it didn’t matter. He was putting down his thoughts, thoughts he didn’t even realized he was having, clearing his head from everything that happened this morning. He kept writing and writing, going back as far as his first meeting with Cody, how he had been enraptured by him upon first sight, how meeting him made him realize why he had always been so reluctant to consider marriage.
Looking into John’s big blue eyes through his own misty ones, Cody had to admit to himself that John was right. “I know. I know I don’t want us to be overheard… But I wanted him so badly and he… God, I’m such an idiot.”
“Don’t say tha’, Cody. You was jus’ lettin’ your emotions do the talkin’. Sometimes tha’ can be a good thin’.”
“Or, like today, it can make you feel like the biggest idiot in the world.”
“Tha’ can also happen. You n’ Teddy’ll work through it. Randy n’ me got through worse. Trust me, if me n’ him can work through sumthin, I’m pretty sure you two level headed kids can,” John said, mussing up Cody’s hair.
Despite trying not to, Cody still smiled slightly. “You’re right…”
“Know I am. Now you jus’ rest a bit, ok? Talk to him when you’re ready, a’right?”
When his quill finally finished moving (his handwriting surprisingly neat considering the lack of attention he had been paying to how he had been writing as opposed to /what/ he had been writing) Ted sighed gently and set the journal aside on his bed to dry the ink on the final pieces of his writing.
The writing had actually made him feel better, but not completely; nothing would make him feel better until he and Cody had reconciled. Looking the the figurine once more he resolved later to go and find Cody, to talk to him, because the longer they let this issue fester the worse it would become.
Nodding somewhat pathetically Cody mumbled, "Ok John." Looking satisfied, the older man then patted him atop the head lightly, ruffling his hair a little. "Good boy. Now, if you need to talk ta someone in th' future jus' come and find me, Ok? Don' leddit get like this." Cody was laying down on his bed by this point; crying like that had given him a headache and he was feeling very tired, a rest sounded very appealing.
"Thanks John." Cody said quietly, almost inaudibly, but John heard it. Smiling slightly (and being struck by how Cody reminded him of his youngest brother) John returned with a soft, "Y'welcome Cody." before he let himself out and closed the door behind him. Smiling softly to himself, John shook his head and murmured, "Kids." before turning and returning to head back out to the stable.
Inside the room -despite how hard he had initially thought it would be to settle- Cody was soon dead asleep. And he remained that way throughout the afternoon and even through dinner; Layla being very annoyed with how obstinate John was over Cody's whereabouts when she asked.
Randy entered the room only to find that Layla had somehow managed to start chattering away with John, who was looking incredibly annoyed. And John never looked annoyed. “Do you ever stop talking?” he asked, looking right at her with his eyebrow quirked.
“I was just asking him where Cody was,” she replied, though she wasn’t backing down, not even for Randy.
“N’ I tol’ ya at leas’ five times, I ain’t tellin’ you where he is, ‘cause he needs his rest. Never seen ‘im this sick before,” John said with a shake of his head.
“But he was fine this morning. He went down to the market!” she protested.
“N’ he prolly picked something up down there,” John countered. There were a lot of people down in the market, and those people came from big families where, often times, at least one person was sick.
“Will you just give it a rest?” Randy asked, just now taking a seat across from John. “Have you ever considered turning your attentions to another man?” he went on, earning him an elbow from John.
“Why should I do that?” she asked.
“Well, ya see, John’s younger brother is single, and I’m sure that he would be thrilled to find himself a young lady as beautiful as you are,” he said to her from across the table.
It took all of his self-control not to bat Randy around the back of the head when the other offered his brother on a silver platter to the annoying harpy, but John managed to contain himself. It was hard going though, trust him. Why would he wish Layla upon his younger brother?
Being related to Layla would actually drive him insane; though Ted would probably be appreciative, as would Cody. The slight smirk his lover sent him when Layla twittered over how she was sure John's brother was lovely, but she wasn't exactly interested.
Resisting the urge to mutter, "Thank God!" in response to her words, John them merely tuned Layla out and turned his attention to others and Randy. She got pissed off with him (he noticed out of the corner of his eye) but he could care less. It wasn't like he had any reason to be concerned about offending her especially.
Catching the silent look Randy sent him John nodded; they were always able to all but converse silently because they were so in-tune to what the other was thinking about and what even the smallest gestures they gave could mean.
Randy might act all tough and dispassionate sometimes but John knew he had come to care about Cody and Ted the same way that he himself had, and he was obviously concerned about Cody or else he wouldn't have sent John down in the first place to see him.
After his own dinner, Ted wandered down the hall towards the kitchens. Only a few members of the staff were in there, and they were just cleaning up, putting things away. Before entering the room, though, he turned around, not daring to go in while anyone was in there. He didn’t know where John and Randy where. Well, he figured John was out at the stables, making sure the animals were all set for the night. As for Randy, he had no idea where he could be.
He followed the hallway past the dining room, taking a look inside to see some more staff cleaning up after his dinner. He kept walking, hearing Randy before he saw him. Randy was in the next room, telling one of the younger staff what he should be doing. He waited for him to finish up and send the other man off before saying, “Randy, may I have a word?”
“Of course, Young Theodore,” he said, keeping up the formalities just incase someone was around.
“Let’s take this somewhere else, shall we?” Ted said, already leading Randy out the room and up the stairs. His room was really the only place they could talk without the chance of someone walking by, and if someone else were to enter the room, it would look professional.
Once the door was closed, before Ted could say anything further, Randy asked, “What the hell did you do to him?”
Ted hung his head as he asked, “How did you know that it was because of me? Did he… did he look that bad?”
“Look at me. I’m not answering you until you look me in the eye,” Randy told him. Even though Ted was technically his boss, he still used his commanding voice with him, and got a kind of pleasure when Ted glanced up at him nervously.
Being talked to like that by Randy gave Ted a sense of déjà vu back to the rare occasions when he had been a child and he had done something to displease his father; Randy was just as serious, and Ted swore he could see that same glimmer of disappointment that his father always had in his eyes when he was telling him off. Satisfied that he had placed a slight fear of God into the younger man he then exhaled and folded his long arms over the strong wall of his clothed chest.
"I knew it was you because aside from Cody's own father I don't know anyone else who could evoke such a reaction from him. That boy was broken Ted." Randy wasn't the kind of guy to sugarcoat anything -something John was always telling him off about- and he wasn't about to do so because Ted was the son of his boss and had become a somewhat friend of his now. "Now, why don't you answer my question and tell me what exactly happened."
Feeling that talking to Randy might yield some help, Ted exhaled and then began explaining about how Cody had seemed weird earlier when he had come to see him, explained how upset the other had been, and then, most crucially, the proposition that Cody had made to him. "I didn't mean to upset him with my rejection," Ted said, "I swear down that I didn't-- but he ran out before I could even say any more."
Brow furrowed slightly as he listened, Randy then shook his head slightly and huffed a breath, "Honestly, you two are such idiots!" Ted startled somewhat at the vehemence, "Of course he'd be offended! You said no regardless of the reason, and I think you really need to get this whole thing out of the way. Don't waste the moment, sure, but don't spend forever dwelling on it!"
“Well… I have been wanting to go talk to him,” Ted muttered.
“And what exactly are you waiting for? The skies to part and for God himself to tell you that it’s time to go and talk to Cody? Or maybe you’re waiting for your balls to drop so that you’ll be man enough to go talk to him?” he said, goading Ted on. If there was one thing he was good at (aside from being walking perfection), it was getting underneath someone’s skin.
“No!” Ted shouted in response. “I was waiting for people to leave the kitchen.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus, are you kidding me? Cody is downstairs bawling his eyes out and you’re worried about some people seeing you down there? Your family owns this place. If anyone asks, you’re going to give Cody a piece of your mind for him not performing his duties today. Seriously, Ted, go and see him.”
Ted really couldn’t remember the last time he had been berated so thoroughly. He nodded his head slightly. “You’re right. I’ll go.”
Together the pair headed downstairs once more, both going through the kitchens, which was still occupied by some staff members. None of them paid much mind to Ted, figuring that he was there because of Randy. Randy watched as Ted knocked on the door, trying the handle, only to find it still locked. “Cody?” he called.
Inside his room, asleep on his bed, he heard knocking, which roused him from his slumber. His eyes flew open when he heard Ted’s voice. He waited a bit, heard another round of knocking and Ted calling his name before he stood and unlocked the door.
When the door remained locked for a good few moments (something that Ted was as conscious of as Randy looming in the background, seemingly ready to physically haul him back should he attempt to flee the situation) Ted thought that Cody really wasn't going to open up and that he was seriously mad at him. The door opening was one of the most welcome sights that Ted had ever seen and he almost fell to his knees with relief as the door opened enough to permit him to enter. "Cody..." he swallowed.
The sight of his boy, his Cody, all disheveled, still slightly puffy-eyed and pale and sleepy, made Ted's heart swell and drop at the same time. God, what had he done to him? "Oh Codes..." he whispered, the click of the door shutting sounding extra-loud in the semi-tense atmosphere. Cody momentarily felt that he should hold out, and there was part of him that felt he should make Ted suffer for the hurt he'd caused-- but the bigger part had control.
The bigger part of him was the part that wanted to flee into Ted's arms, cling to the other and never let go. And that was precisely what he did. He clung to the other so tightly that his legs went around Ted's waist for goodness sake. Ted didn't miss a beat and scooped him into his arms, holding him tightly and pressing his face into his neck.
Feeling slight tremours coming from Cody, Ted held onto the other a little tighter. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry. I am, you have no idea how sorry. I didn't mean to upset you I swear it." Cody didn't say anything (because he didn't trust himself not to cry again) he just held Ted tighter.
Authors: wrestlemanix and eric_idle_rules
Pairings: Ted DiBiase Jr./Cody Runnels, John Cena/Randy Orton
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Taking place in feudal England, Cody's family comes from a long line of farmers who work the land belonging to the DiBiase family. Despite the enormous class differences, Cody and Ted meet and form an instant connection with one another, both learning things from the other that they otherwise never would have known.
Word Count: 8224
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, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 16
“Wait… your what?!” Cody asked. Surely he heard things wrong. And he was most definitely seeing things. Because he thought Randy just said that he was married about he thought he saw Randy slip a wedding band around his finger.
“My wife,” Randy repeated.
“But… you two… and… married?” Ted stuttered, just as disbelieving as Cody.
“All the staff knows that I’m married. Well, the staff that was around when it happened,” he added, looking at Cody. “See, it was one thing when we were inseparable as kids, but when we got older and we were still joined at the hip, people started to talk.”
“Lots of nasty rumours spread around,” John told them. “O’ course, they weren’t exactly wrong, because, as you well know, we are sleepin’ together… But we didn’t want everyone to know.”
“Those rumours started making their way up the chain of command, and we couldn’t risk your dad finding out. So… Down in the village, I knew Samantha. See, she’s got a bit of a… reputation, shall we say?”
“You’re married to a prostitute?!” Cody chimed in.
“More or less,” Randy said with a shrug. “But her family was looking at her as a disgrace. They wanted her to settle down, although they didn’t know what sort of man would settle down with a woman such as her. Until I came along. She knows about us, John and I. And, well, she can carry on with, umm, her business.”
"Now you know what I mean by having to make sacrifices," John said, Randy removing his ring and returning his arm around his lover's shoulders, John's head settling on his shoulder once more. "--as far as the world shall ever know, Samantha is Mrs. Orton, but she and Randy haven't even consummated their marriage."
"Seriously?" Ted couldn't help asking and Randy chuckled, knowing at least one of them would ask, "I know Samantha wouldn't say no to me, but I'd rather not pay for what I can get for free and, well, I lost interest in women when John and I became intimate." A relationship with a woman couldn't be as sexually equal as the one he and John had.
A woman wouldn't be able to take it when he got rougher, and a woman couldn't give him a chance to be submissive if he wanted it. And his John was the only man he would ever submit to.
"I don't understand," Cody said, slightly embarrassed by the admittance, "John... Randy... You're both Ok with it?" Randy rolled his neck out slightly, "We had to do it. The rumours were getting too much and we couldn't risk..." he trailed off, but the unspoken words were there: couldn't risk being separated.
John gave them both a sympathetic look, "I know it might not seem like an issue now guys, but it has come up right?" when they both looked confused he elaborated, "The marriage thing." Cody immediately thought of Layla and grimaced, causing John to laugh before turning serious again. "One day you two might be making this choice."
“But…” Cody began in attempt to protest, then realized that they just might be right. So he began again. “But you said Samantha knows about you two. If… if either of us were to marry, I doubt it’d be that easy. Layla’s been wanting me for quite some time now, and I don’t think she’d be ok with me telling her that I’m involved with Young Theodore over here.”
“And if I were to marry, it would be to some other noble family to bring more power to our own.”
“Oh, come on now. How many of those marriages are actually legitimate?” John asked. “Those marriages are made for power for power’s sake. So many of those other lords and ladies have secret lovers on the side.”
“I know, I know,” Ted agreed. It would be easy enough to tell some foreign dignitary to sleep with whomever she liked, so long as he could do the same. “That doesn’t mean that I want to make this decision.”
“You may have to, though,” Randy said. “I know for Samantha and I, things have worked out for the best. Although she does still manage to come between us from time to time,” he added, turning to give a stern look at John. “Even though I haven’t been sleeping with her since I’ve been fourteen, and I’m not in love with her. Isn’t that right, John-John?”
Flushing red, John nodded, mumbling, “I know, Randy.”
Randy nodded firmly at that, turning his attention back to the youngers. They looked upset, but that was understandable; even though he and John had agreed his marriage to Samantha would be for the best his lover hadn't spoken to him for a fortnight after his marriage. "Not being funny, Ted, but you avoiding marriage is much more noticeable than Codes here."
Reluctantly nodding his head, Ted acknowledged what the other said. However, Cody knew that his father would want to see him married before he passed on... and despite what the man said the ravenette knew he wouldn't be around forever the way he had always claimed when Cody was a boy. He'd "want Cody happy" as his reasoning always was.
"Well, this... this is depressing." Cody sighed heavily. John reached and squeezed Cody's shoulder, "You'll get through it. You'll just need to trust one another about it." Ted looked confused and John elaborated for him.
"If Randy did ever sleep with Samantha, defacto since they're married they can sleep together, and didn't tell me, and I found out, then I'd end it. I need to know whenever Randy does something with her even if I don't like it. And, well, if I ever did something with someone else--" Cody noticed Randy's cheek work slightly at that, "--then I'd want the same courtesy. There's enough deceit without deceiving one another too." The two younger men nodded; that was understandable.
“Of course,” Randy began in an attempt to lighten the mood, “you two need to sleep with one another first. And I take it you two still haven’t?”
Blushing, Cody turned his eyes up towards the ceiling while Ted’s focus was on the far wall. “No, not yet,” Cody finally answered, though it was obvious Randy knew the answer already.
“Boys, boys, boys, you know that you’re not getting any younger.”
“Oh, come on, Randy. Give them some time. They haven’t known each other as long as we have. Maybe they need to wait until they feel the time is right.”
“The time is always right,” Randy countered, to which John gave a small nod.
“Our situation is just… a bit tricky, that’s all,” Ted told him. “See… It’s a lot easier for me to come down here in the middle of the night than it is for Cody to come to mine in the middle of the night. And, well, we don’t really want to be, um, overheard in the process, if you get what I mean.”
Randy grinned, “I do. We were lucky we weren’t walked in on our first time. Remember that, John?”
“Like I could forget that. William, the other farmhand that was here for years, you must remember him, don’t you, Ted?” John asked, and when Ted nodded, he went on, “He had left for the day, might have been to visit his family, and that’s when Randy and I snuck out to the barn. This was before I thought about the whole… greasing up thing, so Randy was close to tears he hurt so much… Well, jus’ when he tells me I gotta stop, I hear William comin’ back.”
“Honestly, I’m shocked we haven’t been interrupted more,” Randy said. “Especially considering how often we go at it wherever…”
They were so bold. Ted had never met two people as bold as John and Randy were. Something told him that even when he and Cody had passed the hurdle of actually sleeping together, they weren't going to be as brazen as John and Randy. "There's still a chance though--" John touched the wooden side-table in their room, "--we should hope it doesn't ever happen."
Exhaling softly Cody shook his head; there was so much information to take in that he felt like his head might explode, Ted's hand rubbing the back soothing him somewhat from freaking out entirely because it was just so... surreal.
"So," Randy said, eying them both, "You want privacy for your first time, but you won't use the barn like we did, understandable I guess with Teddy here having high standards and all." he teased, making Ted turn red, "Isn't there an out of the way room you could use?"
What if there was somewhere they could both sneak into at night? Cody bit his lip slightly, momentarily feeling guilty because last night he had had a thought before he had fallen asleep. The library. What about there?
However, he had scrapped that idea because he had felt that Ted might be offended and he didn't want to seem that he was attempting to deface Ted's precious grandfather's memory. It was the only room that seemed private enough though scrapping both of their own.
John shrugged slightly, "M'afraid I don't know anywhere." he then chuckled, "Unless you ask Sam to vacate your house for a bit--" Randy laughed, "She'd charged me the missed money!" they both laughed and were oblivious to the way Ted and Cody were stunned they were laughing about it given that they had been so frosty and tense towards one another not several days before over it all.
“We’ll figure something out,” Ted said assuringly. Because they would… right? Then he had an idea. He pressed a kiss to Cody’s cheek and wrapped his arms around him tighter. “Our holiday party is coming up soon. There will be so many people around, everyone is going to be drunk… No one would even care about seeing people walking about in the halls, because there will be so many people walking about in the halls. It’d be so easy for you to slip up to my room that night…”
Unable to control himself, Cody turned in Ted’s arms and kissed him right on the lips. “Teddy, you’re brilliant.”
Still, that party was a couple weeks away, and day by day, Cody was becoming more and more willing to throw all thoughts of privacy out the window to have Ted take him leaning over the sink in the washroom.
“Well, there goes any spontaneity,” Randy said.
“Randy, they’re already about two seconds away from jumping one another. I doubt they care about being spontaneous.”
“But they’ve just planned out when it’s all going to happen. Look, just go next door right now, and I promise you that we won’t listen,” Randy told them.
“Like we could believe you. Last night I was trying to read, not trying to listen in on you two going at it like wild goats, yet it was all I could do. Hear you two, that is,” Cody said.
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“You know, Randy, if my parents knew that you were like this-”
“There’s no chance in hell that I’d be head valet? Oh, I know. John likes to tell me this frequently. But I’m willing to put up whatever façade I need in order to maintain my professional appearance,” Randy said, grinning.
"He has no shame," John said to Ted, "Don't bother trying to tell him things like that." Randy arched a brow at John and returned with, "Oh, and you have shame?" the brunette seemed to consider before then giving a cheeky grin, "Well, more than you, you hussy--" Randy returned with a playful comment and the pair went back and forth affectionately slanging sexual insults at one another. It was amusing to one degree, and then to the other degree it was just kind of awkward to witness something so intimate.
The Christmas party seemed really appealing, because something told Cody that once they got the initial embarrassing, fumbly intercourse out of the way then there would be some pressure taken off of them in their relationship. Despite how much they may feel for one another they needed to feel each other on a physical level too.
Ted found himself absently imagining himself in the office that would be his when his father passed on and he took over as head of the family, bending the young man over the desk and taking him or having the other ride him on the chaise-lounge that his father had in his office. But, he didn't just imagine him taking Cody. He did imagine it the other way around.
He imagined Cody taking him during one of their bubble-baths, or even outside the way they had seen John and Randy. Ok, so, yes, he had been giving this some involved thought but could you blame him, really? Had you seen Cody?
Ted wanted to ask Randy more questions about balancing his marriage and his relationship with John (it didn't seem right to call it an affair) but he didn't want to say anything more with Cody there in case it upset the other. They chatted and joked some more, John's hand caressing Randy's stomach over his shirt as they talked, seeming unaware he was even doing it.
“I should head out. I’m sure someone in my family is wondering where I am right now,” Ted said after a while. He knew that he was going to arrive late to lunch, if he hadn’t missed it all together.
“If you must. Remember, our door is always open if you need to talk.”
“Well, unless it’s locked,” Randy said. “Just… make sure you knock first. Although it’s not like you’d be seeing something you haven’t already seen.”
Both Ted and Cody blushed. “We really didn’t mean to…” Cody began, but then drifted off, still embarrassed about that moment. And, well, embarrassed about what happened afterwards, when John and Randy wound up watching them.
“It’s ok. I think you learned a very valuable lesson that day,” Randy said with a stern nod. “That being, of course, how to go about having sex. Now I should probably go back to work myself. I’m sure there are a few people that I’ll be able to boss around,” he said with a smile.
Bidding John and Cody goodbye, Randy and Ted headed out of the room, Ted leading the way, Randy right behind him. Ted walked into the kitchen, starting when he saw his mother in there, checking on the cider with Nancy.
"Mother!" he faltered slightly in surprise and Caroline merely smiled at him -a small glimmer of knowledge in her eyes- before she then smiled to Randy too. "Hello Randal." she always teased him by calling him his full name because he used to pout whenever she did it to him as a boy-- and still pouted now.
"Lady DiBiase." Randy kissed the back of her hand in a jokingly gallant fashion and Caroline laughed; she was fond of John and Randy, the pair having officially been in her husband's service not long before she had arrived when she'd married him.
Wrinkling his nose as Randy kissed his mother's hand, Ted then shook himself and moved to his mother, "What are you down here for?" he asked curiously and she sent him an innocent look before looking to Nancy as Randy headed off to see who he could order about.
"I came to get another cider." she admitted, "It won't be long before it turns alcoholic and you know I prefer it the other way." his mother would have a drink socially but he knew she didn't care for it much; she was much happier to merely have a cup of tea or something like that.
"Have I missed lunch? I was talking to Cody about some things..." he said casually, and his mother shook her head, smiling when Nancy affectionately rolled her eyes and got her another glass -and one for Ted- "No dear, we haven't started yet-- your father was busy with some work so we postponed for a while." Ted exhaled a breath; that had been lucky.
“Do you know when Father will be done with all his work?” Ted asked, sipping at the cider. He was also hoping that his mother wouldn’t ask him to elaborate on the whole reason he was down here, and he was especially hoping she wouldn’t bring it up to his father later as they ate.
“Not a clue. It probably won’t be too much longer. At least I hope not. I don’t know about you, but I am quite hungry,” she said, finishing her second glass. “Thank you so much, Nancy. I promise you, I’m done for now. I suppose I’ll have to leave some for our party guests.”
Nancy took the empty cup and set it down to wash out later. “It would be much appreciated Lady DiBiase,” she teased. She never would have said anything like that to the Lord, but the Lady? She was far more easy going that her husband, and she always made an attempt to at least get to know some of the staff.
“You’ll have to hide it from me before I do decide to sneak down and grab myself even more,” Caroline told her, giggling.
While they chatted in the kitchen, Cody stayed in John’s room, talking to him about this and that. Topics ranged from Randy to the barn to his family down on the parcels and everything in between. “How did you decide it would be Randy to marry, not you?” Cody asked, one foot tucked under his leg as the other foot rested on the floor. His head was turned to the side, looking at John.
Exhaling a soft breath, John rolled his neck to rid some of the kinks in it before answering. "It wasn't through me not having female admirers of my own-- a woman by the name of Elizabeth in the village isn't too fond of me anymore actually." his dimpled smile turned wan, "She wanted me to marry her."
Biting his lip slightly John looked to Cody and said, "Ya have-ta understand that Randy and I were very young by standards and we were having to make such a big decision together. I told Randy if he wanted to go off and marry some woman he could-- he got very mad about that." he laughed softly, "I already knew I wouldn't be able to face marrying someone when I had him."
Cody's heart went out to John and Randy; they might both be big tough-guys who acted like nothing bothered them or whatever, but they were both clearly in love with one another at the end of the day. "Randy had known Samantha since we were younger, but I only knew her by name, and, of course, eventually reputation." John sighed, "I told you they hadn't consummated their marriage but like he said- they slept together when Randy was fourteen."
Suddenly, Cody understood, "That's why you said that stuff about being honest before." John nodded, running a hand through his dark-brown hair, "Samantha hadn't had quite her reputation by that point. Point of fact she'd been a virgin. Randy hadn't been as you know, but I..." he looked almost embarrassed, "I was furious when I found out, and then I received news of their engagement when I was running an errand in the village not from Randy." Cody whistled lowly.
“That’s… that’s got to be rough.” Cody couldn’t imagine hearing news like that through the grapevine. He shook his head, then recalled the look on Randy’s face, that little tick in his jaw showing that he was clenching his teeth together, when John spoke of doing something with another. So, he had to ask, “And… well, what about you? Did you ever, that is, sleep with anyone else?”
John chuckled at that. “Why do you think Elizabeth dislikes me so much these days? Not days after I heard news of this engagement, I didn’t talk to Randy for quite some time, despite the fact that I told him he could marry some woman if he wanted to, I found Elizabeth in the village. One thing lead to another, n’ the next thing I know…”
“You two slept together?” Cody finished for him, though he said it questioningly.
“We did. But only that once. I knew then for sure that I couldn’t do that. Not to myself, not to Randy, not to Elizabeth. Told her that afterwards that it’d just all been a big mistake. Didn’t go over so well… She felt humiliated. I was this person she admired for so long and when she finally got me, I turned out to be the biggest jackass in the world.”
“That’s… really shitty,” Cody said.
John nodded. He hadn’t talked about this in years. Neither he nor Randy liked to talk about that point in their lives much. Their relationship started out so heated. One day they go from being friends to kissing under a tree to months later having sex in the barn. They were young when they started together, and at such a young age, those rumours stung. Sleeping with Samantha that one day led them to an engagement and eventually a marriage that would last them the rest of their lifetime. “It’s ok now though. As I know you’ve seen with us. We was jus’ stupid kids. Our feelin’s for one another was jus’ too much for us to handle back then. I don’ want you n’ Teddy to make the same mistakes me n’ Randy did.”
Shaking his head somewhat, Cody bit his lip. "I don't see which'd be easier for us to marry though," he said in reference to himself and Ted, "Both of our fathers really want us married. My father had Layla hired into the castle in the hopes that being around her will make me like her," John snorted and Cody nodded in wry agreement, "And now this French woman's coming here and--"
Holding up a hand John arched a brow, "Woah, hold on a minute. A French woman?" Cody then paused and recounted what Ted Sr. had said to Ted about this Ouellet woman. The baby-blue eyed male shook his head and this time he was the one to whistle lowly, "Well, aren't you popular?" he teased to break the tension somewhat and Cody laughed, so he knew it had worked. "It's a hard choice." he repeated when he sobered a little.
Cody knew Layla would want him to sleep with her, and he didn't find her attractive even before Ted had come onto the scene, so he didn't know how to explain that away without causing himself, his family, and, yes, even Layla embarrassment. And, well, obviously it would be expected that Ted would have children with that... that... woman.
"I wouldn't worry," John clapped Cody on the shoulder, "As we said, you'll have a while to worry about this yet, and, well, if there's ever anything Randy and I can do to help don't be afraid to ask either of us." Somehow Cody couldn't imagine himself going to Randy to ask for any sort of advice at all, let alone relationships... though he seemed more than happy to impart sexual wisdom.
"Ok, now, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving." the brunette led the way out of the room with Cody in tow. It seemed that lunch had been in swing for a bit but it was pretty lucky as there was still a decent choice of food left for them to have. Cody was quiet, thoughtful as he continued eating, because he had so much on his mind. John was his usual cheery, chatty self.
After lunch (Cody ate his food quickly, mind so much on other things that he didn’t even know what he was eating), Cody walked past the dining room, standing close to the door, able to hear the family talking. “I’ve been meaning to tell you, Theodore, I invited the Ouellets to our holiday party,” his father said excitedly.
“Did you, now?” Ted asked, turning his head towards his father, who was seated at the head of the table.
At almost the same time, Caroline asked, “Oh, you did? I’ll have to let the staff know to prepare some extra quarters that day.”
“Yes, I did. I thought it would be a great opportunity for Theodore here to meet young Maryse before Brett’s wedding. Maybe we can make it a joint wedding if all things go well!” When he said it, Ted couldn’t tell if the man was joking or if he was being completely serious. Something told him it was a mix of both.
“Theodore, it will not be a double wedding, and that’s that. Not only is it Brett’s big day,” Caroline said, smiling at her youngest blushing son, “it’s also Kristen’s. And a bride doesn’t want to share the spotlight with anybody.”
Out in the hallway, Cody stood, shoulder pressed against the wall as he slumped over. He had so many thoughts still running around in his head. Mainly about marriage, about their relationship, about John and Randy’s relationship… God, it was just all too much.
When Ted (thankfully) got to leave the table he exited the dining-hall as swiftly as he dared; immediately slowing when he saw Cody there. The ashen look on the other's face initially made Ted think he was ill... and then he realised that Cody must have heard what his father said. Almost forgetting himself Ted went to apologise then and there but Cody didn't look at him for the moment. Collecting himself Ted began to lead Cody up to his room.
As soon as the door was closed Ted looked to his lover, the younger man not paying any attention to him for the moment. "Cody, please, look at me--" he understood how Cody was feeling, he really did. And, he knew that if Cody turned around and announced an engagement to Layla then he'd feel even worse... but that couldn't have been nice for Cody to hear. Moving to his younger lover he used one hand to tilt his chin, the other resting on his waist.
"Baby, I'm sorry you had to hear that." God, it was so hard to keep Cody reassured that he was his one and only when these sorts of things kept happening, and vice-versa. What could he do to show Cody that he'd never give him up?
Even if he did end up having to marry this Maryse, he wasn't giving Cody up. He knew it would probably end up hurtful somewhere along the line to all of them, but Theodore DiBiase Junior was not willing, was not able to give up his feelings for Cody Runnels.
“Ted, John didn’t know when Randy got engaged,” Cody said, shutting his eyes so he didn’t have to look at Ted when he said it. “He didn’t know...” Finally he opened his eyes, tears threatening to fall over. “You know that… that I don’t want you to marry. But if you do, or if you plan to… just tell me.”
“Oh, Cody,” Ted whispered, pulling the younger man’s body in tight to his. His hands roamed over his back and he placed light kisses into his neck.
“Make love to me,” Cody said suddenly.
“What?” Ted asked, pulling back slightly so he could look into Cody’s eyes.
“Please. Right now, make love to me,” he pleaded.
“We can’t,” Ted told him. Of course he wanted nothing more than to show his love to Cody, but if they did it now, after such an emotional morning, it was possible they would both end up regretting it. “Not here, not while people are still around. You know that. We already said-”
Now the tears had begun to fall. “I don’t care, Teddy,” he interrupted. “I want you now. Please. I don’t want to wait until the Christmas party. And I know you don’t want to wait that long, either. Please, Teddy?”
But Ted shook his head. “No, Cody, we just… we can’t.”
Humiliation welled in Cody the same way the currently falling tears had welled in his eyes. Oh God, Ted'd just rejected him. The ravenette moved before he had even consciously decided to, moving past Ted and to the door to the other's room, shoving it open and then slamming it behind him.
Even in his upset he knew he was risking it being caught in the open like this, but he couldn't have remained in that room any longer. Ted had just rejected him. It didn't matter whatever reasons he would insist upon: he had still rejected him. And over something so crucial, intimate and personal between them.
Luckily he didn't run into anyone on his way to the kitchens or in the kitchen... but he crashed into Randy heading down the stairs to the servant's quarters. Embarrassed for anyone, but especially Randy, seeing him in such a state he mumbled an apology and tried to hide his face as he fumbled for the key to his room.
Randy however, caught him by the shoulders and looked into the tear-stained face. "Go lay down," he rumbled lowly, "I'll let everyone know you're not feeling well." Surprised the other would cover for him, but not protesting right then, Cody nodded and stumbled into his room, door closing firmly behind him before he sank to his knees.
He was really beginning to think he couldn't do this.
Up in his own room, Ted had yet to move. He was simply frozen in place. One second Cody was standing before him. And then… then he was gone. Out the door. Oh god. What had he just done? He still couldn’t move.
Cody’s face was buried in his hands, silent sobs choking him as all his feelings came rushing to the forefront. What was it he had done wrong? All he wanted, all he asked for was to be loved by Ted. Finally. He thought that Ted wanted him, wanted to make love to him. How wrong he was.
Finally, Ted managed to tell his brain to move his feet. He merely shuffled forward, not even picking his feet up off the floor as he dragged his way over to his bed. He laid himself down underneath the covers and finally let his own tears spill over onto his pillow.
“Cody?” came a call through the door, followed by a knock a few minutes after he entered the room. It was John. Randy told him the state that the kid was in, and while he was in the middle of working, he couldn’t go talk to him, but he thought John could at least try.
Cody didn’t answer. He hardly even heard the voice or the knocking on the door, for that matter.
“Come on, Codes, open up!” John said, trying the door handle, discovering the boy had locked it. He pounded on the door, hoping that maybe he’d finally answer.
Eventually, through fear that John would somehow manage to put his door through, Cody forced himself up and then moved to open the door. John shouldered his way in and stood before him, hands planted on his hips and face concerned.
Still not making any noise, Cody continued to cry and John's previously concerned/irritation expression immediately melted into a softer one and he moved forward to direct Cody to sit down on his bed and then wrapped his arms around the younger man, Cody leaning into his chest at the action. And still he cried.
The pillow was soaking underneath his face and he was rapidly running out of air with his muffled sobs-- but he couldn't bring himself to pull away from the pillow. That horrified, hurt look on Cody's face would forever be imprinted on his mind. He ground his teeth together to try and stop his tears.
Truthfully he had never meant to upset the other so badly; he hadn't meant it as in not wanting to sleep with Cody, he was just merely thinking about the fact that it was the middle of the day and there were goodness knows how many people walking around who could hear them in the midst of that.
"Cody?" John inquired softly after a few minutes when the younger man's body stopped shaking so much, "D'ya wanna tell me what happened?" Cody's arms tightened around John's waist slightly as he tried to bring himself to face the other and tell him what had just happened between himself and Ted.
John listened to every word. His palms were flat on Cody’s back, rubbing soothing circles on the surface. When Cody was done talking, he spoke, “Oh, Cody. You gotta know that nothin’ has changed between ya, right?”
“But… but he didn’t want me!” Cody protested, marks from his tears still evident on his cheeks, eyes red and puffy, sniffling his nose.
“I can almost guarantee you that he did,” John said to him, pulling back slightly from the embrace to grin at Cody.
“But he said-”
“Listen to me. Lotsa times I think back on me and Randy’s first time, and can’t help but wish that we had taken more time before actually…”
“But-” Cody cut in again.
“Listen to me,” John said once more. “If you two slept together today, just because your emotions were runnin’ wild, then you couldn’t ever get that moment back. You’d never get that first time back. That what ya want?”
Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, Cody shook his head back and forth, eyes cast downward. “No… But… but I do want to, you know… sleep with him.”
Lifting his head off the pillow, just enough to turn his head to the other side, Ted caught sight of the items Cody bought for him earlier that morning. Such beautiful, thoughtful gifts… He reached over and grabbed the shark, admiring the craftsmanship some more. And then he grabbed the journal, opening to the first blank page. Maybe now was the time to start filling those pages with some words.
Although Cody knew in the back of his mind John was right and he understood that, the major point that he was upset over was the fact that Ted had rejected him in the first place. Even with good reasons that wasn't something that the ego could just bounce back from; especially when their situation was as delicate as it was anyway. The ravenette wiped his cuff at his eyes without much effort.
"Here now." John said with a mild firmness, tilting Cody's head up and using his large thumbs to wipe the tears staining Cody's cheeks. "-let's have no more of this silliness about Ted not wantin' you because he does. I mean," he reminded, "You said so yourself you didn't wanna be heard the first time, and you sure as hell don't wanna risk gettin' caught doin' it..."
No one would ever get to see in this book except himself, Ted decided. And then he amended that Cody should probably get to look being that the he was near-enough the subject of the book. His thoughts about Cody, his feelings about Cody-- hell, even thoughts on their relationship in general would be noted down in that book. And Ted would guard it with everything he had.
The book and their relationship, that was. Using his best penmanship Ted recorded the date at the top of the page. The entry probably wasn't as cheering as it could be, but Ted felt that maybe this would help him, to vent as such, and then at the same time it may eventually soothe him in situations where he wouldn't be around Cody for a while; like the numerous holidays his family took when the seasons changed.
He wrote down everything he could think of. Whatever popped into his mind he jotted down in the journal. It probably wouldn’t even make sense when read back, but it didn’t matter. He was putting down his thoughts, thoughts he didn’t even realized he was having, clearing his head from everything that happened this morning. He kept writing and writing, going back as far as his first meeting with Cody, how he had been enraptured by him upon first sight, how meeting him made him realize why he had always been so reluctant to consider marriage.
Looking into John’s big blue eyes through his own misty ones, Cody had to admit to himself that John was right. “I know. I know I don’t want us to be overheard… But I wanted him so badly and he… God, I’m such an idiot.”
“Don’t say tha’, Cody. You was jus’ lettin’ your emotions do the talkin’. Sometimes tha’ can be a good thin’.”
“Or, like today, it can make you feel like the biggest idiot in the world.”
“Tha’ can also happen. You n’ Teddy’ll work through it. Randy n’ me got through worse. Trust me, if me n’ him can work through sumthin, I’m pretty sure you two level headed kids can,” John said, mussing up Cody’s hair.
Despite trying not to, Cody still smiled slightly. “You’re right…”
“Know I am. Now you jus’ rest a bit, ok? Talk to him when you’re ready, a’right?”
When his quill finally finished moving (his handwriting surprisingly neat considering the lack of attention he had been paying to how he had been writing as opposed to /what/ he had been writing) Ted sighed gently and set the journal aside on his bed to dry the ink on the final pieces of his writing.
The writing had actually made him feel better, but not completely; nothing would make him feel better until he and Cody had reconciled. Looking the the figurine once more he resolved later to go and find Cody, to talk to him, because the longer they let this issue fester the worse it would become.
Nodding somewhat pathetically Cody mumbled, "Ok John." Looking satisfied, the older man then patted him atop the head lightly, ruffling his hair a little. "Good boy. Now, if you need to talk ta someone in th' future jus' come and find me, Ok? Don' leddit get like this." Cody was laying down on his bed by this point; crying like that had given him a headache and he was feeling very tired, a rest sounded very appealing.
"Thanks John." Cody said quietly, almost inaudibly, but John heard it. Smiling slightly (and being struck by how Cody reminded him of his youngest brother) John returned with a soft, "Y'welcome Cody." before he let himself out and closed the door behind him. Smiling softly to himself, John shook his head and murmured, "Kids." before turning and returning to head back out to the stable.
Inside the room -despite how hard he had initially thought it would be to settle- Cody was soon dead asleep. And he remained that way throughout the afternoon and even through dinner; Layla being very annoyed with how obstinate John was over Cody's whereabouts when she asked.
Randy entered the room only to find that Layla had somehow managed to start chattering away with John, who was looking incredibly annoyed. And John never looked annoyed. “Do you ever stop talking?” he asked, looking right at her with his eyebrow quirked.
“I was just asking him where Cody was,” she replied, though she wasn’t backing down, not even for Randy.
“N’ I tol’ ya at leas’ five times, I ain’t tellin’ you where he is, ‘cause he needs his rest. Never seen ‘im this sick before,” John said with a shake of his head.
“But he was fine this morning. He went down to the market!” she protested.
“N’ he prolly picked something up down there,” John countered. There were a lot of people down in the market, and those people came from big families where, often times, at least one person was sick.
“Will you just give it a rest?” Randy asked, just now taking a seat across from John. “Have you ever considered turning your attentions to another man?” he went on, earning him an elbow from John.
“Why should I do that?” she asked.
“Well, ya see, John’s younger brother is single, and I’m sure that he would be thrilled to find himself a young lady as beautiful as you are,” he said to her from across the table.
It took all of his self-control not to bat Randy around the back of the head when the other offered his brother on a silver platter to the annoying harpy, but John managed to contain himself. It was hard going though, trust him. Why would he wish Layla upon his younger brother?
Being related to Layla would actually drive him insane; though Ted would probably be appreciative, as would Cody. The slight smirk his lover sent him when Layla twittered over how she was sure John's brother was lovely, but she wasn't exactly interested.
Resisting the urge to mutter, "Thank God!" in response to her words, John them merely tuned Layla out and turned his attention to others and Randy. She got pissed off with him (he noticed out of the corner of his eye) but he could care less. It wasn't like he had any reason to be concerned about offending her especially.
Catching the silent look Randy sent him John nodded; they were always able to all but converse silently because they were so in-tune to what the other was thinking about and what even the smallest gestures they gave could mean.
Randy might act all tough and dispassionate sometimes but John knew he had come to care about Cody and Ted the same way that he himself had, and he was obviously concerned about Cody or else he wouldn't have sent John down in the first place to see him.
After his own dinner, Ted wandered down the hall towards the kitchens. Only a few members of the staff were in there, and they were just cleaning up, putting things away. Before entering the room, though, he turned around, not daring to go in while anyone was in there. He didn’t know where John and Randy where. Well, he figured John was out at the stables, making sure the animals were all set for the night. As for Randy, he had no idea where he could be.
He followed the hallway past the dining room, taking a look inside to see some more staff cleaning up after his dinner. He kept walking, hearing Randy before he saw him. Randy was in the next room, telling one of the younger staff what he should be doing. He waited for him to finish up and send the other man off before saying, “Randy, may I have a word?”
“Of course, Young Theodore,” he said, keeping up the formalities just incase someone was around.
“Let’s take this somewhere else, shall we?” Ted said, already leading Randy out the room and up the stairs. His room was really the only place they could talk without the chance of someone walking by, and if someone else were to enter the room, it would look professional.
Once the door was closed, before Ted could say anything further, Randy asked, “What the hell did you do to him?”
Ted hung his head as he asked, “How did you know that it was because of me? Did he… did he look that bad?”
“Look at me. I’m not answering you until you look me in the eye,” Randy told him. Even though Ted was technically his boss, he still used his commanding voice with him, and got a kind of pleasure when Ted glanced up at him nervously.
Being talked to like that by Randy gave Ted a sense of déjà vu back to the rare occasions when he had been a child and he had done something to displease his father; Randy was just as serious, and Ted swore he could see that same glimmer of disappointment that his father always had in his eyes when he was telling him off. Satisfied that he had placed a slight fear of God into the younger man he then exhaled and folded his long arms over the strong wall of his clothed chest.
"I knew it was you because aside from Cody's own father I don't know anyone else who could evoke such a reaction from him. That boy was broken Ted." Randy wasn't the kind of guy to sugarcoat anything -something John was always telling him off about- and he wasn't about to do so because Ted was the son of his boss and had become a somewhat friend of his now. "Now, why don't you answer my question and tell me what exactly happened."
Feeling that talking to Randy might yield some help, Ted exhaled and then began explaining about how Cody had seemed weird earlier when he had come to see him, explained how upset the other had been, and then, most crucially, the proposition that Cody had made to him. "I didn't mean to upset him with my rejection," Ted said, "I swear down that I didn't-- but he ran out before I could even say any more."
Brow furrowed slightly as he listened, Randy then shook his head slightly and huffed a breath, "Honestly, you two are such idiots!" Ted startled somewhat at the vehemence, "Of course he'd be offended! You said no regardless of the reason, and I think you really need to get this whole thing out of the way. Don't waste the moment, sure, but don't spend forever dwelling on it!"
“Well… I have been wanting to go talk to him,” Ted muttered.
“And what exactly are you waiting for? The skies to part and for God himself to tell you that it’s time to go and talk to Cody? Or maybe you’re waiting for your balls to drop so that you’ll be man enough to go talk to him?” he said, goading Ted on. If there was one thing he was good at (aside from being walking perfection), it was getting underneath someone’s skin.
“No!” Ted shouted in response. “I was waiting for people to leave the kitchen.”
“Oh, sweet Jesus, are you kidding me? Cody is downstairs bawling his eyes out and you’re worried about some people seeing you down there? Your family owns this place. If anyone asks, you’re going to give Cody a piece of your mind for him not performing his duties today. Seriously, Ted, go and see him.”
Ted really couldn’t remember the last time he had been berated so thoroughly. He nodded his head slightly. “You’re right. I’ll go.”
Together the pair headed downstairs once more, both going through the kitchens, which was still occupied by some staff members. None of them paid much mind to Ted, figuring that he was there because of Randy. Randy watched as Ted knocked on the door, trying the handle, only to find it still locked. “Cody?” he called.
Inside his room, asleep on his bed, he heard knocking, which roused him from his slumber. His eyes flew open when he heard Ted’s voice. He waited a bit, heard another round of knocking and Ted calling his name before he stood and unlocked the door.
When the door remained locked for a good few moments (something that Ted was as conscious of as Randy looming in the background, seemingly ready to physically haul him back should he attempt to flee the situation) Ted thought that Cody really wasn't going to open up and that he was seriously mad at him. The door opening was one of the most welcome sights that Ted had ever seen and he almost fell to his knees with relief as the door opened enough to permit him to enter. "Cody..." he swallowed.
The sight of his boy, his Cody, all disheveled, still slightly puffy-eyed and pale and sleepy, made Ted's heart swell and drop at the same time. God, what had he done to him? "Oh Codes..." he whispered, the click of the door shutting sounding extra-loud in the semi-tense atmosphere. Cody momentarily felt that he should hold out, and there was part of him that felt he should make Ted suffer for the hurt he'd caused-- but the bigger part had control.
The bigger part of him was the part that wanted to flee into Ted's arms, cling to the other and never let go. And that was precisely what he did. He clung to the other so tightly that his legs went around Ted's waist for goodness sake. Ted didn't miss a beat and scooped him into his arms, holding him tightly and pressing his face into his neck.
Feeling slight tremours coming from Cody, Ted held onto the other a little tighter. "Oh baby, I'm so sorry. I am, you have no idea how sorry. I didn't mean to upset you I swear it." Cody didn't say anything (because he didn't trust himself not to cry again) he just held Ted tighter.