Work Text:
May 10th, 2016
Cody continues to massage his boyfriend's back, thumbs pressing right up against his shoulder blades right where he knows Randy likes it. Randy's been awfully tense today, and him being tense isn't strange but today, he seems more agitated than usual. And like always, Cody's the only one who can fix it. He finds it kind of an honor, being the one and only person that can calm Randy down – just like he was that one and only person to finally break into Randy's shell and expose some sort of feelings within him.
Randy's still a huge asshole. But he's Cody's asshole. And at least now he's self aware.
“So... you gonna tell me what's wrong now?” Cody asks as he raises his eyebrows at his boyfriend. “You've been quiet. And you're never quiet.” Randy always had something to say whether people wanted to hear it or not. Most of the time, it pisses people off – that's just how Randy is. He never was one for wanting others approval. Well, besides Cody's.
Randy sighs and looks ahead at the television, barely paying attention to what's playing. “It's not really something in particular, it's just in general. Like, I'm supposed to return in a few months, right? But these newer crop of guys... I dunno.” He shrugs. “I don't fit in with any of them.”
“Randy, since when did you worry about fitting in?” Cody scoffs. “You couldn't give less than two shits what people think of you.”
“I'm not worried about fitting in but it'd be nice to have like, a few friends I can see when I come back.”
“You got John. Although... he's kind of out right now.” Cody purses his lips. “Uh, Hunter! Oh, I guess not much anymore... uh, Batista- aw, that was a few years ago, wasn't it?” Shit, Randy really doesn't have that many friends left... and worse, Cody isn't gonna be there when he gets back either. At least with Cody around, Randy can cling onto him but Cody just gave his two weeks notice a few days ago.
And he has yet to tell his boyfriend. He knows Randy incredibly well, knows how to deal with him, but he hasn't prepared himself for telling his boyfriend that he's leaving WWE – the company that got them together in the first place.
“See what I mean? There's nobody.” Randy huffs, rolling his eyes and looking down at the bed in thought before smiling. He reaches one of his hands up to grab one of Cody's, stopping his massage. “At least you'll be there when I get back though.”
Just Cody's luck. His hand stills in Randy's and he brings his other hand down, slinking more onto the bed – a shift Randy detects immediately.
“Uh... you will be there when I get back, right?”
Cody gnaws along his bottom lip nervously before inhaling a deep breath and scooting back away from Randy. Randy turns around to face Cody, giving him an incredulous look. With other people, that look might scare them but Cody's grown immune to Randy's antics over the years. Until now. Now he's nervous and frozen completely, having no idea what to say.
“Codes... what's going on, babe?” Randy asks, tilting his head.
The pet name puts Cody at ease just a bit but he's still nervous for Randy's reaction. Partly because he knows how Randy will react too, and what he'll say. His fingers tap against his thighs and he looks down into the comforter of their bed. He doesn't really wanna look Randy in the eyes when he says it.
“I uh... I haven't really... I haven't been too happy lately. Not like, with us or anything, I mean, we're great. And you're great and amazing and I love you. I love you so much-”
“Cody...” Randy raises an eyebrow, his voice firm. “You've never sugarcoated things with me before. Don't start now.”
Randy's right. Cody's never had a problem being honest with him, which is one of the reasons Randy started liking him in the first place. He owes it to be honest with his boyfriend now when it comes to telling him this important, unfortunate news.
Cody sighs heavily and looks up into Randy's eyes, trying to muster up the courage to tell him but he averts his gaze away at the last minute. “I'm leaving WWE. I put in my notice a few days ago and they're gonna announce my release in about two weeks.”
“You're leaving WWE?!” Randy exclaims.
“I'm not happy there anymore!” Cody exclaims back, finally looking at him again – and keeping his eyes there. “Ever since the whole Stardust thing, I'm just some comedy act. It'd be fine if I could still make my way up the ranks but I'm sick of it. I'm better than this a-and I deserve better, you know?” He swallows and crosses his arms over his chest, poking his tongue around in his cheek. “So... s-so there it is. I'm leaving.”
Randy doesn't speak for a few moments, just staring at Cody as he tries to figure out what to say back. But Randy never really does think too much about what he says.
“So you're leaving because you don't think there's gonna be a chance for you to move up?” Randy asks.
“Yeah, exactly.”
“Cody, that's bullshit. You have so many chances to-”
“Where, Randy! Where are they?!” Cody demands, spreading his arms out. “Oh yeah, tons of Intercontinental Title reigns, they hand those out like candy. But I can't even poke my pinkie into the world title scene, no, that's out of my league. No, they stick me with stuff like Stardust o-or random tag teams and that got boring after Legacy. At least the one with my brother made sense, it was fun but after that? No, it was back to the lower midcard for me. I have no future there.”
Randy chuckles bitterly and shakes his head. “You know how selfish you sound right now? You act like being World Champion is the only thing that should matter. Look at Christian, he only held the World Heavyweight Title for a total of four months and had a billion reigns with the Intercontinental Title but you know what? People still remember him. They're still wishing for him to come back. Dude, people are making petitions for him to enter the Hall of Fame. He never really made it to the top but he damn sure got people talking. That could've been you.”
“But I don't wanna be Christian, Randy! I wanna...” Cody huffs and frowns, looking Randy up and down. “I wanna be like you.” Randy has a bunch of world title reigns under his belt, and a Royal Rumble win, he got to be in an Iron Man match... and that's just scraping the surface.
“If I remember correctly... you didn't wanna be like me.” Randy reminds him, narrowing his eyes. “How many times have I asked for your permission to tell Vince to push you? Or to put you in a feud with a top guy? How many times have I tried to help you and you said no?”
“Oh, okay. Okay.” Cody chuckles humorlessly and puts his hands on his chest. “So it's my fault? Because I didn't try backstage politics, I can't succeed? I wanted to do it on my own. I wanted to make a name for myself on my own. I didn't need your help. God, you...” He groans and runs his hands down his face, shaking his head as he climbs off the bed to stand up. “You always do that! It's like you think I can't make it on my own!”
“Yeah? Well you didn't. So how did that work out for you?”
They both knew that the moment those words came out of Randy's mouth, that he was completely screwed. Cody's eyes widen and his mouth parts open as he tries to digest what his boyfriend just told him. That he basically couldn't do it on his own. That he needed help from him. And it was his fault for not using it sooner – because how dare Cody try to do it the right way. Meanwhile regret instantly flashes over Randy's face and his hands hold up in surrender.
“W-Wait, I didn't mean it like that, I-”
“Couch.” Cody says firmly.
“Cody-” But Randy is cut off again.
“Couch. I don't wanna see you for the rest of the night. Actually, you can sleep on the couch for the whole week. Don't bother coming up here, don't bother trying to explain yourself to me. Until you admit that you're a huge asshole who speaks before he thinks, don't try anything.”
Randy rolls his lips back, ducking his head and nodding as he climbs off the bed as well. He looks up at Cody, noting the hurt in his eyes. It's a look that stays fresh in his mind before he leaves the room with not another word, tail tucked between his legs.
When Randy leaves the room, Cody rushes over to lock the door behind him before he presses his back up against it. Closing his eyes tightly, he sinks down to the floor and hugs his knees to his chest, trying his hardest to keep the tears at bay.
Cody knows that Randy is an asshole who doesn't think before speaking but he would've at least thought that Randy would think about his feelings.
Randy really fucked up tonight.
Actually, it's the biggest fuck up he's ever had. The biggest one since the time he accidentally made Cody cry way back when – he vowed to never make Cody cry again after that day but he broke it tonight. He didn't see Cody cry but he knows he did. Cody's the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, while Randy's the one to keep everything to himself. Cody's been better at keeping his emotions in check ever since they started dating but every so often, he can't help himself. Randy doesn't blame him for crying tonight.
God, he's an asshole. He still doesn't think he deserves Cody, even after almost three years of dating. Cody's the sweetest person he's ever met with the most in line moral compass. He keeps Randy grounded, teaches him to be a better person – but every so often, Randy will regress. Such as tonight.
While their sectional is pretty comfortable, it's not enough to get Randy to fall asleep when he remembers how devastated Cody looked when he said those words. Randy keeps tossing and turning, finding new spots on the sectional, but he just gives up after awhile. He'll stay up tonight watching terrible television and maybe play some Call of Duty – he can yell at innocent people when they shoot his character's head off. Yeah... that'll make him better!
With a groan, he gets up from the couchto make his way over to the kitchen. Can't watch television without some food, right? Randy moves over to the pantry, grabbing a big bag of Doritos before closing the door. But as he does so, he hears the small pitter-patter of footsteps coming his way. He turns to see their dog (well, Cody's dog first, but it became theirs overtime), Pharaoh, sat right in front of him and looking up at Randy. It's like Pharoah knows what he did to his dad and is silently judging him.
"You think your dad is gonna forgive me?" Randy asks, but Pharaoh just whines and retreats to his food bowl.
"Yeah, I wouldn't either." He mumbles, rolling his eyes with a sigh as he begins to head out of the kitchen, however, he hears footsteps coming down the stairs. Shit, Randy definitely knows the sounds of those steps - it's Cody. Randy backs up against the counter, like he's trying to hide himself from Cody. Randy doesn't think he deserves to see him right now. The fact that Cody didn't outright kick him out, however, makes Randy think that he still has a chance.
He sees Cody enter his vision and Cody just so happens to look Randy's way, as if Randy is his target. In fact, it is because he's making his way towards him. And as Cody leaves the darkness and enters the light of the kitchen, Randy gets a better look at what he's wearing – actually, it's one of Randy's old t-shirts that Cody stole from him one night many years ago and briefs. He looks great in the shirt, looks great in everything but that's just fact. If Cody's wearing his shirt... that must mean something, right?
“You uh... you look good in my shirt.” Randy comments with a small nod. Meanwhile, Randy's shirtless in some sweatpants. But he's pretty much always shirtless so that's no surprise. Anytime Randy can show off his body, that's an opportunity he'll take.
Cody shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck. “Couldn't sleep. Thought if I had something of yours close by, I could do it but...” He shakes his head, walking further into the kitchen and leaning against the counter opposite of Randy. “Even if I hate you a lot right now for what you said, I still... can't sleep without you so...” Cody trails off.
This is the time where Randy should take Cody back upstairs and fall asleep with him like he's hinting at and old Randy would've done it but the Randy now has different ideas.
“I can't.” Randy shakes his head. “I really hurt you. Like, a lot.” He starts, looking down at the floor and shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweats. “I didn't mean what I said. I mean, I did, kinda, but not...” He sighs. God, he's not good with his words. There's a reason somebody writes his promos for him, because Randy has a tendency to say things along the negative side, or just downright says things that make no sense. While his good looks could fool somebody into thinking he's charismatic, Randy fumbles his words like anybody else – probably moreso.
“You have all the ability in the world to make it on your own. You're so talented and you know how to talk so well. You pull off any shit gimmick they gave you and turn it into gold – and you do deserve a lot better than what they're giving you right now.”
Cody blinks a few times before nodding, looking back up to his boyfriend. “After I kinda stopped crying, I figured that's what you meant. You just... didn't know how to put it into words.” He smiles with good nature.
Bless Cody. Seriously, he's perfect. Another reason why Randy doesn't deserve him, because Cody's giving him the benefit of the doubt when he shouldn't. It is what Randy meant but he should've been scolded for it. Cody should've been pissed. And that's exactly what Randy will tell him.
“It is what I meant but you had every right to be angry. Seriously, I was just going off on you because I was upset that you didn't tell me what was going on. Like, my boyfriend was unhappy and I didn't know about it? I could've done something. Like... I dunno. More crazy locker room sex?” Randy offers jokingly, smiling when he gets a laugh from his boyfriend. There it was. That adorable, happy laugh that Randy loves to hear so much. His spirits are already lifted.
“As great as our sex is, I don't think that'd be enough... but I appreciate it.” Cody smiles and walks across the kitchen slowly. “I didn't wanna worry you though. You already have enough on your plate and your boyfriend's unhappiness would just be another thing to add. Also, I didn't want you going on a rampage through the office trying to tear apart Vince and Hunter for not doing something.”
“Cody... Cody, baby, your happiness means everything to me.” Randy tells him as he walks across to meet the younger man, wrapping his arms around his waist to pull him close. “You can tell me if something's bothering you. I love you and if you're not happy, I'm not. Screw everybody else, man, it's about us. I never want you to think you can't talk to me about something. I'm here for you and I always will be.” He says as he stares into Cody's beautiful baby blue eyes, taking in his beautiful features.
Randy's not into men. He can recognize a good looking man when he sees one but Cody's the only one he's ever been attracted too, the only one he's felt an urge to kiss. To touch. To fuck, to make love, to fall asleep with and wake up to in the morning and make him breakfast and sure, Randy's breakfast isn't the best and his eggs come out burnt more often than not but the fact that he's even doing it for Cody in the first place says something, right?
Actually, Randy's never felt anything for anybody before like he has with Cody. Randy was confused at first but not anymore, especially when he sees Cody like this, wearing his t-shirt in the middle of the night and coming back to him after an argument. Cody's beautiful. Absolutely stunning and gorgeous and hot and pretty and sexy and every good adjective there is to describe somebody's looks.
Cody stares back into Randy's eyes, a cold, steel blue. He breathes in deeply and raises his hand up to cup Randy's cheek. “You know, you've changed a lot since we first met.”
“Yeah, I went from being a huge asshole to just a bit less of an asshole.” Randy chuckles, bringing one of his hands up from Cody's back so he could grab the one on his face, intertwining their fingers together. “But seriously... you changed me for the better. I wouldn't be the person I am today without you.” And he can't imagine what his life would be like without Cody... he'd probably be on Twitter, making nonsensical tweets and posting terrible opinions for everybody to see. On a more firm note, he doesn't think he'd be so accepting of others, more likely to give people the benefit of the doubt. God bless Cody, he sees the good in people no matter what whereas Randy has a more pessimistic outlook. But put the two of them together, and their views become more realistic.
Cody looks over at their intertwined fingers, smiling more as he takes the other hand that was on his back to do the same thing so he was holding both of Randy's hands. “Likewise.” He says before he presses their lips together in a chaste peck on the lips. “Even on nights like tonight, even when we argue – I'm still glad to say you're mine.”
“Likewise.” Randy replies, eyes scanning over Cody's face as he takes in the last sentence. Yeah, Cody is his. And he always will be. The moment Randy realized he was in love with Cody was the moment he realized he would never ever find anybody like him again – and he doesn't want to either. Randy was once a womanizer but now he's a completely committed man.... to another man. It's nothing he would've ever anticipated and when he met Cody, he never thought they would be with each other like this but now he can't imagine it any other way.
You know what? It's time he shows Cody that. Like, really shows him, in the best way there is to show somebody that they're forever yours.
“Hey, Cody?”
“Hmm?”
“Marry me.”
Cody's eyes bug out and he laughs in bewilderment, pulling away a little. “Wh-What?”
“You know what? Just wait here, hang out a sec. I'll be right back.” Randy holds up a finger before he presses their lips together, and then he walks away from his hopefully soon to be fiancee and out of the kitchen.
“Randy! Randal Keith Orton, you can't just ask me to marry you and walk away!” Cody shouts, hands on his hips.
“Hush, I'll be right back! Don't worry your pretty head.”
Randy goes up the stairs and towards their office, rummaging around inside one of the drawers for what he was looking for, shoving miscellaneous papers out of the way. When he finds it, he takes it with a grin and hides it behind his back before he makes his way back downstairs. His grin never leaves his face and when he and Cody meet again, his grin is huge and scheming.
“Randy...” Cody grins, raising an eyebrow and stepping forward. “What's going on?”
“See this?” Randy asks as he presents what was behind his back.
Cody's eyes widen again but this time, he's completely frozen – thankfully it's not like before where he's so hurt he can't say anything, but this time he's in such surprise, pleasant surprise that he's not sure how to express his excitement. “R-Randy, you-”
“Bought it a month after we started dating.” Randy tells him, smiling fondly as he looks down at the ring box.
“Oh my god, you didn't..”
“I did.” Randy chuckles. “I know it might've been too soon. But I knew it was gonna happen one day – just didn't know when.”
“You? You actually...” Cody blinks a few times and shakes his head, chuckling as well. “Yeah, you are definitely not the same person.”
“Like I said, you changed me for the better. Before you, I was just... a selfish asshole. Didn't really care about anybody, didn't care about a relationship. I just focused on me and me only, and that was fine with me. All I wanted was to reach the top, be rich, be famous, fuck all the sexiest chicks in the world.”
Cody crosses his arms over his chest, giving Randy a pointed look but the small grin he has on his face shows that he doesn't take it seriously.
“Hey now, let me finish, I'm getting to the good part.” Randy defends himself, looking up from the ring box to the younger man.
“As I was saying... I only cared about myself. And then I met you and everything in my life kinda turned itself around. Suddenly, I found myself caring for somebody else and it was so weird. Not saying I'm a sociopath or anything, I cared about people, but just not a lot. Not as much as I should be. But I really care about you. And I wanted to see you succeed too, I wanted to make you happy. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure of that. And I want to continue making sure that you're happy – forever and always, until death do we part, blah blah blah....” Randy smiles and makes the few steps towards the other man before he slowly gets down on one knee.
“Randy, you're not actually...” Cody swallows and holds a hand over his mouth, like he's trying to figure out if this is real or not.
Randy can't blame his reaction either because even he's trying to figure out if this is real. Proposing to somebody? He never thought he'd do that in a million years! He always found the tradition of marriage so archaic anyways, with everybody cheating on each other and filing for divorce... well, that's what he used to think. Then Cody came into his life and suddenly he took a look around at all of the happy couples around them, so invested in each other and planning their lives together. Suddenly, the idea of marriage became an accepted one. And after realizing he was in love with Cody, the idea of marriage became something he needed so desperately.
“Oh, but I am.” Randy opens up the ring box to reveal a beautiful ring with a silver band and a moonstone in the middle, shining and genuine and goes perfectly with Cody's eyes. He doesn't remember how much it cost, only that it cost a shit ton and how he didn't care because he thought Cody deserved the finest quality for when they had their wedding.
“As soon as we started dating, I knew that I wanted to have you in my life forever. I've never felt this way for anybody before... I didn't even think I'd ever fall in love but if there's one thing I learned with you, Cody, is that you always happen to be my one exception. So please... do me the honor and marry me and become my husband. I want it on paper that we're together. I want it to be official.”
Cody stares at the ring, transfixed by its beauty. He licks along his lips before getting down on his knees as well, gently taking the box from Randy's hand so he could get a better look. He runs his finger along the jewel, smiling, taking his sweet time with it so he can forever remember this moment. It feels like an eternity to Randy until Cody finally speaks up, and he looks up at Randy to quickly nod.
“Yes. A thousand times yes, fuck yes, I'll marry you.” And with an excited laugh, he cups Randy's face with one hand and brings him in for a passionate kiss to seal the deal.
Randy smiles into it, sighing through his nose in relief as he takes his ring back from Cody. He returns the kiss eagerly, probably the most eager he's ever kissed Cody but he wants to make it more certain than ever in this moment how much he loves him – though proposing to Cody definitely did a good job showing that. Their tongues slide against each other before they pull away and Randy takes Cody's hand so he could gently slide the ring onto his finger. And it fits perfectly, looks perfect on Cody's perfect skin – the most perfect ring for the most perfect man in Randy's soon to be perfect life.
“Randy, this is so pretty.” Cody marvels as he outstretches his arm, twisting and turning his hand as he gazes at this new piece of jewelry, now about to be a permanent fixture in his life. “I'm gonna have to be real careful when I go back to the ring soon.”
“Naaaaw babe, don't go back. Let's get married first, take a vacation.” Randy urges as he wraps his arms around his new fiancee, pressing their bodies together. “We're both finally at home with each other for once so let's just take all this time we can together.” WWE can handle Randy taking a few more months off, right? Especially for his wedding – being the golden boy has its perks sometimes.
“Screw the wrestling. You need a break anyways.”
Cody hums and holds onto Randy's shoulders. “Yeah... I guess you're right. It can give me some time to figure out what I wanna do when I get back into the scene anyways – as myself. Not as Stardust. Though if you still want me to play as him when we fuck, I totally can.”
“I like Stardust. He's kinky. Definitely keep him around.” With a low chuckle, he moves to press their lips together again, lingering before their foreheads press together.
“Though if it were up to me, I'd say you could stop altogether and just settle down with me and go into an early retirement but-”
“Noooo, Randy. I'm not gonna be a house husband, as much as that's a hot fantasy for you.” Cody says, giving him a knowing look. “I appreciate the effort though.”
“C'mon, think about it.” Randy smirks. “You already have enough money in the world to just relax. And then there's me, I'm constantly making big bucks. I can work and you can just stay at home, take it easy, and live the good life. And maybe, you know...” He shrugs. “Maybe adopt a kid or two. Or some dogs. I know how much you love puppies...”
Cody whines and pulls away, looking the other direction as he envisions this life. “I do love puppies... they're so cute. And Pharaoh needs more brothers and sisters.” He frowns. “We've never had time to even adopt any after him. Just looking at the cute, adorable dogs through their small, pitiful cages in the pet store...”
“Sounds nice, doesn't it? All the puppies you want, Cody. You'd be at home all the time to take care of them.” When in doubt, puppies were the best way to get Cody to give into Randy's desires. And his desires right now were to take care of Cody – really, it's something he's always wanted to do but Cody's never let him. Cody's so intent on being independent and not needing Randy's help for anything but now they're getting married. Being independent isn't exactly something he can do anymore, not as much as he used to at least.
“I... will think about it.” Cody says as he looks back to Randy. “Like, wrestling is still something I wanna do. I wanna get better and travel the world but also...” He shrugs and tilts his head, giving Randy a sweet smile. “Settling down and starting our lives together sounds good too. Not just the adopting even more cute puppies either but even adopting a kid with you. Having a cute kid run around the house, screaming and causing chaos. And I could teach them how to play Zelda." Cody chuckles. They're not getting any younger either and honestly, this is the perfect time to start a family.
“Well whatever you wanna do, I'll support it. Whether you wanna wrestle again or actually settle down and start a family, I don't care. Just as long as I'm with you... and as long as you take my last name.”
“Uh, we'll talk about that.” Cody scoffs, standing back up and holding his hand out for Randy to take.
“Fine, we'll hyphenate. Cody Orton-Rhodes, Randy Orton-Rhodes. Kinda rolls off the tongue, doesn't it?” Randy asks as he takes Cody's hand, pulling himself up from the floor.
“We have until our wedding day to decide.” Cody says, walking with Randy out of the kitchen and towards their stairs. “We have more important things to worry about right now. Like... how we're gonna celebrate our new engagement.” He looks over to Randy with a smirk, sidling up against his side.
“How about with chocolate syrup and whipped cream?”
Cody purses his lips, slowly turning the other way and walking with Randy back towards the kitchen. “Can't say no to that.”
And Randy can't think of a better way to celebrate it. Making love to his new fiancee and licking sweet chocolate goodness off his body? Worshipping it and dipping his tongue into every dip, licking along every muscle on Cody's gorgeous body?
God. It's ridiculous the things he ends up doing for this man. Proposing to him after an argument in the middle of a night is one of them but then again, Randy's never had anybody else to compare these declarations of love to. Cody's the only one he's ever loved.
And it's gonna stay like that.