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Punk really just wanted to go home at this point. He had been dragged to 3 interviews he didn't know he was going to be doing, and had somehow managed to get lost in the arena twice by now. Mostly everyone has cleared out by now, just the occasional staff waving at him as he makes his way to the locker rooms. He gets all the way to the door, fully prepared to just fling it open to get changed as quickly as possible, when his hand stills on the door. There's some sort of sniffling coming from inside the room, like someone is crying but trying to muffle it, and Punk debates if he should actually open the door or not. He doesn't want to disturb whoever this person is, but he also would feel horrible if something seriously bad had happened and he had walked away from it. Sighing, he rolls his shoulders and gently opens the door.
He doesn't see anyone at first, raising an eyebrow, but then his eye catches on a blob in the corner, curled up with his head between his knees, shoulders softly shaking. It takes him a moment to recognize who he is, but the blonde hair gives it away as Cody. He had had an earlier match today, before Punk, but he had won, there should be no reason that he's crying. Punk sets his bag down on one of the benches softly, Cody still apparently not aware that someone else is in the room. He walks towards the younger man softly, footsteps echoing in the room but apparently not loud enough, and he crouches down into a squat in front of the blonde, wincing when his knees crack. The noise is loud enough to get Cody's attention, and his head shoots up, blood-shot eyes staring at him in fear. Cody sniffs again, breath hitching, and he goes to scramble back, so Punk puts his hands out in what he hopes is a calming motion.
“Hey, hey, what's wrong Codes?” Punk slowly places a hand on the other man's shoulder, and when he doesn't protest at the contact, Punk rubs his hand back and forth on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. Cody doesn't respond, just brings his hands up to dig the heels of his palms into his eyes. Punk pulls them away when the blonde starts whining, concerned he's hurting himself. They just stare at each other for a few moments, Punk waiting for the other to say something, and Cody anxiously biting at his bottom lip. Cody throws his hands up in the direction of Punk, and when the older man raises an eyebrow in confusion, Cody opens and closes his fists a few times, making grabby hands at him.
Punk's face wrinkles in confusion, but he leans forward anyway, letting Cody wrap his arms around him, and shove his face into the crook of Punk's neck. Punk shivers at the cold feeling of the tears against his skin, but he doesn't say anything, smoothing his hand over the other's blonde hair. They sit like that until Cody calms down, his sniffles subsiding and his breathing evening out. Punk goes to pull back and the younger one whines, so he tightens his arms instead.
“Hey Codes, can I ask a question?” He waits until he feels Cody nod against his neck before he continues. “How old are you right now?” He feels Cody stiffen and start to shake again, so he tightens his grip and starts to scratch at the blonde's scalp, trying to sooth him.
“You're not in trouble or anything, I promise. Just wanna know.” Punk feels Cody move one of his arms, and he's confused for a moment, before the younger grabs at one of Punk's hands, and wraps his pinky finger around Punk's pinky, squeezing tightly.
“I promise Codes.” He squeezes his finger back, and pulls back when he feels Cody shifting against him. The blonde wipes the tears away from his face, eyes still bloodshot, but no longer crying. He looks Punk in the eyes before he shyly looks at the floor.
“I dunno.” Cody shrugs while speaking, his voice mumbled.
“That's ok. You feel really small right now?”
Cody nods, moving his legs to sit criss-cross applesauce. He's fiddling with the laces of his shoes, twirling them between his fingers, staring intently at it.
“Why were you crying?” Punk moves to copy him, groaning when his knees pop, again. Cody giggles at the noise and Punk can't stop himself from rolling his eyes fondly.
Cody shrugs again. “Loud.”
“Yeah, it must've gotten really loud after your match, huh?” Punk places a hand on the younger man's knee, squeezing gently. “You did really good though Codes.”
Cody's face lights up, and he looks Punk in the eyes finally, mouth twitching into a smile. “Really?”
“Yeah! You did amazing out there!” Punk smiles widely and Cody shuffles forward to lean against him, hugging him with one arm.
“Why don't we sit here until you feel better, ok?”
Cody nods and Punk leads them to a more comfortable position, sitting next to each other while leaning against the cold wall. Cody leans his head down against Punk's shoulder, and brings up one of his thumbs to his mouth, lightly gnawing on the tip of his finger. Punk should stop him, but he's not harming himself right now so he just smiles, putting his arm around Cody's shoulder, leaning his head back against the wall and closes his eyes.