Title: Why Hello There—Chapter 4
Summary: (I've got nothing) Will things work out for Cody? SLASH
Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own
Rating: C for conniving (Subject to Change)
Author Note: I on purpose didn't list any pairings! (ain't it annoying? =D) The whole not using names makes it especially hard to write, so I'm apologizing in advance for using certain terms over and over. I also feel like the writing doesn't flow like I'd like it to in some parts but oh well!
_o_
Cody spent a good long minute thinking about trusting a plan his possibly insane friend had come up with. "I don't think so," he finally replied slowly "What if things get worse?"
The smile that then crossed the face in front of him was not reassuring. "There is always that chance… but of course you're more likely to royally screw up shit on your at least you'll have me to watch your backside—in a non-gay way of course. I'll leave that to y'all!"
Cody let out a heartfelt groan. He figured the stupid gay jokes were just getting started. Not to mention the fact that he wasn't exactly up to speed this morning and probably shouldn't be making any decisions in this state. However, the temptation to throw this onto someone else was too much.
"Alright let's hear this grand plan of yours," Cody carefully drawled out, reluctance evident in his tone. He tried not too dwell to hard on what a loser it made him, (the not wanting to deal with his fucked up almost love life by himself) because after all, he was totally winning at this whole denial thing.
His dread increased when his partner started rubbing his hands together like a bad villain in a low budget movie. Comforting, it was not.
"Alright, so this first part should be easy enough. You just need to quit telegraphing your feelings about him! This means no creepy staring, no sniffing when you hug, no eyeing certain parts of the body, and finally you need to stop what you're doing right now, which is going bright red in the face followed quickly by a deathly pale. Work on your control buddy!" he proclaimed.
Cody definitely could feel himself flushing, but he was aghast at the thought that his usually oblivious teammate had noticed all that. What else had he had been doing unconsciously? But then thoughts of the previous night and what he had been very conscious of doing flashed across his mind, making his face even more red if that was possible. This was just great, it was two seconds in and already he sucked at this plan.
His friend stayed quiet another moment or so, watching the expressions intently that flew over Cody's face. It was quite a sight to behold, and he definitely wondered at more than a few.
Finally he continued, "So then we need to torture him a little bit. I'm thinking you should say things that could be twisted a certain way as much as possible. Ya know, sexual innuendo and all that!"
"I uh… I think I can do that," Cody replied.
"And I'll be there to help you! Now this next part might be kind of hard, since we need to basically break him."
"Wait what? Why do we have to break him? That sounds uncomfortable," Cody asked worriedly.
"Because I'm uncomfortable with the creepy staring and it will make him either finally do something, or run away forever. You do want to know, riiiight?" But he didn't wait for Cody's nod before continuing onward. "SO first we take away the signs that show you like him, then we make him all hot and bothered, and finally we make him jealous! It's fool-proof."
Cody just stared, open-mouthed, at this pronouncement, but the crazy man in the room took it as encouragement to explain.
"I figure it had better be me, since you don't want to lead anybody who's not in the loop on, but the trick here is that it has to seem natural. I know you can act, so quit looking at me like I just threatened to kick your dog and gave you herpes afterwards! He just has to see you slowly become okay with the idea and then maybe he'll get up the courage to fight for your, er, manly affections. Just remember to go slow, I'm not some tramp you picked up at the bar, got it?" he finished with an unholy smile stretching across his face.
"This is all some elaborate prank to torture me, isn't it?" Cody said through his hands, which were currently covering his face. The whole idea seemed so insane, but the scariest part was that he could see the logic in it… a tiny bit.
It was true, he didn't think he could deal much longer with things in limbo like they had been, and avoidance hadn't exactly been helping him much lately. So he'd take the chance this could blow up spectacularly in his face and haunt him for the rest of his life. Yay.
And with those cheerful thoughts floating in his head he said, "You really ARE the evil genius everyone claims, aren't you?"
He watched with trepidation as his partner took it for the agreement it was and fist pumped the air in victory.
_o_
It took all of Cody's control to think of things, such as the new Call of Duty game, so that he wouldn't immediately blush when he came back through the door with food. And then he felt his shin being kicked when he couldn't stop watching his teammate eat.
Step one was proving harder than he thought, but he had a chance to try out step two when his friend/evil genius mentioned going to the gym after they had cleared away the food wrappers..
It only took him a second to reply with his best leer, "Wellll, my stomach still feels kind of tender, but you know I never pass up a chance to watch you sweat, so I'm in."
He felt a little stupid at first, but neither man burst out laughing which was good. In fact, one had a satisfied smile on his face and the other looked blank with a little confused thrown in.
And that's how it went from there. Cody used every chance he could to implement the plan. Whether it was turning their stop at an ice cream place into a talk about inappropriate licking, or choosing—when he wasn't driving—to sit in the backseat of the car with the member of their group that wasn't starring in his dreams at night. He did his best.
While they all three obviously spent a lot of time together (it was the job after all) Cody found there was still quite a bit he hadn't known about his friend. Not until the plan forced them together all the time.
Currently they sat next to each other in the locker room, legs and shoulders touching as their heads leaned toward each other and they whispered. It looked pretty intimate, something they were hoping the man across the room would notice. However, had he heard the words being softly said he would have thought differently.
"Quit being such a fucking pansy and just put your hand on my thigh."
Cody struggled to keep his expression serene as he replied, "Is that really necessary? I mean, why do I have to grope you? I could be shy or something!"
He felt the sigh brush across his cheek before his friend spoke softly, "You are such a baby, and we need to escalate! If I can handle it then you need to man up and stick to the plan."
"Do you think it's working?" Cody questioned hesitantly. "I mean… sometimes I think it is, that he looks out of sorts, but maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see."
"Trust me it's working. One minute he's confused, the next his face is all flush, and then sometimes—like now— he looks almost angry. My plan and I are amazing. Deal with it, and get to grabbing!"
Cody stared at the leg next to him without really seeing it, the words of reassurance flowing over him. He kept his eyes from searching out the man who tormented his thoughts—he was actually getting good at not looking as much—though distractions did help some.
It was nice to feel like progress was being made and he smiled as he said, "Okay fine, you're amazing, just… how high exactly on your thigh am I putting my hand?"
"Let's start mid-range for now," was the whispered reply and Cody quickly complied, desperately hoping it didn't look as awkward as he felt.
_o_
Insert funny little note here... uhhhh I had pizza rolls and Dr Pepper, it was yummy!