Chapter Text
Nearly ten hours ago, Cody was named the mayoral elect of Metro City. He ran that idea through his head over and over again. There was still so much to do. The work never would truly be done, he realized. There were contracts to smooth out, conferences to make, and a couple of leftover Mad Gear goons to lay waste to. And that was all before he even truly made it to office.
That could wait though. All of that could wait. He had more important things to attend to.
He knocked on Guy’s apartment door, holding out the bags of Chinese food towards the peephole in a sign of good will. “Apparently the mayor eats free on election days,” he supplied loudly, knocking on the door again. He had just seen the man earlier that day, at the initial announcement and again during a few celebratory parties. Several champagne toasts later, Guy had retired back to his place, likely happy to call it a day.
Cody would normally let the man go back to his place in silence. He owed him that much. But not tonight.
Plus, no one said no to King Dragon.
The door opened and Guy looked at him with his usual unreadable expression, blinking once at the man and then down at the Chinese food. He looked back at Cody, eyes raking him over. “You haven’t changed clothes yet,” he then stated, motioning for Cody to come inside.
Cody shrugged, following after Guy and glancing around. He kicked off his stuffy dress shoes awkwardly before heading over to the couch, placing the food on a coffee table in front of the TV. The apartment was starkly decorated, but traditional and effective. It suited Guy. “No time, really. Haggar’s been dragging me around from place to place to make speeches and shake hands with various contributors. It’s nice and all but I just need to get away from him for a bit.”
It wasn’t a complete lie. The apartment-hunt was slowly coming along, with enough help from Haggar to wave away all the ex-convict flags that his application raised. But even still, it was a slow process, and learning to live with Haggar’s bizarre morning routines had taken almost as much adaptation as the prison. He needed a break sometimes. But even more, he needed…
“So you came straight here?” Guy interrupted his thoughts, motioning for Cody to sit down with him, a little stiffly. Guy looked him over again, as though searching for something. His eyes shifted over Cody’s face, still immaculately clean-shaven from that morning, and then finally rested on his tie.
Cody followed the line of sight, loosening it just a little. His eyes watched carefully for some kind of reaction, opening the collar to show just a sliver of the skin on his neck. It made it easier to breathe, at the very least. Easier to relax. Guy always made it so much easier to relax.
Guy followed the action with his eyes, his lips darting inward for half a second before he immediately looked back up at Cody’s face, as though pretending he wasn’t looking at all. Cody tried not to smile.
“We never shared our own celebratory toast,” Cody gave as an excuse, pulling out a six-pack of beer, offering his friend a bottle.
Guy glanced at it, giving a small smile and finally relaxing in his seat. “At least it’s not more champagne,” he sighed and grabbed the bottle, popping it open resolutely.
Cody laughed, pulling out a bottle of his own and touching it lightly to Guy’s. “I’ll drink to that.”
They ate in silence for a long moment, mulling over their own thoughts. The chicken was chewier than usual, Cody realized. In fact, the food was a lot more subpar than he remembered from when he was younger. But he had been craving it for so long that it hardly made a difference. Sitting here on the couch, eating mediocre Chinese food and drinking bear with Guy. In truth, it was the only place Cody wanted to be.
“Cody,” Guy paused, putting down his sesame tofu, this time mercifully light on the sauce. “How have you been doing?”
Cody blinked, frowning a little. With a quick sigh, he downed the last of his beer and reached for a second bottle. However, as he did so, Guy met him halfway, resting his hand on top of Cody’s and looking at him with his typicals intensity. Cody sighed again. “I just won an election, Guy. You’ve been with me the entire time.”
“You know what I meant.”
Cody did. It had been nearly a year. He still wasn’t the man that everyone thought he was. He was far from it. But every day he looked in the mirror, and saw someone that was just a little closer to that person. It was a slow process. But every single day was another step towards it. It didn’t seem so strange to fight for others anymore, but he couldn’t stop fighting all the same. The city didn’t feel like it was beyond saving, and Cody didn’t feel so far gone either.
“Better,” he finally said, smacking Guy’s hand away and grabbing the beer. He didn’t want to talk about it, not really. It was a lot to unpack and today was supposed to be about celebration. But Guy was never the kind of person to want to beat around the bush or make small talk. He should have expected that by now. They’ve known each other so long. “It’s getting easier to wake up every day.” He took a bigger swig of his beer, not even close to feeling a buzz from it. He decided just to down the whole bottle in a long gulp, trying to put together what he wanted to say. When he put the empty bottle down on the coffee table, all he could manage was “Thank you. For everything.”
But the message was clear. Guy smiled, glancing downward at his own drink, barely touched save for the celebratory toast. “No need,” he finally said. “I suppose I’ve always been self-righteous, in my own way. I only ever wanted to focus on one thing at any given time, so dedicated to only seeing one path. I suppose I’ve been unable to accept any other answer except the ones I myself came up with.” He fiddled with the cheap wooden chopsticks, spinning them between his fingers with his usual skill and precision. “You’ve likely never noticed, but you’ve always challenged that. You’ve pushed me in directions I never thought I would go, and taught me different ways to look at the world.” He paused again, meeting Cody’s eyes with startling sincerity, the tiny smile still on his face. “I never thanked you for that.”
Ten hours ago, they announced the winners of the mayoral election for Metro City. Cody had been waiting with Haggar, several members of the democrat campaign, and a small portion of the Bushin clan. When they made the announcement, the room exploded. Haggar pulled Cody into a hug that could easily kill a small bear, the PR rep immediately pulled out her phone and started tweeting the news, and a few reporters started asking Cody for comments.
He had looked over to Guy, smiling more than Cody had ever seen him smile in his life. He seemed so unguarded, lost in the moment as the two men stared at each other, completely unable to break way from each other’s eyes. Cody almost kissed him then. In front of Haggar, in front of the election committee, in front of the whole damn world. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t.
And for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t doing it now.
He moved closer to Guy, bringing his hand up to cup the other man’s face. He paused, suddenly unsure of this. He flicked his thumb over Guy’s lips carefully, making his intentions as clear as he possibly could without having to say it out loud.
Unfortunately, he underestimated just how oblivious Guy was.
The man blinked at him rapidly, but did not move away. His brow furrowed, more in concern than confusion. “Cody? Are you alr-”
Cody only rolled his eyes as he moved closer, pressing his lips against Guy’s resolutely. To his credit, Guy did not take very long to get the message; his hand almost immediately came up to card through Cody’s hair. Cody took in everything upon a slow second kiss. Guy’s breath still smelled of beer and Chinese food, but it was the most intimate contact that Cody has had in years and he quickly found out that he didn’t care what Guy smelled like. His hand shifted down to take a handful of Guy’s arm, squeezing the muscle softly, just to make sure he was real, that this was all real.
Guy kissed back softly, before gripping his hand into Cody’s hair and gently pulling him away. Cody looked at him, desperately searching for something, anything that would assure him that this was permanent. That he wouldn’t blink and wake up in his jail cell, cold and alone.
“Was that also a celebratory toast?” Guy asked, not breaking eye contact with Cody, their faces still only a few inches apart. Guy didn’t seem bitter or irritated about it; just curious.
Cody didn’t really know how to respond. His own pulse was hammering so loudly that he could barely process the words. He wanted to say something reassuring. He wanted to kiss Guy again. And again. And again. Instead, he just did what he always did when feelings became too much for him. He shrugged and backpedaled. “It can if you want it to be.”
Guy furrowed his brow, scooting back a little bit. Cody moved with him, not willing to let the man get away from him that easily. Guy placed his hands on Cody’s shoulders, pushing him back gently. “I broke up with Rena because I could not be the man she wanted me to be,” he finally said, once again characteristically cutting straight to the point. “I could not dedicate myself to the relationship the way she deserved.”
Cody mulled the thought over. If he were being honest, he thought about it a lot. He wasn’t Rena. Never was. Rena was married now and had a kid on the way. She wanted a dedicated family, and she eventually found someone who made those dreams come true. Guy had a family already, with the clan. He had dedicated himself to that, and now was beginning to carve his way through the rest of the world.
Cody just wanted some place he belonged.
He kissed Guy on the jaw, and Guy arched back his neck ever-so-slightly, inviting Cody in for more. “You’re right,” Cody then said, moving his lips down to Guy’s neck, speaking directly against the skin. He shifted forward, feeling Guy shudder just slightly underneath his hands. “This is a terrible idea.”
“Almost as bad as an ex-convict as mayor,” Guy agreed, moving his hands down Cody’s shoulders and pulling him closer. The couch was not big enough for the both of them, their bodies already entangled just from the lack of space alone. That suited Cody just fine though, and Guy certainly did not seem to be complaining.
“Once I start my term, you’ll be promoted to a city-defense position.” Cody paused to gently nip at the skin of Guy’s neck, bringing the tiniest gasp out of the man. He loved it, relished in it. Needed more. “We’ll be working together constantly. A relationship would just be a conflict of interests, right?”
Guy nodded, rolling his neck around bite at Cody’s earlobe, sending a shock of pleasure through Cody’s systems. This was good, he decided. Better than good, even. Guy worried the lobe between his teeth, clearly enjoying Cody’s sharp intake of breath at the action. “I could only imagine the scandal. A relationship between us would most certainly be doomed from conception,” he added in agreement, moving his hands to untie Cody’s tie.
“Hey,” Cody said, as Guy whipped the tie off and tossed it to the side, casually beginning to unbutton his collared shirt. “I’ll have you know someone important to me picked out that tie. He tied it for me and everything.” He smirked teasingly, and Guy rolled his eyes as he nibbled at Cody’s collarbone, washing all other thoughts from the man’s head instantly.
“Sounds like quite a catch,” Guy added, deadpan. “You thinking of asking him out?” He raised an eyebrow and moved away to look back at Cody, back to his usual laser-focused intensity. Cody felt his face heat up, with Guy’s eyes boring into him. He was into his 30s, newly elected mayor, battered and bruised inside and out, and had no reason to be blushing like this. It was incredible the things that Guy could do to him.
“I’d love to, if he’d have me.” Cody’s hands came to rest at Guy’s side, his thumbs gently pushing up his shirt as he felt the skin under the whorls of his fingertips. He tried to convey everything he needed to say in that simple touch, not knowing how to say it all out loud. How hard his heart would beat when Guy was around, how alive Guy made him feel even when he thought his spirit was dead, how grateful he was to have someone who never stopped believing in him, even in his darkest moments.
Guy smiled, just like he did back at city hall when the results were announced. Unguarded and honest in a way that Guy never allowed himself to be. Never around anyone other than Cody. “I see,” he said, his voice stiff but his posture giving everything away. He leaned forward, this time the one to initiate the kiss.
Cody soaked it in, lips on lips, gently moving with each other, against each other. Friction and heat fading to softness and affection, and back to heat again. It was a lot like fighting, he dimly thought. It was a silent communication, an action that dulled the buzzing in the back of his always-churning mind. They moved in both conflict and resolution, all at once.
And Cody thought, perhaps he could get addicted to this too.