Chapter Text
The sun’s not even up when Roman gets out of bed.
He forces himself out of bed with a low groan. Roman plants his feet on the carpeted floor and stretches his arms above his head. The muscles in his back slowly unfurl as he arches his back. It’s far too early for Roman to be awake. It doesn’t matter how many years he spends getting out of bed before sunrise. He’ll never be used to it.
Roman feels a rough movement next to him. He snorts and rolls his eyes. If he has to suffer this early in the morning, so does Cody.
“Wake up, Nightmare.”
Roman reaches over and shakes Cody’s shoulder. Cody’s shoulder, warmed by the hotel bed’s thick comforter, heats Roman’s hand.
They’re in Frankfurt, Germany, and they have to be at the airport in a few hours. They've got another hours-long flight ahead of them. It feels like they’ve done little besides pace around on an airplane since yesterday morning.
Cody grumbles, not unlike a misbehaving puppy, and tries to shrug Roman off. Roman rocks Cody’s shoulder, jostling him with increasing strength. It’s not the most graceful way Roman has ever woken anyone up.
“No,” Cody groans.
“Get your ass up,” Roman commands.
“You can’t make me,” Cody mumbles.
“You're not being very mature right now,” Roman says.
“You're not being very helpful right now,” Cody retorts, his words mostly slurred.
“You’re choosing right now not to be a morning person?” Roman asks. “Every other morning you’re walking around with three cups of coffee in your system by now.”
Cody tosses himself onto his side to face Roman. He glares at Roman sleepily. His blonde hair is sticking up in odd places. Roman would call him “adorable” if he didn't think it would irritate Cody even more.
“This isn’t ‘every other morning,’” Cody says. “This morning I want to be buried alive in this bed.”
Roman stares down at Cody, bemused by his lack of cooperation. He’s not used to this grumpy version of Cody. Roman was expecting the Boy Scout who loves doing his job.
“You know, Cody, it would be highly unprofessional if you were late for your check-in,” Roman says. “And considering we already have to deal with Hunter after Crown Jewel, it’s not the best idea to give him one more thing to lecture you about.”
Cody stares at Roman and sighs the heaviest sigh Roman has ever heard. He flops onto his other side and kicks his way out of bed. Roman watches Cody’s back muscles move as Cody sits on the side of the bed. Cody rolls his neck and makes a sound that borders on a moan. Roman’s suddenly not thinking about making it to the airport or Crown Jewel.
“You just had to pull the ‘professionalism’ card, didn’t you?” Cody grumbles.
Roman, failing to fight his impulses, leans forward and kisses the base of Cody’s neck.
“It worked,” he mumbles against Cody’s skin.
Roman presses another kiss to Cody’s neck and then another one after that. Cody hums and his body loosens beneath Roman’s touch.
But then he moves away from Roman, pushing himself out of Roman’s reach. He stands up from the bed and stretches with his back still to Roman.
“You remember that we have to have separate rooms, right?” Cody says over his shoulder. “And Hunter and Aldis are going to want us to keep our distance at the arena.”
Roman deflates. He had been trying not to think about their impending separation. Part of Roman wonders if he’s overreacting by being so annoyed by this. After all, Roman has spent much more time separated from Cody than being with him. But the fact that they’re being forced to keep their distance because of their bosses’ trepidations annoys Roman to no end.
It’s another thing Kevin took from them that night on SmackDown: the freedom their privacy could afford them. They could've gone to Riyadh with little issues if Kevin hadn’t announced their relationship to seemingly everyone with an internet connection. Aldis might have raised an eyebrow at the news of them having neighboring rooms, but he probably wouldn’t have assumed that they would be at risk of violating any laws.
“Yeah,” Roman says. “I know.”
Cody turns to face Roman with a weak smile.
“See why I wasn’t trying to get up? If we just stay here we don’t have to worry about any of that. We could get back in bed, get breakfast later, and be tourists in Germany.”
Cody’s proposal makes Roman sway on his feet. Neither of them has ever been good at choosing leisure over work, especially not when the stakes are high. Now is probably the worst time to start, but Roman’s having a hard time reminding himself of that.
“Don’t tempt me,” Roman says. He scoffs and says, “Hell, part of me thinks they would’ve told us to stay home if they could’ve.”
Cody scoffs, too, soundly deeply bitter. “Can you imagine how much shit they’d get if their two biggest stars weren’t allowed to compete at one of their premiere events?”
Roman laughs sourly. “They’d never hear the end of it. And they’d never make their money back, either.”
“It could work out for us, though,” Cody says. “We’d get a vacation, maybe generate a little heat.”
“What happened to the guy who said someone would’ve had to chain him up to make him miss a match? Even after he tore a damn muscle in his chest?” Roman asks.
“I hate that guy,” Cody says. “He’s annoying, and he’s driven me into the ground.”
“Eh,” Roman says, “I’ve met him a couple of times. He’s alright. I kinda like him.”
Roman has never seen Cody look so offended by Roman saying something positive about him. Roman walks around to Cody’s side of the bed and softly puts his hands on both sides of Cody’s neck. His thumb rubs Cody’s tattoo, and he can feel Cody respond to the touch.
“We just have to get through this weekend,” Roman says. “And then we do whatever the hell we want whenever the hell we want.”
Cody’s eyes dance over Roman’s face for a few moments. Then he nods.
“Agreed.”
Roman drops his hands and walks away to let Cody get dressed. Roman pulls clothes out of his open suitcase.
Cody runs a hand through his hair. It looks somewhat managed now.
“I’ve never been so ready to get a match over with,” Cody says.
Roman sighs. They’ve got a long couple of days ahead of them, and he’s already feeling tired.
“Me, neither.”