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 Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:16 am
At first, Julian didn’t quite seem to understand that Riker was waiting for him to give any sort of approval on the matter, and then he felt silly for taking so long to say anything.
“Oh! Yes, okay. I have extra blankets if you get cold.”
Cassidy laughed and squeezed Riker’s hand with obvious delight. He’d taken a large bite of his sandwich so had to laugh while pressing his lips tightly together so he didn’t spit any out. He nodded gratefully and then, after he swallowed, said, “Thanks, Julian. You’re a real team player.”
Cassidy pulled Riker’s hand a little closer. “Don’t worry, I won’t let him get cold.”
Again, Julian didn’t quite seem to understand, but both Cassidy and Riker seemed happy about it so he didn’t feel the need to press on with further questions. Julian had finished his grilled cheese, which he seemed to enjoy, and was sipping at his soup. He didn’t want to take longer than anyone else, and if they were talking about bed, he wasn’t sure how much longer they had before it was time to tuck in.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:17 am
Riker snorted quietly in amusement at Cassidy’s enthusiasm. If he were being honest, he would have happily done just about anything if it meant cheering Cassidy up. He hadn’t liked how worn down and miserable he’d seemed before, despite hiding behind a smile.
He would have done anything for Julian or his other friends, too.
“Hopefully I won’t overheat,” he forced a sigh, trying to sound like he was disgruntled about it, but not quite managing to sound sincere. It wasn’t as though he didn’t often sleep close to Julian. Although he wasn’t sure if Cassidy would just lay on top of him at this point.
He gave Cassidy’s hand a squeeze in return, and then took another bite of a sandwich. There were so many, but he was hungry and Cassidy and Julian were still eating.
“If you get cold, you can stay close, too,” he suggested to Julian. Maybe… just maybe to see if Cassidy would be visibly jealous, since apparently Julian thought he did when Cassidy talked to him about Riker.
Of course, Julian would be staying close to him. So Cassidy would just have to understand that.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:17 am
“Well, Riker, if you get too hot, you can just take off your pants, too.” Cassidy suggested softly. He shrugged innocently but he hid his smirk behind the half sandwich he hadn’t yet finished. Was he jealous?
…He could be no more jealous of Julian than he was of Maxim. Which wasn’t to say that he thought of Julian like a dog! But he was a good companion, right? Man’s best friend?
Was he Riker’s best friend? No, mentally he could slot him in as something else.
Julian wasn’t really competition. He was a wet noodle–not that Cassidy was complaining! He was just so quick to make everyone else happy. If he’d wanted Riker, Cassidy wouldn’t have even had to fight him for it. He probably could have just asked nicely.
Even now, Julian was smiling politely. Maybe he hadn’t heard Cassidy. Oh, or maybe he was doing that thing where he just didn’t question it. He wasn’t much fun to tease. Not like Riker.
Although, it was getting harder to get under his skin.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:17 am
Getting harder to get under his skin, but clearly not impossible with the way his ears burned and his cheeks flushed.
He finally pulled his hand away from Cassidy’s -- not because he actually wanted to! But because his palms were suddenly getting really sweaty and gross and he needed to wipe them off on his pants. Which he was definitely going to still be wearing!
“Haha, very funny,” he scoffed somewhat dryly, but it was mostly to try and cover how flustered he felt.
Cassidy did not need to talk about him taking off his pants with Julian there! He spared Julian a sympathetic look as he hastily pushed himself up from the bed. He was just going to collect the empty dishes.
“Can I get either of you anything?” he huffed, not looking Cassidy in the eye. He might decide to embarrass him further!
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:17 am
Pressing his lips together into a pout, Cassidy was obviously disappointed that Riker’s hand had slipped from his own. And then, he moved! Horrible!
Cassidy had only just been able to appreciate how cute Riker was when he was flushing like that.
Julian was a quiet observer, mostly keeping his eyes somewhere else but sometimes finding Riker’s eyes to make sure he was fine. Though he wasn't one to assume, it almost looked like Riker was enjoying himself, so he didn’t try to speak up.
“No, thank you,” Julian said, and tried to help by getting all of his dishes together. He looked like he wanted to offer to help, but he seemed to understand that Riker was probably just trying to find an excuse to stay busy with Cassidy teasing him.
Good naturedly, of course. When Cassidy watched him, there was a gentle fondness in his gaze. “Do you tell bedtime stories?” he asked, and while there was an edge of playfulness to his question, there was an undeniable curiosity, too.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:17 am
”Bedtime stories?” Riker frowned, his eyebrows furrowing with confusion. Cassidy looked like he was actually curious though, so while Riker collected what he could of the plates, he glanced over at Julian to see if he had anything to say on the subject.
“Not really. Why? Are you offering to tell us one?”
He couldn’t remember ever being told bedtime stories, anyway. He understood the concept, of course. He’d seen enough things on the TV to know what kinds of stories they were.
Of course, he couldn’t imagine Julian having been told bedtime stories, either.
“You’re not going to start going over your internet conspiracies, are you?” he scowled, not because he didn’t want to hear them, but because he didn’t want Julian staying up all night thinking about things he didn’t have to think about. It was bad enough that there was a giant space serpent locked in a prison in space within their celestial neighborhood.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:18 am
Julian hadn’t predicted where Cassidy’s line of thinking was going to go, but given his track record, it wasn’t there. He blinked, a bit confused.
“No! I’ll save that for some other time. Yes, come get in bed. I’ll tuck you both in and tell you a bedtime story. I know plenty. I’ll tell you about Petrosinella, I know you haven’t heard of her. It’s one of my grandmother's favorites so I’ll tell it right.”
He patted the bed expectantly, in part because he wanted Riker close, but also because he didn’t know how long he could stay awake, and it wouldn’t have done them any good if he’d offered to tell a bedtime story and then been the first to fall asleep.
“Do either of you have a favorite bedtime story?” he asked. Julian was already carefully crawling into bed but he waited to make himself comfortable to ensure everyone else was in a good place, first. He had the television remote, and another one to dim the lights, but he touched neither while he waited for Riker.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:18 am
Riker eyed Cassidy with mild skepticism, but they were all tired, and he believed him when he said he would save the internet conspiracy stories for another time. Tucking them into bed… surely he was just teasing about that. Like a figure of speech and not to be taken literally. Or maybe not. He wasn’t against it, but before Evan, he hadn’t exactly had anyone ‘tuck him in’ for sleep.
He hoped Cassidy didn’t think of him as a child.
As though to make sure that he didn’t start thinking of him and Julian as young children to be coddled, Riker did as promised and tugged off his shirt. He did not toss it on the floor like he might have if it was just him and Julian -- with the intention of picking it up in the morning!! But Julian did such a good job cleaning up (mostly Riker’s mess), that he couldn’t do that to him now! Instead, he put the shirt on the back of the desk chair, before climbing up onto the bed.
“I can’t even think of what could be told as bedtime stories,” Riker admitted with a shrug. “Goldilocks? Hansel and Gretel?”
He settled down in the middle of the bed, although he was careful not to pull on the blankets too much. He reached up to tug the elastic that kept his hair in a low ponytail, but tucked it into the pocket of his pajama pants.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:18 am
Whatever Cassidy thought was a mystery to most and he seemed to like to keep it that way. “Oh so you like stories about children getting eaten. Good, there are a lot of hungry ogres in the fairytales I know.”
He caught Julian’s somewhat perplexed, slightly guarded expression, even as he lowered the lights.
Too bad, because Cassidy was appreciating how good Riker looked without his shirt on. When Riker was in bed, Cassidy leaned over to pull the blankets up. He could see how Julian was trying not to take too much of them, so he pulled more over from his side to share.
“Julian, pretend like I’m giving you a kiss on the forehead. I don’t want to smother Riker by leaning over. Riker, oh. I’ll just give you two, you can give one to Julian for me. Here,” he said, and kissed him twice on the forehead before smoothing out the blanket and making himself comfortable.”
He cleared his throat and had a, perhaps unsurprisingly, good voice for telling stories. He liked to talk, so naturally he was very invested in setting the mood. Both Riker and Julian looked so tired. He knew they were probably just trying to stay up to be polite. He was tired and ready for bed, so if they were going to fall asleep talking, it might as well be to a bedtime story.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2025 8:18 am
Riker didn’t allow Julian to hide in the corner of the bed against the wall, he leaned over to kiss his forehead, and wrapped an arm around him, at least temporarily, to give him a squeeze. Once he was satisfied that Julian had enough covers and pillows for him to be comfortable, he settled back down.
Cassidy was sweet, and Riker appreciated being lulled to sleep by his voice. Carefully, he snaked his arm around Cassidy’s shoulders, pulling him closer to his chest. Enough for him to rest his chin on top of Cassidy’s head.
With his other hand, he reached for Julian’s to hold.
After everything that happened that night, not moving for a short amount of time with his eyes closed made it all too easy to doze off. And despite the dread that had filled him for weeks leading up to the fight to save the Earth, he was quite happy and content to fall asleep between Julian and Cassidy.
Fin!
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