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 Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 8:58 pm
Takes place late October 2024 Follows Aftermath
But none of them had messages to pass back from Riker, and Cassidy had given them plenty to pass along to him. Riker wouldn’t ignore him, how could he? Cassidy got annoying when he was ignored, and he’d spent the last three days thinking about Riker’s empty seat and the total lack of any updates whatsoever.
So what were they hiding.
He woke up thinking about it. He spent his days thinking about it. He went to sleep thinking about it.
Cassidy didn’t like to call or text Riker because he never knew if he’d have his phone on him or if it would get him in trouble–or if he was even talking to Riker.
He’d been patient for so long. Sure, if he kept needling Julian or Atticus, one of them was going to break. ‘Riker said he got hurt’ and ‘Riker’s just feeling under the weather’. But how? Because ‘some TikTok’ trend or ‘fighting with his brother’ wasn’t enough to placate Cassidy.
By the time school got out, Cassidy couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t even make it home before whipping out his phone and FaceTiming Riker. He walked with his eyes glued to the phone as it rang and dared Riker not to pick up.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:00 pm
Riker was restless. Again. But he usually was when he had to sit in one place for too long, even if it was for his own health. Julian had gone to school. Evan was around and checked on him every so often, but Riker spent most of the day playing video games or sleeping.
He made an attempt to shower, and was grateful that Evan was paranoid and lingered around because Riker ended up needing with getting dressed again, and it was a good chance to get his bandages changed, although he wished Evan didn’t have to see any of his injuries.
But now he was clean and rested and with new pain medicine in his system. He had a warm cup of tea curled against his chest as he clicked through the shows and movies he could stream.
When his phone started vibrating, he expected it to be Julian. It wasn’t. He’d picked it up, and when he saw the name on the screen, he panicked and clicked ‘Decline’ before he could think better of it. He could have let it go to voicemail. He could have answered. But it was for FaceTime and his hair was still a bit damp and he was in his pajamas, and he didn’t even know what to tell Cassidy!
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:01 pm
What.
That was too fast to have been natural and too slow not to have been deliberate. If Riker’s phone was off it would have just automatically gone to voicemail.
Cassidy stopped on the sidewalk and looked at his phone. He gave it a moment.
Riker didn’t call back. Didn’t even text.
Cassidy pressed his lips together and adjusted his backpack so it was weighing him down just a little less. He fixed his hair and stood up straighter, shook out his shoulders, and redialed.
This time he didn’t dare Riker not to pick up.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:01 pm
Oh no!! Cassidy was calling back!
Riker sputtered in alarm when the phone started ringing again. He must have known he was there, declining his call! Okay, no, this was okay, he would just answer and say hello and that he was fine or whatever. Surely he was just calling to make sure he was okay, right? He hadn’t been at school, and Reims hadn’t been around to check in on Cassidy either.
So he took a deep breath, tried to fuss with his hair a bit, and once he was ready to have Cassidy judge him, he clicked--
Oh… oh no... he missed the call. It went on for too long and then just… hung up on its own.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:02 pm
Cassidy audibly gasped. He’d been so sure that Riker was going to pick up!
And now he was just pretending like he wasn't there? Like Cassidy was going to just forget that Riker had hung up on him the first time he called?
Cassidy planted his feet firmly on the ground and stood, ankle to ankle, peering down at his phone as he waited for Riker to text or call or anything.
And he didn’t!
Cassidy’s face was burning because Riker had to know that Cassidy knew he was ignoring him!
So he did what any reasonable person would, and tried to video call him for a third time.
His fingers were already itching to start sending dramatic texts like ‘Are you mad at me’.
He didn’t want to have to vaguepost about how Riker was ignoring him. If he didn’t pick up this time there was still time to go catch up with Julian and harass him until he knew what was going on.
Cassidy was going to talk to Riker today, one way or another.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:02 pm
Riker’s ears were burning. He knew he needed to answer. He knew Cassidy knew he wasn’t answering. It wasn’t completely intentional! He’d just panicked! He didn’t know what he was going to tell him!
He fussed with his hair again when his screen lit up once more, and tried to answer in the most casual way possible when finally clicking the correct button to answer.
“Hey, uh. I think I missed your call,” he stammered, clearly anxious about it. But he cleared his throat and tried to flash Cassidy a smile, but it ended up looking more like a grimace.
“Uh. Can I help you with anything?” Oh yes, that was a good lead in. Cassidy looked red. Wow he was so red. He was probably angry at him for being dumb and not answering. He had every right to be! Oh no… what if Cassidy decided he was going to hate him like Énna hated him??
“Sorry,” he mumbled awkwardly, holding the phone as still as he could, but also not really knowing what he should be looking at. Would it be weird to look at Cassidy? Probably.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:02 pm
The relief of Riker answering was overshadowed by the audacity of Riker claiming he thought he missed Cassidy’s call. No you didn’t!! You were hanging up on him! You knew what you were doing!
…Oh, but how could Cassidy be mad at him, look at him trying to cover his tracks. That was not a cute smile but Cassidy softened anyway.
“Riker! I thought you were ignoring me. I haven’t spoken to you in days, I was starting to think you didn’t like me. But I knew that wasn’t right so I got worried. I just had to see your face. Where are you? I can’t stand seeing your empty seat and no one will tell me what happened, just that you got hurt. I’ve left you alone for this long, I hope you’ve spent that time preparing a convincing story for me.”
Cassidy fanned his face as if that would chase away the color but he turned to face a different direction so the light would catch better on him.
It took a few seconds for the screen to correct, and he used the camera to fix his hair and check his angles before holding the phone up to catch his best side.
“I was starting to get flustered, that was really embarrassing Riker. If you can’t take a call you’re supposed to text. I’ll forgive you because you’re hurt. Where are you staying, how long do I have to wait before I can come visit you? You’re not in the hospital, right?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:03 pm
“W-why would I need to prepare a convincing story??” he sputtered in surprise and embarrassment. He had been thinking about what to tell Cassidy. It wasn’t as though he could tell him the truth, but Riker also didn’t want to lie to him.
But for a moment, he was stunned to silence as he watched the way Cassidy turned away and then back a few moments later.
“How did you do that?” he blinked, clearly surprised and a bit flustered. “You, like… the way you just made yourself prettier by looking away--”
Oh, was that a weird thing to say? Probably.
Riker cleared his throat and quickly tried to jump topics again.
“No, I’m not in the hospital. Uh, I’m staying with Julian. Just until I feel better. I, uh… there was someone who, uh, tried abducting Énna and, well, I jumped in to help fight them off, and uh, they stabbed me. So, like, it’s fine. You can ask Énna! He was there. Obviously. Because I helped save him. But he was also pretty cool, too. With, like… fighting off his attacker.”
Now he would have to make sure Énna knew what to tell Cassidy if he was asked… great…
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:03 pm
“What? Is that the real story?” Cassidy asked, once more leaning towards his phone. He wanted to disbelieve Riker but that story was so far beyond what he expected that he had to suspect there was at least an ounce of truth in it. “Julian didn’t say you were staying with him!”
Oh wait, Riker had said he was pretty. He stood up so the light was in his favor again.
Let Riker see what he’d been missing.
“Nobody told me Énna got attacked, I would have checked in on him, too. Did you have to file a police report?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:04 pm
“Uh, yeah. Filed a report, too,” he mumbled, wondering if he should have figured out with Julian what to tell other people before actually talking to people. He would text Julian later to let him know it kind of slipped.
“Yeah, I mean, you should have seen the other guy. He was beat up pretty bad. Énna and I definitely were able to, uh… fight them off. I mean, except for me getting hurt, but that’s okay. I’ll be good as new in a few days, probably.”
Thanks to Effie’s magic and Sessrumnir’s springs, not to mention the care and consideration from Evan and Julian and even Devyn. And others were looking out for him, too, so that was nice.
“W-what about you? How have you been?” he tried, not really sure what he could manage to do to actually shift the conversation but… he was fine! He was just resting now.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:04 pm
For a split second, Cassidy debated on how much further he wanted to push Riker. He decided he’d gotten enough information to work with. And he could see Riker, that was all he really wanted.
“Missing you! I didn’t know you were so brave, Riker. That’s really heroic, you’ll have to tell me the whole story later. Honestly, I feel better getting to hear your voice. I was worried something worse happened to you and everyone was trying to hide it from me. I don’t know why, it’s not like I’m squeamish about it.”
He rocked on his heels, unwilling to move in any direction until he’d made up his mind on where he was going next. He could go home, it’s not like he had plans. “Am I allowed to come visit you or is Julian keeping you all to himself?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:05 pm
Missing him? Riker could feel his ears burn. Why would Cassidy miss him? Was there anything worth missing about him? Well, no, Evan said he’d missed him. And Julian. But that was probably different. Maybe.
Or maybe he just didn’t want to admit that it was kind of nice that people cared enough to miss him.
“Oh uh… he’s not keeping me to himself,” he clarified, although he wasn’t sure if he should encourage Cassidy to come over to see him. “I’ll text him and make sure it’s okay. But I’m pretty sure it is.” Since it was his room and all. He would have to let Evan know, too.
“Sorry, I didn’t think you’d miss me,” he said after a few moments, now feeling bad that he hadn’t gotten in touch with Cassidy sooner.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:07 pm
“Really? That’s surprising. I tried a new recipe and my favorite taste tester didn’t come around to try it, how could I not miss you?”
It wasn’t the only reason of course but if Riker had already ‘missed’ his calls, Cassidy didn’t want to inspire him to ‘lose connection’ or have his ‘battery die’. He was still figuring out what Riker’s limits were, after all. The bar kept moving–in the right direction, at least. He could push a little more now than he could before.
“If you didn’t think I’d miss you, does that mean you didn’t miss me? No, don’t answer that unless you’re saying ‘I missed you a lot Cassidy, please come over and visit me’.” He started walking again because even if he hadn’t quite made up his mind about how he was going to spend the rest of his day he at least had ideas. “Is Julian’s place nice? I can come over, text me the address. And if I can’t come over, I’ll just send some things home with Julian tomorrow. Do you want anything special?”
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:08 pm
Riker stared at Cassidy on the phone for a few moments, before he couldn’t stop his lip from twitching with amusement any longer.
“I missed you a lot Cassidy, please come over and visit me,” he parrotted back, even though his ears burned brighter for it.
“I did miss you,” he added, just in case Cassidy thought he was just indulging him, although he couldn’t imagine Cassidy minding.
“I’ve already worried enough people. I’m not used to anyone showing up at the hospital for me, so I didn’t really know what to tell anyone, or if it mattered,” he admitted, although he still had a small grin tugging at his lip. He was still getting used to people caring about him. In time, he knew he would figure things out and stop being ridiculous about questioning how others felt about him.
“Julian’s place is nice,” he confirmed. “I mean… mostly we just hang out in the kitchen and living room and his bedroom. It’s above the garage. Don’t make fun of the chair they built for me, okay? I feel like an old man having to use it, but it’s a hell of a lot better than trying to walk up and down the stairs. Uh, my… boss? Friend? Uh, Evan is one of the adults that live here. He runs the food truck I’ve been working at. And his friend Zac I think technically owns the house, and they’ve taken in Julian. Uh, I haven’t met everyone who’s lived here. I kind of avoid them if I can help it, but it’s been nice to have somewhere quiet to rest. But I don’t need anything special if you’re coming over. You’re special enough,” he suggested, not really thinking about it, but he was glad for a chance to see his friend. Hopefully Julian wouldn’t mind.
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Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2024 9:09 pm
Even though Cassidy had been teasing, actually hearing Riker say it made him walk with a little extra skip in his step. It wasn't uncommon for Cassidy to be smiling but there was something different about this one–it was softer than usual, and for a split second there was even something shy about it.
“Aw, you’re sweet when you want to be.” He hoped it wasn’t just whatever medicine he was taking.
“You should always tell me if you get hurt. I’ll always show up at the hospital for you. Or Julian’s room.” Which sounded nice than the cold, sterile, lifeless rooms they stuck you in. “They built you a chair?”
At first he thought it might have been a rocking chair but you didn’t use one of those to walk up the stairs. “How badly did you get hurt, Riker?”
He wanted to go over now! He’d wait for permission, or at least an address; he was pretty sure he could sweet talk any adult that liked Riker enough to let him stay. He knew Riker was a guest so he didn’t want to push his luck but even he was glad to know Riker was with responsible adults and not his crazy mother.
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