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 Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:13 am
Takes place after Christmas 2024. Follows More Ice and Snow, but with Sugar
Julian was always so easy to talk to. Riker thought he should feel guilty about going to hang out with Cassidy, but Julian was so sweet and encouraging that he felt a little less guilty than expected. Julian promised he wouldn’t be lonely, so Riker took his word for it. He would make it up to him, of course. But Julian also had a whole house of people, and Cassidy was alone.
And while Riker absolutely wanted to ask about bringing Julian along, he wasn’t completely oblivious to Cassidy’s crush. Or his own confused feelings on the subject.
Evan fussed over him, of course. But it was sweet. After being very awkwardly asked about it, Evan managed to find Riker a pair of swim shorts and plain tee shirt to wear, but Riker didn’t ask whose drawer they came from. Not Evan’s -- he was too small. Maybe a new swimsuit would be on the list for his birthday in about two months.
Of course, since cooking was mentioned, Evan sent him with a couple of aprons, just in case Cassidy needed one. Even though Riker mentioned how Cassidy cooks all the time. And Evan looked like he was already trying to decide if he wanted to take that comment as a challenge. Riker wouldn’t be surprised to come home to some really amazing French onion soup.
And, because it was so cold, Evan insisted on dropping him off. He waved at Evan in Zac’s car from the front door of Cassidy’s house just before he knocked. The fussing was sweet, but had to take some getting used to still.
He had on his new jacket and shoes, of course, but he’d also put on the burgundy cable-knit sweater that Cassidy had gifted him. A nice looking duffle bag over his shoulder held all the essentials he’d need.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:16 am
The drive to Cassidy’s took hardly any time at all but Evan was still glad to know where Riker would be just in case something happened. Though Riker was practically an adult, Evan still felt a certain sense of duty towards him. Yes, Riker could probably handle himself. Yes, he could probably get out of an issue if anything arose. Yes, he would probably have been just fine making his own way to Cassidy’s.
But probably wasn’t a guarantee.
He’d feel better knowing where Riker was, too. Naturally, he’d insisted that Riker call or text when he was ready to be picked up, and though it was probably entirely unnecessary, he’d also made sure Riker had a code word for emergencies. Evan had no problem coming up with some immediate reason why he needed Riker home, and better to have the blame on him than make Riker feel awkward around his friend.
Evan waved back but he waited until the front door opened. There were no other cars in the driveway–maybe in the garage? Oh, it didn’t matter, Riker was responsible (mostly). He and Cassidy probably weren’t going to get into weird occult stuff just because there wasn’t an adult around.
The snow had been shoveled from the door to the sidewalk and Christmas lights had been turned on. Plastic candy canes lined the path up the walkway and Christmas lights had been strung in various locations, though notably there were none on the roof and very few seemed to have been put up any higher than someone could have reached with a simple stepping stool. Large plastic ornaments had been scattered stratigally, and weatherproof garland lined various features of the house. The Christmas tree was lit up and visible through the window.
Cassidy had clearly been waiting by the front door; it opened only a few seconds after Riker knocked. His hair was in a high ponytail, still a little damp from his shower earlier. He was fresh-faced and glowing but eager to have Riker come inside. “Oh! I was right, that’s such a good look for you! Quick, come in! I’m almost done making coconut cookies. I’m just kidding, obviously. Is that your–oh, it’s Evan. Bye, Evan! I’ll take good care of him!”
He leaned out of the door and waved dramatically. Evan probably would have heard his shout even if he hadn’t had the window cracked. He waved back. “Have fun!” Evan answered, and now that he was certain this wasn’t secretly some human trafficking ring he could return home to get another scolding for borrowing Zac’s car. But really, what was he going to do about it? Hide the keys? Zac just liked to hear himself talk, anyway.
Cassidy waved until Evan started the car back up, and by then he hooked Riker’s arm with his own and tugged him inside.
Today, Cassidy was wearing black shorts–what a surprise–and thigh high red stockings and fluffy grey slippers. His red sweater mostly fit, though the sleeves were several inches too long. The pockets were oddly lumpy but it looked like he’d been picking things up just before Riker arrived.
“Look how much I cleaned since you were last here,” he demanded, beaming as he surveyed the now box-less hallways.
The home had a far more personal touch now, though it was hard to tell what next month would look like when Cassidy had to put away all of the Christmas decorations. Everything had a magazine-style quality layout, and if Riker had paid attention to any of Cassidy’s social media it was because he’d obviously been staging photoshoots for the last few weeks.
Still, everything looked more lived in, and just a little less lonely.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:20 am
When the door was opened, the first thought that filtered through his mind was that Cassidy looked stupidly pretty. And then the comment about coconut cookies had his flustered expression shifting quickly to exasperation. He spared another somewhat wary glance over his shoulder at Evan, but he wasn’t going to just leave now. Cassidy was teasing him, as always.
Riker allowed himself to be dragged into the house, but he was quick to use the toe of one shoe to nudge off the other, and then repeated the process with the other shoe once the first was loose. He didn’t want to be tracking snow and dirt everywhere, especially since Cassidy had taken the time to clean.
“I like the decorations you did. Did you do the tree by yourself, too?” he asked, peering around to see if he could view it from the entryway. And maybe catch a glimpse at how high the ornaments were hung.
“Is it fun? Decorating, I mean. I’ve never really been allowed to touch the decorations. I could break them or something,” he shrugged. He’d forced himself to not bother caring about decorating, so it was always interesting when he saw others get really into it. Like Evan and Julian decorating their home.
The house looked nice, though. He had a sinking suspicion that Cassidy had done most of the cleaning up.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:21 am
“No! It sucks, it’s the worst! All that effort and all you do is make a mess! And then you have to clean it all up by yourself, too! No, the best part of decorating is if someone else does it for you and you get to just appre–oh. Oh, wait. No, I mean it’s so much fun,” he said, changing his tune quickly and smiling very sweetly at Riker. “You don’t get to decorate at home? Come help me decorate, we can put on Christmas music. You can break as many decorations as you want. Just kidding, they’re all plastic. You have to work really hard to break the ornaments. I didn’t even break anything this year and I almost knocked over the whole tree.”
It didn’t show. The living room smelled like fresh pine but Cassidy saw no need to reveal that the tree was fake and he’d just acquired very convincing artificial fragrances.
“I did all of this by myself.” The tree, while somewhat decorated at the top, was somewhat noticeably more sparse. He’d made a good effort but he had skimped on the backside of the tree against the wall more than anywhere else. It was just angled well enough that it was easy to miss if you weren’t closely examining it.
“Dad liked it, I just wish he’d have stuck around more often to see it. Oh well, I’ll have to pack it up soon but I’m not really in a rush. And good thing, too! I’m glad you get to see it. Do you want to drop your things off in my room? Or anywhere, it’s going to be just us tonight so you don’t have to worry about making a good impression for my dad.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:22 am
Riker stared perplexedly at Cassidy for a few moments as he complained about decorating -- until Cassidy’s demeanor shifted. Riker snorted quietly in amusement and lowered the bag from his shoulder.
“No, I’ll ruin things if I touch it at home. It’s always been that way,” he shrugged, but continued to look around at the decorations that sucked for Cassidy to do. Especially all by himself.
“I can help you take things down if you’d like. When you’re ready,” he offered. “I bet Julian wouldn’t mind coming over to help, too.”
Ah, he hadn’t meant to mention Julian, but how could he not? Besides, Cassidy knew how close he was with Julian, so it was fine, right?
“I’ll put my stuff in your room,” he agreed, already heading that way once his shoes were safely out of the way of being tripped on.
He did pause for a moment, a bit flustered at the thought of Cassidy’s dad being home -- or not, in this case. He hadn’t thought about the possibility of him being there. Just assumed that he wouldn’t be. Good thing he wouldn’t.
The bag was dropped on the bed, but Riker opened it to pull out the aprons he’d been given, before removing his coat and attempting to pull his hair back.
“Uh… do you have an extra hair thing I could borrow? I’ve worn this one out. It barely holds my hair back any more,” he grimaced as he called over his shoulder to Cassidy, realizing he should probably just go buy some for himself and immediately felt guilty about it.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:22 am
“Oh, sure. I’ve got plenty. You want a hair tie or a scrunchie? Scrunchies are better for your hair. Here,” he said, sliding behind Riker so he could open a drawer at his dresser. Inside, a bloated collection of preening material, including a mountain of scattered scrunchies. He picked a few up, squinting like he thought he would find the perfect one to match.
“I like this one, take care of it,” he said, finally settling on the burgundy one. “I don’t have lice or anything, and I haven’t even worn this one yet. If you need any hair ties or scrunchies, just grab them out of here. I don’t have any juicy treasures hidden. There.”
He laughed as he offered the scrunchie.
Without missing a beat, he bounced back to their previous topic. “You’ll really come help me take things down? Your mom’s crazy if she thinks you’re going to ruin things just by touching them. Come touch my things, I’d appreciate it.” He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “Oh, Julian can come too,” he added, because even if he wanted to be jealous of how often Riker was thinking about him, he couldn’t really. It felt like being jealous of a puppy that was just trying to make friends with everyone. He wasn’t a monster. “You think he’s ever played air hockey? I want to see if I can bring out his competitive side. I can bring out yours easy enough, I know how to push your buttons. But him? Hmm.”
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:22 am
“There’s a lot of things Julian has never done,” Riker hummed thoughtfully as he graciously took the scrunchie with a quiet thanks. He gave Cassidy a small, exasperated look at the mention of not having lice, as if Riker had even thought about it.
“He’s kind of just stuck in survival mode, I think. If he’s too competitive, it could draw the ire of his opponent, who might decide to cause him harm. Or he might upset them and he’s afraid they won’t talk to him again. I think if he did get convinced to play, it should be without any real competition. Match his enthusiasm -- or, I mean… I guess you could be more enthusiastic so he’ll get into it too, but don’t go overboard or he might get too intimidated and freeze up.”
Oops, as expected, he managed to start rambling about Julian. In his defense, Cassidy had asked about him.
“You really think I’d dig through your stuff?” he scoffed, pulling his hair back into a ponytail to tie off with the borrowed, matching scrunchie. “Here, Evan gave me a couple aprons to borrow. I told him you probably have one already, but…” he paused to pull a couple out from his bag, although he paused to wonder if maybe he was being teased, before deciding Evan wouldn’t do that. They were plain, and went around the waist, but they had big pockets and were good for wiping hands in a pinch.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:22 am
Cassidy could have laughed; Riker was so predictable. He was always so eager to talk about Julian. Cassidy couldn’t really blame him; he’d opened the door willingly and expected as much. Julian was just a safe topic for Riker and even talking about him seemed to be relaxing for him.
Look at him, trying to be cool and pretend like he wasn’t just info-dumping about his BFF.
“Evan’s cute,” Cassidy decided. “I like how he looks after you. Makes sense that he’d just have extra aprons to pass out, what with the food truck and all.” That Cassidy still hadn’t been to. Yet.
“Those are some serious pockets. Oh,” he put his hands into his pockets and started removing his collection–most of which just seemed to be some random things he’d collected. Pens, chapstick, a few little ornaments and figures, and at least a handful of polished crystals. He’d had to roll up his sleeves just a bit to get them all and he deposited them into a drawer at his bedside table.
He was still wearing the bracelet Riker had gotten him.
“And we can match! Very cute. You wouldn’t dig through my stuff if you had the opportunity? Huh, I went through all that effort to hide the good stuff, that’s a little disappointing.”
As if Cassidy wasn’t almost entirely an open book anyway.
“Does Julian hide things?” he asked, since they were on the topic of it. “You don’t have to answer, I promise I won’t snoop in his room when I’m over. I think it’s cute that you know so much about him. If you really think it’s a bad idea to try and make him competitive, I won’t try. I don’t want to scare him away, I want him to have fun. The way you talk about him makes me want to look after him. But you’ve got that covered pretty well, huh?”
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:23 am
“Do you want me to dig through your stuff?” Riker sputtered a bark, a bit louder than he meant to, but Cassidy was so confusing sometimes! He teased about how he wasn’t hiding things in certain places, and then teased that he was disappointed that Riker wouldn’t look for the good stuff! What good stuff?? What were considered good things to find!
“I don’t know! I haven’t looked!” he sputtered again about Julian’s hypothetical hidden things, but it sounded like he was actively trying to not let his voice raise in exasperation. He wasn’t trying to get riled up, but part of him wondered if Cassidy was doing it on purpose. Especially after the comment about him knowing how to push his buttons.
“Are you doing that on purpose?” he heard himself ask out loud, clearly flustered, because calling Cassidy out on his teasing would definitely be a good idea. Probably not. “Trying to get me worked up?” he clarified because Cassidy could pull a do what on purpose? while giggling about it or something.
Riker was grateful that Cassidy didn’t have any intention of trying to scare Julian away though. He gave Cassidy a warning glance about teasing him for looking after Julian, but forced himself to calm down by rolling his shoulders back. He’d seen the bracelet Cassidy was wearing still. Then again, he was wearing the gift Cassidy got him.
“It’s not that hard to get to know him. You just have to sit with him and let him figure out what’s important to talk about. Well…” he paused with a frown. “I mean, I guess I’ve asked him some pretty pointed questions, but most of it is just letting him decide what he’s comfortable talking about. Some of it doesn’t require words.”
Shared experiences sometimes filled a whole room with sound that only those who knew would hear.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:23 am
At first, Cassidy only laughed. Riker was so easy to get flustered or riled up but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to admit his intentions so plainly. Was he doing it on purpose? Yes, of course. Riker was fun when he was worked up, and when he was so flustered his walls came down and sometimes he forgot to keep his secrets to himself.
But Cassidy didn’t want to clue him in on that, he might lose his edge if Riker knew what the game was.
“You’re a man of many layers Riker, aren’t you?”
There was plenty to do; they needed to get started on dinner, or maybe he could give Riker a real tour of the whole house. Instead, he flopped backwards onto his bed and crossed his legs as he sat there.
“It sounds like you know Julian really well. I bet you had to be really gentle and patient to get him to open up. What did you say you wanted to be when you grow up? Maybe you’d make a good therapist or something. A social worker. A guidance counsellor?”
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:23 am
Riker clicked his tongue as Cassidy laughed, eyes narrowed suspiciously at the non-answer. That was fine. Maybe he was just being paranoid.
He watched, just as suspiciously, as Cassidy sat on his bed. He was asking questions about what he wanted to be when he grew up.
Did he ever even think about it before? It felt as though his whole world was opening to him now that he was a Knight. Now he could actually think about what he wanted to do with his life. A musician? A chef? Maybe he would just be content helping Evan with his food truck until he was ready to retire.
He paused to think for a moment, suspicion melting away into curiosity as he watched Cassidy and sorted through his questions.
“Can you really picture me as a therapist?” he snorted quietly in amusement as he took a step, and then another closer to the bed so his knees were against the side of the mattress. He leaned closer to Cassidy, using one hand to balance himself, grateful that the bed wasn’t too low to the ground.
“Do you want to know what I did to get Julian to open up?” he hummed, leaning a bit closer still. But before he could give Cassidy a chance to respond, he reached out to dig his fingers into his side. His good side! Not the one that could still be hurting with the wrong amount of force! And not anything too rough. He didn’t want Cassidy to get hurt or upset with him. Although he supposed he should have given him a chance to move away from him first.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:24 am
Cassidy half screamed at the tickling and immediately thrashed as laughter consumed him. “No!” he blurted, but the giggles consumed him.
It wasn’t fair! He’d been so lost in Riker’s eyes. His heart had even moved into his throat. Riker was close enough that Cassidy probably could have just leaned up and kissed him, which is what he thought Riker was doing! Why else stand so seductively by the bedside and lean in so slowly!
No, he wasn’t allowed to tease him like that! Or, maybe Riker was catching on.
Either way, Cassidy didn’t stop laughing.
“You didn’t!” he challenged, but no matter where he moved, Riker’s fingers were digging into him and he couldn’t stop the laughter.
Well, if he couldn’t stop, he might as well drag Riker down with him.
He grabbed the front of Riker’s sweater and tugged him down on top of him. It wasn’t difficult, he knew Riker’s balance would be off when he was already leaning over so much. And, since Riker had decided tickling was a fair response, Cassidy dug his fingers into both sides, eager to repay him for this trickery two fold.
Unlike Julian, Cassidy was very competitive, and he was determined to get more laughter from Riker than Riker was getting from him.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:24 am
Riker had been laughing at how silly Cassidy was with his laughter. Completely caught off guard and giggling uncontrollably. It wasn’t Riker’s fault he thought it was cute. It was cute.
Except for when it was turned on him.
He let out a startled yelp and squawk of laughter as he was pulled down with Cassidy. Okay, well, Julian hadn’t tried tickling him back, so how was he supposed to know something like this could happen?
Face flushed and unable to stop laughing while Cassidy was digging his fingers into his sides like he was, Riker only had to take advantage of the fact that he was already pinning Cassidy down so he could grapple for both of his wrists. He knew Cassidy’s shoulder injury prevented him from being able to move his arm much. So instead of trying to get both hands above Cassidy’s head, he simply tried to pin them down by his sides. He would just use his knees holding down his sleeves to keep him from pulling away so easily.
“Oh, you think you’re clever,” he laughed, still leaning close as he tried to keep Cassidy’s wiggling fingers away from his sides.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:24 am
“I am clever!” Cassidy declared, because if he stretched just right, he could almost get Riker. He could probably even just wrap his legs around Riker and drag him closer, he certainly could have gotten his fingers back into Riker’s side then.
Oh, but Riker wasn’t ready for that, he’d probably turn so red he’d pass out.
Riker didn’t realize–how could he–that this was even better than winning a tickling match. He had Riker right where he wanted him. He squirmed some, half heartedly and still enjoying himself. Riker had a good grip on his wrists but he was noticeably being gentle.
Briefly, Cassidy thought he could have acted up–probably started whining and moping about oh, his shoulder!, or some other ailment. Maybe these long sleeves were a bad idea.
Or, maybe they were a good idea.
“Raincheck!” he declared suddenly, and instead of trying to tickle Riker he just half-sat up so he could kiss his chin.
It could have been his lips. Cassidy wanted it to be his lips.
But, maybe Riker hadn’t had his first kiss yet. Maybe he was saving it for someone special.
Cassidy wouldn’t steal that from him.
…But he would harass him, and he was so certain that Riker would be stunned from the first one that he kissed his nose, and then went for his cheeks, determined to get as many in as he could before Riker came to his senses.
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Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2025 8:25 am
Raincheck?
The attempt at tickling, or preventing himself from being tickled, immediately ceased when his brain short circuited as Cassidy leaned up to kiss his chin.
Raincheck? Oh, the suggestion that Cassidy wanted to kiss his cheek? But he kissed his ch-- oh, now his nose. And then his--
Riker blinked and drew back to stop the onslaught of kisses on his face, which burned red. His heart was nearly beating out of his chest. And Cassidy looked so bright and giddy. Because he was teasing him? Why would he kiss him if he was teasing? Was it because he actually wanted to?
He released Cassidy’s wrists, lifting his hands instead to place both against Cassidy’s face. And then he kissed him. Before his thoughts could catch up to what he was doing. He knew it wasn’t any good. He’d never kissed anyone before. It was probably too harsh, too desperate, too confused and uncertain.
But despite all of Cassidy’s teasing, he never seemed to give up on trying to get Riker’s attention. And maybe Riker had just been waiting for an excuse.
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