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 Posted: Sun May 11, 2025 8:42 pm
Riker knew it would be different this time. Evan was nothing like his mother. He was thoughtful and kind and he worried about him. He took him in, even before all of this. He let Riker stay with him on nights he couldn’t bring himself to crawl home.
And yet he always tried going home in the end. He always hoped that his mother would open her arms to embrace him. To hug him like she hugged Beckett. To ruffle his hair and fuss over his clothes and tell him how he was getting so tall and handsome.
She always took Beckett’s cards and gifts. Even when he didn’t seem like he really cared to give them. He’d roll his eyes and tell her she was being annoying, and yet she still doted on him.
Riker wanted that. Desperately. He tried more elaborate cards or handcrafted gifts. He got mocked and scoffed at for them. And then, when he’d been broken enough to not bother, he was berated for not getting anything for the one person keeping a roof over his head and his mouth fed.
He felt stupid, now that he looked at the little bag he’d put together. Evan said before that he was okay with being called Riker’s mom, but what if he was just saying that--
Riker groaned and squeezed his eyes shut to stop his thoughts from going that direction. He knew Julian was suffering, too. He could see it in his friend’s eyes how he desperately yearned for something he didn’t have. Riker didn’t want to rub his fortune in his best friend’s face. He was almost tempted to just leave the card on the kitchen counter for Evan, since he’d be the first one in the kitchen in the morning anyway.
In fact, that was what Riker decided he would do--
If Evan wasn’t still in the kitchen anyway, despite the late hour.
“Oh,” he mumbled, awkwardly holding the plain brown paper bag at his side. “Uh… you’re still up. Um-- wait, I mean. You know. I didn’t get to say it before but. Happy Mother's day.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2025 11:08 pm
Evan had already cleaned up from dinner, and he’d gotten a bit ready for breakfast the next morning. He knew he didn’t have to; everyone would have been fine with cereal, or toast, or whatever. The boys had school tomorrow and Evan didn’t have to cook for them, but it was going to be a miserable, rainy day so he’d already decided he wanted to do something nice.
But that wasn’t why he was still up. When Riker entered, he looked as if he’d been caught red handed. It wasn’t uncommon for him to be struck with random inspiration, and sometimes he just couldn’t help himself and had to act on it quickly.
He had a few chopped peppers still on the counter, a few partial blocks of cheese, and a notebook. Something soupy was bubbling on the back burner.
“Huh?” he asked, like things hadn’t entirely clicked. He’d been very much in the zone and had to snap back into reality, but even in surprise, he still looked excited to see Riker. “Oh, Happy Mother’s day,” he repeated, although with a bit of confusion in his voice. “You’re still up, too? It’s so late, you have school tomorrow.”
He needed to stir the pot on the stove but opened one arm to invite Riker in for a hug.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:59 pm
He’d been hoping to just leave his gift for Evan to find, but now that he was obviously there, there was no hiding that he was up to something.
He could have just pretended like he changed his mind, but. No, Evan was different. He wouldn’t make him feel bad.
So he took the necessary steps forward so he could wrap an arm around Evan, although he was careful not to knock him into the stove or get in his way.
“Yeah, well… it’s getting close to the end of the school year, so there probably isn’t much to pay attention to.”
Except all the reviews for the end of year exams.
“What are you doing up so late?”
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:00 pm
Evan’s eyes again briefly drifted to the brown paper back but Riker wasn’t trying to hide it so it probably wasn’t drugs. He squeezed Riker closer.
“Really? I feel like that was when everything got busiest,” But maybe things had changed since he was in school, it had been a while. He didn’t think he was particularly smart but he was pretty sure Julian had mentioned being stressed about his grades and end of the year things.
“I actually tried to go to bed already,” Evan said, eyes once more on the pot. He stirred it a little faster now that Riker was here, even though he knew it wouldn’t make it cook any quicker. “But I had an idea I wanted to try. It’s a new recipe. Well–no, it’s an old recipe, but it’s an old recipe I couldn’t get right before. So I thought I figured out how to make it work. I’ve been trying for years but it never comes out how I wanted and then I had this idea and I had to know. So I guess you could just say ‘mania’ is keeping me up.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:01 pm
Riker forced an awkward laugh while trying not to make a guilty expression, because Evan was absolutely right, but he didn’t want to be called out for basically making up being not busy just because he wasn’t really in the mood to talk about school. It was complicated. School itself was fine, but the situation with Énna…
“I bet it’ll come out great. I mean, even if it’s not exactly what you wanted, you always make everything delicious,” Riker insisted as he leaned down to rest his chin on Evan’s shoulder, giving him another little squeeze as he stalled.
Not that Evan would reject him. He took a broken cup, after all.
Riker sighed, and held up the bag to offer.
“Maybe this will be useful. Or it might just be too tacky,” he grimaced, figuring it was best to just rip the bandaid off.
“We made some ceramics in art class. Uh… I figured you might like a spoon holder.”
It was a flat dish with a small indent where a spoon handle could rest without rolling off. It was a pretty basic design, except it was clear that Riker had tried painting a picture of Maxim with the glaze. Unfortunately it bled a little, so it was a little sloppy. He never claimed to be the best artist. Or an artist at all.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:01 pm
Evan tilted his head at first, initially just curious, and then immediately delighted. “Is that Maxim?” he blurted. The dog lifted his head eagerly, excitedly, but Evan waved his hand as if the dog would understand the obscure gesture.
“You made this?” he asked, now cradling it in his hands before half-turning so he could better see Riker. “It’s so good! This is so thoughtful!”
He could feel the minor imperfections where clay or glaze had built up so it wasn’t quite smooth. The little indent of fingerprints, where Riker had pressed himself into his art. Maxim’s face might have bled a bit but Evan would swear he could see the painstaking attention to detail in each brush stroke.
Evan didn’t understand art much, but then, he never spent much time looking at it, either.
This was the most beautiful spoon holder in the world.
“I love it,” he said decisively. “This is perfect.”
With one arm, he ushered Riker back to him, eager to give him a tight squeeze. He stood on his tiptoes to put more of himself into the hug. “You’re so good to me, Riker.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:01 pm
Riker mumbled quietly, sheepishly, as he leaned down to give Evan a better hug. His ears were burning, as were his cheeks. He was happy about the gift, but he’d been conditioned very well to expect the worst.
“Yeah, I mean, they didn’t have the right color for him. I was worried about mixing too many colors and making it look like mud. It’s nothing fancy. Someone else was making one. I’d never heard of it before, but I guess their mom likes to cook a lot too, so, uh… I kinda stole the idea. Sorry.”
He didn’t want the hug to end. It was so stupid. Such a simple gesture was enough to melt away years of self loathing. It helped that Evan sounded so cheerful, so excited. So sincere.
Awkwardly, Riker lifted a hand to rub at his face. “Whatever you’re cooking is making my eyes water,” he let out a quiet laugh, even as his shoulders curled a little with self consciousness. He was still trying to navigate through this new life, and he knew it wasn’t easy for Evan, either. Or for Julian.
“Uh, so yeah. I figured it might be useful.” Because if it was useful, it might stay out of the trash longer.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:01 pm
“It’s the onion,” Evan lied, if only to give Riker an excuse for something almost like honesty. He could have held Riker like that for an hour. Riker was growing so big and tall. Evan wouldn’t have wished for him to stay small, but he wished he was just a little taller, so he could have gathered Riker into his arms and held him with arms that enveloped him completely.
“Thank you, Riker. I love it," he repeated, only so firm that Riker might second guess if he wanted to keep trying to find ways to minimize the effort he’d put into it. It didn’t matter if he’d never heard of one before, if he ‘stole’ the idea. Maxim looked perfect. Maybe the colors weren’t perfect but the heart of it was.
“I’m going to use this so much. I’m going to leave it out so I can see it every time I come into the kitchen,” he decided. Evan needed a clean kitchen; everything needed to be perfectly in place or he started getting antsy.
Sometimes, rarely, things moved around.
Without any hesitation, he picked a spot on the counter. There was no debate, no contemplation. Evan knew his kitchen like the back of his hand. He put it somewhere easy to reach, somewhere easy to see.
He put it somewhere he could treasure it, in presence and in purpose.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 7:01 pm
Riker watched a bit shyly as Evan so eagerly placed the spoon holder on the counter. It was where it could be easily accessed, easily seen, easily used. He didn’t know what was more difficult to fight back -- the smile that tugged at his lips, or the tears that threatened to pool in his eyes, or his desire to hug Evan tighter.
In the end, he didn’t fight wanting to give Evan another hug. He wrapped his arms around him and gave him a squeeze, burying his face against his shoulder.
“You mean so much to me. I love you,” he mumbled, voice muffled against him. He was happy to be given a chance by Evan. Happy to have met him and brought into his life. There were times that Riker still struggled with what he deserved and what was being given to him, but with how Evan gave so openly and freely, it was more and more difficult to deny.
He felt silly, of course. He wasn’t that much younger than Evan, but still young enough that Evan was very much an adult compared to him. He hoped no one would ever give Evan a hard time about taking care of him.
Especially since Riker never wanted to leave him. Evan was already a thousand times better than any parent Riker could have dreamed of.
Fin!
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