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 Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:44 pm
The drive home was uneventful. They were all exhausted from the battle they’d just faced, and while he hadn’t been there, Riker was sure Cassidy was just as exhausted with fear and wonder about what might happen.
Evan’s driving was very gentle, of course. Riker didn’t try talking to him and potentially distracting him. Instead, he held Cassidy’s hand and held still so as not to jostle him from his shoulder.
Only when the car had been shifted into park and turned off did Riker speak again.
“Julian’s probably still waiting up for us. Be careful of your step when you get out,” he warned, reaching over with his free hand to unbuckle Cassidy’s seatbelt for him, along with his own. “We’ve got food if you’re hungry. Or if you just want to go to sleep we can worry about an early breakfast.”
He cast a glance up at Evan through the mirror, silently asking if that was okay. Obviously he could fend for himself and get cereal or whatever, but he wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to rest after what they faced.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:46 pm
Evan met Riker’s eyes instinctively and nodded, because of course he was going to make sure Riker and his guest were taken care of.
“Did you get to eat dinner? I’m still a little uncertain about your whole timeline.” After Riker unbuttoned him, Cassidy got out–watched his step–and then held his hand out to help Riker up. He looked around, a bit surprised to see so much darkness.
He trusted that Riker had power–and he could see a warm glow from the room in the attic. When he pulled out his phone, there still wasn’t any service.
Evan didn’t exit the car just yet; he was still readjusting the seat to match where it had been before he’d borrowed it. Zac would probably be in a sour mood in the morning; Evan doubted he’d sleep much so he was going to do all he could to make things a little more bearable.
“I can’t promise I’ll be in the mood for an early breakfast. I haven’t been sleeping much the past few weeks I guess. Not because anything was wrong,” Cassidy was quick to assure, “I’ve just been binging Japanese game shows and staying up too late. But I bet I’ll sleep better with you and Julian there. Too bad the net’s down or I’d share some videos.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:47 pm
Riker had Cassidy’s bag over his shoulder, but looked up at him in alarm when he learned he’d been sleeping poorly. He frowned, eyebrows furrowed with concern.
“We can sleep in, then. Stay as close to me as you want,” he offered with a whisper as he leaned close to gently bump his forehead against Cassidy’s. “Maybe it’s better that there isn’t any internet so you can actually sleep.”
Not that he didn’t totally understand the whole staying up too late. He tried to be responsible since he knew Julian got anxious about so many things, so if he went to sleep, then Julian would likely feel more at ease.
He kept hold of Cassidy’s hand as he led him around to where Evan was getting out. He knew he didn’t have to, but he stayed beside the car to make sure Evan didn’t trip or lose his balance while getting out. It was late and he wouldn’t blame him if he was feeling uncoordinated.
“We didn’t really eat, no. I mean, earlier we did, but that was, like… I don’t know. Six or seven. But it wasn’t much.” He hadn’t wanted to eat too much before going to fight. He didn’t want to risk getting sick.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:48 pm
Evan smiled as Riker came by, and made sure to get out of the car carefully–less for himself and more for Riker. He didn’t want to be embarrassing in front of Riker’s…crush? He didn’t know what to call it but he wasn’t going to be too goofy, not when he knew the both of them had already had a long week. As much as he wanted to look up at the sky to make sure it wasn’t falling, he put all of his effort into acting as casual as possible instead.
“Why don’t I make some grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup? It’s fast and easy, and you two can go get settled.”
“Oh, that sounds delicious. Do you want any help in the kitchen?” Cassidy asked in a sweet voice, because he was trying to be polite even if he really didn’t want to be in the kitchen right now.
“No, no. That’s okay, you two go have fun. I’m sure Julian will be glad for the company. But thank you,” Evan said, obviously pleased that Riker had such polite, well-mannered friends.
Cassidy swung Riker’s hand, glad for the closeness. Maybe he’d sleep in. Maybe he’d be too distracted clinging to Riker. When Evan turned to the house to lead them in, Cassidy leaned in closer to Riker. “I bet I’ll sleep much better next to you than I would have all alone in my big, empty bed. But then, maybe we’ll stay up all night gossiping, instead. I guess we’ll have to see what Julian wants,” he supposed, but then–Julian was always rather obliging.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:49 pm
Riker tried not to cringe or make any face when Cassidy made his suggestions. “I can’t imagine what you’d have to gossip about,” he said a bit dryly, but quickly cleared his throat like he wasn’t just worried for selfish reasons. He had no idea what Cynthus might have made up about him. Sure, Cassidy and Rose wouldn’t let her say horrible things, but he was still a bit anxious about it.
He gave Cassidy’s hand a squeeze and continued following Evan to the door. Once they were inside with the door shut behind them and their shoes off, Riker took a step away from Cassidy so he could wrap his arms around Evan.
“Just a preview,” he promised, because he would hug him again before they went to sleep. Still, he wanted to give him a good squeeze. “Thank you for everything, Evan. You’re really wonderful and I’m so glad I have you,” he whispered to him. He knew he couldn’t hug him for too long. He didn’t want Cassidy thinking he didn’t want to hug him too. And he wanted to make sure Julian was okay. But Evan had waited for them for a long time and did all the driving and was exhausted too, but still wanted to make them something to eat.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:49 pm
Cassidy snorted, because he could gossip about anything–and if no one was giving him anything to work with, he could just make something up, anyway. He spent too much time indulging in conspiracy theories to take much seriously anyway.
“I’m sure you can imagine,” he teased, but left it at that because it seemed like Riker needed a minute with Evan.
Which, if he had to admit, was cute. Cassidy was jealous but for a second he didn’t know of who. Evan was better than Riker’s mom, in any case, so he busied himself with enthusiastically greeting Maxim when the dog came to investigate their arrival. The dog was happy to get any attention, though he angled himself so his wagging tail kept brushing against Evan and Riker while Cassidy scratched behind his ears.
Evan was quick to return Riker’s hug, and squeezed him tightly in return. “Me too,” he whispered back, short on words but only because he knew Riker probably didn’t want to make a big deal out of anything with Cassidy over. “Go get settled, I’ll bring the food up when I’m done, okay? Let me know if you need anything. Love you.”
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:50 pm
It was something that seemed so simple, and yet every time Riker heard those few words, he felt as though his heart skipped a beat and his stomach did flip flops. It was crazy to think that not too long ago he was hiding out in Evan’s food truck, just to get away from his brother. Now he couldn’t imagine his life without him.
“Thanks. Love you too, mom,” he said with another squeeze before pulling back and leaning down to give Maxim a good scratch on his butt.
“I’ll give Julian a heads up in case he wants any,” he said as he reached out to take Cassidy’s hand, and scooped up his bag once more so he could lead him towards the garage. The chair was still there, but with the power being mostly out, Riker didn’t want to put any strain on the generator by wasting power that didn’t need to be used.
“You doing alright?” he asked quietly, wanting to give Cassidy a chance to breathe if he needed it.
Which seemed entirely hypocritical because as soon as the door to the garage was shut behind them, Riker gently pushed Cassidy against the wall so he could steal a few quick kisses. He didn’t want to subject Julian to any of that, so he needed to get it out of his system now.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:50 pm
Of all the things Cassidy had been expecting, it wasn’t that. He made a soft, surprised noise when Riker pushed him against the wall–but really, Riker didn’t have to be that gentle with him–and returned the kiss enthusiastically.
Did Riker have any idea what he was doing, behaving like this when Julian was just right upstairs? He could have come down at any point in time? And Cassidy knew there were a ton of people that lived here, any one of them could have shown up and seen them.
And Riker had kissed him anyway, so Cassidy liked it all the more.
He managed to mumble a convincing ‘Mm-hmm’ into the kiss, and wondered how much he could eke out of Riker in the minute or two they might have had. Now that they’d started, he didn’t want to stop. He liked Julian! But now he had to figure out how he was supposed to pretend like he didn’t want to be down here making out with Riker.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:51 pm
Thankfully, it was still pretty dark in the house. Most of the others had gone to sleep. He hoped that Julian had settled in and dozed off or was reading or something to keep his mind off wondering about what Riker and Evan were doing downstairs and if he should probably go to check on them--
Ugh! He knew he shouldn’t be doing this! He shouldn’t be sneaking a hand under the hem of Cassidy’s shirt so he could place his hand against his side and lower back and both pull him closer while also keeping him against the wall. And he shouldn’t have continued to kiss him! For a little while longer! It wasn’t like they’d be kissing in the room once Julian was there. And it would take a little while for Evan to make their food.
He wasn’t sure if he could get away with dropping Cassidy’s bag without making a noise, so he begrudgingly held onto it. Next time he’d make sure he didn’t have anything preventing him from using his other hand. Especially since Cassidy seemed perfectly content.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:51 pm
Cassidy whispered another soft, encouraging ‘Mm-hmm,’ because he knew how easily it was for Riker to get into his head. And if his hands started to wander, it was only because he needed to get a better grip to support himself. And Riker’s skin was warm. And the air conditioning was working really hard, here! It was chilly! The garage was soooo insulated and good at keeping cool!
He could have come up with a thousand excuses but Cassidy didn’t need any of them.
He kissed Riker because he liked it, and because he wanted to, and he wished they could have had more time for just them.
Maxim had stayed with Evan and hadn’t yet come back through the doggy door, but he was aware of a faint movement on the stairs.
Had he known Riker had a cat? It was a big one, too. It had come trotting down the stairs like it owned the place, and it looked a bit judgmentally at them. But all cats did that, didn’t they? Cassidy couldn’t really afford to pay him much mind; he had to cram a whole night’s worth of kissing into whatever time they had.
But, the cat was persistent; Cassidy felt its tail tickle his leg as it nuzzled against Riker’s, like it was demanding to be noticed.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:51 pm
Riker hadn’t noticed Soleiyu until he nuzzled against his leg. From that, Riker jerked away from Cassidy, clearly startled. He stared at Soleiyu. Then how he’d very obviously had his hand under Cassidy’s shirt. And then his ears felt like they were on fire. And then his whole face.
“Don’t you dare--”
s**t, he couldn’t tell Soleiyu not to say anything!! Not with Cassidy right there. Ugh!!
“Come on,” he hissed, grabbing Cassidy’s hand and pretending like he definitely hadn’t been kissing him. He shot a glance over his shoulder at the Mauvian, but his expression couldn’t seem to make up its mind on what it wanted to express. He felt like he should glare at him. Or plead with him. A weird cross between anger and dread.
He missed kissing Cassidy already but-- No, he would just worry about it later.
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Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2025 6:52 pm
Oh, it was the cat that spooked Riker? Cassidy peered at it over Riker’s shoulder, one brow raised, but he didn’t release Riker’s hand as they approached the stairs.
Soleiyu watched Riker with something like amusement, but his tail twitched like he’d found something fun. He looked towards the workbench in the corner of his room. The table was a bit cluttered and it was clear that Soleiyu had some sort of business he meant to attend to. He didn’t much care who Riker was kissing, but it was for the best that he’d come down when he did because Zac’s voice carried from nearby.
Riker could thank him later, if he was so inclined. But, for now, Soleiyu had work to do.
“Riker,” Cassidy whispered, obviously in a better mood than before. “The next time we’re alone, do that again.”
The stairs were wide enough that they could head up together, but not so big that he thought he could sneak in another makeout session on the way up.
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