AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Of course," Cassidy said.
He didn’t even want to contemplate that anyone had not treated River the way they asked to be treated because then he’d end up in jail.
"Good night," River whispered.
"Good night, River. This was the best date of my life."
River nestled closer and Cassidy was almost asleep when they heard a soft, "Mine too."
Cassidy was wrenched from a dream into a nightmare. At least, that’s what it felt like was happening, since he’d been awakened by some kind of horrible monster with claws and fangs and glowing eyes.
"God damn it, not my fucking neck!"
"What? How? Who?" Cassidy blurted, flailing to try and find the offending beast and slay it before it could harm River further.
He connected with something and heard an "Oof."
"Shit, River?"
The fairy lights came on and illuminated a scene rather different from the gnashing bloodbath Cassidy had expected. A single medium-sized cat was sprawled on River. It was purring louder than Cassidy had known it was possible for a cat to purr, and trying to make biscuits on River’s throat.
"Soooo," River said. "I forgot to tell you something."
They sat up and scooped the cat—was it Cactus Face?—into their arms like a baby. The purring intensified.
River turned to Cassidy with the most adorable Eep face and Cassidy melted. River could say that they had a kink where they loved being scratched by cats in the middle of the night and Cassidy would nod and be like, Sounds great, babe and go back to sleep.
"There’s this tunnel—would you call it a tunnel? Maybe it’s more of a tube. Anyway."
They pointed to the wall where Cassidy realized that what he’d thought was a framed painting of a black circle on a field of white was actually a picture frame hung around a circular opening in the wall itself.
"It goes from downstairs and lets the cats come visit me. And Cactus Face does this cute thing where sometimes she’ll come sleep on my chest and cuddle. But recently she’s started making biscuits on my neck and I guess she was startled when she got on the bed and you were there and she probably just freaked out. Sorry."
If Cactus Face—yay, he’d been right—had been surprised to find him there, did that mean River didn’t bring many people back here? Or brought them back but didn’t invite them to stay the night?
That was not the point so Cassidy dragged his mind back to reality.
"That sounds uncomfortable," he said.
"It’s not my favorite place to be stomped on," they said. Then, "Litotes! I knew I’d remember."
"Uh."
"The term for when you understate something by saying the opposite. I was trying to remember it at Craftmas. Anyway, yeah. I don’t know why she does it. Sorry she freaked you out."
"It’s okay, I wasn’t that freaked out."
River raised an eyebrow. In their arms, Cactus Face also seemed to raise an eyebrow, then jumped down onto the bed.
"I thought you were being torn apart by Cenobites or consumed by fire ants or something," River said, grinning.
"Ahh."
River’s kiss was an instant balm. He slid his fingers into their soft hair and massaged their scalp.
"Mmm," River murmured and they both lay down.
Cactus Face yawned, turned in a circle twice, then plopped down between River and Cassidy.
"Aww," Cassidy said. "She wants to be between us."
It was extremely adorable and also Cassidy dearly wanted to yeet her out of bed so that he could pull River close, stroke their hair and their back and kiss their lips. But before he could do anything but drop a hand on Cactus Face’s soft fluff, he sank into blissful sleep.
CHAPTER 23
River
Rye and Charlie’s holiday party the next week started off with a bang when Rye explained to everyone that he’d seen a tutorial about how to cut open champagne with a sword and that he was going to try it.
"Do you have a sword?" Jack asked, sounding impressed.
"No," Charlie answered for him. Then he turned to his boyfriend. "Wait, do you?"
"No, but I’ve got a knife and a knife is basically a sword, only shorter."
"I don’t think that’s necessarily true," Zachary protested, but Rye had already run to get the champagne. He turned to the rest of the group and explained, "There’s a practice called sabering that’s done with a knife, though. It’s often performed for the awe of people who are dazzled by things like opening bottles, I believe."
Wes laughed at that and Bram seemed genuinely interested, gazing at his boyfriend tenderly.
"Okay, who wants to hold the bottle for me?" Rye asked, returning with a bottle held aloft. His eyes were bright with excitement as he scanned the room.
River exchanged dubious glances with everyone. They adored Rye and believed he could do almost anything he put his mind to. But he wasn’t what they’d call coordinated.
When no one volunteered, Cassidy cleared his throat.
"I guess I will?"
