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Wait, what?
River clutched his arm, attempting to telegraph that this would be a grave error.
"Er, should we have safety goggles or other protective face coverings?" Cassidy asked.
"No," Charlie said. "Because you’re not doing it. "
Relief coursed through River—and through Cassidy if the relaxation of all his muscles was any indication.
"Babe," Charlie said to Rye gently. "You’re not swinging a kitchen knife at a glass bottle six inches from someone’s hand. Yesterday you fell out of the shower."
"How, though?" Simon asked softly. Jack snickered.
Rye sniffed. "I’m not sure why you’d bring that up. Fine, I’ll hold it myself."
Charlie held his hands up in resignation and stepped away. Rye wasn’t unreasonable, but once he got an idea in his head it would be seen to fruition.
Cassidy reached for River’s hand and squeezed it. Between them, though new, was the sense that neither were experiencing this moment alone; they were connected. River had always wondered what it would feel like to have that, and now that they did, they could drop a line to their past self that it felt fucking fantastic.
Rye played around with the grip on the bottle and the knife for a moment and while he was looking down, the group collectively took several steps away from him.
"Oh, this is actually easier anyway. Okay!"
Rye waggled his eyebrows at the group. Then he guided the knife along the bottle to hit the neck and, like magic, the top of the bottle fell to the floor, cork inside it.
There was a collective gasp.
"Holy shit, you cut open the champagne with a knife," Jack said unnecessarily.
Rye accepted their accolades and their apologies for doubting him gracefully, then turned to River and made the cross-eyed, tongue lolling face that River thought of as his Good thing that went my way cuz I was majorly bluffing face. River gave him a thumbs up turned away, grimacing.
Their group was close, but River hadn’t worried about bringing Cassidy into the fold because he got along so well with people. (They hadn’t realized what they’d need to worry about would actually be a knife-wielding Rye.) Cassidy was at ease with everyone and made them feel at ease in return. It was one of the things River liked about him so much.
"What’s got you blushing?" Simon asked, taking up his usual party post of leaning against the wall with River.
River’s hands flew to their cheeks.
"Shut up."
They stood in companionable silence, gazing at their friends.
"What do you think?" River asked quietly.
Simon didn’t talk much in group settings, which meant he always noticed more than everyone else.
"He reminds me of an eager kid, really open and unselfconscious. But it’s tempered by confidence."
"Maybe too much confidence if he’s volunteering to get his hand chopped off," River grumbled, but they were mostly kidding.
"He wanted us to like him," Simon said.
"Er, did it work?" River asked.
"I’d say so."
"There are a truly delicious number of queers in this town," Rye said, slinging his arm over River’s shoulder.
Rye had taken a chance on River when they needed it the most, given them a job and a place to live, and trusted them. They spent a lot of time together at the shelter. If he didn’t like Cassidy, it would really suck.
"So what do you think?" River asked, at the same time as Rye said, "I like your boyfriend."
"Oh, thank god," River said.
"Thank god, what?" asked Jack, with a kiss to Simon’s cheek.
"That I like Cassidy," Rye said.
Jack nodded dispassionately. "He hasn’t annoyed me yet."
"Everything annoys you," Charlie said, coming up behind his brother. "Who’s not annoying you?"
"Cassidy."
"I like him," Charlie said, and his single nod had the gravitas of a gavel strike.
River slumped against the wall in relief.
"Like who?" Bram asked, joining the huddle.
"Cassidy," Charlie said.
"He seems great. I can’t wait to ask what kind of tools he uses in his work. Especially to cut bone."
"I heard 'cut bone' and was instantly more interested in this conversation," Wes said, nodding to everyone. "What bone are we cutting?"
"Animal bone," Bram explained.
"Bone is high in phosphorous," said Wes. "Aids in dinoflagellate growth, which—"
"Creates bioluminescence!" everyone chorused.
"Do I really talk about it that much?" Wes muttered.
"Yes," Zachary said. "As you should. It is your passion." He turned to River. "Thank you for bringing me Cassidy. I have an appointment to visit his workshop. I’m quite interested."
River grinned. "You’re welcome. I did it just for you."
They left the party to a chorus of well wishes, snow squeaking crisp beneath their shoes.
"I love the smell of this kind of snow," River said, climbing into Cassidy’s truck.
Cassidy grinned. "Me too. Reminds me of sledding as a kid and wiping out with my face in the snow."
They drove slowly through the dark streets of Garnet Run. It was late and empty and the snow threw a muffler over the world.
Cassidy slid his hand onto River’s thigh and squeezed gently.
