Adventures in Dating - 5. Explaining things

It became their tradition. Once Riley was done training with the tennis ball machine and Chase was done tinkering with his skateboard, the two would lay on the couch in the base with each other and just hold hands and enjoy the comfort each could get from the other.

Today the two were on the couch with Chase leaning back and Riley resting his head on Chase’s lap. The two were holding hands and resting their hands on Riley’s chest, feeling his chest rise and fall with his steady breathing. Chase reached down to wipe the sweat from Riley’s forehead when they heard someone cough at the other side of the room.

Chase turned around and Riley got up to see who was there, and both weren’t too surprised to see Koda looking back at them. Koda technically lived in the base, so they were sort of intruding in his private space, but he looked confused more than annoyed.

“Why… hold hands?” Koda asked. His English was always improving, but he still needed time to think about what words he was going to use.

Riley gestured at their hands with his free hand and tried to explain. “Holding hands is a way for us to show our feelings for each other. It’s a small thing, but feeling each other’s warmth helps us realize that what we feel is real and matters.”

“It’s just a way of showing that we care about each other and want to be around each other, sort of like how we high five the other Rangers.” Chase continued, hoping the explanation was helping make sense of it all.

Koda continued looking at the two boys on the couch. “You hold hands with each other, why not the others?”

Chase and Riley looked at each other and then back at Koda. Chase answered first.

“It’s mostly something you do with the person you love. Not that we don’t love everyone on the team because of course we do, but it’s different between Riley and I.”

“It’s like how you see Shelby and Tyler act differently towards each other than they do with us. They touch each other in different ways to express their feelings for each other. For them, it’s more about romantic love, just like it is with me and Chase. We care about you and the rest of the team in a different way, which doesn’t make it worse or better, just different.”

Koda nodded, thinking that he understood. He started to walk towards his cave, but then turned around and looked back at the two boys.

“Why does Tyler and Shelby hold hands in public, but not Chase and Riley?”

Riley looked sad at this, and Chase brushed some of the hair away from his face before responding.

“Well mate, Tyler and Shelby do that because they’re comfortable showing others how they feel about each other. Riley and I… Riley’s not as comfortable doing that.”

“When I grew up on the ranch, there weren’t a lot of other people around, and the ones that did weren’t always the most tolerant. I got used to the idea that if I showed how I felt about another boy that it wouldn’t be accepted, which is still true to some degree.”

Chase replied again. “We don’t show any of our feelings in public because there’s still a lot of people in the world who think two boys or two girls falling in love is a bad thing. Riley doesn’t feel safe doing that, and I don’t want to pressure him into doing something that makes him worried for our safety. We have enough things trying to kill us with Sledge’s monsters.”

Koda sat on the floor next to the couch and had more questions. “Why different? Shelby and Tyler feel the same as Chase and Riley, don’t they?”

“We do, but some people’s beliefs tell them that it’s wrong, and people can be very passionate about what they believe in.” Riley replied.

Riley sat up straighter on the couch and Chase watched him intently, checking to make sure he was okay. Once they were both settled again, they looked back at Koda who seemed to be lost in thought.

Chase looked back to Koda and started talking again. “At the end of the day, we don’t have to do any of that stuff in public. It’d be nice to do so and not have to worry, but we just prefer not being obvious in public… it makes the moments we have like these so much more special for us because they’re when we can show how we feel without worrying about who’s going to see us and comment about it.”

Koda nodded. “If Chase and Riley are happy, then I am happy.” He smiled at both boys and then walked back to his cave to give them some privacy.

Once Koda was gone, the two remaining Rangers looked at each other and hugged tight. That had been a tough conversation for Riley, and Chase knew he needed something to remind him that they were okay and going to keep being okay.

Chase laid down and pulled Riley on top of him, planting little kisses on the boy’s neck and face. Riley flushed a bit and buried his head into Chase’s shoulder, holding tight and nuzzling into the black sweater that concealed Chase’s muscled form.

“Thanks Hotshot. That was a lot harder than I thought it would be. I mean, we had to have known Koda would be asking sooner or later, and I’m still sorta wondering when Ivan’s going to come in with his thoughts about us, but that could have been worse. Still, thanks, that would have been a much harder conversation without you there.”

“You know it Baby Raptor. I wish we could be more public, but you know the area better than me and maybe one day it won’t be such an issue anymore. You know that people’s minds are being changed day by day.”

“Maybe…” Riley replied, unsure.

“Come on, let’s go back home, we can watch a movie and see what else happens with our evening. Koda’s got to want the place to himself again, and we could do with some private time as well.” Chase said with a wink.

Both boys got up and left the base, hand in hand. They knew that they’d have to separate once they left the base and museum, so they prolonged their contact as much as possible. When they got back home, they crawled into bed and cuddled until they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next day when the two boys were on shift with Koda at Dino Bites, they exchanged knowing glances throughout the shift. Koda saw how they interacted and smiled to himself. Even though he knew they weren’t able to do and say the things they wanted to say in public, they seemed to have found a way to send the messages to each other with their smiles and the way they looked at each other.

He wondered if anyone else could see how Chase and Riley looked at each other, and decided that there wasn’t anything wrong with it. They were his friends; that was what mattered to him.

At the end of the shift Chase and Riley tracked Koda down and asked if he was okay from their conversation the previous day.

“You show you care without words. Koda is happy to see you can show your feelings without others knowing. Have a good day.”

Koda headed back to the base and both boys decided to enjoy their evening off, happy that they were able to explain things to their friend without making things confusing or awkward for anyone. Riley smiled, thinking that if they could teach Koda that what happened between two people wasn’t wrong, then maybe there was some hope for the rest of the world. Chase smiled seeing that Riley was more upbeat and happy than he had been after their last chat with Koda, and hoped that this would change his outlook about how gay people are treated and what would happen if they were to show each other affection in public.

As they enjoyed their pizza dinner, they both realized no one was paying any attention to them in the restaurant, even though it was pretty obvious they were together and not just as friends. They ate their meal in companionable silence and enjoyed this new feeling of liberation that they were both starting to feel, and returned home happier than both had been since they started dating.

As they were getting ready for bed, Riley turned over and looked Chase in the eyes. “Good night Chase, I love you.”

Chase hadn’t expected that. He knew how Riley felt and Chase felt the same way, but no one had ever said those words yet. Chase replied right away. “Love you too Riley. Have a good night.”

They both kissed each other, and rolled onto their sides to go to sleep, content with the world.