ethereal : it oneshots

rock the boat

pairing: stozier

"no, it's fine, you just have to balance your weight, staniel," richie said, grabbing stanley's hand to help him. stanley took a wide step from the pier onto the canoe, gripping richie's hand tight.

"why the fuck am i doing this, fuck, jesus," stanley murmured, bringing his other foot into the canoe, it rocking back and forth beneath his feet. richie's other hand stabilized stanley by holding his waist.

"you're fine, sit down, i promise," richie said, waiting for stanley to crouch down. slowly, richie retreated to his side of the canoe, sitting down and grabbing the oars.

richie started to paddle, moving them away from the pier.

"good god, i hate this. i'm going to kill bill with my own two hands," stanley slowly grabbed the two oars, cautiously trying to paddle. stanley really wasn't doing much in way of moving the canoe, it was mostly richie doing all the work.

"what are you afraid of, anyway?" richie asked. richie looked down at the water, splashing beneath the oar and glittering beneath the sun. it looked quite pretty. he glanced up at stanley. 

"i don't even know, i just..." stanley shuddered, "not to mention jellyfish, and crabs, and i hate the feeling of kelp, it's just horrifying. it never ends! no one has ever seen the whole bottom of the ocean!" stanley gave up on rowing, seeing that it really hindered richie rather than helping him. and as a plus, it gave him a moment to admire richie's forearms. 

"well, we aren't in the ocean, stan, we're in a lake, so it's okay. there aren't jellyfish here, and there's very minimal kelp. can't promise the crabs, but i'll fight them off for you." richie said. 

"hello-ooh!! how's it going?" beverly said, paddling over with ben in tow, their canoe coming up to the side of richie and stanley.

"good, good, i'm being the brawns as always," richie replied, beverly grinning. 

"how are you feeling, stan?" ben asked, forever the concerned one. he knew of stanley's fear of the water. 

"i feel a little like i'm going to throw up, but it's fine. i will be fine." stanley scuffed his shoe lightly against the bottom of the canoe. he looked up at richie, who was smiling at him. richie, who had already jumped into the water earlier, had wet hair, and stanley was watching it curl in real time. as the sun hit it, it slowly dried, frizzing and curling.

"okay. well, have fun! i'm going to go annoy birthday boy bill." beverly said, the two of them rowing away. 

richie stopped rowing, placing the oars inside of the canoe, dripping water into the interior. "listen, we'll go back to the land i'll get your ass on the beach, and you'll be alright. does that work?" he asked, stanley nodding.

"thanks," stanley said, extremely appreciative of richie's kindness. 

richie may have sounded harsh, but stanley could read his tone unlike anyone else. he was being quite nice at the moment.

the two moved along the water with the current, floating back from where they came from. it was peaceful, and stanley's nausea disappeared. richie reached his hands out, and stanley took them lightly. richie rubbed a thumb on stanley's hand. 

richie was well aware that he wasn't hiding his little crush on stanley very well. but stanley didn't seem to be minding it very much, so he figured it was fine. 

speaking of, richie swore he saw stanley glance down at his lips. so in fairness, richie looked at stanley's lips as well.

god, he wanted to kiss him.

"um, rich...?" stanley started, slowly letting go of richie's hands.

"what's up?"

stanley leaned forward suddenly, the canoe rocking as he put his lips on richie's. stanley's hands grabbed onto richie violently and the canoe flipped to one side.

just before they hit the water, richie let out the loudest laugh possible.