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“You’ve never gone camping, really?” Severide asks as they pack for their weekend away. “Or gone fishing?”
Connor shuffles and shrugs. “My father wasn’t exactly a camping type man.”
“Neither was mine,” Casey offers. “The first time I went camping was with this one.”
He jerks his thumb at Severide, who throws a nearby pillow at him.
“I had to teach you how to not be such a city boy,” Severide retorts. Then, he looks at Connor and grins. “Don’t worry, I can do the same for you.”
“I don’t know…” Connor says, uncertainly. “Maybe if this is your thing – like for the two of you –”
“Connor,” Casey says, moving over to him and putting an arm around his shoulders. “You’re in this relationship, too. Even if this is the first time for you, doesn’t mean you don’t automatically get invited to our oh-so-fun dates now. That’s how it works. We’re not about to do dates without you.”
Severide smiles as he watches Connor melt a little at the assurance. It’s new … this thing with the three of them, and frankly, he and Casey had both been surprised when one drink too many had led to a confession that none of them had been expecting, but he’s happy with how easy they’ve melded into a three-person relationship.
“You’re right, it’s just – sometimes I worry that I’m invading or something.”
“You can’t invade something you’re invited into,” Casey assures him, running a hand through his dark hair, Connor revels at the reassuring feeling. “And we want you around.”
Connor looks between them, his eyes conveying the slight worry. “If you’re sure?”
“We are,” Severide assures him. “Now, pack or we’re not going to get to enjoy camping all that much by the time we get up there.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll pack, but you’re not allowed to tease me if I say something stupid.”
Severide shares a mischievous look with Casey. “We promise not to tease you.”
“Thank you.”
“Too much,” Casey adds with a grin.
Connor rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling, and Severide knows this is going to be fun.
***
Severide smiles as he and Casey lays out the blankets and sleeping bags. It’s a brilliantly clear night perfect for stargazing and he cannot wait to tease Connor about how he probably knows none of the stars in the sky right now (it’s something he’d delightedly done with Casey his first time up here, too).
Severide can’t resist showing off sometimes.
Connor’s looking a bit confused though.
“Uh, are we… sleeping out here?” Connor questions.
“Of course,” Casey states.
“But there’s a bed … in the cabin, isn’t there?” he asks, uncertainly.
“There is, but Sev really likes stargazing and it’s a perfect night for it,” Casey offers as he moves to settle into his sleeping bag on the right.
They’d already agreed to put Connor in the middle so he would feel intentionally included. Casey taps the middle sleeping bag. “This one’s yours. This is going to be fun, just wait.”
Connor glances at Severide, who grins and kisses his cheek.
“Trust us, it’s going to be fun.”
“If you say so.”
***
It is fun, Severide thinks as Connor stutters through trying to name the constellations in the sky and counter the made-up stories that he and Casey toss back and forth.
“That doesn’t look like a fish,” Connor states. “Are you sure that you’re not just pretending to know these constellations and actually lying to me?”
“We’ve been coming up here for years,” Casey retorts. “We know the stars by now.”
“Maybe you don’t,” Connor counters. “Maybe, Kelly lied to you about the constellations, and you never thought to verify them.”
Severide laughs as Casey looks over Connor’s head at him. “You know that does sound like you.”
“Would I lie to you?” Severide asks, teasingly, because yes, he would. He does it a lot actually. He loves messing with the both of them.
“Pretty sure that story you told about the bear was a lie,” Connor offers.
“Ursa Major really is a bear.”
“But the bear is not best friends with a scorpion and definitely doesn’t go on adventures together,” Connor counters and Casey bursts laughing.
Connor gives him a look, and Casey grins. “Come on, it’s more fun if we make up our own stories.”
“And if the stories are made up, how do I know that the constellations are accurate,” he asks, playfully.
“Well, our next date will be at the Planetarium, then,” Severide offers. “Then, you’ll see I know what I’m talking about.”
Connor flushes, which is hard to see in the moonlight, but he’s clearly pleased.
“What? You didn’t think we’d take you on other dates?”
Connor shrugs. “We haven’t really been on a date, actually. At least, I mean, unless you count beers at Molly’s.”
“We’ve been terrible boyfriends, Case,” Severide says, giving Casey a look. He knows when they’d gotten together, they much preferred at home dates because they didn’t really need day trips to do what they did as friends, the dating naked part was more fun for them.
“No, no, you’re not, it’s just –” Connor tries.
“Don’t worry, Con, we’re just so used to wanting to do at-home dates that we didn’t consider taking you out,” Casey interrupts. “We’d be happy to take you out and spoil you.”
Connor shakes his head. “Actually, the reason I mentioned it was because… I really wanted to spoil you – both of you, but we haven’t gone out on a date, and I wasn’t sure if either of you wanted that.”
“We’d love that,” Severide assures him. “We’re just kind of lazy daters.”
Casey laughs as Connor gives him an incredulous look. “Lazy daters?”
“Yeah, like the daters that prefer naked dates over getting all dressed up and going out, only to come back and enjoy the naked part of the date better,” Casey offers.
“But we can afford to be a little less lazy,” Severide offers.
“So, when we get back…”
“We can go on an actual date to the Planetarium and prove me right,” Severide states, with a grin.
“At least about the Constellations, not the stories,” Casey adds.
Connor looks between them, grinning. “Sounds like a perfect plan.”
“And a perfect date as long as it’s with both of you.”
“Exactly.”