Fic: "One Wish." Dick/Logan/Cassidy
One Wish
Author: Lexalicious (aka NeptuneRising70)
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Genre: AU
Pairing: Dick/Logan implied
Rating: G
Spoilers: For the end of season two
Warnings: None
Summary: It's Cassidy's 21st birthday, and he reflects on life since Neptune as his brother and Logan prepare to celebrate.
A/N: I don't own these boys: they own me. They, in turn, are owned by Rob Thomas and the WB. No infringement intended, I just wrote this as a gift for a friend. Enjoy!
One Wish
By NeptuneRising70
For Ally on her birthday!
It’s something like Neptune, only that feeling of having the life choked out of him from the inside out is gone. The horizon is the same-palm trees, a sky the color of Dick’s bright eyes during the day and then a darker cobalt blue at dusk, much like his own. There’s the smell of the ocean, salty with its own unique and misty funk, a smell that Cassidy used to hate, but it’s different here in Marina Del Rey than it was in Neptune. It’s cleaner, fresher, and it no longer reminds Cassidy of the thing that almost made him take his own life.
“Beav! Hey, c’mon, your cake is ready!”
Cassidy turned from the balcony of their beachfront home to see Dick out on the patio, the one that faced the ocean where Dick and Logan could constantly watch the surf. Their boards, hand shaped by Logan, rested on the far wall of the patio. Cassidy was only now starting to understand the attraction of surfing, and Dick took him out a few times a week in the early morning when there were less people around. He was getting better at it, but he knew in his heart that he’d never be as good as his brother or Logan. He didn’t mind, really . . . his mind had always been geared toward business, and his inventions and phone apps were already starting to turn heads, even at the age of twenty-one.
The front door slammed and Logan walked into the living room. The early-summer sun had already begun to turn his skin tan, and his dark ginger hair was frosted at the tips, something Cassidy knew that he did mostly for Dick, although it didn’t hurt Logan’s surf shop business, either. Dick had taken a chunk of his trust fund to invest in Breakers, Marina Del Rey’s only full-service surfboard and surf accessories shop, and now that Cassidy was twenty-one, he planned on taking an interest in it, too. It had already made Logan more money than he’d thought possible, and now that he was away from Neptune and its ghosts, he was happier than Cassidy had ever seen him-happy with his big brother, something that had started soon after the three of them had left Neptune together after the death of Woody Goodman and the trial that had exonerated Cassidy of any kind of wrongdoing. Cassidy would never forget the look of hatred on Veronica Mars’ face when Dick and Logan had left the courtroom together. Her case against him had fallen apart under eyewitness accounts of people who’d seen her at Shelley’s party with Duncan, and once Gia Goodman had broken down on the stand and revealed a voice mail from her father where he admitted blowing up the school bus in order to silence his victims forever and then committing suicide by blowing up his own plane, Dick and Logan had wanted to leave Neptune for good, knowing it would help to heal Cassidy’s fractured mind and remove themselves from Veronica’s vengeance. Logan knew her only too well, and the fact that she’d been proven wrong about Cassidy in front of the entire town was something she’d never let go.
Cassidy remembered the night before the trial, how he had tried to jump off the roof of the Neptune Grand where he was staying with Dick and Logan. How he had nearly gone over and how Logan had risked his own life by running across the rooftop and grabbing his hands, nearly going over the edge with him, and how Dick had pulled them both back up, yanking them nearly into his own lap. Dick had hugged him, holding him in his arms for nearly twenty minutes, alternately crying, yelling at him for trying something so fucking stupid, and kissing him repeatedly on top of the head. (Something that Dick would probably deny if Cassidy brought it up, but he’d never forget how shocked he was by it.) Facing Veronica in court and admitting what Woody had done to him was like walking through fire, but now, four years later, he was rising up from the ashes, and even the nightmares were happening less frequently now.
“You didn’t burn it, did you?” Logan asked Dick as the taller man stuck two large number-shaped candles on top of the cake-a two and a one-and then swung his elbow back to lightly nudge Logan in his stomach. Logan made a show of doubling over before he went over and closed the patio doors so the constant ocean breeze wouldn’t blow out the candles before Cassidy could.
“Beav, come on!” Dick said again, and Cassidy smiled as he crossed the living room and went out onto the patio, where Dick had set the cake and some gifts out on their round wrought iron patio table. Outside, the sun had set the Pacific on fire in a thick line of red, which expanded outwards in a glimmering sheet, as if a giant’s hand had scattered diamond shards onto the water’s surface. It made a halo around Dick’s bright blonde hair.
“Happy birthday, man!”
“And indeed, today he is a man! Shalom!” Logan quipped, sliding an arm around Cassidy’s shoulders. He’d filled out quite a bit in the last four years, especially once he’d been able to eat and sleep normally, and even though Dick would always have about four inches on him, Cassidy was fit and even starting to build muscle from jogging with Logan and paddling the waves with his brother. He’d even grown his hair out a little, letting the whiskey-colored, loose curls show instead of cutting them brutally short, as he’d done in Neptune in a desperate attempt to make himself unattractive.
“Check it out.” Dick nodded to the round cake. Cassidy cocked his head.
“Is that-”
“Nutella frosting, yeah. You always did love that shit.” Dick bent down with his lighter and set the candles to glowing. Outside, the sun was now just an umber sliver on the horizon. In the distance, away from their section of private beach, the silhouettes of a few surfers taking advantage of that last wave of the day could be seen heading for the public walkway, their boards still shiny with water. Dick cleared his throat and waved his hands like a conductor with his orchestra. He and Logan sang “Happy Birthday” to him while he grinned and blushed and pretended to cover his ears, and then Dick put an arm around Logan.
“So make a wish, Beav!” The nickname had been forever shortened, was now purely affection, and Cassidy would allow it from no one else, not even Logan.
“Okay, uhm . . . I wish you’d quit putting your smelly jocks in my hamper?”
Dick rolled his eyes as he and Logan linked hands briefly, Logan squeezing Dick’s before letting go.
“That’s not a for real wish!”
“No, believe me, it is.” Cassidy nodded, smiling.
“Come on, man, make a real wish!” Dick almost whined, and Cassidy ran his finger around the edge of the cake platter, scooping up some extra Nutella and sucking it off his finger. Bliss.
“If any birthday wish comes true, it’s the one you make on your twenty-first.” Logan glanced briefly at Dick. “Believe me.”
“All right, okay!” Cassidy closed his eyes and after a moment his lips moved silently before he blew out the candles. Dick and Logan applauded before Dick began to slice up the cake and pass the hunks around. Cassidy raised a mental eyebrow at his brother’s ability to use an oven without burning the house down, but then, Dick was learning to do a lot of things that he’d never done before, and Cassidy was fairly sure they were all to impress Logan.
“I know you can’t tell us your wish,” Dick said as he opened the patio door to let in the sea air, which washed away the fug of the blown-out candles as they all sat down at the patio table to eat. “But I hope you made it a good one, dude.”
Cassidy glanced up at his older brother as he sat close to Logan, close enough where Cassidy knew their legs were touching under the table, and thought about how when it came to wishing for what he really wanted, in reality, he really hadn’t had to wish at all. Dick was there, Logan was there, and he had them, the ocean, their affection, and their constant protection.
No. He hadn’t really needed to wish that hard at all.
Fin
Author: Lexalicious (aka NeptuneRising70)
Fandom: Veronica Mars
Genre: AU
Pairing: Dick/Logan implied
Rating: G
Spoilers: For the end of season two
Warnings: None
Summary: It's Cassidy's 21st birthday, and he reflects on life since Neptune as his brother and Logan prepare to celebrate.
A/N: I don't own these boys: they own me. They, in turn, are owned by Rob Thomas and the WB. No infringement intended, I just wrote this as a gift for a friend. Enjoy!
One Wish
By NeptuneRising70
For Ally on her birthday!
It’s something like Neptune, only that feeling of having the life choked out of him from the inside out is gone. The horizon is the same-palm trees, a sky the color of Dick’s bright eyes during the day and then a darker cobalt blue at dusk, much like his own. There’s the smell of the ocean, salty with its own unique and misty funk, a smell that Cassidy used to hate, but it’s different here in Marina Del Rey than it was in Neptune. It’s cleaner, fresher, and it no longer reminds Cassidy of the thing that almost made him take his own life.
“Beav! Hey, c’mon, your cake is ready!”
Cassidy turned from the balcony of their beachfront home to see Dick out on the patio, the one that faced the ocean where Dick and Logan could constantly watch the surf. Their boards, hand shaped by Logan, rested on the far wall of the patio. Cassidy was only now starting to understand the attraction of surfing, and Dick took him out a few times a week in the early morning when there were less people around. He was getting better at it, but he knew in his heart that he’d never be as good as his brother or Logan. He didn’t mind, really . . . his mind had always been geared toward business, and his inventions and phone apps were already starting to turn heads, even at the age of twenty-one.
The front door slammed and Logan walked into the living room. The early-summer sun had already begun to turn his skin tan, and his dark ginger hair was frosted at the tips, something Cassidy knew that he did mostly for Dick, although it didn’t hurt Logan’s surf shop business, either. Dick had taken a chunk of his trust fund to invest in Breakers, Marina Del Rey’s only full-service surfboard and surf accessories shop, and now that Cassidy was twenty-one, he planned on taking an interest in it, too. It had already made Logan more money than he’d thought possible, and now that he was away from Neptune and its ghosts, he was happier than Cassidy had ever seen him-happy with his big brother, something that had started soon after the three of them had left Neptune together after the death of Woody Goodman and the trial that had exonerated Cassidy of any kind of wrongdoing. Cassidy would never forget the look of hatred on Veronica Mars’ face when Dick and Logan had left the courtroom together. Her case against him had fallen apart under eyewitness accounts of people who’d seen her at Shelley’s party with Duncan, and once Gia Goodman had broken down on the stand and revealed a voice mail from her father where he admitted blowing up the school bus in order to silence his victims forever and then committing suicide by blowing up his own plane, Dick and Logan had wanted to leave Neptune for good, knowing it would help to heal Cassidy’s fractured mind and remove themselves from Veronica’s vengeance. Logan knew her only too well, and the fact that she’d been proven wrong about Cassidy in front of the entire town was something she’d never let go.
Cassidy remembered the night before the trial, how he had tried to jump off the roof of the Neptune Grand where he was staying with Dick and Logan. How he had nearly gone over and how Logan had risked his own life by running across the rooftop and grabbing his hands, nearly going over the edge with him, and how Dick had pulled them both back up, yanking them nearly into his own lap. Dick had hugged him, holding him in his arms for nearly twenty minutes, alternately crying, yelling at him for trying something so fucking stupid, and kissing him repeatedly on top of the head. (Something that Dick would probably deny if Cassidy brought it up, but he’d never forget how shocked he was by it.) Facing Veronica in court and admitting what Woody had done to him was like walking through fire, but now, four years later, he was rising up from the ashes, and even the nightmares were happening less frequently now.
“You didn’t burn it, did you?” Logan asked Dick as the taller man stuck two large number-shaped candles on top of the cake-a two and a one-and then swung his elbow back to lightly nudge Logan in his stomach. Logan made a show of doubling over before he went over and closed the patio doors so the constant ocean breeze wouldn’t blow out the candles before Cassidy could.
“Beav, come on!” Dick said again, and Cassidy smiled as he crossed the living room and went out onto the patio, where Dick had set the cake and some gifts out on their round wrought iron patio table. Outside, the sun had set the Pacific on fire in a thick line of red, which expanded outwards in a glimmering sheet, as if a giant’s hand had scattered diamond shards onto the water’s surface. It made a halo around Dick’s bright blonde hair.
“Happy birthday, man!”
“And indeed, today he is a man! Shalom!” Logan quipped, sliding an arm around Cassidy’s shoulders. He’d filled out quite a bit in the last four years, especially once he’d been able to eat and sleep normally, and even though Dick would always have about four inches on him, Cassidy was fit and even starting to build muscle from jogging with Logan and paddling the waves with his brother. He’d even grown his hair out a little, letting the whiskey-colored, loose curls show instead of cutting them brutally short, as he’d done in Neptune in a desperate attempt to make himself unattractive.
“Check it out.” Dick nodded to the round cake. Cassidy cocked his head.
“Is that-”
“Nutella frosting, yeah. You always did love that shit.” Dick bent down with his lighter and set the candles to glowing. Outside, the sun was now just an umber sliver on the horizon. In the distance, away from their section of private beach, the silhouettes of a few surfers taking advantage of that last wave of the day could be seen heading for the public walkway, their boards still shiny with water. Dick cleared his throat and waved his hands like a conductor with his orchestra. He and Logan sang “Happy Birthday” to him while he grinned and blushed and pretended to cover his ears, and then Dick put an arm around Logan.
“So make a wish, Beav!” The nickname had been forever shortened, was now purely affection, and Cassidy would allow it from no one else, not even Logan.
“Okay, uhm . . . I wish you’d quit putting your smelly jocks in my hamper?”
Dick rolled his eyes as he and Logan linked hands briefly, Logan squeezing Dick’s before letting go.
“That’s not a for real wish!”
“No, believe me, it is.” Cassidy nodded, smiling.
“Come on, man, make a real wish!” Dick almost whined, and Cassidy ran his finger around the edge of the cake platter, scooping up some extra Nutella and sucking it off his finger. Bliss.
“If any birthday wish comes true, it’s the one you make on your twenty-first.” Logan glanced briefly at Dick. “Believe me.”
“All right, okay!” Cassidy closed his eyes and after a moment his lips moved silently before he blew out the candles. Dick and Logan applauded before Dick began to slice up the cake and pass the hunks around. Cassidy raised a mental eyebrow at his brother’s ability to use an oven without burning the house down, but then, Dick was learning to do a lot of things that he’d never done before, and Cassidy was fairly sure they were all to impress Logan.
“I know you can’t tell us your wish,” Dick said as he opened the patio door to let in the sea air, which washed away the fug of the blown-out candles as they all sat down at the patio table to eat. “But I hope you made it a good one, dude.”
Cassidy glanced up at his older brother as he sat close to Logan, close enough where Cassidy knew their legs were touching under the table, and thought about how when it came to wishing for what he really wanted, in reality, he really hadn’t had to wish at all. Dick was there, Logan was there, and he had them, the ocean, their affection, and their constant protection.
No. He hadn’t really needed to wish that hard at all.
Fin