All the same, he could see things living in it. Tiny birds he couldn’t identify. Masses of crawling and flying insects. Even a smallish spotted frog, which was more exciting to him than it should have been.
“Look,” he pointed to it, thrilled that he’d seen something that might have been interesting to Oscar.
“Oh!” Oscar enthused, letting go of Ryan’s hand to crouch down, leaning over the sharp edge of the bank. “It’s a leopard frog. We get a few injured ones in a year, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a healthy one in the wild before,” he said.
Ryan glowed with pride at his find, the joy of having managed to show Oscar something new overriding the sting of missing Oscar’s hand.
Was he that touch-starved that it bothered him? Apparently. Ryan hadn’t really noticed how much he missed being touched until it’d started happening again.
Now he’d spent one night in bed with Oscar and he was pining after the guy’s hand. Obviously, he was a little lonelier than he’d thought.
“Hey buddy,” Oscar cooed at the frog, leaning further over the edge. “I never get to see you guys happy. You’re agoodlittle frog, aren’t you?”
Ryan chuckled. Oscar’s enthusiasm was infectious, filling him up like a physical thing, chasing away the nervousness he had about being out here. He might not have been one of the animal guys, and he didn’t exactlygetit, yet, but he could see that animals mattered to Oscar. Really, deeply mattered.
It would have been nice to have something to care that much about. Compared to Oscar, and Finn, and his aunt May, his life felt… empty. He didn’t have anything to show for the last twenty-six years except a failed marriage and, as it turned out, a latent bisexual awakening.
Maybe. He’d think about what he wanted to classify this as later. It didn’t seem all that urgent, especially since Oscar had only offered him the weekend. One night, no pressure.
He’d have plenty of time to navel-gaze once they were both back at the sanctuary.
“Here, froggy froggy,” Oscar sing-songed, reaching out to the frog as though he really believed it’d come to him if he called it. Although… Ryan wouldn’t have been allthatsurprised. There was definitely something about Oscar.
Two things happened at once.
Firstly, the tip of a scaly snout broke the muddy water, maybe fifteen or twenty yards away. Based on the way Ryan’s heart kicked into high gear, hammering in his chest and making his head pound with panic, it might as well have been ten inches.
Secondly, Oscar cried out as the unstable bank beneath his knees started to crumble away, his weight already tipped too far forward to save himself. He overbalanced, arms flailing, toward the water.
Where the crocodile was.
Before Ryan had even consciously processed all of that, he’d grabbed a handful of the back of Oscar’s shirt. Without pausing to think, he tightened his grip and hauled Oscar toward him with all the force he could muster.
Oscar fell backward instead, slamming into Ryan’s chest and toppling them both over with the force.
The squelch of mud cushioning their fall filled Ryan’s ringing ears, the weight of Oscar pressing him down into it easing the worst of the pounding in his chest. Oscar was okay. He wasn't currently being eaten by an apex predator that hadn't changed since dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
“You two okay?” Freddie asked, standing over them. At least he looked concerned.
Oscar chuckled and rolled off, digging his pointy elbow deep into Ryan’s ribs in the process. Ryan grunted, his eyes watering at the sudden blow.
“My hero,” Oscar said, offering his hand. Which was just about enough to make him completely forget the pain.
Ryan reached out to take it, his heart fluttering at the contact again. Oscar’s hand was as warm as ever, if a little more covered in mud. Considering that the alternative was fishing him out of a muddy river while he was within striking distance of a crocodile, Ryan really didn't mind a little mud.
He panted from the shock and exertion, lungs protesting and body sore where he’d hit the ground. The grin on Oscar’s face was worth it, though.
As if he hadn’t almost fallen off it a moment ago, Oscar went back to the bank, tested a new spot with his foot, and then sat down.
With a surge of bravery, Ryan followed him. He wasn't quite game enough to kneel down like Oscar was, wanting to preserve the chance to make a quick escape, but it felt like progress all the same.
“It's just an alligator,” Oscar said, as though this was the most disappointing thing that had ever happened to him.
Mud dripped down Ryan’s back from the collar of his shirt, making him wince. He looked over at where the alligator had surfaced, seeing just the eyes and the tip of its snout peeking above the waterline.
“They still eat people,” Ryan said, though he wasn't sure whether he was trying to caution Oscar or encourage him at this point. Oscar seemed to like animals that ate people best.
“Yeah, but it's not thesame,” Oscar complained, his lower lip jutting out as he pouted.
