this is when all the rest of the losers find out that ben has a boat. and like, not in the rich person way, but like he Actually Knows How To Sail. richie is simultaneously Very Nonchalant and Extremely Dubious about actually being on a boat, because contradiction in terms, that’s richie tozier, but he cajoles stan about it after mike mentions seeing boats for hire and bev mentions that ben can sail (cue blushing. january fucking embers, man. richie’s never going to get over the way they look at each other.) but he doesn’t account for patty, who immediately says it sounds like fun, and stan raises his eyebrows but agrees, soft and amused, a slow and sweet smile spreading across his face, and the losers could love patty for giving stan that expression alone (but she’s also really cool, and richie told stan she was too cool for him, and stan was like, “noted”, with a grin so wide on his face that nobody even beeped richie for it). anyway they end up on the boat and eddie is Prepared, Obviously, but richie refuses to have a life jacket anywhere near him, let alone on his body (“it’s like the fucking showercaps again,” stan mutters, and richie swats him. eddie laughs, though, bright and warm and full of light, and the losers all pause for a second to soak it in). bev and mike are playing charades with bill and patty, laughing so hard they’re almost in tears, and richie catches ben looking at them and Rolls His Eyes because oh my god, ben is So In Love, but he doesn’t say anything, just this once. would love for it to be bc he decided to be tactful but in actuality, he sees a bird and stands up immediately to point it out to stan and ask if it‘s Something Exciting (it was a seagull) but before he can, Gravity Occurs (as is wont to happen, when you’re over six feet tall and suddenly stand up on the edge of a boat) and he falls overboard.
ben may be Very Focused on beverly but he is still an Angel, first and foremost, and immediately notices when richie splashes. (admittedly, eddie’s cry might have helped.) the boat stops, and mike heads over to let down the side ladder and throw out a rope (bill and bev are both closer, but are too busy laughing at richie). “are you okay, rich?” eddie asks, and richie grins up at him from just outside the boat, having pulled himself close. “just felt like a swim, eds,” he jokes, and then bev’s jumping beside him, and then bill, and then patty. anyway that’s when they all find out mike actually doesn’t know how to swim