It had been a really, really long day. Everyone in Sora's house was aware of how tiring the entire night had been. Sora's mom had already stumbled upstairs, exhausted from baking cookies the entire afternoon and evening, and both Sora and Riku themselves were resting on the sofa, looking towards the finished Christmas tree that they had been working on for most of the evening. Since the Christmas tree was closer to the wall and not in the dead-center of the room, the two boys had to maneuver around it a lot, almost causing the tree to fall over about three times.
"Next time, you keep the Christmas tree closer to the center of the room." Riku muttered, looking towards the tree with slight disdain. Out of the three times the tree had almost fallen, it had been Sora's fault (the natural clutz) and had almost toppled on Riku. The silver-haired boy was positive that that Christmas tree was out to get him, he was sure about it. There was a slight snort from Sora, who didn't reply with much else except a squeeze on Riku's thigh. Riku grumbled to himself for a few moments before Sora finally looked up towards him and gently poked his nose, causing Riku to scrunch his nose up out of reflex.
"You've gotta relax. You're making me anxious and it's just a Christmas tree." Sora gently scolded, and Riku rose an eyebrow towards Sora. Was Sora actually going after him right now? That didn't happen. It was usually the other way around, with Riku gently reprimanding Sora for getting too riled up.
"Are you scolding me?" Riku laughed gently, rubbing Sora's shoulders before looking up towards the Christmas tree once more. Despite it almost killing him, it did look quite beautiful. This tree was more thick than tall, which is what Sora wanted when he and Riku went to go pick it out together, and it was covered in a medley of pretty baubles, tinsel, and lights. The theme was red and gold, which didn't really match the colors of Sora's house, but no one really cared.
"I'm not exactly scolding you. I'm just telling you to relax. You've been so uptight over these past couple of days. Have you been all right, Riku?" Sora asked, shifting on the sofa to look towards Riku, head tilted to the side and letting chestnut hair flop over. Riku sat up more before shrugging.
No, he hadn't really been all right. There was a lot that he had been thinking about recently, especially when it came to Xehanort. Riku wasn't sure if he wanted to bring Xehanort up or not; the name would most easily sour the season, and cause Sora some worry. Riku was glad that he had some time to spend with Sora before going back to proper training for himself and for the others as well (being a teacher was hard, and he wasn't exactly a fan of it but he had to do it anyway-someone had to since everyone else was too busy), but this time would be over almost just as quickly, and Riku was grasping onto the feeling of the festivities, unwilling to let it go.
Riku sighed before running a hand through his hair, fiddling with the ends of his hair before looking up towards Sora and replying. "I'm just worried about what's going to happen after Christmas. That's when we have to start getting in gear, you know...for Xeh-"
"You say that name and I'm kicking you out of the house! What did I say, Riku? No talk of work, or Keyblades, or Xehanort, or anything like that for Christmas!" Sora replied, pointing toward Riku, who was shocked by Sora's sudden interruption. Riku blinked before saying the first thing that came to mind.
"You just said his name."
"Ugh, Riku!"
Sora flopped back onto the sofa again, leaning longways and shoving Riku's legs with his feet. "You're such a pain in the butt!" the boy pouted, and Riku picked up Sora's feet and stood up, moving them so that they were correctly positioned on the couch. Riku deserved to sit there too!
Riku flopped back onto the sofa, chuckling to himself. Sora was adorable when he pouted, and the little antlers he had on weren't helping him look any less cute, either. Riku scooted over and gave Sora a quick kiss on the cheek, hoping that would cheer the other up. "Sorry, I won't mention him again for the entire season, okay?" Riku apologized, and Riku could see Sora obviously fighting against the urge to smile. There was no way that Riku wasn't letting Sora not smile.
He reached forward and poked Sora's side over and over in an attempt to tickle him. Sora was one of the most ticklish people on the planet, so of course he was able to get Sora laughing in the span of a few seconds. "Riku...Riku stop my mom's upstairs asleep!" he laughed, and remembered that yes, it wasn't just Riku and Sora in the house; the silver-haired male stopped, letting Sora catch his breath.
"Don't do that again." Sora spoke, gasping for air as Riku sat there smirking. Of course he would say that, but it wouldn't happen. Riku would end up tickling Sora again some other time at a later date. "That...stinks." Sora sighed, resting his head on Riku's shoulder before looking up towards the other with a small smile. "Just like you." Sora teased, sticking his tongue out. Riku's smirk turned to one of annoyance, and Riku reached up onto Sora's hair and gently tugged it, giving him a warning to knock it off or they were gonna take it outside. Take it outside, of course, meant probably a massive tickle war outside on Sora's porch, waking everyone else in the neighborhood with Sora's screeching, not just Sora's mom.
"Stop that. Anyway, I'm grabbing onto one of your mom's cookies. Do you want one?"
"Bring me all of the cookies, please!"
"I'm not bringing you all of the cookies. You're only getting one."
"All of them."
"How about none of them?"
There was a loud huff from Sora as Riku got up and started towards the tray where the green and red sugar cookies were resting. "So, is that a no to cookies?" Riku teased, looking over towards Sora who was now resting his chin on the arm of the sofa. Riku snorted before picking up a red sugar cookie for Sora. "Red is your favorite color, right?" Riku asked, walking over towards the brunet.
Sora opened his mouth, his hands not moving, and Riku rolled his eyes before gently placing the cookie near Sora's mouth, letting the other bite it. "You know, you have your own set of hands." Riku muttered.
"I took care of you that time ago when Xemnas kicked your butt before he died."
"Oh what, by carrying me by the belt and giving me a massive wedgie that I needed surgery to remove? Oh yes, I'm so grateful."
Sora narrowed his eyes towards Riku, whose own eyes were lighting up with pure snark. The smirk was even rested on Riku's face before Sora sat up and reached out, taking the cookie out of Riku's hands carefully. "Thanks." Sora muttered, taking another bite begrudgingly. Riku laughed before sitting back down next to Sora once more.
Riku motioned for Sora to scoot closer next to him, and so the other did, moving over so that he could nuzzle under Riku's arm. Riku held Sora tightly, that lingering fear that one day this wouldn't be possible again. No, no, stop those thoughts right now. This was Christmas Time, not Sad Time, and these thoughts wouldn't be tolerated.
Riku looked down towards Sora, and he couldn't help the soft smile that came to his face. He loved this, however. Despite what fears lay ahead of them, or whatever else may have lay ahead of them, one thing was for sure; Sora would always be his, and there was no other way that Riku would ever have it.
The beautiful brunet boy who changed his life for the better...Riku couldn't imagine his life any differently. He leaned forward, kissed Sora on the top of the head, and watched the lights flash slowly on the Christmas tree. The brunet snuggled closer to him, biting on his cookie slowly as he watched, also mesmerized. Riku would have this no other way, for a fact.