A/N: My second submission for the Kingdom Hearts: World's Connected fanzine being hosted on Tumblr. Don't forget to check it out, along with all the other new fics and art from our talented KH community! Blog: kh-worldsconnected. Also! Please check out drawallthesorikus accompanying artwork for this piece! It's flippin' beautiful! You can find it on my blog as well as hers and the kh-wc main. Enjoy :D
I Thought About You
Riku blinked and looked up from his book as the train carriage jolted once and finally began moving again. Relieved that the delay was over, he lowered his book to rest it on his lap and breathed out a quiet sigh. The digital time on the opposite wall of the carriage read that it was just after seven in the morning, and Riku eyeballed it a little tensely. He now only had about half an hour left before he'd be late getting to work, and judging by the suburb the train was now blurring past, he was still at least twenty minutes away from his stop.
Realistically, he was worrying for nothing; there was really only a slim chance that he would be arriving late, and everything probably would have worked out fine if he hadn't had a meeting planned with Aqua first thing. She wasn't a horrible boss by a long shot, but Riku knew she wouldn't appreciate him making her wait.
Looking away from the digital clock, Riku started slightly when his eyes locked with the little old lady sitting directly across from him. She looked thoughtful as she studied him, and upon noticing his attention, offered him a warm smile; her eyes crinkling closed.
Caught off guard, Riku fingered the page of his book and gave her a small smile in return. He wasn't used to people making such direct eye-contact so early in the morning; most commuters still too half-asleep to interact with anyone else.
Their polite exchange over, Riku glanced away and turned his attention back to his book. He could still feel the old lady looking at him, but thought nothing more of it. From past experience, he knew elderly people especially, often found the silver colouring of his hair oddly fascinating.
No more than twenty minutes later, the automated voice announced that the next stop would be his. Riku packed his book away inside his messenger bag and made ready to disembark, carefully navigating his way around other standing commuters as he moved to wait in front of the carriage doors.
The train slowed to a stop and the doors smoothly slid open. Riku stepped out amongst a crowd of people and readied himself to start jogging. If he didn't run now, he wouldn't stand a chance of making it on time.
There was a sudden commotion directly behind him and Riku instinctively turned to look. It was the old lady from before, but now Riku could see that she was laden down with several, heavy looking grocery bags. She'd fumbled and dropped one, loose oranges rolling every which way across the platform.
"Oh, dear…" The old lady muttered, still wrestling with the rest of her bags as she tried to free up one of her hands.
His mad dash to work all but forgotten, Riku immediately turned back to help her.
"Let me help you with those."
He gently lifted the shopping bags out of the ladies' hands while several other people hurried to retrieve the rogue oranges. Riku wordlessly held one of the bags open and the other people who had stopped to help dropped the oranges inside. Everyone else was quick to be on their way then, their good deed done for the day, but Riku was left standing there with the lady, still holding all the bags.
The old lady smiled up at him, her cheeks a rosy pink. "Oh, young people are all so kind these days, thank you very much!"
"No problem…" Riku distractedly murmured, his heart sinking as he caught sight of the time on one of the train schedule boards. There was no helping it now; he was well and truly late, and Aqua would be calling him any minute now.
"Is something the matter?" The old lady asked and Riku looked back down at her.
"No, it's nothing…I can't do much about it now."
She gave him a questioning look, but Riku just shrugged. He felt his arms straining from the weight of the shopping bags and knew he'd feel terrible if he just handed them back to her and went on his way.
"Would you like me to carry these for you? They seem pretty heavy," Riku offered, lifting the bags for emphasis. He was already going to be late anyway so he might as well see this through… Hopefully, the old lady didn't live too far away.
The old lady beamed like she'd just won the lottery. "That would be wonderful, young man, I would greatly appreciate it."
With the old lady leading the way, Riku dutifully followed her out of the train station and up along the street. He was quick to notice that they were now travelling in the same direction as his work, so that was reassuring at least. Perhaps slightly more worrying was the fact that his phone was now vibrating almost non-stop in his suitcoat pocket. He grimly chose to ignore it, the old lady all the while chattering about how her son was usually the one to help her, but was unfortunately out of town this week. Riku listened with half a mind, already internally groaning over having to deal with an irritated Aqua.
Two blocks down from the station felt like forever to Riku, but finally the old lady was slowing her steps, pausing in front of a large apartment building.
"This is my home here," she announced, hobbling towards a wide set of stone steps leading up to an open doorway. Riku could just make out a foyer type, reception area inside. Readjusting his grip, Riku made to follow her up, but she stopped him mid-step, turning back to reach for her grocery bags.
"I cannot thank you enough," she chortled, effortlessly lifting the bags out of his hands.
Riku frowned in confusion, his mouth slightly agape as the lady held the bags like they suddenly weighed next to nothing.
"Wait right here; I would like to thank you properly. Just let me put these down inside." The old lady requested, giving Riku another crinkly eyed smile. Riku opened his mouth to inform her that he really needed to be on his way, but the words died on his tongue as the old lady turned on her heel and swiftly disappeared inside.
Running a hand through his hair, Riku fumbled in his coat pocket to retrieve his phone and look at the time. He was now fifteen minutes late, and had three missed calls from Aqua to boot. Shifting on his feet restlessly, Riku stared down at his phone, worrying his bottom lip between his teeth. Aqua would just have to wait a little longer. Courtesy dictated that he should wait to say goodbye to the lady, and then he would be able to call Aqua back and jog down the street at the same time. It would all work out perfectly – he'd be ending the call, right when he stepped into her office, just a mere twenty minutes late. That wasn't so bad.
"I have a gift for you."
The voice of the old lady almost directly in front of him startled Riku so badly he jumped and nearly dropped his phone. How he hadn't noticed her approach was a mystery unto itself. To make matters worse, his phone started vibrating again, Aqua's name flashing up on the screen.
Poising his finger over the answer button, Riku began turning away. He lifted a hand in farewell. "Uh – no, that's really not necessary. I was happy to help you; have a nice day."
He barely managed a step before a strong, bony hand around one of his wrists stopped him in his tracks.
"One moment, dear – I must insist!"
His phone stopped vibrating and Riku stifled his sigh of frustration just in time. He forlornly looked down at his phone to see he'd missed Aqua's call again. Wordlessly, he faced the old lady again, looking expectant. There was definitely more of strain to his smile now.
Satisfied that he was going to cooperate, the old lady smiled cheerily. She gently released his wrist.
"Would you mind holding your breath for me, please?"
Riku's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Huh…? Hold my breath?"
The old lady nodded. "Please."
Definitely more on the confused side, but now mildly curious as well, Riku quietly drew in a deep breath and held it.
Already thinking that this situation couldn't possibly get any stranger, Riku was proved wrong again when the old lady stood up on her toes and reached up to lay a hand flat on the top of his head. Within his nature to be accommodating, Riku bent over a little so that she could reach easier, only stopping when he felt her thin fingers gently thread through his hair.
"Ah…the colour's natural, if that's what you're interested in…?" Riku was baffled as the old lady remained silent, the coolness of her palm an odd sensation against his scalp.
"There now. Hold your breath again and focus on me."
Riku glanced up through his bangs and met the old lady's eyes. She seemed oddly serious. Thinking that this would all be over sooner if he just did what she asked, he held his breath again and focussed on her, wondering what on Earth was going on. Of all days to be a good Samaritan, he just had to end up helping the fruit-loop.
"You should be able to hear me now… Thank you for helping me, in place of my son."
Riku blinked, frowning. He could have sworn he just…heard the old lady speak from inside his head…
Her lips hadn't moved at all.
The old lady slowly removed her hand then and Riku stood up straight. He released the breath he was holding, fixing her with a puzzled expression.
"Did you just…?"
"Hold your breath."
This time, Riku didn't hesitate. He held his breath.
The old lady's eyes crinkled, her lips firmly closed and curved up into a kind smile.
"I know you will use it wisely…because you are kind."
Riku gasped. There was no doubt this time – she had definitely spoken to him from inside of his mind! He was a little bit lost for words.
"W…What…? But – how?"
The old lady said nothing more as she trundled back up the steps and stood in the doorway for a moment longer.
"Take care, young man."
Riku was still a bit dazed as he watched her disappear inside again, a hundred questions bubbling to the forefront of his mind. He went to call her back, but his phone began ringing for a fifth time and it was enough to snap him back to his senses.
He choked as the time registered, along with Aqua's name, and Riku stumbled over his own feet as he quickly broke into a hard run. Flying down the sidewalk, he managed to answer the call and slap his phone against his ear without barrelling anyone over.
"Hey, Aqua, I'm sorry I'm late! Just give me five!"
-0-
"It's not like you to be late, Riku, so I'll overlook this one, but please don't let it happen again."
Riku sat in Aqua's office quietly contrite as she gave him one last serious look before turning to rifle through one of the filing cabinets situated behind her.
"I'm sorry; it won't happen again," Riku murmured, subtly trying to loosen his tie while he knew she wasn't watching. He'd run all the way here and was now feeling uncomfortably hot and exhausted, strands of his hair sticking to the back of his neck.
Aqua turned back around, a large file in hand. "You're here now, so it's fine. It is a Monday after all; nice to start the working week a little easy." She opened the file, and placed a few data sheets down in front of Riku.
He looked down at them blankly, trying his best to focus.
"This is the Clarkson file that needs priority right now. What I want you to do is…"
Riku nodded along with what Aqua was telling him, business jargon and forecasts practically filtering through one ear and then straight out the other. He really wished he'd had time to grab a coffee, knowing that Aqua would be asking for some sort of constructive input from him soon, but he couldn't help feeling distracted, his mind still preoccupied with his strange encounter earlier.
He was sure of it…no matter how crazy it sounded. Somehow, the old lady had spoken to him inside of his mind…and holding his breath had something to do with it. Had it all just been a bizarre trick?
"Mister Clarkson is overseas currently, so we've got time to sort this out. I don't need to remind you how pedantic he is about all of this; we really need to make sure that…"
His eyes rising from the reports in front of him, Riku decided it couldn't hurt to try it on Aqua. She kept talking and didn't seem to notice his inattention as he stared at her sharply and focussed hard.
Nothing happened.
Frowning, Riku was about to put the whole weird experience down to not enough sleep the night before when he promptly realised that he'd forgotten to hold his breath.
Determined (and also feeling slightly ridiculous), Riku focussed on Aqua again and held his breath.
He felt an odd, dream-like sensation, and his mind was suddenly engulfed in a rippling, water-like sound. Aqua's real voice faded out and became muffled, and then Riku heard them – clear as a bell.
Aqua's thoughts.
"…Maybe it's the coffee I had...no, it can't be... This is the third morning I've been feeling so sick. God, I hope I'm not pregnant –"
Riku's eyes flew wide. He breathed in sharply, unable to hide his surprise. It worked! It really worked!
Aqua paused mid-sentence, catching sight of Riku's stunned expression.
"…Are you sure you're feeling alright? I can send you home if you need to rest?"
Pulling himself together, Riku sat up straighter in his chair, flashing Aqua a reassuring smile.
"No, no, I'm fine, really."
There was a moment of silence where Aqua wordlessly scrutinised him before she tucked a few strands of hair behind one of her ears and continued on with the reports.
Riku made sure to look like he was paying attention, offering his input where Aqua needed it, but inside his mind was still reeling.
Half an hour later, their meeting drew to a close and Riku stood to take his leave.
"Thanks, Riku. That'll be a great help," Aqua sighed, and Riku could easily see how pale she was.
Riku moved over towards the door. "I'll talk to Kairi and get straight on it. I'll let you know how it goes."
He opened the door and paused, having a sudden thought.
"I can…bring you a cup of peppermint tea, if you like? Peppermint is really good for upset stomachs."
Aqua went still, her eyes narrowing.
"…I never said I had an upset stomach."
"Err, right." Riku mumbled, instantly feeling like the biggest idiot on the planet. He backed out of the office, Aqua all the while still watching him suspiciously. He couldn't close the door fast enough.
-0-
Riku was still trying to comprehend that he now insanely had the power to read other people's minds as he made his way back to his office space. He couldn't really hold his breath longer than forty seconds or more at a time, but that was beside the point – he could still look inside people's heads and hear what they were thinking.
Aqua's revelation had caught him completely off guard, and he was going to have to be careful learning things like this, because it would be easy to forget that she hadn't actually said it out loud. Reading minds was obviously an invasive skill to possess, and personally, he knew he would hate knowing that someone else had the ability to read his whenever they felt like it. Really, it was a huge invasion of privacy to hear someone else's thoughts…
I know you will use it wisely…because you are kind.
Riku remembered what the old lady had said to him and felt a little better. For some reason she'd entrusted him to have this power, and not to abuse it at will. He would just have to remember to be careful in keeping his supposed 'gift' a secret.
To be fair, though, Riku didn't really care much at all for what other people were thinking – except maybe one, specific person whose thoughts he was undeniably dying to hear, ever since he'd realised what having this ability meant.
Sora Messina, or Sora Aurora as the office at large referred to him as, had a bad habit of chronically arriving late for work. He often cited 'needing his beauty sleep' as the main reason for his tardiness, (hence the Sleeping Beauty nickname), and his short, brown hair always had a freshly 'rolled out of bed' look to it. Sora was a nice enough guy, no one would deny that, but the only saving grace for him still working here was the fact that he was Aqua's nephew.
Because, Riku had to be honest here – Sora was in no way cut out for an office job, full stop. That didn't necessarily mean he was bad at what he did, but Riku definitely thought Sora should be pursuing some other career that allowed him more freedom and fun… He was too sunny a guy to be pent up inside a boring office cubicle.
Riku could clearly see him being a surfing instructor or something, running along a beach somewhere...shirtless – with that stupid grin on his face, while waving and calling out Riku's name...
Riku sighed and smiled dreamily, caught up in imagining the sparkle in Sora's big, blue eyes.
Yeah... Some sort of job that...involved Sora shirtless would be great.
Your boyfriend, Riku's mind supplied (un)helpfully, but he couldn't help agreeing with himself. If there was one thing Sora really was perfect for, it was as his future partner in crime...
His thoughts running away from him, Riku roughly cleared his throat and focussed back on the task at hand, sheepishly realising that he'd walked right passed his cubicle some minutes ago. Naturally it was Sora's fault – even when he wasn't around he was just too damn distracting.
Kairi suddenly appeared beside him, pressing a takeaway cup of coffee into one of his hands.
Riku groaned appreciatively. "You're a lifesaver, Kai."
Kairi laughed. "How nice of you to finally join us. Are we getting the Clarkson file done today or what?"
Riku just rolled his eyes, smiling into his coffee. "Yeah, it'll be a piece of cake. Do you need a copy?"
Kairi nodded, following him back to his desk. "Yeah, please. That guy changes his mind so much I have no idea what he wants anymore. I think if we do it at twelve percent, we can –"
"Hey, is Sora in today?" Riku cut in, knowing it was blatantly off topic, and completely unrelated, but he was still too distracted to focus on the boring Clarkson file. The more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that knowing Sora's thoughts would be a godsend. For the longest time he'd had a crush, and as far as he knew, Sora had never mentioned having a partner. Riku had seen firsthand the way some of the girls in the office ogled the oblivious intern, andif someone else working here snapped Sora up before he had a chance, he was going to lose his flippin' mind.
Kairi stifled a laugh, but she couldn't hide her grin. "Yeah, he got in five minutes before you. He was pretty happy to not be the only one late for once."
Riku took a sip of his coffee, silently wondering over Kairi's smug expression. She began talking about the Clarkson file again, but Riku was no longer listening. Focussing on her, Riku breathed in quietly and quickly held his breath.
There was the rippling sound again, and then – "Ahh, Riku. So clueless. He'd follow Sora around like a little lost puppy if he could…I wonder if he's caught on about the whole office having bets on for when they finally hook up…"
"There's a bet!?" Riku managed to sputter out before choking on his coffee and dissolving into a coughing, wheezing mess.
"W-What?" Kairi stopped dead, looking a tad panicked.
Getting a hold of himself, Riku cleared his throat and rapidly went into damage control. "Sorry – got something caught in my throat. I was trying to say that there's a bet-ter way we can do it; instead of just playing it safe with twelve percent we should probably try for fifteen…"
Kairi stared at him like he'd just grown a second head, and for a brief moment there, Riku unrealistically thought she'd found him out.
"What…?" He asked cautiously, prompting her to respond.
Kairi opened her mouth then closed it. Slowly she shook her head. "Umm, no – I mean, yes. That…is actually a good idea if we can pull it off."
Hiding his relief, Riku started walking again, Kairi now back to prattling on about percentages and time constraints.
Mentally reprimanding himself, Riku gave Kairi half of his attention while his brain went into overdrive. So the whole office had noticed him pining after Sora, but then…did that mean that Sora had noticed, too?
Damn it, he had to know!
Instead of printing Kairi out a new copy of the Clarkson file, Riku just handed over his own copy and promised to catch up with her about it later. Right now, he had more important business to attend to, already feeling way too restless to focus on anything else. He needed to see Sora – right now.
With Sora only being an intern, he and Riku unfortunately worked at completely different ends of the office hierarchy; they never needed to interact to get their respective work done. Riku didn't really have a legitimate reason to speak to him, but who the hell cared? If there was a chance that Sora was interested in him, too, then he didn't want to be left in suspense! Sora's cubicle was on the other side of the office floor, so he'd just come up with an excuse on the way over there…
Walking through the cubicles, Riku passed Tidus who seemed to be fighting a losing battle with one of the office printers.
"Morning, Riku!" Tidus grinned over at him, a streak of black ink down one of his cheeks.
"Morning…" Curious, Riku focussed on Tidus and held his breath.
"Bet he's off to see Sora! Ha ha! Selphie will owe me that fifty in no time."
Partially in a stupor, but still managing to keep his expression neutral, Riku continued on without another word. He could hardly believe it – how long had this bet been going on for!? Had he really been so transparent about liking Sora?
Passing Selphie clacking away at her computer, more out of the same curiosity, Riku decided to see if she had anything to add as well.
She was humming quietly, bopping her head. Riku kept walking, but held his breath and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Potato, potah-to – ching chong tomato!"
Okay, definitely no surprises there… Selphie had always been a little air-headed…
Sora's cubicle in sight, Riku nervously fixed his tie and combed his fingers through his hair. He'd already ditched his coffee cup. Sora was facing away from him, busy at his desk, and Riku took a moment to prepare himself. He never usually had a problem speaking to anyone, but for some absurd reason, talking to Sora (or trying to) always left him tongue-tied.
"Ah, morning, Sora…"
Sora jumped like a fire had been lit underneath him. He whipped around to face Riku, a breakfast smoothie pouch dangling out of his mouth.
Riku held his breath.
"Oh, crap! It's Riku!" Sora thought, Riku not missing the spark of nervousness in his eyes. He smiled anyway, masking his confusion. Was Sora happy to see him…or not?
"Riku, hey!" Sora answered cheerfully, tugging the smoothie pouch from between his lips. "I heard you pulled a me this morning; I hope Aqua wasn't too hard on you."
Riku laughed, "No, she let me off with a warning – probably just happy it wasn't you for a change."
Noticeably sheepish, Sora rubbed at the back of his neck. "Well, you're not wrong." He turned in his swivel chair and faced Riku directly. "Did you need something?"
"Uh, yeah!" Riku thought quick. "…Have you got the Clarkson file? I seem to have lost my copy…"
Sora grinned winningly. "Yeah, I do! Just gimme a sec, I'll find it."
Sora turned back to his computer and immediately started searching through his documents. Riku focussed on Sora's messy hair and held his breath.
"Clarkson file…Clarkson file…wasn't he that old guy with the ugly toupee? Man, imagine having sex with him… Gross!"
Riku clapped a hand over his mouth, trying his hardest not to laugh.
Sora glanced at him over his shoulder. "What is it? Did you remember a joke or something?"
Riku cleared his throat and got himself back under control.
"Kinda…" The dreaded tongue-tie fast approaching, Riku scrambled for something more to say. "…Did you…have a good weekend?"
Lame. Super lame. Of course his mind would revert to boring small-talk. How more awkward could he get?
Sora didn't seem to mind. At mention of the weekend he launched into a story straight away, chattering away with abandon while he still searched for the file.
"Yeah, I had a great weekend! Oh, man – you wouldn't believe what happened to me; so I went round to my cousin's…"
With Sora suitably distracted, Riku nodded along to make it look like he was still listening, and tried tuning back in to Sora's thoughts.
"…Always forget to buy breakfast foods…I don't know… Maybe I'll go down to Cid's for lunch; I haven't been there in ages…their burgers are the best!"
Luckily for him, Riku knew exactly what Sora was referring to. There was a burger joint down the road from their office building called 'Cid's', and Riku instantly had a brilliant idea.
Exhaling, he broke his focus and listened to Sora speaking again, just managing to catch the tail end of his story.
"– Only had one eyebrow, so of course he blames me; I said dude, I'd never do that! I sleep like the dead! You could easily get me back!"
The printer to Sora's left suddenly whirred to life, sheets of paper slowly beginning to stream out.
"Anyway, that'll teach him. Roxas doesn't take shit from no one."
"…Sounds like a great night," Riku commented, even though he had no idea what Sora was on about. He would have to start working on his timing, as it was proving quite difficult to listen to a person's thoughts, hold his breath, and actually hear what they were saying out loud at the same time.
Sora grabbed the sheets of paper out of the printer tray and shuffled them neatly against his desk. He secured them all together with a single paperclip and handed the complete file to Riku.
Murmuring his thanks, Riku took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders.
"Hey, Sora…I was just wondering if you'd ever heard of a place called Cid's? It's a burger place not far from here, and their food is really…great."
Sora sat up straighter in his chair, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. "It's funny that you should mention Cid's, I was just thinking about going there on my break!"
Swiping a few strands of hair from out of his eyes, Riku hoped he didn't look guilty as he forced his answering laugh to sound casual. At least he hoped it sounded casual.
"Ha, ha! What are the odds, huh? I'm planning on going there for lunch too, so maybe…we could go together?"
Sora happily agreed. "That'd be great! I haven't been there in ages."
Riku was officially tap-dancing on cloud nine. "Right, okay. Great. So, I'll come grab you at one then?"
Wait.
Had he really just said he was coming to 'grab' him?
Riku mentally slapped himself, feeling the tips of his ears heating up. What a horrible choice of words! Holy hell.
Sora didn't seem to notice, though, and flashed Riku his best smile yet. "Yeah! I'll be here."
Riku felt himself melt. He'd never met anyone with a more gorgeous smile than Sora. It never failed to make him remarkably giddy.
Leaving Sora to get on with his work, Riku made his way back to his own cubicle with a noticeable spring in his step. He'd finally done it! He'd asked Sora out on a date! If that strange old lady suddenly appeared in front of him right then, Riku would've kissed her.
One o'clock couldn't come around fast enough.
-0-
Laughing along with Sora, Riku plucked another chip off his plate and nibbled lightly at the end of it. Having finished his burger some time ago, all of his chips were cold now, but Riku didn't mind in the slightest. His lunch date with Sora was going amazingly well, and once he'd forced himself to calm down and relax, he'd discovered it was actually pretty easy to talk to him. They had a number of things in common, which had Riku over the moon. Sora never ceased to amaze him, and as the minutes ticked by he found himself never wanting their hour break to end.
"So I said – why the hell would you put your phone in the microwave? Seriously, the guys on drugs or something!"
Riku laughed again. "Sounds like you live with some crazy people."
Sora waved a chip of his own in the air. "You have no idea; it's out of control sometimes."
It didn't really surprise him that Sora talked like a fish out of water, but it suited Riku perfectly. Now was the perfect time to put the next phase of his plan into action.
He'd subtly been listening to Sora's thoughts all throughout their conversation, curiously hoping to learn exactly what Sora thought of him specifically. He wanted – no, he needed to know if Sora thought about him at all, and if so…did he possibly stand a chance at ever being more than just a friend? Pretending to drink from his milkshake, Riku held his breath and focussed again.
"I really like bananas… They're pretty yum. I wonder if I could fit a whole one in my mouth…"
Riku snorted so hard he nearly shot milkshake out of his nose. What – the hell? Who thinks about deep-throating bananas? Apparently Sora did.
He was quickly coming to realise that Sora was more than a little random in his thinking…
"You okay there? Do you need me to slap you on the back?"
Riku quickly regained his composure. "No, I'm good. Just went down the wrong way."
Sora gave him a contemplative look, and Riku couldn't help himself. He held his breath.
"I bet Riku could fit a whole banana in his mouth… He can do anything."
Now Riku was definitely going red in the face. Sora was still thinking about deep-throating bananas – and was that supposed to be a compliment!?
Releasing the breath he was still holding, Riku felt faintly dizzy as he leaned one of his elbows against the table and rubbed at his forehead.
Maybe…he should take this as a good sign. At least Sora was thinking about him in some capacity, but it still didn't give him any answers. To make matters worse, he'd been holding his breath on and off for so long now that the room was starting to spin.
Sora stood up then, dusting imaginary crumbs off his suit pants. He still seemed concerned. "…Are you sure you're alright, Riku? You're looking a little…hot."
Hot? As in…attractive hot?
Riku's oxygen deprived brain was seriously letting him down right now. He closed his eyes for a second and pushed himself to his feet.
"Uh, yeah. It is a bit stuffy in here…I think I just need some fresh air."
"We better go then," Sora said, his eyes wandering slowly over Riku's flushed face.
Riku just smiled, and without another word, began leading the way to the door.
-0-
"Now, if you'll open the report to page 365, we can start going over the benefits of…"
Riku dutifully flicked his copy of the report open to the correct page number, but he'd already completely tuned Aqua's voice out, opting instead to listen in on Sora's thoughts almost non-stop.
After returning to the office, Riku's department had been called into an impromptu business meeting, and they'd been stuck in here for close to an hour now. Sora was sitting across the table from him, and just slightly to the right, but Riku still had him in his direct line of sight. He'd been quietly taking quick, staccato breaths constantly and focussing on Sora, near desperate now in trying to learn something that would help him make up his mind. He wanted to know what Sora thought of him before he balled up his courage and asked him out for a second time. It was still very possible that Sora wasn't interested in him like that at all, and had only agreed to have lunch with him out of friendship.
After an hour passed and he still heard nothing substantial, Riku was feeling more than a little light-headed. He just couldn't seem to hold his breath long enough, Sora's thoughts coming to him disjointed and muddled.
Determined not to give up, Riku finally got the breakthrough he was after some twenty minutes later.
Sora looked bored, his eyes half-mast. He had one of his elbows propped on the table-top, his chin resting in the palm of his hand.
"Man, this is boring. Why can't she just send this out in a memo? Look at everyone – no one's even paying attention! Well…except Riku, of course."
Feeling Sora's eyes on him, Riku tried to keep acting natural, staring blankly over at Aqua who was still droning on about the report. He took a quick breath and held it again.
"Riku always pays attention. Look at him…look how focused he is – he's not even fiddling with his pen or –"
Running out of steam, Riku struggled to pull in another breath.
"– broad his shoulders are…I bet he looks great in a singlet, not that he doesn't look good in a suit. And his hair…this is the first time I've noticed it down… He always ties it up."
Forgetting he wasn't supposed to look, Riku glanced over at Sora, promptly meeting his eyes.
Sora blinked rapidly, his eyes widening slightly.
"And – oh! He's looking at me! Holy Zeus, did I say that out loud?"
Riku gave Sora a quick smile and trained his eyes on Aqua again, his foggy brain picking through the new information he had garnered. It was obvious that Sora admired him to some extent, but that wasn't enough! He needed something concrete, something that couldn't be misinterpreted.
Ignoring the slow, steady spin of the room, Riku dragged in another sharp breath and held it fast.
Sora was now just blatantly staring across the table at him, and Riku shifted in his seat nervously.
"– profiles pretty nice. He's certainly easy on the eyes. I could look at him all day. His eyes...I've never seen a green like that. I wonder what he's thinking about right now? I wonder if he ever –"
Riku gasped for breath, his heart racing behind his ribs. Spots of light were beginning to dance in front of his eyes.
Ignoring his heartbeat pounding in his ears, Riku tried one more time, knowing that this would have to be the last. If he attempted holding his breath again, he was probably going to pass out.
Sora sounded wistful, his eyelids falling to half-mast.
"Riku… He's just so…so…"
He couldn't hold it anymore, the room starting to tilt and spin sickeningly fast. Frustrated out of his mind, Riku whipped around to face Sora, his mouth engaging before his brain.
"SO, WHAT?"
The entire room went still, everyone now gaping open-mouthed at Riku.
Aqua was flat out stunned. "Ah, Riku...? Did you have something you wanted to add?"
Sora was also staring over at Riku, his mouth hanging open, as well. He looked just as shell-shocked as everyone else. Riku faintly realised that no one present had probably ever seen him raise his voice.
Riku groaned and pressed a hand over his eyes. He felt nauseous and dizzy, bright spots still blurring his vision.
"Sorry, can I be excused for a moment? …I'm not feeling well."
Standing slowly, Riku leveraged himself up and out of his chair by bracing his hands on the table. He paused for a moment, swaying on his feet.
"Do you need someone to help you?" Aqua asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
"I'll help him!" Sora announced. He shot to his feet, and hurried around the table.
Riku said nothing as Sora took him by the arm and carefully began leading him out of the room. He was vaguely aware of entering the lunch room down the hall before Sora was encouraging him to sit down again.
"Let's get your coat off," Sora murmured, tugging Riku's suit jacket off his shoulders. Riku was only too happy to comply, clumsily helping Sora as best as he could. His jacket now off, Riku relaxed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes.
This…got out of hand way too quickly. He could suddenly understand why the old lady's gift had come with such a condition, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stop himself from listening to Sora's thoughts constantly.
…So much for not abusing his power…
"Here."
Riku sluggishly opened his eyes to see Sora standing in front of him holding out a styrofoam cup.
"Thanks…" He took a small sip of water and rested the cup on his thigh, letting his eyes fall closed again.
"Feeling any better?" Sora asked softly, sitting down beside Riku. "You must have gotten heat sickness or something. It's been pretty muggy today."
Riku sighed and lifted his head back up. He met Sora's eyes and offered him a weary smile.
"Yeah, maybe…"
Sora just silently regarded him, that contemplative look on his face back again. Riku desperately wanted to know what he was thinking, but he was still too dizzy to try holding his breath again so soon. Reaching the end of his rope, he decided to just do it the old-fashioned way.
"…What are you thinking?"
Puzzled, Sora tilted his head to the side. "Huh? What am I thinking about? Like, right now?"
Riku nodded. "Yeah. That's all I want to know."
Sora breathed out a laugh.
"I was just thinking about how cute you look when you're flustered."
"C…Cute…?"
Riku had never been called cute in his life.
Sora hummed in the affirmative, still so wonderfully honest. "Yeah! I've never seen you lose your cool like that before." He frowned then, pointing a finger at himself. "But, were you talking to me when you yelled?"
Riku sighed. "I honestly don't even know; I wasn't thinking straight."
Sora just smiled, his eyes warm.
Riku tried to fight the urge, but he didn't have the strength to resist. Once more couldn't hurt.
He held his breath.
"…Damn it, he's just so…beautiful. I just want to kiss the living daylights out of him. But…he's too cool for me. I bet he doesn't –"
His heart now beating fast from something else entirely, Riku didn't need to hear any more. He leaned forwards, capturing Sora's lips with his own.
He pulled away slowly, instantly seeing Sora's slack-jawed expression. "Umm…whoa."
Riku felt like the biggest idiot alive. "I'm sorry, I just…had to."
Shaking himself out of his stupor, Sora waved his hands. "No, no, don't be sorry!" He laughed brightly, his blue eyes sparkling. "But, seriously…you just read my mind."
Riku couldn't help his grin. If only Sora knew the half of it.
"To be honest with you, Sora…I've…wanted to do that for a while now."
Sora threw back his head and laughed. He leaned in closer. "Me, too!"