reception; I uh—I really like your shirt.
Sora? I wear this every day.
sorakairi
"I really like your shoes."
Sora is looking in the mirror of his bathroom. He scrunches his face into different smiles, perfecting ones and discarding others. He's known her for as long as he can remember, but something does not feel right.
They used to laugh all the time, talk all the time, sit on the gnarled palm tree and watch the days end.
And now… he can't even give her compliments anymore.
"I uh, I really like your…shirt."
Oh, wait a sec. He meant to say shoes. Shoes. To think, he practiced this without a single stutter just a few minutes before in his bathroom…
She raised her right brow, face twisting into a confused smile.
Huh. He'd never noticed that dimple before. It must've developed when Kingdom Hearts made him go into that coma. But it's weird. He still can't wake up any earlier than twelve noon.
"Sora? ..I wear this shirt every day."
He looked away from the cute dip in her cheek, the forced embarrassment staining his face.
"Well, um, I just – "
"Not to mention every girl that goes to school wears the same one…" she said.
"Yeah, I know, I uh, just – "
"But I've never looked at it as particularly fashionable before…" she looked at the buttoned down shirt, contemplating and fingering the fabric.
"Well I think that you're what makes it look just – "
"You know what, Sora?" Her exuberant smile ruptured his jaw and halted his train of thought. "You gave me an idea!" She stood and dusted the dry bits of sand off her skirt.
"I'm gonna go find Selphie and have a field day at the shops!" she grabbed her backpack from the ground. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"
And with that, she left him wallowing in the sediments of rock and sea. He fell onto his back with pitiful frustration. He huffed with over exaggeration and shouted, "I just want to go out with you!"
There was a brief pause.
"…uh, Sora?"
His eyes widened and he jumped up, dazed and quite mortified.
She was standing above him, looking like he said he was going to marry Donald straight away.
He sputtered. "I – uh – what I meant – I didn't mean – I think you heard the wrong part, I mean, I was trying to say – "
"Sora." She stopped him, a blush smiling on her face. Then she leaned forward and placed a light kiss on his cheek.
"Kairi…" he felt something gurgle out of his mouth. "Er…Selphie…and clothes and…"
She giggled and shook her head. "I don't think I want to go shopping anymore." She sat down right beside him. "I think I want to be with you instead."
He grinned goofily at that, his teeth blinding her view.
"I'd really, really like that."