Title: Arm's Length
Rating: M
Pairings: Riku/Sora, other characters undecided
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Kingdom Hearts. Any lyrics I would normally put in the story itself will be listed as a title and artist in the Author's Notes for purposes of legality, etc etc. Disclaimers are boring. Let's move on.
Author's notes: I'm back! I was on hiatus since I got this job, but I do occasionally have a life out there. I apologize for the wait.
This is a boyxboy fanfiction with explicit scenes. That means that there can and will be swordfights of the penis variety. You've been warned.
I will post any and all lemons (sex scenes) to my other account on a different website for purpose of FF rules. I will provide further instruction and warning if/when I decide to write them.
I would like to thank Milxaliw for offering his help as my new beta! *cookie avalanche* His suggestions regarding setting and flashbacks have already been very useful to me in writing this.
Early in the morning on December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base of Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. Within that same year, millions of patriotic men flocked to the fields for military combat training. If any young men out there listening have not yet enlisted their services, we are compelled to remind you that the conscription President Roosevelt signed in 1940 still stands firm, and that the drafts have drastically increased in volume since.
"Our present program will train 800,000 additional men this coming year, and somewhat less than one million men each year thereafter. It is a program [] of defensive preparation, and of defensive preparation only. To the sixteen million young men who registered today, I say the democracy is your cause. The cause of youth."
The recording of President Franklin D. Roosevelt faded away, and the voice of the former radio personality returned.
Preparation now aside, Men between the ages of 18 and-
Sora turned off his radio with a firm click. He had heard enough.
It was mid-November, 1942 and America had declared war the previous year. Most of his male friends had either volunteered or been drafted since the war began. Sora had been lucky enough to avoid it so far, but it didn't seem like he could run from it much longer, and neither could Riku for that matter.
Sora perked up, "Riku!"
He jumped up from his chair, suddenly remembering that he was supposed to meet up with his friend today. He trotted over to his wardrobe, nearly tripping over his dirty clothes strewn over the floor.
The war didn't much interest Sora. While his friends were gung-ho about protecting the world from the Nazi Regime, he was worried about the newest films and technology innovations. He preferred to focus on the happier things in life. The only other person he knew who wasn't completely consumed in war tales was his friend Riku. Riku was more of a rebel than Sora, but he was always willing to listen to Sora's strange interest in the entertainment industry; though he didn't know why, since Riku had little interest unless it had something to do with sports or vandalizing public property.
Regardless, Sora pulled on a pair of trousers and buttoned up a slightly wrinkled dress shirt. He wrapped his tie around his neck and tied it with fumbling hands, before pulling his knit long sleeve over his head.
Before leaving the manor, he frowned at himself in the mirror. Much to his parents' chagrin, he refused to cut his hair, and it naturally spiked out in all directions. It wasn't very professional looking among the wealthier groups his parents had over but he liked it, and to Sora that was all that mattered. Riku had a similar oddity about his hair, but unlike Sora, it was the length and color of Riku's hair that drew attention to him. It brushed just past his shoulders (when it wasn't tied up) and was bluish steel in color. Despite the strange style, Riku never had to make an effort to attract female attention. In fact, he often complained to Sora about how annoying it was to have women always throwing themselves at him.
Sora, though outgoing and friendly, never attracted romantic interest from anyone, but he was fine with that. The associated heartbreak wasn't very appealing to him anyway.
He bounded down the long, vaulted hallways with the energy of an eight-year-old. He was always excessively happy to see Riku, but Sora was a very energetic person to begin with. They were both eighteen and fresh out of high school, but Sora still liked to play childish games like hide-and-seek.
Luckily for his parents, he also happened to be a smart cookie.
As he vaulted the last bit of banister railing at the foot of the stairs, his stepmother heard his landing and peered around the corner from the kitchen.
"Sora, could you please keep the roughhousing to a minimum? That banister is polished Ebony wood, so don't "play" with it!"
Larxene wrinkled her nose and retreated back to the kitchen without asking Sora where he was going. She didn't much care, so long as he wasn't damaging the valuables his father worked hard for her to enjoy. Her blonde hair wouldn't have been so ugly, had she not slicked it back with gel and spiked two strands up from the rest like antennae. He assumed she did that so she could sense anything remotely fun and stomp it out before it got "out of hand".
When he was sure she wasn't watching anymore, Sora stuck his tongue out and soundlessly mimicked her lecture. He rolled his eyes and slammed the door shut behind him for good measure.
He hated that vulture of a woman.
He vowed to fill her shoes with pickles later. Now, he ran down the street towards the park nearby. They always went there because Sora loved the tall slide. The railed-in landing had a great view of the sunset. The jungle gym also had a hole dug deep enough in the ground in the middle of it for them to have a private hangout. It reminded Sora of a clubhouse. As he reached the top of the hill, he saw that his friend was leaning against the jungle gym and was turning over a pack of Lucky Strike cigarettes in his hand. Sora eyed the lit cigarette in his mouth. A lot of people smoked and he had to admit Riku looked pretty badass with one either dangling from his lips or pinched between his pale, slender fingers; it reminded him of the Marlboro commercials with the rugged male models. Sora would have smoked too, if it weren't for the nasty taste it left in his mouth. He preferred his soda pop.
When he spotted Sora coming, Riku dropped his cigarette and stomped it out with his foot.
Sora ran up to him and resisted the urge to hug him. They fist-bumped instead and Riku's lips twitched up in a small smirk. Not many people got to see that kind of reaction and it always reassured Sora that he was considered a friend.
"Hey Sor."
"Hows it goin?" Sora panted a little from all the running and rubbed some sweat from his brow.
"Alright, I guess." He avoided Sora's eyes and decided to approach a subject separate from himself.
"But you're late," he flicked Sora on the nose, who grinned up at him sheepishly.
"You're one to talk Mr. No-Show. Ya know, it still amazes me how you graduated without ever showing up."
Riku shrugged, "Well, I did the work."
A smirk played on Sora's lips that Riku found hard to ignore, "Nooo, you did the teachers."
Sora then burst into a fit of laughter at the look of disgust that crossed Riku's face.
"Sora, Mrs. Hambershaft was ninety for Chrissakes. I would've killed her."
"Yeah," Sora managed to reply between giggles as he grasped at his knees to keep from collapsing.
"But Ms. Finley wasn't."
"Mmm," Riku licked his lips hungrily and smirked. "You've got a point there kiddo-"
"HEY!" Sora pouted. "Stop calling me 'kiddo'. I'm older than you, ruffian."
"I'll consider it." He paused. "If you stop calling me 'ruffian'."
Sora grumbled something about "fairness" and Riku watched his friend ruminate for more than a few minutes over whether he'd accept the offer.
"Better call the fire department, I can smell your hair a'burnin."
Sora gave up on deciding, never being good at such things and crawled down into the center of the jungle gym. Riku followed him in and they sat cross-legged, facing each other.
"So, what's with the sad look? If I didn't know better, I'd say Larxene cooked that cat of yours up for breakfast."
Sora only shook his head. He thought he was good at controlling his emotions, but Riku happened to be good at knowing when his friend was worried about something. Sora saw it as a blessing and a curse wrapped in one.
"I keep hearing stuff about the war."
"So? I thought that shit didn't bother you," Riku leaned back on his palms.
"Not really. But, they started drafting people our age," Sora wrinkled his nose and stared at the small piece of ground between their feet. Riku's shoes were really worn.
Riku mouthed a silent 'Oh' and watched him for a moment before responding.
"Well, you won't have to worry about that much when you enroll in Penn State, right? They're less likely to take you if you're in college. Larxene still making you go?"
"Yeah, but I want to go. Have you thought about going, Riku?"
"What? To college, or the war?"
"Either," Sora replied.
"Nah, have you looked at me recently? I scream 'low income, middle-class, war-bound, citizen." He air quoted the last word and rolled his eyes.
"I told you I could get you the funding to go."
He shook his head firmly, "Not the school type."
Riku got restless and readjusted himself into a crouched position, resting his arms over his knees.
"Then, what can we do to keep you out of war?"
"Nothing," he answered. "We don't."
A beat of silence. The conversation neither of them were looking forward to finally broke to the surface. Sora's fun-filled evenings with Riku could end, and soon. An empty, cold feeling washed through Sora to his core. He had an inkling it wasn't just the November air.
And, for the first time since he arrived Sora scrutinized his friend's image. His pants were lighter at the knees from working in the nearby textile factory. His collared shirt was white, and covered in sweat and dirt stains. But, the brown suspenders on his shoulders seemed to be in good condition; Sora couldn't imagine why.
His hair cascaded over his face, causing him to either tie it up or constantly be flipping it out of his eyes. Today, he left it down and Sora liked it better that way. It made him look more...rugged? He couldn't quite place it, but the way Riku looked that day just suited his personality. And something about the way he was crouched low to the ground with his suspenders stretched over his shoulders and across his back...
"What are you looking at, shorty?"
Sora was ripped from his slight reverie by a cocked eyebrow and an aquamarine eye peeking out at him through a curtain of silver.
Riku was kind of...beautiful.
"...You're starting to scare me, Sora."
Sora shook his head a little too fast, "S-sorry. It's nothing."
Riku seemed confused, but let it drop and shrugged a little.
"So, can we meet up again tomorrow? I'm starting classes this Thursday so I won't have as much time after that."
Riku grimaced, "Ah, but I'm not off again until the weekend. I work tomorrow...Sorry."
The apology was genuine and made Riku want to play hooky like he used to in school. Unfortunately for the both of them, it would cost him his new job if he didn't show.
"Oh...ok," Sora tried not to let his disappointment show.
"I guess I'll see you later then," Sora got up and smiled.
"Wait," Riku caught him by the hand.
Sora blinked and looked back down at him.
"Your folks don't care if you're late. At least, Larxene won't."
Sora winced. Yeah, thanks for that lovely reminder you ass.
Riku's face contorted into a wicked grin. This was that we might be running from cops tonight kind of grin the gave Sora both a sense of dread and excitement in the same stomach movement.
Hopefully he wouldn't shit his pants. Getting nervous made him want to poop.
"I have an idea."
This time, Sora was the one looking confused.
Riku got up, brushed himself off and dragged Sora by the wrist towards wherever he was planning to take them, a new gleam in his eyes.
"Ow, hey! Riku, that hurts!"
"Come with me."
Whatever it was had him so excited, he was squeezing Sora's wrist too hard.
Jeez, can't you just expect me to follow you like a normal person? I stopped resisting you long ago.
Sora rolled his eyes.
Where's Riku taking them? If you knew what I know, you'd be pretty excited too ;)
I do not own FDR quotes. Brackets indicate where an unnecessary word was removed from the FDR direct quote in the beginning of the chapter.
As always, thanks for reading!