Light in the Darkness

Chapter 1: Rain Check

Green luminescent numbers rolled over to 8:00 AM and the clock atop Sora's nightstand began beeping obnoxiously. Sora squeezed his eyes shut and let out a muffled moan, waiting a few moments before rolling over and shutting off the racket. He did so with the mastery that comes from habit, finger landing just on the right spot and without the opening of an eye. Sora rolled back over and reached out in the other direction. Nothing but blankets. He searched a little higher. Empty pillow. Sora half-opened one eye, but saw no sign of his silver-haired boyfriend.

"Riku?" he called.

There was no reply. Sora groaned and lazily stepped out of bed, stretching his arms out and yawned as his feet found their way into slippers with mouse ears at the toes. Sora shuffled down the hall and into the kitchen, where he hoped to find Riku smiling over a plate of pancakes with chocolate syrup and scrambled eggs, Sora's favorite. Instead, there was a note on the counter.

Took five bucks and went to the store for cigarettes. See you after work.

Riku

Work, of course, referred to Sora's job at a grocery store. Riku got fired from a restaurant a couple months back for missing too many shifts, and hadn't made any effort to find another job since.

"Who wants to smoke before eight in the morning," Sora asked the empty house. "And why is a trip to the gas station going to take so long that he won't see me before I leave?" Sora poured himself a glass of orange juice and took a few sips, then headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and shower. He was dressed and out the door at 8:42.

The brunette parked his car and sent his boyfriend a text on his way inside.

Good morning, babe. Sorry I missed you. Hope you slept well.

Sora put his phone back in his pocket, let out a sigh, and clocked in. He always hated Tuesdays. They seemed to creep by and 5:00 was as far away as that one treasure chest outside Merlin's house.

Several hours passed and still he had received no reply from Riku. He went to the restroom so that he could send another text without being seen.

Let's go out for dinner tonight. Start thinking about where you'd like to go. I can't wait to see you!

Sora headed back to the front of the store and was stopped by a customer on aisle three, fuming over why there were no Paopu fruits in the produce section.

"Sorry, ma'am. We're sold out. But we get a truck tomorrow and we hope to have some then."

"But the sale ends today!" The woman's nostrils flared.

"Yes, ma'am. Would you like a rain check so that you can get it for the sale price?" Sora offered professionally.

"I'd like a Paopu fruit. You people are always advertising things you don't have! You have any idea how frustrating that is?"

At this point it took every last bit of restraint Sora had to keep him from telling the woman that he bought the last Paopu the night before, and that even a Paopu wouldn't be able to help such an unpleasant and standoffish woman find a companion.

"Again, I apologize. We did have them in, but I'm afraid other shoppers who came prior to the last day of the sale bought all we had. The first to finish gets to name the raft, as they say. As I said before, I'll be happy to write a rain check for you and, if you leave your phone number, I'll even call you when we get some in." Sora faked the most sincere smile he could muster without being genuine. It looked just as silly as his natural smile.

The woman snatched her purse from her buggy, tossed it over her shoulder, and announced that she was going to "the competition." Sora rolled his eyes as she strutted down the aisle toward the parking lot with the combined grace of Donald's waddle and Goofy's stomp.

Many more customers bothered Sora throughout the day, asking where to find ethers and camping sets. By the end of his shift he felt like he needed to consume five hi-potions. He clocked out and untied his apron on the way to his car, checking his phone as he walked. No new messages.

Sora pulled up into the driveway and parked the car. Riku was sitting outside smoking. Sora plopped down beside his boyfriend and leaned against him. He smelled of bubblegum and cigarette smoke.

"Long day," the silver asked.

Sora silently nodded. "This one lady gave me the hardest time because we ran out of Paopu. I almost came home to get ours and let her have it."

Riku took a long puff of his cigarette. "I'm glad you didn't."

"Of course I wouldn't do that. I have special plans for it." Sora lifted his head and kissed Riku on the cheek.

The older continued looking straight ahead across the street, at nothing in particular. "It was delicious."

"Ha ha," said Sora dryly. "Very funny. So, where are we going to eat?"

"I'm not kidding. It was very juicy. I'm not hungry any more." Another drag from the cigarette.

Sora looked down and sat a minute in silence, then looked at Riku. "You ate the whole Paopu? By yourself?"

"It was small," Riku replied nonchalantly.

"But…you know you're supposed to share it. Everyone knows that."

"You weren't here."

Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was Riku playing some sort of game? If it was, he didn't have very good timing.

"Babe? Do you know what today is?"

Riku replied automatically. "It's Tuesday, duh."

"Right. But what's so special about this Tuesday? January 27."

Nothing came from Riku's mouth but a trail of smoke.

Sora stood up and started to look desperate. "You really don't know?"

Riku smirked as though Sora were the one playing a game. "I know it's not your birthday. That's some time in April."

Sora couldn't take any more. A tear fell from his left eye as he looked directly into Riku's sea green ones. "It's our anniversary. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"It does." Riku acted as though he knew all along. "I just don't feel well today and would prefer to stay at home tonight. Can we celebrate some other time?"

"We don't have to go anywhere. I'm just as happy with a romantic evening at home." Sora tried to smile. "Don't you see? It doesn't matter where I am, as long as I'm with you."

The red tip of Riku's cigarette started to die down. "Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that it's just another day to you. I wake up and you're not there, I don't hear from you all day long, you act like there's nothing special about it, and you eat the Paopu all by yourself. You don't see anything wrong with that?" Now tears fell from both of Sora's eyes. He couldn't stand to look at Riku any longer.

"Sora…"

"I work full-time with no breaks, making minimum wage, while you just sit at home all day in your pajamas, smoking and eating all the food. I've put up with this for two months now, but you've been emotionally absent longer than that. All that I've asked is that you love me, but you can't even do that."

Sora lifted a sleeve to wipe his eyes and then went inside. He ran down the hallway, shut the door to the bedroom, and jumped onto his bed. He buried his face into Riku's pillow and sobbed quietly. "What am I doing wrong? Why doesn't he love me?"