Author's rambling:
1. Pick a character, fandom, pairing, friendship, whatever.
2. Put your music program on shuffle/random and start playing songs.
3. For each song, write something inspired by the song related to the theme you chose earlier. You only have the song length. No pre-planning and no writing after the song is over. No skipping songs either.
4. Do 10 songs and post. Make sure to include the song name/artist.
Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, but I don't.
xxx
Echo - The Hush Sound
At the end of the beach, there is a lighthouse that Sora sometimes likes to go to. It's a quiet place and just the perfect spot that he needs to gather his thoughts, string them together, make sense out of everything all strewn out in his cluttered and confused mind. He takes purchase on a slippery wet rock at the base of the tall, white, weathered by the ocean lighthouse. Generally, he goes there in the evening, when everyone else has gone home.
Sometimes Riku follows the boy. Sora doesn't know, but the silverette follows and watches from the hidden safety of a nearby bunch of palm trees. He watches as the brown haired boy thinks. Riku knows exactly what he's thinking about. How he desperately wants to tell the boy that things are going to be okay, that he just needs to stop worrying so much. The worlds will be at peace one day. They will. Riku knows it, because it's Sora that's protecting them all.
We Intertwined - The Hush Sound
Riku sometimes gets very jealous of how innocent Sora is; it drives him crazy, and makes him want to shatter that innocence. The brunette is too happy, too carefree. He's too chipper - and it just isn't fair.
After all the destruction he's seen, all the destruction he's caused, he shouldn't have the right to be happy. But still, Riku watches from his spot beneath the tree as Sora runs up and down the shore with Kairi laughing, smiling, happy. He shouldn't be happy, but he is.
Riku thinks about how, later on that night, when he and the other boy will be tangled together; moaning, sweating, and panting (just like they have been so many nights before), and he decides that maybe Sora isn't all that innocent; but, he's still happy. And Riku is still jealous.
Day Late Friend - Anberlin
Sora's room is a total mess when Riku walks in. There are stray papers all over the place, clothes in the corners and other random places. – how did his pants get on the ceiling fan? – There are all sorts of candy wrappers on the floor, on his desk, on his bookshelf, and it kind of figures for his room to be this disgusting. After all, it's almost always like this. Sora smiles sheepishly when he sees Riku's aquamarine eyes wandering around.
"Sorry, I haven't really had the chance to clean."
'Liar,' Riku thinks, eyes roaming back to his best friend. Because, Sora has had way too much free time lately. Now that it's summer vacation, there's no school, no worlds to save, or need to fight heartless. He's just a lazy bum. However, Riku doesn't say this out loud. He just gives a half-hearted shrug, because it's not like he cares. Sora makes his way over to his bed, flops down, and gives out a prolonged sigh as his eyes slip shut.
As Riku watches the exhausted boy, he wonders. Wonders what could have become of them if maybe they hadn't been thrust into becoming saviors of the worlds - well, that's what Sora is at least. Riku is just...Riku. A screw up. He wonders if maybe, just maybe, things could have been different. Sora would probably still be just as messy and lazy, that much is for sure, but perhaps he wouldn't have become so mature. Maybe he wouldn't have become more adult than Riku.
And Riku just wonders.
Hold On With My Open Hands - William Fitzsimmons
Papers fly across the room. A table lamp is thrown across the space and hits the wall. A desk is pushed over in anger and disgust. Bed sheets are ripped off the bed and are thrown some place with no mind paid to them. The closet doors are yanked open, and clothes are torn off hangers, pulled out of the closet, and are tossed away in rage. Hands claw at his skin, tug at his hair, pull at his clothes.
He's disgusted by himself and everything that he is. He wants to get rid of it all, wants to forget. He pulls open the door to his bedroom, rushes down the hall, ignores his mother as she calls up to him in her innocent voice. "Riku? What's going on up there, Sweetheart? Are you alright?" He just goes straight to the bathroom, slamming the door closed behind him. He moves to the tub, turns the water on as hot as it will go, and tears off his clothes as he waits for the basin to fill up.
He shuts the water off. No attention was given to the steam rising from the scalding hot water as he crawls in. It's so hot, so very, very hot that he cringes. Riku grabs a rag and the soap, and he starts scrubbing. He scrubs, and scrubs, and scrubs. 'Maybe this will get rid of the darkness beneath my skin,' he thinks. 'Maybe this will get rid of the memories.' Even when his skin is red and raw, he still scrubs.
"It won't work," something whispers to him. "Nothing will work. You're too far gone. The darkness owns you, now."
"Get the fuck out of my head!" he shrieks. His limbs thrash, tears sting his eyes. He cries out because, god, he just wants out of his own skin.
But, there is no escape.
Think of You - A Fine Frenzy
The phone downstairs rings. Sora abandons his video games to go down and get it, since his mom was out. "Hello, this is Sora speaking." He answers happily.
"Why do you even bother with that greeting? Everyone can recognize your voice, you bonehead."
And, this makes Sora laughs. "Hi to you, too, Riku," he says with a roll of his eyes. "Why are you calling me? Don't you have anything better to do?"
Riku doesn't want to tell him about the episode he's just had. He doesn't want him to know about how his skin is on fire right now thanks to his own abuse, or about how he's shaking and hoping that Sora can't hear it in his voice when he speaks. "No, I just felt like calling you. I needed to hear your voice," Riku admits, cringing at how stupid that sounds.
It brings a little smile to Sora's face, though. He knows that something is wrong, because Riku would never just call for the sake of calling unless something was up. "I'm here."
"Canyou just...talk?Please?"
By the way his voice is shaking, Sora knows it's serious. He doesn't ask questions, he just starts talking. He talks about how he hates math, about how much he wishes that his mom would let him buy that new video game, because it looks so amazing, about why he thinks that some of the girls on the island should learn to be more modest with their clothing. Riku listens, and it calms him. The sound of Sora's voice makes him feel safe, makes him feel okay. And then, Sora starts talking about how much he loves Riku.
And Riku's alright again. Nothing else matters. Not even the darkness can ruin this for him.
It's just that sometimes, Riku feels like Sora is the only light that can save him.
Love Can Wait - Cameron
Riku knows every single spot on Sora's body that makes him writhe.
Like, for instance, there's this spot right beneath his ear that really drives the little brunette crazy. It's taken years and years of studying and searching to know just what gets Sora going, but yeah, Riku has it down to a science. He knows how to comfort him, how to make him feel needed, how to make the tears stop. Everything.
It's love, plain and simple.
Goodbye My Almost Lover - A Fine Frenzy
Sora and Riku are sitting in Sora's room, game controllers in their hands, duking it out over Mario Cart with music playing in the background. Any other day they would be outside, maybe at the beach, maybe playing Blitzball, but today it was raining cats and dogs. Neither of them really had the desire to smell like wet animals. In the background, Riku's favorite song starts playing on Sora's radio. With a smirk, he drops his controller and stands, yanking his best friend to his feet along.
"Riku, what are you doing?" the brown-haired boy asks in shock, his controller falling to the ground. Riku doesn't answer the question, he just wraps his arms around the boy's waist and spun around. And, just like that, they're dancing, spinning around Sora's messy and cluttered room laughing.
They weren't sure who kissed who first, but once they'd started, it wasn't like they were going to stop. Their dancing came to a halt, and before long they were sprawled out on Sora's unmade bed, lips pressing against lips over and over, warmth on warmth, hands searching and grasping and pulling off clothes.
This was how they spent rainy days. In each other's arms. Together. They wouldn't have it any other way.
Lighthouse - The Hush Sound
"Bye! See you guys tomorrow!" Sora waves his hand above his head in farewell to his friends as he watches them all walk off. The smile on his face shrinking, shrinking, shrinking until it's barely there. He waits until they're all gone, faded in the distance, before he turns and sets off in the entirely opposite direction of his own house. His backpack is slung over his shoulder haphazardly, his school shirt untucked, the wind teasing his hair. It's the perfect weather to go down to the lighthouse today. Breezy, warm, but not too hot.
"Hey, Bonehead! Where are you headed?" Sora's head jerks at the sudden sound of that oh-so-familiar voice. Riku is standing behind him, hands shoved in his pockets, hair pulled back into a neat pony-tail.
Sora smiles a little. "Just headed down to the lighthouse. The old condemned one, you know."
Riku quirks a brow. "That's on the other side of the island, right?" he asks, and Sora gives a nod. "Let me come with you."
He hesitates, because the lighthouse is kind of like his own personal safe place that no one else is supposed to be allowed at. But, in the end, he says, "Yeah, okay."
It's just that if it were anyone but Riku, he would have said no.
You Are The Moon - The Hush Sound
Riku stands at the edge of the dock, chest heaving, out of breath. He stares at the churning water below, and he half contemplates jumping in, clothes and all. Maybe he could jump in and hold his breath until his lungs burst. Maybe he could escape the darkness that way.
Hewantsout-Hewantsout-Hewantsout-Hewantsout.
Above him, the moon is shining; its glow reflecting off the surface of the water. Riku sees his own reflection. He looks terrified. He looks disgusting. He looks like death.
And he wants everything to stop; no more. No more. No more.
"Riku?" Someone says behind him, and he would recognize that voice anywhere. Sora. But, Sora shouldn't be here. The darkness might try to take him, too.
"Go away." Riku husks out, voice hoarse. His skin is crawling, begging to be torn away, destroyed, because he needs to get out.
Out-out-out-out-out-out-out-out-out-
"Riku, are you alright?" Sora is closer now, and then his hand is on Riku's shoulder, and the silverette visibly flinches.
'No, don't touch me,' he thinks.'It'll get you, too, Sora. Get away.'
"Riku, look at me."
Riku can't, he just keeps stares down at the water.
Jump. Jump. Jump. Jump.
If you drown, the darkness will finally be gone.
"Riku!" Sora hisses and this time he gives Riku no choice and spins him around. Then, he sees that look in the boy's eyes, and his heart melts. He's never seen Riku so scared in his entire life. Riku is supposed to be the strong one. "Riku...," he whispers. He tugs the taller boy close, arms wrapping tightly around him. "Riku, it's okay. You don't have to be scared. I'm right here."
Riku doesn't relax, but he does let his best friend hold him. If only Sora knew. If only.
Hush - Automatic Loveletter
Aquamarine eyes stare up at the ceiling of the dark room, because Riku is too tired to even sleep. Not physically tired but mentally tired. He can't seem to even find the gumption to shut his eyes. He's almost jealous of the peacefully sleeping boy curled against him, arms tightly circled around Riku's shoulders; warm, naked skin pressed comfortably to his own. Legs tangled all together.
One would think that after the night's activities, he would be beyond exhausted. But, the fact was that he just could not sleep. Too many thoughts in his head, perhaps.
He turns his gaze to the beautiful face so close to his own. Sora's mouth opened the tiniest fraction as he snored. Absently, Riku wonders if Sora ever feels the darkness. More than likely not; the boy is far too untainted. It's funny how they mesh together so well. They're polar opposites, after all. Beneath his own skin, there is nothing but immeasurable darkness, and beneath Sora's there is so much light, so much purity.
But, of course, you can't really have darkness without the light, and vice versa. Maybe that's why they work, because they're made for each other.
Slowly, Sora's eyes open, and he grins tiredly. "Why're you still awake?" he asks drowsily. "It's late."
Riku smiles, leans forward to kiss the boy. "Couldn't sleep. Too busy thinking."
"Yeah, your thoughts are loud enough to wake me up." Sora teases, and Riku laughs softly. "What were you thinking about?"
The darkness and the light and how they need each other to survive, to exist. "You and me, and how I don't think that I'd even be able to live without you." He replies, and even in the dark, he can see the blush that covers Sora's face.
"Weirdo." The younger mumbles, smiling. "Love you, Riku." He says quietly, eyes searching his best friend and lover's face.
Riku just smiles back at him, voice soft as he says, "I love you, too, Sora."
After a few minutes, they both fall asleep, all wrapped up in one another, in their own separate dream worlds.
Darkness and light.
xxx
And here I sit, wondering why on earth I wrote this. Reviews are the writer's crack, and I'm addicted. Thank you for reading. Until next time.