Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts in anyway, and I don't own the Barenaked Ladies or any of their songs.

I felt like writing something...well, not very Christmasy, but something wintry. Hope you like! The Chocolate Pot is actually based off of a cafe in my hometown.

Sora burst throught the door of the Chocolate Kettle. He hurriedly shut the door behind him, his hair wet with the freezing rain and sticking to his forehead.

'This weather is unnatural!' the boy thought as he walked over to the counter. 'It's way too cold.'

"Hey, I didn't think you would come." Roxas said as he made some hot chocolate.

"I tried to skateboard over, but it was way too icy. And you know what? My ass is wet."

Roxas laughed and handed Sora the sweet drink.

"Hey, we got a new employee today." Roxas said casually.

"Really? Did Axel get fired?" Sora looked up from his hot chocolate with surprise.

"Yeah, he 'accidentally' set the kitchen on fire. I wish he still worked here, though. He made life entertaining." Roxas laughed a little.

"What a pyro...what's the new employee like?" Sora sipped the hot chocolate slowly so he wouldn't scald his tongue.

"Why don't you meet him yourself, Sora? He's working in the kitchen upstairs."

Roxas left the counter and came out of the door leading out.

"Come on, I can leave the counter for a while. No one but you's gonna come in this weather..."

The two brothers hurried up the steep stairs that winded around up to the 3rd floor. Panting, they reached the top. The first and second floor were seating areas for customers, but the third floor was where the main kitchen was, where all the fondue chocolate, cookies, biscotti, and other very delicious things are made. It was one of the oldest buildings on the island.

Sora finally caught his breath, and looked over to see Roxas still panting. Sora started to laugh, roxas started, and soon hysterical laughing took over them.

"Why are we laughing?" Roxas gasped.

"Because you looked so funny!"

"I say you both look funny. Roxas, I didn't know you laughed."

A tall, silver haired boy looked over from the counter. He was wearing the green uniform Chocolate Pot apron, and...skinny jeans?

"Hey, you'd be depressed too, if you had too sit at a fucking register ALL day, without an iPod or cell phone. All I do is watch the people get FATTER off of ice cream!"

"Whatever. Who's he?"

"This is my brother Sora. He comes here, like everyday. Hey, Sora, I'm watching you get fatter..." Roxas stared at Sora intently.

"Um...ok. Yeah." Sora inched a little away from his brother. "Creepy, much?"

"I should get back to the counter, so Riku? Make sure Sora doesn't touch anything."

"Hey, that was a one time thing, okay?" Sora punched his brother in the shoulder, hard. Roxas sneered at his brother, and walked downstairs.

"So...what did you do in the kitchen?" Riku asked, stepping back behind the kitchen coungter.

"Oh, nothing. Cut my hand open while slicing a bagel, set a potholder on fire, spilled scalding water on the floor, dropped eggs on the cat...those kind of things. Let's just say I'm hopeless when it comes to kitchens. I'd love to work here though, but Roxas said no."

Riku laughed, loudly, confidently. Not like Roxas' giggle or Kairi's peals.

"Yeah, kitchen work takes skill." Riku thought for a moment. "Wait...you dropped eggs on your CAT?"

"It was an honest mistake!!" Sora protested. "Besides, she was fine."

"I don't think that's the point, Sora..."

Sora frowned and drank more of his hot chocolate. It was cold enough now that he couldn't get burned. Shifting the mug from one hand to the other, he wondered, 'Why haven't I seen this guy before?'. The island was small, there was one school, and nobody was a stranger. And why would anybody move to the island?

"So, uh, are you local, or did you just move here, or what?" Sora finally asked.

"Well, my parents just split, so my mom came to live with her sister here, and I came with her. We used to live in Toronto."

"Canada, eh? Never been here. Actually, I've never been outside of Destiny Island, isn't that sad? I want to go to Chicago."

Riku brushed long bangs out from his face and pulled some chocolate out of his pocket.

"Want some?"

"After it's been in your pocket? No thanks."

"Whatever." He bit into the chocolate and continued,

"Anyway, my mom thought it would be best if I got away from Toronto." He paused. "Well, at least I can start new here."

"Start new?" Sora raised an eyebrow and smiled. "So, are you like, a delinquent?"

"No, I just..." He stopped talking and looked down at the counter.

"It's not for you to know." He said after a moment. Then, he looked up.

"So, what about you?" He asked.

"I play guitar a little. And I hang out with my friends a lot, Kairi and Selphie, and Axel and Roxas. Tidus and Wakka too, sometimes. We make quite a, quite a group." Sora laughed. "Like, once I got a Coke and I was afraid to open it because I thought it would explode. So I made Kairi open it, of course." Sora laughed again. "And it exploded! Just like I told her!" They both laughed.

"But that's not the whole story. Kairi tried to stop the bubbling so she started to frantically lick the bottle. And when that was over, she was like, 'Want some?' and Selph was like, 'Yeah, baby, Coke turnse me ooooooooon.'" Sora laughed again and tried not to spill his hot chocolate.

"You guys don't sound that wierd." Riku said, continuing to eat the chocolate.

"Well, that's because you've never seen Axel and Roxas making out in my room. Why they were in MY room, I'll never know..."

Riku's face looked shocked, then he laughed again. "So, they're gay?"

"No. Well, sorta. I mean, Axel is gay, but Roxas is bi. I know that because he went out with Kairi for a while."

Riku looked uncomfortable for a moment. The he spoke,

"You know the real reason my mom and I left Toronto? And why my parents split up?"

'What was he getting at?' Sora thought but said, "What happened?"

"I told my parents I was bi and my mom was totally good about it, but my dad practically disowned me and my mom and I left."

"Wow. That sucks. I live with my mom and Roxas, who you know is my brother. My dad kind of left us when Roxas and I were little...guess we all have out problems, neh?"

They sat in kind of a depressed silence. Sora had finished his hot chocolate and was just rolling the mug around on the table.

"OKAY! This is pretty pathetic. Quick! Be happy!" Sora jumped up then asked,

"Hey, you want to hang out after work tomorrow? We can go swimming, it'll be awesome!"

Riku looked up from his depressed state and replied,

"Sure. What time?"

Oooh. That took a while. See that button? R&R please:)

Latte