"It'll be fun, I promise!"

That was what Axel had said. Those had been his exact words. The redhead had insisted that yes, he really would have fun, and it wouldn't just be a waste of several hours of his life.

Riku had yet to see that particular three-letter word. In fact, he was pretty sure it had tipped its hat and exited stage left about three hours ago, when he was still in the car with his soon-to-be-ex best friend.

Earlier that day (way-too-earlier that day; about 6 AM to be precise), the poor silverette had been woken by a crushing weight on top of him and a loud buzzing in his ear, which he quickly identified to be his roommate and buddy, Axel. The other had insisted he get up (because only Axel could be so fucking energetic so early in the goddamned morning), so that they could spend the day hanging out together.

But not inside like always, oh no. It had to be outside. In the real world.

Riku had damn near thrown him out the window.

But alas, along with energy came the stubbornness of glitter on any type of surface, and it was only a matter of time before the young man got himself up and dressed, doing a very good impression of some kind of creature that had just woken from the dead.

They'd driven around town, ate out, went to a movie (both of them laughed more than once when either of them pointed out how much they looked like a couple. Heaven forbid, because the world would've descended into World War III and then imploded in on itself), and then, when Axel knew he had used up just about all of his friend's tolerance (because the sneaky bastard always liked to do that before popping surprises), he began to drive out of town.

Riku didn't actually notice until his brain registered that he'd been staring at farmer fields for an hour. He asked, nothing was given, and he just gave up with a huff. At least there was air-conditioning; the day was a scorcher.

And now? Now where was he? Standing in a non-air-conditioned wooden cottage/hut/thing, sweltering as the wood acted as a natural absorber of every bit of heat the sun cared to emit. And Axel had ditched him.

'A trail ride. He actually brought me here to go on a trail ride. Seriously? He knows I've never been on a horse before! But of course he knows that. That's why he did it; so he could make fun of me.' Riku paused in his thoughts, brow furrowing. 'But then…wait…why isn't he here?' Going back through the past while, the silverette's heat-defective brain managed to recall his friend being escorted out by a short blonde, who called back that his own guide would be along shortly.

Shortly apparently meant two hours out here.

But indeed, two very long hours later, as Riku was on the verge of simply passing out on the bench against the front wall, the stupid little bell above the door jingled and a shadow slid over the silverette's face. With a groan, he opened one of his eyes, peering up at the other guy from beneath the press of the arm he'd flung across his forehead.

Brown, spikey hair under a cowboy hat (he wasn't gonna try and work out how it stayed on), blue eyes, tanned skin, stupidly happy face…Riku couldn't imagine anyone more fit for the job. The grin was irritating to him in his over-heated state, wondering just what the hell he was so happy about.

"Hi there! You must be Riku. I'm your trail guide, Sora."

He got a low groan in response. It didn't seem to deter him at all.

Instead, Sora just laughed and moved over to where Riku was laying down. "Come on. Up ya get; your friend already paid for you." The brunette said, grabbing one of his arms and using it to pull Riku up, even if he wasn't getting any help. Riku just glared for a moment, before letting out a sigh and standing. With Sora only stationed far enough away to allow him room to get up, it was easy to see that he was definitely taller than this guy. Sora seemed to notice it too, and stuck a tongue out at the smirk he was given.

Riku sighed as they left the small cottage; it was so much cooler outside in comparison, even if the day itself was still very warm. But when he saw the two horses standing close by, saddled and ready to go, what little energy he'd gotten back left. Stupid Axel, dragging him all the way out there…

Without a word, he moved towards the one Sora was obviously holding still for him, not thinking much about what he was doing until the horse shied away from him and the brunette giggled quietly. Riku ignored him and tried again, with the same result.

"Um, Riku? You can't mount a horse from that side."

'Yeah, bet I could mount your ass from that –WOAH.'

Clearing his throat, from both embarrassment and the aftershock of…what had just happened in his head, the young man made to move to the other side, but was stopped by another 'Um' from Sora.

"You uh…you really shouldn't go around the back of a horse…not unless you put your hand on him. Otherwise, he might freak out and kick you."

Riku let his head slump down between his shoulders, so done with the day by this point. At least Sora was being patient with him, even if he couldn't guarantee the same if he opened his mouth.

So, after both corrections and a slight bit of a struggle to get into the saddle and stay there, Riku felt thoroughly heated, only half of it from the sun, and very ready to go home. Sora had passed him the reins (read rope) of the horse and slid easily on to his own, before moving back over to where his ward was.

"Alright. Let's go!"

Riding a horse was….an experience.

Riku wobbled more than once, and the horse itself made him nervous. Being an animal, it did in fact have a mind of its own, and so tended to do things on a whim that startled its rider. The silverette had almost (almost) freaked out when the stupid thing decided it wanted a specific bush, identical to shoe closer by, a short ways off the path.

Sora's laughter made him blush.

"First time on a horse?"

Riku snorted as he haltingly guided Satan (aptly named) back on to the marked trail. "Gee, how did you know."

"My powers of observation serve me well."

The pair chatted amiably as they went, sharing stories and jokes, and little things about themselves. Shared laughter, and even good-natured arguments, made it seem like they had known each other a lot longer than was true.

But the ride came to an end soon enough, and Riku slid rather clumsily off the back of his steed, glad to be on solid ground again…though his legs ached.

"Oh smooth."

Jade eyes narrowed and glared playfully at Sora. "Let's put you on the back of my motorcycle for three hours and see how well you do." He shot back. The brunette's grin only widened.

"I look forward to it."

-Sable