January, 2012
A/N: As mentioned in previous chapter, this is now only being edited for grammar, to connect continuity with the editing in Chapter 2, and to cut out embarrassing tidbits (mostly irrelevant side notes.) So the writing is now considerably lower in level. Please forgive me!
Cinderfella
Chapter 3 - The Meeting
"You know your brother went to the party, right?"
"Yep." Sora rolled his eyes. The night of the party had come upon them, and Sora had been surprised when Cloud was leaving the house decked out in a mummy costume.
"Your dad's out of town this weekend too, right?"
"Yeeeep."
"Well, then this plan is bound to work!"
"Plan?" A huge pile of cloth was flung in his face as Kairi climbed through the window, a bag slung over her shoulder. Sora unfolded it and held it out before him, baffled. "This is your costume? I never imagined you as a dress person, but—"
"That's not mine. My costume is a female warrior."
"Then who's this for?"
"You." Sora's expression was priceless. First he gawked at Kairi, then at the dress. It was a silky pink, long and poofy at the bottom. The top was strewn with red ribbons that drew across the chest, closing two flaps on the sides. The sleeves were very small and short, making the dress quite unflattering. But he hated the bow in the back the most. It was huge and reminded him of Pepto Bismol.
"No. Way. In. Hell."
"Hey, if you don't want to be recognized, the best way to go is opposite gender. They'll never guess it's you, and it'll never get back to your dad!"
"This plan sucks, Kairi."
"You want to go?"
"Well, yeah..."
"Then you will follow my plan! I guarantee you success!" Before Sora could protest, Kairi grabbed him too tight for any escape. "We've got two hours to dress you up!"
Cinderfella - The Meeting
"Can I open my eyes yet?"
"No."
"...how about now?"
"Do you want to be poked in the eye with eyeliner?"
"No, but..."
"Then be patient!" There was another pause. "Okay, you can open 'em now." Sora twitched his eyelids open and stared into the mirror. He looked almost stunning, his face looked more like a girl's than it already had. Kairi's make-up made it look so natural. The dress hid the fact that he was a boy. (Both bottom and top portions.) The only problem he could find wrong with this picture he pointed out to his female friend with an index finger.
"I think they'll notice the hair."
"We have an hour and ten minutes left for that, Sora! And I know just what we're going to do!" She waved a hair straightener, a bottle of some kind of gel, hair pins and a blonde wig.
A long fifty minutes finally concluded as Kairi attached the wig on properly. Who knew putting on a wig could take so long? First Kairi had to straighten his spikey hair, and then she attached the blonde hair with the pins and the assistance of the gel. But when Sora took a good look at himself in the mirror again, he looked nothing like a boy. She was clever after all... "And now for the finishing touches!"
"We're not done yet?"
"It's just accessories, silly!" She gave him a pair of white shoes with barely a heel, strung a plain silver necklace around his neck, but pouted at his next problem. "Dammit, the gloves are too big. Oh well, we'll just roll them down some." She rolled the long white gloves down at the top so it was secure on the top part of his arm, even though it still looked slightly goofy.
"Are we done yet?"
"Yeah, we're done." She crossed her arms and nodded proudly. "You make such a pretty girl, Sora! Shucks, you're making me blush..."
"Shut-up!"
Cinderfella - The Meeting
As they walked up Leon's driveway, they could hear the loud rock music blaring. When they opened the music, unclear metal practically shattered their eardrums. Kairi looked at Sora and said something, but Sora only saw her mouth move. "What?"
"I said, is- e- ate?"
"WHAT?"
"I SAID, ISN'T IT GREAT?"Sora twitched: the redhead had been yelling directly in his ear.
"YEAH, UH, SURE!" He was already getting a headache. People were everywhere, conversing somehow underneath the music. Next thing he knew, he felt himself being tugged on by the arm and dragged to a group of people. He recognized the Tidus as a vampire, but couldn't make out who the werewolf was. It's hard to tell who people are when they're wearing a latex mask.
"HEY GUYS!" Kairi shouted. "ISN'T THIS GREAT?"
"YA!" Sora almost distinguished the voice as Wakka, but he still couldn't tell. "WHERE'S SELPHIE AND SORA?"
"SELPHIE'S A FRESHMAN, REMEMBER?"
"OH YEAH!"
"AND THIS IS MY FRIEND, DORA!"
"YOU SAID THAT'S SORA?"
"NO! SORA'S GROUNDED! THIS IS DORA! DOOR WITH AN 'A'!"
"OH, NICE TO MEET YOU! I'M TIDUS AND THIS IS WAKKA!" He shook both of their hands, feeling like an idiot. "ARE YOU FROM AROUND HERE?"
"YEAH, UH, I'M JUST HOMESCHOOLED!"
"OH, THAT'S COOL!" He was beginning to figure out how people were talking under the music: they were screaming their lungs out. He wondered how many people would get laryngitis by the end of the weekend... "SO, KAIRI—"
"Hey, guys, I've got to go to the bathroom..." or anywhere else was fine for Sora, as long as it got him away from the loud noise, and he was tired of yelling to just talk.
"WHAT?" the other three said in unison.
"I'M GOING TO THE FREAKIN' BATHROOM!" Sora left in a hurry, he needed to get out before he lost his hearing.
"DOES SHE KNOW WHERE THE BATHROOM IS?"
"I DON'T THINK SO..."
He cursed Kairi for stuffing him in such a fluffy dress, because it proved to be a challenge to get through all the people. His eyes looked at Cloud for a moment: he was standing up against the wall next to another guy with brunet hair. He recognized the guy as a senior, but didn't have enough time to figure out who exactly he was when Cloud began to stare straight as his eyes. Startled, Sora turned away and headed for his original escape route—a staircase that may lead him to some sort of bathroom.
There were people sitting on the steps. Shit.
He tried his next plan. Surely Leon wouldn't mind if someone would go outside for fresh air. His eyes spotted a door in the kitchen, and he bustled his way on through until he was able to literally toss himself outside on his stomach and hastily kick the door shut.
The air felt better than he imagined: it was slightly chilly, but ten times better than the choking heat that came from the people inside the house. It was quiet enough so he could hear his own panting, exhaust from his breath clearly seen under the dim porch lights. His body jumped when he heard footsteps come near him and stop. Intense fear made him shudder: was his wig still on right? Would he be recognized?
"Hey, are you all right?" His ears picked up on familiarity, but couldn't quite figure out why. "Did some guys pick on you at all?"
"What are you... talking about?" he groaned, rolling onto his back and looking up. It was a boy his age, who was dressed as a knight. His silver locks of hair were tied back in a ponytail. Silver hair... it suddenly came back to him. "Ah-ah..."
"You're too cute to have come alone… Did you come with a boyfriend or something?"
Cute? The four-letter adjective used by Riku made him shiver. "I... don't have a boyfriend..." Or a girlfriend either, but that wasn't the point.
"Did you come here by yourself?"
"N-no... I came with my friend, Kairi." He closed his eyes, trying not to remember. This scene reminded him of the dream he had before he woke in the nurse's office—he didn't want to think about it.
"Kairi, ah! I know who she is. ...um, would you like a hand?" He rose and held a hand to Sora, who took it with his gloved hand and got to his feet. "How rude of me! My name is Riku." He simply took the hand he was already holding and shook it. "And your name?"
"Dora," he squeaked as he looked down. This seemed like a different Riku—someone more straightforward and confident. The Riku he knew at school was quiet and reserved.
"Dora..." He smiled. "Nice to meet you. I've never seen you around school before..."
"I'm homeschooled."
"Oh, that explains it. But why aren't you with Kairi?"
"It was too loud, and I like my hearing." This made Riku chuckle.
"Yeah, same here." He walked towards the gate and leaned on it, hands clutching the spaces between the vertical bars. "And I couldn't stand being around that many people for that long." He sighed before continuing. "At school I don't really talk to anyone because it makes me nervous. Nervous that…" He trailed off silently, not completing the sentence.
Sora didn't quite know how to react. Riku was nervous? Why? He was quite handsome, and he'd overheard girls talking about his attractiveness before. There's no reason for him to not be able to make friends easily, at least not that Sora could see…
"So how did you end up out here?" Sora asked, trying to divert the conversation.
"Well, I made the mistake of wearing the costume that would make me as sexy as possible. So there was a flocking to me, and I just needed some air." Riku chuckled awkwardly.
"Err, well, I can see why…" What the hell was he saying?
At this, Riku gave a heartily laugh. "So what's the matter?"
"What's the what?" He glanced up for the first time in a while at Riku.
"You look upset about something. Come on over here by the gate with me." He gestured him over with a waving of the hand, and Sora came over shyly. "You're just looking down. Something bothering you?"
"No, I..." He had to know. He just had to know, ever since that dream. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead, lifted his head and looked right into the teenager's face. His breath hitched when he saw those two eyes. That aquamarine was such a familiar color. He felt his heartbeat in his chest and realized he hadn't breathed since he finally saw Riku's color-filled eyes.
His eyes looked just like Sora's real father's.
"What... what is it?" He could feel Riku's increased awkwardness, and turned away.
"N-nothing. ...it's nothing." From that time before he woke in the nurse's office, that dream he had, he had wanted to know Riku's eye color. The fact that in his dream, his eyes were colorless frightened him, and for some reason, he needed to know if he couldn't fill in the blank for the lack of knowledge, or if his eyes really were gray. But now he wished he had never looked. His father's face was beginning to dance in his memory, and soon his mother was there too. That night, the last night he would ever see them...
"Are you sure?" Sora jumped when a hand gripped his own gently. It had only been Riku. What would he do if he knew that this was Sora, the same boy who he'd brought to the nurse's just a few days ago? "If there's nothing wrong, I'd like to ask you a question then..."
"Oh no..." Did he send the wrong signals? For some reason, this was starting to make him giddy, but that wasn't right! It was the dress doing this... just the feeling of cross-dressing, right? He could feel his bare, (unfortunately, forced by Kairi) shaved legs shaking underneath. "Yes?"
"Why are your gloves so big?" He began to laugh when Sora's face turned a deep red. His... gloves? He guessed it was hard to avoid seeing the problem: his gloves looked silly on his arms. Underneath where Kairi had rolled them down, they were puffing out most, and the entire glove was loose around his arm and hand. The funniest looking part of them were the loose fingertips.
"Er... Kairi gave them to me," he said. Why had Kairi given them to him in the first place? Maybe to hide the hairy arms that he didn't have? They were bothering him already, he supposed it wouldn't hurt her feelings or give away anything if he took them off. "But now that I think about it, they look stupid. I'll take them off and set them here." Grabbing the tip of the fingers, he tugged each one off easily. As he did so, Riku spoke again.
"Well, I was going to actually ask if you'd dance with me out here... I hear a slow song starting." Riku's face came close to resembling a ripe tomato.
Sora was startled. "You... want to dance with me?" Not that he was unwilling completely, he had always wondered what it was like to dance with someone, but from what he inferred from Riku, he thought he didn't want a girlfriend. But maybe he found Sora interesting, which was sort of strange.
"Yeah, you've... been pretty cool to talk too. Even though we haven't been doing much talking. So, how about it?" He held out a hand to his hopeful dance partner's.
Here, you can be anything.
Kairi wasn't around... and Riku would never find out that it was him. The last thing that tempted him into it was when he heard the lead singer.
Anything that scares you. I think that scares you.
"Yeah... sure." He took Riku's and set his hand on the other's shoulder nervously. Shuddering as a hand was placed on his hip comfortably, they began to move back and forth in rhythm.
"Is this the first time you've danced with someone else?"
"Yeah... you?"
"Yeah, this is my first time, too." So they were both sharing their first dance with each other. How awkwardly… romantic.
Before he thought about what he was doing, he moved his arms to hold Riku around the waist and leaned against him. In response, Riku held Sora around the shoulders. It felt better than he imagined it to be: his body was warm under the costume he wore. Temporarily, he forgot who he was and who he was with, he just let himself fall into the sea of comfort. Closing his eyes, he took it all in.
Before he knew it, seven minutes were gone. He wearily opened his eyes, and looked at Riku's shockingly green ones, and shivered. His dance partner must have felt this and asked, "What's the matter, Dora?"
"It's... I..." He quickly thought of an excuse. "That was nice. Thanks, Riku." He smiled and closed his eyes. Anything to shut out those beautiful eyes.
"It was my pleasure." Riku peered down at the blonde thoughtfully. "You know... that costume makes you look like a princess."
"Aw, gee, thanks..." Maybe too much of a compliment. "I think—"
"So-Dora!" In shock, Sora leaped about a few centimeters in the air and gripped Riku for support, which knocked them both over on the ground. Sora was on top, his legs were spread out with Riku's inbetween. They looked at each other and blushed before looking at the person who caused the whole thing. "Er... is this a bad time?"
"This isn't what you're thinking!" Sora rolled off the other and sat upright. "You scared me and I—"
"It's okay, you don't have to explain. I was just going to tell you that we should get going. I'll meet you out front." She was giggling as she left. Sora pouted as Riku rose and held out a hand once more. "Isn't this where we started?"
"Yeah, I guess..." He blushed and used his hand to get up. "Anyway, I have to go. But it was, uh, cool talking to you. I hope I see you again sometime..." At least in this disguise, he thought.
"Me too. This was nice." Sora grabbed his glove and turned for the door, but before he could twist it open, a kiss on the cheek scared him. "Thanks for the dance, by the way."
"Y-your... welcome..." He stumbled inside. "See ya, Riku!" With that, he closed the door and ran for the front door as fast as he could get through.
Still outside, the boy sighed. Would he ever see lovely Dora again? For some reason, he felt as though he had already met her, but... when would he have met her? He racked his brains for the answer, but lost track when he saw something white on the ground. Picking it up and examining it, he realized it had been her glove. She wasn't coming back, surely? He decided to keep it... for a keepsake of the night he had his first dance.
Meanwhile, Sora was making his way out to meet Kairi. He found her outside giggling as if her stomach would bust and her insides would spill. "What's so funny?" But she only laughed harder, and he blushed as he suddenly remembered their previous meeting. "You scared me and I fell on top of him! Your fault!"
"Oh, stop making excuses! This is what they call love!"
"Shut-up!" He smacked her with his single glove. Kairi blinked.
"...hey, where's the other glove?"
"The other...? Ack! I left it inside! Wait, I'll—!" He moved to go back when the girl tugged on the back of his dress. "Oh no, I don't think so! Forget it; they were an old pair from a previous costume."
"Don't you want it back?"
"Just forget the stupid thing! I wanted to tell you before that I overheard Cloud suspect you, and Tidus and Wakka were saying you looked familiar too... but I found you about to make love, so it was hard to say!"
"How did overheard Cloud with the music that loud—" Pause. "WHAT?" But she was already long gone. "KAIRI, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" But he was laughing as he chased after her. It had been such a dreamy night, he couldn't tell what streets were which anymore. Kairi was his only way home.
January, 2012
A/N: Lyrics from Just Watch the Fireworks by Jimmy Eat World. This was actually one of the inspiring songs for this fanfic in a random way… don't think I ever mentioned that. c:
Now you can see my progressive laziness to edit properly. I don't have time to nit-pick every bad line of dialogue or nonsense description. But hopefully it still holds up okay. Blegh.