"I'm thinking."
Little Sora and Little Riku are laying on the floor in the room, on either side of the closed chest. Little Sora's head adjacent to Little Sora's feet and vice versa.
Little Riku twiddles his little thumbs as he stares at the ceiling, bored. A snot bubble grows and shrinks in tandem with Little Sora's quiet cartoon-like snoring. One arm draped across his chest, cradling as if he were wounded, the other sprawled akimbo as his legs. Little Riku notices.
"Sora," he says. No response. He says it louder. "Sora. SORA."
Little Sora's eyes flutter open. "Hrnn..?"
"Are you asleep?"
"No," he says without thinking. Then he feels bad about lying, briefly. "Yes."
Wiping the sleep from his eyes and yawning, he suddenly realizes it technically wasn't a lie because he's awake now. "Not anymore. What's up?"
"Oh, I was just thinking."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"That's cool," Little Sora says, yawning again and stretching. Rubbing the top of his left foot with the bottom of his right foot comfortably. He blinks. "I think sometimes."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. You're not alone."
"That makes me feel a bit better."
Little Sora smiles. "I'm glad."
"Sora?"
"Yeah?"
"What happens to us?"
"What do you mean?"
"Like." Little Riku bites his lip and furrows his brow. "What happens to us in life? Do we go on adventures? Are we friends forever?"
"I hope so. Why do you ask?"
"I dunno."
"Is this what you were thinking about?"
"No."
"Oh."
"I hope we're friends forever and go on lots of adventures. Out on the sea, off to other worlds. I wanna see what's out there. With you."
"I hope so, too. And - and Kairi can come with us! And Namine! She can draw us on our adventures. And her, too. Haha."
Little Riku looks hurt. Little Sora doesn't seem to notice.
"You like Kairi, huh?"
"Sure!" Little Sora says, smiling with his eyes closed. "I like all my friends! Even you, Riku."
Blissfully ignorant.
Little Riku turns his head in the other direction.
"Yeah but you like her like her."
Little Sora's eyes pop briefly. Startled. Maybe surprised is better. He hadn't really thought about it. He looks over at Little Riku, but Little Riku is looking away.
"What?"
"You like-like Kairi. I can tell."
He blushes. "Nuh uh!"
"It's okay." It isn't. "I like-like someone too."
"Y-you do?" Little Sora blinks at him a few times but Little Riku still isn't looking.
"Yeah."
"Is it Kairi?" Eyes shifting.
"No."
Little Sora feels relieved by that answer but doesn't acknowledge or even think about why. "Who is it?"
"No."
"What?"
"I'm not telling you who I like-like."
"Awh, c'mon Riku! You can tell me!" Little Sora gives it one of his best patented doofy smiles but Little Riku still isn't looking.
"No."
His gaze returns to the ceiling.
"Sheesh, you're the one that brought it up."
"You have to guess."
"Huh?"
"You have to guess who I like-like. Then I'll tell you."
"You know I'm not smart enough to do that."
"You're smarter than you give yourself credit for, Sora."
Little Sora shuts his eyes tight to think. "Namine?"
"No."
"See? I'm too stupid!"
"What's going on between you and Namine?"
"What do you mean?"
"You made a promise to her."
Little Sora looks sad.
"Yeah. I guess I did."
"What did you promise her?"
Little Riku is looking at Little Sora. Little Sora is looking at the ceiling.
"I promised her that I'd get out of this room. I promised her I wouldn't let her die alone in a room only I have the key to open."
"Do you have the key?"
Little Sora digs in his pocket and pulls out the key.
He holds it up. He puts it back in his pocket.
"Will you keep your promise?"
"I don't know."
"If you don't know if you'll keep your promise, why did you promise?"
Little Sora feels bad.
"I don't know. I don't remember making any promises. I don't remember her at all. I just know she's there. I just know I promised."
"That's a horrible way to exist."
"It doesn't feel good, no."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. One day I'll be as strong as you because of it."
Little Riku laughs, but he doesn't mean to. "Yeah.."
Sora like-likes more than one person and he doesn't know how to assess or process it.
Riku like-likes Sora and will forever feel the tinge of jealousy when Sora like-likes anybody else. Or likes, for that matter.
These emotions have yet to manifest themselves in any understandable capacity to either of them, but even when they do, neither are capable of letting them manifest themselves in any sort of healthy way.
Just a sickly feeling in the pit of their stomachs.
A parasite corrupting their hearts.
Little Riku, and Riku for that matter, sometimes wonder what it'd be like to hold hands with Sora or kiss him. He wonders if Sora would only kiss him as he's dying or if they would kiss all the time.
He likes to think they'd kiss all the time. He likes to think they'd get out of here in no time at all, and find some interesting adventure together, just the two of them.
He smiles warmly and closes his eys, thinking about it.
"I'm thinking again."
Little Sora looks at him.
"That's neat."
They decide to pretend the ceiling is a sky and that there are clouds in the sky and that those clouds look like things.
Little Riku points.
"That one's a rabbit."
"Cool." Little Sora points. "That one's a pterodactyl."
"I don't see it. Looks more like a bird. An eagle, maybe?"
Little Sora's eyes widen. "You think he's after the rabbit?"
"Maybe!" Little Riku says, shrugging. "I wouldn't worry about it much, though. There's his brierpatch."
"Phewf!" Little Sora wipes the sweat off his brow like the cartoon he is. "I see it!"
They both laugh and go quiet.
Little Riku's arms to his side. Little Sora's cradling his chest, as if he were wounded.
"I don't want to lose you," Little Riku says.
Sadder than Little Riku's ever seen him, he says "I don't want to lose you either."
Little Sora sits up abruptly, noticing the sign and reading it. He blinks a few times. "Riku. I think I know how to get out of here."
Little Riku sits up as well. His back to the sign.
They look at each other.
