First of all, I wanna apologize for taking so long. I've been pretty busy with work and IRL shenanigans. Hopefully next update won't take so long.
Second of all, thanks for the comments. I'm not one to usually respond to them because I sound socially inept (because I am) but I read all of them and I do appreciate it.
Third of all, enjoy the sort-of plot development.
When Riku was little, no older than five, he slept with a nightlight. It was a silly little thing in the shape of the sun, plugged into the outlet next to his door. He hid it during the day though, unplugging it and hiding it under his pillow. He didn't want his mom to think he was scared, and he certainly didn't want his dad to see. But Terra knew about it. Terra had been the one that had bought it for him, growing tired of Riku trudging to his room down the hall in the middle of the night because he was scared of the dark.
His excuse hadn't been monsters, like most children. His excuse was that the darkness was too heavy. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see, and he felt so alone, floating in the black abyss surrounding his bed. He refused to sleep with stuffed animals (there were too girly) so Terra had bought him the little lamp at the dollar store one day with his ice cream money.
When Riku outgrew his nightlight, Terra took it away, and he kept it.
After the death of their parents and when Terra stepped in, he packed up the little sun-shaped nightlight in a box and moved it with them. He never let Riku see it, as it stayed in that little shoebox. He knew that if Riku knew he still kept the thing after all this time, he would be upset. Riku didn't want to be weak anymore. He never wanted to be weak. He wanted to be strong, even if that meant pretending he was fearless.
When Riku's entire life went blind, that little yellow sun was plugged in again.
Wherever they moved, Terra kept it. He plugged it into an outlet in Riku's room and he always kept it on, buying little replacement bulbs whenever they were needed. Riku never found out, because Terra never used an outlet that Riku was likely to find. He didn't know why he wanted to keep it a secret. It wasn't like Riku would have cared. He would have removed it from the outlet and said something along the lines of "what's the point" before throwing it away, and that would be the end of that.
Sometimes, it was hard for him to remember how much his little brother had grown.
Other times, he felt like maybe he didn't know him that well after all.
Riku's loss of sight had been a horrible tragedy for the both of them. The first year had been especially rough, and was certainly not made any better by Riku's stubbornness to remain independent. He was bullied at school, but at home he would run into corners or cut himself while cooking, or trip over rugs or cords or even his own backpack.
The first year, he never told Terra how afraid he was. How heavy the darkness was and how much it crushed him, making it unable to breathe. He was isolated because of his disability, but he wanted to be normal again. He wanted so hard to stay strong and just move on with his life, not letting anything stop him. But that's hard to do when you lose something you had relied on so heavily for the first decade of your life. But he stayed strong, to others. No one saw him crying himself to sleep, no one saw the nightmares, and no one saw him punching pillows or screaming into them out of frustration.
No one but the sun that lit up his room with light, even if he couldn't see it in his own perpetual night.
"Riku!"
It was customary for Riku Maes to not even break stride when someone called his name, especially if it was an unfavorable, nasally, too-peppy mix that came from Dennis and his new "Riku is Axel's roommate and Axel is my friend so Riku is too" attitude. The guy had only managed to get a "what's up" in Riku's direction and a grunt in response as of lately, and that was enough for him. But for Riku, that was too much. He had no plans of having any sort of relationship with the musician until he stopped inviting him out to parties where too much alcohol and not enough modesty was served.
"Hey, Riku! Wait up!"
Turning up his music a notch higher, his cane tapped the heel of the person in front of him, causing him to sigh in irritation. He was stuck in the throng of people going back to the dorms, and he was practically a sitting duck. He couldn't move any faster, and he heard the racing flip-flops (it was barely fifty out today, but Riku wasn't going to question—he was the one that wore high collars and turtlenecks year-round) and it was only a matter of time before—
"Geez, man, did you even hear me?"
Playing ignorance when he could smell the tofu on the other's breath was a little silly by this point. So he turned down his music, but kept his headphones on as he walked.
"Ooookay. Well! I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming to my Halloween party? Obviously it isn't until the end of the month, but it's gonna be a costume party and it's at Club Noct and everything! Axel said he was gonna go with Roxas, and I was wondering if you and Sora wanted to go?"
"Why would I know if Sora wants to go?"
There was a bit of rustling as he fixed the strap of his backpack, a nervous laugh tinning through the pads of Riku's headphones. "I dunno. I'm gonna see him t'morrow in choir anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter. But what about you?"
Sora was in choir? Riku probably should have figured that out with all the singing Sora did in the shower and when he thought Riku was asleep.
"I mean, if all your roommates are going, you might as well go too, right? C'mon! It's gonna be awesome!" No response.
He gave an exaggerated sigh, his voice starting to fade as he headed down a different sidewalk to get to the music building. Riku had learned that if Dennis wasn't in his room, he would be in the music hall. Not that he cared. He just knew where to avoid. "You got some time t' think about it! Lemme know when you decide!"
It was going to be a no. He really should have caught on by now.
Continuing his short walk, Riku found the door open when he got back to the dorm. The smell of cigarette smoke assaulted his nose and he wrinkled it, closing the door and placing his cane behind it, in its usual spot. He barely got two steps in before Roxas spoke up over the TV, most likely currently perched on Axel's lap due to the direction his voice came from and the noises that he had been making earlier.
"Me and Axel are gonna watch the game later, then there's a special awards ceremony after. You wanna watch?"
"Can't watch. Blind, remember? Besides, I have a genetics exam I have to study for." If no one was going to exclude him, maybe he would exclude himself.
"Oh come on," Sora whined, making Riku pause mid-step when he realized Sora had probably willingly been sitting on that couch, not caring about the make out party going on next to him.
Sora was weird, and Riku was never going to get used to that.
"But—"
"Riku, yer in fuckin' college. Ya don't study. Yer s'posed to party! Enjoy it! Ya got no supervision!"
Scowling a bit in Axel's general direction, Riku pushed his headphones down to settle around his neck, fingers gripping the worn material of his backpack straps. "Yeah, you and Dennis seem to do that a lot."
There was a muffled laugh and a confused noise from Sora before Axel corrected him with a half-amused "his name is Demyx" before a few giggles were shared and the bedroom door was slammed in their face by someone who would much rather study for an exam he was probably going to fail in the morning.
At least, he had planned on studying, until a rather urgent brunette dragged him onto the couch. Axel had made popcorn and burnt it a little, causing Riku to pass up on it and settle for a bottle of juice as he listened without much attention to whatever the hell they were watching in the first place. Apparently their team had been on a winning streak as of late in the college area of things, and a special ceremony was being conducted to celebrate the new coach. Or something like that. Riku wasn't paying much attention anyway until—
"Do you dream?"
The question was sudden, and even the dead fly on the windowsill could hear everyone tense up at the same time. Everyone currently being Riku, Axel, Roxas, and Sora all crammed onto the tiny couch for audience of the tinny little box TV that still went out of whack with its crooked rabbit ear antenna whenever someone so much as touched the wall it was leaning against on its little rolling stand. Riku hadn't really been paying any attention, until Sora had spoken up to him. He was too focused on the sounds Roxas and Axel were making with all their touching and kissing and why was he sitting next to them instead of at the farthest end, like Sora?
But Sora had asked the question in the middle of a commercial break, and he wanted an answer.
Sora had that habit. The habit of asking questions that were completely off topic and left you dazed for a few minutes before you could respond. It was never anything deep or philosophical, but just… odd. The other day, he had asked Riku if he was allergic to peanut butter in the middle of doing his math homework. He wasn't allergic, but that didn't stop the dazed thirty or forty second pause that occurred whenever Sora asked something out of the blue.
"I mean, I know you dream, because it's a thing humans do, as a thing with our brain and all, but I was just wondering if you dreamt about visual stuff or… something else. Yanno?"
Axel coughed awkwardly and Roxas swatted at his shoulder to wipe off imaginary dust.
But Riku shrugged it off and answered as calm and collected as always with an almost-bored, "Of course I do. I see things when I dream."
"Huh."
And just like that, the conversation had dropped.
Every time that Riku thought he had Sora pinned down to a T, something would pop up out of nowhere to change that. Sora wasn't just some happy-go-lucky kid that sang along to Disney all the time. Half the time he was wasting away on his computer in complete silence, and the other half he was living up a socialite's dream and participating in any club that so much as shoved a pamphlet at him. He could be ridiculously naïve ("Riku, why is all that grunting coming from Axel and Roxas' room?") but surprisingly smart (any person that could recite 20 numbers of pi was smart, in Riku's opinion) and his entire personality was like that. He was a coin with two sides that just kept flipping and Riku couldn't even keep track anymore. It had only been a little over a month, but Sora had confused him so much that he had given up all hope of understanding him.
But he found Sora so damn interesting.
It was normal to be curious. It was normal to question him on little things like why he could eat so damn much at dinner but claimed he didn't gain weight or why he loved Disney so much. But his curiosity had reached the peak of no return. He didn't even know he found his tardy roommate too interesting, and he didn't know why he never asked him the list of questions that grew every day. Maybe he was some sort of masochist or something.
"Roxas, can you pass the popcorn?"
Maybe this was the part where the canned laughter was supposed to kick in. How comical, to ask a question that two out of four couchmates thought was awkward and to get a normal response, then things move on like "pass the popcorn" as if nothing happened. One out of four couchmates have been left out of the joke. One out of four was too busy thinking about the complexities of his freshman roommate. Go on, laugh.
"Sure, here."
It's casual. It's so fucking casual, and he didn't know why it suddenly felt like someone was jabbing him in the rib cage with a thorn the size of his arm. Nothing happened, it was nothing of importance, he didn't even care about the question. Then why the hell was it bothering him? It wasn't like he was insulted, no, that wasn't it. He wasn't offended, or angry, or anything bad. He was just suddenly… uncomfortable.
"Thanks!"
He was hyper-aware of Axel's thigh touching his and the overwhelming stench of smoke. He was hyperaware of Sora munching popcorn, his arm brushing Riku's side as he ate. Why? Why was he suddenly ripped from his half-awake state of thinking about his exam tomorrow and focusing on the moment at hand? Why did it feel weird? Why didn't he feel like he belonged all of a sudden?
"Yeah."
One in four couchmates don't dream normally. One out of four couchmates make everyone else uncomfortable.
"Haha! Lookit 'is face! Too salty fer ya, Sora?"
One in four couchmates are blind.
Two hours later found Riku damp from a shower with his genetics book spread over his legs, half-laying on his bed as he crammed for his exam the best that he could. Sora was still in the main room with Roxas and Axel, but Riku had long since blocked them out. He was too busy memorizing DNA codes. His fingers danced along the pages, re-reading every page at least twice to make sure that the information was embedded in his mind as much as it was able. He knew that Professor Vexen was notorious for trick questions and difficult exams and he was going to take every precaution that he could. He was a bad test taker as it was—the special scantrons and tests he got weren't exactly easy to navigate, on top of that.
But he had always been a good student, and he wasn't about to let one stupid exam ruin that for him.
He was used to teachers and professors alike going easy on him for his disability. He always seemed to get special treatment, and the teacher would go out of her way to make sure he was "comfortable" and "able". He didn't particularly like that sort of treatment, but now that he was faced with Professor Vexen, he sort of missed the babying. The slimy professor was more intrigued by his genetic error that gave him his odd color of hair. Rather than "Are you sure you're comfortable?" he was faced with "Are you sure you are the only in your family with that color of hair?" (The answer was no, he wasn't, but he wasn't about to tell Vexen that). He didn't really care, but it had gotten very annoying very quickly. He wanted this semester to be over and done with so he didn't have to see Professor Vexen again for a long, long time. Hopefully never again, but it was a rather small campus.
He was ripped away from thoughts of a Vexen-free future when his phone rang, the noise slightly muffled due to being buried in his backpack. He didn't get up to answer it, knowing it was Kairi. Terra had called a week ago to ask how classes were, and it was too late for him to be awake anyway. Almost two in the morning, by now.
That little realization made him yawn, a finger reaching up to the thick scar tissue to rub sleep out of his eyes. The phone stopped when his voicemail kicked in, his genetics book joining the clutter in his backpack and crushing said phone as it gave a little beep. Whoever had called left a voice mail. Kairi could wait until the morning, right? If she couldn't, it wasn't like she didn't know where he lived.
Heaving a sigh, Riku laid down, flopping over to his side and tucking an arm under his pillow. It was finally cool enough to sleep under his sheets, his pajama pants riding up his calves as he stretched out under the blankets. He wasn't particularly exhausted, but all of the cramming had taken its small toll. He was going to dream of DNA strands, he knew it. Genetics was about as boring as it got (although his art history class last semester had been his primal nap hour) and he still wasn't all that confident in the exam. But then he wouldn't be a real college student if he didn't bomb at least one exam, right?
Like Axel said, college wasn't about studying. It was about having fun.
Yeah. Sure it was.
Riku Maes was smart.
He had been on the honor roll since elementary school, bringing home gold stars and little certificates that he couldn't really care less about. He knew that school was a test of your memory, and not your intelligence. Even so, he liked to think that his intelligence was high and that his grades just reflected that. He wasn't cocky about it, no. He was just proud of it. Just a little bit. But his pride was being drained the longer his pencil tapped against his desk, brain clicking as it ran on fumes.
Perhaps cramming hadn't been the best way to go about this.
Although, judging by the sounds around him, Riku wasn't the only one that was still stuck on the first page of a hundred question exam that Vexen had handed out with too much joy to be sane. He could hear someone in the row in front of him whispering to someone else to let him copy. The girl beside him sounded like she was having a brain aneurism. Riku himself kept passing his fingers over the bumps of the same question on his own little specialized test form, wondering if he was reading it wrong or something.
Learning braille had been something that was especially difficult for Riku. It had taken him a few years to even get the basics down, giving his senses time to adjust so that he could feel the bumps better. Even then, he still wasn't very good at it. He read slowly, and even now, it would take him hours just to get through a few pages. Even that stupid Chicken Soup book took him a few weeks to re-read, even though he could practically recite the thing by heart. He wanted to think that he was a fast learner, but his braille skills had been holding him back heavily in that aspect.
He was good at reading words like and or the. Words like genetic mutation were a little hard to decipher. He could only imagine how everyone else was doing at this stupid exam.
He got his answer when the classroom's phone rang, successfully scaring the shit out of the aneurism girl as the shrill beeping ripped through the silence of the room. As soon as the professor's nasally voice answered, the whispering grew more desperate, everyone knowing that there was no way Professor Vexen would catch them cheating—
"Riku Maes?"
A cold sort of dread sunk through his bones, wondering if he, of all people, had been suspected of cheating. But Vexen's clipped voice continued, sounding everything but happy.
"The call is for you."
It was another one of those weird instances when Riku could actually feel the multitude of people staring at him. He sat there, dumbstruck and confused for a moment, before he realized that he should probably hurry because Vexen was one of those professors that you did not want to get on the bad side of, even if it was for five seconds over a stupid phone call. So, shuffling awkwardly out of his seat and leaving his blank test sheets on his desk, he grabbed his cane and made his way down, a little surprised at the sudden complete silence that filled the room.
No one cared about the test when Silent, Blind Riku had a phone call.
He made it to the phone after what seemed like eternity, Vexen's sour stench making it rather obvious that he had arrived. The smooth corded phone was placed in his hand and, as soon as he placed it to his ear, Vexen snapped a rather loud "Back to work!"
"H'lo?" he mumbled, not wanting to be loud enough that the entire room could hear him. At least now, some of the whispering had come back.
"Riku Maes, correct?"
"Yes, Sir…" He had no idea who he was talking to, but it was obviously a voice of someone superior in the hierarchy of college affairs. Definitely not a kid.
"I'm sorry to interrupt you in class like this, but I know a phone call is less intrusive than walking in. I would like you to meet me at the central office as soon as you are able."
"Why?" He wanted to mention something about the exam. Sorry, taking an exam. Can't be meeting deep-voiced strangers now.
"Sora is in the hospital. We were going to contact Axel or Roxas, but… He requested you. He only needs someone to help him get back and help him with his mobility."
Sora was in the hospital?
"So you call the blind one?" His voice was a little harsher and louder than he intended. He heard Vexen shush him. He muttered an apology in his general direction.
"I'm aware of your circumstance, but Axel is unreachable and Roxas is not in class, so we have no way of reaching him either. Sora—"
"Fine." The phone was returned rather clumsily to its cradle, Vexen approaching with his quick, long strides. Before he could ask, Riku blurted. "My roommate's in the hospital. Can I make up the exam?"
He could practically smell the disapproval waving off the man, the desk chair creaking as he took a seat. Someone in the crowd of students stood, apparently done with the exam already. "Eight o'clock tomorrow morning in my office. Don't be late."
To say that Riku was happy he gotten away from that mind-numbing exam was a bit of a bittersweet statement. Sure, he was plenty glad that he could put off the exam for a bit longer so he could study more, but then again, Sora was in the hospital. He didn't know why, but if the rumbling voice at the other end of the line had been any clue, he had lost some of his mobility. But he shouldn't worry too much, right? Maybe he had just twisted his ankle during baseball or done something equally stupid. Maybe he fell over during choir and passed out from hitting his head on the bleachers. Maybe he got hit by a car or—
Nope, that was the wrong train of thought.
It took him a while to get to the central office, having been there only a few times. He knew it was across from the library, however, and tried to use that bit of direction to his advantage. Lucky for him, the sidewalks were rather empty. It was just past one in the afternoon, and most people were in class by now. That was a blessing and a curse, because while it meant that he didn't have to worry about anyone, it also meant that no one was stopping him from walking out into traffic.
Being fussed over was iffy like that. But he supposed he should be grateful for the solitude while he had it.
He no sooner walked through the automatic doors, heavy fans blowing down at him to keep the bugs at bay because Michigan mosquitoes were active until there was a foot of snow on the ground, before that deep voice was no longer muffled over a phone speaker, sounding rather close as dress shoes tapped on carpet to approach him.
"There you are, Riku Maes. We should hurry. My car's out back."
The doors opened as he made to leave, Riku only turning in a slow circle in an attempt to face the man. "Who are you, anyway? It's sounding kind of sketchy at this point." But since when had Riku ever used caution? Since he blew his face up, that's right.
"Ah, I apologize. I am the Dean's first assistant, but you may just call me Ansem. It's a pleasure to finally meet you face-to-face, Riku Maes. Now, if you please, I suggest we leave now before Sora thinks we've forgotten him in his hospital bed."
The Dean's first assistant? Was that even a thing? Oh whatever. Sora was at the hospital. He could work on the trust thing later. He just needed to go.
Ansem had a nice car. A new one, by the smell of it. The interior was all leather, and Riku's seat was even heated. The day was cold, so the heat was nice, but no amount of quiet purring engines or luxurious heated seats were about to fix the little worm that had suddenly formed in Riku's throat and wiggling around. He didn't know what it was, but his body was tense and apprehensive. He didn't like hospitals after spending so much of his blind time there, but then again, he hadn't liked them before the accident either. They were always to clean and too sanitary. As if they were trying to hide the fact that hundreds of people would die within those walls throughout the years. The staff was always too friendly and cheerful, trying to cover up the horrible truth behind bloody syringes and body bags. He didn't like hospitals.
But that wasn't what that little worm was about, his Adam's Apple bobbing as he attempted to swallow it. It seemed to move down to his chest then, giving him a sick sort of pain throughout his body. It was worry. The same sort of sick worry he felt when he was told he might be separated from his brother. The same pain when he saw his father being led away in handcuffs. Only, this time, it almost seemed worse. He was worried about Sora and his lack of mobility, as Ansem had put it over the phone. What if it was worse than a baseball injury? What if he was really hurt to the point that a blind kid could actually help him? What if he was blind too?
No, that was stupid. Sora was fine. He was too cheerful to get hurt like that. Too careful to burn his own face off.
But that little worm of worry just kept getting bigger…
When they arrived at the hospital, parking near the ER entrance, Ansem took the liberty of walking up to the front desk and asking about Sora while Riku awkwardly stayed back, tapping his cane rhythmically against a plastic chair and trying to get rid of that goddamn pain. But it just kept getting worse as he breathed in the sanitized air, hearing nurses talk to each other and someone in the corner of the waiting room wailing over a broken arm. Ambulance sirens sounded in the distance, rapidly getting closer, but Ansem's hand was on his shoulder and he was ushered through the doors.
The heavy hand of the Dean's assistant was removed and replaced by a light, dainty one that brought the almost gag-inducing smell of sour perfume. A nurse, in a too-bright tone, was directing him to Sora's room. She was talking to him along the way, but his mind had tuned out, only focused on where is Sora and why can't he move what's wrong with him I'm gonna be sick.
They came to a pause, the nurse awkwardly cutting off in the middle of telling Riku that they were there. He wondered why, but then he realized that the door to whatever room they had stopped in front of must have been open, because he could hear every word inside.
"Your CD4 is a bit off since you lost so much, so make sure to rest and stay on top of your medication. You're all patched up now, but if there's any more bleeding, call us and come back here immediately."
"'kay… Hey, you're not gonna call my parents, right?"
"No, Sora. But they will know you were here, because we need to bill their insurance."
"Aw man…"
"You should just be glad someone got you here when they did, Sora. You could have—"
Could have what?
"Riku!"
There was a little choked-off noise by the nurse in the room before she sighed, Riku moving out from under the hand of his guide to step inside, feeling around clumsily with his cane before he found a chair to sit in. Hospitals had a way of taking his breath away. He really hated these places.
"Whoa, Riku… Are you okay? You look really pale. Like… really."
"Compared to how pale you were a few minutes ago, I think he's fine," Sora's nurse teased, her padded sneakers heading for the door. "I'll grab some water just in case."
There was a long pause after the door clicked shut, which only caused Riku to worry more. Sora was a talkative person, and letting a silence stretch on for more than thirty seconds was completely unlike him. What did CD4 mean? How bad had he been bleeding? What if he was hurt? What if he was—
"Sorry 'bout this, Riku… It was either you or my uncle and, well, I figured you wouldn't yell at me. I wasn't sure how long I'd be here, so I kinda made up a little lie to my nurse so she could get you here for some company." He laughed, but it sounded a little weak. His voice did too, as if he had been running a lot and was finally taking a breather. "Sorry to freak you out though. Really, I'm fine."
"If you were fine, you wouldn't be in the hospital." His words were sharp, and he felt them in the air around him as soon as they left his mouth, stabbing at the sudden silence. He was still beyond confused about what was going on, but he figured that Sora wasn't about to give him an answer unless he asked. "Why are you here anyway?" He didn't hear any beeping or dripping or humming of oxygen tanks, so… maybe he was okay then.
A nervous, breathy laugh. The door opened and Riku felt a cold bottle of water being pushed into his hand. He mumbled a thank you and the nurse checked on Sora for a bit before announcing he should be ready to go once the needle was done (needle for what?) and she left the room again. He took a little sip of his water, but it didn't really help. The little worm of worry had formed into a god damn snake that was busy crawling around his insides by now.
Sora sighed, the hospital bed creaking a bit as he moved. A little "ow" was breathed out before he sighed again, head flopping back down onto his pillow. "I, uh… I wiped out on some stairs. I wasn't really looking where I was going and I missed a step, and my arm and leg got pretty scratched up. And that would be fine, except I'm… I have hemophilia. That bleeding thing, yanno? I don't clot up and it just keeps bleeding until I come here and they patch me up or something. But it's… kinda worse than that. You heard what the nurse was saying, right? Before you came in?"
He gave a slow nod, brain still trying to recover. Sora was okay. He had just been bleeding too much, but now he was okay. Maybe that CD4 thing was a hemophilia term. He was fine. Well, sick, but fine.
"Well, it kinda makes it worse because I have HIV and that can spread through blood, so—"
Riku's brain pretty much shut off at that point.
He had HIV? Wasn't that an STD? Or had he gotten it as a side effect of his hemophilia? HIV was terminal, wasn't it? Or not? Fuck, Riku didn't know. He didn't know a damn thing about HIV, or hemophilia, for that matter. He could only just stare into the blackness in Sora's direction, jaw working loosely as he tried to hide his surprise.
Sora was still talking.
"—and that's why I was late to school, because I had a really bad accident on my bike and I ended up in the hospital getting transfusions and stuff for a week, then my parents wanted to pull me out because they thought that college and being away from home would be too dangerous, and now if they find out that I did get hurt, they're gonna throw a fit and—"
Sora had HIV. A possibly terminal illness that Riku had to Google once they returned to get more answers about. He also had hemophilia, meaning he couldn't get a papercut without a possible trip to the hospital and bleaching everything that his blood touched. That explained the bottles of disinfectant that Riku had found on accident when he was looking for his additional blankets, but…
But Sora was still talking.
"—I guess I just figured I would tell you now, just in case something happens. But can you pretty-please not tell anyone else? I mean, I trust you and all, so it's okay if you know, but… I dunno. It's kinda personal. Sorry it's kinda awkward though, but I couldn't really give a warning."
"But why trust me?" That was all he seemed to get out at the moment, despite the way his thoughts were jumbling and racing, much like that snake in his gut, which was even bigger now. He wasn't gonna vomit, was he?
"Because we're friends, aren't we?"
But Riku Maes didn't have friends.
"Uh… Yeah. I guess we are."
Male mosquitoes didn't suck blood, did they?
