Riku smiled to himself as he leisurely strolled down the street. He was in the upper, more poverty stricken part of the city as he headed for his apartment complex. The streets were mostly abandoned, save for the children out playing together in the snow, as there wasn't much for them to do inside their homes. Of course, only Riku could see the young Angels watching over the children from above as an elder Angel made sure they did their jobs correctly and understood what they were doing. The sky was still dark and cloudy from the cold weather, making this part of the city look more gloomy than it actually was, though it couldn't dampen Riku's mood.

"Riku!" A familiarly cheerful voice called out to him. Riku looked over curiously and found an older man, who was much taller and lanky, dressed in a red winters jacket with a green scarf and hat combo. His black hair just peeking out of the bottom of the hat. He had a long face with bright green eyes, and stubble on his chin. There were slight bags under his eyes, showing how tired he was.

"Goofy? What's up?" Riku asked curiously.

"Ah-yuck, Mickey's not happy with you, Riku." Goofy said, sounding rather disappointed. Riku's brows furrowed in confusion and he looked questioningly at the older male.

"What did I do?" He asked confusedly.

Riku laid on his bed, his arms propping up his head as he stared pensively at the water stained ceiling of his studio apartment.

"Riku, you broke the rules." Mickey's high pitched voice rang through his head.

Riku grit his teeth, eyes narrowing as the voice continued on.

"I wish it didn't have to be this way." He'd said. He had sounded disappointed. Riku knew he was, but that didn't make him feel any better about the situation.

He squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his hands into fists, gripping his hair tightly from the action.

"As punishment, you won't be allowed near Sora for a month."

"Dammit!" Riku cursed loudly, turning quickly in his bed and slamming his fist into the wall. The force creating a crater in the cement as several cracks now stemmed from the area. Riku absently looked away and his jaw loosened slightly. After a moment, he let his hand drop back onto the bed as he started to relax.

A month without Sora... How was that even possible? The cheerful brunet was literally the only reason he was alive. Riku's sole purpose was to watch over and protect him. If he couldn't do that, then what was he supposed to do?

It had been a month since Sora last saw Riku, which, in his opinion, felt like an eternity filled with anguish and anxiety. He was brimming with about a million questions, and if he didn't get some answers he felt as though he might explode. But he also felt that some how he might have offended him in some way when he'd last seen him. All in all, Sora was overly worried for no real reason, and he couldn't understand why.

Though, of course, when he finally did see Riku, all of this was the farthest thing from his mind.

Sora stood in front of one of the dressing room doors, key in hand as he made to unlock it. He regretted this decision immediately though.

"Boo!" Riku said as the door swung open to reveal him inside.

"Oh my god!" Sora yelled, jumping backwards as his fists came up instinctively to attack. He thankfully managed to stop himself before he could punch the other. Once his brain processed that it was Riku, he let out a breath of relief as he visibly relaxed and lowered his arms.

Riku covered his mouth as he tried not to laugh at Sora's reaction, though the amusement was painfully clear in his eyes.

"That wasn't funny." Sora insisted with a pout forming on his face as he crossed his arms.

"I'm not laughing." Riku said, voice strained as he continued to cover his mouth.

Sora rolled his eyes.

"Please, I know you're smiling behind your hand." Sora countered.

"I am not."

Sora placed his hands on his hips as he looked suspiciously at Riku.

"Yeah, then why don't you move your hand?"

Riku took a breath, then slowly moved his hand, showing only seriousness in his expression. He allowed a smirk to break his features though as his eyes pierced Sora.

"See? Not smiling." He said smugly.

Sora rolled his eyes once more as he shook his head, though he couldn't help the smile that pulled at his lips.

That's when Riku broke though, grinning widely and bubbling with laughter.

"Sorry." Riku said quickly as he placed his hand back over his mouth. Sora nodded, crossing his arms over his chest once more.

"Mhm, you're an asshole." Sora said simply as he turned away from Riku, making him chuckle to himself at Sora's childish attitude.

Riku shoved his hands in his pockets as he smirked at him.

"Please, you love it."

Sora rolled his eyes again as he placed his hands on his hips and shook his head.

"What do you want Riku?" Sora asked with a raised brow, though there was a warm smile playing on his lips as he looked up into Riku's aquamarine eyes with his own deep, shining blue eyes. Riku found himself admiring Sora's face for a moment. It was more rounded than his own, making him look younger than he was, his smile sweet and endearing as he showed off his beautifully white teeth, his eyes shining with affection and happiness as he looked up at Riku and, regardless of the recently cloudy skies and Sora's night shift schedule, his skin still held it's usual tan from his time spent in the sun. A handsome young man he had grown to be, he could have any girls heart in a second. Though Riku knew he was after only one girls affections, regardless of how she felt towards him.

"What do I ever want, Sora? I'm just here to do my job." Riku said with a shrug, Sora's smile fading at his words.

"Is another one of those beasts going to attack?" He asked curiously, trying to seem nonchalant, though the worry was evident in his demeanor. His eyebrows pinched together slightly as he gnawed at his bottom lip, his arms still crossed, but his hands shaking slightly as he gripped his arms, hoping his tremors would be less noticeable by doing so, his foot started to tap against the floor either in his impatience or in hopes of calming himself with the rhythmic beat of his toe tapping against the floor.

Riku shook his head to dispel his fears.

"Not tonight no, but in the next day or two. Though, it won't be anything as large as the one you saw. It should just be a couple small fries, no big deal." Riku explained with a shrug.

Sora visibly calmed as he looked confusedly at Riku.

"Then why are you here?"

Riku frowned, placing his hands on his hips.

"Geez, I didn't know I was so unwelcome." Riku said flatly as he turned away from Sora.

Sora blinked in surprise, processing what Riku said. As realization set in, he gasped and quickly tried to fix it.

"T-That's not it! You're welcome here Riku, I just don't understand. Normally something happens when I see you. I mean, I didn't understand till most recently, because, well you know." Sora explained quickly, hoping he hadn't hurt the other by insinuating he didn't want him there. At first he hadn't, he'd actually been terrified by him. But recently, he found himself wanting to see Riku more and more, and he was excited when he did. His stomach actually fluttered when he'd see him.

Riku chuckled, shaking his head slightly as he smiled down at Sora.

"It's alright Sora, I get it." Riku said, calming Sora as he let out a relieved sigh. Sora stood there awkwardly though after his relief faded, still curious as to what Riku was doing there, but not wanting to offend him by asking him once more why he was there.

"I just wanted to see you." Riku said, understanding Sora's sudden awkwardness and deciding to relieve him of that by showing that he was alright with his curiosity.

Sora looked up in surprise, a blush slowly forming on his face as Riku's words processed in his brain, but quickly, a smile came to join it.

"Really?" He asked hopefully. Riku nodded to affirm Sora's questioning, but this seemed to only bring him a harder question to answer as Sora placed his hands on his hips and looked at Riku with a mix of confusion and seriousness.

"Then where have you been for a month?" Sora asked, the slightest twinge of anger and hurt to his tone.

Riku blinked in surprise at the question, but looked off to the side, brows drawn together as he frowned somewhere between the wall of the dressing room and the wood covered floor, his hand rubbing his neck nervously.

"I got in a bit of trouble. No big deal, it just kept me away for a bit." Riku explained, though, in a sense, he hadn't really explained anything.

Sora pouted slightly, raising a brow as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I thought guardian angels weren't supposed to leave their human unattended?" Sora challenged.

"Hey, I never said I was a guardian angel." Riku immediately wanted to slap himself as soon as the words left his mouth. That was the most ridiculous counter, and even Sora didn't buy it as he stared deadpanned at him.

"There's just a lot you don't know about us, okay?" Riku explained, hoping to at least regain some dignity and get those deep blue orbs to show some kind of other emotion.

Sora seemed to lighten at this, shifting his demeanor and looking curiously up at Riku.

"So tell me more."

Riku would have been more than happy to oblige, if not for the fact that he'd just gotten in trouble for the very same thing and had only just been relieved of his punishment that very day. In fact, the moment he'd been told his punishment was over he'd rushed to go check on Sora. He, of course, could sense the impending danger heading for Sora, but that had nothing to do with how much he'd wanted to see the other. After all, he'd watched over Sora his whole life. Being away from him for a month, knowing that danger was headed for him and he could do nothing but sit in his apartment and hope whoever was protecting him for a month would do a well enough job of keeping him safe, that was absolute torture for a guardian angel. So he'd immediately come to check on him once his punishment was over.

"I really wish I could, Sora, but-" Riku was interrupted as he heard a familiar scratching noise. His eyes darkened as his brows pinched together.

That wasn't right. They weren't supposed to be here yet. Riku should have had at least a day before they showed up.

"Riku?" Sora questioned curiously as he stopped talking, moving to place a hand on his arm.

"I have to go." Riku said quickly, moving to leave the area and hunt down the monsters before they could get to Sora.

"W-Wait, what? Where are you going?" Sora asked quickly, grabbing Riku's arm.

"I don't have time right now Sora. I'll explain later." Riku said quickly, trying to tug his arm from Sora's grasp, though he only tightened his grip, looking pensively at him.

"Promise?"

Riku stared at those wide, worried blue eyes for a moment, surprise evident on his face, but his expression turned serious suddenly as he nodded.

"Yeah, I promise." He said. After a second, Sora slowly released his arm, and Riku hurried off, leaving Sora alone once more to get back to his work. Though, he didn't know if he could as he was once more consumed with worry.

Later that morning, Sora sat on his bed, watching Family Guy from his awkward position on his back. He laid so his head hung over the edge, making his TV appear upside down to him as his eyes were glazed over with boredom. At this point, it was simply just white noise to him. Something to make him appear occupied, even though, in actuality, his mind was completely consumed with thoughts of Riku. He hadn't seen him since he'd spooked him earlier that night, and to put it simply, he was beyond worried.

Sora was completely lost in his thoughts by this point, his mind so far gone that he didn't notice the odd scratching and hissing noises filling his room or the dimming of his lamp as the darkness tried to consume the light.

Sora's mouth opened wide as he started to yawn, stretching his arms and legs to loosen his tense muscles. As he did so, something flew right over his stomach and stuck into his wall. Something disappeared with a small poof of black whisps, Sora gasped and jumped slightly, though not much as he noticed a bat wing shaped sword stuck in the wall right over his stomach.

Sora's eyes widened and his breathing quickened to the point where they were just short gasps. The sword suddenly vanished though in a burst of light, but Sora's panic held firm as a small black creature with glowing yellow eyes suddenly jumped at him.

Though, in the next second, it was bursting into black whisps as a tiny heart flew up from where the creature had previously been. Sora gasped once more, his eyes quickly flicking upwards to see his savior. He relaxed slightly as he saw Riku standing before him.

Riku quickly spun on his heel, swinging his blade and slicing through another creature, though this one looked different from the other two and disappeared in a burst of ligjt. This creature was tall and scarily thin with a large head. It's mouth came to a point and instead of teeth, the creature had a zipper that currently sat open so Sora could see the dark gray orb like thing in the back of the things throat.

He spun around the room and sliced through several more of the creatures.

When the last one finally disappeared, Riku quickly turned towards Sora, looking him over with concern.

"Are you alright?"

Sora stared at him for a moment longer before quickly clambering off his back and onto his knees with wide eyes.

"What the fuck just happened?!" Sora yelled, chest heaving as he looked around his room, now clear of any unwanted inhabitants.

"I..." Riku started, looking around the room slightly with worry evident on his face.

"I don't know..." He finished, looking to the completely shocked Sora.

Sora's mouth opened slightly as he stared at Riku in bewilderment. He didn't know? How could he not know?! It was his job to know!

"What do you mean you don't know?" Sora questioned confusedly, lowering his tone as he spoke.

"I mean... This shouldn't have happened. They shouldn't have attacked twice in one night, and they definitely shouldn't have been able to just appear in your room." Riku said, the concern clear in his voice. His expression quickly became suspicious though as he looked at Sora.

"You weren't thinking about anything bad were you?" He questioned suspiciously. He knew he hadn't been physically doing anything, he'd have seen if Sora was doing something bad, but he couldn't hear Sora's thoughts, he wasn't capable of doing that. And having sinful thoughts were as bad as the sin itself, or so they were told.

"I was thinking about you...?" Sora admitted slowly, the confusion evident in his voice. Riku raised a brow, baffled by this as he unknowingly blushed a light pink. Sora caught the pink tinge staining his cheeks though and his own cheeks heated up as well, though his were a bright red, unlike Riku's. Sora threw his hands in front of him, palm side out at he waved them around frantically.

"N-Not like that! I just...! I hadn't seen you since you took off earlier, and I had some things I wanted to ask you, plus I wanted to make sure you were okay and, and... Oh my god I can't believe this is happening, I'm just going to crawl under my blanket and die of embarrassment now." Sora explained quickly in his panic. As he finished talking he grabbed his blanket and pulled it over his body as he curled into himself.

Riku blinked a couple times as he was still trying to process everything Sora had said. The moment it all sunk in though, his flush darkened as he realized what Sora was implying. He stood there frozen for a moment, unsure of how to react. Should he be upset? Should he be freaking out?

Though as he looked at the ball like lump under Sora's bedding, he knew he didn't have time for either. Sora appeared to be mortified right now. He needed him, and as his guardian angel, it was his job to be there for him. Whether it be protecting him from harm, or simply easing his troubles in an awkward situation, it was his job. At least, that's what he was telling himself. And getting upset wouldn't help anything.

So, Riku took a deep breath to calm his own embarrassment, pushing it all to the back of his mind as he stepped over to Sora's bed. Getting down on his knees, he gently placed a hand on the blanket and gave it a light tug. Sora appeared to be gripping it tightly though, and Riku sighed in exasperation, though he couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Sora, it's okay." Riku started, placing his hand on Sora's head. "I understand what you meant."

Sora moved slowly, poking his head out of the blanket, he regarded Riku curiously with wide eyes.

"Really?"

Riku smiled and nodded his confirmation. Sora sighed in relief, pushing his blanket down to his waist and sitting up, now having to look down to see Riku.

"From the look on your face, I had just thought that you thought I was thinking about you..." Sora trailed off, gesturing with his hands in hopes that Riku would understand what he was trying to say.

The gesturing didn't help.

Though it would take a pure bread idiot to not understand what he was insinuating right now, and Riku couldn't help but smirk.

"Sexually?"

Sora's cheeks flushed red once more, but he slowly nodded.

"A good angel wouldn't allow those kinds of thoughts to cross their mind." Riku said with a shrug as he sat back on Sora's floor, propping himself up on his hands, and his legs now crossed Indian style.

"So," Sora started slowly, allowing himself to think this through. "You've never thought about sex?"

Riku seemed to ponder the question for a moment then shrugged.

"I never said I was a good angel now did I?" Riku said with a devious smirk, a hint of mischief in his voice, as he winked at Sora. The brunet giggled in response.

"I guess there's some truth to that. After all, I never imagined I would hear an angel curse."

Riku's smile widened, though he continued to look thoughtful.

"Even angels sin sometimes Sora. We are no more perfect than humans. We just have more self restraint. Well, most of us anyways. But knowledge can be a difficult burden to bare. That's why God never-" Riku was explaining until Sora's voice interrupted him.

"Riku."

Said male looked up curiously at this.

"If I wanted to listen to a bible lesson I'd go to church." Sora said amusedly. Riku blinked in surprise, but nodded in understanding.

"Sorry, force of habit." He said a bit awkwardly. Though he actually wasn't in the habit of explaining biblical nonsense. In actuality he just wanted to buy himself a bit more time with Sora, though he wouldn't admit to that.

Sora smiled though and shook his head slightly.

"It's alright. I think it's cute how passionate you are." Sora said. Riku froze though, looking up at him with wide eyes. He didn't know how to respond to that.

He'd been passionate when he was a child, so intrigued by everything he had to learn to keep his job as Sora's guardian angel, but as time went on, and he saw the world for what it was, it was hard to keep hold of that passion. He'd lost a lot of his drive over the many years that he had watched Sora suffer and struggle through the days. It made him believe a little less in God's goodness. And yet, some how Sora had always managed to keep a smile on his face, regardless of his hardships. He admired his strength, but he couldn't forgive God for what he'd been through.

Sora was looking at him curiously at this point. Riku's expression was relaxed as he stared at nothing in particular, his eyes glazed over as if he were in some sort of trance. Sora could help but worry about him.

"Riku?" He said slowly, hoping that would get his attention, but as he continued to stare off into space, Sora sighed in exasperation. He placed his hand in front of Riku's face, waving it around for a moment then starting to snap his fingers.

"Riku! What the hell's wrong with you?"

Finally, Riku blinked, shaking his head slightly as he looked up at Sora confusedly.

"What?" Riku questioned in a quiet tone, making Sora sigh and shake his head.

"Man, you scared me for a minute there. Are you alright?" Sora asked, a smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah. I guess I just got a bit lost in my thoughts." Riku said quietly as he looked at the floor with an unreadable mix of emotions. Sora stared at him worriedly for a moment before putting on a smile, determined to cheer the other man up.

"Yeah, well next time, I'm just gonna knock you in the head." Sora said, knocking his knuckles against Riku's head lightly as he grinned widely at the silveret. Riku looked up, a bit taken aback by the gesture, but quickly a smile formed on his own face.

"Heh... Alright. You go ahead and do that." Riku said, looking fondly at Sora.

The designs of the humanized Disney characters (Mickey Mouse, Goofy, ect.) are the works of chacckco on deviantart. A very talented artist who is very deserving of your love, so do go visit their gallery.