A/N: First of all, I'd like to that my great though a bit lazy beta SufferingAngel (Hurrah!)
Aaaaand for for the long wait :P Hope y'all like this one, for the fluff is about to begin! Aaaah. Yes. I'll stop now x3
Riku twitched and turned around, folding his arms under his chin and glaring at Sora's drawing, resting on the base in front of him.
It was 1 am, and Riku still didn't manage to get any sleep. He blamed it on his interest in the pile of limbs and spiky hair sprawled on his beloved couch, a mere foot away. Him, and his abdomen, which gained the marvelous nickname Le Soratummy over the night.
Now it wasn't as if Riku was a confused teen. In fact, Sora wasn't the first person to keep him awake for long hours. There was this nice, tall girl with buff arms. And a few teal-colored drinks that smelled like a hospital wing, 'Raining men' by the Weather Girls, um… And this strange throbbing between Riku's legs the morning after. The one that grounded him to his bed unless he wanted to end up sitting on a pile of ice, wailing how he would join the church and never get near anything with genitalia ever again.
But that was the past, and Riku had no proper reason to get all obsessed over some guy's stomach. Or to get so drunk he couldn't tell off the difference between a man and a woman.
Then again, Riku was one of those weirdo pansexual people who claimed love was blind. Though in Riku's case, his love was anything but blind, point proven by the fact that he was staring at his new acquired love, Le Soratummy, of course.
Rolling on his back, he successfully cocooned himself and scrunched his nose at the peeling ceiling, as if the poor thing was to blame for his sudden insomnia.
Maybe he should just go to the toilet and sleep in the bathtub, or drown. He would get his rest either way.
Sora stretched, grinning at the early morning sun through his spread toes. He felt like pouncing someone... Where was Riku when you needed him, huh?
Oh, there he was! Sleeping… boo.
The brunette huffed with dismay, but rolled off his warm nest anyway. Gracefully skipping above Riku's sleeping form, the brunette made his way to the miniature cooking corner. He took milk and some chocolate syrup he found in the fridge, spilled both into his mouth and shook his head so the ingredients would mix before swallowing.
Mmm... Breakfast was taken care of... Now, where was the bathroom? He needed to brush his teeth and get cleaned!
Meanwhile, the older, artistic male was making his way back into the world of the living with light speed, as he was face-first against the cold tile floor.
He groaned and rolled back, rubbing his frozen, somewhat flat nose with his right hand.
"Sora?" He called upon discovering the precious Soratummy owner absent, his voice still very much groggy and hoarse from sleep.
"Here!" Came a muffled reply as Sora spat the mint flavored foam from his mouth and hurried to wash it away. He grinned at his reflection in the mirror and quickly emerged the small bathroom and slumped into a sitting form on the couch beside Riku. "Good morning!"
Riku just sighed and murmured a small greeting of his own while rubbing his eyes and yawning. "How did you sleep?" He hummed, voice gradually gaining its usual, alert tone again.
"Mmm... Slept great." Sora grinned, intertwining his fingers behind his head. Riku sighed and rolled his head back, cursing himself for not being able to get his decent night's sleep.
"Hey Riku, you gonna draw me again today?" Sora cocked his head, poking the other's shoulder and leaning in a bit. Drawing meant spending time with Riku! ...Which was good, really, seeing how Sora figured Riku was an interesting and kind person at heart.
"Mmm... Yeah, probably... Later though." Riku murmured, rolling on his stomach and forcing his eyes open. "What time is it, anyway?"
"Nine." Sora stated simply, eyes resting on the wooden clock.
"Hey, where did you get that clock anyway? It seems antique…" The brunette hummed, cocking his head slightly.
"My parents gave it to me as a gift before I left my old town to come here and try get into a collage. You know, the best art teachers are here on Destiny Islands, and they wanted me to become a great artist… This clock belonged to my grandfather, he made it himself." Riku sighed and smiled, idly looking at the clock on the wall.
"Oh right... You left for collage..." Sora scratched his cheek absently. "How old are you anyway so your parents let you live on your own?" He frowned, crossing his arms. Riku didn't look anywhere past 20!
"Almost 18. I graduated early when I was 16, a year ago because I skipped second grade. How about you?" Riku was eyeing the brunette now, smiling.
"Oh... I'm 17, graduated this year." Sora murmured, frowning at Riku. "How come you're so young and don't live with your parents? At least in the same city..."
"I used to live on Destiny Islands until I was 9, and then my parents decided to move and I just tagged along. I lived on the other side of the mainland though. You know, the one close to the port." The artist sat up and straightened his tee, the blanket pooling around his waists.
"And they trust you to live alone?" The younger male blinked, cocking his head at Riku.
"Mmhm. I call them and let them know everything is alright, they know I'm responsible and don't worry about me. Sometimes they come over the weekend and leave me some food, but that doesn't happen too often." The artist noted, "They need to get on a ship for that, and it's expensive."
"I see..." The brunette licked his lips cautiously and placed his hand on top of the couch's cushion, fingers drumming idly on top of the dark red velvet-like fabric.
"How about you and your parents? Ever plan on leaving them for collage?" Riku pondered, giving Sora a curious look.
"Not for the next few years that's for sure." Sora snickered, folding his arms in his lap. "I'm too attached to my mother. She can be clingy and annoying at times, but I really like her. She likes to call me momsik and tease me when I get all affectionate or clingy." He snickered, a slight embarrassed blush creeping to his cheeks. "Tells me I'm mommy's boy... But she's really cool too! I mean, she doesn't humiliate me in front of my friends or something. She's really nice."
"That's good to hear. You have a great mom Sora." Riku chuckled, swatting Sora's knee playfully.
"Heh. I know." The younger teen grinned, puffing his chest out. "My dad's really great too, but I like my mom better." He nodded in agreement to himself.
The artist nodded, looking quite amused, actually. "If you say so, I guess it can't be helped." He shook his head with a slight smirk.
Sora stuck his tongue back at the artist and reached his foot to poke his shoulder, which earned him a tickle to his bare sole, making him yelp and curl his toes.
"Riku!" He huffed, tucking the offended foot under him and scrunching his nose at the elder. "That's not fair!"
"Everything's fair in love and war. And I declare a tickling war!" Riku grinned, pouncing Sora and pinning him to the couch while his fingers began roaming all over the boy's side and stomach. "Taste my wrath, you fiend!" He roared, trying to hold back his own laughter.
"Nev--!! Nev--!! Neeeeveeee!!... Never you! You!!! You fil—Filthy! Vermin!" Sora laughed back at him, arms pressing to his sides and body twisting under the vicious attack.
Riku laughed back at him and kept on tickling, adoring the boy's laughter at heart and letting a small content sigh escape as he examined Sora's face.
Sora used that little distraction and threw his own arms up in order to tickle Riku.
He managed in doing so, too. Catching the other teen by surprise, Sora shot his arms up to his pits, tickling and grinning with triumph. It wasn't too long before he got their positions switched, and made Riku beg him to stop. Victory was his.
"No one ever wins in tickling wars against me." Sora declared, slumping on top of the panting Riku.
"Yeah yeah good for you." The other teen chuckled, ruffling the brunette's hair.
"You're just a sore loser." Sora stuck his tongue out and rolled his eyes at the artist before pressing his cheek against the other's chest and closing his eyes.
"Pfft, No. I admit you won, that makes me a good loser." Riku huffed back with a small smile. "I'm just teasing."
Sora settled over Riku's chest, eyes closed. "Fine, say whatever you want… I'm still the winner."
"Sure you are." Riku grinned and place one hand behind his head to serve as a makeshift pillow. His other hand stayed inside Sora's hair though, slowly raking against the cinnamon colored spikes.
"Mm... Riku… Don't you miss your parents sometimes?" Sora sighed after a long moment of silence, his eyes remaining close as he was lulled by the steady, relaxing caresses of Riku's fingers over his scalp.
"I do... I've been rather… Lonely since I came here. You're the first person I managed to befriend here... You see, I only have enough money to pay for my studies here, and I used to live in the rich part of the islands when I was little, so I couldn't afford to rent an apartment there." The artist paused, "And getting there without buying a ship ticket is impossible." He sighed, closing his eyes as well. "Buying one is too expensive. Besides, what are the odds to meet them, anyway?" He opened his eyes once again, granting the brunette a small smile.
"That sucks." Sora pointed, pulling his shoulders up slightly and shifting over Riku's chest, his cheek resting on the left part of it now. "Why didn't you tell me you were lonely? I could introduce you to some of my friends, you know, to make it better." He scrunched his nose then.
"Nah. Your friends are nice, no offense, but I'm pretty picky about people. I mean, they're great, but just not my type." Riku chuckled, spreading and curling his toes absently.
"And I am?" Sora blinked, looking up at Riku from his position over the elder's chest.
The artist gave an affirmative nod and a reassuring smile as an answer.
The younger teen smiled and closed his eyes once again, curling slightly against Riku. He liked feeling special…
"Hey Riku..." He murmured quietly, cheeks painting slightly as his tiny smile widened. "I like the sounds your heart makes…" He sighed, moving slightly so he could grasp more of that melodious heartbeat.
Riku found himself skipping a beat at the boy's comment. The sounds his heart was making? ...That sure was a unique compliment. "I bet yours makes better sounds than mine." He hummed, turning his head so he could see Sora's face.
Oh, was he surprised when he saw the boy standing up on his knees and taking his shirt off.
"I'm not sure you're right because yours sounds really nice, but can you listen to mine and tell me?" He smiled, back arched slightly so his chest would puff out.
Riku chuckled a small 'fine' and sat up, leaning forwards so he could lean over Sora's chest and listen to the beat.
Closing his eyes, he let himself drift away with the rhythmic sound of Sora's beating heart, arms slowly warping around the smaller male's waists and pulling him closer.
They stayed like this for a few minutes more, Riku holding Sora in his arms and listening to the other's heart, and Sora gently stroking Riku's hair.
"Well, how does it sound?" The brunette hummed finally, hands resting over Riku's shoulders with his fingers intertwined over his nape.
"You know, Sora... I've never heard my own heartbeat before, but listening to yours makes me feel warm and soft on the inside, it makes me relax…" Riku sighed quietly, eyes remaining closed. "It's beautiful..."
Sora pondered over a reply for a long moment before finally opening his mouth to speak. "Well, so is yours Riku." He nodded, resting his cheek over the other's head. "Maybe that's how you define your potential friends? By their heartbeats?" A small grin made it to his lips. "Does that mean I was destined to be your friend?" He hummed, nose burying in the mess of the artist's morning hair.
"Maybe. I never really thought about it, but that's an interesting thing you got there." Riku chuckled softly, poking Sora's back.
Sora wiggled once at the poke and nodded. "Maybe I should listen to the hearts of my other friends too, to find out if we were destined... Then again, Kairi and Selphie are girls, I can't do that." He scrunched his nose with dismay. "And Wakka and Tidus would think I'm weird." He shook his head then, dragging his nose over Riku's head.
"Well... At least you know I'm your friend at heart." Riku hummed, hugging Sora closer.
"Hey Riku?" Sora lifted his head, fingers scratching the other's nape thoughtfully.
"Mm?" Came a short reply from the silver haired teen
"Your cheek is warm." The youth replied, moving his cheek back to its place on top of Riku's head. "Are you embarrassed of something that it's heating up like that?"
Riku licked his lips one before replying. "Embarrassed? No... not really, more like feeling very warm and close." He noted, taking a deep breath in.
"Oh." Sora frowned, but smiled two moments afterwards. "Well, I'm feeling warm and close to you too." He nodded, hands now moving to hug Riku's shoulders. "Maybe it's because I discovered I have a friend at heart..."
"Maybe..." Riku whispered back with a smile, his cheeks heating up a bit more from the mere thought.
"Hey Riku?" Sora scrunched his nose again, taking a deep breath in.
"Yes?" Riku chuckled, rolling his eyes.
"You have really bad morning breath…"
Riku's head dropped with a low grunt.
"Alright. I'm all squeaky clean and fresh smelling. No bad breath now." Riku snickered and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Sora whom was seated on his couch, trying to get a stubborn grain of sand from under his thumbnail. "You ready for our drawing session? If you are I'll get the paper and colors right away." He nodded, shoving his hand in the pockets of the shorts he was now wearing.
"Actually, Riku… Mind if I draw you this time? I was thinking about this 'capture the moment' thing you said, and I think I understood that." Sora smiled, giving up on getting that grain of sand out and standing up.
Riku hummed quietly for a few seconds before nodding with a small smile. "I'll get you a smaller piece of paper then for you to manage more easily. Drawing on large surfaces is harder." He noted, making his leave to the attic to get the needed supplies.
A minute later, Riku was back with a relatively small piece of paper, his old set of watercolors, an old, empty jar and his water pencil. "Alright. Let me just pin this down to the board and explain you a few basics before you can start drawing. Meanwhile, you can fill this jar with fresh water."
Sora nodded and quickly took the jar in his hands, making his way to the kitchen to fill the jar with water. By the time he was back, Riku had already set Sora a pair of stools and his drawing base, together with an old dirty cloth.
"Alright. First, sit here, and place the jar on the second chair near the color set." Riku ordered, taking the few brushes he got and placing them in the water as Sora took his place across the base. "Now, are you left or right handed?"
"Right." Sora replied, carrying his eyes to Riku and waving his right hand.
"Okay. Take the palette and cloth in your left hand, like this." Riku took Sora's left hand and placed the white plastic board between his thumb and index finger, and the cloth between his ring finger and his pinkie. "Great. Now, first you draw the guidelines to whatever you decide to draw. Just the basic form of it, like a stick person. Then, you outline it to give it its general shape, add some details and start coloring. I suggest you start by coloring large objects, just adding a few basic colors so the drawing won't look as empty. It would make the process easier later when you get to the shading stage." Riku nodded, hand placed on Sora's shoulder as he continued his explanation.
"Remember those are watercolors, meaning they have transparency. You could use them as a gradient, which brings me to the next subject, your palette. Use it to mix colors and create different shades. If you want to thin out a certain color, dip the tip of your brush in the water and wipe the excess color in the cloth I gave you… If you want to erase some color just wash it away with a clean wet brush while it's still fresh." He hummed thoughtfully, fingers drumming against Sora's shoulder. "That's basically it I think… Good luck with whatever you choose to draw, I'm here to help." Riku smiled and gave Sora's shoulder a small tap.
Sora nodded and smiled, taking the pencil in his right hand and placing it in his lap. "Can I draw you?" He looked up at Riku, smile remaining still on his face.
Riku frowned slightly before smiling back at him. "Alright, if it's too difficult tell me and I'll bring you something nice and simple to draw." He nodded and sat back on the couch. "Alright, what should I do?" He snickered, amused with the idea of Sora drawing him.
"Um... Can you pretend you're leaning on a palm's trunk and that you're asleep?" Sora licked his lips once, trying to recall the scenario from just a couple of days ago when Riku took him to the small island.
"That can be arranged." Riku stretched and shifted so now his hands were in his lap, and his legs dandling freely from the couch as he leaned back against the cushion.
Sora smiled quietly and began drawing the guidelines, a Riku stick-person with two thick parallel lines behind him as the soon-to-be palm trunk.
After a few minutes, and many re-draws, Sora managed to get the proportions relatively right. Even though Riku's pose was easy, he had many difficulties getting the arms and legs in the right proportion.
Rest of the sketch was relatively easy. Sora didn't use too many details; he decided to add them while coloring.
Riku was awakened by a heavy feeling of something damp against his chest and something tickly against his chin. "Mm..?" He frowned, blinking and raising his hand to rub the sleep out of his eyes and yawn.
Sora shifted slightly on top of the silver haired teen.
The artist frowned slightly and looked around. Oh... So Sora never got to finish his drawing, eh? ...Well Riku couldn't blame him. It required lots of concentration anyway.
Quietly, Riku turned to look down at the brown mess of spikes under his chin, chuckling and leaning back against the couch, pulling Sora close to him. It was amazing, really... The brunette's body was always so warm, it made Riku feel unnaturally snuggly.
The brunette yawned and shifted slightly, curling further in the artist's lap, smacking his lips once before falling back into sweet slumber.
Riku smiled.
How the younger male managed to always act so adorable, even when unconscious, was a mystery… Riku didn't feel like solving it though, he just accepted it as it came.
A few minutes later, as if sensing the other's wakefulness, Sora yawned and stretched, falling back from Riku's lap to the couch and resuming his waking up ritual then.
"Morning..." Riku chuckled, crossing his hands behind his head and stretching himself.
"Moonin'..." Sora sighed, pulling his legs to his chest then and hugging them as he remained lying on his back, ankles crossed and toes curled.
"Indeed." The artist shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, looking rather amused. "I thought you had a good night's sleep… How come you fell asleep again?" He snickered, offering Sora a teasing look.
"Um… I don't really know. It started feeling really stuffy so I started feeling fuzzy…" Sora frowned, moving a single hand to rub his forehead as he let his legs fall back to the floor and lean against the cushioned back. "So I decided to close my eyes for a bit and rest until the feeling went away… Guess I was just tiered from earlier?" He offered, crossing his hands behind his head to serve as a makeshift pillow.
"Mm… Guess that could be it." Riku confirmed with a nod and let his head slump to his side, eyes closed and bangs falling over his face, gently scraping the cheeks and forehead with their tips.
"You wanna sleep some more? I don't mind..." Sora hummed, hand rising to brush the bangs away from Riku's eyes with a soft smile.
"That could be nice…" Riku admitted, suppressing a yawn and letting his eyes open slightly, eyeing the old wooden clock. "Could you wake me up in two hours?" He rubbed his eyes and blinked at the brunette, offering him a tiny smile.
Sora nodded and quickly rolled off the couch and pushed Riku down into a lying position on the cushion, retrieving his blanket and cocooning the artist inside. "Alright! Sleep now!" He announced with self importance, hands resting on his hips.
Riku chuckled and covered his head with the blanket, leaving only his nose to peek outside. "Mm… Beh. Sora, could you bring me my blindfold? It's in the small drawer under the mirror in the bathroom. There's too much light and I'm not sure I'll be able to fall asleep like that." He sighed, pulling the blanket back down and fixing his hair with his hand.
Sora nodded and took off for the bathroom, returning a moment later with a mask-shaped black piece of cloth tied with a rubber band.
Riku smiled and nodded, slipping the blindfold on with a small yawn. "Thanks Sora… Good night." He shifted under the blanket and relaxed, his hands serving as a makeshift pillow.
Sora chuckled and crouched beside the young artist, leaning to kiss his cheek gently. "Yeah, good night." He hummed, closing his eyes as well, smiling.
Somehow, Sora ended up spending Riku's two hours of sleep by the couch, playing with the young artist's hair.