Author's Notes:

Happy belated birthday, A Complete 180°. You're now two! And thanks to you readers so much for all the feedback!

I would have had this update out in June and on time, but my computer sorta died. DIED. I saved my writing, but my groove was thrown off, and that's why this has taken so long. It's not easy typing on someone else's computer, let alone a laptop as crappy as my mother's.

Much thanks to Vash's Girl, Lane, Meruhesae, Mistress Nashya, Dark Ki, and Chama for reading and putting up with me. XD



Chapter Eight: A Hands-on Project

-o-o-

"Ohhh man, you guys are in deep shit!!"

And they probably would have been, had Riku suddenly not burst into laughter at Sora's remark.

What? Riku laughing?

Oh yes, let's recap a moment.

Riku had pulled Sora into the storage closet for a nice, long intimate moment—"practice" as he liked to call it—and despite an interruption by Kairi, they had been getting pretty hot. Riku had been more than ready to take it a step further to something more, er, sexual (despite Sora's whining), and that was when Sora had heard the screaming, the laughter. Up until that point, the other patrons of the house, namely Sora's mother and friends and Riku's friends, had been painting. At least, they were supposed to have been.

What had instead ensued had been a paint war. Which Riku and Sora had walked right into the middle of.

Back to the situation at hand, Riku was not feeling particularly funny being drenched in white paint... But he'd had too little sleep these past few days, he was horny as fuck from the storage closet adventures, and with the stress and emotions and hormones all teaming up against him, he didn't know how to feel anymore.

By all rights, he should have been pissed—and he was. But by the time Sora had made his cute little outburst, Riku was finding everything kind of tragically hilarious.

Thus, the laughter.

When he doubled over, still snickering even after a good minute, everyone was staring at him as if he'd lost his mind. Well, except Sora, who looked a bit embarrassed, like he had said something wrong, and Selphie, who was finding the whole thing entertaining.

She giggled at Irvine's side as the cowboy patted Riku on the back, hiding his own chuckles.

"Breathe, man, breathe."

At which point, Riku started to recover.

His hand shot out and grabbed Irvine's ear, who yelped in surprise as he was tugged down. Riku's face lifted then, streaked with white paint, his green eyes glittering with a look bordering between amused and furious. Lips drawing into a thin line, Riku took a moment to glance at everyone involved in the war, and then finally spoke, releasing Irvine's abused ear ("Owww...").

"I'm not mad about the paint," Riku hissed, "or about my expensive clothes being ruined, or about all of you making such a fucking mess." And he left it unsaid about what he was pissed about. Most of them understood—they knew sexual frustration when they saw it—but those like Sora were left blinking and confused. "As for punishment," he continued without waiting for questions, "I can guess what happened—"

Selphie and Irvine immediately pointed at each other.

"He started it!"

"What? She started it!"

Riku narrowed his eyes, and they fell silent, sheepishly grinning.

"It doesn't matter who started what," he said. "You two clean up the room."

"Whaaaat!"

Riku continued without fault, glancing at the next three people. "And Seiya, you take Kairi and Tidus upstairs to clean themselves up—"

At which news, Kairi looked terribly relieved. She had probably been worrying about getting in trouble too, but Riku wasn't stupid, as much as he actually would enjoy punishing everyone just to vent some of his frustration. Seiya, dripping head to toe in paint, seemed definitely willing to get out of the room.

"Suuure! Come on kids, this way," she said and quickly pulled on Tidus and Kairi's arms, and then added with a loud whisper, "Best leave before he changes his mind!"

As they hurried out of the room, tracking paint behind them, Riku was already focused on the last two people. His lips curled into a slightly cruel smirk. Cloud, arms crossed and pretending to be indifferent even in all that paint, was standing at Leon's side, who met Riku's gaze with a calm stare even though he knew he was in for Riku's torture.

"—and since you two seem to be on such friendly terms, you get to clean each other off."

This earned him twin glares from the men, and something about their synchronization, something about how similar their seething looks were, really, really made Riku feel completely vainglorious. Oh yes, there would be some suffering tonight.

Irvine's amused laughter drew him out of his short musings.

"You sure that's a punishment, Riku?"

"Shhh!" Selphie hissed through her own giggling.

Riku leveled his gaze on them and slowly raised an eyebrow. "Want extra, Irvine?"

To which Irvine wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner. "Only if you're giving it, Gorgeous."

Selphie jumped in before Riku's death glare could get worse. "Well, what matters is that we were having fun, right?" But it didn't work. Taking one look at the murderous expression on Riku's face, Selphie squealed and grabbed Irvine. "Eeee! Run for it!"

And they did. Their laughter could be heard all the way down the hall as they bolted for the storage closet to get cleaning supplies.

Leon and Cloud stalked off together, not even bothering to argue with Riku in his strange state of mind, and as soon as they were gone, Riku glanced down at himself, lifting a leg and shaking it with a hissed "Fuck!" when he saw the disaster that were his favorite pants.

That was about the time that Sora realized he was the only one who had come out of the paint war unscathed and that Riku was in desperate need of a bathroom to get cleaned up now that the two upstairs were occupied. Not even thinking about it, he reached out and touched Riku's shoulder to get his attention.

"You know, you can borrow my shower, Riku," he said in a friendly tone.

Riku's eyes met his and both boys were silent for a long moment. The expression on Riku's face reminded Sora of what exactly they had been doing a few minutes before back in the storage closet and that Riku was probably not satisfied after being interrupted like they had. Even though it might have been common courtesy to offer his shower, Sora suddenly felt like he had just invited the devil over to his house.

But when Riku gave him a relieved smile in return, Sora relaxed and banished his previous thoughts. Maybe he was just being paranoid about things. There's nothing to worry about, Sora, jeez

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

-o-o-

Leon and Cloud were actually fairing well together so far.

Well, there hadn't been much interaction yet, but the lack of communication was a good thing. They didn't speak much to each other because they didn't have to—the underlying half-hatred, half-sexual attraction that lingered between them was enough to make things tense, with it nagging, nagging incessantly, like a silent, cruel promise.

Yeah, Cloud didn't deny that Leon was one of the most fucking gorgeous men he'd ever seen (to be expected, if he worked for Seph), and yeah, he didn't deny the sharp thrill he got whenever he secretly ogled the bastard, or when he caught him ogling, or whatever, and he knew Leon felt the same. But it didn't matter. Both of them were too stubborn and arrogant.

That was part of the fun, really—pretending not to give a damn about their attraction. He wasn't going to admit to anyone how he felt, least of all Leon. The fact did remain that they couldn't stand each other. Even if they one day decided to just jump each other, nothing lingering would form between them.

Relationships between men like them, of their profession? They never lasted. That, and Sephiroth would kill them if they ever tried.

Gah, why did Cloud even care?

Leon was an asshole. Sephiroth was an asshole, too, but at least with Sephiroth, he thought he'd had something. Leon would only be good for a fuck.

...which sounded pretty good...

"What the hell is Riku playing at?" Leon suddenly muttered, drawing Cloud out of his thoughts before they could become lewd.

He raised his eyes to study the other man, catching Leon's icy gaze before they both looked away again.

Like hell was he going to wash Leon's back. Riku was insane to even think such a thing.

"Who knows," Cloud said after a while, and then silently added, But whatever it is, it's not going to work. He didn't know what exactly Riku was up to, but he had a good idea, and he was not going to be toyed with like that.

Eager to get clean, though, Cloud went about undressing, and he heard Leon following suit, noting that the sound of soggy clothes was awkward and loud in their silence. He felt a little indignant when he noticed Leon was making it a point not to look at him, because Cloud wasn't too ashamed of admiring the bastard's nice body. The smudges of paint on his skin actually drew Cloud's eyes more, and as discreet as he made his glances, he still knew that Leon knew he was looking. And neither cared. Funny how things worked out that way.

Leon dumped his wet shirt into the sink and started to play with his hair, grimacing at the feel of paint. He brushed past Cloud to retrieve a few towels. "You can take the shower first if you want," he muttered, his eyes catching Cloud's for a brief moment before he turned away again.

Not pinning Leon as the genuinely friendly type, Cloud took a second to watch the man suspiciously, wondering why he had made the strange offer.

Leon took his silence a different way, though. With a raised eyebrow, he glanced back at Cloud. "You don't want it?"

"No, I do," Cloud replied. His voice had a partially amused drawl to it, despite his skepticism. "I was just expecting another bottom bunk episode."

Smirking at that, Leon turned away again. "Whatever. Stop being so paranoid."

"You haven't given me much reason to be comfortable, though," Cloud pointed out.

"And you haven't given me much reason to be courteous," Leon calmly replied, twisting the sink faucet on.

What?

Cloud frowned, hesitating in the middle of undoing his pants, and thought back through the short time he had been at this house. Out of all the small, stupid little bickering sessions he'd had with Leon when they had been alone, Cloud realized that he had started most of them, not Leon. He kind of had been jumping to conclusions the whole time about the man, and so far the worst that Leon had done to him was steal the bottom bunk and eye him like a nice piece of ass.

"Touché," he muttered.

He finished getting undressed and slipped into the shower, wondering how Leon was going to fair with just the sink to clean himself. Oh well, his loss. Cloud took his sweet time, thoroughly washing his hair to make sure it was paint-free, not satisfied until the water swirling down the drain was no longer milky. When he was done and feeling significantly better, he peeked his head out of the shower to find Leon.

A stack of towels had been placed nearby for Cloud, along with some simple clothes—Leon's doing?—and the blonde felt a little guilty. Eh, maybe Leon wasn't such an asshole after all.

Said man was currently stooped over the sink, glaring into his own reflection as he used a damp wash rag to rid his arms of drying paint. He had divested his ruined clothing and now wore just a loose pair of drawstring pants slung low off one hip, graciously showing the perfect curves and ridges of his perfect physique and perfect tan and fuck he looked sexy but no, no, Cloud would not stare, he would not stare.

But he did stare.

He blamed the fact that Leon looked kind of ridiculous trying to clean himself that way.

"Er... Shower's free now," he offered lamely, catching the other man's attention. Leon hardly lifted his dangerous scowl to regard Cloud in the mirror, and that was the only indication he had heard Cloud at all, for he went right back to rubbing himself with the wet rag.

Well then. So much for that generosity. Cloud took back his thoughts of misunderstanding Leon all along—he was still an asshole.

Deciding to just let the guy have at it using the sink, Cloud snagged a towel and went about drying himself off, trying to hold back a laugh whenever he heard a disgruntled noise come from the other man. By the time he had actually gotten dressed, he noticed that Leon had not made much progress at all. If anything, he'd taken a few steps back by trying to wash his hair in the sink—as told by the bumping of his head on the faucet, and the very loud curse that shortly followed a grunt of pain.

"Look, come here," Cloud said at last, coming up behind him. He slipped a hand around Leon's arm and tugged him away from the sink. Ignoring the exasperated look that the man gave him, Cloud smirked a little. "You're a mess."

Leon narrowed his eyes at him as if to say, "No thanks to you."

"I know, stating the obvious, right?" Cloud laughed a little, letting Leon pull his arm free. "Lean over the basin and I'll wash your hair for you."

Giving him a skeptical look in the mirror, Leon straightened and pushed his wet hair back, dripping locks curving the line of his neck and framing his face. With a pause, he shook his head, showering the room with water, and when he was done he slowly dragged a hand through his drenched hair and returned his eyes to Cloud, expression unreadable.

"Fine."

Cloud stepped aside, and Leon moved past him, sinking to his knees at the foot of the tub. Silent and hiding an amused smile, Cloud reached out and pulled the showerhead down, using his free hand to gently push at Leon's head to make him lean over the rim of the bathtub. The tensing of Leon's shoulders told Cloud that the other man didn't like the position or being under Cloud's temporary control like this, and Cloud found that very fun.

As he turned the water on and began rinsing out Leon's hair, he smirked, slipping his fingers through the man's soft locks, working out the paint and a few tangles and not being particularly careful about it. Leon growled in warning more than once when Cloud pulled a little harshly at some stubborn knots.

"Oh hush," Cloud said finally, massaging his fingers into Leon's scalp, brushing behind his ears. "It's your fault we're in this mess anyway."

Which was a stupid accusation, and they both knew it. He didn't have to see Leon's face to know he was rolling his eyes.

"...whatever," was his muttered reply, just audible over the sound of water on porcelain. "If it makes you feel better, believing those lies."

Cloud pulled his hand away, a little affronted. "Excuse me?"

"It was your fault as much as mine," Leon said and lifted his head.

There was a subtle smirk on his face and a certain look in his eye that dissolved Cloud's anger immediately. Their gazes met and Cloud relaxed, returning the smirk.

Doo doo doo doodoo doo doodoo doo doodoo—

Their little moment together was suddenly interrupted by the ominous chime of a cell phone from just across the hallway.

Gathering his hair in his hands, Leon sat back and turned towards the door, looking a little confused. "Is that the Imperial March?" he asked.

But Cloud had frozen, blue eyes slightly wide as he looked out the door and listened to the personalized ring tone, knowing exactly what it meant. His fingers gripped the edge of the tub hard and he swallowed.

"Fuck..."

Leon lifted his eyes to study Cloud's slightly shocked state. "Who is it?" he asked, just as the cell phone's song cut off.

Cloud lowered his face and nervously wet his lips.

"Sephiroth."

-o-o-

If there is one thing this dreamy treasure enjoys, it's sleeping in, no matter what his late-night activities include. Navy briefs and nightshirt from Ars Arcanum's line of sleepwear, style Goodnight Moon: Spring. (Photo credit: Axel Croft)

There Riku was on the magazine page, standing a little angled away from the camera, his silver hair slightly sleep-mussed and shimmering in the afternoon light coming in through the window behind him. He wore a faint dreamy smile, green eyes bright and distant as they gazed off camera, as though his mind were far away from the studio and the photo shoot, as though he were daydreaming something very pleasant and nothing else could shatter the perfection he was picturing.

He was only wearing a dark blue spaghetti-strap shirt with cute little stars and a moon centered on the chest, which he was in the middle of pulling up as though he wanted to take it off, and a stylish pair of low-cut underwear of the same color, which left very little to the imagination.

Sora normally had something against seeing other men wear stuff like briefs or Speedos (God knows he'd seen too many of those on the island's beach)—he just didn't like it. However, there was something about Riku that made it very okay to wear something so revealing it was usually disturbing.

He looked simply gorgeous.

And this gorgeous man was currently in Sora's shower, very naked.

Trying to keep the butterflies in his stomach under control, Sora sucked in a deep breath and wiggled a little, feeling his cheeks heat as he continued to study Riku's perfect figure on the magazine page. His long legs, firm thighs, and—

Here Sora's blush deepened.

—man, it was so obvious. Sora couldn't help staring at it! It was right there!

Swallowing thickly, Sora forced his eyes upward, studying the beautiful curves of Riku's abs, and his chest, and damn it hewasSOsexy! Staring at Riku like this, it was very hard to deny that Sora liked it. That Sora liked a guy. That Sora might even like a guy.

With a slightly goofy smile, Sora traced his fingers over the magazine page and felt his heart flutter. Even now it was kind of hard to believe that this was his Riku.

"Sora?"

The boy nearly jumped a foot in the air at the sound of Riku's voice. He hadn't even heard the shower stop or the door open!

Quickly slapping the magazine closed and thrusting it under his pillow, he sat up and spun around to face the bathroom, hoping his expression didn't look too guilty.

There Riku was in the doorway in nothing but a green towel, one hand making sure it kept in place, his silver hair drenched and hugging his neck. He was watching Sora expectantly.

"Clothes?" he asked hopefully.

Sora stared for a long moment, knowing he was probably gaping, and instead of focusing his attention on the obvious, he settled with watching a bead of water that rolled down the bridge of Riku's nose and dripped onto the carpet.

"Sora. Clothes?" Riku tried again.

"Oh!" Sora snapped to attention at last and gave a sheepish laugh, rubbing the back of his head. "S-Sorry..." he muttered. He immediately got up, almost tripping over himself, and went to rummage through his clothes for something suitable for Riku.

"What were you reading?"

Geh—

Had Riku seen him? Oh, of course Riku had seen him! It wasn't like Sora had been discreet about it.

"U-Uhh... just some magazine... cooking magazine... Y-Yeah. For my mom!"

"Ah..."

Riku didn't sound very convinced, but he let it drop.

Trying not to let it get him too worked up, Sora drew in a long breath and held it, trying to calm his racing heart as he started pulling out some clothes for Riku. Riku was taller than him, so Sora picked out what he could to compensate for the size difference.

"Here," he said at last. "They might be a little tight on you..."

Riku came forward to take the clothes from Sora, silently thanking him with a smile. Sora returned the gesture, knowing his smile was a bit more silly and that he was probably red in the face again. As Riku drew back, Sora caught a whiff of his own shampoo on Riku and mmm, it smelled really good on him, but then there was also this underlying scent, something more natural and manly and it made something inside of Sora just melt.

"Turn around," Riku said, snapping Sora out of his reverie before it could go anywhere. He was pulling off his towel, holy crap!

Sora felt his eyes go wide, and he promptly did as told, spinning around before he could see anything. Knowing that Riku was getting dressed right behind him, Sora couldn't help feeling hypersensitive. The shuffling of clothes on skin behind him was much too loud for Sora's comfort.

"They fit," Riku announced after a few seconds, sounding amused.

Daring a peek, Sora turned a little to glance over his shoulder, and gave a silent sigh of relief when he saw Riku now wearing his boxers and starting to tug on a pair of loose shorts.

"So.. uhh..." Sora faltered, trying to find something to talk about. Glancing around his room, he spotted the edge of a magazine poking out from under his pillow. Ah, of course! He could ask about that. "S-So... Leon... and Cloud. They're not really getting along, are they?"

Riku shrugged on the shirt Sora had given him—it was a little too small, but it still looked way better on Riku than it did on Sora whenever he wore it. Catching Sora's eyes, Riku stifled a laugh at the question the boy had given him. "I had expected it," he admitted, starting to towel-dry his hair.

Oh. "Well... does that mean you're trying to get them together?"

Riku lifted an eyebrow at that, giving Sora a secretive smile. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, their punishment," Sora replied, feeling kind of awkward with Riku looking at him like that. "And then the bunk bed... and making them share a room like that..."

Finishing off his hair, Riku actually did laugh this time. "I guess it's kinda obvious," he said as he handed the towel to Sora and started to smooth out his damp hair, which was currently looking like a silver bush.

"Yeah," Sora agreed as he folded up the towel and tossed it into his dirty laundry pile. Pretty obvious.

Riku took a moment to glance around Sora's room, his tone casual as he continued. "Well, it's not that I'm trying to get them together," he said—which surprised Sora, who had been expecting a matchmaking thing. "Sephiroth would kill me."

The words were out of Sora's mouth before he could stop them. "Ahh... Sephiroth..." Things were connecting now.

But Riku gave Sora a curious look. "It sounds like you know who he is," he commented.

Oops. How to explain this one? Riku, Tifa gave me these magazines, you see, and there was this one model that looked sorta like you...

Instead, Sora opted with a simple, "I kinda do, actually... heard the others talking." Which wasn't a lie, just not the whole truth.

Riku believed it, either way. He gave a slightly strained smile. "Yup... Sephiroth," he sighed. "Cloud may be on extended vacation, but... he still hasn't escaped Sephiroth." He paused for a moment, and then added in a slightly sullen voice, "None of us have."

Jeez, from everyone's opinions of Sephiroth, he seemed really scary.

Riku's next commentary didn't help, either. Giving Sora a long, contemplative look, he warned, "He likes your type." There he frowned, narrowing his eyes as if the thought really, really disturbed him. "Don't worry though," he assured Sora. "I won't let him get you."

To which Sora wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or very, very worried. "Uhh... thanks, I think," he managed. In an attempt to change the subject, he went back to the previous one. "So you're not playing matchmaker then?"

"Nah," Riku said, watching Sora with a smile.

"Well, it seems like they'd make a nice couple anyway."

The boy calmly settled on the edge of his bed, looking off into space. Drawing close to him, Riku eyed Sora at the strange comment.

"Since when are you an expert?" he teased.

A hint of red painted Sora's cheeks as he lifted his gaze to Riku. "Er... I was just trying to keep an open mind, I guess..."

Riku chuckled at that, pulling Sora's desk chair up next to the bed. "Don't worry about Leon and Cloud," he said as he settled backwards on the chair, folding his arms on the back of it. He rested his chin on his arms and watched Sora with an amused expression. "They'll be good for each other once they realize how alike they are. I just want both of them to loosen up a bit."

"Forcing them to spend time together will work?" Sora asked.

"You have no idea," was Riku's musing, his smile spreading with mysterious intent. "Well, ready to practice some more?"

"More?" Sora blinked in surprise at the sudden request. He hadn't been expecting Riku to suddenly bring that up. "We've been practicing all afternoon in the closet!" he pointed out.

"Oh, well..." Riku's hopeful look faded a fraction, but he smiled, slightly inclining his head, chin still resting on his arms on the back of the desk chair. "It's alright if you don't want to get a head start."

Which made Sora feel a bit guilty. Feeling an anxious flutter in his stomach, he gave Riku a weak smile. "Er, no... I guess we can." Talk about awkward, though!

He didn't fool Riku, of course.

The older boy lifted his face and waved a hand. "Well, it's no problem, Sora, really," he assured, but to Sora it seemed like he was hiding his disappointment. "We can take a break." Here he paused, lips curling into a knowing smirk. "We did make a lot of progress today..."

Sora promptly looked away, feeling his cheeks heat. Yeah. Progress. Lots of it!

"But I have some plans for tomorrow," Riku continued, "and I don't want you so nervous around me..."

Plans? This perked Sora's interest, and he glanced back at the other boy.

Riku nodded, smirk spreading. "We want to make the date believable."

Wait a second! Date? What date? Which was exactly what Sora asked.

"D-Date?"

"Knock-knock!"

Seiya's voice suddenly cut into their conversation. She appeared at the doorway, peeking in and looking genuinely intrigued—she had a stack of papers in her arms. At the sound of his mother's interruption, Sora looked up, almost panicked.

"M-Mom!"

"What was this about a date?" she wondered with a growing grin as she glanced between Riku and Sora.

Oh no, she was on Riku's side, that's right!

"Just thought I'd let Sora take a break from all this work, Seiya," was Riku's innocent response.

"Oh really?" she asked, lifting her eyebrows. "Any idea where?"

Sora looked on in horror as his mother and Riku discussed this bit of appalling news right in front of him like it wasn't even a big deal at all! A DATE! And they were so calm about it!

"Not really... I was thinking we'd have to take the ferry over to the next island," Riku admitted.

"Well, Aerith's place is a cute little restaurant," Seiya said brightly. "Pretty popular for youngsters."

This sounded almost rehearsed...

"Miss Gainsborough's place?" Riku asked. "I thought about there..."

"Look into it," she suggested.

Sora continued to gape at them. Were they organizing stuff behind his back? And only pretending to organize it in front of him? Why weren't they even asking for his input?

Brow furrowing, he opened his mouth to state his opinion—

But his mother promptly cut him off with a cheerful tone. "Anyway! Tidus and Kairi are all freshened up and on their way home," she announced. "I let Selphie go too, and Irvine's almost done cleaning."

Gah! Just how late was it?

Glancing out the window, Sora noticed that the sun was at least still up, but the sky was gloomy from the sporadic showers they'd been having all day long. At least it hadn't poured since yesterday.

"I came to give homework," Seiya continued, moving toward them with her stack of papers. "Since Sora knows my cooking, and you know what you want, Riku, you two can work together to fill out the weekly menus." And then she dumped the pile of work on the bed, beaming down at the two boys.

Sora eyed the work with a definite pout, but Riku didn't seem at all bothered by the sudden task.

"Sure thing, Seiya," the older boy said. "Anything you don't want?"

Placing her hands on her hips, she rolled her eyes upward to think, letting out a thoughtful hum. "Well... Variety is good, and I don't mind trying new stuff, but don't get carried away. And don't put the same thing every day for breakfast and such."

"No problem."

Sora was still half glaring at the homework. "Mrrrr..." And if his mother noticed his disgruntled state, she ignored it.

"Well, I'm off to help the others," she chirped and turned to leave, waving at them. "Have fun, boys!"

Why did that sound like she was sealing Sora's fate?

-o-o-

"No way, my mom hates grits..."

"She does?"

"Yeah."

"Me too..."

"Trash it," Sora sighed, flipping to the next recipe.

It felt like they'd been at this damn menu thing for hours and they'd hardly gotten any progress. Judging from the pile of rejected recipes, the boys were probably being too finicky than they were supposed to be, but, well, Seiya had left them in charge. She couldn't complain if the menu turned out a little less-than-satisfactory and if they rejected half the 'new and interesting' recipes she had given them.

"How about this? Tilapia in red wine onion sauce."

"Isn't tilapia a kind of fish?"

"Yeah."

Riku shrugged. "Sounds good."

As Sora slipped the paper onto the stack of accepted foods, which wasn't many, he glanced at Riku, who didn't really seem to be into the homework anymore. It was like the other boy's mind kept drifting off and Sora kept having to keep him on task. Both of them were settled on the floor in front of Sora's bed, and Sora was leafing through the recipes as Riku sketched out his monthly menu or whatever.

"We get all kinds of fish down at the market," Sora said, attempting a loose conversation. "I used to help out there, a volunteer kind of thing."

Riku lifted his eyes to study Sora for a moment before he went back to his menu. "I didn't know that you did that kind of stuff. From what you've been telling me, I had the impression you were pretty anti-social."

"Mm," was Sora's off-hand response. He thought back to his past few years. "Not really anti-social... Just not social, y'know? Well... I guess I never considered Tidus and Selphie my friends because they never came to me with any problems, or... I never felt the need to go to them with my own." He sighed, picking up a new recipe. "We hung out sometimes, but nothing really consistent. My mom was the one who always made the attempt to make friends."

Lowering the menu, Riku watched Sora as the boy spoke, his voice dropping into a slightly wistful tone. Sora's eyes were lowered, seemingly studying the new recipe in his hands, but Riku could tell Sora's mind was elsewhere, hardly caring about their work right now.

"I think I know why I never had friends here," Sora continued softly, his fingers tightening around the paper. "I never really knew enough to care about it before, but... Ever since my mom told me about what happened with her and my dad, it made sense."

Riku listened patiently, green eyes sympathetic.

Wetting his lips, Sora went on. "My mom got pregnant when she was still in school, and with a guy who was already dating someone, right?" He paused, closing his eyes and sighing. "So she came to the island and let my dad marry that other girl, and my mom and me have been here ever since. The other women probably don't like my mom because of that. She's not the typical house wife."

Yeah... From what Riku had gathered, the people on the island really didn't like things that deviated from the norm, and Seiya certainly was different. As stupid and prejudiced as it was, people no doubt looked down upon Sora's tiny family. And now that Sora was supposedly gay, Riku was definitely expecting a lot of opposition from the islanders. And judging from Sora's worries, he too had been thinking about it.

Something about Sora's solemn expression touched Riku in a way that was kind of unpleasant. The more Riku learned about Sora's relationship with the island, the more he disliked the people, and the more he wanted to just pull Sora into his arms and let him spill everything he's ever wanted to confess to people, and had never had a chance to.

"It's probably why she's never been able to get a real job here," the boy continued. "Why we're poor. And why the other kids never really accepted me..."

When Sora trailed off, a long silence stretched between them, thick with unsaid words and a sense of unfulfilled expectations that really filled Riku with pity, and a sense of relief that he had come on this crazy, almost impossible adventure to see Sora again, to make his dreams reality.

He was so happy to be here with Sora again, and so, so glad that Sora had allowed him the chance to get this close. Riku had the resources to make both of their dreams come true, but... the problem was Riku's aunt... And Sora's rickety courage.

"Anyway," Sora sighed, setting aside another recipe. "I do want to go to college, but at the rate I'm going, I doubt it'll happen." He hesitated, face forming a scowl. "I'll probably end up selling fish for the rest of my life. Sucks..."

If only you knew... A fond little smile tugged at Riku's lips as he continued to watch the boy. "Sora..."

He glanced up, blinking at Riku, and then faltered at Riku's expression. "Er... sorry..." He rubbed the back of his head, looking embarrassed. "I kind of rambled on," he muttered.

That was when Riku leaned in and kissed him.

"Mmf!"

Sora's eyes went wide at the unexpected move, but he didn't pull away, too surprised and embarrassed to deny Riku's advance. His heart did give a happy little flutter in his chest as Riku set aside his menu and started to shift closer, one of his hands resting on Sora's thigh—it was a gentle weight, but warm, and something about it made something inside of Sora twist in anticipation as Riku drew nearer, their lips still connected. Riku really wanted this right now.

And even though Sora wasn't sure what had sparked the sudden 'practice session,' Riku's tenderness effortlessly pushed away all of his worries, leaving him full of this warm and fuzzy feeling, whatever it was. He liked it.

Sora started to kiss back, vaguely wondering what this all meant and what Riku was planning to do this time. They had already covered the basics, so what came after what they had already done together?

Trying not to let it bother him, he let himself relax, focusing instead on returning Riku's favor, trying to make him feel as good as he made Sora feel. So what if this was just pretend? That didn't mean they couldn't enjoy it while it lasted.

They shared a few soft, initial kisses, each one a little bolder than the last, and it didn't even occur to Sora that he could have stopped this if he had wanted. Maybe he was already past that stage, anyway. He didn't really care anymore. It felt too good.

Riku's hand drew up, brushing across Sora's cheek, cupping it as he pushed deeper into Sora's mouth, more than willing to move faster since Sora wasn't resisting. The boy gave a soft, cute sigh as Riku easily parted his lips and brushed their tongues together. The gentle touch, and the tiny tremors that shook Sora's body, sent Riku's mind reeling. Sora's shy reactions were the perfect encouragement and everything Riku needed to know.

Pulling slightly away, he brushed their lips together, loving the heat of Sora's gasp against his damp skin, the softness of his touch as Sora leaned in for a hesitant kiss of his own. Riku felt his breath hitch, but Sora continued onward, taking Riku's bottom lip between both of his own, giving it a tentative lick.

It was so cautious, so sweet and new, it made Riku's heart swell with love. Something unbearably soft settled inside of him, and he curled his fingers around one of Sora's eartails, tugging his face closer to initiate a more heated kiss.

"Mnn..."

At Sora's tiny, incoherent sound of gratification, Riku delved into the boy's warm mouth, Sora's tongue willingly sliding against him, eliciting exquisite little thrills inside of him that threatened to drive this situation out of control. The quiet gasps that came from Sora did nothing to help, either.

Riku's hand slid down as he shifted even closer to Sora, the tips of his fingers touching Sora's hip and making him shiver, but he didn't pull away. Knowing he was crossing dangerous ground, Riku continued to distract Sora with the kiss, an almost hungry duel of lips and tongue that Sora didn't seem to mind at all. Encouraged, Riku moved his hand inward, fingering the button to Sora's shorts, starting to pull it free.

But despite Riku's efforts, Sora still felt it. He broke the kiss with a sharp gasp, his hands suddenly pushing against Riku's chest to deter him.

"R-Riku—" His voice was heavy and trembling with an emotion that Riku definitely recognized. "S-Stop—"

Despite the protest, Riku knew Sora wanted it.

Riku's fingers slipped the button free and started on the zipper, and this made Sora a little more panicked. With an embarrassed squeak, the boy started to turn away, trying to crawl to the safety of his bed.

Riku followed him, curling an arm around his waist and pulling Sora's body back. He felt Sora tense against him, but Riku didn't back down, not now, not when he had evidence of Sora's pleasure right under his hand.

"R-Riku!"

With Sora's protests echoing inside of him, and Sora's reedy body wiggling against him, trying to make it to the bed, Riku felt himself smile. Just as Sora grabbed hold of his covers and pulled the upper half of his body onto the bed, Riku firmly held onto him and pulled the zipper of his shorts down.

"Riku, p-please—!"

Riku moved closer on his knees, pressing right up against Sora's back, leaving barely room for the boy to fight back. He could feel Sora's scared breathing, and the trembling of his body, and the heat of his arousal just below his hand.

Wetting his lips, Riku closed his eyes and slipped his hand into Sora's boxers.

Every muscle in Sora's body tensed and he gave a startled cry—"R-Riku!"—and then shuddered and hid his face, muffling a gasp as Riku's fingers wrapped around him.

Riku watched as Sora's fingers clenched into the bed sheets as he began to move his hand against Sora. He saw every twitch of Sora's brows and parting of his lips and every shade of red on his cheeks, heard every whimper and sigh and soft moan, and felt every shiver of pleasure in his small body as he squeezed and worked Sora's warm length, wanting to witness the boy in his most vulnerable state, unable to stop himself even with Sora's weak, empty protests.

"Nnngh... R-Riku...uuu..."

He pressed his face against Sora's back, quickening his pace and pulling Sora tight against him, knowing Sora could feel his own erection.

"Shhh..." he hushed, nuzzling Sora's shoulder blade.

"Ri... aah"

Biting his lip, Riku continued the reckless hand-job, reveling in the way Sora squirmed against him the more rough he got. How many times had he imagined this happening? How many times had he lain curled up in bed and dreamt of touching Sora this way? Hearing these exact noises of pleasure? Seeing him so hot and worked up and unable to contain it?

"R-Ri—Ahnn..."

Riku swallowed, feeling his eyes sting, an overwhelming happiness rising within him. He felt the words burning within him—phrases of want, need, love, desire and unbreakable vows—but he clamped his mouth closed and squeezed his eyes shut, knowing that those confessions would scare Sora away. So he settled with loving him this way, passionately, a little violent as he jerked Sora to climax, finding his inexperienced thrusts so terribly cute.

Just as Riku felt Sora reach that pinnacle of pleasure, Sora buried his face into the mattress, his fingers twisting desperately into the sheets as he gave a muffled scream and spilled into Riku's hand.

And it was over.

A dreadful silence filled the room as Sora heaved gasps into the mattress, his abdomen giving an occasional spasm under Riku's arm, which was still holding him in place and half on Riku's lap. The foreign hand was still wrapped around him, waiting for him to come down from his orgasm.

A wonderful and terrifying kind of euphoria swirled inside of Sora, his heart thundering inside of him still, but...

Holy shit...

Sora kept his face buried, knowing his blush wasn't going to go away any time soon.

Why had Riku done that?

Never mind, that was a stupid thing to wonder.

Oh God...

That had been his first real experience with sex. First time that hadn't been self-induced. And it had been with a guy!

And fuck, it had been GOOD.

Fuck... Fuckfuckfuckfuck.

Riku slowly, carefully pulled his hand free, and Sora felt himself tense. He already kind of missed the touch, but he said nothing of the sort, his mind still reeling. He just stayed half slumped over the side of the bed, trembling and happy and in denial.

"Was that okay?"

Riku's tone was cautious, almost meek, as if he were afraid of Sora suddenly bolting out of the room.

Not sure if he could even talk, Sora swallowed a few times to find his voice, and when it came, it was quavering and thick, muffled from the mattress. "Embarrassing..." was all he managed.

Riku couldn't help the fond smile that pulled across his lips. "But it was okay?" When Sora said nothing this time, Riku leaned in and nuzzled the back of Sora's head, wanting to say a hundred things at once. He chose something reassuring, something that wouldn't overwhelm Sora even more. "I know how you feel. It's always embarrassing... But it feels good, right?"

Sora remained silent, trembling, his face buried in his sheets, but then slowly nodded.

Mindful of Sora's state, Riku carefully pulled away from him and rose to his feet, retrieving his wet towel from Sora's dirty clothes. He wiped his hand and dropped the towel back into the laundry pile, all the while searching for the final right thing to say.

They both knew that they had just shared something that would forever change their friendship.

Drawing in a deep breath, Riku steeled himself.

Well, here goes nothing... or everything.

"I know you know I have more than just friendly feelings for you," he said in a slightly quavering voice. "Even if we're only pretending to have a relationship, you can stop me, you know..."

Up until then, Sora hadn't moved, but now he lifted his head, not daring to meet Riku's gaze. "Riku, I..."

"I'll let you think if over," Riku said quietly.

That was when Sora finally turned, blue eyes wide, his expression partially hesitant, partially eager to say something, but completely frightened. His eyes met Riku's, but he didn't say anything.

He didn't have to. Sora needed more time.

"Riku?"

The sound of Squall's voice surprised Riku as the man suddenly appeared in Sora's doorway. For a moment he was confused, but a look out Sora's window revealed that it was probably kind of late now. No doubt Seiya had told Squall where to find the boys.

"Yeah, I'm coming," he told the older man, pausing to give Sora a small smile. "Think about it. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Sora, who was currently curled up so Squall couldn't see the state of his shorts, gave a curt nod and blushed further, lowering his face. Riku turned to leave, letting his gaze linger on Sora's trembling form, but then he was gone without another word, leaving the boy behind with his confused emotions.

Squall walked beside Riku in silence as they crossed the street, and for the first time since he had started this crazy game, Riku didn't want to share today's results with his friend. Somehow, this time, he felt it necessary to keep Sora's experiences a secret, something for him alone to know. He was thankful that Squall didn't bother asking what had been wrong with Sora back in the room.

"Anything new?" Riku wondered as they passed through the front door. "Since I've been gone, I mean."

Surprisingly, Squall did have a bit of shocking news. "Yeah," he said, and Riku couldn't tell if that was amusement or warning in his voice. "Sephiroth has been stalking Cloud's cell since this afternoon."

Riku gave Squall a puzzled look as he hesitated at the foot of the stairs. "I'm surprised he hadn't started earlier."

"Cloud said that Sephiroth didn't have this new number," Squall explained.

"Oh..."

Which meant someone (Yuffie maybe?) had squealed and given Sephiroth Cloud's new number, which also meant one of two things. Either Sephiroth was calling to find out where Cloud was, or Sephiroth knew exactly where he was and wanted him to go back to Atropos. Both spelled bad news for Riku. It was just a matter of time before Sephiroth found out who exactly Cloud was staying with and where some of his favorite models went off to.

"Great," he sighed, starting to climb the stairs.

"Yeah," Squall agreed as he followed.

"So how'd it go with you and Cloud?" Riku asked, throwing a cruel little smile over his shoulder.

To which Squall scowled. "It's not going to work, Riku."

"Whatever do you mean, Squall?"

"You know exactly what I mean," Squall muttered.

Riku laughed and crossed the hall to his room, shaking his head.

Unfortunately, Squall took this opportunity to strike back. "So what about Sora?" he asked, leaning in Riku's doorway as the boy sank onto his bed.

Raking a hand through his hair, Riku grimaced at the question, still feeling the effects of Sora's body against his, and his cute little groans, and fuck that kid was so molestable.

"Yeah... Sora..." Riku sighed, feeling himself smile, recognizing the happy little flutter inside of him. He wouldn't be forgetting the details of today's events, oh hell no. First the storage closet expedition, and then that hand-job in Sora's bedroom. Ahh, bliss.

"Sounds like it went well," Squall mused. There was something about his tone that made Riku suspicious.

"A little too well," Riku added, glancing down at his lap and feeling awkward about asking Squall to do this. "I think I need help..."

"Probably," Squall agreed.

But that was it.

There was no offer, no move forward to help Riku with his problem, nothing. Riku lifted his gaze, a sense of dread settling inside of him when he saw Squall still leaning in his doorway, looking smug.

"Squall?"

Regarding him with an impassive look, Squall just said, "I'm not helping you with your sexual needs anymore."

Oh no. Oh fuck no! Squall couldn't do that to him! Not tonight of all nights!

Riku gaped up at him, furious. "WHAT!"

And Squall merely shrugged. "You have a hand, Riku."

What. The. HELL?

Squall had never refused him before! Why now?!

"Squuaaall!" he whined and couldn't believe he was actually whining and to Squall of all people.

"Just get some rest, Riku."

"I could fire you, you know!"

"Yeah," Squall agreed, and calmly backed out of the doorway, reaching for the knob. As he started to close the door, an evil little smirk crossed his lips. "But you won't."

Riku sat there, mouth hanging open, completely appalled.

Something about Squall's actions impressed him, but at the moment he was too fucking pissed to care. Feeling this overwhelming sense of helplessness and pure fury at the world, he snatched up his pillow—

"RRRRGHH!!!! FUCK ALL OF YOU!!!"

—and chunked the damned thing at the door. It hit with a soft fwumph! and then fell to the floor. He glared at it a long moment, trembling, feeling tears sting at his eyes.

Then, silent and very, very sexually frustrated, Riku curled up on his bed alone.

-o-o-


As you can see... here comes the fun stuff. :D

I nabbed inspiration from the wonderful manga Rin by Yukine Honami, so credit to her for the hands-on project.