Forever Lullaby
XI Burning
Chapter Rating E10+ mild language
Disclaimer Kingdom Hearts © Square Enix and Disney
000---000
Dreary light filtered through my eyelids, and I groaned, flopping over and stuffing my face in something soft, though considerably dusty. I pushed myself halfway off a bed I didn't recognize, blinking a few times before I noticed that the place was unfamiliar. I squinted, barely able to see in the bright, white room. I yawned, casually sitting up and stretching, then, through mid-yawn, it hit me – this could be anywhere, and, with the downy look of it, I suspected it to be Heaven. I pinched myself and concluded, since I supposed angels couldn't feel pain, that Riku hadn't killed me off the night before. Riku…who was Riku again…?
Riku! I jumped to my feet, rushing past the crayon drawings and through the door, stopping abruptly when the scenery changed into a trashed, abandoned looking stairway. At first, the scent of musk overran my senses, making my eyes water, then the faint wafting smell of bacon floated into the room. I sniffed it before confirming that it was coupled with fresh brewed coffee, thus I followed the invisible trail of mouth watering aromas to a door guarded by scuffed up suits of armor. I paused before opening the door, watching them as if for permission. Since they didn't move to object, not that I expected them to do anything, I pushed the door open, stepping into a white kitchen. It was bright, momentarily blinding, but not as much as the room I'd been in earlier.
"What're you doin'?" I asked tiredly, stopping in the door way to rub the sleep out of my eyes. Riku responded with a quick grunt, jumping from one counter to the next, stirring and flipping and checking things. It looked like he was cooking a full blown breakfast. "Where are we, anyway?" Riku gestured around the expanse of the building as if it would suffice as a clarification. "What happened after I fell asleep or whatever?" Another grunt. "Can't you answer at lease one question? I like to have an account on my present whereabouts!"
Finally, after turning all the dials off and placing things appropriately on what appeared to be the serving counter, Riku turned to face me, his arms hanging loosely at his sides. He took a deep breath, beginning to speak before loosing his voice again. He raised a finger, which didn't help me figure when he planned on explaining himself, since one index finger could indicate one second, one minute, one hour, one day, on week, one month, one-…
"First, I was making breakfast, second at the Abandoned Mansion, and I took you down here after you fell asleep…" He leaned against the counter, closing his eyes as to calm down. He looked tired. "I wanted to see your reaction when you were actually awake, but you're too peaceful when you're asleep…"
"And you carried me all the way here?" I looked at him in disbelief, running to a window to try and point out Sunset Terrance. "Wait, we're in the Haunted Mansion in Twilight Town?"
"I'm a lot stronger than I look." Riku made a face that very faintly resembled something reminiscent to a pout. "Yeah, yeah…but I prefer to call it the Abandoned Mansion. 'Been here loads of times, no ghosts or anything like that…don't be so paranoid."
"Paranoid's my middle name." I grinned at my joke. Riku wasn't amused, just looked at me smugly. "Thanks…you didn't really have to do that, or all this," I threw my arm towards the food with a delighted expression on my face. As not to seem rude or ungrateful, I immediately dashed at the plates and silverware, filling up my plate in seconds before grabbing a quick cup of steaming coffee, and, in some bizarre miracle, made it to the small kitchen table in a matter of seconds. Riku smirked, looking somewhat amused or bemused, it was hard to tell with him, and followed suit in a much slower process, taking his time to pick and choose his food and smother his coffee in cream and the likes.
"Where do you put it all?" Riku inquired, watching my eating habits with amazement. "Does it just go away like magic?"
"Poof." I said through mouthfuls of pancakes, sausage, and bacon, as well as some biscuits and delicious gravy. "And you're a good cook, I'm kind of surprised." Riku was much too manly to cook, in my opinion.
"You know, loads of people in our house, someone's have some know-how." Riku ate an average speed, taking his time to chew his food, "You'll die faster if you don't chew more." I noted there was some sort of…inner joke in that statement, and I looked up at him in confusion. He looked flustered, then regained his cool and smirked, "Minimum chews for each bite should be at least thirty, but I think yours are about…" He paused to watch me eat without skipping a beat, which rhymes, "Two, at maximum."
"What are you, my mom?" I rolled my eyes, scooping off the last bits of crumbs and gravy on the plate. I continued with chugging down my cooled coffee, which was why I waited to drink it last, since it would scorch my tongue if I didn't. "I think I want to go home now."
"What are you, my child?" Riku sneered and poked at his food. "Whine, whine, whine…" He muttered something under his breath, then said it was nothing when I asked him about it. I shrugged it off and took my dishes to the sink, barely bothering to rinse them off before returning to the table.
"What's on the agenda today?" I asked all professional-like, though Riku burst out into barkish laughter at this. I pouted indignantly, trying to save any pride I might've had left. Damn, I was starting to wonder what that random pull of attraction was about the night before…must've been the lighting. Stupid nature and all it's pretty-ness… "You going to answer?" Riku had probably forgotten about the question today, laughing his head off and all…
"Oh, right…" He took a moment to ponder, placing his elbow on the table and resting his chin on the palm of his ethereal skin. A thin, but thick and almost strong looking, finger tapped along his lips, which looked incredibly slick and soft in the dewy morning light…I shook my head of these thoughts, focusing, instead, on the rotting yellowy paint that was chipping off the kitchen walls. "Eh, hang out, eat, walk around…shop for stuff, something like that."
"Is there a TV in here?"
"No, why?"
"For entertainment…what else?"
"Of course there's no TV, it's an abandoned mansion. The only thing remotely modern is the kitchen appliances and broken beer bottles."
"Then what's the point of being here?"
"It's like camping out!"
"…did we switch personalities overnight?"
000---000
We eventually left the mansion promptly at noon, decked out in casual clothing that seemed to govern secret dress requirements for the town. No one dressed in anything too dark, too revealing, or, God forbid, too dressy. It was relax, relax all the time, except for the town mayor and people who found themselves too important to blend in with the 'little people'. Especially the tall, built and freakishly girly man who played obsessively in Struggle battles, an event clearly meant for younger teens.
I decided it was time to bring up the topic that was on the verge of my mind, and on the tip of my tongue, but I never had a chance to bring it up earlier. I sat down on one of the square bricks, a shape that was strongly emphasized in the town's architecture, so said the tourist pamphlet, with Riku halting abruptly in his tracks to do the same. I sat straight up, while he hunched over his legs, his elbows resting on his knees and hands clasping and unclasping in front of him. He looked up at me expectantly, but with an even patience. Realizing that I had been staring and way overanalyzing his actions, I quickly looked down at the ground.
"How's Axel holding up?" I vaguely remembered the redhead in the back of my mind, mostly the cheery smile and slightly overpowering personality. "After…you know…"
"Roxas started talking to him again," Riku linked his fingers together, forming various types of knots, "So I guess their friends…"
"Nothing more?" I asked, sincerely curious.
"Not yet, and I thought that would gross you out…" Riku smirked at me, a brow rising in curiosity and, almost, as a challenge.
"What would gross me out?"
"That they're becoming such close friends…maybe something more."
"I don't care about homosexuals, I'm just not one." I turned my cheek to him, then spotted a ice cream stand. "Sea-Salt Ice Cream! Let's get some!" Before Riku could reply, I snatched him the wrist and dragged him up to the stand. I ordered us both some ice cream, letting him pay and hopped back over to our seat.
"This stuff's pretty good." Riku said appreciatively, licking at the said stuff.
"Salty, yet sweet." I recited the slogan in a cheery voice, stuffing the Popsicle into my face. Riku grinned at me, shaking his head as to hold back a laugh. I rolled my eyes and leaned back, making sure not to choke myself in the process.
"Roxas is obsessed with Sea-Salt Ice Cream," Riku bit the rest off of the stick and proceeded with snapping it in half. I lowered my eyes as splinters haphazardly flew off in all directions. "He always babbled about it when he got back from Twilight."
I nodded quietly, reveling in the cold taste. Riku fell beside me, bumping heads against mine. We stared up at the orange sky, naming off different shapes in the smeared clouds. The air was balmy, with a slight breeze rustling my hair. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of it – it smelled old, but not in the stuffy kind of way. Old, but fresh…
Riku leaned over and licked some of my ice cream, falling back in place before I could do anything about it. I grumbled and turned on my side, protectively munching on the melting blue stuff. Of course, that created a sticky pool near my face, and I had to sit up rather abruptly before it clumped my hair together. Trust me, you do not want to be in hitting distance when my hair gets messed up, not that it wasn't messed up already…
I sighed and gave up in trying to save my ice cream. I let the rest of it dribbled slowly to the ground, leaving blue drops on the dusty ground. Riku pouted, ranting on about how my hand would be too sticky to hold now. I ignored him, tossing the rest of it in his face.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" Riku cried, attempting to save his hair from a sticky death.
"Oh, sorry. I thought your face was the garbage." I smirked at him, though the expression was slapped right off my face. Riku was hovering over me and, before I realized it, his hands were clenched tightly on my shoulders.
"Don't ever talk to me like that, ever." A shudder ran through my body – his eyes were burning.
000---000
…to be continued…
