"Okay, I think that's enough!" Riku gasped out as he pulled his head backward. Sora's lips persisted after him and just as Riku found himself with no way to escape the brunet's advances, he squirmed one of his hands up to separate both of their faces.
His palm was put in the direction of Sora's face while Riku huffed, his eyes fleeting down below behind him at the pitch black ocean water where he could hear the water churning from the steadily moving ship.
He hadn't been the one to initiate the kiss but he damn well sure would be the one to end it before his head got lost in the stupid moment.
Sora's lips on his felt like some sort of strange sensation going through his body. It felt heart pumping whenever it happened and Riku found his body clenching to just extend his arms over the male's back to pull him closer and further go into the kiss. The urge was strong and nearly overwhelming.
It vaguely reminded Riku of his own dream from earlier. His body wanted to just grab and take from Sora because of the impressions it left on him. That was evident and clear to Riku now because even now, his lips were still tingling and he heard a part of his brain begging him to throw himself back at Sora for another kiss.
But Riku had self control.
He wasn't so ignorant to not know when his body's hormones were going out of line.
For that, he had to make sure he stopped before something happened that he wouldn't want later.
Sora's smile from earlier dropped as he watched at Riku blankly, no emotion written on his expression to signal to the royal what he was thinking.
Slowly, Riku scowled lightly his back relaxing from its arch by the ship's ledge while he flicked his wrist in a gesture to make Sora back away, "You're still sweating." He informed in mild disgust, his eyes bouncing up from the younger male's bare chest.
Sora cringed at him, "Oh, like you're any better, Princess." He remarked before pulling himself away.
The pirate captain began moving toward his pile of fallen of clothes several feet away and Riku took that time to run a hand through his hair, which was as sweaty as Sora commented on.
Both of them were out here for a while if Roxas's earlier words were any clue.
Now really looking over the bonfire area, everything was still set up, except for the fire that had once burned so brightly was now dimming down into a small light.
Riku moved to pick up Sora's cutlass that had been taken from his grasp in favor of sliding toward the farther end of the ship, near the stairs that he knew led to the upper deck where the wheel to navigate the ship was.
He bent down to retrieve the item and his eyes gazed over it without much care. The feel of it was generally more light weight than the sword he'd typically use in his practice, but it was sturdier than he originally anticipated it to be.
His mind wondered exactly how many lives had been ended with the weapon.
Its steel was clean aside from countless scratch marks but Riku knew better. Sora had murdered more people than Riku would like to admit with the blade, he was after all, the Crimson Prince of the Sea, a namesake that was given to him because of the amount of blood he could make appear in the ocean from his defeated enemies.
Riku's eyes glanced upward toward the other end of the ship where Sora had already put back on his shirt and was now placing his overcoat back on his body.
When he thought about it, it was probably strange to the others on the crew for Sora to have really let Riku just take his weapon from him like that.
The thoughts of him being something different in the captain's eyes came to him once more, but he tried to brush it off.
It set off a weird feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about Sora in that kind of light.
It was odd.
Sora had more than one face.
There was Captain Sora, the man every sailor who traveled came to know as the most ruthless and deadly pirate to dominate the seas. The man who Riku could easily say was responsible for his four day torture session that he rather not remember.
There was Sora Caeleaum, the young man that was constantly smirking and going about with the arrogant face on that most of his older friends and ship mates had come to know and mysteriously enough, admire. The young man, Riku had the displeasure of spending a majority of his time on the Kingdom Heart with.
And then there was just plain ole Sora… A boy, vulnerable and protected by the veils that were Captain Caeleaum and Sora Caeleaum. Sora was shown to Riku more than once and each instance hadn't been very long, though he was willing to bet that less people than he could count on his hands had seen him.
"What's your problem?" Sora questioned with furrowed brows as he approached the still standing royal that eyed him silently.
Riku caught himself in his staring and bit his bottom lip anxiously, his blue eyes glancing away instantly before he shook his head, "Nothing. Here's your sword." He curly stated while he extended his hand out to give the captain the cutlass.
Sora blinked, his hand still grasping hold of Axel's before he shrugged his shoulders, "Hold it for me." He commanded airily.
The prince found his confusion heightening at this, but prior to him questioning why, Sora was brushing past him to walk up the stairs to the upper deck.
Eyebrows knitting down in further bewilderment, Riku watched up at the curly haired male as he got to the top and glanced down at Riku impatiently, "Going to stand there looking cute all night or are you going to follow?"
Instantly rolling his eyes, Riku gave a loud groan of annoyance before he began walking upward to the upper floor of the ship.
The area ahead was vast and got a bit more wind than the general deck.
Running a hand through his hair, the brunet had to appreciate the cool breeze on his still heated skin from earlier. His eyes watched all around in the dark, it was still practically pitch black up there given the fact the small light from the fire below didn't reach there.
Sora started to the two men at the wheel that were talking animatedly and after a few seconds both of them both nodded off at him before they turned and began approaching the stairs.
Riku side stepped out of their way while he watched Sora take control of the wheel with puzzlement still within him.
"What are you doing?" He found himself asking as he got to the captain's side.
The pirate captain snorted, "Tell me, what does it look like?"
Irritation threatening to surface on him, Riku scoffed, "Enjoying a nice lobster dinner." He sarcastically pitched making Sora chuckle.
"I'm making them pack up the bonfire stuff. Obviously I don't want us going off course so I'm taking over the wheel." Sora answered simply causing Riku to nod in understanding, his eyes glancing out into the darkness ahead.
"How do you even know you're going the right way? A compass, right?"
Sora nodded in confirmation while the prince casually folded his arms over his chest,
The two fell into a silence right after.
With a sigh, Riku found his gaze lasting outward.
If this was the future of his life and he wasn't going to leave the ship, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
He and Sora were getting along better, he made a couple new friends on top of being with Kairi, and he didn't have to truly worry about dying.
Of course, the thoughts of home probably wouldn't leave him any time soon, it was still better than being placed in a completely horrid situation… It could be a lot worse.
When the two men arrived back up and resumed their position at the wheel, Riku found himself blinking in curiosity as Sora beckoned him over to the edge of the ship.
The captain took position on the ledge, his arms resting on top of the wood with a blank look out over into the dark. Riku followed in suit, his eyes gazing at the black almost expectantly for something to just appear.
"I haven't actually told you about myself, have I?" Sora's voice broke the silence amongst them.
It now came to Riku's attention that Sora didn't know that he knew about his past. Back when he had been at the bonfire and they finished Sora's story and the pirate captain showed up, they all lied and said they had been saying Aqua's.
"No, not really." Riku lowly answered, his eyes inching away from the other's face.
He supposed it'd be interesting to hear about Sora's story from the captain's own mouth, even if he knew it'd probably be sadder that way.
"Alright, ask me anything and I'll answer it as truthfully as I can." He remarked with an exhale, his body leaning on the ledge more comfortably.
Not ready for the sudden conversation starter, Riku turned to look at Sora in surprise. The male shrugged his shoulders when he noticed Riku's gaze before he cleared his throat, "Afterwards, I can do the same with you."
Riku nodded his head slowly, his hand clutching the slippery wood beneath his fingers in apprehension.
He couldn't exactly think of anything to ask him without it getting too personal or awkward between them…
Apparently, his hesitation made Sora impatient and the captain groaned loudly, "I'll start then. At what age did you lose your virginity, and don't lie because we both know you weren't a virgin when you stepped on this ship." Sora's eyes twinkled deviously as Riku found a hand slapping to his mouth in astonishment.
"Where the hell did that question come from!?" He demanded in disbelief,
Sora hummed tunelessly, "Not a proper answer, Princess."
Rolling his eyes and attempting to fight back the embarrassment threatening to overtake his senses, Riku gave a deep breath before he mumbled, "I was 17…" He reluctantly settled on answering, he tried to wipe away the thoughts of the rather awkward night from his mind as Sora snorted.
"The girl must have really been something, huh? Was she your fiancée? Does royalty always wait so long before letting you get set up with someone?"
The questions came out forcefully and were mixed with a hint of hostility, though Riku wasn't sure if he was just hearing things or not.
Riku hung his head shamefully, "First of all, it wasn't a girl. I didn't have a fiancée and it depends on the ruling parents. My parents were waiting I guess, before letting me into an arranged marriage. I don't know why." He honestly replied.
"Wasn't a girl? Who was this guy?" Sora's eyebrow shot up as he fully turned to Riku in curiosity, "I know the Crown would not allow you to be set up with another male."
When Riku awkwardly glanced away, Sora apparently put two and two together before he let out a dry humored chuckle, "The Princess was being a naughty royal."
"It just happened. I won't go into details, it's a long story and I admit I'm ashamed about it… But at the same time it helped me realize my true sexuality, so please just drop it." He firmly said with a shake to his head.
Sora gave a crooked smile, "I doubt anyone knows about this."
"Only me, him, Kairi, and now you."
"I'll take the secret to my grave, Princess. I wouldn't want your reputation going downhill or anything horrible like that."
"Not funny." Riku blankly retorted, his eyes moving to glare at the pirate captain who appeared entirely amused.
Sora shook his head, "Next question. What made you so agile with a sword?" He gestured to the cutlass still in the male's grip.
Riku licked his lips with a glance at the sword, "Oh, I've been practicing with fencing and swordsmanship since I was old enough to walk. Since I was of royal blood even though my dad wasn't even power then, I was still trained to be the perfect man." He shrugged his shoulders.
The spikey haired brunette nodded slowly, his eyes evaluating Riku with a more predatory emotion that caused the royal to go rigid beneath his gaze, "It worked. Aside from your sassy mouth that is."
With a roll to his eyes, Riku shook his head, "I wonder when standing up for myself suddenly made me sassy. But it hardly worked out. It stressed me to no end. Having to stay on top of my studies and knowing all this etiquette stuff put a strain on me."
"Oh, did you ever get a break?"
"Hah. I wish. Whenever I gave myself a break, I got the discipline rod to my face, back, and ass. If I wasn't perfect with what I did, my instructor would sometimes make me stay up all night until what I did was perfected. I admit, I got time off, but it was only when I got what I had to done earlier than expected. When I got that time off, it used to be pure heaven because I had freedom. I usually went out to sit with Kairi in rose gardens or played pranks on my brothers with one another. Haha, this one time I got Kairi to play with me against them and it was so much fun when we completely destroyed their room even if the maids got angry with us and," He paused himself in the middle of his rant to give Sora a look to gauge his reaction,
Unlike what he expected, Sora didn't appear annoyed or bored in the slightest. The male's face watched at Riku with an emotion of pure interest and wonder, his eyes watching Riku in anticipation for him to continue.
Suddenly finding himself flustered under the pirate's gaze, Riku smiled tensely, "I'm rambling. Sorry, I have a habit of that."
"No, no. It's fine. It's interesting. The maids got angry and then what happened?" Sora urged simply.
Riku smiled diminutively, his hands falling to his sides, "Nothing too serious. My mom heard about it and she banned my brothers and I from visiting the kitchen unsupervised indefinitely. We still did though because we were friends with the staff and we just promised to never use their flour or eggs for evil again."
"That sounds like you had fun times even with the bad." Sora acknowledged with a look up to the night sky.
Unable to deny it, Riku nodded, "Yeah, I did… But now that I'm out here with everyone else, outside of the bubble, I guess living in the palace wasn't all it was cracked up to be."
Visibly, Sora stiffened and Riku found himself continuing before the other could speak, "It's harder to live a shielded life and then have all of these truths of reality shoved in your face than to always live with reality on your shoulders. I know, it's been hard for you from the beginning, Sora but since I've been out here, it's more than a single slap in the face to see everything I've been seeing. It's almost not real, but I know it is…"
"It gets better." Sora muttered out, "Trust me. God has a funny way of working out with these things. In the end, everything will work out."
Without any other words to say, Riku sighed, "With that aside, it's my turn to ask questions."
Sora's lips cracked into a grin and Riku gave a small smirk.
"When did you lose your virginity and with who?"
The pirate ran his hands through his hair with a small chuckle, "I saw that coming."
"Good. Answer." Riku shortly countered.
"I was 15 and it was with a member of Highwind." He simply answered with a shrug to his shoulders, "Fortunately, when you're a pirate you have no dirty secrets, unlike you. Naughty Princess." He added in with a smirk that made Riku give an exasperated moan.
"Okay, what's one thing you absolutely cannot leave the ship without and why?" The question wasn't very personal, but it was the first thing that came to mind.
Sora seemed to pause and ponder on it before he shrugged, "I usually go with my scarf because it has my family's gemstones on them or at least, it has the one's that belonged to my mother and brother. Mine is on their memorial stone." He stated easily.
Riku gave a bit of a halt at the sudden answer and it came back to mind how Sora had given him the scarf when they were back out in Twilight Town…
When Roxas had questioned him on wearing Sora's hat, he had made it seem like the hat had more significance than he originally thought. So that was why…
But why had Sora let him wear it if it had meaning?
"And you let me wear it?" Riku softly inquired; he didn't even know why he was pursuing into this topic.
Sora gave a deep breath his hands moving over his face tiredly, "Yeah… I did. I thought it'd mean something, but we both remember what happened and I know it didn't mean anything. So just don't even worry about it."
The royal bit his bottom lip.
He didn't want to bring that back up.
A bit of silence fell over the two of them and Riku became a bit more aware of how cold it was suddenly becoming. The wind blew over them, creating a slight whistle in Riku's ear as he gave Sora a glance from the corner of his eye.
Wanting to take away the awkwardness place in the current situation, he slowly allowed his hand to move out to cautiously touch the curly haired captain's hand.
Sora's hand froze instantly, but Riku firmly took hold of it in his own. The hand holding was quite possibly one of the most uncomfortable things ever, but he tried to blow past that as he spoke.
"What's your favorite animal?"
Sora cocked his head to the side, clearly not ready for such a random question.
He turned to look at Riku his lips pressed into a firm line, "I really have a fondness for dogs." He stated, and Riku could feel the pirate's fingers slowly beginning to settle in his grasp.
The two glanced down at their intertwined hands before Riku released him, "Dogs? Wow. Why?" He quickly questioned, his feet inching away from the younger male that shrugged, slight aggravation on his features,
Sora moved closer, filling in the gap Riku was trying to create, "What's not to like?"
"I guess." Riku muttered with a yawn.
He could now begin to feel the fatigue in his body starting to catch up on him. After all of that fighting he'd done and the fact his lung still weren't at the top of their game, he could feel himself giving into his brain's signals.
Sora leaned over to watch him curiously, "You're sleepy?"
"Yeah—WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Riku roared out in alarm as he found his whole perspective of the world over turning, his feet were swept from the floor as Sora hefted him over to place over his shoulder so incredibly fast and strongly that he could have thrown up in surprise and nausea.
"Carrying you to bed, Princess. No need to shout. You'll wake everyone up." Sora smoothly answered as he started walking toward the stairs.
Riku immediately began to struggle from his humiliating place on the younger male's body. He hadn't expected Sora to actually be strong enough to lift up his body weight like that, much less toss him over his shoulder.
His shock ran away into fury as he squirmed while Sora stepped downward. Each step feeling as though Riku would go tumbling towards the floor, "Put me the hell down now!" He demanded harshly, "This isn't funny!"
"Well, I know that. Neither of us are laughing after all."
"Sora—"
"You had a wet dream about me."
"I..."
"Admit it Riku, you had a naughty dream about me. And you liked it" The chocolate haired pirate teased.
"Tha..."
Even when his life seemed to be growing easier, Sora always made everything so difficult.
Sora likes dogs. This is going to come into play later. So feedback would be lovely. And before I forget, the bad news...
This story is ending soon... Don't worry though, it's not going to end that fast so you'll have a couple more chapters to read.