Wanderers,
Hello! How were your holidays? I'm hoping they went well. Mine did. :)
On another note: HAVE YOU GUYS EVER READ A FIC THAT YOU GET REALLY INTO AND THEN ALL THE SUDDENT, WITH-OUT WARNING, THE AUTHOR JUST STOPS UPDATING AND NEVER FINISHES THAT SHIT? BECAUSE I HAVE, AND QUITE FRANKLY I AM SICK OF IT. IF YOU DO THAT WIHT-OUT GIVING ME A REASON, OR AT LEAST A CRAPPY SUMMARY CHAPTER DESCRIBING THE REST OF THE PLOT, I HATE YOU. THAT IS ALL.
No seriously guys, never let me do that (not that I would).
Enjoy!
~Eliza
The Silverette seemed to crumble in front of me. I had never seen Axel mad at him before. Sure, they had spats as all friends do, but I had never witnessed Axel actually yelling at Riku. There was an anger in the red-head's eyes that burned too fiercely when he was shouting and had remained simmering even when his voice lowered.
Why had Axel exploded like that? Wasn't he happy to have Riku back and safe? Sure, Riku had made him do something hard, but it seemed so impractical for him to hold a grudge about it. He was somewhat unreasonable at times, but it was normally about stupid things like when to shut up or when it was and was not okay to make-out with Roxas. He wasn't an aggressive person as far as I had seen.
Riku wasn't taking the new-found hostility in his best-friend well. He buried his head in his hands for a moment before leaning back and letting out a loud sigh. He held the bridge of his nose and seemed to be fighting a head ache. I crept out into the kitchen as noisily as I could so that he'd know I was coming. Quickly, upon hearing my loud foot-steps, Riku regained his composure and whirled around to face me.
"Pepper! What are you doing out here? I told you I'd be to bed soon." Riku ran a hand through his silver locks and smiled at me weakly. I padded my way across the wood floor and wrapped my arms around his waist silently. "What… what is this for?" Riku asked quietly while he returned my embrace.
"I heard you fighting with Axel." My voice muffled against his chest.
"Did you hear what we said?" He asked warily.
"Um… no," I lied. "Are you okay?" I looked up to him and inspected his face. If he was distraught he hid it well.
"I'm alright, only a little spooked if anything. Axel's never done that before." He furrowed his brow in confusion.
"He's just hurt, Riku. He'll be fine in a day or two." I tried to console him, but he seemed so distant that I didn't think it would work.
"I don't know why, though. I just asked him to protect you. He would have asked the same thing of me if it had been Roxas." Riku shook his head and leaned the middle of his back against the counter, thinking.
"I'm not so sure of that. Roxas and Axel aren't exactly… well; I don't actually know how to describe their relationship." I bit my lip and tilted my head to the right, trying to find the correct word.
"You don't think they're in love?" Riku raised an eyebrow and looked at me curiously. He motioned for me to stand by him. I took a few steps forward and put my feet on top of his purposely, so that I was balancing by holding his hands while he leaned away from me.
"I have no idea if they are or not. Roxas and I rarely talk about it. Normally he just tells me every single dirty detail of their sex life. It's amazing, by the way." I cracked a grin at the scowl Riku made.
"I didn't need to know, but thanks. Are you saying ours isn't?" Riku changed his scowl to a smirk.
"Anything I say can and will be used against me in the court of law, Officer Riku." I hopped off of his feet and waggled my finger back and forth, scolding him.
"Officer Riku? Something tells me they wouldn't have used my first name." The Silverette cracked a grin as we walked back to our bedroom together. His mood seemed to increase ten-fold from when I had first walked into the kitchen.
"Sorry, Officer Docken." I rolled my eyes and used Riku's surname instead. He pinched my butt as I walked through the door-way in front of him. I gave him an accusatory glance, but his mouth was curved into a trademark Riku smirk, so there was absolutely nothing I could do.
"That sounds kind of nice, doesn't it? Too bad I'll never actually be a police officer." Riku stripped out of his clothes and tied his hair up for bed. I changed into a fresh pair of boxers and moved to clean my face. We all had wash bins in our rooms since there was no running water, and we'd keep them until they became too dirty to use anymore. I took my blue cloth and rubbed my face clean before sticking Riku's white cloth in the water and wringing it out. I threw it to him and he rubbed at his face.
"You'd have made a wonderful cop, Riku." I smiled at him softly before I climbed into bed.
"Maybe, maybe not. Things happen for a reason." He took his turn at the wash bin. There was a small mirror on top of the dresser where the water rested and I watched Riku's reflection while he slowly undid his bandage. His wound had healed significantly in the past few days but still oozing over and sewn shut. "You're staring." Riku stated, snapping me out of my trance.
"I'm sorry. I just can't help it…" I got out of bed and moved to help Riku wash off his shoulder since it was hard for him to reach some of the bite. I traced my fingers along his prominent muscles before taking the wash-cloth and lightly dabbing at his scabbed over skin. He winced slightly but the pain was minor compared to how hard it used to be to clean it out.
Aerith had done her best to keep it from getting infected further, but there wasn't much else she could do. A bite from the mouth of a zombie wasn't exactly the cleanest place, and the fact that the bite was untreated for so long hadn't helped either. After cutting off all the dead skin on Riku's shoulder Aerith had to douse it with alcohol nearly four times a day just to be sure it wasn't infected any worse. Riku absolutely dreaded it, but I made sure to hold his hand each and every time.
"I understand. I still feel like this is all one big dream. I can't believe I'm here, with you, alive. I should be dead. I should be a biter wandering around and destroying lives. But I'm here, and I'm relatively healthy, and I don't even know who to thank for it." Riku leaned his head back while I washed the rest of his back too. I grabbed a towel and dried off his pale skin.
"I don't care how it happened, or why. You're here with me and that's all I care about, Riku. You have no idea how happy I am." I snaked my arms around his waist from behind so that he could see my face peeking out from his side in the mirror. He smiled at our reflections and turned around so that I was hugging his front instead.
"You don't want to know? You don't want to figure out why it was me?" Riku asked curiously while leading us to the bed.
"I couldn't care less. I'm just glad it was you. I'm that one-in-a-million who managed to keep their boyfriend. Not everyone was so lucky." I reminded him, Namine's face flashing through my head.
"I want to know why. It just seems so strange that I didn't turn. I want to know what's wrong with me." Riku sighed and rested his head on his pillow. I blew out our candles and snuggled up next to him.
"I guess we can talk to Aerith about it. We haven't had much time to talk with her, being trapped in the attic and all." I laughed a bit.
"So much has happened in the past few days." Riku relaxed into the sheets.
"I didn't know I was capable of feeling that many emotions in such a short amount of time." I meant for it to be a joke, but Riku stiffened when I spoke. I tried to back-peddle. "I mean, it was just a lot to take in. I'm fine now, really!" I exclaimed trying to fix the conversation before it was broken.
"Sora… How badly did I hurt you?" Riku turned to me in bed. I swallowed, not looking forward to having this conversation. I knew it was because of what Axel said to him.
"I promise, I'm okay." I assured him.
"That's not what I asked you. How badly did I hurt you?" He restated.
"Riku… It's all situational. Just because I was in pain then, doesn't mean I still am." I repositioned myself so that I was on my side. He and I were practically nose to nose; through we were no longer touching at all.
"Axel said that—"
"I know what Axel said."
"How?"
"I was listening in…"
"I should have guessed. You're such a little snoop."
"Riku, just because Axel can't face his problems doesn't mean I can't. I'm a big boy with half of a psychology degree, thank you very much. I can address the fact that I was going through the stages of grief improperly, and that it made things seem much worse. I can also understand that since you're not actually dead, I no longer have to grieve, and therefore am, by all means and purposes, cured. So please, quit worrying. I would have tried to save you too, and just because you were being noble and sacrificed yourself doesn't give either me or Axel the right to be mad at you. It could have happened to anybody, but I'm glad it happened like this. You never turned. We could have lost someone else, but this way no one truly got hurt. Everything can go back to normal." At some point I had started rambling, trying to make my boyfriend realize that everything was fine.
"Then why do I feel so guilty?" Riku confessed.
"Survivors guilt. You feel bad because you can't figure out why you're the one who never turned. But it's not for us to know, Riku. It's for us to be happy about and not worry why it happened, because we can't change it and we don't want to. You were meant to live, otherwise you wouldn't have. There is a reason you're still on this Earth. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it, though, because it's for some higher power to know and for you to possibly never find out. I'm fine. Axel will be fine. Everyone else is safe now that we have you back to lead us. You're safe now, and I'm never going to let you out of this Cabin again, because I can't risk you pulling any more stupid heroics on me." I laughed. "Everything is going to be alright, Riku. I promise you."
"Are you sure?" Riku asked warily. I let out an exasperated sigh.
"YES. YES I'M SURE." I rolled my eyes and practically shouted in his ear. The Silverette flinched before laughing.
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry for asking. I just had to be sure." Riku rolled over to his side of the bed and I rolled to mine, completely content and ready to sleep.
After five minutes or so Riku spoke and startled me out of my half-ways slumber.
"Sora?"
"OhmyGodwhatdoyouwant?" I groaned into my pillow.
"Are we boring?" Riku asked.
"Are we what?" I raised my head and looked at the black void where Riku would be if I could have seen him.
"You said that Axel and Roxas had a really good sex life."
"What about it?"
"We simultaneously undressed while not even looking at each other, you rubbed me down with a rag and trailed your hands all over me, and then we curled up on opposite sides of the bed and fell asleep. No sex. No fooling around. Not even a good night kiss." Riku spoke in a horror filled voice.
"Oh no…" Realization struck me.
"They're all over each other and explosive. And we… and we…" Riku searched for words.
"…We've become the married couple." I stated with shock and fear.
"Quick, take your pants off!" Riku began shuffling around in bed.
"Take my whats off?" I laughed.
"I said, take your pants off." Riku was suddenly hovering over me and breathing on my neck. I whimpered at the heat and the fact that he had started moving his hands up my thigh. I hadn't realized just how much I had missed him up until that night.
We woke up in the morning and completed the routine we had before Riku was bitten. He would wake up first, then turn and look at me for a few moments. I'd wake up after him and rub my eyes. I knew he'd be awake so I would turn and give him a quick good-morning kiss before deciding whether or not I wanted to get up or go back to sleep. This morning I chose to stay awake and snuggled next to Riku, still enjoying the relaxed and sated feeling I acquired from the night before. Riku was no different and let me melt into him.
"Good morning, Pepper." Riku affectionately stroked my back while he used his pet-name for me.
"Morning Riku!" I chirped at him while beaming. His eyes crinkled in delight at my jubilance.
"I should probably talk to Axel today, huh?" Riku asked me what I thought was best. I crinkled my nose and thought about it for a moment.
"Yeah, I guess you should. He's your best friend. There's no point in fighting with him if you don't have to." I replied happily. I knew that Riku getting out of bed would make it cold, so I leaned over the side and dug around for my pajama pants. I slipped them on after fishing them off the floor and threw Riku his. They landed on an empty bed, though, because Riku was already over at his dresser getting an outfit ready for the day. "Well, I see you're wasting no time this morning." I chuckled and removed his pj's from the bed.
I let myself enjoy the gorgeous view of Riku standing at his dresser scouring through the top drawer. His hair had grown so long since we had been in the Cabin, and it now came down to the small of his back. It simmered in the sunlight and deliciously swung back and forth just above his tight ass. I frowned, thinking of how mine was now covered in claw marks from Riku's fingers, but my frown dissipated when I remembered how much fun we had. I continued checking out the Silverette by dragging my eyes down his strong and muscular legs. Tromping through the snow and carrying such heavy bags had left us all a litter leaner, but Riku was an absolute marvel because of it. He was sculpted and strong and looked like the peak of health. I nearly swooned when he turned around to face me.
"Are you alright? Your eyes are kind of… Sora, why are you making your 'I'm totally fuckable right now' face?" Riku raised an eyebrow and smirked at me.
He was right. I was sprawled out on the bed in just my pajamas with my chest on the end of the bed and my feet kicking up in the air. I hands under my chin and was staring at Riku with heavy lids and pouty lips. I hadn't realized I was doing it, but I was totally turned on and wasn't going to bother hiding it.
"Because I am totally fuckable right now?" I winked at him before he dropped his clothes and leapt for me.
"Okay, I seriously need to go see Axel now." Riku sighed and tried to untangle himself from my legs and the sheets. I shook my head and shimmied my way over to him and kissed him. He moaned and let me wrap my fingers into his hair and smoothly caress our lips together.
"What if I say no?" I gently ran my fingers from his hair down his neck and onto his chest before I straddled him.
"Sora…" Riku warned me, practically growling.
"Hmmm?" I rubbed my cheek against his and put my lips up to his ear.
"Sora, you need to get off before I ravage you." Riku stiffened in an attempt not to jump me. I chuckled and smiled at him as sultrily as I could.
"Then I think I'll stay right here." As quick as I had said it I was being thrown onto the bed.
"Okay, now I seriously need to go see Axel!" Riku tried to throw me from him. I laughed and stayed exactly where I was. "Why are you doing this to me?" Riku gave up struggling and flopped down on the bed.
"Because I love you?" I raised my voice so that it obviously was a question.
"You're smothering me with love." Riku rolled his eyes and tried once again to move me. He never put in the full effort, though, because he had proven just moments before that he could throw me around as much as he wanted to.
"If you wanted to leave, you'd do it." I tested him. He looked at me with resolve in his eyes. I bit my lip and watched, with glee, as his resolve crumbled.
"SORA! I'M ACTUALLY GOING NOW. GET OFF." Riku groaned and tried once more to throw my sated body off him. It was now well into the evening and we had never left the room. I yawned and stared at the gorgeous Silverette. He glared at me.
"What?" I asked innocently.
"I need to go." Riku stated.
"Well, why haven't you?" I gave him a wide-eyed Bambi look. He nearly screamed in frustration.
"BECAUSE YOU WON'T STOP SEDUCING ME." He growled and shoved me from him.
"I'm sorry, Riku. I just… I never thought I'd see you again. I don't want to lose another moment I could have spent with you, because I don't know how many I have left." I admitted my real reason for all of our sexual exploitations of the day.
Riku softened considerably when he noticed how my eyes were actually tearing up. I hadn't meant to be upset; I didn't want him to know that I still was scared deep down. He was everything to me, and I had nearly lost him. I was sure that eventually I'd be able to forget just how horrible living without him was, but it was so soon, and I was too confused. I began understanding why Axel had acted out in rage.
"Sora, come here." Riku motioned for me to crawl into his lap and I obliged, wiping my tears.
"I'm fine. I don't even know why I'm crying. I guess I'm just overwhelmed." I replied.
"I know, Pepper. I am too. I'm just… I don't know what to do anymore." Riku sighed.
"Can we just hide in here all night?" I asked while sniffling.
"Would you like that?" Riku mused.
"Very much so." I nodded.
"I'll sneak us some food. I can always talk to Axel tomorrow." Riku kissed my forehead and left the room. I smiled softly, wondering what on Earth I would have done without him.