Waking up around eleven o'clock in the morning, Sora scratched the back of his head when he found Riku standing outside his front door.

"Riku! I'm making some lunch, want some?" At least he finally answered the door.

"Yeah, sure. What are you making?"

Watching the sleepy head at the door, Riku blinked at the other's offer, but then a small smile curled along his rims.

"Mmn..." Sora leaned back on his heels, hands behind his head, "I'm not 100% sure yet, I was thinking of making some dumplings or some sushi. But the rice takes forever," he groaned. He was feeling hungry now.

"Hm?"

Glancing up at Riku, the brunette pulled a smirk.

"At least you're smiling, Riku. I told ya that your face wasn't gonna crack if you tried to smile at least once."

Riku chuckled softly in amusement, "Wow, Sora...you're always impatient," he scoffed, "I don't mind waiting. Honestly. I could even help you make it."

Sora blinked, looking over at the other.

"Wh-" his face soured, cheeks puffing out as they always did when he was sulking like a little chipmunk, "I am not! I…I've gotten so much better since I was little."

Psh. Stupid Riku. Sora crossed his arms over his chest, pouting for about 45 seconds before heaving out a sigh.

"Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have some help." Like that wasn't half his plan all along. "Oh, but wait," he tilted his head up towards the ceiling. "Do I even have stuff to make dumplings?" he murmured more to himself. When was the last time he went shopping again? Probably a bad sign if he couldn't remember. "Ah well, We'll figure it out, C'mon!" Sora reached out, taking Riku's hand to tug him towards the kitchen.

"Hm...nah, you're still impatient. Nothing's changed there," he remarked. This was more of a dig as Riku wanted a reaction out of the brat, "I think I remember seeing some...dumpling mix...in one of the higher cupboards in the kitchen," he mentioned, and then the teasing continued. "Maybe you could sit on my shoulders? I'd be happy to help you look."

Patting Sora's head, Riku ruffled those brunette locks lightly as if Sora was a child.

"Maybe it'd help you look taller."

Not even bothering to turn back to look at Riku, albeit there was no doubt the taller male could see his face.

"Tch. Nu-uh! I'm like, so much more patient now...and like, way taller."

Only because back then Sora was like five, but now at fifteen he's the same height as ten years ago. Sora made it to the kitchen, humming as he gathered out a couple of the spices and a few of the room temperature vegetables he'd need to set near the cutting board before he looked...up...UP...UGH! Stupid top cabinets. Why do people even need to put things that damn high? Sora's face was already sulking into that pout once more before he made a noise in his throat, those barely tanned cheeks peppering a couple shades darker with his blush as he turned to pout at Riku.

"Listen. We can't all be some...giants, Mr. Tall, grumpy, and sexy," he supplied, huffing as the words tumbled from his lips before he could stop himself even as that larger hand went down to ruffle up his already unruly brunette hair. Sora batted it off with an indignant puff before placing two hands onto the counter and swinging his legs up to get on his knees to start digging through the cabinets, though for that very top one he went on to stand to see into.

Glancing up at the brunette, Riku placed his hands onto Sora's waist as a way to keep him balanced; he cared a lot about him and didn't want him to unexpectedly fall from the counter. Riku's much bigger arms, especially the elbows wound up knocking the spices over onto the hard floor. Of course, because he was clumsier than the other. Obviously. Green eyes stayed staring up at the brunette, watching the smaller lad looking into the higher cupboard.

"Have you found it yet? Shouldn't be at all hard to find," stated Riku.

Averting his gaze from Sora for just one mere tick, Riku released his hands from the lad's waist and squatted down to look in one of the bottom cupboards. Riku had an easy life. Reaching into the bottom cupboard with one hand, Riku pulled out the saucepan for the boiling part of the procedure. He set the saucepan over by the cutting board. Now, he retreated back to Sora and held onto him again.

"Are you done yet?"

Thankfully the dumpling mix wasn't shoved all in the back like usual, but the height difference certainly gave Riku a more than ample view of a few things, if nothing else. The hands, surprisingly, didn't even make him flinch, since those were Riku's hands. Sora trusted Riku completely. It had also been a good day so far, Sora was actually able to sleep a few hours without any nightmares.

"Sorry, Riku. I'm just grabbing some stuff to move down. I dunno why mum ever put this shit so high up, even she had to use the step stool," he supplied.

It was probably from habit when his father was still alive, an excuse to have his father 'help' with the cooking. Or so his father could put Sora on his shoulders and make him feel helpful. Now? Well, now they were both gone, but he was still finding little lingering memories all over the place that made his heart ache with it all. Sora shook his head briefly and swallowed a slight lump in his throat before pulling out the dumpling mix at last, along with some tempura batter and a couple of rarely used spices.

"Okay. Look out, Comin' down!"

Turning around on the counter, Sora waited until Riku was safe enough away and just jumped, grunting as he landed barefoot on the hard floor and felt the shock of it up his shins. But Sora's fine. It was only three and a half feet down. He's handled worse.

"Okay! Let's get cookin'! We still need…umm...the cause pan…uh…oh, rice cooker! I think it's in that third cupboard to your left, bottom shelf."

Riku didn't think much of it, really.

"Bottom shelf? Okay, I'll look."

Squatting down again, the sound of bones cracking could be heard in his knees in the process. It was common for his bones to sound like rice krispies - being tall and all. But Riku wasn't the only one. With all the shit both of them had been through in the past years, it was a wonder every bone in their bodies weren't broken yet. Thank you, Cure magic. Opening up the cupboard door, Riku reached in with both his hands and pulled out the rice cooker, soon setting it onto the counter's surface with a loud thud.

"I guess it's just out of habit," he answered in response to Sora's comment about his mum, "I mean, even you store things to the very back of the cupboard…and especially when you're on my shoulders," he mocked.

Rising back up to his feet, Riku made sure to switch on the oven and allowed it to heat up. Backing away a bit, the silver-haired male leaned up against the parade of counters with his toned arms folded over his chest. Green eyes glanced over at the brunette, and another scoff escaped his throat.

"It's just funny that you decided to make use of the mix now. I remember you buying that stuff three months ago...or maybe longer," he shook his head with a scoff, "It's kinda cute. Stupid, too."

"Yeah, I guess," he murmured with a shrug.

In the meantime, Sora approached to the fridge to poke his head in and suddenly, at the sight, he just pulled a face. He really needed to go shopping. Thankfully, he did have some meat that's still good, some milk, half a dozen eggs and a couple pieces of fruit. He turned to face Riku, his face puffing out again.

"Tch. I'm not cute," he muttered, "I think…you make me sound like a girl when you say that."

Riku just snorted, "I think you're cute. Really cute. But hardly a girl."

Averting his gaze back to the fridge again, Sora focused on gathering out what he needed, though he blinked. "Wait, really?" he frowned in thought, looking over at the small box of mix on the lower shelf. It was barely even opened. Sora used it once at that time. Granted he hardly ate these days as it was, and usually it was just something quick like rice balls, sushi that was already made, something from the market. bread and butter. Okay so his eating regimen wasn't the best right now. Pursing his lips in thought, clearly debating. Was it worth all of the stuff for one simple meal? But well, he had a guest! So, it's fine just this once! Right? Right.

Honestly, Riku didn't really want to eat much, just in case any Heartless show up during their lunch time. But Riku gave a simple 'yolo' shrug in response to Sora's humming and harring. The silver-haired male approached Sora from behind, curious on what Sora was looking at in the fridge. Sora was taking quite a while in the fridge.

"Really, what?"

Riku, even though he was taller than Sora, didn't really eat much either, which explained why he was so skin and bone. Green eyes flicked their gaze to what food appeared to be in the fridge. He usually never snooped through other people's fridges - it was just rude.

"There's not really much in here. What we already have out will do just fine." Placing his large hands onto Sora's small shoulders, Riku made the attempt to steer Sora away from the fridge. "I already know you'll be complaining about a stomach ache if you cooked so much."

"Mn? I just…I feel bad for wasting it but I know it's probably gonna expire soon," he mused, glancing at the half-open box.

Sora's face flushed red like a cranberry again but he stared at his empty fridge, shrugging Riku's hands from his shoulders in the process. Everything seemed…empty lately. His fridge; his house; his mailbox; his love life (sorry Riku).

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," he murmured.

Truth be hidden, Sora had always been more of a big eater than Riku was. Even growing up, Riku would often give Sora his leftover lunch in school. 'Because you need it to grow,' Riku would say. Now, Sora was lucky if he ate once a day. It normally wouldn't be an issue, but with the training he had been doing lately he could certainly stand to probably gain a few pounds.

His cerulean eyes flicked to see the other's reaction, and like always, Sora wore an amused grin on his lips when he remembered the past with Riku. What a total butt. Exhaling a sigh, Sora grabbed Riku's wrist and pulled the taller male along.

"Okay, lunch. Uhm…rice'll take the longest...it's..." Sora grabbed a safe dry storage container and scooped out how much rice he needed, before handing the contents to Riku. "Wanna throw it on while I wash the veggies and stuff?"

Riku intoned a little 'mhm'. Usually, Riku wouldn't talk a lot, but he became pretty talkative with this moron. "Sure, I can do that."

Taking the scooping of rice from the small brunette, the silver-haired male popped open the lid to the rice cooker with his free hand, and soon inserted the grains of rice as planned. Water was added, too, just enough to let the rice soak rather than swim. Flicking the switch, a vibrant light showed up on the machine itself as a signal that it had been switched on. It's like Sora's giving Riku all the easy jobs.

"What should we do while we wait for the rice to cook?" Riku questioned, scratching behind his ear nervously while he thought about it. Green eyes averted away from the machine for a moment as Riku then searched for a place to sit and wait. Approaching the nearby table in the kitchen, Riku sat down on a chair and had his elbow resting on the table's surface. "You know, you don't need to get all stroppy and defensive when I call you 'cute'...it's only the truth," he teased again, smirking, acting like an asshat now.

"Thanks."

Sora made himself busy by washing off the vegetables and shaking the cabbage free of excess before heading over to grab some carrots, onion, and began dicing it all up on the chopping board.

"When I'm done chopping, maybe you could cook the meat and veggies and stuff. It'd be a real help," he asked, beginning to peel a cucumber, "the dumplings in theory shouldn't be hard to make, just cook the meat and veggies and the mix and then wrap it in the wrappers and either fry or steam it. Easy, right?"

Flinching at that response, Riku rose up from the chair he was sitting on. He wandered passed like the breeze, budging passed Sora and adding water into his saucepan for the veggies. Riku placed the saucepan onto the stove, popping on the flame underneath it in the process. But the meat was the other thing to do. Riku pulled out a tray and bunked the meat on top, wrapping the chicken in a nice coat of tinfoil before sliding the tray into the oven. Or he could have fried it, but oven cooking the meat would take the same amount of time, too.

"You're basically getting me to cook the whole thing - what a surprise," the end of this remark sounded a lot more sardonic, his lips wearing a smirk as he teased, "I wonder why. Probably feeling lazy, Sora?"

Sora was already slicing up the carrots in thin, long strips.

"Wh…you wish. I'm gonna be the one putting all the stuff together and cooking the dumplings," he defended, sticking his tongue out at Riku, "Me, lazy? You're the lazy one going to sit down right away. Are your old bones getting too much for you over there?"

Riku turned to face the stroppy brunette and let out a brief laugh in response to the other, raising a curious silver brow in the process.

"Are you really going to do that?" Riku teased, green eyes flicking their gaze to the tongue sticking out at him, "I remember the last time I checked, we're around the same age."

"Well, yeah, but you certainly grump around like an old man." he teased, poking a piece of carrot at Riku's lips.

In response, Riku just flicked Sora on the nose, "Idiot."

That one flick made his nose wrinkle and he turned his head briefly to cover a sneeze with his arm. Ugh!

"I can cook, ya know. I mean, not super good like fancy restaurant people, but I don't burn everything anymore!"

And there was the answer to the mystery of 'why is everything he eats pretty much takeout?'

Riku grumbled, "No, I don't. I don't grump. Actually, you've seen me smiling this whole time," he laughed. Backing away from the brunette, Riku merely folded his toned arms over his chest, "I've been listening to you whining this whole time," he challenged. Riku went on to check if the vegetables were at their boiling point yet, and then he checked the rice cooker.

"But usually, you're Mr. Grumpy McGrumperson," he shot back, 'You know you can smile at other people besides me, Riku. You won't spontaneously combust, I promise." Sora's being cheeky now, trying to rile the other up. "Wh- I have not been whining! And here I am feeding you out of the kindness of my heart!" Sora pressed a hand to his chest. "Rude!"

Turning his back to Riku now, Sora went on to finish up the vegetables and get the dumpling wrappers ready, silent for a few moments before he decided to speak again.

"But, you know, it does make me feel...special. I mean, you're a lot more handsome when you smile," he murmured, hardly loud enough for the other to catch.

"What was that, idiot?"

"Nothing," he muttered. Sora knew Riku heard him; Riku had the hearing of a bat.

Leaning up against the counters, Riku shrugged his shoulders, "I don't really trust other people besides you and Kairi, though."

"Well, yeah, but like…you can't go through life with only two friends, Riku," he replied, huffing.

Riku didn't respond.

Drawing closer to the other from behind, Riku's arms pushed through beneath the other's, soon gripping onto what Sora was currently messing with. Sora was cutting up some pickled plum pieces for onigiri before the taller male walked up behind him. He swallowed a lump in his throat, as his cerulean orbs watched hands suddenly slip through under his own.

"You're not doing it quick enough," he mocked, "I want to help you."

An immediate flush stained his cheeks like before, albeit this time, Sora really felt his face heat up a storm. His face appeared red, although, hinting a purple hue now.

"W-weren't you just complaining about having to do anything?" Sora asked, pouting and turning his head to look at him.

Taking the knife out of Sora's hand, Riku went on to cut up the pieces for their desired rice balls instead. Like as if he was a good cook or could even prepare vegetables, but Riku often had to cook for himself anyways.

"I don't want anymore friends," he put simply, "I'm happy with the friends I have. I'd rather have two true friends than a hundred that'd just stab me in the back or even worse, won't even understand me."

Still, Riku continued to slice up the pickled plum pieces, finishing off one mound and then reaching out for the next. He cut up enough, that was for sure.

"You should be happy that I decided to help," he teased.