Well, I'm back again, and trying ever so hard to update quickly all the
while juggling a hectic social life, an even more hectic school life, a
perfectly horrid home life and a love life I am trying awfully hard to
fulfil... My my, I am a busy little bee!!!
Ok, well I always love to thank my reviewers and answer their absolute vital questions, so here's to you lovely people who I am so very grateful for *bows* Thanks to:
CLOud- thank you! It's good to know that you appreciate the whole non- stereotypical thing coz I really wanted to be as original as I possibly could, even though I'll never come close to how good my very fave fics are... Well, I can try! Please keep reading, and thanks for reviewing "My Angel" as well
Muffy- Nah, Riku and Sora live in different places, which is clear in this chap... and you're totally right about both Ansem and Sora's father, and that's exactly the right feeling I sought to get from readers when I made the characters- Ansem WILL come back into the story! Yeah, I tried to make Riku's mom different to Riku and more like Sora I guess... all cute and stuff hehe!!! Thanks for the big review ^_^
Also thanks to: Raven's Light, hush the silent, Rainy Diamond and Tiara, for you're very kind words *bows again*
Anyway, as you know, Sora and Riku meet here, and they start to find out who each other are, how very different yet the same they may be and you know the deal. So far I'm thinking that it's going to be sort of from the different boy's point of view in each chapter, IF that sounds alright with you guys... I mean, not their point of view, but with access to their thoughts and stuff... you know? Maybe not in this chapter because I have to be able to show first impressions for both of the boys, but let me know if it's ok for me to do that, or otherwise I'll just do it as it comes along! Enjoy chapter 2!!!
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Sora could feel himself being eased back into the waking world, the blackness of dreaming slowly fading from him. He had an uneasy feeling come over him, suspiciousness as though something was waiting for him to return to his awakened state. Finding that he couldn't go on in his persistent attempts at going back to sleep, he urged his eyelids open. They flickered momentarily and hazily opened, half lidded, his glazed azure orbs emerging to the world once more. He let out a loud yawn before trying to focus and take in his surroundings.
Meanwhile, Riku had become entranced by the further innocence of the boy when he had opened his eyes, like a newborn puppy. Those eyes, like pools of sapphire wonder... he marvelled that it was possible that someone could have such striking eyes. At the large yawn that stretched across the boy's face, he cocked an eyebrow, a closed grin pulling at his lips. 'He hasn't even noticed me, hovering inches from his face...'
At this precise moment, the brunet rubbed his eyes with a fumbling hand and focused the room.
"Mmm... WHA?!"
The boy's eyes widened in shock as he noticed the youth who was hanging over him, draping his pillow in silky strands of silver. Yelping, he unthinkingly jumped up, his head making a painful collision with that of the boy leaning over him. Riku gave an angry yell of surprise and clattered back into the chair, rubbing his forehead and fixing the boy who had now bolted upright, also rubbing his forehead, with an irritated look. Returning the look with a sheepish grin, Sora mumbled a chuckle. A blush crept up onto his battered face, and Riku's glare softened to an expression of triumph, knowing instantly that he could play a game with this boy, one that would be a new twist to those that he played with the city girls who were so obvious in their swooning. Knocking Riku out of his thoughts, the boy beside him began to speak.
"Um... I'd hate to be rude and all but... Who are you?" he said meekly, looking at Riku questioningly. Riku sniggered, sweeping the hand that had been previously rubbing his head down through his hair and past his neck, sliding it down the side of his body so that it rested on his hip. Standing up, he offered his other hand to the boy.
"I'm Riku," he purred silkily, taking the boy's hand and half shaking it, half caressing it, though from his practices, managing to make it seem normal and natural, "your nurse's son. I assumed she had told you I was coming... Well, she didn't tell me your name. Must have slipped her mind..."
Sora sat with his arm outstretched, hand rested in Riku's palm, who was gently moving it up and down in a portrayal of a lover's handshake. Realising that he was gawking at the silver-haired youth, he took his hand back abruptly.
"Sora, my name's Sora. Yes, hello, Riku. Your mom told me about you coming in today but I kinda sorta didn't expect you to be... um..." Sora could no longer keep talking, seeing the other boy's tongue flick over his top lip so briefly, he wondered if he had imagined it. Again realising he had stopped talking, he began where he had left off.
"I, uh, yeah, didn't expect you to be leaning over my bed while I slept. Heh."
At that, Sora flashed Riku a confident grin, surprising the hell out of Riku.
"Oh... ok, fair enough. Just thought you looked cute is all," said Riku with a wink, approaching Sora's bedside further.
Trying to avoid eye contact with Riku, so as not to freeze up and go blank again, Sora giggled. 'Not like one of those idiotic girls would giggle...' thought Riku, 'I didn't think it was possible to giggle and not sound like an idiot. Hm, learn something new everyday.' Smirking, Riku waited for Sora to do something.
"So where do you go to school, uh, Riku?" he questioned enthusiastically.
"School? Well, the only high school in the little city of Shazahri Vale, of course... Appropriately named, Shazahri Vale High," he grinned, cocking an eyebrow at the boy who had so far refused to look at Riku's face, busying himself by playing with his blanket.
"Right, well, I'm not really all that familiar with this city. I mean, it's the closest real city from my home, but... ehm..."
Riku, getting bored of not being able to turn Sora into jelly by looking at him, launched another attack. Softly lowering himself into a half sitting, half lying position on Sora's bed, he leaned back against the wall casually, flicking his tresses behind him.
"Where you from Sora? My mother told me you were somewhere way out there," he said, waving his hand in a lazy movement in front of him, "but where exactly are you from?"
"Just this tiny little town out on the borders of Shazahri. It's called Dale Town... pretty boring place. I mean, there's not many people and all, so that's why nobody's here with me and my dad kinda gets busy and stuff..." Sora mumbled, trying to make excuses for his unpopularity and appalling home life. Feeling a huge load of sympathy weigh down his heart, Riku smiled at Sora warmly. 'The game can wait... I'll have plenty of time. Mom's bound to want him to stick around for as long as possible.'
"Hey that's cool, we can get to know each other better when it's just us. Mom's always telling me I need to get out more and meet more people outside my group of friends. She thinks they're 'too depressing'" he laughed, rolling his eyes.
Sora let out another mumbled chuckle, feeling comfortable enough to look Riku in the eyes now. Fighting the temptation to do something wicked, Riku jumped up off Sora's bed. Sora winced in the pain that he felt surging through his side and Riku immediately apologized to him, feeling seriously bad for the poor kid.
"So how old are ya?" he said, inspecting the room, feeling sympathy grip him even further as he saw that he had not gotten any flowers or a card or anything. He'd thought that if his father couldn't be here, at least he would have sent Sora something.
"Fourteen... Well, for another week or something. Then I'm fifteen!" he beamed, earning a laugh from his new friend. Forming his face into a pouty glare, Sora went on, "What about you?"
"Fifteen," said Riku, tapping at the desk that sat beside Sora's bed, "but in just two weeks, I'll be sixteen," he smirked, flicking himself back around to face Sora.
"When do you think I'll be outta here Riku?" asked Sora, fingering his bruised cheek with a slender hand.
"I dunno... What internal injuries you got?"
"Um... A couple broken ribs and a broken arm," he answered back, shifting the blankets to show Riku a plaster covering his arm. 'Only mom's signed it...' thought Riku.
"Well, not long then probably! And when you get out, we can-"
"Riku, had any luck?" came a hushed voice as his mother's head appeared through the door that she had silently creaked open. Both boys raised startled heads to the face that had appeared in the room.
"Oooooh, will you look at that? Good to see you've met now boys!" she squealed, clamping her hands together as if the scene before her was something precious. The boys exchanged amused glances before Riku talked back to his mother.
"Yeah, Sora woke up pretty much right after you left. Say, how long you think he'll be in here?"
"Hmmm... Well Sora honey, we just want you to heal up a bit, so depending on your healing rate, you'll be home in a couple days- hey, maybe even tomorrow!"
Riku looked at Sora's face, knowing that he was inwardly groaning at the word "home".
"But... Well, I thought that maybe if you and Riku do become friends, and it looks like you already have, you could stay in Shazahri, with us! Riku has another bed in his room... he might even let you use his double and use the single himself."
'Knew it,' thought Riku with a smile, happy that he could play his little game in his own house, in his own room, 'Mom's little charity.'
Sora seemed to be looking at Riku to answer the question rather than himself, scared that if he said he wanted to stay that Riku would laugh and tell him that there was no way in hell he would have this little boy in his room at all, let alone in his bed. Riku blinked slowly at Sora, his very sexiest smile implanted on his face, and purred, "Yeah Sora, why don't you stay? There's plenty of room, you can stay as long as you want..."
Sora's first attempt at speaking came out cracked and high pitched, to Sora's embarrassment, so he cleared his throat and began again, smiling at Riku uneasily though managing to look him in the eyes.
"Sounds great! Er... but my dad-"
"Oh no, I called him before. Took a few times, but he picked up in the end! Yes, well he doesn't... He um, doesn't mind. He said... it would be good for you to get some new friends and he sends his love," she said, biting her lip. Riku lowered his eyes to his shoes, knowing that his mother had made up the whole "it would be good for you to get some new friends" and new for sure that he hadn't sent his love. Sora, however, didn't pick it up, and the silence was broken by his excited voice.
"Oh, well that's really great! Thanks, I really appreciate your hospitality and stuff!" he said, in the most damn adorable voice Riku had ever heard.
"Cool! Well, I still have a lot of work to catch up on, but-"
"Excuse me?" said a cool voice, coming from the crack in the door. A blonde nurse with a hard face appeared in the doorway. Her face broke into a smile when she saw the boys and Riku's mother, "Oh, hello Nisha! Sora," she started, looking at the boy in the bed, "you have some visitors."
Sora's eyes lit up in a mixture of confusion and happiness.
"Really? For... for me?"
Laughing, the nurse opened the doorway wider, and two beaming girls walked inside. Riku held back a scoff; it was the two girls who had swooned over him in the car! The girls looked at him with wide eyes and began giggling. 'There's that idiot giggle again.'
"Hi Sora!" said the red-haired girl through her giggles, "I know we don't talk to you very much or anything, but we heard about what Ansem did, and we felt really bad for you... so we thought we would come down to Shazahri and see you!"
"Yeah..." began the brunette, ripping her eyes off of Riku, "We brought you some stuff!" she said, bouncing over to the foot of Sora's bed and dumping a big bouquet of pretty flowers, a box of chocolate and a pink card with too many love hearts to count on it.
"Ow," winced Sora, stilling himself on the bed, "Gee thanks you guys, that's real nice of you!"
Sensing that the girls wanted to be introduced to the silver-haired God standing next to him, reluctantly began talking once more, "Um... Well, this is Riku, Riku, this is Kairi," he said forcefully, waving a hand at the red-haired girl, "And this is Selphie."
The girls both smiled widely, eyes shining. Selphie seemed to be bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet while Kairi was clasping her hands behind her back.
"Nice to meet you girls." said Riku bluntly, though it was enough for the girls to give each other toothy grins and giggle some more. Sora looked a little taken aback but Riku reassured him that the girls didn't impress him in the slightest by cocking a silver eyebrow at him. Sora returned the look with an awkward yet relieved smile.
Looking from each girl to each of the boys, Riku's mother told them that she had to be getting on with her work once more and left them all to "get to know each other." With a cautionary look at Riku, warning him not to play games with anyone, she slipped through the door and was gone.
Sora, feeling slightly jealous because of Riku getting such attention from the girls, or maybe that the girls were trying to get Riku's attention, tried his best to show up the girls.
"So Riku, um, how long you want me to stay?" he said, looking up at Riku with a questioning look. Riku smiled at his obvious attempt to show the girls that he was going to win with Riku. Of course, Riku knew that he was going to win, but he wasn't planning on showing anyone that.
"What, in the hospital?" he said, fixing Sora with a look of mock confusion.
"No," started Sora with a pout, "at your house."
"Well however long you want really," he replied uninterestedly, inspecting his nails.
"Hmph... ok," he answered with a disappointed tone in his voice.
"Listen, I'm gonna go get a burger from this place just around the corner from the hospital. The food in here is just gross! I'll grab you one too, I'm sure it'd be better than anything you find in here. Seeya soon Sora, girls," he finished bowing his head at the two girls and slipping past them and out the door. Once he was gone, the girls launched themselves right beside Sora's bed and squealed unintelligible questions at him. He wondered in amazement how they could do that without stopping for air. Finally, stopping their squealing, they took a deep breath and fixed Sora with enthusiastic looks.
"Sorry, I er... didn't get any of that," he said uneasily.
Rolling her eyes, Kairi began interrogating Sora much slower than before.
"How do you know him, why are you staying with him, who IS he and can we come over?" she finished, edging her enthused face closer and closer to his own perturbed one.
"Ok, well... He's my nurse's son, his mom wants me to stay, er... he's Riku, the nurse's son, and I don't really know... it's not my house."
"Oh, but we'll be ever so good!" howled Selphie, getting down on her knee and begging him with pleading puppy dog eyes.
"Well sure, it's fine with me, you'll just have to ask Riku."
At that, the girls exchanged glances and jumped around, holding each other's hands. Sora rolled his eyes. 'Ugh. Girls.' After many squeal-filled minutes, of which Sora had been pleadingly staring at the door, Riku appeared through it with two burgers in hand. Instantly the girls went silent, still clenching each other's hands.
"Here ya go Sora," he said silkily, throwing the burger in a paper bag to him, which landed in his lap smoothly.
The blonde nurse returned to the room with Riku's mother following close behind.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to leave now girls, visiting hours are up... Riku, you're a special exception because your mother doesn't get off for another twenty minutes. You can keep Sora company til then, but then he needs some more rest!"
Sora fought the urge to say he was fine, that he could even go back to Riku's and stay there, but chose not to under the risk of sounding desperate.
"Awww! Well ok, we'll come back to visit you tomorrow Sora, if you're still here! Um... well, if you're not, call us," said Kairi, fishing out a piece of paper from her pocket, "Anyone got a pen or something?"
Nisha immediately pulled the permanent marker she always carried around with her so she could sign any patients' casts, and handed it to Kairi. She scribbled down a number, handing it to Sora, and gave the pen back to Nisha.
"Wait, mom, can I have that?"
Nisha gave him the marker with a questioning look on her face, which Riku chose to ignore.
"We're staying at Selphie's parents' shack, it's just off the beach. They usually come here for holidays, but we kinda begged them to let us come, and considering your circumstances, they let us! Only til you come home though... well, that's cool, you're staying at Riku's anyway!"
Sora gave them a lopsided smile before saying goodbye, and they both hugged him as carefully as they could so as not to make him wince once more.
"Nice to meet you, Riku," they squeaked, bouncing out the door. Listening for the high pitched giggles to fade and subside, the two nurses went off to finish up their work, waving to the boys.
"Well... Looks like you've got friends after all, Sora!"
"Yeah, looks that way... Riku, you think I'm gonna get out tomorrow? I mean, I don't really like hospitals. They really creep me out. This is the hospital my mom died in... I mean, it's sort of stupid 'cause I was only four when it happened, but I still don't like it very much..."
Riku felt the sympathy pull at his heart again, and he felt like picking him up and carrying the boy home right then. Giving Sora the kindest smile he could sum up, he cupped his shoulder gently with his hand.
"Hey, I'll get my mom to pull some string for ya... She'll understand, and since she's a nurse they're bound to let you stay. I'll come here for her morning shift and stick around til she gets the go ahead from the superiors."
Sora's eyes lit up, glowing with glassy tears as though it was the nicest thing anyone had said or done for him. Riku was starting to think it really was...
"Oh, thanks a heap Riku! To tell you the truth, I don't really have any friends, so you're being real nice by letting me stay with you and stuff."
Putting a surprised face on, Riku replied, "Yeah Sora, sure! Don't be modest. See, those girls are your friends."
"Well... they are now. Because I know you."
Laughing, Riku patted Sora's head and shook his own.
"Don't underestimate yourself."
Sora grunted in reply and looked up at Riku with a little boy's smile. He had undoubtedly never lost it, and probably never would. Just like that gorgeous pout.
"Riiiiiiiiikuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" came the call that was unmistakably his mother's, just before she jumped through the door into the room.
"My shift's done baby, and your father wanted us to go out to dinner. I didn't really know how long my shift was gonna be, but guess what? We have a few hours to spare before dinner so I'm going to take you shopping after all! Sora, I'm coming in tomorrow bright and early, so I'll seeya then." she finished, coming over and giving Sora a kiss on the cheek and an affectionate motherly look.
"Yeah, I'm coming too mom. I promised Sora I would come in and see him, he doesn't like hospitals," proclaimed Riku, hinting to his mother.
"Oh... Well, you'll be outta here soon!" she smiled, ruffling the boy's messy hair.
"C'mon Ri, we'll see Sora again tomorrow. You get some sleep, ok?"
She began to walk out of the room, but Riku stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.
"Hang on mom, I got to do something first," smirked Riku evilly, taking the marker he had acquired from his mother earlier out of his pocket. Gently pushing the blanket away from Sora's cast, he took the lid of the marker off. Choosing a spot off to the side next to Sora's chest, he lowered his hand. Moving the marker across, he heard Sora shiver from the contact the back of his hand was making with his chest. His smirk growing wider, Riku signed his name at the bottom of his simple note. Clicking the lid back on with his trademark mocking grin, he gave Sora a discreet wink and waved quickly before slipping out the door behind Nisha.
Sora let out a satisfied sigh and slid back to a lying position, grinning happily. 'So that's Riku,' he thought. Yesterday he'd have never even have thought it was possible that he could be lying here in the very same hospital he had watched his mother die in, awaiting the next morning when he would be going to stay with a boy who resembled some kind of silver- haired god, and his mother who was more suited to being Riku's age than her own. Realising how wonderful this was, Sora let out an even more satisfied sigh and a short laugh.
Sora shut his eyes, still wearing his happy grin, and began to try and sleep. 'The cast!' he thought suddenly, realising that he had totally forgotten about Riku's message on his cast. Tilting his head so as to see the message which Riku had so kindly placed upside down from his view, he raised his arm as high as he could to read it. His eyes grew wide and he goggled at it. 'Stay sexy- Riku'. What was Riku trying to play at? Did he flirt with anything that had a pulse? No... remembering how he had practically ignored the girls, Sora realised he had only flirted with him.
Confused, Sora covered his arm up once more and decided to go to sleep, this time with a pout fixed on his face. After ten minutes of pouting himself to sleep, he finally drifted off into dreaming once more.
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Ok, well I was thinking of doing a Sora dream but I wasn't exactly sure what it would be like... I mean, obviously it would involve Riku and be all confusing for Sora since that's what Sora does, he gets confused, but... yeah, I still wanna be original heh.
I was pretty happy with what those who reviewed said, and PLEASE if you read my fic, review, even if all you're saying is "good job" or "I didn't like this" coz... well I just want to know if there's many people who want to read is all.
Thank you my dears! Oh, and by the way, I was never going to continue with 'My Angel' again, but I'm starting to have second thoughts now... I looked back and it really isn't quite as bad as I thought it was, and it's totally stupid if I end it there because there are a lot of things that have gone unexplained... so yeah, I will continue that. If there's anyone here who's read it. Yes. Ok, cya next time!!!
xoxo Eva McBeava
Ok, well I always love to thank my reviewers and answer their absolute vital questions, so here's to you lovely people who I am so very grateful for *bows* Thanks to:
CLOud- thank you! It's good to know that you appreciate the whole non- stereotypical thing coz I really wanted to be as original as I possibly could, even though I'll never come close to how good my very fave fics are... Well, I can try! Please keep reading, and thanks for reviewing "My Angel" as well
Muffy- Nah, Riku and Sora live in different places, which is clear in this chap... and you're totally right about both Ansem and Sora's father, and that's exactly the right feeling I sought to get from readers when I made the characters- Ansem WILL come back into the story! Yeah, I tried to make Riku's mom different to Riku and more like Sora I guess... all cute and stuff hehe!!! Thanks for the big review ^_^
Also thanks to: Raven's Light, hush the silent, Rainy Diamond and Tiara, for you're very kind words *bows again*
Anyway, as you know, Sora and Riku meet here, and they start to find out who each other are, how very different yet the same they may be and you know the deal. So far I'm thinking that it's going to be sort of from the different boy's point of view in each chapter, IF that sounds alright with you guys... I mean, not their point of view, but with access to their thoughts and stuff... you know? Maybe not in this chapter because I have to be able to show first impressions for both of the boys, but let me know if it's ok for me to do that, or otherwise I'll just do it as it comes along! Enjoy chapter 2!!!
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Sora could feel himself being eased back into the waking world, the blackness of dreaming slowly fading from him. He had an uneasy feeling come over him, suspiciousness as though something was waiting for him to return to his awakened state. Finding that he couldn't go on in his persistent attempts at going back to sleep, he urged his eyelids open. They flickered momentarily and hazily opened, half lidded, his glazed azure orbs emerging to the world once more. He let out a loud yawn before trying to focus and take in his surroundings.
Meanwhile, Riku had become entranced by the further innocence of the boy when he had opened his eyes, like a newborn puppy. Those eyes, like pools of sapphire wonder... he marvelled that it was possible that someone could have such striking eyes. At the large yawn that stretched across the boy's face, he cocked an eyebrow, a closed grin pulling at his lips. 'He hasn't even noticed me, hovering inches from his face...'
At this precise moment, the brunet rubbed his eyes with a fumbling hand and focused the room.
"Mmm... WHA?!"
The boy's eyes widened in shock as he noticed the youth who was hanging over him, draping his pillow in silky strands of silver. Yelping, he unthinkingly jumped up, his head making a painful collision with that of the boy leaning over him. Riku gave an angry yell of surprise and clattered back into the chair, rubbing his forehead and fixing the boy who had now bolted upright, also rubbing his forehead, with an irritated look. Returning the look with a sheepish grin, Sora mumbled a chuckle. A blush crept up onto his battered face, and Riku's glare softened to an expression of triumph, knowing instantly that he could play a game with this boy, one that would be a new twist to those that he played with the city girls who were so obvious in their swooning. Knocking Riku out of his thoughts, the boy beside him began to speak.
"Um... I'd hate to be rude and all but... Who are you?" he said meekly, looking at Riku questioningly. Riku sniggered, sweeping the hand that had been previously rubbing his head down through his hair and past his neck, sliding it down the side of his body so that it rested on his hip. Standing up, he offered his other hand to the boy.
"I'm Riku," he purred silkily, taking the boy's hand and half shaking it, half caressing it, though from his practices, managing to make it seem normal and natural, "your nurse's son. I assumed she had told you I was coming... Well, she didn't tell me your name. Must have slipped her mind..."
Sora sat with his arm outstretched, hand rested in Riku's palm, who was gently moving it up and down in a portrayal of a lover's handshake. Realising that he was gawking at the silver-haired youth, he took his hand back abruptly.
"Sora, my name's Sora. Yes, hello, Riku. Your mom told me about you coming in today but I kinda sorta didn't expect you to be... um..." Sora could no longer keep talking, seeing the other boy's tongue flick over his top lip so briefly, he wondered if he had imagined it. Again realising he had stopped talking, he began where he had left off.
"I, uh, yeah, didn't expect you to be leaning over my bed while I slept. Heh."
At that, Sora flashed Riku a confident grin, surprising the hell out of Riku.
"Oh... ok, fair enough. Just thought you looked cute is all," said Riku with a wink, approaching Sora's bedside further.
Trying to avoid eye contact with Riku, so as not to freeze up and go blank again, Sora giggled. 'Not like one of those idiotic girls would giggle...' thought Riku, 'I didn't think it was possible to giggle and not sound like an idiot. Hm, learn something new everyday.' Smirking, Riku waited for Sora to do something.
"So where do you go to school, uh, Riku?" he questioned enthusiastically.
"School? Well, the only high school in the little city of Shazahri Vale, of course... Appropriately named, Shazahri Vale High," he grinned, cocking an eyebrow at the boy who had so far refused to look at Riku's face, busying himself by playing with his blanket.
"Right, well, I'm not really all that familiar with this city. I mean, it's the closest real city from my home, but... ehm..."
Riku, getting bored of not being able to turn Sora into jelly by looking at him, launched another attack. Softly lowering himself into a half sitting, half lying position on Sora's bed, he leaned back against the wall casually, flicking his tresses behind him.
"Where you from Sora? My mother told me you were somewhere way out there," he said, waving his hand in a lazy movement in front of him, "but where exactly are you from?"
"Just this tiny little town out on the borders of Shazahri. It's called Dale Town... pretty boring place. I mean, there's not many people and all, so that's why nobody's here with me and my dad kinda gets busy and stuff..." Sora mumbled, trying to make excuses for his unpopularity and appalling home life. Feeling a huge load of sympathy weigh down his heart, Riku smiled at Sora warmly. 'The game can wait... I'll have plenty of time. Mom's bound to want him to stick around for as long as possible.'
"Hey that's cool, we can get to know each other better when it's just us. Mom's always telling me I need to get out more and meet more people outside my group of friends. She thinks they're 'too depressing'" he laughed, rolling his eyes.
Sora let out another mumbled chuckle, feeling comfortable enough to look Riku in the eyes now. Fighting the temptation to do something wicked, Riku jumped up off Sora's bed. Sora winced in the pain that he felt surging through his side and Riku immediately apologized to him, feeling seriously bad for the poor kid.
"So how old are ya?" he said, inspecting the room, feeling sympathy grip him even further as he saw that he had not gotten any flowers or a card or anything. He'd thought that if his father couldn't be here, at least he would have sent Sora something.
"Fourteen... Well, for another week or something. Then I'm fifteen!" he beamed, earning a laugh from his new friend. Forming his face into a pouty glare, Sora went on, "What about you?"
"Fifteen," said Riku, tapping at the desk that sat beside Sora's bed, "but in just two weeks, I'll be sixteen," he smirked, flicking himself back around to face Sora.
"When do you think I'll be outta here Riku?" asked Sora, fingering his bruised cheek with a slender hand.
"I dunno... What internal injuries you got?"
"Um... A couple broken ribs and a broken arm," he answered back, shifting the blankets to show Riku a plaster covering his arm. 'Only mom's signed it...' thought Riku.
"Well, not long then probably! And when you get out, we can-"
"Riku, had any luck?" came a hushed voice as his mother's head appeared through the door that she had silently creaked open. Both boys raised startled heads to the face that had appeared in the room.
"Oooooh, will you look at that? Good to see you've met now boys!" she squealed, clamping her hands together as if the scene before her was something precious. The boys exchanged amused glances before Riku talked back to his mother.
"Yeah, Sora woke up pretty much right after you left. Say, how long you think he'll be in here?"
"Hmmm... Well Sora honey, we just want you to heal up a bit, so depending on your healing rate, you'll be home in a couple days- hey, maybe even tomorrow!"
Riku looked at Sora's face, knowing that he was inwardly groaning at the word "home".
"But... Well, I thought that maybe if you and Riku do become friends, and it looks like you already have, you could stay in Shazahri, with us! Riku has another bed in his room... he might even let you use his double and use the single himself."
'Knew it,' thought Riku with a smile, happy that he could play his little game in his own house, in his own room, 'Mom's little charity.'
Sora seemed to be looking at Riku to answer the question rather than himself, scared that if he said he wanted to stay that Riku would laugh and tell him that there was no way in hell he would have this little boy in his room at all, let alone in his bed. Riku blinked slowly at Sora, his very sexiest smile implanted on his face, and purred, "Yeah Sora, why don't you stay? There's plenty of room, you can stay as long as you want..."
Sora's first attempt at speaking came out cracked and high pitched, to Sora's embarrassment, so he cleared his throat and began again, smiling at Riku uneasily though managing to look him in the eyes.
"Sounds great! Er... but my dad-"
"Oh no, I called him before. Took a few times, but he picked up in the end! Yes, well he doesn't... He um, doesn't mind. He said... it would be good for you to get some new friends and he sends his love," she said, biting her lip. Riku lowered his eyes to his shoes, knowing that his mother had made up the whole "it would be good for you to get some new friends" and new for sure that he hadn't sent his love. Sora, however, didn't pick it up, and the silence was broken by his excited voice.
"Oh, well that's really great! Thanks, I really appreciate your hospitality and stuff!" he said, in the most damn adorable voice Riku had ever heard.
"Cool! Well, I still have a lot of work to catch up on, but-"
"Excuse me?" said a cool voice, coming from the crack in the door. A blonde nurse with a hard face appeared in the doorway. Her face broke into a smile when she saw the boys and Riku's mother, "Oh, hello Nisha! Sora," she started, looking at the boy in the bed, "you have some visitors."
Sora's eyes lit up in a mixture of confusion and happiness.
"Really? For... for me?"
Laughing, the nurse opened the doorway wider, and two beaming girls walked inside. Riku held back a scoff; it was the two girls who had swooned over him in the car! The girls looked at him with wide eyes and began giggling. 'There's that idiot giggle again.'
"Hi Sora!" said the red-haired girl through her giggles, "I know we don't talk to you very much or anything, but we heard about what Ansem did, and we felt really bad for you... so we thought we would come down to Shazahri and see you!"
"Yeah..." began the brunette, ripping her eyes off of Riku, "We brought you some stuff!" she said, bouncing over to the foot of Sora's bed and dumping a big bouquet of pretty flowers, a box of chocolate and a pink card with too many love hearts to count on it.
"Ow," winced Sora, stilling himself on the bed, "Gee thanks you guys, that's real nice of you!"
Sensing that the girls wanted to be introduced to the silver-haired God standing next to him, reluctantly began talking once more, "Um... Well, this is Riku, Riku, this is Kairi," he said forcefully, waving a hand at the red-haired girl, "And this is Selphie."
The girls both smiled widely, eyes shining. Selphie seemed to be bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet while Kairi was clasping her hands behind her back.
"Nice to meet you girls." said Riku bluntly, though it was enough for the girls to give each other toothy grins and giggle some more. Sora looked a little taken aback but Riku reassured him that the girls didn't impress him in the slightest by cocking a silver eyebrow at him. Sora returned the look with an awkward yet relieved smile.
Looking from each girl to each of the boys, Riku's mother told them that she had to be getting on with her work once more and left them all to "get to know each other." With a cautionary look at Riku, warning him not to play games with anyone, she slipped through the door and was gone.
Sora, feeling slightly jealous because of Riku getting such attention from the girls, or maybe that the girls were trying to get Riku's attention, tried his best to show up the girls.
"So Riku, um, how long you want me to stay?" he said, looking up at Riku with a questioning look. Riku smiled at his obvious attempt to show the girls that he was going to win with Riku. Of course, Riku knew that he was going to win, but he wasn't planning on showing anyone that.
"What, in the hospital?" he said, fixing Sora with a look of mock confusion.
"No," started Sora with a pout, "at your house."
"Well however long you want really," he replied uninterestedly, inspecting his nails.
"Hmph... ok," he answered with a disappointed tone in his voice.
"Listen, I'm gonna go get a burger from this place just around the corner from the hospital. The food in here is just gross! I'll grab you one too, I'm sure it'd be better than anything you find in here. Seeya soon Sora, girls," he finished bowing his head at the two girls and slipping past them and out the door. Once he was gone, the girls launched themselves right beside Sora's bed and squealed unintelligible questions at him. He wondered in amazement how they could do that without stopping for air. Finally, stopping their squealing, they took a deep breath and fixed Sora with enthusiastic looks.
"Sorry, I er... didn't get any of that," he said uneasily.
Rolling her eyes, Kairi began interrogating Sora much slower than before.
"How do you know him, why are you staying with him, who IS he and can we come over?" she finished, edging her enthused face closer and closer to his own perturbed one.
"Ok, well... He's my nurse's son, his mom wants me to stay, er... he's Riku, the nurse's son, and I don't really know... it's not my house."
"Oh, but we'll be ever so good!" howled Selphie, getting down on her knee and begging him with pleading puppy dog eyes.
"Well sure, it's fine with me, you'll just have to ask Riku."
At that, the girls exchanged glances and jumped around, holding each other's hands. Sora rolled his eyes. 'Ugh. Girls.' After many squeal-filled minutes, of which Sora had been pleadingly staring at the door, Riku appeared through it with two burgers in hand. Instantly the girls went silent, still clenching each other's hands.
"Here ya go Sora," he said silkily, throwing the burger in a paper bag to him, which landed in his lap smoothly.
The blonde nurse returned to the room with Riku's mother following close behind.
"I'm afraid you're going to have to leave now girls, visiting hours are up... Riku, you're a special exception because your mother doesn't get off for another twenty minutes. You can keep Sora company til then, but then he needs some more rest!"
Sora fought the urge to say he was fine, that he could even go back to Riku's and stay there, but chose not to under the risk of sounding desperate.
"Awww! Well ok, we'll come back to visit you tomorrow Sora, if you're still here! Um... well, if you're not, call us," said Kairi, fishing out a piece of paper from her pocket, "Anyone got a pen or something?"
Nisha immediately pulled the permanent marker she always carried around with her so she could sign any patients' casts, and handed it to Kairi. She scribbled down a number, handing it to Sora, and gave the pen back to Nisha.
"Wait, mom, can I have that?"
Nisha gave him the marker with a questioning look on her face, which Riku chose to ignore.
"We're staying at Selphie's parents' shack, it's just off the beach. They usually come here for holidays, but we kinda begged them to let us come, and considering your circumstances, they let us! Only til you come home though... well, that's cool, you're staying at Riku's anyway!"
Sora gave them a lopsided smile before saying goodbye, and they both hugged him as carefully as they could so as not to make him wince once more.
"Nice to meet you, Riku," they squeaked, bouncing out the door. Listening for the high pitched giggles to fade and subside, the two nurses went off to finish up their work, waving to the boys.
"Well... Looks like you've got friends after all, Sora!"
"Yeah, looks that way... Riku, you think I'm gonna get out tomorrow? I mean, I don't really like hospitals. They really creep me out. This is the hospital my mom died in... I mean, it's sort of stupid 'cause I was only four when it happened, but I still don't like it very much..."
Riku felt the sympathy pull at his heart again, and he felt like picking him up and carrying the boy home right then. Giving Sora the kindest smile he could sum up, he cupped his shoulder gently with his hand.
"Hey, I'll get my mom to pull some string for ya... She'll understand, and since she's a nurse they're bound to let you stay. I'll come here for her morning shift and stick around til she gets the go ahead from the superiors."
Sora's eyes lit up, glowing with glassy tears as though it was the nicest thing anyone had said or done for him. Riku was starting to think it really was...
"Oh, thanks a heap Riku! To tell you the truth, I don't really have any friends, so you're being real nice by letting me stay with you and stuff."
Putting a surprised face on, Riku replied, "Yeah Sora, sure! Don't be modest. See, those girls are your friends."
"Well... they are now. Because I know you."
Laughing, Riku patted Sora's head and shook his own.
"Don't underestimate yourself."
Sora grunted in reply and looked up at Riku with a little boy's smile. He had undoubtedly never lost it, and probably never would. Just like that gorgeous pout.
"Riiiiiiiiikuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" came the call that was unmistakably his mother's, just before she jumped through the door into the room.
"My shift's done baby, and your father wanted us to go out to dinner. I didn't really know how long my shift was gonna be, but guess what? We have a few hours to spare before dinner so I'm going to take you shopping after all! Sora, I'm coming in tomorrow bright and early, so I'll seeya then." she finished, coming over and giving Sora a kiss on the cheek and an affectionate motherly look.
"Yeah, I'm coming too mom. I promised Sora I would come in and see him, he doesn't like hospitals," proclaimed Riku, hinting to his mother.
"Oh... Well, you'll be outta here soon!" she smiled, ruffling the boy's messy hair.
"C'mon Ri, we'll see Sora again tomorrow. You get some sleep, ok?"
She began to walk out of the room, but Riku stopped her by grabbing her shoulder.
"Hang on mom, I got to do something first," smirked Riku evilly, taking the marker he had acquired from his mother earlier out of his pocket. Gently pushing the blanket away from Sora's cast, he took the lid of the marker off. Choosing a spot off to the side next to Sora's chest, he lowered his hand. Moving the marker across, he heard Sora shiver from the contact the back of his hand was making with his chest. His smirk growing wider, Riku signed his name at the bottom of his simple note. Clicking the lid back on with his trademark mocking grin, he gave Sora a discreet wink and waved quickly before slipping out the door behind Nisha.
Sora let out a satisfied sigh and slid back to a lying position, grinning happily. 'So that's Riku,' he thought. Yesterday he'd have never even have thought it was possible that he could be lying here in the very same hospital he had watched his mother die in, awaiting the next morning when he would be going to stay with a boy who resembled some kind of silver- haired god, and his mother who was more suited to being Riku's age than her own. Realising how wonderful this was, Sora let out an even more satisfied sigh and a short laugh.
Sora shut his eyes, still wearing his happy grin, and began to try and sleep. 'The cast!' he thought suddenly, realising that he had totally forgotten about Riku's message on his cast. Tilting his head so as to see the message which Riku had so kindly placed upside down from his view, he raised his arm as high as he could to read it. His eyes grew wide and he goggled at it. 'Stay sexy- Riku'. What was Riku trying to play at? Did he flirt with anything that had a pulse? No... remembering how he had practically ignored the girls, Sora realised he had only flirted with him.
Confused, Sora covered his arm up once more and decided to go to sleep, this time with a pout fixed on his face. After ten minutes of pouting himself to sleep, he finally drifted off into dreaming once more.
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Ok, well I was thinking of doing a Sora dream but I wasn't exactly sure what it would be like... I mean, obviously it would involve Riku and be all confusing for Sora since that's what Sora does, he gets confused, but... yeah, I still wanna be original heh.
I was pretty happy with what those who reviewed said, and PLEASE if you read my fic, review, even if all you're saying is "good job" or "I didn't like this" coz... well I just want to know if there's many people who want to read is all.
Thank you my dears! Oh, and by the way, I was never going to continue with 'My Angel' again, but I'm starting to have second thoughts now... I looked back and it really isn't quite as bad as I thought it was, and it's totally stupid if I end it there because there are a lot of things that have gone unexplained... so yeah, I will continue that. If there's anyone here who's read it. Yes. Ok, cya next time!!!
xoxo Eva McBeava