One for the Band - Chapter Eight
'Take it Forward'
Rikku came to the conclusion that something big was definitely about to take place. And Rikku being Rikku, she naturally had to tell at least one person about her thoughts. It just so happened that someone just had to be Paine, who naturally knew everything Rikku was about to say, everything Rikku had in mind, and had already come up with every possible reason as to why she just had to say--
"No."
"Paa-aaaine!" Rikku whined, clenching her firsts together and giving her girlfriend the best pleading look she could possibly muster up. Honestly, there was absolutely nothing wrong with her plan! "Look, I just know they're totally gonna crack! We just gotta push 'em one more time!"
Paine sighed in exasperation, leaning one elbow against the piano bench behind her. Both girls sat on the floor of Paine's living room, open windows letting the late afternoon light in, washing the white walls in a brilliant orange color from the dying sun. Ever sense Sora had returned from Riku's house, Rikku had been badgering Paine about 'taking more drastic action.' From the older girl's past experiences with Rikku, her drastic actions had a crazy way of somehow never working. This was the same girl who had raised a carnivorous plant for the science fair, determined to win first place. Said plant was killed by a lethal dosage of weed killer after eating her neighbor's dog. Yes, this was the very same Rikku who had once convinced herself that if she could give socks genders, then a person could live with buying just one pair of socks in their entire life, leaving the pair in the bottom drawer of their wardrobe to reproduce like bunnies. This was that Rikku, and there was no way Paine was willing to let her tamper in an already unstable relationship.
"Rikku, it'd be different if you had their consent on this whole idea bu--"
"Permission? I can get permission! You just leave it to me, Paine!" With that, Rikku crawled over towards the phone on a nearby end table, fingers dancing across the number pad before cradling the receiver of the phone against her ear. Before Paine had a chance to ask who the hell the blond was calling, Rikku hit the 'speaker phone' button just as the phone was picked up.
"Hello?"
"Riku! Heya, how ya been?" Paine groaned, shaking her head and burying her face in her hands in mock despair. Well, only partially mocking. It was highly likely that this plan would hit rock bottom anyway.
"...Fine?" Riku sounded ever so slightly puzzled and perhaps there was even a trace of disappointment in Riku's voice, though Paine wasn't going to jump to conclusions any time soon. Rikku just grinned, giving Paine a thumbs up sign as she continued to chat away on the phone.
"So listen, Riku, I had this great idea--"
"Who is this again?"
Rikku scowled at the phone, Paine's laughter probably being picked up by Riku on the other end of the line. "It's Rikku, you dummy."
"Oh, right then."
"So anyway, about my idea!" Rikku gleefully launched into her plans, completely forgetting about Riku's ridiculous lapse of memory. Honestly, who didn't know Rikku? The sheer idea was stupidity in itself. "You have the hots for Sora, right?"
Possibly not the best way that could've been put...
Both Rikku and Paine could hear Riku's sudden intake of breath from over the speaker phone, the line going quiet for a moment before Riku finally responded. "...Yes. Though I don't really see wh--"
"Okay! And you're impatient with how things are going now, right? I mean, come on, let's face it! You know you just want to snog the boy senseless, dontcha, Ri-ku?" Again, Paine rolled her eyes at Rikku's less-then-graceful way of wording things.
"Possibly..."
"Here's my idea! Friday night, Paine, Yunie, and I always head downtown to some of the clubs there. It's no big deal, since there's places down there that don't even need an i.d. for you to get in! It's totally easy, free, and all that good stuff. So here's what I'm thinking... There's this joint called Split Key, right? They're having this sort of... well, it's like a masquerade, only way more loose! Like one huge costume dance-fest and everyone's supposed to look totally different and everything! Are you following me yet?"
"No, not really."
Rikku continued unabashedly. "What I'm saying is, how 'bout you just shakey-shake your way down to the Split Key Friday night, the girls and I'll bring Sora along with us and bada-bing, bada-boom! You've got yourself a sex kitten in a gift-wrapped box!" Paine blinked at Rikku, mouthing out, 'Your analogy sucks.' Rikku stuck her tongue out jokingly, removing a pillow from the nearby couch and hurling it at the older girl. "So whaddya say, Riku? Come on, you knoooow you want to! Can't you just see it now? A hot, hot room, dark lights, loud music, you and Sor--oof!" Riku, back at his house could hear laughter, as well as a slight scuffle for the phone, Rikku's voice eventually ringing clear through the phone yet again. "Riku, you still there, right?" Whatever joking skirmish had ensued had quickly ended, as Rikku was then comfortably sitting on a rather peeved looking Paine.
"Oh, get off, Rikku, I can't breathe!"
"Are you saying I have a fat butt?!"
"I didn't
say that!"
"Yes you did! Just for that, I'm not moving! Hah! You know you like it, Paine! Hehehehe-- ow. Okay, moving then." Several seconds later, Riku figured he'd had
enough time to think Rikku's idea over.
Even though he too remembered the famous science fair project from hell,
brought into the world by Rikku herself, Riku thought that the girl might
actually have stumbled upon a good idea here.
Riku would have to have been as dumb as a mud fence not to have noticed
Sora's growing affections for him, though Sora seemed unable to notice Riku's
own dropped hints. And Rikku had just
handed him the solution to his problem on a silver platter. What did he have to lose?
"Huh. You think you can pull it off, Rikku?"
"You give me permission to give it a whirl?"
"...Sure."
"Then Sora will be like putty in your hands! Hehe! Just leave it to me, Riku!"
The future figure of putty, Sora, was meanwhile waiting outside his own front door as he had been doing for the past twenty minutes. Naturally, his house key was somewhere which obviously wasn't in his backpack, leaving Sora to sit on the steps leading up to the front door, grudgingly awaiting the return of his mother. It was getting dark already and she'd been gone since the afternoon, even before Sora had been let out of school. What if her stupid date was some sort of con-artist/rapist/cereal killer? Sora whined at the thought, biting his thumbnail anxiously. Thankfully, he didn't have much longer to wait until an old brown car crept up into view, stopping in front of his house. The car wasn't in bad shape, nor was it ugly, but it definitely wasn't anything like Riku's sparklingly wonderful little silver sport... thing. Sora held it against his mother's date. 'Car not like Riku's' : minus 229 points.
Bryna got out of the car after two minutes or so, Sora telling himself not to bother asking about the delay. What did he care if his mom was smooching away with some total stranger while Sora couldn't even get the guts to tell Riku how he felt, much less do something about it. When Bryna finally did reach the front door, Sora took notice of her wide smile and glowing appearance. Great, just great. Apparently she even liked the guy.
"Hey, Honey! Sorry that took so long... Did you forget your house key again?" Bryna asked, chuckling as she moved past him to open the front door, her own key in hand. Sora picked up his backpack and flag, trailing in behind her, only to drop said backpack and flag back on the floor in a heap.
"Yeah. Silly little me." Sora turned to head upstairs, not having much homework that night and looking forward to getting some much needed sleep. The last thing he really wanted to do was hear about Bryna's oh-so-wonderful dating experience. But that didn't stop the issue from springing up anyway.
"Hey! Don't you wanna know how it went, Sora?" Bryna leaned against the stair railing, looking up at her son who was almost halfway up the stairs.
Not really, no. Not at all. "Sure." Sora sighed and leaned against the railing, looking back down at his mother.
"Well, first we went to the zoo--"
"Oh, honestly."
"What?! Sora, need I remind you that you've never had a dating experience to base mine on. Perhaps it couldn't hurt to just listen to your old mother once in a while!" Oops. Parental mistake. Bryna desperately wanted to take her words back as Sora blinked at his mother in surprise, before turning and continuing upstairs. She couldn't believe she'd just said that! "Sora, wait, I--"
"That's okay, Mom, I'm just gonna go take a nap. 'Night." Bryna heard her son's bedroom door closed softly, sighing and leaning back against the wall. She had a feeling Sora probably wouldn't be coming downstairs anytime soon.
~~~~~~~
Quistis gave the color guard the rest of the week off with a simple reminder to practice. They would start practicing with the band the next week, and until then it looked as though Sora would have his first stress-free weekend in a very long time. No longer having to worry about upcoming tryouts or what to get Riku for his birthday (despite the older boy's insisting that Sora's earlier forgiveness was enough, Sora told himself he'd find Riku a great present later), Sora walked out of school Friday afternoon, thinking he had not a care in the world. After all, with nothing he had to get done, there was nothing he had to worry about. He got about two blocks away from the school before he was proved quite wrong.
With Riku, Tidus, and Wakka walking alongside him, Tidus and Wakka discussing none other then blitzball while Riku and Sora merely took sides or asking questions, Sora was surprised to find Paine's car pull up by the side of the road, though it definitely wasn't Paine in the driver's seat.
"Hey, baaaaby! Lookin' sexy!" the blond jeered, followed by a seductive purr.
"Rikku!" Paine exclaimed, Yuna giggling from the back seat.
"Hehehe! Just kidding, Paine! Hey, boys, we gotta kidnap Sora for a while, m'kay? We promise not to molest him, even though he is oh-so-totally molestable." This caused an exasperated sigh from Paine and Yuna's laughter as Sora exchanged confused looks with Wakka and Tidus before looking over at Riku, who merely shrugged. Rikku had actually discussed the entire string of events with him a million times over, trying to make sure that it would all play out just like clockwork. The silver haired boy was finding it pretty difficult not to chuckle at poor Sora's confusion, or to ask Rikku and company what costume they planned on getting the boy. He'd just have to wait and find out for himself.
Rikku rolled her eyes, opening the front door as well as the back door and jogging towards the group of boys. Wondering how long Riku would be able to hold his emotionless expression, Rikku probably figured it'd be best just to get Sora out of view as soon as possible. Besides, when Rikku, Yuna, and Paine were in charge, costume selection was going to take a while. Linking arms with the younger boy, who was still dazed and slightly confused, Rikku steered him towards the car, waving to the remaining three boys with her other hand. "Sora'll talk to you all later! This is way important!" And with that, she closed Sora in the backseat of the car, hopped back into the driver's seat, and drove off with one last wave at Riku, Tidus, and Wakka.
Riku started laughing as soon as the car was out of sight, Tidus and Wakka completely in the dark on the entire issue.
"Umm, Rikku? Where are we going?" Sora asked, craning his neck around to try and see Rikku's face as he talked to her. The entire Sora-abduction did seem a bit random, and he was hoping Riku wasn't too upset about the whole thing... He had seemed jealous of Paine when Sora had first joined up with guard, though it looked like that side of his best friend had been resolved.
"Well, we figured that since you didn't go clubbing with us two weeks ago, this would be a golden opportunity for ya, right girls? Think of it as a celebration for the guard getting its first guy member ever! Like a little reward!" Rikku giggled, turning left at a stop light and pulling out onto a long stretch of road.
"Yeah, but jeeze, where are we going? It's all the way on the other side of the island?" Sora's eyes widened as they left the small residential area of the island, the little car speeding along the coast.
"Nonono, not that far. This place is only like, twenty minutes away. Heart of the island and all, totally the place to be Friday night. We're gonna find you a costume at one of the shops down there and take you dancing, duh! It's a costume night, so it's gonna be sooo much fun!"
"I've never been dancing like that before..."
"Loud music, cool dancing with total strangers, and tonight no one'll be able to tell who's who! That's what's so cool about it! You might think you're dancing with the devil, but it could just be that sweet, innocent little girl from your geometry class, no one knows!"
Sora's blinked, cocking his head to the side. "Isn't that kinda weird, though? How can you dance with someone you don't know?" As an afterthought, Sora remembered that he hadn't even checked with Bryna to see if it was okay for him to go or not. Granted, he still held a grudge against his mother for going on that date on Monday, what was worse being that she'd accepted another date from the same guy for Saturday evening, but he still felt that he needed to ask her permission first. "Oh, and I should probably call my mom..."
Rikku exchanged an unnoticeable look with Paine, grinning. "Oh, don't worry about your mom, we already cleared it with her. And it's just more fun dancing with strangers. It's exciting!"
Yuna took it upon herself to fill in the blanks as the car drove into a more thickly populated area of the island. Though it was definitely no comparison to any mainland city, three and four story buildings being about as high as the ones there got, it was still a noticeable difference from the small homes which lay situated further down along the island.
"You're supposed to pick out a costume that doesn't fit you at all, like the opposite of your personality or something you'd never identify yourself with. But a lot of people make up different categories, instead making their costume something that really does reflect their personality, or something important to them, whichever you pick is up to you. The flyer said it might be more fun if everyone going wore masks, sort of adding to the whole 'mystery identity' deal. Umm... for example! Rikku is dressing up as--"
"Tinkerbell!"
"Yeah, Rikku's going as Tinkerbell, Pain's going as--"
"The Queen of Spades!"
"Rikku! Let me talk!"
"Sorry, Yunie!"
"That's okay. Anyway, I'm going as a genie. Like, from a bottle. We've all got masks we're wearing over out faces too, so you better remember what out costumes look like!"
Sora looked around the car. "Where are they?"
As Rikku finally pulled up against the side of the road in a parking space, she grinned, unlocking the doors and turning off the engine. "They're in the trunk! We gotta go get you a costume now, silly! Come on, let's go!" The blond girl popped some quarters into the parking meter by the side of the road before leading the way to 'The Yensid Costume Emporium,' one of the many shops lining the side of the road.
Two and a half hours later, Sora made note never ever to go shopping with any female ever again. Even Paine was finicky when it came to what Sora may or may not wear to the club, and after turning down three angel costumes, five devil outfits, two pixie ensembles, and eleven moogle selections, Sora still had no costume and didn't seem any step closer to finding one. Rikku frowned at a long row of costumes, running her hand along the rack before randomly reaching in and pulling out a costume, looking at it, shaking her head and/or making a face, and putting it back. She must've repeated the same process over and over again before turning to Yuna and Paine in exasperation.
"We could always make him a Buster Keaton look-a-like... I think I saw some top hats back in the miscellaneous section..."
"Oh, how about a pirate? He'd bake a pretty cute pirate, don't ya think?" Yuna asked, poking her head out of a pile of costume-selection books. The store itself, though it appeared small from the outside, was practically warehouse-sized with rooms upon rooms of accessories alone, not to mention the aisles of costumes by category, costume-makeup, shoes, and wall of dressing rooms and mirrors, so Yuna had been leafing through books of costumes, though still coming up with a blank as to the perfect costume for Sora.
"Ye-ah... I guess so... Rikku trailed off, leaning against a bin of miscellaneous head pieces, 50% off. Brushing her hand against something velvety soft, Rikku raised an eyebrow and looked down into the bin. Crammed in amongst the mounds of reindeer antlers, Santa hats, top hats, wizard hats, and multiple other head pieces, appeared to be a lone... bunny ear? Shoving the other pieces aside, Rikku tugged a large and adorable pair of bunny ears out from the bin, one of them slightly bent at a cute angle from having been stuck in the bin so long. Green eyes twinkling, Rikku turned to Sora, running her fingers along the soft ears. "I think I've got an idea..."
~~~~~~~
"No. Way. You can't possibly think you're going to make me wear this."
Sora wasn't even sure what exactly he was supposed to be. The first two words that came to his mind were probably the best ones used to describe his state of dress. Punk. Bunny. With black leather pants, complete with numerous silver belts, buckles, and zippers adorning them in random places, a small black and white zigzagged shirt, as well as a long pair of black arm sleeves, stretching from his hands to his elbows, Sora looked like some sort of escape convict from juvie. The fact that Rikku decided to cut a crude pair of thumbholes into the sleeves didn't help make the whole outfit much more Sora-isque either. And adding on the large cottontail Rikku had pinned to the back of the pants as well as the misshapen bunny ears, Sora no longer looked like anything remotely sane. The finishing touches were those of a thin white bunny mask, which somehow managed to have black eyeliner surrounding the eyeholes, probably intended for female usage, as well as a large broken pocket-watch found in another sale bin of the store.
"Well, I've gotta hand it to you, Rikku, that is by far the most original outfit I've seen yet." Paine could hardly stifle her laughter as Sora glared at her from behind the bunny-mask, wordlessly promising revenge later on. Rikku grinned, mentally patting herself on the back for a job well done. The entire ordeal had taken up most of their free time before the club doors opened, but that wasn't a big concern. All they had to worry about was getting a quick bite to eat before it was dark and the Split Key opened up and they were all set. Besides, there was no way Sora could get out of wearing the costume now. The girls had gone to pay for it while he was preoccupied trying to get all the clothes on in the first place. So now, Sora found himself stuck in a modern day rabbit from Wonderland outfit, soon to be shoved into an undoubtedly awkward social situation. Oddly enough, Sora didn't seem to mind it all that much.
Paine, Rikku, and Yuna changed into their costumes soon after, all of them sporting ornate and color-coordinated masks to cover their faces, before the group headed outside.
"Uhh, couldn't we have gotten dressed a little later? People are staring..." Sora blinked, slowly taking off his mask. He could at least save the mask until he had to wear it... The girl's followed suit, taking off their masks before walking over to an open-air restaurant, each of them getting a slurpie and slurping to their heart's content. By the time the sun had completely vanished, Sora had just reached the bottom of his icy drink and tossed the cup into the trash can as he followed the girls further down the street, pausing by the car to refill the parking meter.
The Split Key sat at the intersection of the two main roads of the island, making it a fairly significant hot-spot for the island's younger generation. Sand-colored bricks made up the building's exterior, much like that of all the other buildings around it, though someone had made a neon sign at one point showing a glistening key sliced into two separate parts, acting as a sign for the club since there was no other writing. As the stars began to appear in the sky, the doors of the large building swung open, a large group of people already started to empty off the streets and into the shelter of the Split Key, Sora and company not far behind.
With a delighted squeal, Rikku took in all the costumes around her before lowering her silver glittered mask back over her face along with the rest of the girls, Sora taking one extra moment to just look. Jesters, elves, pirates, pixies, devils, angels, demons, rock stars, clowns, nymphs, but happily there was not another punk-ish bunny from hell in sight, causing Sora to grin before he lowered the feminine mask over his face. The white mask curved down over only half of his face, leaving his mouth open for everyone to see, much like the incomplete masks of most other people around him. As their group approached the entrance, Sora received several grins and smiles at his costume, though no one really knew what he was supposed to be.
Though from the outside, the Spare Key looked plain, the inside was a completely different story. Long tubes of lights stretched from wall to wall, strobe lights positioned up front where the DJ was stationed, surrounded by simple open space, no doubt soon to be filled with hordes of people dancing. Several stairs led down to a slightly tucked away corner, where pillows and couches were set up as well as doors to the bathrooms and drinking fountains, all of the furniture black or pretty much close to it in color. The inside walls had been painted a bright red, though it was dulled considerably by the lack of lights, making it not quite as intense.
As much as Sora would've like to have stared all day, Rikku and Yuna dragged him through the doorway, more people already pouring in behind him.
"Okay, we promised your mom we wouldn't let you get hurt or anything, so you know what we look like! Come find us if you need us, okay? If all else goes wrong, go in the girls bathroom! No one'll bother you there!" Rikku giggled, patting Sora's bunny ears. "Love your costume, Sora! Now let's go have some fun and do some mingling!"
No sooner had Sora turned to follow the girls did he bump into someone else.
"Oops, sorry!" Sora smiled apologetically up at the figure he'd walked in to, coming face to face with half a mask. The Phantom of the Opera? The Phantom smiled down at him, his eyes looking deep green in the dark lights of the room.
"Not a problem. What are you supposed to be, Bunny?"
"Umm... I don't really know." Sora chuckled, sticking his hands in the pockets of his leather pants. "See, I was sorta brought here by a bunch of friends who picked out my costume for me... I think I lost them though." Looking around, Sora saw no sign of any of the girls, but tried not to worry too much about the whole thing. They'd turn up eventually, and just as Rikku had said, if things got bad for whatever reason, he could just go wait in the girls' bathroom... Though Sora figured he'd try rather hard to avoid having to go in there.
"So you're lost?" The Phantom sounded concerned even, which surprised Sora. It didn't seem like a person portraying such a seemingly dark character would hold so much emotion for a total stranger. Then again, Sora had never read the book, only heard rough plot outlines from his mother, who'd been a big fan of the play.
Sora nodded slowly, grinning up at the Phantom. "Yeah, I guess so!" Sora had to almost yell to be heard over the music which the DJ had just put on, pounding it out of the speakers and into the growing crowd which was already beginning to teem with movement.
"You do that, Romeo!
Be what you wanna be!
Looks like you're runnin' in place
Do that stupid dance for me!
Do that, Romeo,
That go, go Romeo
I see you twist and turn
You look so stupid, happy, and numb."
The Phantom leant down slightly so his mouth was up against Sora's ear so as he could be heard over the music without having to yell. Sora couldn't help shake the feeling that this phantom somehow just felt familiar somehow, though tried to shove the thought out of his mind as the Phantom spoke softly into his ear, his warm breath tickling Sora's neck. "Dance with me?"
"Be my Romeo,
Please be my voice in this world
I can't sing the songs that you sing
I can't find the gorgeous words!
Will you be my Romeo?
My go, go Romeo
I see you twist and turn,
You look so stupid."
The next thing Sora knew he was just one person in a crowd of nearly a hundred teenagers, all of them dancing to the loud pulsating music, but he'd lost track of the phantom-boy. Almost about to pout at his loss, Sora nearly yelped as he felt a pair of arms slide smoothly around his waist, the Phantom's voice again speaking to him softly over the music's roar. "I'm right here, don't worry." Oh, wow. He feels ... nice. Sure enough, the front of the phantom's body was pressed close against Sora's back, Sora able to feel almost every muscle of the boy's body move in response to his dancing. He couldn't help but follow along with the hip swaying motion the phantom boy started up, leaning back in against the warmth of the body behind him.
"I feel just like a local god
When I'm with the boys,
We do what we want,
We do what we want.
I feel just like a local god
When I'm with the boys,
We do what we want,
Yeah, we do what we want."
Sora laced his fingers around those of the phantom, drunk off the loud music and the simple pleasure he just got from dancing so close with a total stranger and the heat the room was seeming to stir up. Part of his mind was trying frantically to remind him of his feelings for Riku, desperately asking him what the hell he was doing when he was supposed to be saving it all for Riku, Riku, and only Riku. But the Sora that was living for the moment happily boxed up the less-powerful voice, stowing it away until a more opportune moment would surely present itself.
"Be my Romeo!
Tell me all about your love,
Tell me all about your pain,
Baited breath and rubber gloves.
Be my Romeo
My go-go Romeo,
I see you twist and turn,
You look so fucking stupid."
Feeling his dance partner lightly grind his hips against him, Sora was suddenly snapped out of his trance and turned to face the phantom whose eyes were twinkling even in the dark. Sora opened his mouth to explain to this phantom that he couldn't go that far with someone... well, at least someone who wasn't Riku, only to have a finger placed over his lips, the phantom leaning close to him again.
"Don't you trust me... Sora?"
Sora's eyes widened, looking up at the half-masked "stranger." "R-Riku?" Sora honestly couldn't decide if this was the best or worst thing that could happen. Yes, it had been Riku he'd been dancing with, but he had also stopped dancing with that very same Riku. Gah! Stupid, stupid, stupid! But... Riku knew he was Sora. So then that meant...
"Keep going, Sora. You don't just stop dancing in the middle of a song." Riku smirked, suddenly closing the gap between them in one swift and fluent movement, pressing his lips against Sora's, whose eyes only widened more in disbelief. No way was this happening to him. It seemed more probable that he'd somehow died earlier in the day and only just now made it to heaven. But did it really matter how it happened? Riku drew the tip of his sender tongue along Sora's mouth, causing the younger boy to willingly part his lips, Riku eagerly plunging within. Sora's mind had taken off without him, leaving him next to immobile and without thought or direction to tell him what to do. Not that it mattered anyway, since Sora's body probably would've taken off on its own if his mind hadn't fled first. Riku was still moving the two of them along to the loud music, rolling his slender hips against those of the smaller boy, causing Sora to moan softly into the kiss, Riku smirking against his mouth.
"Oh, stupid, happy, and numb
I feel so stupid, happy, and numb
Mm, stupid, happy, and numb
I feel so stupid
I feel so stupid
I feel just like a local god
When I'm with the boys,
We do what we want,
I feel just like a local god
When I'm with the boys,
We do what we want,
Yes, we do what we want."
Breaking away from the kiss momentarily, Riku breathed heavily, placing his mouth next to Sora's ear. "You know how long I've waited to do this?" the older boy whispered before tugging playfully at Sora's earlobe with his teeth. Sora gasped in surprise at the sudden nip, but smiled. So he hadn't been the only one with weird feelings like that... Well, that certainly took a load off his shoulders, though at that particular moment, all Sora cared about was Riku.... Riku's arms around his waist, Riku's hips and sensual dancing, Riku's mouth, lips, hair, eyes...
Meanwhile, one particular cluster of girls was watching the whole exchange delightedly. Rikku squealed, clapping her hands together. "Eee! It worked! Hehehe! Look, Paine, lookit! Awww, they're so cuuuute!" Even Paine couldn't help but smile. It was funny how the apparently "shy and timid" Sora had been willing to dance with a complete stranger like that. Rikku's own theory, which she took that moment to announce to both Paine and Yuna, is that Sora knew the phantom was Riku, but Sora didn't know he knew until he already knew it. All this ended up doing was confusing Yuna to no ends and getting a snort out of Paine, though secretly Rikku made a note to herself to jot it down. It made sense to her... so what if Riku and Sora needed a little shove in the right direction? It all worked out in the end apparently, though Bryna would undoubtedly be hounding her son for ages on that love-bite the boy was currently acquiring on his neck...
.....................................
Phew. Okay, okay, I know there wasn't a whole lot of action here. I'm working on it! It's sort of like a hot shower, you have to ease yourself into it. ...Or something like that. Ahem. So the song played in the club is that of Everclear's "Local Gods." It's an interesting song. I don't particularly like it much, but the only other kind of music I own that would fit the dance is in Japanese and, well, there's your problem for you right there. You'll also find the mention of molestable Sora, as I've found at least five desktops which have a picture of Sora and mentioning something about the boy being 'molestable.' And whoever can tell me what's special about the costume shop gets... um, a hug. ^^;; So when will there be another chapter with growing RikuxSora lurve? Well, I'll make all you readers a deal. If I get out of school tomorrow due to snow, you'll get an update tomorrow as well as one on Sunday/Saturday. If not, you'll probably get one on Sunday. Think snow, folks. Think snow.
Thank you all for reading, as always! I'm really excited that so many people are getting into this story, especially for those of you involved in band! Maybe I've even nudged a couple people towards their school's guard team, eh? Ah, there's always hope. Speaking of which, my guard/band progressive dinner thing-gadget is Saturday! So expect some band-inspired strings of events in upcoming chapters. ^^ I look forward to writing them!
~Ori