Okay... There's a slight variation between these two; the first being dark and the second being slightly 'romanticish', but it was the underlying element that made them important to keep together.

There was one picture that created the image for these two drabbles as well as a couple others. Zeronix sent me the picture randomly and yet, it has imprinted itself on my heart. No matter how much I stare at it, I find something else in his expression every time. Sometimes, he looks 'happy', others sad, others rejected, others like he found his light and many more. I can't really explain it...

Dedication: Zanisha. Even though the other 'Z' sent me the pic, I think Zanisha fits the best for this one. I don't know why, and no offense to others, but Zanisha seems like the one person who understands Riku far more than any other. I get it mostly from her phenomenal fic 'Tarnished Simplicity'.That story is his heart...and this picture could be the unofficial pic for her story...since they affect me the same way...

Maybe these drabbles will show you what I mean...

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When you think of someone you love, your senses swim. But mine...they drown...in an ocean of Bitter Salt...

Bitter Salt...

My back leans harder against the wooden barrier of my room, more commonly know as the door, and I brokenly slip to the floor. A piercing sigh escapes from my heart and enters the darkness within my room.

There's so much about this boy that pertains the pained aura of anguish and regret. Hell, even my thoughts of him are pitted against me as they trace his entity with sadness and pain.

Many dream about how their senses are affected by the one they care for. Sight, touch, smell, voice...but most affectionately...taste... They find themselves longing to discover what taste their love has laced upon his lips.

Me... I do not wonder... I know...and the truth hurts too much to be some twisted illusion...

The painful taste of salt...from the thousands of tears he has shed over his darkened existence...

-

His trembling aquamarines gaze at me longingly, and yet, they're filled with fear, frightened that the violent shadow within his heart will do something to destroy what we have. But I push forward, not caring if the mage leaps out of his heart and kills me; it will not alter the aching feelings I hold for him.

My lips possess his own and pulls him into my aura of euphoric passion, unlocking those bitter chains that have bound him for so long. He hesitates, but I press against him, begging his arms to hold me there for eternity if necessary. The fear beginning to ebb, his one hand grasps the nape of my neck, intensifying our embrace so much, I become lightheaded and almost let the darkness take me…let my heart take control.

His lips are soft, despite the violent wear and tear they've had to endure, a feathery touch that I long to have brush every part of me. But it's their taste that makes my heart weep and shatter.

I can taste his tears…the anguished salty residue lacing his trembling lips from the thousands upon thousands of emotions he's lost. My right hand defies me and lies passionately on his cheek, my thumb stroking the pale flesh lovingly…a promise to make those tears cease…