Oooh, double digits. Onto chapter ten!
Summary: When a disgruntled Sora lets his parents sign him up for a summer climbing camp, he's less than enthusiastic. But with some interesting new friends, crazy counselors, and a handsome, infuriating boy to deal with, this week might be more interesting than he thought...SoraxRiku, AxelxRoxas, AU.
Disclaimer: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, I think Alysa would be a playable character. She would be one standing off to the side going crossly, "Oh, just make out already!"
So. I don't own Kingdom Hearts.
Author's Notes: I finished plotting this whole story, and if I have timed this right, it will last approximately for the rest of the summer. And then, we'll have to see where I go from here.
And now, since this has been addressed in a review…
A special side note about my OC's—sparkle sparkle, confetti confetti --
I have heard from a lot of you that you really like Alysa and Doug as OC's in this story. Well, mostly Alysa. I like her too, and I am perfectly agreeable (and rather honored, actually) if you want to use her or Doug for one of YOUR stories. But since I don't want to see my precious little Alysa damaged in any way, I would appreciate if you did a few things before you kidnapped—ahem, borrowed, her.
1) Ask me directly, either in a review or a message. It would also be nice if you let me know what role she would play, just to satisfy my curiosity and all that jazz.
2) When I say it's ok (which I most likely will, btw) please credit me in your disclaimer.
3) Send me the link! I would love to read it.
And on that note--RedBlackandWhite: use ahead…just follow steps two and three of the checklist, por favor. And I'm really deeply flattered that you want to use my OC. I did a little happy dance.
Reviewers:
LaLa: Cake, cookies…so long as it's sugar, I'm happy. I will be so impressed if you guess right…super extra points for you if you do!
ArosxIrukxOxarsxLeax: Aww, don't be sad! That will just make me sad. Hopefully this chapter will cheer you. P.S- I just figured out your name. Sweet.
AbnormallyWeirdPerson: Alright, you just got the Longest Review Ever award. And I just love long reviews. So basically this boils down to….that review was awesome.
summoner of the silver wolf: I know! I want MORE! Unfortunately, we must now wait until next summer….soooo long….
apie: Those temple guards freaked me out. There's something just sinister about costumed men jumping out of stone pillars and demanding payment from small children…
NARUfreak: Yeah, I kinda forgot about them for awhile too. Oops.
Darkness-Heart: Stepping on Riku's face…hahahaha. Oh, that made me chuckle.
AngelicOrgueil: Writing this chapter gave me a huge craving for s'mores. Must now build large fire in backyard…
RedBlackandWhite: Yuffie with a splash of Aerith, haha. See above for the other thingy.
Hoshiko-Kun: Your review made me feel all special. I had a little –woah- moment when you say you check every day. It was pretty awesome. Thanks!
Astrazoxity: I was SO going to do that. Still might, actually. Yeah during that part I was like –whoa I don't know how I feel about this—and my friend who is a huge fan of the eunuch was like NOOOOOOOOO! It was funny.
On with the sexual tension! HOORAH!
"YES!"
Sora leapt up on the point of one toe, just barely scraping his hand across the knobbly ridge of rock. His feet scrambled uselessly against the slick surface of the marble for a few heartstopping moments before he chanced over a tiny ridge in the surface, which he pressed his weight onto gratefully. Breathing heavily, he held himself close the rock and looked up.
"Remind me again why you're the lead climber?"
Riku smiled cheekily down at him, fifty feet higher than the smaller boy. Leaning back over the perilous drop, he expertly wound the yards of rope through his hands, belaying Sora as the other boy made his own way up the face. "Because I'm older, wiser, and more experienced? And anyways, I'm taller."
"That doesn't make a difference," Sora murmured into the rock face.
"Oh, I beg to differ. You haven't fallen to your death yet, have you?"
"There's still plenty of time for that."
"I'm hurt. You have no faith in me." Riku said innocently, placing a hand over his heart.
Sora glared up at him.
"Well, maybe for good reason. But I won't let you fall. I could get arrested on involuntary manslaughter charges for that. And those orange jumpsuits- ugh!"
"Comforting," Sora said. "Lovely to know that the only reason I'm still hanging here, alive, is your distain for the color orange."
"I didn't say that," Riku protested. "There are other reasons."
"Such as?" Sora asked, trying to assess his next move.
"Grab the ledge on your right- there. Alright, up you go," Riku said quickly, pulling the rope tight as Sora advanced another foot up the ledge.
"Such as what?" Sora panted, clinging to the rock again. This was really tiring. And he just knew he was going to have some unattractive tan lines when this was done.
"I may feel a sliver of remorse. I'm only human, you know," Riku said with a little smile.
"Sometimes I wonder."
Riku ignored that. "Step up on your right foot."
Sora did so and mentally scolded his protesting leg muscles. Riku had practically sprinted up this face. And if Riku could do it….
"Where's everyone else, anyway?" Riku said, surveying the ground from his perch on the rocks.
"They went….over to…the other cliffs…."
"Oh," Riku said quickly, pulling his head back. "Just wanted to make sure Alysa wasn't down at the bottom, cackling at us."
Sora had to laugh at that one, but only shortly, his breath running out.
"Do you want to take a break?" Riku asked.
"No thanks," he said quickly, remembering the outcomes of Axel's "break" yesterday. He only clung to the rock-face with renewed vigor.
Must get up this stupid rock.
Must get up this stupid rock.
Must get up this stupid rock.
"Riku…what happens if I wanted to…per say….theoretically….get down?"
"Sora," came Riku's voice from far above, "We're three pitches up on a rock face, with only one belay rope. And that is up here. With me."
Sora gulped.
Riku's voice sounded suspicious now. "Why?"
"Umm…no reason!" Sora squeaked. He looked above him at the suspiciously smooth face. He was in trouble. He was…
"Are you stuck?" Riku's voice said accusingly, his head popping over the ledge so that Sora could read the incredulous expression on his face.
"No!" Sora lied clearly.
Just jump up, right? That worked the last time…
Sora jumped.
"Where are you….OOF!"
Riku yelped as the belay rope cut deep into his palms, reacting instinctively by grabbing it and braking it tightly. He looked over the edge hesitantly, his heart racing in his chest. "SORA!"
A small brown head of hair hung despondently in the air, fifty feet below him. Riku let out a long sigh of relief. "You could have warned me, you know!"
"I thought I could make it," came the sheepish reply.
"Well, obviously not!" Riku said huffily, pulling on the rope. "You scared me to death!"
"I did what?"
Riku backpedaled. "It was really frightening. I mean, my life was flashing before my eyes. Orange jumpsuits everywhere!"
Down below, Sora rolled his eyes. "Typical."
He turned and swung back onto the face, kicking at the rock until his found a suitable hold. Sora looked up. He still had a ways to go, and now he was right back where he started; hanging a hundred and fifty feet in the air, staring at a blank wall with nothing to grab.
"Riku…."
Riku, who was still trying to calm the hammering of his heart, peered over the edge of the cliff. "What is it, Sora?"
"I'm stuck."
To Sora's sincere surprise, the next words out of Riku's mouth weren't, "Haha!" or "I told you so!"
Instead, the other boy brushed his silver hair out of his eyes and yelled down, "Well, ok. Let's work through this. You'll be fine."
Sora nodded uncertainly.
"Put your…" Riku surveyed the face, trying frantically to remember what he himself had done a few minutes ago, "right hand, on the tiny ledge over there, and find somewhere to place your left. Now, see that ridge? Can you move your left leg onto it?"
Sora found he could. Hesitantly, he stood up on the tiny outcropping of rock, praying that Riku was right. His foot slipped a centimeter, two….and stuck.
Sora breathed a sigh of relief. "What now?"
Riku thought quickly, his eyes fixed on the spiky brunette's current position. "Umm…smear your right foot into that tiny crack."
Sora tried, edging his shoe into the minute imperfection and praying not to break any toes. But when he tried to stand up, he almost slipped off the wall, and only a frantic lunge prevented him from sliding into the abyss again. He took a deep breath, trying not to panic.
But my legs are tired and my feet are tired and I can't stand up and Riku and…and orange jumpsuits!
"It won't stay!" Sora gasped out, and even Riku could hear the edge of hysteria in his voice.
"It's ok, Sora. Just…be calm, ok? Try it again, this time with your left foot on it and your right foot on the ledge beside it…it's like Twister, right? Right foot ledge, left foot crack!"
"Bad jokes won't help the situation, Riku."
Riku scowled. "Hey, I'm trying here. I get points for that. Just trust me, ok?"
"Trust you?"
"I realize it's a hard concept to follow," Riku shouted down, "But just try to follow me on this one. Up equals safety and a way down. Staying equals becoming a new and more convenient perch for various birds and insects. Up requires trust. Staying requires stupidity. It's really quite simple."
Sora looked down; the world stretched away beneath him, a flat plane of rock reaching down until it met the ground sharply, a hundred feet below the tips of his climbing shoes.
He looked up; he saw Riku leaning over the ledge, his aquamarine eyes boring into Sora, his pale face a mask of anxiousness.
Sora thought about it. He took a deep breath. And he leapt.
His right foot caught the ledge smoothly as his left slid awkwardly into the crack, squeezing just enough so that he could haphazardly grab two hands holds and swing.
It wasn't pretty; but he was alive.
"You made it," Riku said, sounding smug and a little relived.
"You doubted me?" Sora panted out, his pulse pounding in his ears.
Riku only laughed and belayed Sora up the rest of the face, which he climbed through at a near record pace, not looking down once.
After what seemed like mere seconds, Riku was extending a slender arm to help pull Sora up onto the ledge, which Sora promptly refused, instead pulling himself up on his own volition and smiling cheekily into Riku's face.
Riku felt something in his chest swell and he suppressed it quickly, returning the smile. "Nice of you to make it."
"Oh, shut up," Sora said tiredly, clipping himself into the anchor and leaning back over the ledge, the rope stretching to compensate for his weight. "You're taller, after all."
Riku considered replying and thought better of it.
Instead, the boys hung in the light breeze, both silent and contemplating the long climb behind, and the long day ahead. They swayed on the rope, and every so often Riku's arms would brush against Sora's shoulder, or Sora's head would collide gently with the taller boy's sleeve. Both boys said nothing about this, just continued to sway lightly in the wind, looking over their shoulders to see the land stretching out beneath them.
"Good climb," Riku finally said.
"Yeah, it was," Sora mused, leaning comfortably back in his harness. "Just don't make me do it again."
That earned him a chuckle from Riku. Sora looked up to meet his gaze and found himself immersed in the sparkle of those eyes, drawn back to his first day at the campfire when he found out, for the first of many times, exactly how hard it was to look away.
Riku was the one who broke the stare with a light shake of his hair, reaching over to the slender rope at his feet. After a few minutes of fumbling with anchor knots and carabiners, it was wrapped snuggly around his harness, and his hands were locked tightly around the top.
"I'll lead," he said with a tiny smile, and dropped over the ledge.
Sora leaned back to see him go, watching the silver-haired form grow smaller and smaller as Riku rappelled down the length of the wall. He smiled at the sight of Riku awkwardly bumping down the long face. It was so….Riku.
I thought I hated Riku?
Riku, down below, cursed loudly as the rope got caught between two ledges, effectively trapping him in a half-squatting, spread-eagled position. Sora laughed. He couldn't help it.
But now…things are changing.
"Well, Axel. I have to say, I've seen a lot of improvement since yesterday. By my count, you've now fallen….only a dozen times! You must be so proud."
Axel peered up at Roxas through half lidded eyes. "Ha, ha, funny man. Just belay me, would ya?"
Roxas obliged by pulling the rope tight, resisting the urge to lean back and nap. The view from the top of the cliff was simply breathtaking, and after all the belaying and climbing and running and eating and leaping that he had been doing, he had to admit that the sugar-high from his breakfast of chocolate chip cookies had officially melted off and left him exhausted. It would be so nice to just lean back against the warm stone and let the sun hit his skin.
Only one problem with that…
"SHIT!"
Roxas closed his eyes, sighed, and saved Axel's life for the thirteenth time.
"Sorry," came the sheepish voice from below. "The rock was kind of slippery."
Roxas rolled his eyes. "No problem," he said sarcastically. "I've got nothing better to do than bake like a lobster. Magenta was always a good color on me."
Axel was momentarily waylaid by the image of Roxas decked out in all magenta. Perhaps a tight-t shirt, with leather pants….
Roxas in leather pants…
He was forced to snap out of it when the rope holding him, which had been swinging lightly in midair, took a turn directly into the wall.
"OOOF."
Roxas peered over the edge. "Ouch. That looked like it hurt."
"It did," Axel's voice said, thought the clarity was questionable due to the fact that he was speaking into a large amount of granite.
"Well…keep on climbing," Roxas said. "You're almost there. Maybe by then I won't be magenta after all…just a light strawberry color, really."
Axel's eyes crossed.
Bad thoughts…
Gritting his teeth, he grabbed onto the wall with renewed strength and tackled it with a vivid burst of energy, shooting up twenty feet of wall before collapsing, worn out again.
Roxas sighed. This was nothing new; Axel's climbing style was to alternately tackle the rock like a gung-ho squirrel and then collapse. And then repeat. Hundreds and hundreds of times.
"This helmet is obscuring my vision," Axel's voice drifted up toward.
"I don't believe you. You're biased against the helmet."
Axel harrumphed. "It's just so ugly. It's like someone took a hunt of plastic, hollowed it out, and added chin straps. Chin straps!"
"Calm down, Valentino. Besides, who's going to see you?"
You, Axel wanted to reply. And I wanted to look my sexiest. Why don't rock-climbers outfit themselves in some kind of swishy black outfit. I always look so cool in things that are swishy and black. Or shirtless. One of the two.
But, wisely, he chose to not speak those particular thoughts aloud.
It wouldn't make a difference, anyway.
After five minutes of highly unusual silence, Roxas was beginning to wonder if maybe Axel had dropped off the rock face, albeit very quietly. After all, it was a very unusual day indeed when the redhead was not filling up every second of silence with pratter about this or that…perhaps he had tried to take off his helmet and a rock had hit his head and he had been knocked unconscious…
These fears swirling through his head, Roxas scrambled to the edge of the cliff and looked straight down.
There Axel was, hanging morosely from the wall. His head was down; all Roxas could see was a mess of fiery spikes; like an explosion of flame on the bareness of the rock. He breathed a sigh of relief.
"Axel? What's up? I thought you were dead, or something."
"Just let me climb for a second, ok?"
"Okay," Roxas said slowly, confused. Axel never wanted to 'just climb'. "And we were having such an engaging conversation, too."
"You know, you don't have to pretend for me." Axel's voice drifted up toward Roxas.
"Pretend what? What I am pretending?"
"To like me," was the quiet reply. "So you can stop going along with my jokes, and everything. It's ok if you don't talk."
Roxas opened his mouth, then quickly closed it again, speechless. That wasn't what he had been expecting to hear.
So it was this again.
Why does he think I don't like him?
Another, nastier part of Roxas' mind whispered, Well, if could have had something to do with the fact that you have been ignoring him for two days, following the incident where you bodily threw him under a large body of water and ran away screaming for him to leave you the hell alone.
Oh. That.
But why does he care?
Roxas quickly shut off his mind before that pesky part of his brain answered that one too. But he had the feeling he knew that answer already.
He couldn't help it; his gaze found Axel, who was pointedly staring into the rock-face with all the intensity of a high-quality laser. Safe from the gaze of those piercing emerald eyes, Roxas studied him; really studied him, for the first time.
Long and lanky, pale. Pointed face with sharp eyes and lips that were always curled into a smile; except now. A shock of red hair over vermillion eyes, which now….which now were looking quite depressed, actually.
And before Roxas could shut down his pesky emotions along with his pesky mind, he felt something swell inside him. And it wasn't indigestion.
It was the strangest feeling. He couldn't give it a name, exactly, more like…he wanted to be standing next to Axel, as close as he could get, and he also kind of wanted to give the other boy a really long hug (because he looked so sad), and maybe then…
Roxas struggled with that particular emotion before it could make himself known. He didn't want to know what he wanted to next. No. No. Must not probe emotions.
But Axel just looked so…so cute, hanging there.
Roxas gulped and ripped his gaze away from the other boy, tipping it toward the clear sky. He had not just gone there. He hadn't thought that another boy—no, that Axel—was cute.
Not cute in a "awww' way either.
Oh, dammit…
But Axel was waiting for a response. Roxas swallowed to clear his throat, which had suddenly gone bone-dry, and croacked out, "I like talking to you. You're so ridiculous it's almost funny."
Axel couldn't keep the wry smile from enveloping his face. "Aww, Rox. You sure know how to make a guy feel special."
And ignoring the weird leaping thing his heart had done without his permission, Roxas smiled back. "I try."
Axel, apparently empowered by this comment, turned back into energy mode and covered the last ten feet of the climb with three powerful moves, and before Roxas could adequately prepare himself for it, a slender hand was reaching over the edge of the ledge, groping for a handhold.
Which turned out to be Roxas's shoe.
"Hey! Let go!"
The hand scooted away, spider-like, and Axel's head popped over the edge, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry. I can get up on my own."
"Don't be stupid," Roxas found himself saying. "I'll help you."
Treacherous mouth! YOU HAVE BETRAYED ME!
But now Roxas had another problem; his hand (treacherous hand! treacherous!) had snaked out and grabbed Axel's arm, pulling the other boy up awkwardly.
Predictably, what ended up happening was that Axel tried to stand up just as Roxas gave him a final tug, with the end result being Axel's upper torso and head landing heavily on Roxas's lap.
Roxas tried to give him a murderous glare. It that was not quite as menacing as he would have liked.
"Thanks," Axel said, the wicked grin back on his face.
"No problem," Roxas grumbled, as his cheeks (treacherously) flamed pink. He gave Axel's head a half-hearted push in the attempts to move him, but the other boy was having none of that.
So Roxas was left with no option but to lean back on his elbows and ignore the fact that the upper half of a boy's body—a boy he had just mentally referred to as cute—was in his lap.
Ignoring. Ignoring.
Axel shifted, ever so slightly.
IGNORING! IGNORING!
Not bother to conceal his victorious grin, Axel said innocently, "Nice view from up here, isn't it?"
"Yeah," Roxas found himself agreeing. "Yeah, it is."
Alysa winced as Hayner's helmet collided with the wall with an echoing crack.
"Does this happen…often?" she said, turning toward Kairi.
She shrugged. "A couple times a day. It's like his head is magnetically attached to that wall. But he seems to be fine."
"That's our Hayner," Alysa said with a grin. "Extraordinarily thick-skulled."
"I heard that!" Hayner shouted down, clutching the back of his head.
Alysa ignored him, just scooted out on the boulder she and Kairi were sitting on to get into a more comfortable lounging position.
"So how's this partnership working out for you?"
"Pretty well," Kairi said easily, watching as Hayner attempted to grab the wall and instead ending up snagging his camo pants on outcropping in the rock. "No homicidal impulses yet."
"Which is more than I can say for the other groups," Alysa said with a carefree grin. "I expected at least the threat of a restraining order by now."
"Well, why did you put them together if you knew they would probably end up killing each other?" Kairi said, still eying Hayner, who was now cursing loudly. A loud ripping sound could be heard from the cliff, which both girls pretended not to hear.
"I didn't think they would end up killing each other."
"Still, why did you pair them up? You can't have honestly thought they would be civil to each other."
"Actually, that's exactly what I thought. But…civil…wasn't exactly the word I would have chosen," Alysa said, a devious glimmer in her eyes.
"You didn't think…"
Alysa laughed. "Isn't it obvious? I mean, it's practically oozing off the four of them."
Kairi smiled out of the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, it kind of is, isn't it?"
"They're oblivious, of course," Alysa said with a dramatic sigh, "but that's where we women come in. Honestly, sometimes I think the whole species would still be in caves banging rocks together if it weren't for a little…female intervention."
"I couldn't agree more," Kairi laughed. "And besides, if you were right…that would be so cute."
"Totally," Alysa affirmed. "But first, they have to stop being so stubborn and irrational and idiotic…"
"What are you talking about?" Hayner called down, trying fruitlessly to hide the rather large hole in his pants.
"You, Hayner. You."
Alysa and Kairi could only laugh the confused look on his face.
"S'mores! S'mores! Gimme another s'more, Alysa!"
Alysa eyed her Sora suspiciously, holding the bag of marshmallows above her head. "And how many have you had already?"
"Just one!" Sora said innocently, eying the fluffly goodness.
"Just one what?"
"Just one dozen," Sora said sheepishly, shuffling his feet. "But they're so gooey and delicious! Just one more! PLEASSEEE!"
Alysa reluctantly handed over the sugary treat. "Ok. One more. But only because I think that if I didn't give you one now, I would be awoken at one a.m by the sounds of you and the raccoons fighting over the leftovers."
"Probably," Sora agreed happily, spearing his marshmallow and heading back toward the fire.
It was night, and the entire group was back around the campfire. The mood, however, could not have been more different; jokey, relaxed, even, and peaceful-- the odd sugar-high screech aside.
"S'mores, s'mores, s'mores," Sora hummed happily to himself as he carefully toasted his marshmallow, rotisserie-style, over the roaring blaze. He took it out and inspected it; golden brown. "Perfect!" he crooned, and reached for the chocolate and graham crackers.
Roxas, meanwhile, was eying Axel's marshmallow. If 'marshmallow' was even the proper term for the flaming inferno currently attached to Axel's stick.
"Are you going to eat that?" he asked disbelievingly.
Axel smacked his lips. "I like 'em burnt to a crisp. Gives them that unique, crunchy flavor."
Roxas shuddered.
Meanwhile, Sora had constructed his s'more to his specifications (marshmallow, two graham crackers, half a chocolate bar) and was munching happily, completely oblivious to the fact that he had a rather large splotch of melted chocolate on one cheek.
Riku, however, was not. He eyed the offending spot and toyed with the idea of telling Sora about it, just to see the other boy smear it around more hopelessly, trying to remove it, until there would be no option left but for Riku intervene….with his tongue, perhaps….
Oh, shit. He was thinking those thoughts again. Bad Riku! Bad Riku!
Roxas, who had been absently eying the same spot of Sora's cheek, turned around to see Riku studying Sora with a stare that could only be described as…lustful. As Roxas watched, perplexed, Riku blinked, looked suddenly horrified, and then proceeded to whack himself a few times in the forehead.
Roxas raised an eyebrow. Interesting...
He took another bite of his marshmallow, feeling it smear all over his face. Grimacing, he reached for a napkin and wiped the mess off.
"You missed a spot," a voice came from next to him, and suddenly Roxas was considerably more sweaty than he had been a second ago.
Axel reached slowly toward the gooey spot of marshmallow on Roxas' cheek, trying to peel it off. "Almost got it," Axel said cheerily, brushing his fingertips over Roxas's cheek several times more than was necessary, pretending not to notice that Roxas'skin was getting progressively redder and redder the more he stroked it.
Two can play at this game was Roxas' last thought before he did something so impulsive, and so stupid, that even Axel didn't see it coming.
He flung his marshmallow into Axel's grinning face.
"You did not. Just throw. A marshmallow. At me."
"Oops. Must have slipped," Roxas said nonchalantly. "Let me get that off for you…"
"The HELL you will!"
And then everyone at the campfire had to look away awkwardly as the two boys began another one of their now infamous wrestling matches, giggling like schoolgirls the whole time.
It was another half hour before they had all calmed down enough to go to bed, and now that Sora and Roxas were tucked securely into their sleeping bags, neither of them felt even a fleeting desire to go to sleep.
"My stomach hurts," Sora moaned.
"My face hurts," Roxas replied, tenderly probing his cheekbone. "I don't think that last punch was an accident."
"Knowing Axel; probably not."
"Do you think…" Roxas said in a whisper, staring into the darkness, "that they'll…you know…come again, tonight? To go swimming, or some other crazy scheme…"
Sora thought for a moment before saying tentatively. "Would you go? If they came?"
Roxas shrugged in his sleeping bag. "Maybe. I don't know."
"You don't know?" Sora asked incredulously. "Last time we went outwith them, you ran away. Screaming."
"Well, maybe I was…overreacting. A tad."
"You dragged me along with you!"
Roxas' tone was getting defensive now. "But you were with Riku!"
"You were with Axel," Sora shot back, just as vehemently.
They glared at each other for a minute, their faces hazy and blue-tinted in the darkness, each daring each other to just come out and say it.
Sora was the one who finally caved to his curiosity.
"Be straight with me," he said quietly, seriously. "Do you like Axel?"
"Well, sure. He's a nice kid, I guess…"
"No," Sora cut in sharply. "You know what I mean. Do you like Axel?"
"What!" Roxas said, hoping fruitlessly that he wasn't blushing again. Damn his fair complexion! "He's a boy, Sora! Where would you get that idea?"
"Um, maybe the fact that you were rolling around with him, covered with marshmallow, ten minutes ago?"
"Well, what about Riku undressing you with his eyes?" Roxas shot back, feeling murderous.
"He was not!"
"Was to!"
"Was NOT!"
"Was TO!"
They stared each other down, blue eyes on blue, but neither gave an inch.
"You totally like him," Roxas said finally said, more than a hint of smugness in his tone.
"Do NOT!"
"Just admit it already!" Roxas said, feeling a strange sort of desperation building in his chest. "It's okay!"
"Only if you admit you like Axel," Sora snapped back.
"I told you already…there's no WAY!"
"Fine! GOODNIGHT!"
Moody silence in the tent, building in the darkness of the night. Both boys could hear the other breathing; fast, shallow breaths, their eyes resolutely open in the darkness.
Finally, when Roxas thought he could take no more, Sora's voice, so quiet he could barely hear it, came wavering through the blackness.
"Roxas?"
Roxas sighed, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted off his chest. "I know. Me too."
OOOooooOOOO. SEE! THAT'S PROGRESS!
Next Chapter: Riku and Sora make fun of tourists, stretching is involved, and Axel opens his big mouth one too many times….but what else is new?
At a loss for a witty comment. So…review?
