CHAPTER FOURTEEN!
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: Only in my dreams. Literally.
Author's Note:
Only one more chapter after this one! –cries with reviewers-
I wish it could go longer, but then I would have to invent some sort of new plot twist that would make them be less happy than they are right now and GOSHDARNIT, THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.
Ahem.
Anyways, over 500 reviews! SQUEE! I'm going to write this intense thank you speech next chapter, but for now- I LOVES YOU!
And on a final note:
This story has gotten an amazing amount of feedback. And I think it's doubly amazing considering the fact that for the first ELEVEN CHAPTERS –count 'em, people- there was no fluff. Nada. Zip. Zippo. Not even a peck on the cheek. I think that must some kind of fanfic record.
Now, since I have managed to sail by on humor alone for the past dozen or so chapters, and since you have put up with only promises of fluff, this chapter is my present to you. It is fluffy. It is sweet. It may cause cavities- contact your local dentist!
And since I have like zero time to make this ready, I will once again have to forgo reviewers- next chapter, I promise!- let's get on with the sugar-coated SoraRiku goodness, shall we?
Yummy.
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Sora was having another lovely dream. He was in a huge theatre, where the walls were dripping gold and s'mores lined the aisles in towering stacks. Munching on one, Sora happily noticed that pillows were line-dancing on the stage. He clapped energetically as the pillows kicked once, twice, and then went into a big finale, which involved several inverted flips and one back handspring by a spry little throw pillow. When they had finished their act, the pillows suddenly decided that it would be a splendid idea to fly out over the audience. Sora watched them pass above his head in a dreamy haze, eying the downy fluff trailing from them like flotsam. They looked so warm…so…comfortable...
The pink pillow squawked rather like a duck when Sora leapt up to catch it, but Sora didn't let go. It was every bit as comfortable as he had imaged...soft and warm and fuzzy and equipped with long, strong arms…
Wait a second.
Sora's eyes snapped open.
Riku's sleeping face filled his vision, taking deep, rhythmic breaths that made several strands of his silvery hair flutter, tickling Sora's nose. Sora stared at his flawless face, captivated. How did Riku have such perfect skin? He was so close he could see every pore, and not a hint of acne, not even one lousy spot…
Wait. Rewind. Riku's sleeping face?
Sora gave a little yelp and tried to scoot away, but found himself trapped by the aforementioned long, strong arms. Riku gave a sleepy little sigh, and a gust of warm air played across Sora's face. The arms tightened, drawing Sora's face right into Riku's neck.
Eeep.
Sora closed his eyes, forcing himself to breath regularly, like his mother had told him to do when he found himself in scary situations. Though he hardly thought this particular scenario had ever crossed her mind.
He winced. The thought of his mother only made his head hurt more. Okay, things were okay. He was warm, and comfortable, and had a half-naked boy twined around him. These things happened, right? Now, if only he could get back to sleep, he could resume his pillow dream. He had the strangest feeling, before he woke up, that pillows were about to conga…
Conga. Alysa. Yesterday. Riku. Kiss. It all came flooding back.
Sora groaned and clutching his forehead, trying to banish the beginnings of a colossal headache. If he knew this was a morning for revelations, he would have brought some Advil.
He guessed there would be no more sleep for him. Sora gave a soft sigh and tried to roll over, only to be prevented by the arms again. Darn. Oh well. It was only Riku, after all. Riku who he had kissed last night. Riku who could do amazing things with his tongue…
Sora's eyes crossed momentarily as he remembered their last, pre-sleep, I really-want-you-but-if-we-keep-going-I-might-just-fall-asleep-on-you kiss. A goofy grin spread across his face. Who knew Riku was so ticklish?
He wiggled a little in Riku's grip. He didn't really know how he had ended up here, in Riku's sleeping bag, tangled like a giant fly in Riku's arms. They had gone to sleep on opposite sides of the tent in what Sora considered was a very chaste, responsible manner. Riku had growled under his breath a few times and muttered something that Sora couldn't catch, but had the word "molestable" in it. But after that, both had fallen asleep fairly quickly, tired out by their day of climbing and tonsil aerobics.
Apparently, the situation had not remained that way. Sora scowled into Riku's neck. Maybe it had gotten cold during the night. Damn his tendency to go after the nearest large, heat radiating object like a missile. Or maybe Riku had just grabbed him, overcome by lust, or maybe Sora had…
Whatever, Sora's mind said in its sarcastic, Alysa-like way. I already have a headache, thank you very much. Just shut up and cuddle.
Sora blanched. Cuddle?
Perhaps you've heard of it. His mind smirked- could minds smirk? You know you want to.
Do not! Sora replied stubbornly.
Riku, still fast asleep, let out a quiet sigh and wrapped Sora closer around him, like a favorite pillow. Sora melted inside.
Little liar, his mind replied smugly.
He ignored it.
Staring up into Riku's sleeping face, Sora could feel the heat radiating from the other boy's body enveloping him like a blanket. His arms were pinned to his side awkwardly and quickly losing circulation, so there was really no other choice but to hesitantly, and very gently, wrap them around Riku's waist, letting them rest on the firm muscles of his back.
Sora froze, still staring expectantly into Riku's face. The other boy didn't move, just kept slumbering on. Taking that as a very good sign, Sora signed contently and let his head burrow in the soft collar of Riku's t-shirt.
Only to be grabbed and smushed into Riku's collarbone.
"You're awake, I see," Sora murmured into his skin.
"You're so cute when you're trying to be sneaky," Riku said, sounding highly amused.
"How long have you been up?"
Riku grinned languidly. "Long enough to hear you mutter something about pink pillows."
Sora buried his face even more into Riku's chest, letting his cheek rest on the other boy's shoulder. "I suppose you think it's cute when I get embarrassed, too?"
"Adorable," Riku muttered, his arms tightening on Sora's chest until their chests were pressed firmly together and their legs were intertwined. "I missed you."
"While you were asleep?" came Sora's muffled voice, still clogged with sleep.
Riku nodded severely. "Of course. You can't do this while you're asleep."
And before Sora could protest, several long fingers had propped his chin up and he sank happily into another one of Riku's heart-melting kisses.
Well. This isn't a bad way to wake up. Sure beats alarm clocks.
Riku's lips were soft and warm from sleep, and Sora let him kiss him eagerly, parted his lips gratefully to let Riku's tongue slip inside to do devastating things inside his mouth. Sora moaned happily, his arms buried in Riku's long hair.
Riku chuckled into the kiss, sending agreeable frissons racing down Sora's spine. "Yeah, I defiantly missed you."
"I never knew you were this cheesy," Sora said, which was made difficult by the fact that Riku was kissing the sensitive skin of his ear right below his ear, where it tickled most, and now he was moving up…
"Gah," Sora said faintly as Riku nibbled on his earlobe.
Riku laughed and rolled the two of them over, so Sora was on bottom, gazing up at the silver-haired boy through half-lidded eyes. Smiling softly, he leaned down to place one last, light kiss on Sora's agreeable lips.
"Time to go climbing," Riku murmured after a few seconds, pulling away. "C'mon, get up."
"That's not fair," Sora said, trying to look cross and failing. "You can't just leave me hanging like that."
Riku stretched and stood up. "If you get up and outside, I'll kiss your neck again."
"Are you trying to bribe me with promises of making out?"
Riku had already disappeared through the tent flap with, casting him one last snarky smile.
Sora sighed and rested his head back on his pillow. Touching his swollen lips tenderly with two fingertips, he smiled hesitantly.
"Fine…I'm coming."
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When Sora and Riku finally reached the bottom of the cliff, taking them slightly longer than normal (because Riku had to make frequent "pitstops" which involved lots of trees and lots of groping) they were finally standing at the bottom of the cliff, looking up into the huge distance they would have to cover that day.
"I'll lead," Riku said authoritatively, reaching for the rope.
Sora slapped his hand away. "I'll lead."
Riku pouted, his lower lip jutting out in a way that Sora knew he thought was absolutely irresistible. "But, Sora, I like to lead."
"So do I," Sora said firmly, determined not to give in to his quivery lip cuteness. "And you always get to lead."
"I'll strike you a deal," Riku said, leaning against a nearby rock and eyeing Sora as though he was a particularly yummy morsel. "If you let me lead, I'll take my shirt off."
Sora scowled. "You think you can get to me through my teenage lust?"
"Well, yes. Yes I do."
Sora was determined not to give in to him. Though he did look very appetizing, leaning against the rock, his hair fluttering in the breeze and just a hint of flat stomach peeking out from the bottom of his t-shirt.
"No," Sora said firmly, though it was difficult to get out words, as mini- shirtless Riku's kept jumping around in his head, shouting tinnily, "Pick me! I'm so much sexierrrrrrrrrrr than your morals."
Riku's lower lip jutted out further. "Well, then I don't see how we're going to resolve this, Sora."
"If you don't let me lead, I won't let you kiss me for the rest of the day."
And the pure horror on Riku's face was all that Sora needed.
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"I'm waiting…" Sora sang out happily from his perch at the rest point, peering down at Riku, still stuck like a bug to the wall.
Riku shot him a glare that would have burned through rock. "You just wait, you little cheater. When I get up there…"
"When you get up there what?" Sora asked cheekily, cocking his head.
"Oh, you'll see. I'll…" and the rest of his speech sank out into low mutterings.
Sora decided not to worry about it and to just enjoy the crystalline day. It was nice up here, he decided; the wind blowing in his cheeks, the sun beating down and blinding him, a tree rustling in the distance, his stomach full, his libido purring contently, and Riku's hand around his ankle…
"GAH!" Sora yelped out, scampering backward and almost falling off the cliff in the process.
Well, that would have been a bad ending to a perfect day. Nothing ruins the mood like a hundred foot fall…
Speaking of the mood…
Riku pulled himself up in a spectacular display of upper body strength, his arm muscles straining heavily. Kneeling on the rock ledge, he eyed Sora from beneath a silvery curtain of hair. And before the smaller boy could scamper away or even cover the rising blush in his cheeks, Riku had discovered that the smooth surface of marble was an excellent surface to push a smaller, struggling boy against.
"You're not going to throw me off a cliff, are you?" Sora burst out, wiggling frantically in Riku's tight grip.
"And why would I do that?" Riku purred dangerously, leaning close over Sora's neck.
"Well, back when I thought you were going to kill me, that was one of my theories about how you would do it. Well, that and peanut butter sandwiches, but then that damn squirrel kept staring at me…"
"God, just shut up and let me wreak my revenge," Riku growled low in his throat, and then Sora's mouth was effectively pinned by his lips.
This kiss lasted much longer than normal; Riku seemed determine to linger there, to taste every inch of Sora's soft lips, nibbling on his bottom lip as the other boy's eyelids fluttered up, half from passion and half from lack of oxygen.
"I like this revenge," Sora gasped out when Riku finally broke apart for air.
"I thought you might."
And then he was attacking Sora's lips again, slipping his tongue in to wrestle with Sora's own, and Sora felt that like he was melting into the cliff. Every sense seemed heightened; the cool playing of the breeze against his cheeks, the hot warmth of the sun beating down on his foreheads, the soft, whispery feel of Riku's hair as it slipped through his fingers, every place that they were touching; lips, chests, arms, legs, even their feet were locked in a messy embrace, drinking each other in.
Sora felt a shiver race down his body as Riku gently traced the shape of his jaw with a finger, then with his mouth, soft, chaste butterfly kisses, never landing for long, the briefest touches, tantalizing him up the slope of his neck and onto his earlobe, into the soft shell of skin tucked behind his ear…
"Mmmmfffgah," Sora said as Riku decided his tongue would be a better weapon of choice.
"I don't think that's a word," Riku said, amused, but he didn't give Sora a chance to respond, instead choosing to kiss him on the lips once more, his arms traveling, spider-like, down Sora's back, ticking the ridges of his stomach, lifting the hem of his t-shirt…
"Gahhhdon't!" Sora gasped out, trying to wrench his hands away.
"Why not?" Riku asked softly, very close to Sora's cheekbone.
"Ca-cause we're in plain sight, that's why! If anyone had binoculars…"
"Who would have binoculars, Sora?" Riku asked, now mouthing the words into his skin, lightly, softly. Sora found himself having trouble with words.
"Shhhh," Riku mouthed reassuringly, sliding an affectionate thumb along the curve of Sora's cheek. "Don't worry so much."
The hands were well under the shirt now, reaching up to much more sensitive places that Sora didn't know could tickle like that…burn like that….
He sighed happily but was trapped by the onrush of Riku's hungry lips, melding against him, and then his mouth was gone and Sora was about to protest but his neck…his ear…his collarbone…who knew his collarbone was so sensitive? And the hands were still moving, lightly brushing, tickling along the sensitive skin of his stomach and back, lower than before, and liquid fire was making a beautiful pool in Sora's stomach, making him feel so melty all over, and Riku was…Riku was…
Climbing?
Riku was climbing?
Sora's head shot up and he lunged for the other boy's foot, but Riku hopped neatly upward and out of reach, smiling that peculiar smile of his. "Hey, Sora, think you could belay me?"
That bastard!
"That's…you can't just…I was, you were…RIKU!"
Riku smirked and reached for a higher handhold. "Hey, like I said; I like to lead."
"So all of that…was that just some kind of plot to render me unable to stop you?"
"Well, yes and no," Riku admitted, hanging from his rope. "Yes in that it did distract you, and no in that I would have done it anyway."
Sora could only shake his head in disbelief. "I have no idea why I like you."
"My natural charms, of course. And the hair."
"What's the big deal about going first, anyway?" Sora asked, a grumpy pout settling over his features. Riku found it so adorable he forgot to answer for a moment.
"Huh? Oh…well, it's sort of like being on top. You know."
If Sora could have gotten any redder, he would have burst. "Wha-what?" he sputtered. "On…
"Don't worry about it," Riku said with a smug smile, turning back to his climbing. "You'll find out eventually."
"Wha---no! NO! Riku!"
But Riku had already collapsed laughing, and before long, Sora joined him, the sound echoing out over the silence of the afternoon.
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"So…when did you…you know?"
Riku stopped eating and gazed down at the boy who was tucked into the crook of his shoulder. "When did I what?"
"You know…start…thinking…of me. That way." Sora said quickly, not meeting the other boy's eyes.
Both boys were sitting with legs leaning over the edge of the cliff, letting them sway gently in the breeze. Riku had his arm around Sora and the other boy didn't seem to mind, just kept munching on his sandwich passively and leaning hesitantly into the other boy's shoulder. They sat like that for a moment, silent.
"I don't know," Riku said finally. "I always…you know I like…liked girls, a lot of girls, right?"
"How could I forget?" Sora said grumpily, remembering Claire. A thought occurred to him, and he sprang away from Riku, wide-eyed. "This isn't…I'm not some kind of girl replacement for this trip, am I?"
Riku burst out laughing.
"What! Stop it! That's not funny! I'm serious…Ri-ku!" Sora whined, punching him in the arm. "Answer me!"
"You thought…ahaha," Riku gasped out, "You thought…of course not. Jeez, Sora, how could you even..ahaha…."
"Okay, okay, I get the point already," Sora said grumpily, eyeing Riku and wondering what he should do if the other boy had a stroke, or something.
"Ahah…anyway, of course you're not some kind of girl replacement. That's what I was saying. I liked girls a lot, but the first time I saw you…it was different, you know? Some weird little voice in my mind kept telling me to get close to you, to be your friend, and that scared the hell out me. That's why I was such a bastard to you at first," Riku smiled apologetically. "It kind of scared me. But then I kept getting these crazy impulses to be near you that sort of—took over me, you know? Like that night at the lake- I didn't realize I was coming on to you until it was too late, and then…"
"Then you freaked out and turned into Ice-Man," Sora said flatly.
"You scared me, Sora. You made me second guess everything, and whenever you weren't around I thought about you and how I couldn't see you anymore, how I couldn't get close to you, and when you were around it was like all that went straight out the window…" Riku took a deep breath. "Wow, that's embarrassing to say."
"No, it's not. I felt the same way. Only, I didn't understand why I cared about what you thought about me. When you were mad at me, for no reason…"
"Sorry," Riku said, his aquamarine eyes boring into Sora's own crystalline ones. They held the gaze for a moment, understanding and apology passing between them in a split second, and then Sora smiled.
"No problem. I guess I can forgive you- this time."
"You ungrateful little…" Riku laughed and tightened his grip around Sora, bringing the other boy practically into his lap and placing a light kiss on his cheek.
They sat like that for a moment, gazing at the view that stretched out below them; miles and miles of forest and mountains, as far as the eye can see.
"So what now?" Sora asked, burrowing comfortably into Riku's shoulder.
He felt it when the other boy shrugged. "Now we head back."
"Do we have to tell everyone?"
" 'Course we do. I want to clear my name," Riku said with an easy smile.
"That's true. But I'm kind of scared."
Riku gave him a confused look. "Why would you be scared? No one has a problem with Axel and Roxas."
Sora smiled shakily. "It's not them."
"Then what is it?"
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"DUCKLINGS!"
One step inside the campsite, and already Alysa had pounced.
"So? How was it? Did you go camping? Did you roast s'mores? Did you climb things? Did you not die? Did you see any condom balloons? Did you hook up?"
Sora blushed; the faintest shade of pink. Following Alysa's eyes from him to Sora to him again and seeing the excited smile that spread across her face like a firework, Riku leapt forward frantically, trying to cover her mouth before…
"RIKU AND SORA, SITTING IN A TREE. K-I-S-S…"
She suddenly stopped and clutched her forehead. "Ouch. Singing is a bad idea. Remind me not to sing. No sing, no, no sing…"
"What's up with her?" Riku asked Doug, who was walking by very slowly, and jumping at loud noises.
"What?" Doug said, jumping, then noticed them looking pointedly at Alysa, who was now experimentally trying to sing the verse to "A Whole New World." And failing.
"Oh, her. This is her being hung-over."
Riku and Sora exchanged looks of horror. "I would hate to see her drunk."
Doug shook his head sadly. "Kids, let's put it this way; I will never see another karaoke machine without running for cover."
"Karaoke machine?"
Sora and Riku took in the campsite for the first time since their arrival. Several tents were down and one appeared to have taken perch in a nearby tree, and little streams and bits of confetti littered the ground like stones. The wreckage of what Sora only assumed could have been a snack table lay teetering off the side, and on close inspection, he and Riku were now standing on a deflated rubber beach ball.
Alysa let on a long, breezy sigh. "You guys should have been here. All my friends came up, and I know you would get along just swell. Rodney came, you know, the Redbull guy? Well, funnily enough, it turns out he can't barefoot waterski…"
"I'm going to bed," Doug said wearily, clutching his forehead.
"Nighty night!" Alysa said, giving him a cheery wave. "Anyways, so you two hooked up? Excellent, excellent, and this time I bet fifty, that sucker…"
"What?"
"Umm…I bet fifty on the outcomes of the salsa contest…and I won! Aren't you proud of me?"
They glared at her.
"Fine," she said, defeated. "I suppose you don't have any Advil on you?"
"No," Riku said, with only a hint of a smile.
'I'll just have to suffer in quiet agony, then," she sighed dramatically. "I'm going to bed early; Axel and Roxas are already back- I trust you won't kill each other and/or shag each other before you go to bed?"
She eyed the stunned look on Sora's face. "I'll take that as a no, then. I'm holding you to that!"
And then she wandered off in the direction of the tent, only wavering once. "Good to have you back, darlings," she said over his shoulder with a wink, then disappeared into the quiet confines of her tent.
"So," Riku said neutrally. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Sora threw confetti at him.
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"And then…well…"
Roxas' eyes got huge. "Then you what?"
"Then we kissed," Sora said, peering at Roxas cautiously.
Roxas let out a low whistle. "You did?"
"Ya-huh."
"And did you…"
"Enjoy it?" Sora blushed. "Well…"
Roxas laughed, surprising both of them. "You did, didn't you? Wow. I never would have…"
He looked at the sly blush on Sora's cheeks and back at the tent flap, which hid the other boy's tent from view. "Well, actually, I would have guessed. You two were flirting like rabbits.'
"Before you dragged me away screaming," Sora reminded him.
"Well, yes, before that," Roxas said with a wry grin, leaning back in his sleeping bag.
Both boys were in their tent after a very reluctant parting from the other two, and Sora had decided to tell Roxas the whole story after the other boy's eyes had practically fallen out after Riku had given Sora his "goodnight kiss" which, incidentally, involved quite a lot of tongue.
Roxas hadn't given him an account of his climbing trip yet, but judging by the large, impressive hickey on his neck, Sora could make an educated guess.
The smaller boy sighed and leaned back, clutching his pillow. "Who would have guessed things would turn out this way?'
"Not me," Roxas said, sounding sleepy already. "But something…things just happen, you know?"
"I know," Sora said quietly, remembering the way Riku's fingers had felt as they trailed along his cheekbone, the look in his eyes that said it all.
The silence was pressing around him, and suddenly it was a lot colder in the tent than he remembered. He could hear Roxas' breathing; pre-snore deep breaths; the other boy was just about to fall asleep. He had to act fast.
"Hey, Roxas?"
"What?" came the barely intelligible mutter.
"See you in the morning, okay?"
"Whatever..."
Sora smiled and grabbed his pillow, trailing across the open field and to his destination; another small tent, just across the clearing.
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Both boys sat up when he opened the flap; one pair of eyes suspicious, and one eager.
"Hey, Axel," Sora said, ignoring Riku. "Roxas really wants you. Like, bad. He can't contain himself in his overreaching lust."
Axel's eyes shone like a schoolboy's at Christmas, and his last word before he exited the tent in a flurry of red hair and sleeping bag was, "Goody!"
Now that he was alone with Riku, Sora suddenly felt shy; should he have come? "Sorry," he muttered, looking away from the other boy. "I just…"
That was as far as he got before Riku grabbed him and pulled, to land in a heap next to the other boy. Wrapping his arms securely around the other boy's waist and pulling the sleeping bag around them, Riku exhaled happily, his grip tightening on the smaller boy.
"I missed you."
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AWWWWWWWW
-melts into puddle of fluff-
So. Hoped you liked. Got kind of akward writing it cause I was supposed to be doing "summer work" and whenever anyone got within five feet I had to close the screen and start muttering stuff about ions under my breath..
But I digress.
Next Chapter: LAST ONE! WAHH! We return to camp, another ride in Velma, the return of Claire, and one last campfire…
If your brain hasn't turned to mush yet, a review would be nice. –grin-
