CW for a character experiencing dyshporia.

12.

Fussing with the small coffee machine in his apartment, Riku tried to process what had happened.

He'd known his replica had killed Zexion. He hadn't thought it would be so brutal. Ienzo's panic from back then made even more sense. Even if Nobodies couldn't feel, that moment had to have been terrifying, even worse because Ienzo remembered it. Even though Riku knew it wasn't his fault, he felt a wave of guilt for what his likeness had done anyway. He wondered if on a psychological level Ienzo permanently associated that with him.

The gender thing was no big deal; he just hoped it didn't hinder his ability to get to understand Ienzo. He hadn't had plans for going that far when inviting him here (it'd just been a not-so-distant fantasy); he figured if something happened, it happened, if it didn't, whatever.

But the kissing had been awfully nice.

His hand shook as he measured out the coffee. In the moment he'd struggled against getting hard, and the conversation after had mostly killed that notion. But thinking of it again, and the notion of more , made him dizzy.

It should not be difficult to make a pot of coffee. He turned it on at last.

If things went further, and that was a big if … he thought of that "less than one percent," and found himself strangely grateful that his father had slipped him a box of condoms when he heard Ienzo was coming to stay. ("Better safe than sorry," he'd said, with a cheeky grin, as Riku had tried to vanish into nothing.) "You're lucky, I actually have the good stuff right now," Riku said to Ienzo, who was looking out the window. "Mom brought home two cans of kona from the store. I was subsiding off of instant."

"Oh that will not do," Ienzo said. "No significant other of mine is going to drink instant coffee. " He shuddered.

"Hey, as long as it gets the job done."

" No. " The banter was a bit too light after the conversation they'd just had.

"We can grab breakfast in the house, or we can go out."

"Whichever is easiest."

"Depends on whether you feel like dealing with my mom first thing." He handed Ienzo a cup.

Ienzo's smile was small and nervous. "Is she a morning person?"

He groaned. "Too much. Leaps out of bed singing."

"I envy that cheerfulness."

"It's better we're up early. We can do something before it gets hot, and then later after the peak."

"Peak heat?"

He nodded. "I can handle it, but I think it might be a bit much for you."

"...I'll say. So did you have plans?"

"I figured I'd show you the island. And then later if you want we can go down to the beach, or I could see what Sora and Kairi are doing. It's okay if you just want it to be us, too."

Ienzo smiled. "If tonight is a repeat of last night, we'll have plenty of time to talk later."

He blew on the coffee. "...And this morning?"

"...Maybe if you're a good tour guide."

He tried to swallow the flush of want. Play it cool. "Always pushing me to word harder."

They got ready for the day and went down into the house. Riku was unused to seeing Ienzo in casual clothes, especially summer ones.

Mariko was watching the morning news. "Oh, good morning," she said. "I didn't expect you two up so soon. Let me make something-"

Riku held up a hand. "I think I can handle breakfast, mom, you relax."

"Did you sleep well, sweetie?" She asked Ienzo. "I told Riku you might be more comfortable on the pullout in the den-"

Riku snorted and opened the fridge. "Mom, you've never tried to sleep on that thing. It's eighty percent springs. When Sora and Kairi stayed over they slept on it," Riku explained.

"Oh, it as adorable, the three of them used to fall asleep cuddling, I think I have a photo of that somewhere-"

The humor drained from Riku's face. " Mom."

Mariko got up and pulled an album off of a bookshelf. "Here we go."

Ienzo smirked and went to take a look. Riku glared at him.

"Found the one. Aren't they so sweet?"

The photo was at least ten years old and appeared to have been taken in secret, from the door of the den, which was a dark, cozy little room. Ienzo saw their three little heads and a sea of blankets. Asleep, Riku looked so… peaceful. "...As you said. Sweet."

"I'm so glad Riku has friends like them. He's such a shy, reserved boy. He needs someone to get him out of his head sometimes." She smiled.

"Ienzo, how do you take your eggs?" Riku asked tersely.

"However you're making them for yourself is fine," he said.

"I was intrigued to find out he was seeing someone. You seem a lot alike, from what I can see. Sometimes I think those two are too cheerful." She patted his shoulder.

"You must love him very much."

"Of course I do," she said. "He was our miracle. I… didn't think I could have any."

"Oh, I see." He glanced over at Riku, frying their breakfast.

"You'll take care of him, won't you?" She asked.

Ienzo smiled. "I'll try my very best."

After breakfast, Riku tried to get going before it got too hot. Already the cicadas were chirping. "So this island isn't the only one," he said to Ienzo. "There are a dozen, but people only really live on the biggest four. This is the smallest of those."

"Do you travel between?" Ienzo asked.

"You can take a ferry. The hospital's on the biggest island, and the university and capitol, all that stuff. But, like I said, mostly everything we need is here. We can go one day, if you'd like."

"I think I would. Is that where the dreaded social services is?"

Riku groaned. "Yes. Please don't make me go there."

Ienzo chuckled. "Even I am not that boring."

They walked down the main road into town. There was a small market which was just opening, a few restaurants, the bar, other shops and things. The school was up on a hill, children in uniforms already queuing up at the gates. Riku noticed Ienzo eyeing them curiously, and with something like apprehension.

"What was it like?" he asked Riku.

He frowned. "What?"

"School."

He blinked.

"I was… tutored by the other apprentices instead of receiving a formal education. I have a vague idea of the notion from books, but no experience. So what was it like for you?"

"Oh… well…" Riku tried to come up with a way of summarizing it. "They kind of… split it up into parts. Preschool, kindergarten, primary and secondary school, and then university." He explained about grades, subjects, class periods. Ienzo had a lot of questions about extracurriculars. "I didn't really do those, though some years Sora made me do sports." His high school self would've rather spent all his time angsting about the small life he was destined to lead. "Most of the time, unless you had a really good teacher, it's… pretty boring. I bet you'd find it dead easy."

"Possibly," Ienzo murmured, looking back out onto the road ahead.

Riku was silent for a time too. He realized for the first time that Ienzo had spent ten years in the Organization, meaning he'd been… well, little when he'd become a Nobody. Riku thought of all the experiences he'd taken for granted-or, in fact, even dreaded, loathed. School. Birthday parties. Holidays. Trips to the beach. Time with family and friends and people his own age. And Riku had thought that happy life was suffocating, small. He tried to offer Ienzo a smile and took his hand.

The day was getting warmer, and while Ienzo didn't say anything, Riku saw the sweat running down his face, so he suggested they go back. They got some shaved ice from a cafe. "It's not sea salt, but it'll do," Ienzo said, with only some of his previous energy.

"...Are you okay?" Riku asked.

"...I'm…" He pushed his small spoon deeper into his cup. "This is normal, Riku. You lived so normally. "

"...I was thinking about that, when we were walking. I didn't realize… just how much you missed."

"I don't think I did either." He frowned. "Even when I did reconnaissance on other worlds, and saw people doing these things… it was always as an outsider, a perpetrator. I didn't… get to sit under an umbrella and eat dessert." He swallowed. "I didn't get to talk to people's mothers and see people's baby pictures, or go to school, or make friends. Even would think I'm pathetic for wanting that. They always…" Mushing the ice harder. "They praised me for my academic work, and they were always too busy to pay any attention to me that any sort of positive reinforcement made me almost compulsively try to please them. And I didn't think about how much of me that was until now."

Riku wasn't sure what to say other than "I'm sorry." If he hadn't come, he wouldn't be this uncomfortable.

"No, Riku. No, don't say sorry." He took Riku's hand. "If anything, I should be thanking you. I never noticed… how tied my hands were, back then. And it doesn't make it better, but… I think I understand… why I felt so compelled to do wrong, because they told me it was right."

He scraped the last bit of syrup from the bottom of the paper cup. "You never told me exactly what happened. I… have ideas, but I'm not sure."

His eyes darkened.

"If you're not ready to tell me-"

Ienzo looked up. "What were your ideas?"

He sighed. "I saw some of the reports Ansem, Seeker of Darkness left behind. Stuff about… human experimentation on hearts." He lowered his voice further. "That he suggested you do all these awful things to learn more about them."

"...Yes. That is true. It started… with a focus on memory, to help Xehanort-who we now know was Xehanort in Terra's body-reclaim his memory, because he was an amnesiac. That led to the discovery that memory is stored in the heart, and from there on, the scientific vigor only helped him stoke the darkness in each and every one of us. There's… more to it, of course, but that's the gist."

He sighed. "Look, what happened then isn't going to change how I feel about you. You know the horrible things I did, too. The important thing is… we're both trying to be better people."

He smiled wearily. "Yes," he said.

They headed back to the house. Riku's mom had gone to visit a friend, leaving them virtually alone in the house. "Want to watch TV?"

"...Sure."

Ienzo seemed tickled by the notion of what it actually was. "I'm dying to learn more about how this is all broadcast," he said. "It's radio signal, right? The screen itself just seems like a computer monitor."

Riku laughed. "No idea. You might want to ask my dad. His job does that sort of thing."

"And it's all just… for entertainment?"

He settled back on the chaise of the pullout couch. "Pretty much. And information, like the news. You guys don't have anything?"

"There used to be films played publicly, like the ones in Twilight Town," Ienzo said, settling down next to him. "And we have recorded music, and the like, and now we sort of have an equivalent of your internet. See, internet, I can understand how that works, but this, I'm missing pieces." He frowned, a bit petulant, and Riku couldn't help but smile.

"'Fraid I'm a bit useless when it comes to science," he said. "Maybe I should take you to our library."

Ienzo's eyebrows shot up. "Perhaps you shouldn't. You wouldn't ever see me again."

"...Just let me know when "I don't know" becomes a repetitive response." He offered him the remote. "You pick something."

"There're multiple things?"

"Whole channels. It's all part of the cable package. It's mostly ads now, though."

" Fascinating," he said. He was sitting forward on the couch cushion, flicking through channels, his head slightly cocked. Riku really wanted him to lean back so they could cuddle, but he didn't push it. "There's so much content."

"My dad says too much."

He kept flipping. "Somehow not much of it is interesting."

Riku laughed. "Not usually."

He let out a long breath. Ienzo settled on a documentary, which Riku didn't particularly find interesting either, but he just let Ienzo watch in fascination. After a few minutes he finally leaned back, and Riku so tentatively put an arm around his shoulders.

They watched the programs for a few hours. All of these people leading ordinary lives, or fictional lives. Yet something else Ienzo knew nothing about. He found the medium intriguing, its pacing, the way images were edited together. Even the advertisements, which Riku largely ignored, told him more about Destiny Islands than a crash course would. He knew they were fake, deliberately meant to sell a service or a thing, but considering the closest Radiant Garden got were flyers, it was interesting.

By the time the day had "cooled" enough to go back out, Riku suggested they might go to the beach.

The swimsuit material felt strange against his skin. He had a swim shirt which thankfully was high enough to cover the scar, and even better, seemed to be fairly common. Riku had put a shirt on for the moment, and Ienzo found himself hyperfixating on what would happen when they got to the beach, if he would take it off, and the earlier unrestrained wanting he'd felt seemed as though it would burst out of his skin.

There weren't as many people at the beach as Ienzo thought. He saw groups of friends, a few families, couples ( other couples, he thought), people running, dogs. They set down their towels and bag of snacks.

"You… know how to swim, right?" Riku asked.

"I'm not that sheltered," he said wryly, taking off his sneakers. It had felt odd walking down here without socks, the texture strange against his bare feet. He remembered doing recon at beaches, running his hands through the sand to check for mineral composition. But he hadn't once stuck his feet in the water-that would be a waste of time. Lazy. Best to get a job done quickly and efficiently and get back as soon as possible, back to his books and experiments. His heart caught in his throat when Riku pulled off his shirt, and he couldn't quite stop himself from staring, suddenly feeling inadequate.

Riku noticed this and blushed. "Are you coming?"

"...Right. Yes."

The water was warmer than he might have thought, but still felt good in the heat. Ienzo sighed a little.

Riku leaned back into the waves, and he caught sight again of his bare chest, tanned from the sun. "...You'd think you'd never seen a person shirtless before," he teased.

"Of course I have," he said, trying to be blithe. "You are just… quite striking. It's disarming." He let his knees fold, the water supporting him. Giving into something like this was soothing, and more than that, a relief. Feelings pulsed around him like the tide. He wanted to grab him right now and kiss him and never let go.

"...I wish I could see you." He said it so quietly that it was almost inaudible over the waves.

Ienzo stumbled over his words. "I'd have a lot of explaining to do if someone saw this ." He touched the collar of his shirt, the wet spandex squishing slightly. "But…" He swallowed. "Perhaps I can be… persuaded , later."

It was the boldest thing either of them had said, and it settled between them. "Don't tease me," Riku said. "We just got here but you make me want to take you back home."

"Were it not for the weather, I would say… yes, absolutely. But as it is… I think I'm comfortable for the first time all day." He wasn't insecure about his chest, but he was aware in this case one thing could lead to another. Were either of them prepared for that, emotionally? Ienzo tried to imagine him seeing it, touching it or lower still. The thought alone made him dizzy, blunted by the uneven clack of dysphoria.

Would it be so bad, to be swept away, to eschew the safety of plans? To see how he really felt about it all?

Ienzo looked over at him. They had a chance at a normal life, a normal relationship. He could, quite feasibly, move on. It seemed strange to even consider.

Riku took his hand and, so gently, led them into deeper water.

After a dinner of yesterday's leftovers, they went back upstairs. Riku's parents' weren't home. "I guess mom must've asked dad to drop by at the friend's after work. That happens a lot." His face was still red.

"I see." He felt the sea salt against his skin, but he felt surprisingly clean. "How nice."

"They're both social butterflies. I think it confuses them they ended up with me."

"You prefer your own company?"

"Most of the time."

"Me too."

A few beats. Riku'd cooled the room down, but Ienzo was still sweating. "Oof, you got a little burned," Riku said, touching his cheek. "I'll fix it when the burn settles."

"And I was religious with the cream." He sighed.

"It's the salt. Fries like meat." He chuckled, and Ienzo did too, because neither of them knew how to properly initiate this, so he let bygones be bygones and just kissed him.

Riku hadn't bothered to put his shirt back on after the beach, so Ienzo could feel some of that skin under his hands, that muscle, strong from all of the fighting. He let his hands run down his back, pulling him as close as he dared. "Come here," Riku said. "Come here, just-" leading him to the bed. He sat and trailed his hands down Ienzo's waist, bringing with them goosebumps and an almost painful want. Ienzo tried to will himself not to feel guilt for feeling this, for wanting this. "Do you think I could-" Tugging at the hem of the swim shirt.

He took a deep breath. "Yes."

Part of him wondered if this was too fast. But he remembered they'd been together for nearly a year , a year of letters, of longing, of not letting himself feel, and feeling the shirt pull off of his skin Ienzo caved entirely.

"I...I'm afraid I'm not nearly as in shape as you," he murmured. Riku was looking at him almost with a sort of reverence , trailing his hand gently down across his chest, his nipple, along his waist.

"I think you're beautiful."

He didn't know what to say in response. He was shaking. He sat down next to him.

Riku cocked his head slightly. "...Do you think I could…" reaching up towards the scar. "Would that be…"

He leaned a little more into the dying light, so he could see it. He wondered if the notion of Riku touching it would be triggering, would break this brief respite of peace. "...Gently. Not with your whole hand."

He listened, brushing one trembling finger across it, and Ienzo jerked. "I'm sorry-"

Tears rushed into his eyes. "No," he said softly.

"What's wrong?"

Riku wasn't the replica. Riku wouldn't hurt him; Ienzo wasn't sure he was capable. This relief, this last safeguard, gave way. "It feels good," he admitted, trying not to cry. "It feels-"

He came still closer and kissed the tears from his face. "Hey. It's okay."

He took a shaky breath. This wasn't just casual anymore, Ienzo realized. Maybe it never was. Riku kissed him along his jaw, then tentatively lower, and lower still, until he was kissing the scar itself, and Ienzo thought his heart might burst open. The same feeling from this morning was back, though yet stronger, but for some reason Riku's utter acceptance of his body was helping him push through the worst of the dysphoria. "That feels…"

"Is it alright?"

"Yes." Ienzo shifted his weight, easing him down onto the bed more fully. Riku's hands trailed down his back, over his ass, hugging him tightly to his chest. Pressed this close, Ienzo felt his hard dick through the thin swimsuit, his own body responding in term.

Riku thought he was beautiful. Riku was turned on by him. Enough restraint. His hands snapped up to that hair, at last, at last getting it between his fingers, and despite the salt making it a bit dry it felt even softer than he thought. He struggled to find the hair tie, pulling it free, burying his hands in the mass. Another small sound caught in Riku's throat.

They kept kissing. Ienzo shifted his weight, pressing up against him more fully, and feeling his dick so near- he took a shaky breath, pulling away.

"What's wrong?" Riku asked.

A tremor passed through him. "Listen, I'm willing to… to try."

"You mean…?"

"Something, I don't know, but I…" This felt so awkward to admit. "I want you?"

He shuddered.

"This all feels like so much."

"Yes. Yes," he said, and kissed him again. "Will you… let me touch you?"

A prerequisite. He could see if he could handle it. Ienzo nodded. Riku kissed him again, more slowly, and probably as a distraction. Ienzo felt his hand pass down along his hip, and up along his inner thighs. He touched him clumsily, almost curiously, and Ienzo had to remind himself that this was all new for Riku too. Ienzo wanted more, wanted everything, wanted the part of his mind that kept pointing out this was indeed not a dick to just shut up. He pressed a little harder against his hand and fumbled to reach down with his own. "Could I-"

"You don't have to ask at this point," he admitted in a strained voice. It still took Ienzo a moment of steeling his nerve before he was able to touch it directly, hearing him make a small, beautiful noise. All he felt through the fabric was heat and hardness, and when he reached up to slip off Riku's swimsuit he didn't resist, only tugged at Ienzo's own.

Oh.

This wasn't how he expected today to go, but he found he didn't mind. He felt another spasm of nerves when Riku actually started touching him, trying to figure him out, and responded in turn.

Ienzo almost felt disembodied, but all too embodied, feeling his dick too, strangely responsive to his touch. They stroked each other in a sort of mystified silence for what seemed like a long time. Ienzo kept almost feeling pleasure, but he couldn't provide much guidance himself, as he usually avoided touching here. And honestly this sensation of desire was so new, so alien. Maybe it's in the water, he mused, hearing Riku breathe his name.

Ienzo realized he wanted to know what it was all about. He couldn't catch his breath. "Do you-want to-"

"I really do." With his hair loose around him, his face flushed, Ienzo had barely seen something so beautiful.

"I brought something in my bag, I just have to-" He'd only gotten them out of an abundance of caution.

"I… have some too," Riku said, as though embarrassed.

"Better to… have and not need, I suppose," Ienzo said, his heart hammering. "Okay, where-"

"The… top dresser drawer?"

Shakily, he got up, trying not to be aware of how naked he was and also how wet . "One would think you brought me all this way just for this."

He was breathless. Ienzo just barely saw his dick for the first time, and another shudder passed through him. "Like you… said. Better to be prepared."

He found the small box, still sealed, next to a pair of wrist braces. Tremblingly, he peeled it open and tore one from the rest. Ienzo knew how to do this in theory -he'd given himself a sex ed crash course as a teenage Nobody-but he never thought he'd actually ever so do with someone else. Hadn't felt the need.

That was what this felt like- need . He straddled Riku, trying to appear cool, calm, confident , but couldn't quite quell the shaking in his hand as he gently rolled it onto him. "Are you sure about this?" Riku asked.

"I'm sure about you." He took a deep breath. "Are you sure?"

"I just want to feel good with you."

"Alright." He swallowed. "Can you help me-"

"Oh. Right." He chuckled a little.

It wasn't easy, or spontaneous. They both had to sort of use their hands to guide the tip inside of him, and Ienzo tried to smother the dysphoria that wanted to come. He didn't think that Riku was necessarily larger than average, but he felt a pinch of pain, a stretch, and couldn't stop himself from wincing.

"A-are you-"

"I'm alright," he said, in a voice that sounded like the opposite. "I just…" Forcing a laugh. "I've never had much of anything in here. Give me a minute."

He did, resting his hands on Ienzo's hips and clearly trying not to show that it felt good for him. Ienzo wished for that ease of pleasure, that comfort. At least the pain was fading. He leaned forward a bit more, found that more comfortable. Riku kissed him across his shoulder, his scar. Ienzo tried moving, gently, unsure if this would trigger pain again, and heard Riku moan. "What does that feel like?" he asked, partially out of curiosity, partially to distract himself.

He seemed to struggle to respond, his hips straining a bit against Ienzo's. "Warm," he said. "Just kind of… tight." He gasped a little.

He pressed against him a bit harder, wincing again at the ache, but it faded in a moment, and he was actually able to thrust against him with some degree of ease. So this is sex, he thought. It was a bit bizarre. Riku kissed him, meeting him in an uneven sort of rhythm. Now that it was no longer hurting, it actually felt… nice , sensorily. He thought he might dread the sensation of knowing a dick was inside that part of him. Ienzo found he liked this strange and unusual fullness, that it made him feel closer to him in a different way. Riku's hands in his hair, along his waist, the way it sounded to hear him breathe and moan a little.

They kept trying for an unknown amount of time. Ienzo didn't think it would take this long, thought that at some point he would feel something more than just nice , or at least that Riku would. It was fun enough, easy enough, but not explosive and honestly not as hot as their previous making out. He wondered how much of that had to do with his dysphoria, and how much of that had to do with the fact that neither of them had done anything.

His thighs were starting to cramp from the quasi-kneeling, quasi-lying position he was in, and his sunburns were feeling hot and achy now. All of the emotion and sensation had drained him, made him exhausted. "I'm… I'm sorry," he said. "My legs are starting to hurt."

Riku's eyes slit open. "We can stop, if you want."

"But do you feel… close?"

He came back to his senses. "It… it feels really good, but… no, I don't think I am."

"Oh. Alright." There was a lump in his throat all of a sudden. He got off of him, shivering a little as it slid out, at a loss for what to do. Go pee, he remembered from his readings, more dysphoria invading. "I'm going to… use the restroom."

His expression was unreadable. He took off the (empty) condom, threw it away. Then, frowning, "Are you… are you okay?"

"What do you mean?"

He sat up a little, startled. "You're bleeding-"

Ienzo looked down and saw a streak of blood running down his thigh. "Oh, god," he said, an embarrassed flush flooding him. "This is… it's possible, it happens." He took a quick breath. "Sometimes when the hymen stretches, it… bleeds, I'm fine. I just need-" His anxiety was inflating.

Riku leapt off the bed and grabbed some paper towel. "Is this-will this be-"

Ienzo snatched it from him. He grabbed a clean pair of underwear from his bag and darted into the bathroom.

Ienzo was in the bathroom for a long time.

Riku waited, unsure of what to do with himself. His hair caught in the sweat on his skin. He cooled down the room again, nervous. He almost wanted to ask, but he didn't want to push Ienzo's discomfort more. He wondered if he'd hurt Ienzo more than he'd let on, if there was something he could've done differently, like finger him, or-or he should've just bought some lube as well, that might've helped-

Finally, Ienzo emerged, pale aside from sunburn, his eyes red. "It seems to have stopped," he said in a low voice.

"Are you in pain?"

"No, it doesn't hurt." He sat down, gingerly, all of the joy gone from his face.

"Do you want me to… I don't know, go get you some-"

"I… don't think I need any. But thank you." He knotted his hands.

Riku scooted a little closer to him. "What's wrong?"

He swallowed. "The whole time I kept getting… caught up in the notion of what exactly we were doing. I kept feeling so… conscious of my body."

"I told you I don't care about that."

He smiled tiredly. "I know you don't, but that doesn't stop me from it."

"I'm… sorry."

"I'd just hoped…" He exhaled. "That I would get so overwhelmed I'd forget, or not care, but as it was neither of us came." His nostrils flared a little.

Riku pressed a kiss against his shoulder. "Did you think we'd instantly be good at it?"

"We were good at kissing fairly quickly."

"Kissing isn't so complicated." He exhaled, resting his head against him.

"You're… right. It is complicated, isn't it? All along I thought it would feel natural." He sighed, nervously.

Riku had to agree there. "It might get easier if we keep trying," he said. "And probably better. Being nervous doesn't help."

"...You have a point."

"But if you're too uncomfortable, we don't have to do it. There are other things, or… nothing at all."

Ienzo smiled tiredly. "An experiment for another day, I think."

Riku sat up. "Here. Let me fix this." He healed the sunburns that had bloomed angrily across his shoulders, his face. "...Your hair's a mess." He tried to smooth it down a little.

"...I wonder whose fault that is. Though you're not much better. I'm afraid I lost control of myself." He touched a lock that had draped over Riku's shoulders. "You know this was how I knew I was first attracted to you. I wanted nothing more than to touch it."

He snorted. "Does it live up to the expectations?"

"I rather think so."

"Why don't you lay down? Relax a while?"

"It was a long day, wasn't it?"

"Eventful."

He finally eased back down. Riku drew him into his arms. He hadn't really had expectations for the whole thing, though he did wish it had provided some form of relief. Ienzo pressed his face against his throat. He hadn't expected it to go so far so fast, but it didn't feel fast. They'd been apart such a long time.

"Maybe we could see your friends tomorrow?" Ienzo asked.

"Yeah. Sure. Sounds fun."

He pulled him close, and neither of them said anything else.