Riku slipped off his short sleeved jacket, tying it around his waist and leaving him in just his tank top. He was most likely going to be spending today sweating under the sweltering sun, so he might as well start early. Typical that the others got to run around and have fun while he took care of business. He had offered Sora the option to opt out and have fun with the others. It was his princely duty to take care of everyone after all.
"No, I don't mind helping you out. I..like spending time with you even if we'll be working," Sora had replied with his usual happy grin. It was a grin Riku found difficult to say no to.
"Fine, whatever. I don't want to hear any complaining though."
In the middle of the bustling town was a bulletin going over the various events along with job postings. Riku wanted odd jobs: something that wouldn't take a lot of commitment. Simply, get the job done and get paid. Sora stood right by him in an almost protective sort of way, seeing all the eyes on Riku.
Riku couldn't help but chuckle at a posting left by two older ladies who ran the inn.
"We need someone big and strong and possibly handsome to help with repairs on the outside of the inn. You will get paid extra if you can get most of it done today." It was signed with their names followed by a heart. If it was an inn, that could get them a decent amount of money, at least enough to keep going on their journey. After all, he had three other mouths to feed now.
"You up for some hard labor?" he asked Sora, turning to face him once he was done reading. "They have a job at the inn fixing up some of the exterior stuff. If anything, you can just hold nails for me."
"Hey! I can do more than just hold stuff for you!" Sora pouted, puffing up his cheeks so much that Riku feared his face was going to explode.
"Geez, I'm just teasing you. We'll see what you can do," Riku laughed, ruffling Sora's hair.
As they started to walk, Riku took notice of how close Sora stayed by him, almost walking out in front of him.
"Do you have to walk so close to me?" The heat from the sun was enough. He didn't need someone's body heat right by him.
"Well, it's just..a lot of people were staring at you, so I thought I should stay close by just in case. I know elves aren't commonly seen, so I guess they're just staring out of curiosity, but still."
Riku chuckled, tentatively giving Sora's shoulder a squeeze. "I appreciate the gesture, but I've been on my own out here for a while. It's very rare I run into people who would try to do something malicious to me or capture me or whatever. Besides, we have more dangerous adversaries to worry about than villagers."
"Yeah, you're right. I..I'm not sure why I'm being so protective..sorry." Sora sighed, backing off a bit. That familiar heat flashed across his cheeks as he took to rubbing at his own arm. He still had to piece together these "feelings" that inexplicably happened whenever he was around Riku.
As they walked down the dirt path, the inn slowly crept up in the distance. From the look of it, it seemed like a storm had passed through recently. The roof was a wreck with tiles strewn about. Collapsed lattices hung low off of the walls, teetering towards the ground. Riku was certain this would take more than just a day to fix, but he'd try his best with Sora helping him. If needed, he could drag Roxas, Ventus, and Xion over. He waved at two older ladies sitting at the porch off on the side of the building as they drew closer. Him and Sora leaned their keyblades in their scabbards against a nearby tree that was close enough where they could keep an eye on them.
"Hey there. We're here for the job you posted about fixing up your inn," Riku said with a bow which Sora mimicked a few seconds later.
"Ah, just what we need! A big, strong elf." The taller one appeared rather excited as she looked over Riku. Sora made a face as he stood the same way Riku did. Riku had to hold back a laugh when he happened to glance at Sora.
"So, what happened here? A storm or something?" Riku began to walk with her as she showed them the property.
"You could say that. It was those monsters. They came through here and messed everything up. We got lucky. Most of the damage is only to the outside of the inn."
Taking a closer look, Riku noticed the visible claw marks on the walls. He ran his fingers along the rough etchings, feeling the splinters from the wood rubbing coursely against his skin. "They bore a strange sigil. It's not the one the Heartless have."
"Unversed most likely. They're monsters that originate from one person. He can create them. He must've passed through here." This was good..well bad too. It meant they were on Vanitas' trail.
"That's rather frightening," she sighed, her frown deepening as she looked over the extent of the damage with him. "You elves have had it rough, haven't you? I barely see elves anymore."
"We hide away in our own secret kingdom. Only a few of us who are strong venture out along with the ones responsible for this whole mess. I'm sorry that you humans got dragged into this whole mess." Riku shook his head before he rambled on further. Sometimes, when he was dreaming deeply about both the past and the future, he often wondered if the world would be better off if they all disappeared to whatever realm the creatures of the ancient past went to to leave this world to the humans. Would it be peaceful? "Sorry, we should get to work." He gestured for Sora to come over. "He'll be helping me. I think this may take us a few days, but we'll get it done one way or another. If needed, I have others here that I can drag over here to help." Sora happily bounced over, giving her his biggest smile.
"My name is Sora! I'm happy to help."
The innkeeper looked over Sora with a strange familiarity. "It's nice to meet you, Sora. You..I'm not sure what it is, but something about your face seems familiar to me. However, it's like a distant memory I just can't seem to reach..oh! Now I'm starting to ramble." She laughed it off as she shook her head. "I'll let you boys get to work. My wife over there is making lemonade. Feel free to stop inside if you need a break." She patted both their heads before going inside to escape the heat.
"She recognized me?" Sora tilted his head to the side as he watched her go.
"Perhaps a past citizen of your old kingdom before the sleeping spell. That's my guess. It saved many lives, but it left this land broken and fragmented. Now, instead of kingdoms, it's merely patches of little villages trying to hold on." Riku gave Sora's shoulder a squeeze before walking over to a pile of supplies.
Sora watched as Riku easily scaled the building, hopping from window to window until he was up on the roof.
"Toss me the spare shingles and tools." He paced around, surveying what needed patching up.
"Toss them? You sure?" Sora held the supplies apprehensively as he gazed up at him. Riku was an elf..but still.
"Yeah, just give them a good toss. I'll catch them."
One spare shingle at a time, Sora used all his strength to launch them into the air. Riku had to jump at different angles here and there, but he managed to get all of them, giving Sora a thumbs up once he had everything he needed. Sora chuckled as he shook his head. No matter how small it seemed, Riku never ceased to amaze him.
Sora was only a few minutes into painting the side of the building where the claw marks were when the heat was starting to get to him. His skin shone under the sun in a sheen of sweat. Eventually, he had to pry off his shirt and chainmail, leaving him in just his tank top. Him and Riku being there had attracted a few onlookers. His face heated up like nothing else whenever he looked over and caught one of them waving at him. Despite that, Sora tried his best to focus on the job.
A sudden tap on his shoulder nearly made him shriek, breaking his concentration as he whipped around. The girl standing there nearly dropped the glass of lemonade she was holding with a shriek of her own.
"S-sorry to scare you. I just thought that it's pretty hot out, and you might want a drink. Wouldn't want you getting dehydrated or anything," she chuckled nervously as she held out the glass to him.
"Oh, thank you! I forgot about that. I probably would've passed out while working." He wiped his hands on his shirt, which were splattered with paint, and carefully took the glass. In mere seconds, the lemonade was gone followed by a satisfied sigh. "I'm Sora by the way."
"I'm Syeda. Nice to meet you." She smiled as she took the glass back, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt with the other hand. "I'm guessing you're not from around here? Are you guys adventurers or something?"
"Something like that. We've been travelling around. I'm hoping we'll be able to stop the monsters," Sora said, leaning against the side of the building. The shade was a nice shelter from the sun, but it still felt sweltering hot.
"Oh, I see. You're just passing through, then. Well, I don't know how long you guys are staying for but..if you want recommendations on where to stay, this inn run by my grandmas is really nice..really good food too." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I always love hearing all the stories the travellers have, though it's sad to know they're not staying for long. The interactions never feel permanent."
"I can imagine that is a bit sad, but I'm sure you have friends that live here, right?" Sora hadn't known the feeling of being stuck in one place since he only had hazy memories of his time before going to sleep. Even after, he never really felt lonely since he had Kairi and other people around. Before Riku came along, he had no idea how huge the world was. There was only the woods and the sea. He recalled spotting an island in the distance out in the water. Whenever he gazed at it, it was like someone was there watching him as well..something was always calling.
"A few, yes. Although, the friend groups in this town are a bit..cliquey. But I treasure the friends I have, and my grandmas are great. Maybe I'll be able to travel too someday, but for now, I have my duty here. It's the weirdest thing. This place feels like home to me, but there's something in the back of my mind..it's like a dim light I just can't reach. It tells me that my real home is elsewhere, and I see an ocean, but that's all I can get from it." She placed a hand over her heart with a look of reverence on her face. When she looked at him again, the sun shone over them. He hadn't noticed the faint, dark freckles along her face before. She looked..really pretty actually. Sora nearly stumbled backwards when he noticed he had been staring too long. They both glanced away from each other for a moment.
"Syeda, I know you'll get to go on great adventures soon, especially once the world is a more peaceful place. I know the sleeping spell messed everyone up. People can't remember their true homes, but I'm hoping to fix that," Sora said with a nod. "But for now, I could tell you all about my own adventures at dinner."
"I..I'd like that, Sora."
A sudden burst of wind from Riku jumping down from the roof and landing between them sent Sora backwards, falling onto his butt. The suspicious glare from Riku was icy enough to make him shiver even in the heat.
"You finished up with painting, Sora?" he asked as if he hadn't given him and Syeda the fright of their lives.
"Uh, a-almost, Riku. Just have to do a little more."
Riku turned his head back to the front, looking Syeda up and down. His ears twitched slightly as he tuned in to her heartbeat.
"S-sorry! I distracted him for a bit. I'll get you some lemonade too! I forgot you were up on the roof." She staggered for a moment before quickly bowing and running back into the inn.
"Letting yourself get distracted by girls, Sora?" Riku couldn't help but laugh at Sora's reddened cheeks as he helped him up.
"Am not! She walked up to me, so I figured I'd be polite and talk to her while she gave me a glass of lemonade." Sora promptly stuck his tongue out. His face went an even darker shade of red when his feet stumbled on getting pulled up, and he pressed against Riku's chest for a moment before quickly pulling away and dusting himself off. It took everything in him to not stare at those biceps which appeared even bigger than usual due to Riku hammering shingles down. "Wait, did you come down because you were done..or because you heard me talking to a girl and got..jealous."
"Trying to put shame on me now, huh? I am done with the roof, pes sher." Riku held his head up high with a "hmph" of indignation.
"Then I guess you won't mind if I talk to her some more tonight," Sora teased, poking at Riku's shoulder.
"You can do whatever you want as long as you're ready to finish this job tomorrow morning," Riku stabbed back matter of factly, though his eye twitched slightly. Riku took a box of nails and handed it to Sora without warning, making him nearly fall over at the sudden weight. "You hand me nails while I batten down some boards."
The teasing must've worked because Riku marched off without another word, grabbing some boards and going over to the first bit of damage. Riku couldn't tell if Sora was doing this on purpose or just being blissfully unaware. No matter how sharp his senses were, he still couldn't figure him out. He held a hand out whenever he needed a nail, carefully hammering the boards into place. The way he worked was careful and calculated using steady hands. Sora would by lying if he said he hadn't maybe focused more on Riku's hands and muscles than the actual work he was doing. Riku sometimes had to snap his fingers to get Sora's attention when he needed another nail when Sora was off in la la land.
When he was finally done for now, Riku used his forearm to wipe some sweat off his forehead which was already making his bangs stick together.
With another round of lemonade, Sora followed Riku over to a lone tree where they both sat down. Riku breathed a sigh of relief at finally being able to rest, feeling his muscles starting to unwind some. The pressure going off his lower back was sweet relief.
"Sorry if I sounded rude back there. If you want to hang out with that girl and talk, you should. Peaceful times in towns like this won't happen very often for our group, so we should take advantage of that," Riku said after a long pause of silence, twiddling his fingers.
"I would like to talk to her since she seems pretty cool," Sora started, glancing at Riku a couple of times. The last moment they had been close like this was after they had danced in the Elven kingdom. Sora took advantage of that and unabashedly leaned against Riku. They were both sweaty anyway. "But I like being around you too, even if you do act..bitchy a lot."
"Well, excuuuse me." Riku snorted a bit as he laughed, not really minding the closeness since he was rather exhausted himself. "Guess I'm just the biggest bitch of all then. You deserve to have fun when you can, so don't let me stop you."
There were so many thoughts swimming around in Sora's head: all the things he wanted to say to Riku..confess to him, but..was it the right time? Sora grabbed a handful of grass, clenching it in his fist.
"Thanks, Riku, but you deserve to have fun too. Maybe we could do some stargazing again. I always like looking up at the moon with you. There's something..calming and familiar about it, so how about that?" It was strange. It felt like something they had done many, many times before. Even before Riku had shown up, he felt his presence in the light of the moon like an invisible phantom that seemed tangible only to disappear if he tried to reach out and touch it.
"Sure, I'd like that, Sora."
Sora grinned, daring to rest his head against Riku's shoulder. He took deep breaths to quiet the beating of his heart.