So they were doing this again.

The uncomfortable body language, forced smiles and strained greetings. Despite the last several days, Sora and Riku hadn't managed to get back to normal. They were visibly uncomfortable when the group of friends met in the lobby of their dorm hall before setting out on the short trip to the cafeteria, avoided making eye contact and mumbled short greetings.

It was just the five of them for now, Roxas and Sora and Kairi and Namine and Riku. In a close bunch, they kept scarves up over their faces rather than try to talk to one another. The evening air was blistering cold so they moved with hurried steps over the frozen, snow-covered ground, boots crunching loudly. Flurries over the last few days made everything sparkle in the fading sunlight; it'd be dark by the time they all got back to their dorm hall.

With relief, the five sophomores entered the cafeteria and let out a collective sigh. The blast of hot air that hit them when they first opened the door was enough to chase the chill away and they began stripping off their protective layers before they were so much as ten feet inside the door.

"Hey."

They all looked up at the familiar voice, still busy with their clothes.

"Hi." Roxas offered a small smile to the tall redhead, who grinned back at him.

"How're you doing?"

"Thawing, so I'm good."

That earned a small laugh from the senior, and Axel let his gaze wander over the other sophomores. He didn't miss the way Sora and Riku were all but avoiding each other, which meant they hadn't worked things out yet.

"Demyx's gonna be late." Green eyes focused on Roxas again. "He's web-chatting with Zexion."

"All right."

Now with Axel in tow, the group continued on into the actual cafeteria and headed towards one of the larger tables. There would be plenty of chairs left for Demyx to choose from once the blond junior arrived, and they let themselves spread out more than they usually would have. With so few students on campus, there was no reason to confine themselves. Coats and scarves and gloves and the like were abandoned on the extra chairs and the friends separated to find whichever serving line had the food they were most interested in. Unsurprisingly, Axel followed Roxas.

"So what's up with those two?" the tall senior asked, jerking his thumb towards the line Sora was in and pointing with his other hand to Riku's place in a third line.

"They haven't made up from the biting incident yet."

"Still?" Axel was surprised. "I thought you were all just waiting for them to start dating. Why is this such a big deal?"

"Because they're both stubborn cowards." There was sympathy in Roxas' tone despite the almost harsh words he used to describe his twin and friend. "Kairi's supposed to be coming up with something. Sora doesn't want to admit that he was trying to provoke Riku 'cause he thinks Riku'll get mad. Riku thinks Sora's uncomfortable around him, which is true. It's a mess."

There was an almost impressed air to the way Axel lifted his eyebrows. "Really. Damn."

"Yeah. I hope they'll at least knock it off for tonight. It's Christmas Eve and if they keep being painfully awkward then it won't be as much fun." Lifting his chin, the blond examined the options for dinner and smiled at the server. "Green bean casserole, please, and mashed potatoes with gravy."

"Gift exchange is in your room, right?" Axel stepped forward once Roxas moved out of the way. The school was making an attempt to give the students a stereotypical "home-cooked Christmas dinner," so there were dishes like the casserole and potatoes Roxas got, along with stuffed green peppers, fresh baked dinner rolls, honeyed ham, and seasoned goose. "Ham and stuffed peppers, thanks."

"Merry Christmas!" The server smiled cheerfully at the pair as Roxas and Axel walked away.

Weaving their way through the few dozen other students who'd remained on campus, the two students carried their plates to where the drink machines lined a wall and took a moment to survey the options.

"They put out mini marshmallows for the hot cocoa," Axel pointed out, immediately choosing an off-white mug and managing, with one hand, to fill it with the steaming brown drink.

"Sweet." Watching the older boy add marshmallows to his drink was enough to convince Roxas that cocoa sounded great. It was even the frothy kind, which meant it was the best kind. However, he didn't think he could manage to hold the mug and press the dispenser button at the same time without burning himself—his fingers weren't nearly as long as Axel's, after all—so he set his plate down on the counter as he picked a mug and filled it with cocoa. As many marshmallows as he could fit were piled on top of the froth before he retrieved his plate and followed Axel's lanky form back to the table. Sora was the only one back, his plate piled with fries and cheese pizza with stuffed crust, though he took one look at the mug in Roxas' hand and was out of his chair.

"Marshmallows!" And the brunet was gone, disappearing into the thin crowd of students to get his own mug of cocoa.

"Weirdo." His eyes turned in the direction Sora had just gone, Riku approached the table and set his plate down. Absently, his hand searched the air for the back of his chair, eventually finding it and pulling it back so he could sit. There wasn't an ounce of expression on his face, but he still hadn't looked away from the last spot Sora had been visible; Roxas and Axel exchanged a look.

"Sora loves marshmallows," Roxas explained pointlessly just to have something to say.

Finally bringing his attention back to himself, Riku sat and scooted his chair closer to the table. "He loves sugar in general."

"He's gotta get his energy from somewhere."

"Who does?" Kairi and Namine returned with matching plates of casserole and goose with cups of what looked like hot apple cider and sat side-by-side across from Roxas and Axel.

It was strange, sitting this way. Usually, Sora sat by Roxas, with Axel on the blond's other side, and by Sora was Riku's spot, then Kairi then Namine, and finally Demyx and Zexion completed the circle. Occasionally they were joined by Ariel or Hayner, and then would draw up an extra chair between Namine and Demyx or between Sora and Roxas. But Ariel and Zexion and Hayner had gone home for the holidays, and ever since Riku had bitten Sora, the silver-haired athlete had placed himself at least three seats away from the younger student and thrown off the entire arrangement. No one said anything, though, because no one wanted to be the one to bring up why the two boys were so uncomfortable around each other. Some of them knew the whole story and the rest were aware that something had happened between the two but weren't nosy enough to find out what. It was probably better that way—Sora and Riku would both have been mortified if news of their misadventure spread around the school.

"Sora." Roxas took a bite of his casserole and paused to savor it. He loved green bean casserole, especially when it had the crispy onion things on top. "He's going to come back with a mug of cocoa and a cup full of just mini marshmallows."

"Of course I am!" With a wide grin, said brunet resumed his seat and, just as Roxas had said, placed two mugs by his plate. Cocoa and marshmallows. His friends watched in quiet amusement as he slurped up the froth from his cocoa and replaced it with as many marshmallows as he could fit.

"What are you going to do with the rest of them?" Namine asked, confused as to why anyone would want way more marshmallows than they could possibly use for a single mug of cocoa.

Without a word, Sora grinned and picked up one of the marshmallows. His head tilted back and he tossed the sweet into the air, expertly catching it in his open mouth.

Kairi smiled and rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"Can I try?"

"Sure!" Sora held the cup out and Namine selected one of the marshmallows. She looked nervous for a moment before she tried to copy what the brunet had done; the marshmallow bounced off her nose and landed on the floor to roll under the table. Embarrassed at her failure, Namine blushed as the rest of the students laughed. But her attempt led to everyone else wanting a turn, and Sora feigned despair.

"I'll run out of marshmallows in two minutes at this rate!" he lamented, cradling the mug to his chest and putting on the saddest expression he could manage.

"Shut up and share, Brat," Riku half-scolded the younger athlete. There was almost a pause after he said it, seeing as he'd said barely a word since they'd met up in the sophomore hall lobby, and hadn't called Sora "Brat" in days. But the pause was stopped before it could start by Sora sticking his tongue out at the older boy. One of Riku's eyebrows went up and the corner of his mouth twitched as he tried not to smirk. He wanted to say something teasing and maybe a little suggestive but held it back. Not after what he'd done and how weird things had been. But damn he wanted to. He missed the teasing and the flirting. It was Christmas Eve and he couldn't even flirt with the kid he liked.

Oh, yeah, you're a big tough guy, Riku. Nervous to talk to Sora, of all people, just 'cause you've got a crush.

Yeah, he was nervous to make things worse by being too forward like he'd already been stupid enough to do. So he held himself in check and crossed his arms over his chest. "Share."

Rolling his eyes, Sora sighed dramatically. "Fiiine." He was pouting as he passed the mug to Roxas, and he watched it travel from person to person as everyone took a few marshmallows. It only took a few moments to circle around and back to its original owner, and Sora pulled a melancholy face as he looked into the mug to see that nearly half of his marshmallows were gone.

"Should we take turns?" Roxas asked, his hand cupped around his few little white sweets. "So we can all see how we do?"

"Sure." Axel nudged the blond's arm. "You first."

The face Roxas made said that he hadn't meant he wanted to go first, but everyone was looking at him expectantly so he sighed and picked one of the marshmallows. For a brief moment, he looked over and met Sora's gaze; the brunet fished a marshmallow out of his mug and grinned.

"Same time?"

"Same time."

Together, the twin brothers leaned back in their chairs, tilted their heads back, and tossed. Instead of straight up, though, the marshmallows curved to the sides and, with just a little bit of shifting, Roxas caught the one Sora tossed, and Sora caught the one Roxas tossed. There was some clapping as they straightened, grinning and chewing the squishy little treats.

"We've spent a lot of hours with little snacks like these," Sora said in response to the raised eyebrows he and Roxas were receiving from Axel and Riku.

Roxas nodded his agreement. "Plenty of practice." Then his blue eyes turned on Axel. "Your turn," he said, imitating the tone the senior had used when he nominated Roxas to go first.

As casual as anything, Axel tossed his marshmallow straight up and leaned forward, catching it on his tongue and letting it sit there long enough for everyone to realize what he'd done before he ate it.

"Show off," Roxas muttered, and the redhead laughed before slinging an arm around the younger student's shoulders.

"Aw, don't be jealous, Rox," Axel teased, and Roxas gave him a withering look that faded after a moment.

"Shut up," the blond said quietly, gaze lowering as he pushed against Axel's side in a friendly way.

Behind his hand so that Roxas and Axel wouldn't see, Sora pretended to gag and got slapped on the arm by a blushing Roxas for his troubles.

"Hey!" Sora rubbed at his arm as if it were actually hurting him and whined pitifully, his lip sticking out as he widened his eyes at his brother. "Why'd you do that? I'll bruise!"

Without so much as blinking, Roxas looked his brunet brother straight in the eye. "So get someone to kiss it better."

Shocked silence overtook the table. Sora's mouth moved uselessly as he tried to come up with a proper response, his face quickly turning red. Hands over her mouth, Namine held in a bout of giggles and Kairi bit her tongue painfully hard to keep from cracking a smile. Axel was looking at Roxas like he'd never realized the blond had quite that much of an attitude and he was glad to have seen it in action. The only one who wasn't looking at the brothers was Riku, his head bowed slightly and his gaze locked on his plate. His hair had fallen forward enough that his face was hidden, which he was grateful for because otherwise it would have been way too obvious that he was blushing just as badly as Sora was.

He knew he was the "someone" that Roxas had said for Sora to get to kiss his arm better, and if he was honest with himself, he wouldn't mind filling that role. But he also knew that he would never be able to kiss any part of Sora without looking at him, the kind of look that would give away all his thoughts, and that would be way, way too embarrassing for dinner. But oh he really wouldn't mind it.

Eventually, Axel cleared his throat. "Uh, Riku, it's your turn."

It was still a little tense from Roxas' comment as the silver-haired sophomore tossed a marshmallow and caught it. Simple and quick, no showing off or tricks, and he lowered his head again as soon as he was done. His focus was on his food and he didn't bother watching as Namine tried to catch a marshmallow for the second time. This one hit her top lip and bounced so that it fell into her lap.

"Closer!" Sora congratulated her. "You'll get it in no time, Namine!"

"Thanks." She was shy for the compliment but genuinely pleased by it, and hid her shyness by picking up the marshmallow and eating it as she turned to watch Kairi try.

"I've never considered food something to be thrown," the redhead mused, squishing one of the marshmallows she'd taken between two of her fingers. "Oh, well." With a shrug, she lobbed the marshmallow and had to lean quickly because it veered to one side, causing her to bump into Namine. Both girls yelped as they nearly tipped their chairs; the marshmallow fell to the floor and rolled slightly before coming to a stop. Now both red in the face, the cousins righted themselves as Sora laughed at their near-collapse. Once she was upright again, Kairi gave the brunet a look that could only be described as disdainful and made a show of fixing her shirt.

"Not all of us had countless hours with nothing to do but play with our food."

"Some of us know how to have fun," Sora countered, throwing his arm around his twin despite the fact that Axel had never taken his away. It worked, though, because the three boys all leaned in closer to each other and grinned toothily at Kairi until she couldn't hold her aloof expression anymore.

"Idiots," she said affectionately.

There were a few shaking heads and smiles and rolled eyes as Sora, Roxas, and Axel exchanged high fives for having won such a pointless victory. But the temporary stupidity of the students had relieved the awkward tension that had been plaguing them all week, so it was a welcome sort of stupidity. They finished their meals in relative quiet, only talking occasionally because they were all too focused on eating to bother with conversation. When Demyx finally arrived, flustered and apologetic because he'd been so late, there was a bout of noisy greetings and jokes, some light teasing about the blond being distracted by his boyfriend. That didn't last long, though, as Demyx went to get food and dedicated himself to eating once he returned. Besides, they had all agreed previously to spend Christmas Eve together in Sora and Roxas' room—there would be plenty of time for talking once dinner was out of the way.

Eating took nearly another half an hour, and then, one by one, the students set down their silverware, wiped their fingers and mouths, and leaned back in their chairs.

"I'm stuffed," Axel announced, hands resting on his still-flat stomach. "Couldn't eat another bite."

Roxas glanced at the older boy but didn't comment. He was completely full, too, and honestly wasn't looking forward to the walk back to the dorm hall.

"I don't wanna go outside." His eyes closed, Sora let out a deep sigh and stretched his arms back behind his head. "Let's just stay here."

"I don't think they'll let us." But Kairi obviously wasn't any more motivated to get up than the boys were, and no one contradicted either statement. Still, it was only a few more moments before the students began to shift in their chairs. Riku was the first one to stand and shrug on his coat, and the rest of the overly full teenagers followed suit. In a mass, they gathered their winter clothing and dishes and wandered to the tray dump. Then it was out of the cafeteria and towards the front doors—by the time the first of the group began to step outside, they were all completely bundled up against the cold and ready for the trek back across campus.

"I'll be there in a little bit," Axel started to branch off from the group, "I'm gonna grab my stuff from my dorm."

Demyx nodded and turned towards the junior hall. "Same."

"See you in a bit," Roxas called after the older boys, his voice muffled by his scarf.

It was only a few more minutes before he and the others crowded through the front doors of the sophomore hall and closed in on the elevator. They made three stops, Sora and Roxas waiting as Kairi and Namine got off to go to their room and Riku to his.

"We'll get everything ready!" Sora shouted before the door could close and lock him inside the elevator with his twin.

Roxas glanced at his brother then pushed the button for their floor. "Mom and Dad want to web-chat for a little bit."

"I remember."

Ding.

Moving at the same time, the twins left the elevator and headed down the hall to their dorm. The halls and lobby were decorated for the holiday—snowflakes hung from the ceiling, tinsel and garland draped along the walls along with cut out shapes of trees and presents, Santa and his sleigh with his reindeer. There was even a small, fully decorated Christmas tree at the end of each hallway, complete with little glowing lights and shiny bulbs. It was festive and definitely put the students in a cheerful, Christmas-y mood. Sora and Roxas, as hosts of the Christmas Eve Party, had borrowed some of the extra decorations and used them on their dorm to give it a proper party atmosphere. So they had tinsel and a two-foot-tall tree and a few long strands of garland. They'd cut out their own paper snowflakes to hang, and their tiny tree was surrounded by the brightly wrapped presents they'd gathered over the last week for their friends.

"Get online so Mom and Dad can call when they're ready," Roxas ordered, taking the few moments they had to make sure that there were no messes and that the room was properly set up to accommodate the amount of people they were about to cram in there.

"Yeah, yeah." Leaning over his desk, Sora opened his laptop and signed in. His fingers drummed against the desk's surface as he waited for it to load, and opened his webcam as soon as he could. His father's account wasn't online yet, so he increased the computer's volume for when his parents eventually called then turned and leaned back against the desk. "We ready?"

"Yep."

"Good."

Sora grinned and opened a second program on his laptop, fiddled around with it for a few moments, then turned his attention towards Roxas as a rock version of "Deck the Halls" began to play.

"Nice," the blond commented.

"Thanks."

Just then the door opened and Kairi walked in ahead of Namine, her arms full of a stack of wrapped presents. "Is this supposed to be Christmas music?"

"It is Christmas music!" Stepping forward, Sora took the presents out of her arms and added them to those already placed around the tree. "It's cool Christmas music."

"Sure it is."

"Let the Brat have his weird music." With a bowl and large bag of chips in one arm and a large bag full of wrapped presents in the other, Riku shouldered the door open and moved into the room to stand next to Namine. "We only have to put up with it for a little while."

"My music's easier to put with than you, Jerk," the brunet shot back, and Riku arched an eyebrow.

"I thought you 'put up with me' just fine the other day, right, Master Sora?"

Instantly, Sora's face and ears turned bright red and he looked away from the silver-haired athlete in search of something else to focus on.

"Master Sora?" Roxas repeated, giving his brother a questioning look that only made the brunet blush harder.

Kairi looked at Riku. "Are you talking about when you were his slave?"

"Yeah." He hadn't looked away from Sora yet, was just watching the way the brunet shifted his weight and tried to act like he wasn't blushing so much. It hit him just how much he'd missed this teasing during the last few days, and while he could tell that Sora hadn't expected him to say it and wasn't entirely prepared to go back to the way they'd been, Riku was tired of thinking all these things to say and holding them. He'd resisted at dinner and ended up embarrassed. That wasn't something he was going to repeat.

"Right. Well." Obviously flustered, Sora landed his gaze on Namine and quickly moved towards her. "Here, gimme that," he said, taking the box of popcorn she'd been carrying and moving across the room to set it on top of the microwave. With his back to his friends, he let out a small sigh and tried to collect his thoughts as quickly as he could. It was just Riku. He could handle this. It was normal for them. They flirted all the time.

When he turned again, it was just in time to see Roxas pull his phone out of his pocket and click a couple of buttons.

"Axel and Demyx are on their way over. I'm gonna go let them in." And the blond was gone, leaving Sora, Riku, Namine, and Kairi alone in the room.

A small amount of tension hung in the air from Riku's comment about his time as Sora's slave, but the older boy seemed completely unaffected by it. He was casual as he set the bowl and chips down by the TV then took the presents he'd brought out of the bag to put with the others. Free of his burdens, he picked his place on the futon and settled comfortably, lounging as much as possible without taking up the entire thing. Kairi settled next to him a moment later while Namine chose Roxas' desk chair, and Sora remained by the microwave. He wasn't sure if he should get any closer to the other boy, as if proximity would increase the chances of being teased again.

Beep…beep…beep…

For several moments, the teens looked at each other and around the room in search of the source of the sound, until Sora started and moved towards his desk.

Incoming Call his laptop screen announced, so he clicked the "accept" option and the beeping stopped. His screen flashed for a second before a window opened up, a loading symbol in the middle of it, then two boxes appeared side by side. The one on the left showed two familiar faces, while the one on the right was Sora staring back at himself so that he could see what his webcam showed.

"Hey, Mom and Dad! Merry Christmas!" the brunet greeted cheerfully.

"Hi, Sora! Where's Roxas?"

"He went to let a couple of our friends in. They'll be here in a bit."

"Oh, all right. Are you and your friends spending the night together?"

"Yep!" Still leaning over his desk, Sora looked over his shoulder at the other three students in the room. "Come meet my parents!"

Acting as though it took a great deal of effort, Riku lifted himself off the futon and moved to stand behind Sora, bending and looking at the screen. "Hi." It wasn't hard to see where Roxas and Sora got their hair from. Their father was blond like Roxas, his hair just as spiky as that of his sons, and looking at him was almost like seeing exactly how Roxas was going to look as an adult—even his eyes were a familiar vibrant blue. Sora was going to look like that, too, but it was obvious that he'd gotten his brown hair from his mother. She was fine-featured, with long, straight dark hair and a kind smile. "I'm Riku."

"My best friend," Sora added, lifting his eyebrows just slightly and looking directly at the camera lens to make sure he made eye contact with his parents. He and Riku watched as his mother leaned and whispered into his father's ear, making the blond man chuckle.

"Bet your mom thinks I'm attractive," Riku murmured to the brunet, making Sora feel a little warm under the collar of his shirt.

"Hello, Riku, I'm Tifa, Sora and Roxas' mother." She had a nice voice, and smiled as she put her hand on her husband's shoulder. "This is Cloud."

Cloud? What sort of name was that?

Riku hid his thoughts and put on one of his more charming smiles. "It's nice to meet you."

"Is that Mom and Dad?" Followed by Demyx and Axel, Roxas came into the room and paused the music before moving to stand on Sora's other side. "Hi!"

"Hey, Rox, how're you doing?" Cloud asked with the slightest of smiles.

"I'm good, Dad. Uh, this' Axel," the blond gestured at the tall senior, "and Demyx, and that's Kairi and Namine." Sora turned the computer so the girls were visible to the camera.

"Hello!" Tifa smiled and waved, her eyes closing momentarily. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Strife," Kairi replied politely, and Tifa laughed.

"Please, please, call me Tifa. All right, boys, open your presents where we can see!"

Smiling, Sora moved out of view of the camera and retrieved two of the larger boxes from by the tree. They'd come in the mail a few days before, fully wrapped with bows and labels. He handed one to Roxas and kept the other for himself as the twins positioned themselves where their parents could see them. It was quiet until they'd settled on the floor and were waiting expectantly.

"Go," their father gave his permission for them to begin.

Immediately, Sora tore into the wrapping paper on his box, the rips and rustles filling the room. Roxas was more precise, pulling the tape loose and unfolding the wrapping so that it came away in a single large piece. The boxers were taped shut but it didn't take Sora very long to yank it apart. He was putting all of his energy and enthusiasm into opening his present and was soon digging through tissue paper. Similarly, Roxas broke open his box with a more controlled wrench and soon located a blue envelope with his name on it.

"Cards first," Tifa's voice sounded from the laptop, and Sora stopped messing with the tissue long enough to find a red envelope along the side of the box.

Together, the twins opened their envelopes and removed matching Christmas cards. In silence, they opened them and red what was inside—a wide grin took over Sora's features

" Cool!"

His parents laughed quietly as they watched their son's reaction.

"Thanks." Roxas' voice held little emotion, though his expression was one of surprise and made it clear that he was still processing whatever it was that he'd just read.

"You guys are the best! This is awesome!" Sora was bouncing slightly in excitement.

"Merry Christmas," his mother replied, obviously pleased with his response to the card.

"What is it?" Riku asked, his curiosity making him peer over Sora's shoulder at the card in the brunet's hands.

Narrowing his eyes, Sora held the card to his chest so the older boy couldn't see. "Nothing."

Riku rolled his green-blue eyes. "Brat."

"Jerk."

Only Roxas saw the look that passed between his parents.

"Open the rest, boys," Cloud reminded his sons, his expression fond.

The cards were carefully set aside—out of Riku's reach—and the twins set about opening their gifts. Tissue paper was thrown across the room until the boxes' contents were revealed.

"Injustice! Titanfall! Yes!" Depositing the games in his lap, Sora pulled a pair of bright, brand new running shoes, white with red and blue stripes along the sides. "Sweet! Riku! We're racing as soon as it gets warm out!"

"Sure." The older boy was obviously amused.

"Roxas? Do you like them?"

All eyes turned to the blond twin, who was busy clutching a stack of four hardbound books to his chest.

"Yes."

"What books are they, Rox?" Axel asked, leaning over the blond and grinning at him from his practically upside down position.

"Northanger Abbey, Mysteries of Udolpho, The Monk, and Jane Eyre."

"He's wanted those for a while but he couldn't find any editions he liked," Sora explained in hushed tones to the redhead.

"These are perfect." Roxas had yet to loosen his grip on the novels, though his eyes moved towards the laptop to look at his parents' faces. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, hon."

"All right, we have to go. Merry Christmas, boys."

"Merry Christmas!" Sora called cheerfully.

"We love you!"

Tifa smiled and blew a kiss at the camera. "Good night!" The call disconnected a moment later and silence quickly took over the dorm.

"They seem nice," Axel commented, and the twins looked up at the taller boy.

"They're cool." Sora looked at Roxas and smiled with one side of his mouth. "At least they didn't try to embarrass us this time."

"Yeah."

Riku looked from one twin to the other. "This time?"

Still holding his new books close, Roxas stood and nodded. "Mom likes to be overly friendly to the people we meet."

"Oh." Axel nodded once and quirked his shoulders. "Parents are like that. So," he held up a large bowl with a lid on it and an impressively large bag of tortilla chips, "where do I put these?"