Aaaaah. As usual, thank you Serenitydenied for being a wooooonderful beta x3!
I'm sorry I didn't get to update for decades, I had some personal issues and mainly got carried away.. Sigh, nevermind that, I'm better now :D
So as a tiny make-up gift for all you faithful readers, this chapter is almost twice as long (almost). Aah. Hope you enjoy! Riku's starting to get attracted to Sora, kukukuku. ;D
Sora chewed on his fried coconut thoughtfully. He wondered where the coconut he carved Riku's form on now was. Probably somewhere in the middle of the ocean.. Oh well, maybe the coconut would float to some distant land and sprout into a palm, granting that foreign land was able to grow coconut trees.
The brunette chuckled and took another bite of the crispy treat. Riku.. Somehow everything connected to the boy. Take Kairi for example. She was his best friend and actually because of her he had met Riku.
Or his mom. She was really happy when Sora brought back home some coconuts, an idea Riku came up with to help him get over his fear of water.
Everything came down to the silver haired artist. Sky, land, dawn, sunset. Every time he called Riku, the boy was busy drawing or painting, and most of the times he drew either the sunset, the sky, some landscapes, or the sunrise.
"I should ask to see his portfolio once." Sora concluded, crossing his arms and popping the last piece of coconut into his mouth, licking his fingers and leaning his head back on the wall. He should probably call Kairi and ask her to go out with him to the beach, together with Selphie, Tidus and Wakka. Maybe he could introduce Riku to her.. So he would prove that he was not trying to hide Riku from his friends, and mostly, that he wasn't possessive of him.
Besides, Riku himself told him that he was lonely! A day out with friend could barely do any harm.
Ah. It all came back to Riku.
Riku sighed quietly. Wrong. It was all wrong. And he couldn't really point out what was wrong.
The scenario was perfect. Not overloaded with details, but not painfully empty.
The colors were harmonized, balancing almost perfectly between cold and warm..
Weird. Lately, he noticed, all drawings seemed dull and lifeless..
The young artist shook his head and added some quick strokes of magenta on the canvas. It seemed to make the drawing look better, a little.
Riku's eyes wandered towards the pile of coconuts on the couch. He barely used them.. Well, eating them just didn't feel like the right thing to do. And he didn't even know why.
He let a small sigh escape his lips and kept on applying shades of red to Kairi's hair in the drawing in front of him.
He only got two minutes of peaceful painting before the cell in his pocket started vibrating, forcing the teen to quickly set his wet brush aside, wipe his fingers against a dirty cloth hanging from his knee, and fish the buzzing little phone out of his baggy pants' pocket.
"Yes?" He murmured absently, picking up his brush again and adding a dark shade of purple to the tips of Kairi's hair.
"Riku!.. Hi eh.. It's Sora.." The voice on the other side chuckled sheepishly
"Mm. Morning." Riku hummed, frowning and switching to a thicker brush in order to apply some half tones to Kairi's skin, licking his lips once.
"You have any plans for today?.. Me and my friends are going out to the beach.. I'm gonna go deal with my fear of water.. Heh. And well.. I wanted you to come too, you know, get to meet everyone." He murmured, and sounded quite embarrassed at that.
"Nah, I planned on finishing the drawing you asked of Kairi today.. But actually a beach sounds far more appealing than sitting in my stuffy apartment and poking the canvas with my brushes. You see, I lost my creativity, so there isn't much I can do home anyway." Riku hummed, leaning back and leaving the drawing alone now.
"Really? I heard about artists losing their creativity and then not being able to draw for years!.." Sora noted voice a little louder than usual.
"You know it's not a wise thing to say right? Don't feed my paranoia" Riku chuckled. "Never mind though. I'm sure a trip to the beach would only benefit my suffering muse." He nodded to himself. "When are you gonna be there?" Slowly standing up, Riku made a few steps forth, only to walk back as soon as he reached the door to his living room.
"Aaabout.. Two and a half hours. Remember the old parlor you drew me the first time? Not too far from there, where the group of palms is. It's our usual spot, and I'll tell everyone you're coming so you don't have to worry." Sora announced, smile evident in his voice.
"Mmhm. I'll come. Laters." Riku nodded, flipping his phone closed and looking at the drawing. Well.. He still had a hour and a half left before he needed to start getting ready for the trip to the beach.
"Selphie give it back! My mom will kill me if something happens to those sunglasses!" Sora roared, tripping his way through the hot sand to the girl standing in the water, waving a pair of expensive sunglasses in a very, very dangerous way.
"Then come and geeeeeeeet theeeeeeem!" Selphie chirped, bouncing her way deeper into the water.
Sora huffed and jumped into the cold water, hissing at first at the icy sensation at his feet, but soon enough dismissing it for the favor of saving his precious glasses.
"Give it back!" He cried, splashing water all over as he chased the younger girl through the waist-deep water.
"Yeah. Give it back."
"Eh…" Selphie blinked at the silver-haired male in front of her, eyes wide with surprise.
"Gotcha!" Sora triumphed, snatching his glasses back. "Riku! You came!" He then turned to the other teen, greeting him with a tight hug.
"Eh..Heh. Yeah. I promised to come you know.." Riku chuckled, ruffling Sora's hair playfully. Mm.. The younger boy's hugs felt really nice, he had to admit. They reminded him of his mother's hugs, actually.. Tight and strong, yet gentle and loving enough to not cause any harm.
"Ah. This thief here is Selphie.. She's one of my friends I told you about. There's also Kairi, Tidus and Wakka." He nodded, letting go of Riku and throwing his hands behind his back with a grin.
"Heya Riku.. Nice to meetcha!" Selphie giggled, though she did stick her tongue out at Sora's 'thief' remark, puffing her cheeks in a childish way.
Sora simply stuck his tongue back at her.
"Sooo.. We're going to meet your friends? I wanna put away my stuff and get in the water already." Riku cleared his throat, pointing at the large bag on his shoulder.
"Oh yeah.. Let's go!" Sora turned around and quickly made his way out of the shallow water and onto the beach, gesturing for Selphie and Riku to follow him back to where the group of friends sat under the small shaded shelter of palm trees, sharing a watermelon.
"Hey guys! Remember I told you about Riku?" Sora announced as soon as he arrived and was within hearing distance. "Well here he is." He grinned, crossing his hands behind his back.
Riku waved at the small group, chuckling sheepishly.
"There's Kairi, which you already know about" Sora pointed at the redhead smiling at Riku, "Wakka, the older one. I think he is your age?.. Mm.. Nevermind. And last one is Tidus, the blonde with the watermelon all over his face." He nodded, finger moving from Wakka to Tidus according to his explanations.
"Nice to meet you all.." Riku rubbed the back of his head and placed his bag on the ground. Truth be told, he wasn't very interested in meeting Sora's friends, and actually came just to see the boy, but alas, he already was there, and figured that not letting this small fact ruin his day would be the best.
"Ah, so finally I get to see the Riku Sora's been blabbering about for the last three days! Heh, he was right, you -are- handsome!" Kairi chuckled, turning around with her watermelon between her hands.
"Kairi!" Sora hissed, pulling his shoulders up in a defensive sort of way, making both Wakka Tidus and Selphie blink at him.
"No it's okay. Sora's just being an observer." Riku shrugged it off and crossed his hands. "Many people told me that." He replied smugly. A small lie, but it seemed to make Sora relax a bit.
Sora took a deep sigh in and smiled sheepishly at the silver-haired boy. Riku simply shrugged it off and smiled back.
"Sooo.. Anyone wanna go play monkey-in-the-middle in the water?" Kairi smiled, clasping her hands together and looking around her. Selphie and Wakka nodded right away, Sora and Tidus a moment after. Riku hummed a little before finally nodding.
And so the game began, and soon enough Selphie found herself in the middle when she failed to catch the toss Wakka sent over to her which was blown away by a sudden gust of wind.
"This is not fair." The girl huffed as she launched sideways, trying to catch the ball that Riku tossed over to Tidus.
"Everything is fair in love and war!" Tidus jumped up and caught the beach ball between his palms.
"Monkey-in-the-middle is a game!" Selphie exclaimed, standing up and shaking her head, making her pair of short yet very, very wet pigtails swish through the air and send droplets flying everywhere.
"Yeah yeah! Monkeys have no right to speak anyway!" The blonde teased, aiming a toss in Sora's direction and snickering as Selphie missed the flying ball yet again, ending up falling back into the water.
"Tch, you're not a very nice one." Riku noted, smirking at Tidus and catching the ball Sora tossed at him. "Didn't your mom teach you to be nice to girls?" He snickered and threw his ball at Kairi to emphasize his point.
Tidus simply rolled his eyes and got back into his ready position as Kairi served the ball to Wakka.
Selphie stuck tongue out at the blonde boy and snickered. "Yeah he's right Tidus! You should be nicer!" She chirped, pointing at Tidus and giggling.
"Monkeys have no right to talk!" Tidus roared and missed the ball Wakka threw over to him.
"That did not just happen…" Tidus' face went pale and he gulped thickly.
"Nuh-uh. Monkeys have no right to talk! In you go Tidus!" Selphie chirped, aiding herself with her hands as she made her way through the waist deep water and took the blonde's place in the circle, holding the ball in her hands and tossing it over to Riku.
"Mm.. Sorry guys.. But Imma go sit for a bit.. I don't like to spend too much time in the sun.." Riku sighed as he tossed the ball to Sora and stretched slightly. "I'll be on the beach." He nodded and dismissed himself with a small wave of his hand, making Tidus snort and murmur something at Riku and everyone but Wakka then snap at him.
Apparently, the young artist was loved.
Riku sat on top of his large towel with a small 'oof' sound and took out his sketchbook and a soft graphite pencil. Crossing his legs he looked at Sora with a smile from the distance and started drawing the guidelines to his jumping-Sora sketch. Heh.. The boy was so lively and adorable like that..
Back to his sketch now.
Riku sighed as he gave his jumping-Sora a few last strokes of pencil and turned the page around to start doodling another Sora, catching a ball this time.
He hummed happily as he scribbled the outline for the boy's eyes, looking up at the real-life Sora just in time to catch his laughing expression and add some wrinkles around his eyes and volume to his smiling, puffy cheeks.
"Hey Riku!" Speaking of the devil..
"Yeah?" Riku called back, pencil still attached to the page he was drawing on.
"Wakka and Tidus are gonna race each other to see who can swim faster to the big rock there and come back! You wanna watch?!" He waved, holding his hand next to his mouth and cupping it slightly in order to make his voice reach clearer across the beach.
Riku snickered. Yeah, Sora was priceless like that..
"No thanks! I wanna draw some!" He called back. No offense Tidus, Wakka. He wanted to draw, especially since he had this horrible block earlier in the morning and now it was actually gone.
"You're drawing?! I wanna see!" Sora exclaimed, stumbling as he ran out of the water, a bit wobbly on his feet because of the lack of resistance against his legs once he was back on the shore.
"Whatcha drawing?" Sora hummed as he slumped down beside Riku on the large towel and grinned at the older teen.
"My home model." Riku snickered and reached the sketches in front of Sora's eyes, causing the brunette to blush and scrunch his nose.
"I'm not a model.." He muttered, frowning at the sketches and looking down on himself. Were his legs really that skinny?.. He hoped not.
"Well, professionally you aren't, but I use you for practice all the times and that makes you my personal model." Riku nodded and drew in the sketchbook on his lap, using his knee as support when he quickly began scribbling Sora's figure.
"And what if I don't wanna model outside of our sessions, hmm?" Sora inquired, pulling his knees up to his chest and placing his head on them as he reached with his hands to grip around his toes.
Riku frowned at the question and sighed. Sora not modeling for him? Beh. That would not be nice.
"Well then it's too bad because I'll stalk you and draw you anyway." Riku snickered and reached to ruffle Sora's wet hair.
"Heh. I figured so. And don't worry, I don't mind modeling for you." Sora nodded and rocked back and forth a bit before stretching and laying back with his hands crossed behind his head, serving as a makeshift pillow.
Riku smiled and poked Sora's cheek with the pencil's eraser. "That's good to hear." He nodded. And indeed it was, seeing how it was really easy to draw Sora, compared to other people or landscapes even..
"Glad I could help." Sora grinned, trying to bite the offending eraser. He snickered when he finally did, making Riku roll his eyes and pull it back, dragging Sora's head from one side to another in the process.
"Sora! Give it back! I need to finish my sketches!" Riku half chuckled, half whined, tugging a bit harder until Sora finally released his pencil, smiling smugly and laughing at Riku.
"You should see your expression when you're about to laugh but you try being angry!" He exclaimed, grimacing and trying to imitate Riku's expression.
The elder simply rolled his eyes and snickered. "Yeah yeah. At least you gave me back my pencil." He laughed, poking Sora with his finger this time and drawing it back fast so he wouldn't bite this one as well. He still kind of needed his finger.
"Beh!" Sora chuckled back at him, intertwining his hands and resting them on his lap.
"So, why did you come here? Can't be my drawings, right?" Riku hummed, erasing some extra lines from his drawing before looking back at Sora.
"I don't like being in the water without you.." Sora scrunched his nose and pulled his knees to his chest, feeling a bit uneasy. Was he being silly?
"What do you mean?" Riku frowned, not quite getting Sora's words as he placed the now almost finished drawing aside.
"It means that.. Well.. When I'm in the water.. And you aren't.. I feel kinda restless and awkward.." Sora frowned at his words and hugged his knees.
"So in other words you're still scared of water but it's okay when I'm around, right?" Riku chuckled, leaning back on his hands and smiling at Sora.
"You could say so.." The brunette sighed and shook his head.
"Well then.. I must say I'm quite happy with myself for making you get over that fear." Riku nodded and closed his eyes, showing Sora his now smug smile.
Overcome
"You are?" Sora had to blink at that. Well.. It probably was nice to hear you helped someone but you didn't usually mention it out loud.. Or more likely say it as if you really meant it.
"Mmhm." Riku nodded, "Actually.. Since the day at the beach I was thinking about befriending you.. You know, after I finish that drawing for your girlfriend's birthday.." Riku was cut off by the grumpy looking Sora then.
"She's not my girlfriend." He huffed, crossing his arms on top of his knees now
"Right, right. So anyway.. After I finish the drawing, I don't want to just lose connection with you. You're fun." He hummed, tilting his head sideways to enjoy the cool breeze.
"You're fun too." Sora mentioned, toes curling and uncurling as he leaned his cheek atop his crossed hands. "You're usually nice and I.. Well it sounds a bit silly but I feel like I can count on you, you know?" He sighed, straightening his hands as he returned to his cross legged Indian style position.
"I know.. I know yes." Riku snickered as he let himself lean on his elbows then and look up at the palm leaves high above.
"I'm serious Riku!" Sora huffed, poking the other boy's side grumpily.
"Me too." Riku snickered, closing his eyes now and inhaling deeply the humid salty air.
"So anyway.. I was gonna ask you something.." Sora paused, scratching his head absently as he mused over his thoughts before letting it drop over his lap with a smile. "What I was gonna ask.. Is well.. I wanted to see your portfolio. And maybe some of your works on canvas if you have them.." He nodded, mostly to himself before looking back at the ocean where Tidus yelled and hit the water. Eh, the boy probably lost the race..
"My portfolio? Well jeez Sora.. I'm flattered.. And sure you can, just come over to my place tomorrow or something and I'll show you my humble collection." Riku snickered and cracked a single eye open at Sora. "I have to warn you though I have some nude portraits of people back when I studied the human anatomy.."
Sora frowned and blushed at that. "I'm almost seventeen! I can see naked people!" He huffed, hovering over a little and shaking his head.
"Psh, I'm not arguing big boy." Riku teased, spreading the toes of his bare feet.
"Good." Sora nodded with a grumpy huff, trying to fight off the blush from his face.
"Tomorrow we meet?" Riku hummed, opening his eyes again and looking up at the palm trees above, studying the constant movement of the leaves.
"How about today? I told my mom I may sleep over at Kairi's.. So I'll just tell her I'm going to a new friend's house and then go to Kairi's!" Sora announced happily, leaning back on his hands.
"Sounds like a plan.. But don't complain you're hungry since the only thing I have is some spices and maybe a can of preserved pineapple.. And milk." For his coffee. Every artist needed his mug of steaming life-liquid in the morning!
Sora kept quiet for a few minutes before grinning at the silver haired artist. "We could make a coconut and pineapple soup!" He announced. "We only need coconuts, which you have, pineapples and sugar, and that's it! We can add the pineapples instead of dumplings and have a soup!" Sora grinned, wiggling his toes happily.
"A sweet soup?" Riku popped a brow, musing at the thought. "A sweet soup.. And use the coconut milk and pineapple syrup as liquids?.. Wow.. I think this could actually work! I have some cinnamon we can add there too." Riku chuckled, looking quite amused as well as surprised.
"That's great! See, and we can use the coconut flesh and crush it and coat the pineapples with it and really serve them as dumplings! And the remains of the flesh we don't use we'll just crush into really really small pieces and add to the soup." The brunette nodded, counting the steps of his makeshift recipe in mind before grinning at Riku again.
"We'll see at home." Riku snickered. "But yeah, it sounds good.. I'm actually looking forward to going home and eating some of that soup you make.." He added then, smiling back at Sora.
"I make?..." Sora's brow popped then, "Nononono no. We make. Not I. We'll do it together Riku." Sora announced, crossing his arms now.
Riku had to snort at that. "Probably better if I didn't. You see, me and stoves aren't on the best of terms. At all." He explained. Truth be told, Riku wasn't that bad at cooking, he was just really afraid of those tiny oil droplets that jumped out every now and then and burned your hands if you weren't cautious.
"Riku, It's a soup. How can it possibly go wrong?" Sora huffed, scrunching his nose at the artist.
"Err…" Riku had to frown at that. After all, Sora did have a point there.. "Okay.. I'll help.. But I'm not getting anywhere near the stove." He nodded, poking Sora's side with a snicker.
"Whatever you say.. As long as you're not just slacking and will help me cook." Sora chuckled and poked Riku's cheek back. "You'll be my cook apprentice!" He announced then, leaning forward on his arms and grinning at the other boy.
"Me? An apprentice?" Riku huffed, closing one eye and smirking. "Puh-lease. I'm obviously a much better cook than you are." Riku pressed his arm to his chest and closed his eyes, nodding.
"Tch, obviously a very humble one too." Sora rolled his eyes and gave Riku a little swat on the head.
"Obviously." Riku chuckled and stuck his tongue out at Sora. A few moments later the older male was up on his feet and dusting the sand off his trunks and body. "So what do you say.. We go now, hop on our way to tell your mom we're going to my place and I'll show you my portfolio and maybe draw a sketch or two of you." Riku nodded, taking the shirt out of his bag and pulling it on top of himself. "Say goodbye to your friends then and let's go?"
"Wow you sound so eager.." Sora chuckled, standing up as well now and dusting himself clean. "Okay.. I'll tell Kairi I'll call her once I'm done at your place and that I'll be on my way." He nodded, putting his shirt on as well and wearing his dolphin flip-flops, running into the water and calling Kairi.
Meanwhile, Riku took his time to make sure none of his belongings was left behind, and that the key to his apartment was in place. He then returned to looking at Sora was still chattering about with Kairi, laughing about something silly. He felt a slight sting of jealousy when he gave the girl a friendly hug and walked away, crossing his hands behind his head and walking backwards, laughing at their shared joke.
Riku wanted to be able to laugh so too… Like a dear old friend… Or just like someone close…
"Heyas.. I'm back." Sora grinned, hands stretching to his sides as he took his bag and hung it over his shoulder, stretching and shoving his hands inside the pockets of his already dry trunks.
"Alright.. So we go then? My place is not too far away.." Riku offered with a small smile, and crossed the hands over his chest, cocking his head slightly.
"Okay.. Lead the way then." Sora chuckled, shrugging and wiggling his toes once before following Riku back towards the road, and into the city.
It wasn't a long walk really.. Fifteen minutes tops, but the turns they had to take made it seem like Riku was living miles away, which made Sora frown and wonder how would he get back, because this part of the city he never knew.
Riku didn't live in the slums, mind, just in a tiny apartment which had a single room that served as a studio, a bedroom, and a livingroom, a kitchen, a bathroom, and an attic where Riku stored all his drawings.
"Okay.. Now, I suggest you stop breathing there.. The entrance to the building smells kinda bad because it's old, but the smell goes away after the second floor so it's okay.. I live on the fifth by the way.." He chuckled, opening the door to the building and breathing through his mouth for the first few moments until they reached the third floor. Sora wasn't as smart, and didn't really listen to his silver-haired companion, so as soon as the smell of moss and sour milk reached his nostrils he coughed and gasped for air.
"Told you to hold your breath.." Riku snickered and allowed himself to take a deep breath through his nose as they reached the third floor, later blowing some air in Sora's face to get the bad smell away.
"Gah.. I didn't think it would be that bad!" Sora growled, panting and closing his eyes at the much welcome steam of cool air.
"Heh, can't say I didn't tell ya.Anyway.. You better now?" Riku hummed, giving Sora's hand a tiny squeeze and leaning against the wall with a small, amused smile.
Sora nodded and squeezed Riku's hand back, sighing shortly and just following the older boy up to his apartment.
Sora's eyes quickly scanned the small livingroom, which served as a studio and a bedroom.
"I know it isn't much.. But I'm living alone, so usually I don't care about the state of my appertment, unless it's dirty." Riku locked the door behind him and turned to place his bag on the floor near a neat row of shoes. "Which reminds me I cleaned here yesterday, so please take your shoes off." Riku hummed, moving over to the other side of the room, there his desk stood, and pulled out a large green plastic suitcase and a few sketch books.
"Here. These are my latest works.. I have some canvases up in my attic if you wanna see.. But those are earlier jobs when I still attended art school." Riku noted, taking a few tiny water-colored pictures drawn over white pieces of carton scattered all over the desk, mostly featuring landscapes, sometimes portraits of people from Riku's imagination, too.
Sora took the green suitcase from Riku's hands, flopped on the bed and took the bunch of drawings in his hands, carefully eyeing the charcoal and graphite sketches of plants, animals, most of which were horses, and human portraits.
"Say.. Weren't we supposed to jump over to your place and tell your mom you're visiting me?" Riku frowned, taking the drawings he collected and sitting next to Sora on the bed, one leg dangling in the air and the other one tucked beneath the first leg.
"Nah it's okay.. Kairi told me she'd tell my mom and besides, I have a cell phone.." Sora murmured as he inspected the drawings carefully, eyes savoring Riku's drawings. He decided he really liked them. Riku's lines were refined and clean, yet not clean enough to make the drawing look like it has been inked. It gave them a rough and natural feeling.
"Okay.." Riku chuckled, leaning back against the wall and peeking at his own drawings, humming thoughtfully whenever he found a flaw in one of them.
Sora kept on examining the drawings, looking at each one of them for a long time, exploring the details and such. Sora wasn't an expert in fine art, but he loved looking at things he thought were pretty, and Riku's drawings were very pretty.
The artist slowly started leaning in and eyeing his own drawings with more caution, frowning every now and then at his own creations. He didn't even notice how much better he had gotten past those two years he decided to do something with his artistic talent. And apparently, neither did he notice his head was leaning on Sora's shoulder until the brunette moved his hand to absently scratch his head.
"Oh.. Sorry.." Riku blinked, rubbing the corner of his eye and shaking his head. "Didn't notice I was leaning against you.." He chuckled sheepishly, offering the younger male a small shrug.
"It's okay.. I like it when people err.. Touch me, in an innocent way." Sora chuckled, finally turning his gaze from the drawings and smiling at Riku. "Call me clingy, but I love it."
Riku popped an eyebrow at his statement. "No.. Not clingy.. I guess I'm just not used to people who like being touched.. Especially by.. Well, strangers." He pulled his shoulders once.
"We're not strangers Riku!" Sora chuckled, nudging Riku's shoulder playfully. "Right?.." He added then, voice losing a bit of his earlier eagerness.
Riku kept quiet, pondering at that one question for quite a long time while looking at Sora.
"…I guess we're not.." He murmured after a few moments, offering a small snicker and a smile. "Yeah, We're not." He added a nod then to empathize his point, followed by a small grin.
Sora nodded in return and got back to the drawings, adoring them quietly. He really liked the way Riku used textures, and colors in the few colored drawings he had.
The silver haired artist kept leaning his head against Sora's shoulder, eyeing his own creations and pursing his lips before closing his eyes. "So we're friends, huh?"
"Mmhm." Sora nodded absently, turning the page and scanning the next drawing.
Maybe he'd ask Riku to draw him later. Uh.. Naked. But later. They weren't that good friends yet. Besides, Riku would probably think he was weird..
The brunette's response drew a small smile on Riku's lips. "That means I can call you anytime, and just ask you to hang out with me, without it having something to do with my drawings, right?" He asked further, cocking his head quizzically. Oh, if only Sora said yes.. Riku wouldn't have to make silly excuses anymore to get to meet him!
"Sure." Sora chuckled, tapping the corner of the drawing with his thumb.
"You know.. It's really amazing how your skill improves.. I mean, the first few drawings were mostly graphics and that.. But in your later works the shapes and textures take a larger role. I like it." The younger teen mentioned with a smile, rather proud of himself for coming up with something that sounded really nifty and smart.
"Um.. Thanks. And yeah, I did. When I started drawing by myself I started imitating styles I saw of other artists, and took the best of them, so I could create my own." He moved to lean with his back against Sora's side and shoulder, not really minding the drawings now.
"Doesn't that mean that you don't have your own style?.." Sora frowned, moving to the next picture.
"Nope. I don't just imitate someone's style. I take the best out of it, and make it my own. And I don't only do it with one artist or two.. I do it with many." Riku explained, eyes still closed.
A few moments later, he found that his head was resting on Sora's lap, and that the brunette didn't seem disturbed with their current position, at all. Well, neither was Riku, so that was just fine. Besides, Sora's lap was really comfy.
"Okay. I'm done." Sora nodded, setting the drawings aside and stretching. "Can we go eat now?" He sighed, looking down at the Riku resting on his lap with a playful smile, and then shoving his head away with a chuckle. "Heey! Don't get all sleepy on me!"
Riku groaned in reply and rubbed his forehead, stifling a yawn and sitting back up. Ugh.. He was just getting sleepy too…
"Yeah sure.." He stood up lazily, stretching his limbs and gesturing Sora to follow him into his kitchen, which looked more like a miniature cooking corner.
The brunette followed gingerly, rubbing his hands together.
"Stay here, I'll bring you the coconuts and pineapples.." Riku ruffled his hair and allowed himself a last, final stretch before moving back to the main room, where he kept the coconuts.
Sora swayed back and forth on his feet, pulling his nose thoughtfully. He really, really really wanted to draw Riku. Call it 'capturing the moment' or whatever, he wanted to just be able to draw him once.
Said artist was soon back with the coconuts, helping Sora cracking them with a big kitchen knife and pouring the milk inside a jar as Sora crushed the white flesh and placed it in a bowl.
A few minutes later, work was done and Riku opened the can of pineapples, helping Sora fry the pineapple dumplings before they threw them into the soup and stirred every now and then.
"I think it's done.." Sora blinked, tasting the sugary mess he announced as 'Sora soup'. Riku, on the other hand, frowned. "Sora.. It's too sweet. We need to add some water." He scrunched his nose quickly pouring half a glass inside, and earning a pout from the younger teen.
"What? You want diabetes?" Riku popped a brow. That was a dirty trick, but it worked; Sora huffed and dropped the subject.
Sora scooped his last dumpling and slumped on the couch, head resting on the arm set and legs placed on top of Riku's. "That was one heck of a soup." He nodded with a content grin. "Next time I come here we make one, only we use six coconuts! And two cans!" He pointed at Riku.
"Yes, sure, master" Riku snickered, rolling his eyes.
"That's right!" Sora grinned back, pulling down so his head was now on the couch instead of the arm sets.
"Say.. Sora.." Riku murmured thoughtfully, look concentrating on one of the many canvases in the room, featuring a half-naked girl on a pile of cordial red sheets.
"Mm?" Sora hummed back, arms crossed behind his head and eyes closed.
"What do you think about.. Err.. Being naked in front of people?" The artist frowned slightly, still inspecting the picture.
"You mean like a model?" Sora's eyes opened at the question as he looked Riku from behind his slightly parted legs. "Well.. I think they must be pretty brave for not being shy to model in front of a group of people naked.." He paused then, licking his lips once. "Brave and mature.."
Riku nodded with agreement. "And what if they knew the people they modeled for?"
"Well.. It depends on whether the person is a lover or just a friend.. Because if that person is a lover then it may be something romantic.. Like, to show youtrust this person. If it's a friend it can be a show of trust or a very blunt way of announcing their crush." Sora nodded, toes curling and uncurling as a slight blush rose to his cheeks from the thoughts about naked people. "Why are you asking me this?"
"No reason really." Riku turned to smile then, poking Sora's cheek playfully. "Say, for how long are you gonna stay here? Because if it's going to take a while I might as well finish your friend's drawing." Ah, yes.. Kairi.
Sora scrunched his nose and stretched, getting back up to a sitting position. "What time is it?"
"About 4 PM.." Riku glanced at the large wooden clock on the other side of the room, resting his head back.
"I'll stay for a couple of hours more." Sora decided with a nod, slumping back on the couch.
"Well.. It's work for me then.." The silver haired artist muttered under his nose and got up, putting up a board with Kairi's half-finished drawing attached to it and getting a glass jar filled with water, some brushes, a palette and a set of messy watercolors.
Sora scrunched his nose at first, but then got up and let himself have a closer look. This was his rare chance to see an artist painting!
Riku looked at the small photo attached to the board with tape and quickly started blending colors together to get the right hue for Kairi's eyes.
Sora was now standing behind Riku, hands crossed behind his head as he watched the artist working, studying his movements. Maybe one day he would be able to paint too?
Riku, on his side, was starting to get frustrated. It was like some sort of curse haunting him; If it wasn't Sora, he couldn't draw it. For some reason it just became impossible, like he was stuck.
"Sora." The silver-haired artist breathed out, turning around to face the boy. "I can't color this.. I'm not focused. Can you model for me?" He leaned his forehead against his palm, half expecting refusal from the brunette, so when Sora nodded and smiled, he was a bit surprised.
"Sure Riku. I did it before already! Just tell me what pose I should be in." He nodded again, hands shoved inside the pockets of his trunks.
The artist frowned thoughtfully, and looked aside to the picture of the half-naked girl. "Could you take off your shirt? I'll give you a blanket to lay on and draw you from your waists up." He pursed his lips then, frown deepening. "Is that okay?"
Sora was a bit hesitant for a moment. Being bare-chested in front of Riku felt kind of embarrassing. Then again, he saw him in his trunks when they were at the beach.. But this was different; they were alone now, and the whole thing felt a lot more.. Intimate.
"Okay." Sora agreed finally, voice losing a bit of the earlier eagerness.
"Thanks." Riku smiled and ruffled Sora's hair, leaving the brunette fidgety and shy, alone in the main room.
Sora's hand rose to his head as he raked his fingers through his messy spikes. Huff, he felt a bit uncomfortable, now that he realized just how awkward their situation was. Two boys, one apartment, one of them is supposed to model half-naked, the other is drop-dead gorgeous… Or at least that was what Sora thought. He decided he was thinking too much and let it drop. They were friends and Riku was an artist. Nothing strange about Sora modeling half naked when they were alone.
Riku was soon back with a white fleece blanket he placed on the couch, which he gestured Sora to lay on, and a large white canvas. "Okay.. Err, now just take a natural pose, like you're taking a nap or just being thoughtful, maybe hold the edge of the blanket with your hand.." He frowned, tapping his chin.
Sora did as he was told, and quickly adopted a suiting pose, the blanket lazily pulled over half of his chest, his eyes gazing up at the ceiling, and his body relaxed. Riku gave him a thumbs-up and started searching for the best angle to draw Sora from. After a few moments, he decided on a location close to Sora, and a bit sideways from him.
"Okay now.. Don't move too much if you don't have to, it anything itches I'll itch it for you, mmk?" Riku chuckled, dipping his brushes in the water and starting to blend some colors and sketch the main contours of Sora's figure with a water pencil.
Sora felt a slight blush creep to his cheeks. He could feel Riku's eyes on him, and it made him all nervous and fidgety. "Riku.. My ankle itches.." He murmured then, scrunching his nose. The artist just nodded and gently rubbed his ankles, using the pads of his fingers so he won't hurt Sora's skin. The brunette smiled and nodded in return. Riku's touch felt nice, Sora decided. Nice and most welcome. He just knew where and how to touch to make Sora, or just about anyone, feel nice and warm on the inside.
Riku, in the meanwhile, was inspecting Sora's body, trying to define the proportions and adding some more guidelines to his drawing. Slowly, he started noticing his drawing less and less, indulged in Sora's figure more than his drawing.
Sora.. Sora had such nice, boyish features. Slim, yet not skinny arms, smooth stomach with a tiny depression in the middle that lasted from his chest all the way down to his lower abdomen, graced by a slightly sticking out button-like naval. His skin was just a little bit tan from all the days the boy spent outside. His chest was almost flat, showing only a tiny layer of muscles from his activities and games outside. Riku could bet that if Sora wouldn't have that drowning fear, he'd make a great swimmer, and his chest would be prettier.. But alas, he liked Sora the way he was.
"Riku my tummy itches.." Sora murmured, frowning slightly. Riku just chuckled in return and moved to scratch Sora's stomach all over, making the younger boy squirm slightly and nod. "It's cold too." He added then, turning to hopeful look at Riku's direction and swallowing.
The artist rolled his eyes and snickered, but placed his palms on top of Sora's stomach and let them rest there and warm it up.
Sora cooed happily and let himself close his eyes for now, sighing. Yes, he was content again.
"Can I let go now?" Riku snickered at the brunette. He was holding his hands there for quite a while, actually, and Sora's stomach was warm now.
A few moments passed, and Riku only got a quiet snore in return.
"Oh god.." Riku rolled his eyes.
"Mmm... Riku what time is it?" Sora yawned, curling sleepily inside his fleece blanket and wrapping it tightly around his form.
"About 10 PM." Riku sighed, scratching his head as he let a few final strokes to Sora's hair and set the canvas aside.
Sora's face drained of all color. "What… Why didn't you wake me up?!" He gulped, panic evident in his voice.
"Relax Sora. Your friend called, I told her you were asleep.. So she told me not to wake you up and that she would take care of everything." He hummed, wiping his hands with his moist cloth and letting himself slump beside Sora on the couch.
"…Oh." The brunette blinked twice before relaxing back again and closing his eyes. "Well.. I guess it's okay then." He nodded, closing his eyes and letting a long sigh. "That means I'm staying over?" He added with a small frown, fingers shifting inside their small cocoon made by the wrapped blanket.
"Yeah, I won't let you stray around this part of town at night.. I'm pretty scared of it myself." Riku smiled, ruffling Sora's hair. "Don't worry, I live alone, so I have no problem with unexpected guests." He smiled and crossed his hands behind his back.
"Thanks again.." Sora sighed, looking back wearily at Riku and granting him a small, honest smile before offering him a hug, spreading his arms widely.
"My pleasure." The elder snickered and accepted Sora's invitation, leaning down to warp his arms around the smaller boy's frame. It took him a few moments to realize he was still hugging Sora after twenty seconds. He couldn't help it though.. The sleepy boy was so warm and well.. Snuggly.
Sora cooed sleepily and buried his face in Riku's shoulder, resembling a small curled up animal-cub.
"Riku.. Do you have milk?" Sora murmured, opening his eyes then to look at the ceiling.
Riku hummed and frowned thoughtfully. "I think I do, in fact.. Why?" He let go of Sora then, but still remained kneeling beside the sleeping boy.
"I'm hungry, but I don't want anything heavy to eat.. So a glass of warm milk would be really great." He nodded, stretching slightly, voice still very sleepy, now that he calmed down.
"I see.." The artist chuckled, standing up and ruffling Sora's hair again. "I'll heat you some milk right away." He nodded, making his way to the kitchen in order to make Sora a glass as he was asked.
Sora just smiled and curled back under the fuzzy blanket, murmuring a small 'Thanks' and yawning, smacking his lips sleepily afterwards.
It wasn't too long before Riku was back with a big ceramic mug with a coffee-bean mocha colored print on it filled with warm milk, and served it to Sora. "Here, hope it isn't too hot." He noted, taking his seat beside Sora on the couch and serving him his milk.
The brunette made a small grumble before sitting up and taking the mug from Riku's hands, taking a couple of sips and nodding approvingly. The milk had officially passed his exams. It was a tad too hot, but nothing Sora couldn't handle, so he flashed Riku a smile and took another sip, gingerly licking the small white moustache left from the warm liquid.
Riku snickered and wiped a small droplet from the corner of Sora's mouth with his thumb, licking it away and grinning at the brunette. Sora just lowered his look sheepishly and licked his lips again, quickly returning back to his milk.
Upon finishing his small dinner, Sora stretched and let himself lean over Riku's shoulder, growling quietly and clearing his throat. "Are you gonna go to bed now?" He murmured, eyes closed.
"Most probably.. I'll go arrange my own sleeping place, I'll be sleeping on the floor.. Need to get the mattress from the attic and get a new pair of sheets.. And something for you to sleep in." He concluded, resting his elbows on his knees.
The younger male nodded and licked his lips again, just in case there was some milk left there.
"Good night Riku." He smiled, curling into a small ball and slumping back on the couch. "Wake me up when you get the clothes.." He added then, dismissing Riku with a wave of his wrist.
Riku snickered and got up, making his way to his bathroom so he could get a quick shower and get some sleeping clothes for Sora and himself, seeing how his closet was placed there.
Ah.. This was going to be one long night for the artist…
Wooh! Hope you all enjoyed this chappie guysers. :3
Starting from next chapter, our lovely heroes would start noticing their growing attraction for each other. Keyword is start though, they still have some time. -pets-
Water pencil- A special pencil many artist use for watercolor sketches, because it washes easily with water.