"But I HATE this shirt," Riku said into his cellphone, which happened to be crammed between his shoulder and ear. He looked at himself in the full length mirror on the back of his door. He was clad in a eye-hurting highlighter yellow shirt that Sora had gotten him demanding he 'stand out more.'
"I was trying to go for preppy, not obnoxious," Riku told Kairi as he attempted to undress while still holding his phone.
"So just put on a pair of khakis and a polo," Kairi replied. She was smart enough to at least have a hands-free in her ear while she sat on her bed painting her nails. It was somewhat odd to her in the back of her head that she was helping Riku pick out what to wear for his date with Selphie. It was even odder that she was tempted to tell him to dress as unattractive as possible.
"Kairi, I feel as if you don't care about such an important decision in my life," Riku said, and Kairi could almost hear him rolling his eyes over he phone.
"Sorry. I'm painting my nails, you know?" Kairi said, pointlessly putting another coat on when she didn't really need to.
Riku poked through the bottles of stuff that made him smell good and oh-so-manly. "You should go to the Fair too, you know. It would be fun." It would be cool to laugh at her as she screamed on the roller coaster.
"Riku don't invite me on your date," Kairi pointed out. "How tacky can you get? You'd better be nice to Selphie."
"Yeah," Riku replied. "Promise." he bypassed the stuff that made him smell like sex and went for the stuff that made him smell, in his opinion, 'rather pleasant.' "Okay, Khaki's and polo," Riku said, popping the collar cause he knew it was cooler.
"Okay, have fun," Kairi said, hanging up on him and blowing on her nails. Never mind the fact she'd painted one of them at least five times.
Selphie met Riku at the Blue gate of the fairgrounds. She waved frantically as he approached, and was on his arm the minute he was close enough. "Riku, the fair is SO COOL. You're a pretty smart guy to pick somewhere so neat!"
Riku laughed as he paid for their admission. "What can I say, I'm-"
"Ohhh look, maps!" Selphie interrupted him, grabbing one. "Wow, there's so much stuff to do. What do you wanna do first?"
Riku looked over her shoulder. He wasn't so interested in looking at cows and horses and flowers or listening to sixth graders sing songs about the nine nifty destiny islands.
Thus, he was dragged by Selphie towards the bunnies and baby chicks. Riku kept his gag reflex in check, trying to convince himself that his manliness was not being compromised in any way.
"They're SOOOOO cute!" Selphie chirped, poking in at the ears of the caged little animals.
"Yep," Riku replied, biting at a caramel apple he'd picked up on the way. "These ones are cool," he said pointing at the albino bunnies with his caramel apple. "They've got awesome pale hair like m-"
But Selphie had skipped off to see the tiny chicks and was currently completely fascinated by the ones that were just emerging from their eggs, slimy and cheeping like mad. Riku looked back at the albinos and caught their red eyes, swearing they were boring a hole into his soul. He shuddered a little and backed away.
Once Selphie's fluff curiosity was thoroughly choked, she pulled Riku towards the art exhibit. He lost her after five minutes because she only spent about two seconds looking at each piece. Riku stared at a photograph of a severely wrinkly old man with minimal amount of teeth. He shoved the rest of the scone he had been eating in his mouth and tried to think about it thoughtfully.
Riku gave up when Selphie came and found him. "Riku, there were a lot of naked ladies over there," she commented, as if she couldn't decide whether she thought this was interesting or not.
"Really?" Riku asked. "I was just looking at this…uh…old decrepit man. Isn't it great?" No one could say he didn't try to be interested in other girls interests.
Selphie made a face. "He's icky," she decided, pulling Riku away. Riku sighed. Selphie sure was cute, but she sure was a handful.
"Cotton candy!" Sora yelped, and Roxas held him back from his lunge at the stand.
"No effing WAY," he said, grabbing Sora around the middle and dragging him out of the food area. How bad would Sora be on a sugar high? Oh…it hurt Roxas' head to think about it.
"I thought we came here to go on rides?" Roxas reminded him, letting him go and pushing him in the direction of the giant ferris wheel. The sun was just setting so the rides were beginning to light up.
"Hooray!" Sora said, seeming to have forgotten all about the cotton candy. They stood in line to buy tickets while Sora excitedly checked out the rides.
"Roxas, do you like spinny ones that make you so dizzy you almost puke? Or ones that go upside down? Or ones that go REALLY fast? Oh! I have a really good idea!" Sora waited for Roxas to pay for the tickets and give him his full attention.
"What?" Roxas asked. He didn't seem to share the same enthusiasm as Sora. If he wanted heights, there was the clock tower. If he wanted thrills, well he could just run directly up the side of a skyscraper. If he wanted to get dizzy he could spin around really fast in his desk chair. They had already discussed the puking thing.
"Lets go on the roller coaster. When you're at the top, and you drop really fast, your heart beats a million miles an hour in your chest!" Sora pulled Roxas towards the towering coaster that the fairgrounds were known for.
Roxas allowed himself to be pushed in line by Sora. He surveyed the rest of the people in the line. Thirteen year olds and couples that were cuddling. The cuddling is what caught his eye. "Heart beating really fast, huh? What other times does your heart beat really fast?"
Sora thought about it for a moment. "When you're really, really afraid or nervous," Sora said. He laughed just a little and nudged Roxas. "Or, you know. When you're in loooove."
"In…love?" Roxs repeated. It felt like WAY too big of a word for him. He swallowed a little. "Uh, and how do you know you're, in love?"
Sora shrugged. "Don't really know. Never been," as if it were a country he simply hadn't visited yet. "Think I might be on the way, though," he grinned at Roxas.
Roxas lifted an eyebrow and elbowed him in the stomach. "You like someone that much and you didn't TELL me? You're a loser!"
Sora laughed and pushed him forward in the line, all the way into the waiting gate for the roller coaster. "No, I'm shy," he made an excuse.
"You are NOT shy, Sora. Don't be a liar," Roxas replied.
Sora crossed his arms. "Oh, okay. Who's the one asking questions about love, huh?"
Roxas' face started to heat up. Noooo! "I was curious!" They continued to argue as they boarded the rollercoaster and it climbed to the top. Roxas paused enough to look down. "Oh…uh…really high up…" he said, gripping the shoulder harness.
"You scared?" Sora challenged.
"No," Roxas denied.
"Heart beating fast?" Sora prodded.
"No!" Roxas replied.
That didn't stop him from screaming at the top of his lungs the entire ride. Roxas wobbled down the exit ramp, a grin plastered on his face. "That was SO EFFING COOL!" he said, hugging Sora. "You're so cool. Lets go on more!"
Sora grinned and turned pink. He was thrilled that Roxas thought he was cool. Now if he could only get him to think he was extremely, desirably attractive, too.
"What's the concert tonight?" Selphie asked, swinging her feet playfully as the two of them munched on corndogs.
Riku shrugged. "Hot Hot Heat Elevator, I think." He thought they were okay.
Selphie made a face. "What about on the Indie stage?" she prodded, leaning over as Riku stared at the program.
"Uh…Twiggy and the Leafers now, but Destiny Idol in an hour," he said, trying to mask his boredom.
Riku swore that Selphie exploded. "I LOVE singing! I want to do it! Please, Riku? Let's go!" She didn't wait for his answer before yanking him towards the Indie stage at top speed.
Two hours later, Riku was shifting uncomfortably in his hard concrete seat, an empty milkshake cup next to him. He wished for the life of him he had earplugs to drown out the excited screams from the little preteens in the audience as Selphie was crowned the next Destiny Idol. He tore at a section of his cinnamony elephant ear and sighed.
Sora rubbed Roxas' back gently as he sat with his head practically between his knees on a bench near the tilt-a-whirl. He moaned a little, squeezing his eyes tightly shut for fear that if he opened them, the ground would start spinning again.
"Told you not to go on the Spacemaster 2000," Sora said. They'd hit every ride imaginable and even though Roxas was already dizzy, he had insisted. Now here he was ready to lose his lunch all over his shoes.
Roxas moaned again and sat up slowly. "I think I'm okay now," he said, and Sora helped him off the bench.
"Lets go get some water," Sora suggested. They should lay off the rides for a little while anyway.
Sora wrapped his arm around Roxas' waist, supposedly to steady him as they headed in the direction of the games. Sora caught sight of a familiar brown flip and silvery cascade of hair.
"Riku took Selphie to the fair, huh?" he muttered, observing Selphie with a pile of stuffed animals in her arms and Riku boosting his ego by winning her yet another one.
"Yep," Roxas said. Riku sure did get around. He directed Sora away from them. Even though he knew Sora and Riku had talked, he still got that annoyed feeling when he was around.
"Hey, hey! You guys!" a familiar voice called suddenly, and Roxas felt a familiar hand grope his ass suddenly.
Sora slapped Tidus' hand away. "What's up?" he asked, observing Tidus' wild stripey shirt.
"You have to do me a huge favor," Tidus insisted, directing them towards a tent and throwing the flap open.
"Woah, woah, what? Where are we going?" Roxas asked, following reluctantly.
"The next guy on the shift just got really sick so if no ones in the tank my ass is grass! C'mon its fun anyway, take your shirts off." Tidus insisted, reaching for the edge of Roxas shirt and starting to pull it up.
Sora bat his hand away again. "He doesn't feel good. Don't make him do anything," Sora warned in a defensive tone that made Tidus back off.
"You'll do it for me Sora then won't you? Come on I won't make you undress lets go," Tidus pushed him out the other side of the tent and Roxas stood in the middle dumbfounded for a moment.
"Hey wait!" he called out, running back out the front to see Sora reluctantly climbing into a large cage and onto a small bench. The bench was suspended over a tub of water. Roxas was pretty sure this wasn't the kind of 'get water' that Sora had had in mind.
Tidus came back out a moment later with three softballs in his hand. "Thanks Sora, I owe you!" he called, climbing up onto his little pedestal.
Sora shifted on the small bench nervously. How had he gotten so easily bullied into going into a dunk tank?! Man he hoped everyone that came around had horrible aim.
"STEP right up! Come on now! Look how dry he is! You over there, come on! Only two bucks for three balls!" Tidus called out. He beckoned to the people walking by.
Roxas crossed his arms and watched Sora stare down at the water apprehensively. "Are you gonna be okay?" Roxas called out. Sora gave him a smile. One of those ones that meant 'Probably not, but its me!'
A group of girls started whispering and giggling nearby. Tidus noticed them immediately. "C'mon ladies, don't you want to have a go? He'll take his shirt off if you can dunk him!"
"What?! Tidus!" Sora tried to protest, but every one of the girls were trying to shove money into Tidus' hands.
Sora white knuckled the side of the bench. At least girls probably threw like girls. He sighed with relief every time they missed, and flinched if any one of them knocked it against the target. Unfortunately, they couldn't seem to throw it hard enough. "Nice try!" he called out when someone almost got it.
"Awwww…" they all practically said in unison at how cute Sora was. Tidus frowned and handed Roxas his wad of change. "Take care of the buyage for a second," he said, pulling him up onto the platform.
"Wha- Tidus?!" Roxas said, as he was bombarded with bills shoved in his face by the rabid fan girls. "Hey, will you take off your shirt too if I buy a ball?" Roxas simply glared and handed them their change.
"Sora, dude. None of this 'nice try' crap. You have to provoke them," Tidus told him from the front of the tank.
Sora shook his head. "Are you a stupid moron? I don't WANT to get wet!"
Tidus shook his head harder. "You have to go down man, and if you call insults at them they'll buy balls just to dunk you. Tell them they suck and throw like girls."
Sora frowned. "They ARE girls."
Tidus nodded approvingly and stepped away for the next customer.
The girl missed her first ball and Sora practically yelled, "What are you, senile?! Hit the target!"
Tidus grinned and gave a thumbs up, leaning against the safe side of the cage. Roxas glared at him for not doing his job.
"I must be seeing in slow motion, did you throw the ball?" Sora called at one of the girls.
"Target isn't moving, why can't you hit it?"
"I'm falling asleep up here! You call that a throw?"
Sora's voice caught Riku's ear as he walked by with Selphie, who was barely able to see over her tower of prizes. Riku was licking the chocolate from a cow chip off his fingers. He spotted Sora sitting in a dunk tank that appeared to be run inadvertently by Roxas as Tidus watched on and laughed.
"Hey Selphie, lets go to the dunk tank. I wanna play," Riku said, putting a hand on her back and gently directing her over there.
"Really? Oh! Its Sora!" Selphie exclaimed as Riku approached Roxas and held two bucks out to him.
Roxas frowned at him. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I want to play this game," Riku replied, shaking his money at Roxas.
"No," Roxas flat out refused. Riku would dunk Sora on the first try and then Sora would have to take his shirt off. Not that he minded that part particularly.
Tidus took over his job again momentarily. "Don't be stingy, Roxas. Customers are customers," he took Riku's two bucks and handed him three balls.
Riku stepped up to the line and Sora scooted back on the bench. "Riku?! What are you doing?!"
"Plug your nose, Sora," Riku said with a smirk, throwing the ball as hard as he could right at the target.
Sora went down with a yelp and a splash, feeling the freezing water soak him through immediately. He came up sputtering and climbed slowly back onto the bench. Almost instantaneously, Riku slammed the ball at the target again, sending Sora back into the water. He climbed out a second time and Riku gave his third ball to the girl behind him.
Riku laughed as Sora glared fiercely at him. "I know, Sora. You'll get me back. Bye!" Selphie promptly dragged him off in the direction of something interesting she thought she saw in the gap between a pink tiger and a long legged frog.
"Take it off, Sora," Tidus told him, and Sora rolled his eyes. It was colder with his soaking shirt clinging to him anyway.
Roxas was about to tell him that he didn't have to do it, but he couldn't make the words leave his mouth. He couldn't make his eyes leave Sora's form as he slid his hands up the bottom of his shirt and stretched up, stripping it off over his head.
A very distinct "Nyahhhh!" could be heard from the group of girls, and Roxas looked over at Tidus who was smirking appreciatively. "Stop looking," he said sternly, shoving the change money at him distractingly.
"Okay, loverboy," Tidus muttered, climbing back up on the tower and ignoring the sharp glare from Roxas.
Sora shook his hair and water flew every which way, dripping onto his shoulders and rolling down his bare chest. The water glistened on his tan skin in the bright light that illuminated the dunk tank. Roxas felt his face heat up again and his stomach felt as if it were on the tilt-a-whirl.
Roxas learned something about Sora that night as he carefully helped him towel off in the tent behind the dunk tank, not able to resist a few supposed 'accidental' touches to his shoulder and back. Sora was inexcusably attractive.
Riku learned something about Selphie that night as he lay on his bed, whining to Kairi over the phone about what a horrible stomach ache he had. Never, EVER let her near a jump rope contest.