Riku took one week off dating, and he regretted it. He had planned to give himself a break from being 'attached' before Halloween. He sat down at the lunch table and set his backpack atop it, making a huge 'thunk' that rattled all the trays and silverware in the vicinity.
"That thing must weigh a ton!" Sora exclaimed, sizing up Riku's bag. "What's in there?" He immediately reached for the latch and popped it open.
"Roxas' brain capacity," Riku replied, unscrewing the top of his Sprite. "That's why its so dense."
"Haha," Roxas said sarcastically, using his spork to fling a pea at Riku, who artfully blocked it with his hand.
Sora caught the few that tried to escape as a whole stack of cards cascaded out onto the table. "Are they love notes?" he asked suspiciously.
Kairi reached over and grabbed a few. "They're party invitations," she said, almost relieved. "Halloween? You didn't even open any of them."
Riku shrugged. "The minute they found out I was single they rushed to my locker to shove them in I think," he said boredly, starting to eat his lunch.
Namine carefully opened one in a cute little orange envelope. It looked like it had been graphic design student-ed to death. "You're invited to Rachel Spero's skin only Halloween party! Come dressed, or UNdressed in your Halloween costumes!" she read aloud.
"What a hooker," Kairi said distastefully, pulling the picture of the cute junior dressed in a skanky pirate outfit. "PS: Riku you should dress as a zombie?"
Sora pulled at his cheeks and stuck his tongue out, moaning grossly. "Zooombie. Bleeding from all orifices!"
"Its because she wants you to rip your shirt off and eat her face," Roxas replied, flinging peas at Sora until he stopped making nasty faces.
"Look, every girl in the school invited you to a party, are you gonna go to any of them?" Kairi asked.
Riku flipped his hair. "Why would I need to when I'm having my own party?" His house was giant, was there a reason to deprive everyone who ever dreamed of being cool from attending? Never.
"Can I come?!" Sora asked excitedly.
Riku flicked him in the forehead. "Duh, moron." He rolled his eyes. "You guys are all invited. Except maybe not Roxas," he was joking. Mostly.
"Like I'd want to come. How are you going to fit everyone in your house with your ego in the way?" Roxas retorted.
Sora punched Roxas in the shoulder. "It'll be cool," he insisted. Roxas ignored him.
Riku smirked. He loved getting under Roxas' skin. Partially for the fact that jealousy was something that Riku found hard to let go of, and because he looked out for Sora as his best friend. If he had to give him up to Roxas, than he was going to be hard on him.
All the lights in Sora's room were on, and he sat spinning around mindlessly in his desk chair. He pushed off the carpet with his bare feet and spun his pajama-ed self around and around until he felt dizzy enough to stop. Nevermind that it was 3:45am and his bed was waiting rather invitingly with the sheets turned down. Sora looked at it and sighed. He knew the second he climbed into it and turned the lights off, the room would be illuminated by the violent flashes and crashes of the thunderstorm outside, and he wouldn't be able to sleep anyway.
Sora rubbed his face and got up out of his chair with a little wobble. He opened the door to his bedroom quietly, not wanting to wake his Mom or Roxas, and crept downstairs. Sora got a glass of milk and drank it, slowly, jumping a little every time lightening flashed across the tile on the floor. "You're an IDIOT," he told himself. Sora wasn't supposed to be scared of anything.Yet here he was, unable to sleep. Stupid.
Flipping the kitchen light off, Sora headed back up the stairs with a heavy yawn. A diffused yellow light peeking out from under Roxas' door caught his attention. 'He's not up…is he?' There's no way Roxas was afrai- bothered by the thunderstorm. Sora stood outside his door and debated going inside. Knocking would wake him up if he was asleep, but if he just opened the door a little and checked it would probably be okay.
Sora turned the knob very slowly and pushed open Roxas' door. He was immediately hit with cool air and shivered. The only light was coming from the lava lamp that Sora had given him, and anything that flooded in through the window. Roxas was kneeling on his bed, elbows on the windowsill. His window was wide open despite the driving rain, the wind whipping the curtains all around. Sora clutched his arms and closed the door quietly, padding over to Roxas' bed silently.
Sora knelt on the bed with one knee and Roxas felt the shift. He turned around, a faint smile like a memory was still on his face. "Hey, Sora," he said very softly.
"Why are you still up?" Sora asked, climbing all the way onto the bed and kneeling beside Roxas. He tucked his feet under his rear and sat on them to keep them from getting chilled.
Roxas turned back to the view. One thing about living on an island, almost everyone had a great view of the ocean. The richer folks actually lived further inland, where the ground was geologically more stable. From his window, Roxas could watch the forks of lightening rip across the sky. They were followed closely with the soothing deep rumble of thunder. "Just watching the storm," Roxas replied. "Want to watch it with me?"
Sora scooted closer to Roxas, partially to conserve warmth and partially because he didn't like the storm. "I guess…" he flinched as lightening lit up the area, and couldn't help letting out a small whine when the thunder arrived.
Roxas looked at Sora sort of hunched next to him. "Are you okay?" he asked, quietly as if his voice were any louder it would interrupt the sounds of the storm. The small spasms of Sora's body hadn't gone unnoticed.
"I'm fine," Sora insisted. If Roxas could sit around watching a thunderstorm, Sora could too without problems. "I don't see why you like it. The lightening is all violent and the thunder is LOUD and the rain sounds kind of angry on the roof," it made him pout a little just thinking about it.
Roxas shrugged, not taking his eyes off the display outside. "In Twilight Town, you could sit around all day waiting for the night, and it would never come. So I guess I still find it fascinating. In the World that Never Was, there were almost always storms and rain. I'm used to it."
Sora nodded a little. "There are a lot of storms here in the winter. You'll love it. Not in the summer, though. So you'll have to adjust." There was a deep rumble and Sora shuddered.
"Why are you still up, Sora?" Roxas asked. "Its kind of late."
"Uhhh…" Sora said, shifting a little. "I just couldn't sleep is all," he said, shrugging as if it weren't a big deal.
Roxas lifted an eyebrow at Sora, not believing him. Sora watched the lightning flash across his face and light up his eyes electrically. He stared at Roxas' face in the bluish light of the late night storm for an undetermined period of time. It took Sora a minute to realize he had a handful of his pajama pants and was clenching and unclenching it in his fist. Roxas cocked his head to the side a little and blinked. He debated waving his hand in front of Sora's face. Did he stop breathing just now?
"Sor-" he started to say, but there was a close flash of lightening and a loud 'BOOM!' Sora yelped and grabbed onto Roxas. Instinctively, he pulled Roxas backwards with him, away from the open window and the offending storm. Roxas felt himself lose balance and they both landed on his bed with a quiet 'foof'.
Not wanting to squish Sora, Roxas propped himself up a little and looked down at Sora under him. His heart rate started to increase again, something which he had to admit thrilled him. He loved being able to hear proof of his existence pounding in his ears, and Sora seemed to facilitate that a lot for him. Roxas managed to keep his face from turning red. He was adjusting, able to hold back a blush now. Apparently unlike Sora who had red streaked across his face at this moment.
Sora stared up at Roxas, feeling his breath catch in his throat more than once or twice. He wanted to laugh a little embarrassedly and maybe say 'oops', but he couldn't make the words come out of his mouth. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach up and pull Roxas back down. Sora felt the tug of the comforter at his shoulder as Roxas clenched the blanket in his fist. Roxas was framed by the open window, his hair gently jostled by the wind. Sora forgot the sound of the rain attacking the roof and only heard his slow breathing and steady 'thump' in his chest.
Roxas swallowed. He was feeling that pull, that impulse grow in his stomach. For the first time, he was terrified to obey it. Roxas sat completely still, confused over this new feeling he was getting. His thoughts slowly melting, his body slowly warming, and all of Sora's features becoming soft in the light of the little rocket ship. Roxas reached up to brush Sora's bangs out of the way of his eyes.
"Um, Sora? What if-" Roxas started to say, but was interrupted by a flash of lightening that made Sora flinch visibly.
Roxas leaned down. "Are you afraid?" he whispered.
"No," Sora replied, and the thunder came loudly. Sora squeezed his eyes shut.
Roxas sighed and sat up. The first time he'd ever felt the urge to completely take advantage of someone, and the storm he had been enjoying ruined it for him. "Get under the covers," Roxas instructed, kneeling up and pulling the window closed.
"What?" Sora asked, sort of dumbfounded.
"I said get under the covers, Sora," Roxas replied, latching the window and pulling the string on the blinds.
"Why?" Sora asked, still confused as to what was going on.
Roxas narrowed his eyebrows at him. "Now, Sora," he said, sternly, pulling the curtains closed. Sora obeyed him and pushed his blankets down so he could get under them. He watched Roxas stand up and hop off the bed. "Scoot," he commanded, lifting the covers and crawling under with Sora.
"Because its late and I'm tired," Roxas answered his previous question. He flipped onto his back and separated his pillows, giving one to Sora. Roxas then reached for the cord on the lava lamp, clicking it off. Sora immediately scooted closer to him the minute the room was plunged into darkness. He wanted to just grab a hold of Roxas for dear life, but he didn't know if it would annoy him.
"You're a wimp," Roxas said, closing his eyes.
"Am not," Sora protested. "I just…" He wasn't afraid of the dark or anything stupid like that. He wasn't AFRAID. It just bothered him was all.
It was quiet save the rain, and Roxas had almost fallen asleep when the next round of lightening and thunder came. He felt Sora tremble next to him and sigh, irritated. Roxas rolled his eyes, he'd never get to sleep if Sora kept this up. Guess just sharing the bed wasn't enough.
Roxas turned on his side and reached out, touching Sora's elbow first. He ran his hand up Sora's arm until he reached his shoulder, squeezing it gently and pushing on his back to get him to move closer. Sora's arms immediately went around Roxas' middle as if they were meant to be there. After just a bit of shifting of their limbs, the two settled down in a comfortable position. Roxas observed that they fit together perfectly if Roxas stretched this way and Sora curled that way. "Go to sleep," Roxas whispered, rubbing Sora's back gently as the sounds of the storm continued to invade his room.
Sora closed his eyes, finding it easy to make himself relax, his legs tangled with Roxas' and his head lying on his chest. He focused on listening to Roxas' heartbeat under his ear instead of the weather and finally fell asleep in a matter of minutes.