The Perfections of Imperfections
Chapter 9
Sora was uneasy. He could see the nerves in his own cobalt blues as he peered into the mirror.
Maybe it was the birthday beer he had already had that was mangling his judgement and dulling his rationality? He sighed into the mirror knowing full well that Roxas was the only reason to explain his nerves. A quick glance to the clock told Sora that he was due to meet the blonde in less than ten minutes, he gulped down some more of the fresh beer he had been clutching onto.
Alcohol would ease him tonight: make his body more limber and welcoming to the haze of manic reactions and blissful emotions Roxas would inevitably give him. He could feel the drink already taking effect, excitement gradually replacing any nerves.
One more swing of his beer Sora realised he was more than ready for Roxas.
The teen took another hard swing of his beer.
The brunette knew it was cold, he did, but what confused him was the extreme warmth that he was feeling as he, Kairi and Riku swayed through the streets to get to their destination. Roxas. Hearing that name in his mind, Sora felt a grin stretch his lips.
"Already tipsy, Sora?" Said boy heard Riku tease.
"What?!" Sora exclaimed with laughter, "No! No, no, no…"
The brunette even caught the shared roll of eyes between his bemused friends as he marched down the street. He ignored it, his thoughts were far too wrapped up in someone else.
Time was chasing and playing with Sora so easily that night as the bar he and his friends were meeting at was suddenly glowing somewhere in the not too far distance. And then he was grinning at the bar man, flashing his freshly legal ID (despite not being asked for it in the first place) and squirming through the crowded area to the large table his friends were hanging onto hungrily swallowing the thick, dry alcohol sting in the air.
Upon lightly stepping to the table, Sora was met with a messy cheer from the blurred ten (-ish) people there to which he replied with a lopsided joyful smile.
Excitement was all he could understand as he laughed with his friends; pure unadulterated, animated happiness.
Why had he been so nervous earlier?
"Sorry I'm late guys!" A slightly flat, undoubtedly recognisable voice chimed at Sora's right.
The teen felt his knees loosen and his nerve ends fizz in a static reaction, he tried to suck in a breath of that delicious thrilling dry air that tasted of old alcohol but his throat had closed. He was starting to feel dizzy now. Sora felt as though Roxas had never been gone.
"Happy birthday, Sora." Hearing Roxas say his name, said boy automatically turned to him just in time to see Roxas' welcoming smile and feel a warm hand pat and hang on his shoulder.
"Thanks." Sora found himself smiling back while noticing how close Roxas was, the blonde's breath had alcohol swimming through it.
Roxas gave Sora another toothy grin and let his hand lazily slide from Sora's shoulder, leaving a trail of goose bumps under the fabric.
"Right, since I don't have a present for you, let me buy you a beer," Roxas announced extending his arms slightly to Sora.
For a moment the teen thought Roxas was signalling for a hug. Feeling silly, Sora nodded with a smile and Roxas had suddenly disappeared into the crowds.
Sora watched the blonde's retreating back in fondness, wishing, knowing he could follow him yet remaining on the spot he stood. He was only vaguely aware of how everything had come to this.
A few long minutes later, Sora found himself still empty handed and with increasing impatience. He tapped his foot off the stained carpet and only half joined in with the slurred conversation bouncing between his friends in a mix of laughter and shouts. Feeling irritation and longing get to him, Sora roughly stood up and headed for the bar, pulling on his clothes as he went.
Music had started playing from somewhere at some point and Sora kept pushing through to the bar and only felt a sigh of relief escape when he caught sight of dusky blonde curving spikes. But the brunette immediately sucked that breath back in when he spotted a blonde girl, Naminé, with her arm draped on Roxas' and a silly half smile haunting his lips.
Sora felt all his cheer slip from his fingertips at that point.
Feeling so still inside, unmoved and frozen, the brunette knew he was moving to Roxas, he did, but stopping, changing it or simply believing it, his surroundings was an issue for a different time.
"Where's my birthday drink?" Sora exclaimed, his voice oddly happy. Namine immediately withdrew her hand from Roxas' arm.
Roxas turned and met Sora with that dazzling willing smile the brunette had made his goal to see as often as possible.
"Sorry!" Roxas laughed, throwing the rest of his beer down his throat, "I'll get right on it." At that Roxas called the bar person with an extended hand and began ordering.
Sora shared an empty glance and smile with Naminé.
And not an awkward moment later (maybe one), Naminé had went off to find the rest of the group and Sora and Roxas were alone, both downing their beers in some unannounced competition.
After drawing, twice and sharing a few burps, Roxas gave Sora a knowing grin that unsettled the drowsy brunette.
"What? Why're you looking at me like that?" Sora slurred, holding another burp down.
"Why'd you cock-block(*) me?" Roxas quizzed, his body leaning towards Sora as his arm dropped onto the bar for support.
"What? With Naminé?" Sora innocently asked.
"Well, it wasn't with Riku." Roxas chuckled, his eyes glazing as he swayed.
"M' sorry." Sora waved off, his neck feeling weak as he watched the shiny ceiling tiles play in the odd colourful lights.
Sora let a bizarre disappointment slowly swirl around in his stomach. He knew Roxas would have a girl somewhere…
But still… Sora thought as he swung his gaze to the increasingly tired looking blonde, he couldn't be made at him. Sora found his lips curving, he couldn't even regret meeting him.
"Wanna get some fresh air?" Sora chirped, slinging his arm around Roxas.
Roxas, looking fairly pale, weakly nodded, "I don't feel…s'good."
The pair stood in the silent crisp street, one crouched over and clinging to his blonde spikes and the other offering glances of sympathy every now and then.
"Ugh." Roxas grunted whilst taking deep breaths.
Feeling useless and awkward, Sora piped up, "Do you want me to go and get you some water?"
Sighing and dragging his hands over his hair to push it from his face, Roxas peered up to Sora. The brunette, swallowed as he gazed down to Roxas' dilated, wet, clear eyes, the blonde's skin had a slick layer of perspiration making it shine in the dim white light of the street lamp towering above them, his small smile let Sora know he appreciated the thought.
The boys held the gaze for a peaceful moment and Sora mirrored Roxas' crouched position so they were at eye level and side by side. The brunette felt better being at the same level as the blonde.
"Thanks, Sora." Roxas breathed, glancing to Sora once more.
"No problem, we're friends, right?"
"Yeah."
A peaceful, warm (despite the chilled air) swam through the atmosphere and Sora let his mind and body rest for a moment as he briefly wondered what time it was.
"Aww," The shrill drunken coo suddenly peeled from a ghastly woman in the middle of a group.
Sora gave the group a sharp defensive look as it became clear the women were cooing him and Roxas. The blonde remained still with his face buried in his hands, Sora nudged himself further in front of the ill boy to protect him from any more looks from the crowd.
"Taking care of your little boyfriend while he's sick?" A hag cackled to the brunette.
Sora felt his insides twist, "Boyfriend?" His voice was cracked and too wary.
But suddenly a heavy arm had drooped onto his shoulder and he was being pulled slightly back, a thick whiff of alcohol surrounded him.
"Boyfriend?!" Sora heard Roxas call out, the blonde's breath hot on the side of his cheek, "This," Roxas pulled Sora closer so the brunette could smell the fabric of the boy's shirt, his face at Roxas' neck "is a bromance, ladies!" Roxas finished and the group of women praised Roxas with laughter as the blonde loosened his grip around Sora.
His shirt smells new, Sora thought, recognising the same fresh scent from his own clothes.
It could have been hours or less than ten minutes later, Sora didn't know; Roxas had a funny way of changing the regular flow of time for him.
So, some amount of uncharted time later, Sora and Roxas had abandoned all hope of going back into the bar and decided a late night snack was the right choice. They shared a few minor arguments about what to eat and where to get it but the choice was made for them when the pair spotted a lonely fast food restaurant glowing strongly in the night.
Sharing a grin, the pair soon left the fast food restaurant, both clutching numerous bags of burgers, chicken, fries and desserts.
"Do you think our eyes are bigger than our stomachs?" Roxas wondered out loud, eyeing the full bags of food he was holding.
"No way!" Sora laughed, already gearing himself up to stuff his face.
"Yeah, you're right!" Roxas heartedly replied, "But there's only one problem…"
"What?"
"We haven't bought our refreshments yet." Roxas replied with a wiggle of his eye brows.
"More drink?" Sora smiled, half impressed by the blonde's will to keep partying.
"Yeah but where can we even get some at this time?" Roxas pondered, readjusting his grip on the food bags.
"I dunno, just find some all night supermarket." Sora shrugged.
"Where though?" Roxas sighed.
A thoughtful silence passed.
"Ugh," Sora whined breaking the silence, "I wanna eat!"
"You're supposed to be thinking about where the closet supermarket is!" Roxas grumbled, rolling his dilated blues up to the clear sky.
"But I'm hungry!" The brunette huffed as he began opening a food bag, "I'm eating something."
Catching Sora opening the bags out of the corner of his eye, Roxas snapped, "What! No, the other food in there will get cold, just wait," At this, Roxas snatched the bag from Sora's grip, "till we get drink and find somewhere to sit and eat."
Offended, Sora replied in frustration with a half glare, "No, "as he swiped the bag back, "I paid half so I can eat my half."
"Sora." Roxas exhaled, his voice gracing annoyance, "just wait."
"Don't boss me around." Sora replied, his voice just as stern as he took a large bite of his burger. Sora felt a surge of adrenaline when he spotted the twitch of irritation in Roxas' left eye.
"Stop being so annoying!" Roxas hissed, grabbing the bag and the rest of the food from Sora.
"I could say the same to you." Sora countered, allowing Roxas to take all the bags as he finished his burger.
A tight exhale of air sounded from Roxas.
"Look," The blonde's tone had a forced patience about it, "if you must eat at the moment, my house isn't too far from here," Sora nearly choked, "and there is a shop not far from there, whether they are open or not, I don't have a clue."
The brunette forced the rest of his burger down as throat and immediately regretted it as he felt a bout of nauseas nerves kick in, "So?" He carefully replied, his voice sore.
Roxas looked at him, his eyes bored with impatience, "We could go there, genius."
Inhaling instantly, Sora felt his legs crumple and his heart thump off his rib cage, "Wha-what about your parents? Will they mind?"
"They'll be out cold." Roxas half shrugged, less than interested, "Plus, it'll only be us eating and drinking, not a full party and then we can go back out; we'll be quiet. Alright?"
"Uh… right." Sora nodded as he desperately tried to comprehend how it had come to this.
The shop was opened. But that wasn't the best part, Sora internally laughed to himself, the best part had to have been Roxas boldly marching up to the counter, letting a list of alcohol roll of the tip of his tongue like he had been doing this for years and then, the extremely uninterested cashier replying, "ID?"
"ID?" Roxas replied, dumbfounded by the notion and glaring at the man with scrutiny.
The man sighed and nodded, more than pissed off already. Sora felt a tumble of laughter crawling up his throat, threatening to burst out.
"I'm eighteen." Roxas stated, defensive.
"Then show me your ID."
"I don't have it."
At this, Sora couldn't hold his laughter in anymore and while he tried to wipe the joyous grin off his face, a small restrained chuckle leaked through and upon seeing Roxas throw a glare over his shoulder, the brunette felt the tumbles of laughter pour from his mouth.
"Shut up, Sora." Roxas groaned, making another peal of laughter erupt form the brunette. The cashier kept his face straight and cold.
"Y'know, Roxas," Sora chuckled at the disgruntled blonde, "I think you have forgotten who's birthday it is."
Roxas rolled his eyes.
"And who would have ID on this special day." Sora bragged, jokingly pushing Roxas from the till (and enjoying the slight light-headedness from doing so).
"Hurry up." Roxas grunted as he began scrounging through his wallet for the correct amount of money required.
Sora cockily flashed his ID with a smirk to the cashier and the man gave a sigh and a nod, Roxas shoved the money into the man's hand with another glare to him and Sora lifted the bags of booze and carried them out side to safety.
Roxas had a nice house. Well, as nice as houses can get in the pitch dark. The pair stumbled (of course, they had already unscrewed the tops of the alcohol they had bought) through the house and to the kitchen to heat up their food. The boys hushed and shushed the microwave as it pinged after its fifth round of food, the two then crept up the stairs, clinking bottles and piping hot fast food in hand, to Roxas' room.
The room was fairly big, simple and completely normal. Sora glanced to Roxas as he dumped everything onto his bed suddenly realising Roxas was a fairly normal person so he would have a normal room. He didn't know what he had been expecting.
Shrugging it off, Sora hopped onto the bed, next to Roxas and joined him in taking a swig of cheap vodka, his body involuntarily shivering and dry heaving afterwards. Roxas, his hand clinging over his mouth, gave a muffled laugh.
But then something caught Sora's eye: a flatscreen, plasma TV. Sora, amazed, gaped at the TV which hung quietly on the wall.
"Cool, right?" Roxas slurred, his eyes glazed.
"Amazingly cool!" Sora exclaimed, throwing his hands out and effectively knocking some of his food over.
"Shhh." Roxas hissed, while a bubbling laughter fell from his lips.
The brunette nodded slowly, "Yeah, yeah, shhh. Put the TV on!"
"Nothing will be on at this time!" Roxas countered.
"Pfft." Sora huffed, as he started at a fresh chicken leg. He didn't really mind, sitting and laughing here with Roxas was more than good enough for him anyway.
Soon, both had finished the banquet of greasy delights and had moved onto the deserts; a combination of various flavoured melted ice creams and he odd little cake.
"So," Sora began as he swallowed another blurred spoonful of his and Roxas' vodka ice cream: it was disgusting, "Naminé, eh?"
Roxas looked up for a moment and looked back down to his ice cream, laughing a little, "If you hadn't cockblocked me."
"I said sorry." Sora huffed, noticing how tired he was and how he didn't know if his lips were numb from the ice cream or the booze.
"It's fine. I'm not really…" He gave a somewhat shrug, "y'know… about it, her."
"No, I don't know." Sora replied sighing and trying to hate that half shrug of Roxas'.
Sora looked at the hazy blonde (briefly wondering if his spikes were as soft as they were the last time he touched them) and waited for a reply as the room spun, changing the atmosphere.
Roxas half shrugged and Sora wanted to punch him. But instead the brunette slumped against the wall he was leaning on, the room was feeling warm and Sora noticed his hand was tingling. And when he glanced to it, he saw Roxas limp hand not half an inch from it. His own hand twitched to reach out to Roxas' hand but he restrained himself, reminding himself that he was Roxas' friend.
"You jealous?"
"What?" Sora quizzed, surprised and thinking the completely blurriness and daze the alcohol had given him had caused him to miss part of the conversation.
"Are you jealous?" Roxas repeated, Sora looked at him to see him staring blankly up to the ceiling. His unveiling, unimpressionable expression worried him.
He was jealous. He wanted to have that freedom to lightly touch Roxas' arm, smile at him as much as he wanted to and, hell, flirt and have fun with him!
So Sora stayed silent. And Roxas, to Sora's surprise, accepted it.
"How come you didn't hook up then? It is your birthday!" Roxas suddenly said his tone light, and different from usual.
"Ha." Sora gave the short, cold laugh, "Who with?"
"There were some girls giving you the eye." Roxas shrugged.
Sora shook his head and swallowed some more of his drink, his vision and hearing blurring for a moment as the drink made him feel light and limber, "Didn't notice." I was too busy noticing you, Sora internally added.
"Hm." Roxas hummed.
"Y'know…" Roxas began, turning to Sora slightly causing his hand to brush against the brunette's and stay there, neither boy shifted from the contact. "You were in my dream last night. It was a weird dream." Roxas gave a small chuckle and looked to Sora.
Their gazes met and Sora unable to keep himself from smiling as he looked into Roxas' clear eyes, found himself laughing for no reason.
Both ate some ice cream, both drank some more and both laughed some more. Roxas kicked at the empty wrappers, bags and containers on his bed and let them drop to the floor.
Sora shifted his hand slightly meaning it brushed against Roxas' causing a deep rumble to swirl at the pit of his stomach. Roxas still didn't move his hand and when Sora glanced at him from the corner of his eye, he noticed Roxas hadn't moved his gaze. Feeling brave, and thinking Roxas had drank so much so probably wouldn't even notice, Sora gave a pretend sigh and lightly dropped his hand onto Roxas', and then slowly and loosely curled his fingers around the blonde's.
And at the corner of his eye, he noticed the blonde tilt his head to Sora to question it and when Sora waited and waited, his heart racing, jaw rigid, breaths tight, hand tingling blissfully at the contact, mind screaming for him to withdraw, Roxas said nothing, he didn't move his hand either.
"I noticed." Roxas suddenly said, turning his head to Sora, the brunette patiently waited for him to continue, simply infatuated by the blonde, "I noticed the girls looking at you."
Sora didn't know what to say or do, his eyes were wide, his heart wild. All he had to go by was the fact he never wanted to pull his hand from Roxas'.
The blonde held Sora's gaze, his expression was a mix of some sort of plea and blankness. But his eyes. His eyes, his clear, hazed with drink, dilated, wet, mesmerizing eyes swam in life and questions like Sora had seen them do during their fight. Was he just imagining this? Was the alcohol making the room glow, fooling Sora into thinking Roxas cared for him in that way, making the blonde's eyes burst with life, making him forget about everything else, making that amazing feeling bubble in his stomach, making up this side of Roxas? The brunette's hand unconsciously tightened around the blonde's.
And then something so thrilling happened, Sora's mind went blank, feelings and instincts fuelling him, along with the sheer sight of Roxas; Roxas nudged himself towards Sora, lips parted, eyes watching Sora's face carefully. Both edged closer, each could smell the whiff of alcohol on each of their breaths, see the clouds of booze blurring their eyes, Sora felt dizzy and alive as Roxas inched that bit closer. The brunette felt his eyes droop, as his stomach played with knots, his heart slammed into his rib cage and hand tighten just a little more in Roxas'. Sora caught Roxas' gaze for a moment, electricity surged between them as the room became thick with a tense silence, Sora's skin itched for contact with Roxas and he felt himself lean slightly closer in search for that contact, he could feel Roxas' warmth and seen a slight smile at the corner of his lips just as they inched closer, Roxas swiped his tongue over his own lips-
A sharp, awful creak squeaked in the hallway.
Roxas' hand was withdrew from Sora's immediately and the blonde snapped his body from Sora's, leaving the brunette feeling vulnerable, hurt and exposed, Sora slinked back against the wall, looking every but Roxas as the blonde waited for the person to reach his door. He prayed they were just going to pretend nothing had happened.
The door opened and a blonde woman, half asleep mumbled, "Just checking to see if you were in. Clean the mess you made before you go to sleep" She glanced to Sora and gave him a little smile, "Oh, hello."
Sora gave her a smile and nodded, hoping his neck wouldn't fall into the drunken droopiness the rest of his body was suffering from.
The door shut and Roxas' mother was gone, the boys waited for a moment as they listened for her as she shuffled down the hall, another door closed somewhere.
Sora could feel his cheeks prickle shamefully, he glared at the wall and let the alcohol still swimming in his veins tell him everything was alright.
Suddenly he felt Roxas' hand wrap around his own. Startled, he looked to Roxas who held an amused expression, his lips stretching into a shy grin, his eyes alive.
And then, with one more glance to the door, Roxas pushed his lips to Sora's. The brunette immediately melted under the contact, his body became loose and a heavy breath left him as Roxas edged away slightly. Roxas kept close though, kneeling so he slightly taller than Sora, his lips brushed against the edge of Sora's lips again. After the shock and shaky breaths, the brunette's nerves had exploded with pleasure and anxiety. He looked to Roxas who had stayed close enough his nose was touching Sora's cheek but his eyes stayed down, his hand firmly holding onto Sora's hand.
Sora couldn't take the waiting anymore and pressed his lips up to Roxas' and Roxas moved his lips against Sora's, the brunette could taste the cheap vodka on Roxas' lips but pressed his own against Roxas' every time they parted.
Soon, Roxas had slid his tongue over Sora's lips and Sora welcomed it, the alcohol making the kiss lightly sloppy. The boys fought for dominance making the kiss heated, although the brunette felt Roxas slowly gaining control as he grabbed a fistful of the soft blonde swirling spikes and let his fingers hold and tickle the back of Roxas' neck. The blonde shivered and the brunette wanted to know more and more about him; where were the best places to get him to do that again?
He made a mental note to learn, he had to know that he knew Roxas liked him! Sora momentarily grinned to Roxas with joy and Roxas returned it, leaving Sora in awe.
Roxas' hands had wound around Sora's waist at some point and the brunette pressed himself closer to the blonde, he pressed back. Suddenly Sora found his head lying down onto the bed and he watched Roxas tower over him, and dive into another heated kiss. A part of the brunette wanted to take complete control, but Roxas was very good at this, Sora thought as he let a slow quiet grumble from the back of his throat out as Roxas began nipping at the brunette's neck. Sora clung onto the blonde's spikes and arched into him, the alcohol hazing his self control. Roxas slid his hands over the brunette's legs and rested them at his hips. Taking control of the kiss for a moment, Sora lifted his hips up against Roxas' and grinned into the kiss at the reaction. The blonde gasped slightly and pressed his own hips down against Sora's, making his eyes roll in pleasure under their lids.
Was this really happening? Sora thought but a small nip on his lips told him reality wasn't fooling him.
"Y'know…" Roxas murmured between kisses as they became more urgent, quicker and harder.
"Nngh…ah, yeah?" Sora answered, panting as Roxas made to his neck again.
"I dream about you all the time." Roxas replied, a slight desperation in his voice.
Sora smiled and pressed his lips to Roxas soft spikes for a moment. The blonde's face resurfaced from the brunette's neck and he mumbled, "Weird what being drunk makes you do, right?" He pressed a needy, slow kiss to Sora's lips.
"What?" Sora asked, not understanding where this was going as he returned the kiss.
"Like, we probably won't remember any of this in the morning."
Sora froze into the kiss. And Roxas felt it. Parting from the brunette, he looked at Sora for a long answering moment and Sora registered the drunken film over Roxas' clear eyes. For a small moment Sora felt like screaming, punching and kicking the crap out of the blonde boy above him with such pretty eyes as he realised, whether Roxas remember this or not, he would say he didn't. Nothing was going to come from this.
Roxas raised his eyebrows at Sora for a moment and Sora, feeling his lips threaten to quiver pushed them back up to Roxas' and the blonde smiled into the kiss with a relieved breath of some sort.
Sora would get his try to get his fill of kisses from Roxas because, Sora thought, this might as well be a dream.
*cockblock – if ye don't know, its when a guy stops another guy from getting some action
You like the chapter? Took me ages, I KNOW but hope you liked it :]
PLEASE REVIEW, THEY ARE MUCHO APPRECIATED!