Chapter 5: Car Wars
Sora drooled over all the games Riku brought, uncharacteristically not caring one bit that he wasn't supposed to have them. He babbled on and on about the different games, describing miscellaneous characters and fan-girling over the coolest ones. To Riku, it all sounds like Wikipedia babble, but he listens, happy to find someone else who is passionate about gaming. It's not as though he's wasted most of his life beating them or anything… Ahem. The silverette watches the brunet closely as he goes through each of his games, making a slapdash pile of them by his feet.
"-But you know, I actually really suck at playing video games… I-"
Riku interrupts (after five minutes of straight prattling, it was bound to happen), "Wait, how can you know about all this and yet be 'bad' at them?"
Sora looks sheepishly back at him, shrugging and admitting, "I watch them online. They have YouTube videos on them, called walkthroughs."
The silverette is very aware of this, having used several of them to help with tricky bosses. But Riku still smirks, "You cheater."
The blue eyes widen. "Nuh uh! I just… I get to a boss and I die, over and over again…" He picks up another game. "Hey, like this one!" The eyes that were shocked turn to puppy dog pouting, "Can you help me beat it? Please, please, please?"
How could such a regular-guy, sport-extraordinaire become a cute, dorky ball of fluff so quickly? Every moment next to the brunet reveals more and more that the silverette really didn't have a clue. He still doesn't, but even so, he finds himself warming up to him. There are traits that he sees in the blue-eyed wonder that he would usually hate in someone, but painted on Sora, it's a beautiful canvas.
Riku sighs, "Chain of Memories?" That one was hell… all those stupid cards…
"Yeah," he says, beaming, "But you know, I don't remember what happened in that game…" (1)
Riku pauses, giving a moment for decision. Just one glace at Sora's pleading face, however, makes the choice for him. Sigh. "Alright, but you'll play it, and I'll step in when you need help." Sora cheers, heartily agreeing to it. The silverette begins setting up the Playstation2, muttering to himself, "Okay red here… is that white or yellow? Damnit… old TVs…"
At about two in the morning, Sora can barely keep his eyes open. Riku, normally being up that late anyway, is more talkative than usual and the brunet just nods and says small comments.
Riku elbows the blue-eyed teen, "Hey, you need to stay awake."
"But… but whyyyy?" he sighs exaggeratedly. "I'm so tired…" The last sentence comes out muffled as he hugs one of the couch pillows and mutters into it.
"Think of this as the small print in the terms and conditions of letting you play my video games," Riku throws back, smirking again with a prideful, relishing expression.
"You don't understand," Sora groans, "I never, ever, stay up late, man…" The blue eyes are pouting again, but the shadows under his eyes take away the innocence effect.
The silverette chuckles, "What, did you never toss away your bedtime?" The brunet opens his mouth to respond but Riku cuts in, "Don't even reply, I know the answer to that."
"Fine, well, I'm going to bed anyway," he finally says, standing up for himself. He rises up slowly, still gripping the pillow, and glances between the bed and couch. Riku wonders which Sora will choose; honestly, the bed could fit both of them. He considers that Sora might find that suggestion odd, especially after nearly flirting with him all night. Not that he meant to… The trouble is, it all comes out naturally; as soon as he thinks a comment, it comes out of his mouth. A peculiar case, as Riku is a self-proclaimed mime without the invisible boxes. The silverette has spoken more words tonight than he has in probably the last year combined. It's just nice to have someone to speak to that doesn't have his fucked up family image… but then again, he gave himself a terrible impression on the brunet before... Hopefully that's all done and over with now.
Gees, why does he keep hoping the brunet doesn't think ill of him? Why does he care what he thinks?
A small, tired voice leaks out, "Uhm… well… which bed should I take?"
He's asking Riku? "Whichever you want, I guess." He couldn't really care less, but he isn't going to suggest sharing beds. He agrees with himself it would probably be too strange.
"….I think we are both too tall for the couch though…"
Riku looks away from the T.V. screen that he was mindlessly watching (they found reruns of That 70's show after they decided to put Chain of Memories away for the night) and contemplates the couch. The brunet could be right; only one way to find out. He heaves himself up, takes a couple steps, and drops himself onto the plush cushions on the couch. He lays back. A whole foot of leg pokes out from the arms of the couch, not including feet.
"I'm only a couple inches shorter than you," inputs Sora, sounding more awake and proud that he isn't too much shorter than the silverette.
"Mm, still taller though," Riku affirms, asserting his place, "Well…" Riku sighs, giving in to his earlier idea, "we could just share the bed. It should be big enough for both of us."
Sora doesn't seem too surprised by the suggestion, but instead his plump cheeks redden. Hmm.
"I-I guess that's fine… I mean, we're both guys so…"
"If you aren't comfortable with that…" The silverette suddenly remembers the couch can turn into a bed by folding it out. Quick decision time: does he want to sleep with Sora in the bed, or not?
Before Riku even moves to speak, Sora blurts, "No, it's cool! I just…" he nervously chuckles, "Honestly, I don't get out much. I never had guys friends spend the night or anything so I don't really know what's normal and what's not." He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. Riku is surprised to hear this information.
"I thought you were a sports guy."
"I'm very athletic, yes…" He hesitates, then seems to catch onto what Riku was really getting at. "But whenever I joined the teams, the guys already had their own groups so they didn't pay me much mind. So I just left it alone," Sora explains, very blunt. Riku can tell Sora doesn't hide much; very open. But usually, those are the people who have the worst secrets, making all the other bits more expendable. Hmm.
"What assholes. Most jocks are dicks anyway," Riku encourages despite his urges to babble about how Sora never has to hold back or worry about what's "right" with him and that he deserves friends and respect and…
Damn, he must be tired. His mushy conscience is talking again.
Sora laughs, "Yeah, they can be mean. Alright, well I'm going to sleep then…" The brunet doesn't even yawn to reiterate the point, so the silverette thinks of ways he can keep Sora awake and occupied.
Aha. "Are you even tired anymore?"
"…Not that much anymore," Sora admits hesitantly, "Why?"
"I usually play my DS before I sleep. I don't want to end up waking you up whenever I take my side of the bed," Somewhat of a lie, but laced with truth. Close enough? "So you can just watch me play that until you fall asleep." No worries of that being weird, since Sora obviously doesn't know the "normal guy code of behavior". Although, in all fairness, Riku never really caught onto that either. He just makes it up as he goes.
The blue eyes bright up, "Sure!" Suddenly the previously lethargic male soars toward his bags, stripping off his shirt and shorts to put on a baggy t-shirt and a pair of SpongeBob cotton shorts. Riku decides to follow the brunet's example, but by the time Riku finds his pajama pants again out of the chaos of his bag, Sora is already on the left side of the bed, snuggling into the sheets.
"Would you stop moaning while I take my pants off?" Riku says, hoping to get a rise out of him.
"Nooooo the bed is just sooooo comfortable…." Riku rolls his eyes as Sora continues to sigh and ruffle the sheets. By the time I get over there, he'll have taken all the blankets…
As an afterthought, Sora continues, "I promise I'm not looking anyway."
Although Riku is turned away from the blue-eyed boy, he is still fairly certain that this is a lie. Hence the hesitation to say it in the first place. In his mind's eye, he can see Sora realizing that he had been watching, so his cheeks flush and then he looks down towards the navy blue sheets. The silverette finishes the draw-string tie on his PJ's (refusing to wear a shirt) and turns to see if his prediction was correct; the turquoise eyes fall on Sora, who is intently staring at a wrinkle in the fabric. Score.
Nintendo DS in hand, he walks over to the bed, telling himself furiously that he is not embarrassed in the slightest. Sora, sensing the need to break the thick quietness, says, "So what game are you playing on the DS?"
Composing himself very quickly, the silverette replies, "358/2 Days. It's another Kingdom Hearts game."
"Oh! I haven't seen that one either. They sure make a lot of them…"
Riku shrugs, "You haven't missed much. It's about Aros' Nobody, Saxor, and some bitch who tries killing him."
"Oh," Sora says contemplatively. Riku climbs under the navy blue sheets and situates himself in a comfortable, DS-playtime way, laying on his stomach and leaning on his elbows. Sora comes close next to him so he can see the tiny screen. The brunet looks tired again, but also excited to see the game. Riku flips the switch to the black device.
No conversation is needed after that, the familiar piano melody resounding in the room and binding them in common interest.
The light in the room would be blinding, but luckily the window curtains are holding back the ultraviolet waves. But it still rouses Sora's awareness, making a red screen behind his eyelids. They stick together from sleep-gunk, but he's too lazy to wipe them out, and warm, and comfy, and being held… It's probably afternoon already…
Wait, er, what?
Forcing himself to open his eyes and focus, he inspects a pale hand rest on his tummy, coming from over his hip. The brunet tries to gather memory from last night, slightly alarmed. He remembers being kicked out from his cabin… And then being put in the same room as the silverette Riku, whom he thought he'd never see again. Once again, another little Miracle happened, except his "joker" from Life's deck of cards is most definitely laughing at him. No doubt about it.
Sora also remembers the video games.
"Oh, no-no-no-no-no AUGH! Fuck!"
Riku laughs at Sora's terrible attempt to avoid Droxul's attacks, "Dude, you need to stop spamming the x-button and think!"
Sora pouts, though in an aggressive way, "You do it then!" And suddenly the controller is thrust into the silverette's hands. Only by a millisecond and many years of obsessing over video games does he avoid dying, curing right before Aros would have died.
Sora smirks at the memory, remembering that Riku died in that battle too, and he had to retry it to win. Ha.
He vaguely remembers That 70's Show, and then the other Kingdom Hearts game. We must've fallen asleep, Sora thinks, looking around the bed with his limited view for the DS that Riku played later. Sora inches out of Riku's cuddley grip, wondering if he can tease the silverette about it later. The hand that had been touching Sora twitches and the other teen's face looks upset for a second, but soon it returns to the peaceful expression of slumber. Breathing very quietly, Sora looks again for the DS. He finds it behind Riku, upside down and luckily plugged in, because the game is somehow still running.
Better find a save point for him.
"So, whatcha want to do today?" Sora asks cheerily, uncannily happy in the morning. Riku can barely get past the fog in his head or taste the cereal the cafeteria handed them today. All he knows is that Sora brought it back to their room and now Riku is eating it at the silly plastic table they have. The silverette has no idea where the hell he got the spoon.
Riku grumbles back incoherently. "What was that?" Sora pushes.
"Sleep. All day," Riku proposes grouchily. In Riku's mind, morning is when one should be passed out, and noon when one should arise. Funnily enough, Sora is the exact opposite, used to taking cat naps after lunch.
"Pfft. Absolutely not! We have to do something fun today!" To this Riku merely groans. Leaving his bowl of cereal, he leaves the table and passes Sora softly, clumsily bumping into him. Then, he collapses back onto their shared bed, too tired to even get under the covers or reach for a pillow.
"No, Rikuuuu…. Urgh."
"Lemmelone."
"No, it's too lonely around here."
"Mwerhg." Sora would give up and go do something himself, but he has already exhausted his single-player activities when he let Riku sleep in yesterday. So the brunet stalks over to the still silverette, determined. "Do I have to drag you out of here?"
"Challenge… accepted…" the silverette replies sleepily.
Sora grabs onto his ankles and tugs. He really doesn't weigh all that much, but the added friction from the comforter and sheets make it a difficult task. Riku doesn't even fight as Sora struggles to get him off the bed, yanking his limbs mercilessly.
"You… lazy… ass!" Sora scowls, now pulling from the silverette's knees.
Finally, Riku begins to protest like a possum that decided playing dead wasn't the best idea after all. He crawls up the bed with pure adrenaline and arm strength, taking Sora onto the bed with him. He embraces a pillow and yells, "MY BED."
"And here I thought you were mature!" the haughty Sora exclaims, glaring at the silverette with fiery eyes.
"I need beauty sleep."
Sora crawls up to the other male and pokes him violently in his side. "Pussy."
Riku's droopy eyes glare at Sora, "Say that again. See what happens."
Sora isn't one to insult or curse, but at this point the brunet is hyper and curious. Riku is obviously awake now, and is just being stubborn for the hell of it. So, with this decided, he says very slowly, "Puuuuu-ssy."
Instantly, Riku flies on top of the brunet to pin him down and either tickle him or punch him. Either way, it's a wound to a normal man's honor or masculinity. Of course, Sora cares about neither the honor nor the male stereotypes, but he can't afford to lose. Sora uses every martial art technique that comes to mind but Riku's brute strength keeps them rolling and cursing, causing pillows to fly away in fear and Riku's suspicious teddy bear to somehow end up under the bed.
THUD. "Ouch!" They fell off the bed, a tangle of limbs and already sweating.
They unintentionally separate, rubbing areas that hit the hard floor. "Damn, how'd you learn to fight like that?" Riku asks Sora, rubbing his knees and elbows. Panting, Sora replies, "How'd you learn to wrestle like that?!"
"Streets, man. But you don't learn the shit you were just doing there. Fess up."
Sora takes a moment to think of something to say. It's not a simple answer, in any way. The whole truth is that Sora wanted to be strong after the hurricane, so that he may have better means to protect anyone he cares for. Another reason was just an anger outlet; he had started hating life at a young age of seven, wondering why in the world would God or Fate do this to him? He still hasn't gotten a clear answer, but when his foster parents expressed their idea of Miracles, well, the brunet came to the conclusion that life flat out owed it to him. That's why he's been waiting for it so diligently, praying for it incessantly.
But Sora doesn't trust the silverette with his tragedy, or his confusing belief system. It's almost like a dream that he and Riku are paired together in the first place. Before, while camp was running, it was as if they were in two different worlds, opposite sides of a coin, warring factions. Now they are inseparable, but in an awkward "I-kind-of-like-you-but-I-don't-trust-you" sort of way. The brunet sincerely enjoys the silverette's friendship, but can't figure the guy's true nature out. Despite his apology, Sora still wants an explanation of Riku's involvement from a few weeks ago.
But all that can wait. There is two long weeks ahead, and diving into tough topics on the first few days might be jumping the gun a bit. So, instead, Sora says, "My parents put me into a class when I was young and I enjoyed it. So I kept at it."
"Well damn…" Riku hesitates, as if he wants to bring something up, but isn't sure of it. He lets it pass. "I guess I'll get up then. Wouldn't want to piss off a black belt."
Sora laughs, agreeing. "Damn straight!"
Coach has the great idea to put the silverette and Sora to work the next day. After seeing them trek the forest and nearly cause a nature-pocalypse with all their noise and destruction, he thought they needed to have a couple hours of responsibility and work to exhaust their obviously raging hormones. But what Coach didn't see, though, was the growing tension between the two. But the pressure isn't what one would expect; they aren't fighting, or disagreeing, or even annoying one another. And that's what throws them both off guard. Riku thought his fascination with the brunet would have waned by now. But instead, his desire to know more about him grows in direct correlation with his desire just to be around the sunny, jovial brunet. Riku, even after four days, hasn't been able to find a substantial flaw in the teen that makes him any less fun or attractive.
The only comparisons Riku can make are the times he would meet someone, think they're fantastic off the bat, and then the liking would burn out in a couple days. Usually these people weren't the same inside as out. And usually, they would also fall in love with him, which isn't what Riku wanted at the time. Well, better phrased, he didn't want them but he did want someone… which made it all the more disappointing when they could fall but he remained standing.
But maybe it would be different with Sora, because after all, he is a guy. The silverette doubts that the innocent cherub would be wanting to get into his pants unless some Miracle happened, like a meteor falling from the sky. Despite himself, Riku finds himself wishing Sora were a girl; maybe then it'd be okay to fall for him. Strangely enough, the silverette almost feels like he is anyway… But that's absurd right? He must be mistaken; it's been too long for him to tell what true liking is anymore.
"Riku, whatcha thinking about?" Sora asks, peering at him curiously with his pool-cleaning brush in hand.
The silverette isn't sure what to say. He desperately wants to place more trust in the brunet, in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, Sora would do the same but… The silverette doesn't trust easily. It's been so long, holding all his thoughts in his head, that he doesn't know the words to communicate them anymore. Saying I'm sorry is something he's used to, but this is a whole other animal. What a cruel irony, that the silence he willingly gave to himself became chains?
"Nothing," Riku says, lying, scrubbing the concrete pool. He feels the tension rising again, knowing that they aren't going with the script. Like fate itself isn't happy with his answer. With any other pair of friends, they'd be divulging secrets already, promising a lifetime of friendship because one does not simply find a kindred soul like this. But both of them are more scarred and stubborn.
However, Sora breaks the ice, "Well, er… If anything is bothering you, you can tell me. I mean, no matter what you say, what are the chances it'll matter after this camp is over?"
Riku's turquoise eyes widen. The brunet took the first step? Usually, Riku has to initiate everything but… And not only that, Sora has a point. Why not trust Sora? At the beginning of September, the silverette will have to return to his rundown apartment in Houston… but if he plays his cards right, he'll walk in with a lighter chest.
"You're a ridiculously good friend, you know that right?" The silverette tells Sora, trying to keep the bravado in his voice to hide the relieved honesty behind it.
Sora's cheeks flush and Riku smiles, cleaning the pool tiles in a distractedly slow way. "T-thanks. Hem.. you are too," the brunet replies, smiling bashfully.
And then right on cue, Coach shouts, "Alright boys, you did good. The thing is spotless. Go tell the cafeteria to give you their leftover cookies or something."
"AYE SIR!"
Only later do they wonder exactly how long Coach had been standing there.
"Well congratulations," Sora exclaims, tearing his eyes away from Chain of Memories for a glance, "I am officially nocturnal."
It's three A.M., and the brunet is very determinedly trying to defeat the final boss. Of course, he's already died twice, but at the very least the poor teen is trying. Riku looks up from a book he was reading, amusedly watching the glowing, wide blue eyes of his companion as they stare unblinkingly at the television.
"You're not even tired, are you?"
"Not at all. I want to finish this game, but that'll only take another twenty minutes. What should we do after?" Another cute glance, handing the torch of what-to-do responsibility to Riku.
Riku pauses, genuinely think of their options. He comes up with many, but 99% of them require breaking camp or government rules concerning minors. Sora, catching onto his expression from his quick glance, says "Nothing that will kill us, please."
Riku genuinely pouts, "We wouldn't die… just break a few rules…"
The brunet sighs and puts all of his attention back onto the game. Riku, not wanting Sora to get lost in the game before they can come to an agreement, inquires cockily, "What, never break a rule before?"
"Hmm…? Wha-? Oh, uh, not really." The silverette can tell Sora is just distracted enough to answer honestly without thinking his responses through. So he pushes just a little more.
"Why not?"
"Never really had a reason to. I mean, I never really cared about rules necessarily. Just what they stood for. And I wanted friends, not notoriety."
Behind any masculinity or feminism or roles people try fill in, there are truths such as this that are simply human. Turquoise orbs stare at the empty blue eyes of his companion, all cute cheer gone and his constantly flickering and flaming personality ebbed. All that remains is the want that the brunet emits, the anger even, and Riku hears the story loud and clear. Sora had wanted to be normal. To fit the society norm, all snug and warm in its small box. Why? Because then he wouldn't be alone, he'd have a place to be. Or at least, that had been his goal. Riku (and Sora) wonders what prevented success.
Riku also realizes, after another long gaze at the brunet, glowing blue from the television, that Sora will never find that place of belonging- at least not in the confinement of normalcy. The brunet may resent it, but he shines too brightly. He's the birthday candles on a cake, the summer morning that makes all the shadows hide, the instinct to continue laughing even after the joke is gone, your abs are killing you, and tears roll down your cheeks.
And Sora is the only one who doesn't enjoy his own light. Suddenly, Riku knows what he needs to do.
"After this, we're going to get out of here."
Sora laughs, only barely registering what his ears caught. Get out? Is he joking?
"What are you talking about, Riku? Go where?"
"Hotwire a car and drive. I got a GPS on my phone and a driver's license. We're just going to get out."
The first word is enough to tempt the brunet to pause the game and gape at the silverette. The rest of it almost makes him blanch. "Wha-" breathy laugh "Wha..ddya mean? We can't just… steal a car and go somewhere. We don't know the area. We could get lost. Or caught."
"That's the thrill of it, doofus. I'm fucking tired of being stuck here. We'll be back before any of the administers even wake up, I promise." Riku's voice is reassuring in all the wrong ways, urgent and convicting. If it were any other way, Sora would be determinedly stuck to his playstation2 controller, but the audaciousness and eagerness the silverette obviously feels ignites Sora's deadly curiosity. He hesitates saying no, mulling it over.
Should he go along with the silverette's reckless decision? Does he want to? Can he bear to say no? What if it goes wrong? But what if it doesn't?
Isn't this what he had dared himself to do, break the rules? Go against his nature while it doesn't matter?
"Do you even know how to hotwire a car?" Sora asks, only faking irritation. For extra emphasis, he determinedly continues on Chain of Memories, as if he couldn't care less about Riku's stupid ideas.
"Of course, why do you think I suggested it?" the silverette replies. Having been with him for a couple days now, Sora can already imagine the self-important, pat-on-the-back smile that has to be smothered all over the silverette's face. The brunet sighs again, his inner conscience chastising him on how it knew Sora wouldn't say no, that he'll regret even thinking to break rules, or go outside his comfort zone, or most importantly, trying anything new. Add that to his list of phobias.
"…Fine," Sora replies, ignoring his inner monologue and hiding his excitement, "…But let me finish this first."
"Whatever you wish, Sor." The brunet glances back on instinct, brain still registering the affectionate name he had been given. (Did his heart just stop for a second? What the hell? Damn strange, that is). Riku's smirk couldn't be more prevalent.
The smile on Sora's face couldn't be bigger.
The gravel crunches under Riku's feet in a satisfying way. He has always enjoyed the night, the way it called to him when it shunned others away. He has copied the night since elementary school, wearing all black before 'emo' was in his vocabulary. He blends right in up until a street lamp illuminates the roads, but luckily for him and Sora tonight, there are only cabin lights which have been switched off due to the lack of people residing in them.
Sora shuffles behind him, the epitome of everything Riku isn't. His face in apprehensive as his eyes swing back and forth from the trees, waiting for one to pounce. His shoulders are hunched over in a protective stance but he inches increasingly close to Riku. If the brunet were any less manly, he's sure Sora would have grabbed his hand.
"What car are we taking, Riku?" Sora whispers worriedly, already ready to bolt.
"The blonde bitch has a nice Corolla. Looked like a 2010, bright ass yellow though."
Riku snickers amusedly when Sora groans, either at the color or the owner. "If we get caught, she'll send us to juvie!" Okay, so maybe it's just the owner.
"I don't think it'd be stealing if we get caught bringing it back…. Just borrowing without permission?" Riku ponders out loud, purposely teasing Sora's nerves.
"Ri~~~ku!" he exclaims in a panicked and loud whisper. Riku genuinely laughs, covering his mouth with a hand to stifle the noise.
"Okay, okay!... Look, I promise we won't get caught."
"I dun trust youuuu!"
"Well I'm driving."
"No shit! If you get pulled over, you'll be in deep shit, not me!"
"Ha, touché. Blame the suicidal emo kid. That solves all my problems too."
Sora sputters, and Riku can barely contain the mirth trying to explode out his sides. "That's… that's totally not what I meant…"
"I-" broken laughter "I know," Riku manages, earning himself a firm punch in the shoulder.
Sora is simply amazed by Riku's work. In the first five minutes of finding the Corolla, the car's doors were unlocked. Sora buckled himself into the front seat passenger to wait patiently for Riku to magically start the car after spending a few minutes watching the silverette in confusion.
So many different trains of thought chug along the tracks of his brain, crashing occasionally, some running out of coal, and some simply flying everywhere. He's scared. Exhilarated, excited, astounded. He hasn't done a single illegal thing yet (except maybe sitting in someone else's car without permission?) but even so his hands shake, and his nervous knee bobs up and down fast enough to make a drummer dizzy.
How does one learn how to hijack a car in the first place? How often does Riku do this? Why? The ease at which he popped the car's hood and moved random wires around was bedazzling. Riku had even started humming. Humming. What kind of psychopath whistles while stealing?
But it's all so alluring, Sora confesses to himself. Everything about Riku is alluring; his knack for trouble, his slight swagger as he walks, the cocky way he speaks, the curve of his smile, the flaming look in his turquoise eyes. He could be described as a big brother figure with his incessant teasing and playful shoves, but all the friendliness behind it borders on flirting. Sora would counter the silverette's teasing by pointing that out, but the brunet is too shy and insecure to try. Well, that, and the brunet doesn't necessarily want Riku to stop.
"Here, take this and this," Riku appears and says, jolting him out of his thoughts. Sora is handed a key and a CD. "Stick the key in as far as it'll go. It's not the key to the car, but it should make the car think it has a key in a second. Then when I start driving, put in the CD for me."
"O-okay," Sora says, quickly trying to absorb the information. As soon as the silverette disappears again, Sora shoves the key into the ignition. Riku closes the hood with a loud band and they both wince. When Riku clambers into the driver's seat, he grumbles, "Sorry about that…. There isn't a fool proof way to close it quietly." Sora just nods, putting his seatbelt on.
"Friken midget damn how does she drive like this…" Riku mutters to himself. His casual complaints about Larxene are enough to make Sora smile and relieve his spirit of some tension. The silverette clicks in the seat belt after a moment, turns to face the brunet and asks, "You ready?"
Am I really gonna do this?
Riku's sharp smile and adrenaline flushed cheeks stun him, so he merely nods back at the silverette and himself, unable to answer. Riku chuckles. Like a Miracle, the car starts with a satisfying vrmmm.
"Let's see how fast this baby can run."
Turns out, it's extremely hard to get lost out here. From the camp, there were only three ways to go; strait, left, and right. All three of them extended in a straight line in their respective directions for hundreds of miles, baby streets leading to small towns breaking off here and there. Riku, being a left kind of person, took a left turn and floored it. With absolutely no one around to see it, the thrill of it all boils as a fantastic poison in his veins.
Sora is so taken off guard he doesn't even remember to put the CD in. When Riku glances over, he laughs at the brunet's terrified face. His hands grip the car door and the holding compartment in between them. Normally Riku would be worried, but the silverette is so enthralled by the endless freedom that he can't help get lost in it. Glancing between the stereo system of the car and the road, Riku skillfully turns on the system and steals the CD from Sora's lap. The brunet only gives it a sparing glance.
"S-s-s-sorry!"
"Don't worry about it. Just don't jump out of the car," the silverette teases, trying to ease the horror out of the blue eyes shining even in the darkness.
Sora genuinely laughs, but it comes out nervously. "Yeah, uh… I don't really want to die so, no worries."
A hesitation, and then a new conversation. "Wanna know what will make this better?"
"Oh god." Riku laughs again. Sora counters, "Do I even want to know this time?"
Instead of replying, Riku speeds up by 5 mph and abruptly cranks the volume of the CD up. Heavy bass and synthesizer blasts through. If Sora could hear him, Riku would have explained with one word: "Skrillex".
Sora's parents- foster and birth- never drove fast. They always took their time with things, always obeying the speed limit, always on time, always calm, always, always. Sora drove like his foster mom for this reason, for she taught him in the first place. He had never been in the car with another teenager, but it definitely wasn't what he expected. He had expected awkward turns, jerky breaking and pedaling the gas. But Riku drives like a NASCAR racer, doing everything with infuriating ease and frightening speed.
Sora would ask questions of where he learned to do all this, but the music is too loud. It's a whole bunch of computer generated noises, but for some reason it's… badass. That is the only way to describe it; catchy and stirring. As trees and run down, rusty farm houses blur past on either sides of the car, Sora can't help but let the fear crawl away, ashamed of its self. The hum of the car beckons him to calm, the dubstep vibrates within his bones to kiss them into dancing, and Riku's watchful, happy eyes make Sora want to smile.
His heart rate slowly declines and his rationality returns. As the situation seeps into him like a warm shower, he realizes that the world is his at this very moment. He can reach it all. Time has no control on him. He can control his destiny, too, no matter what fate says. And if has any say in his future, he can make it what he wants it to be. Each mile is a memory he leaves behind, a weight lifted from his shoulders. He no longer has to wonder why Riku's face is stretched to the brim with a wide smile. Thank God is decided to come with him.
The grin and giggles return to Sora and he accepts it, letting out an ecstatic whoop that is lost to the air conditioning system.
Thirty minutes later, the delinquents find themselves at a gas station. Hyper and careless, they fill up the tank while chatting loudly. Riku graciously fills it up and pays it with a gas card, commenting, "She better be grateful."
"For what?" Sora says, laughing and imitating her voice, "Oh, thank you so much for taking my car and filling it with gas! You two are soooo sweet!"
"Yuck, I'd never thought I'd hear her voice in a happy tone. I don't like it," the silverette counters with a disgusted face.
"Why don't you like my-"
"Boys, are you two aware of the time?"
They both whirl around, startled by the sound of the new voice. As if on cue, both their stomachs drop; blue shirt and slacks, a heavy 'tool' belt with threatening looking pockets, and a shiny golden badge, the man is every teenager's worst nightmare.
Sora stutters about, unable to answer the question. Riku, only barely more coherent, spits out, "Y-yes sir." The cop's brown eyes quickly glance over Riku's completely black attire with some resentment. Normally the silverette would take offence, but he's merely grateful it was a "stupid-kids" disproval and not a "thief suspect" look.
The man speaks, "Well, I know you can't tell right now in the dark, but there are neighborhoods around here. I could hear your hootin' from a mile away."
They are relieved that their noise is the man's complaint instead of… they can't even bear to think it, scared to death the cop would somehow read their minds. Sora blurts, "Sorry sir, won't happen again, sir."
"I bet it won't," the man says, starting to sound a little more amused. "So where are you kids coming from anyway?"
The brunet is a deer caught in the headlights again, unable to come up with a quick white lie. Riku, on the other hand, rambles about it before he can even register if it's truth or not. "We went to the midnight premier of the new movie that recently came out… Uh, it was a really long movie so we just got back in town." The silverette prays to god his explanation makes sense. Oh please, God, please.
The cop suddenly looks approving. "My daughter went to that with her boyfriend. What kind of movie was it?"
"Oh uh…" Riku is at a loss of words now. So Sora jumps in, who just happens to know a recently released movie. "Oh, it was a remix fairy tale. Snow White and the Huntsman? Rated PG-13 or something."
He nods, trying not to look relieved unsuccessfully. "Better than them damn Twilight movies…" he mutters. "Whelp. Guess I better be back to patrolling. Drive home safe… you know how to get back to the highway?"
"Yes," Riku says in a rushed, not wanting the cop to offer them a ride or directions home.
"Awright. Oh and uh, don't get caught out this late again. There is a curfew, you know. Consider this a warning."
"Oh, uh, thanks," Sora replies stupidly, pulling the most manageable innocent face he knows. No explanation is usually needed after he reveals the 'face'. By a stroke of luck, the man buys it, and walks away casually after one last stern look. Both the boys watch him stroll away, waiting for the man to disappear in his car and drive off. Riku makes a mental note to watch which way he goes, hopefully to avoid him. The silverette also pretends the gas pump is still flowing, though it stopped about five minutes ago.
Soon enough, the cop is gone, and in unison the boys exhale. "Bejebus, that was scary," Sora exclaims, holding onto the yellow car for dear life.
"Oh don't be a wuss. I told you we wouldn't get caught," Riku replies in false confidence. He had been scared too, and Sora knows it.
"We got by on the skin of our teeth," Sora counters disapprovingly. Riku stares back, putting forth his best "I.D.G.A.F." face. The brunet laughs.
"Do you have your license?" the silverette suddenly asks.
"Err… yeah, why?"
"I don't think I'll be able to go the speed limit," Riku admits, sheepish like an arson caught with matches, "It would be better if you could drive back. I can give directions."
Sora contemplates the danger, but decides the silverette is right. Giggling, "Alright, but I make no promises on going the exact speed limit. I'll, uh, be a rebel and go five over." The brunet winks, and Riku replies by rolling his eyes.
A loud chinkling sound in the air and Sora catches the source, the jagged edges making his palm nervous. Just keys. Riku's silly spirit resurrecting from the police-scare, he sings in falsetto, "Just shut up and drive, drive drive…"
A/N: Woot! One fluffy chapter, served and ready to go! There was a scene with Riku's point of view and Sora's at the same time but meh I can make a mistake here and there... If there's any other mistakes, let me know, I has no editor to freshly read my stuff and tell me "Hey, you used the wrong "to"!" or "Wow, uh, this sentence is a babbling like a crack addict". ...Anyway.
The (1) was just a note to reference to how Sora lost all his memories of his experience in Castle Oblivion. Just a little bit of fluffy irony. I'm a dork that way. :3
More intense fluffy next chapter, as they are finally getting closer :D yay!
Thank you to all my reviewers! You guys have made my day so many times, I'm probably set for a year! Shout out to: Amy, youknowily, sometimes I don't get myslef, Digimagic, SkylarLight, justice333, AnimeFreak4261, CrazyHighLunatic, kilala2tail, and DreamsComeFromtheHeart!
