Disclaimer: I own an Axel Figma (along with other various Axel-related paraphernalia), but not Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, or any of the characters, places or themes therein. Life is cruel.

A/N: It just occurred to me: the original outline for this story was only ten chapters long, start to finish. In reality, we are now on chapter fourteen, and the story has barely begun…Oops. xD

Useless Fact That Gets Posted About As Regularly As An Incontinent Bowel Movement: The "pound" key, or "hash tag" (#) is actually an "octotroph". And the "and" symbol (&) is called an "ampersand". Use that to dazzle your party guests. Or impress your English teacher. …Or you could just sound like a complete tool in front of your friends. :D

Bon à lire!

-Slay

A Day of Mercy

Chapter 14

The Dressing Room

-o-o-o-

"…Yellow."

"…What?"

Sora passed him a cursory glance. "I've decided your color is yellow," he said resolutely.

"That's a little ironic, but okay."

All of the people milling up Market Street were half-naked and glazed in a collective sheen of sweat. As they walked, raw heat radiated up from the bright pavement, rippling through the air like ribbons, mixing and melting the edges of the road in warm puddles of color. The sunlight fell heavy and hot from a brazen blue sky, and Riku could actually feel it seeping through the icy veil of his skin. It was thick and close, and after barely ten minutes in the sun his clothes were starting to feel a bit confining, which was strange.

What was stranger still was that it didn't burn.

Upon leaving Sora's house, he had been prepared to hike up his hood and draw it so close that he wouldn't be able to see—but when he stepped out, the light brushed his face without even the slightest sting.

This was not normal.

The only other time he'd been able to tolerate direct sunlight was the other day, when Sora had dragged him up to Sunset Terrace and talked him into eating paopu sherbet ice cream before invading his emotional boundaries.

It didn't make any sense; but then, nothing really made sense to him when Sora was around. Riku was slowly coming to accept this fact as they pushed their way around the bundle of people outside of Fencer's, an outfitter that Sora said would be "perfect" for finding Riku "new threads".

Which were apparently going to be yellow.

For no good reason.

As they passed through the open door , a blast of cool air rattled over them, enveloping Riku in an uncomfortable dichotomy of hot and cold. Once he got over that he looked up and was instantly overcome by the onslaught of colors.

Fencer's wasn't particularly large—it was a squeezed, single-story affair just like the rest of the shops in Twilight Town—but inside it expanded. Or rather, exploded.

It looked like a rainbow had come in and vomited all over the place. Clothing of every imaginable dye and design was slung and packed from floor to ceiling, crawling up the walls in piles and racks and mounted displays, with mounds of accessories, belts, shoes, hats and bags spilling from every last nook and completing the store's chaotic motif.

"What the f—"

"Isn't this place amazing?" Sora exclaimed, grabbing Riku's arm and hauling him forward into the rainbow-vomit. They bobbed and wove through narrow, poorly-marked aisles, ducking the arms of displays and avoiding everything that was piled on the floor. "I picture you as more the sporty type," Sora mused. "What do you think?"

"I think my clothes are fine as they are," Riku grumbled, though it wasn't entirely true. Somehow he found the island's heat stifling today, and the thought of lighter attire wasn't particularly unattractive to him.

"There you go being funny again," Sora laughed. "But seriously. I need some feedback, here."

"Ugh."

From there everything was a whirlwind blur of colors and clothing and swinging dressing room doors. Sora threw everything at him; fabrics both slinky and fitted, tight and loose, made of jean and cotton, printed in plaid and stripes and other unappealing patterns. A mound had accumulated of clothes that Riku wouldn't even try on, and a larger mound still had formed of the articles he rejected. By the time an hour had passed, Riku found himself standing in his own jeans and warily eyeing some flashy affair with oddly-cut sleeves. He sighed. "Sora, this is stupid."

"You're stupid!" Sora snapped from the other side of the slatted door. "I don't think I've ever met someone so picky! Seriously, girls are easier to shop for than you!"

Riku grunted dismissively and tossed the shirt over the door. "Pardon me for not wanting to look like an idiot."

"Pardon me for not wanting to look—blah, blah, blah." He heard the shuffling of the clothes Sora was carting away."I'll go grab something else. …Didn't even try these on," he griped, his voice low and fading. When he came stamping back, Riku expected a new bundle of clothes he wouldn't like to come dropping over the door, and was surprised when the door was wrenched open instead, letting in a cranky brunette with two pieces of clothing draped over his arm.

Riku jumped and flinched to cover himself. "SORA! W-W-What the hell are you doing!?"

"Staying in here," Sora huffed, slamming the door and shoving the clothes in Riku's face. "To make sure you actually try them on before chucking them."

Riku knocked the clothes out of his face, flustered. "You are not staying in here while I change." It was a small dressing room. Very small. Entirely too small for him to standing there, shirtless, with Sora. Riku couldn't even pretend it didn't affect him anymore, being this close to Sora—with or without his shirt on. No, no, no. Sora could not stay in there with him. Especially not if he was going to be taking his pants off…

"Why not?" Sora looked at him, unperturbed, snatching Riku's shirt and jacket off the bench before he could dress and flee. "We're both guys. And it's not like you have anything to be ashamed of," he said coyly, slipping Riku a wink before pulling on his usual, innocent—Innocent my ass!—smile. "Now go ahead and try these on. I think you'll like 'em."

Sputtering internally, Riku grabbed the clothes. "Turn around," he sniped.

"Are you blushing?"

"I said turn around."

"Riku, I didn't know you could blush!"

"Sora."

The brunette rolled his eyes and turned his back to Riku, clasping his hands behind his head and bobbing on the balls of his feet patiently.

With his eyes darting constantly over to Sora, completely paranoid, Riku set to changing. He worked his way most hurriedly into the pair of navy shorts he'd been given, spending as little time as possible in his underwear with Sora less than three feet away.

"Do you always wear that necklace? I don't think I've seen it before."

Riku paused with the shirt bundled over his arms. It took him a second to realize Sora was talking about his father's amulet, which was strung from his neck and bobbing quietly against his bare chest. "Oh," he muttered, pulling the shirt over his head. "Uh, yeah. My dad gave it to me."

"It's really nice."
"Thanks."

"You done?"

Riku situated the shirt over his stomach and pulled the amulet out from under it. "Yeah."

Not sure what to do with his arms, Riku just let them hang awkwardly at his sides and braced himself for the same scrutiny he'd been tolerating all day; but when Sora turned around, his face lit up instantly.

"Perfect!"

Riku fidgeted around trying to follow Sora as he circled through the small space, eyeing the new outfit with an appreciative grin. "It looks just like you," he bubbled happily. "Take a look!" He grabbed Riku by the shoulders and spun him around to face himself in the mirror.

Well, it was certainly new.

Staring at his reflection, Riku took in the clothes that had replaced his usual drab attire: a sleeveless yellow shirt trimmed with black and navy cargo pants held up by a white belt. He felt like the bright colors should have bothered him—maybe melted his eyes or set his skin on fire or something—but somehow, they didn't. They seemed almost…refreshing. And Sora was right. Yellow suited him. Albeit in a weird, sarcastic kind of way.

"…Wow."

"Good, right?"

"…I dunno, Sora…" Maybe it was too drastic a change. And he wasn't sure how he felt about having the lower halves of his legs uncovered like that. Not to mention his arms, his shoulders, his face...What if the sunlight actually started to sting again? What if it actually began to burn with all this skin exposed?

Sora's smile didn't falter, but there was a deviously darkened tone to his voice that suggested he was not happy with that response. "Riku," he said evenly.

"...Yes?"

"…We have been here for over an hour, and I don't want to do this anymore." The brunette spoke calmly and opened the door, leaning out and picking something up from a hook outside. "So it's either that," he pointed at Riku's current outfit as he closed the door again. "Or this."

Sora produced a flowery sundress bathed in floral swaths of pink and yellow, hemmed with lace and supported on its hook by two thin shoulder straps.

Riku blanched. "…You wouldn't."

Sora angled a lethal glare at him from under his lashes, one hand holding up the dress, the other propped on his hip. "Try me."

"…"

Riku glanced back in the mirror and decided he wanted to live. "Yep, I think this'll do just fine!"

"Great!" Sora hung the dress on a nearby hook, pausing as he went to open the door. "Oh, hold up. Fashion faux pas." He moved in front of Riku and reached up around his neck, his fingers gently un-tucking the ends of Riku's hair that had been caught under his collar. When all the silver tips were free, he smoothed them down over the back of Riku's neck like a finishing touch and rested his hands on the taller boy's shoulders with a smile.

"There," he nodded. "All better."

Riku meant to say a simple thanks for the gesture, but his mouth wouldn't move—and his brain wasn't really on top of things, either. There was something strange slowing him down, slowing the whole moment down. The world had drifted so far away, like the raft from his dreams had finally reached quiet waters and he and Sora were alone on the endless, shining sea. Like they had survived that terrible black tempest after all. Like they had made it to that lone beacon of light…

He didn't know where it came from. He didn't even know what he was doing until he'd done it. All he knew was that there was this indelible warmth glowing inside him, and that Sora was so incredibly close, and so incredibly radiant with the light he'd been chasing for so long that whatever the hell he was doing, it had to be right. It just had to.

He lifted his hands to graze Sora's arms, gazing unabashedly into those transcendent blue eyes, his head dipping until the very fringes of their bangs mingled.

Sora's grip on his shoulders clamped a bit, but he made no move to retreat. He met Riku's stare with an expression just shy of unreadable, its seams softly frazzled by curiosity. He tipped his face up; Riku could feel the slow, summery brush of his breath. He saw the boy's lashes relax over his eyes, felt those hands creep behind his neck, fingers nesting silently in his hair. Those zaffre eyes melted into a smelted shade he'd never seen before, and he caught them stealing quickly down his face, glancing toward his chin before shooting back up to lock stares again.

A gentle tug at his neck, drawing him closer, tapping their noses together. Half-lidded eyes and a low, pleasurable sigh.

"Ri…"

There was no helping it now. He felt his own actions through an intoxicating haze; holding on and closing his eyes, dropping his lips against Sora's with his heart hammering mercilessly in his own ears. A thundering heartbeat later, Sora let out an encouraging sound that buzzed between their mouths and coiled his arms around Riku's neck, pulling them together until he could feel the amulet pressed between their chests. He wrapped his own arms around Sora snugly, and the two of them settled into a delicious little rhythm, a tender give and take that had them swaying against each other in the sweet swelter of their own world.

At least until the dressing room door swung open.

"Anybody in—oh ho...No wonder this stall was occupied for so long!"

The boys jumped apart, and Riku felt his blood drain at who was standing by the open door.

"Howdy, boy-oh," Mr. Jenkins winked at him.

…Maybe he should have just put the sundress on and quit while he had the chance…

"H-Hey, Mr. J," Sora spluttered, an intense spray of red rising in his cheeks, hands working nervously. "We, uh…We were just in here, uh, getting my friend some new clothes, 'cause he doesn't know how to dress for the seasons—" Despite the blinding awkwardness of the situation, Riku managed to grimace at Sora. "—and he was being really difficult, and I don't even think he was trying half the stuff on before throwing it back, so I came in here and…and…" Completely at a loss for words, Sora jabbed a finger at Riku and blurted, "He kissed me!"

"What?!" He made it sound like this was all Riku's fault! …Okay, maybe it was—but Sora certainly wasn't doing anything to stop him!

Mr. Jenkins just chuckled at them good-naturedly. "So, can I ring you boys up, then?"

"Yes, please!" With his face officially the shade of a prize-winning tomato, Sora took Riku by the hand and hauled him clear across the store, where he paid a very amused Mr. Jenkins without making any eye contact whatsoever before dragging them back out into the baking streets of Twilight Town.

A/N: …I think we can all agree it was high time something happened. I mean, you know it's bad when you're getting impatient with your own story. Cripes. This has to be the most fun chapter I've written for this story yet, though. Teehee. Naughty Mr. Jenkins. :B

Chapter 15 is coming up! Review for a chakram cookie~ Flame for a chakram to the face!

With love, from Paris.

-Slay