Live and Learn
Chapter 12
For once, Riku didn't wake up at the early hours of not-quite-morning-but-not-night-either, but to the warm, gentle caress of rays of sunlight, like fingers, on his cheek. The blinds of his bedroom window were shut, but the persistent rays pushed their way through the cracks, striping the dim room with gold. Riku squinted his eyes, the light hurting his sleepy, sensitive eyes. Reaching out with his hand, he felt for the body beside his, only to find it missing. The space beside him was still warm, and Riku could smell the fresh, clean smell of the ocean that always seemed to cling to Sora's skin, as if he bathed in seawater every day, like a creature from the frosty waves, a merman.
What had happened to the world while Riku had been asleep? This wasn't Riku; Riku didn't sniff his bedmates' pillows, didn't go all poetic and certainly didn't miss for a warm body to snuggle in the morning.
Oh, but he forgets. He didn't not have sex with his bedmates. His bedmates had never been male, and he definitely had never felt this tingly feeling when he thought of them either. He didn't fall asleep with his face pressed into their hair, didn't wrap his arms around them as if he planned to shield them from the apocalypse with his very own body, didn't murmur sweet nothings into their ear to make them giggle (or have the other murmur them to his and actually like it). Nothing about what was happening to him was normal, he could admit that much, but he supposed he was content. Happy. Glad he had found something, or, rather, someone to break him away from the path he had been on.
Where was Sora anyway?
As if his inner ramblings had been heard, a careful rustle of clothes and a slight shift in the air made Riku look towards the door. There stood Sora, cautious and unsure, looking far younger than he actually was. He was dressed in a plain white T-shirt and a pair of baggy sweats, but oddly, still managed to look attractive to Riku.
Pause that. Did Riku really think he was attractive? When had the completely platonic admittance of Sora being cute if-you-happened-to-like-that-sorta-thing change to wow I want to kiss that smooth tanned shoulder, he's so pretty, is he really mine? Why was it so difficult to change 20-something years of being strictly straight to something a bit more accepting? Riku's stubborn mind was the only thing standing between him and happiness.
"Hey..." Riku croaked, then cleared his sleep muddled voice, "G'morning."
Riku beckoned at Sora, smiling encouragingly. Sora's lips split into a blinding grin, and he dived onto the bed, snuggling against the silverette's side.
"Morning!" He said brightly, then sheepishly lowered his voice. "I wasn't sure how you'd react to waking up with me in your bed..."
Riku felt a pang of guilt in his chest and pressed a soft kiss onto Sora's forehead. Sora grinned again and moved to comb his fingers through Riku's silver strands of hair, gently easing out the tangles.
"You must've been exhausted; I was surprised you weren't awake already when I woke up," Sora said, as if wondering to himself.
"No... I guess I just never had a reason to stay in bed," Riku mumbled, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth and peace and Sora.
Sora was quiet for a while.
"You had a reason to stay in bed?"
"Mhmm."
"What's that?" Sora asked and yawned, his nose scrunching up.
Riku smiled fondly, kissing Sora's nose and letting himself - just this once, he told himself - to cuddle Sora like a giant (well, maybe "giant" was an exaggeration) teddy bear.
"You."
"...Who are you?"
Riku blinked.
"What?"
Sora looked at him seriously, his eyes calculating and unreadable.
"Who are you and what did you do to Riku?"
Riku let out a barking laugh, poking his fingers into Sora's ribs until the man squealed in glee and struggled. Riku let go before he got accidentally kneed by Sora's flailing legs, smoothing his hands against the brunettes sides to apologise for the rough treatment.
"I was having a moment here, you toad."
Despite his accusing tone, Riku's smile was gentle. Sora gazed at Riku contemplatively, and Riku was almost about to doze off when the brunette spoke up again.
"You're so gay."
"Excuse me?" Riku asked, laughing again. Sora didn't answer, just smiled and cupped Riku's cheeks to bring him closer for a kiss.
oOo
"...sir?"
Riku snapped back to reality, having been lost in daydreams for a while. His secretary stared at him expectantly from the other side of his massive desk.
"You alright, sir?"
Riku cleared his throat and shut the lid of his silver laptop.
"Yeah, Ariel, sorry about that. I think I'll leave early today, I can't seem to concentrate anyway," Riku sighed, standing up and reaching for his suit jacket.
"Ah, but these need to be checked - "
Riku took the two files Ariel held, stuffing them into his briefcase.
"And they will be. Promise. As soon as I get home," Riku smiled. The red haired secretary let the worried frown on her pretty face be replaced by a smile of her own.
"Very well, then. Have a nice evening, sir!"
"Ah, you better start going home soon too. I don't want that fiance of yours stomping here to punch me in the face for keeping you to myself," Riku winked.
"Will do, sir, as soon as I get these to the reception downstairs," Ariel said, chuckling. Snatching the papers from Ariel's grip, Riku just barely made it into the elevator before the doors closed in front of his suprised secretary.
Stopping by the ground floor reception to drop off the papers for Ariel, Riku was just about to leave for the elevators again to go to the parking hall downstairs, when something made him look out through the glass doors of the building.
There, on the other side of the road, in the cafe from which Ariel always got his morning coffee from was his son. Roxas' face was pressed against the glass window of the shop, his hands waving frantically and he was seemingly yelling something, for everyone in the cafe turned to look at him. Sora was sitting beside Roxas and turned to scold him, when he noticed Riku too and started waving just as frantically. Riku nearly facepalmed, but left the building and headed towards the cafe.
It wasn't until he arrived in the homey cafe that he noticed his son and his... well, the object of his affections weren't alone. A man in his mid twenties sat with them, his hair a bluish color, the aura around him calm and studious. Riku hugged Roxas when the boy came barrelling towards him.
"Hey, Riku! We were just about to call you. Roxas wanted to come pick you up from work, and Zexion here said he'd treat us to something sweet while we waited," Sora cheerily explained. "Zexion is the new history teacher for the bigger kids in our school. Zexion, this is Riku Foxx, Roxas' dad."
Riku shook the man's hand, offering a polite smile.
"Nice to meet you, Zexion."
"Likewise, Mr Foxx. Roxas here is quite a bright little boy."
"Please call me Riku. And yeah, he's too clever for his own good sometimes," Riku grinned, ruffling Roxas' hair.
"I'm too clever for my own good!" Roxas sang, and Riku bonked him on the head affectionately, making the boy giggle and most of the female population of the cafe make an 'aww' sound of adoration.
"So, Sora told me you two are good friends and that he used to know...ah, your late wife. I'm very sorry for your loss," Zexion said, as if realizing he might have been a bit inconsiderate in the middle of his sentence.
"Yeah... Yeah, he's helped me with Roxas quite a lot, and we became friends somewhere in the middle of it," Riku told, not wanting to talk about Kairi with someone he didn't really know.
Zexion looked thoughtful as he studied Riku, and then, as if deciding something, he looked at Sora and smiled.
"I'll contact you about that other issue, and we could maybe grab a coffee while we discuss it. Nice meeting you, Riku, Roxas," Zexion said. The way he looked at Sora made something inside Riku see red, and he felt like wrapping a protective arm around Sora.
But there's no way he'd do that, not with all these people watching.
"Sure! Bye, Zexion!" Sora chirped, seemingly oblivious.
"Bye Mr West!" Roxas waved.
Riku just nodded as the man left the cafe. He had decided he didn't like him.
"So how was work? Do you want a coffee or something?" Sora asked him, gesturing towards the menu. Riku shook his head.
"Just wanna go home," he grumbled, his previously good mood having vanished as Zexion started eyeballing what Riku considered his.
Riku tuned out Sora and Roxas' cheery chattering while they drove, and headed straight to his office when they arrived home, grumbling about having some work left. Sora looked a bit confused, but must've just thought it was Riku being moody as usual.
Riku filled his mind with work, not wanting to think about difficult issues just then. Did he really want to be with a man, why was he so pissed off at Zexion, why did he want to lock Sora in a cage and never let him out.
At nine, Sora appeared in his office with a tray of food and a hot cup of coffee. Sora watched quietly as Riku ate, sitting on the arm chair in front of Riku's desk.
"You ok? Did something happen a work?" Sora asked as Riku finished eating.
"Nah, work was okay."
Sora stared at Riku, as if not sure if he should ask what he wanted to ask. When he didn't say anything Riku went back to work.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Riku sighed. He closed his eyes, feeling a headache on its way. He silently held out his hand at Sora, and the man easily slid into his lap. Riku hugged the brunette gently, nuzzling his nose against Sora's warm neck.
"I'm sorry. No, you didn't do anything. I'm just being a dick," Riku chuckled.
"As usual," Sora said.
"As usual," Riku agreed. He was sure the teacher could feel Riku's grin against his tan skin. On a sudden urge, Riku flicked his tongue out and swiped it across a smooth collarbone. Sora let out a surprised sound, his fingers on Riku's shoulder tightening their grip.
Fueled by the sound, Riku gripped Sora's hips harshly, turning him to straddle his lap. Riku kissed up Sora's neck, finally finding the man's lips and tongue. Sora let Riku's tongue willingly into his mouth, his own starting a sensual dance with it, making Riku growl quietly. Sora's body heat and his small sighs made Riku's head spin and mind go blank. He slid one hand under Sora's shirt, dipping the fingers of his other hand under the waistband of Sora's jeans. Riku's grip on the brunette was tight, almost bruising, but Sora could take it, couldn't he, it wasn't like he was some fragile woman...
It wasn't until Sora started pushing him away that Riku realized Sora's squirming wasn't just him trying to get closer to Riku and the soft utterings of his name weren't said in pleasure or meant to encourage Riku to continue. Riku let go, confused, and Sora immediately got off his lap, fixing his rumpled appearance.
"Riku, this... We can't Riku," Sora said, his face his face twisting into desperation for Riku to understand him.
"I don't understand. Isn't this what you want?" Riku asked, a bit miffed.
"No!" Sora snapped, then sighed. "Of course I want it, Riku, but not like this. Not when you aren't really ready for it, not when I know you'll regret it afterwards."
Riku frowned angrily, about to say something when Sora saw his expression.
"Please, don't look at me like that, Riku, I'm - "
"I'm sorry I'm not Zexion," Riku snapped harshly.
Sora's face turned from confused to understanding, then annoyed.
"What? Zexion is my colleague! I was showing him the school and he wanted to repay my kindness..."
"I wonder how he plans to repay it."
Sora stood unmoving, staring at Riku. At that moment Riku's the gears in Riku's head started turning and he realized what he had said.
"Sora - "
"I think I should go home tonight," Sora said.
"Wait, Sora - "
"Riku. Please."
Riku sighed, rubbing his hands across his face.
"At least let me drive you."
"I'll be fine, thanks. I'll...see you tomorrow."
And he was gone.
Fuck.