Disclaimer: Me. No. Own.
A/N: ...I don't know what possessed me to write this. All I know was that I was like 'CAITLIN TIRED' so I collapsed on the couch. And the second I get comfortable the idea pops in my head and every ounce of sleepiness flees from my head because it would not leave me the fuck alone. (And then I cursed wildly, but who cares about that bit, right? Also, Kadaj is my favorite character, like, ever. So he will be popping up, probably randomly. Don't question it, just laugh at the lame coming-out references, okay? XD)
Riku glanced over, just out of sight of the red glow, at the lump in the corner of the large basement where Roxas was curled up on the couch. Rolling his teal eyes he picked up an empty canister for film developing and ran his fingers over the lip, listening out for the sound he knew would come soon. Within seconds the film dryer click off, leaving the room nearly silent, save for the ever-present bubbling sound of the water baths.
Riku reached back his arm and snapped it forward, launching the canister in Roxas' direction, praying he had the room as memorized as well as he usually gloated. Half a second later there was a dull thud and a yelp, followed instantly by another, larger sounding thump of Roxas presumably falling off the couch.
"WHAT THE FUCK, RIKU?"
"I'm starting to get the impression that's all you ever say, Rox."
"Shit, dude, I was trying to sleep here!" Roxas grumbled, voice tight with anger and rough with sleep. Turning back towards the machine in the second cube where he was standing Riku smirked.
"I just thought you might like to know that your film is done drying," He drawled, amusement dripping from his lips. "And by the way, why did you come over here if you were so tired? You only have one roll to develop, you could have waited until later; why come over here and sleep?"
Roxas made a clicking sound in the back of his throat and there were shuffling noises as he stood. Seconds later he was by Riku's side, standing on tip toe, grinning into his face. Roxas lowered his eyelashes, blinking coyly at the taller male who was cornered against the cube's wall.
"Why Riku, I'm starting to get the feeling I'm not wanted here…"
Riku gulped and cursed quietly in his head, damning the shorter boy to hell and back for having perfected that utterly alluring as fuck look. The darkness tainting his face did nothing to halt such a look either, instead just transferring his usually innocent look into something more sinister and fucking hot.
When Riku didn't snap back an answer Roxas smirked and moved away, noting in the corner of his eye how the other boy slumped back and sucked in a nervous breath. He clicked open the dryer and let his metal roll of film fall into the palm of his hand, fingers barely brushing the film to make sure it was completely dry. Upon finding that his film was indeed done he stepped over to the basement closet and glanced back over his shoulder, smiling at Riku's stubbornly turned back.
"I'm going to step into the closet to check these out, wanna join?"
Riku froze, frowning at Roxas over his shoulder. He hated how utterly curious he was sometimes because now that Roxas had mentioned it he really wanted to know what pictures where on that roll. His voice leaked annoyance when he begrudgingly spoke to the blond.
"What roll is that?"
"Picnic," Roxas chirped, eyes alight with wicked glee. Riku frowned at the boy, not quite understanding his joy.
"But I didn't see you with a camera at the picnic, I thought Namine decreed the day machine free…"
"Candid shots are always the best, Ri-ku, so I kept to the simple as hell camera and snuck it in my shoulder bag."
Riku didn't bother trying to stop his sigh, instead just moving to follow the blonde into the closet and pulling the curtain closed before shutting the door tight. "Fucking hell, we need a bigger space to view these rolls, Rox. Your midget self can fit in here fine, sure, but some of us are taller than three feet."
"Shut the fuck up and look at the damn shots, asshole."
Sometimes Riku wondered why he liked the small blond. He was bossy, bitchy, fucking annoying, dangerous, devious, and threw hissy fits like a PMSing girl, for Christ's sake. But seconds after the thought slipped through his mind Roxas looked up and Riku remembered just why he liked him, just like always. He'd look up and glance at Riku with his stupid big blue eyes and Riku would remember why he was hooked, why he had taken up photography and begged his parents to let him turn the basement into a darkroom and he bloody remembered why he hated Axel's guts every other day.
Because every time Roxas glanced up it was like Christmas morning when your five and Santa brought you that dart gun you had been begging for. It was like looking up at the sky on a perfectly blue day when you're at the park with your friends. It was like dancing to your favorite song or waking up in that blessed comfortable position in the morning and realized you didn't have to get up.
It was like falling in love all over again.
So Riku pressed close to Roxas' back, head resting on the boy's shoulder, and looked at all the pictures he had taken. He watched as his friend's faces were shown to him in tiny little brown rectangles, smiling and laughing and wrestling with each other. He looked on as a picture of Axel passed, his arm thrown over Demyx's shoulder as they sung some song or another that Riku couldn't remember the lyrics to. He watch as Larxene slipped by, flicking off Marluxia with a sickly sweet smirk on her lips. And he watched still as Sora and Kairi and Namine and Kadaj and Cloud as passed by, their happiness captured by Roxas' sneaky nature and keen eye for angles.
"Am I in here," He murmured, almost scared to watch any more. He listened to the blond breathe softly, comfortably, and hoped to God that he hadn't been left out by his crush.
His heart skipped a beat when Roxas laughed, a coy soft affair, and then cursed the fact that Roxas could probably feel that through his back.
"Not in this roll, no, but in the other one I have back home you are. Actually…" Roxas voice trailed off for a second and if Riku believed such things were possible he could have sworn Roxas was embarrassed. "Most of those at home are of you. You're only in the second roll because you were always moving too much to get a clear shot of you earlier in the day."
Riku smiled, leaning into Roxas some more on the pretense of looking more closely at a shot. Something, however, didn't add up. "Why didn't you bring that roll then?"
"Because 'm not done with it yet, there's still a couple of pictures to take on it."
Something in Roxas' voice made Riku chuckle, something that screamed the boy was lying through his teeth. The taller male wrapped an arm around Roxas' waist, tilting his head up to whisper in his ear.
"Are you sure you didn't just want a reason to come by tomorrow as well," He muttered, soft and dark and teasing. He smirked when he felt Roxas' shudder but a voice behind him made both of them fly apart, blushing.
"Do I even want to ask what you two are doing in this closet?" Kadaj drawled, leaning on the doorframe of the open closet door. Behind him the light was on and the curtain pulled back, making Riku momentarily forget his embarrassment and freak.
But before he could flip a shit Kadaj continued, expression shifting from bored to sick amusement in seconds flat.
"But then again with what I just saw there are several reasons you guys are, y'know, in the closet." When he was met with nothing but bright red faces he grinned sharply, evilly, and spoke again before either of the boys could gather their wits. "Mom wanted me to ask what you guys wanted for lunch but… I guess I'll just tell her you two are too… Busy to eat right now."
Riku's eyes flew wide and he blushed even harder. He glanced over at Roxas' noticing sharply how embarrassed the boy was before the blond tackled Kadaj to the ground and started to choke out a threat or five. Most of the threats, he noticed in the back of his mind, were the more exotic ones, concerning various parts of the male anatomy that most males were very, very fond of and would rather not lose and he had no doubt, in that corner of his mind, that Roxas meant every word he scrambled out.
Stupidly Riku smiled, leaning back against the closet wall and fixing that shy, flustered image of Roxas into his mind, not even bothering to help his brother. Too bad he hadn't caught that look on camera, he thought dully, mildly disappointed, but then again maybe there were ways to make Roxas blush again.
They'd have more time together in the darkroom after all, and if he recalled right it was even mostly soundproof… Oh yes, he had multiple ideas how to get the blond to blush again and once the boy finished strangling the hell out of his older, stupider, brother they'd have all the time in the world, too.