Hello friends!
First of all, thank you so much for welcoming this fic!
It means so much to me that people seem to be taking an interest on it, I'll try my best to deliver accordingly. :D
In the previous chapter, we had Riley & co. not only dealing with some over-the-top text in an old book but then also dealing with a mystery boy who literally crashed down on them. And we had Riku just having had it and packing up his stuff to go look for his missing bf, with the dad trio promptly volunteering to help.
Today's chapter, like first one, is still a bit on the "slow" side so to speak. It's still mostly building up the setting.
Howeverrrrrr... some stuff is already unfolding, and people are starting to get to know each other.
Hopefully you enjoy! ^-^
SETTING: Ashella, Riley's house; 6:54 pm
"What are we gonna do now?"
Gloria was asking a good question, but no one had a good answer to give back. What were they going to do? Finding that mysteriously-fallen-from-the-skies boy, ironically, seemed to have been the easy part. He wasn't hard to move, either; between the five of them, they managed to carefully wiggle him around enough to plop over Riley's back and get a piggyback from the shed to inside the house. Light as a feather, as Riley had absently commented. Figuring the boy would be more comfortable on an actual bed rather than the couch, they brought him to the bottom bed of the bunk that Riley and his brother shared, and tucked him in after easing off the superfluous layers of clothing: sneakers, gloves, hooded jacket. The boy remained unresponsive through it all, so the group of friends eventually opted for letting him rest and went to gather back around the coffee table.
"No idea… should we call the police? Or a hospital?"
Felix's suggestions were responsible ones, but not even he looked pleased about it. How were they supposed to explain what had happened? Would anybody believe them if they called and said they needed help because some guy had come crashing down through the roof? If it sounded absurd to them, who'd witnessed the whole thing, what would others think? Likely, that person would hang up on them and just treat it as a prank by rascals with nothing better to do.
"We could look in his pockets and see if he has a phone or a wallet with some contacts? His family might believe us."
Riley shook his head at Halley's option. "Way ahead of ya, I checked his jacket after taking it off and there was nothing."
"Man… this is so WEIRD!" Felix squished the pillow he'd been clinging to, tossed it up in the air and then caught it again to squish some more. "Where did he even come from? People don't just drop from the sky!"
"Unless he's one of the aliens you were talking about."
Riley's joke was evident on the smirk gracing his features, but no one was surprised that Felix took it seriously. Give him a crazy theory to mull over and he'll be happy for weeks! Getting up, the redhead walked over to the window to glance outside, absently nibbling on his lip ring as it was his habit. From that angle, he couldn't see the roof of the shed, but the hole was still very much there and it was undeniable proof of… of whatever that stranger was about. The nearest house was Gloria's but, even if a person was to fling themselves from that roof, for whatever reason they found necessary to do such idiotic thing, there was just no way they'd make it far enough to reach the shed. Even if, by some random athletic miracle, one managed to make the jump, they would have to weight a ton to inflict such damage on the shed's roof. So the only logical explanation to Felix was that the boy had, indeed, come crashing down from above at a ridiculously high speed… except, this logical explanation wasn't logical at all. Any human being would have died from the impact.
Gah, so many questions! So many pieces missing from the puzzle!
Felix turned back around to face his friends and share his thoughts, more than ready to be teased about aliens all over again, but the sight he found had him widening his eyes and the voice catching at the back of his throat. The boy… there he was! Already awake, even if by rights he shouldn't be alive to start with. A slender frame, could even be placed on the skinny side. Shorter than Riley, which was to be expected, slightly shorter than Gloria and a tad taller than Felix; probably of the same height as the twins. Bright blue eyes and a tanned skin tone that hinted at origins from somewhere sunny, maybe even near the beach. Standing barefoot in between the back of the couch and the door to the bedroom, his expression a mix of confusion and awkwardness.
Because Felix suddenly looked like he'd seen a ghost, the rest of the group was quickly shifting to glance in the same direction and promptly a choir of muffled gasps and surprised noises filled the room. Regina was the first to react, hopping off the couch to approach the stranger probably a bit too casually for what the situation demanded. If it really was a case of aliens about to invade, then she might be the first one to get zapped by a ray gun or something.
"Oh my gosh, hi! You're awake! We were so worried about you, are you okay? Are you hurt, anything broken? What if you have a fever?" Not giving the boy a chance to react, let alone to start answering that torrent of questions, Regina walked even closer and smiled brightly at him as she all but plopped a hand on his forehead, among the spiky brown bangs, to check his body temperature like she'd just implied. "Seems all good, but you probably should stay in bed a little longer."
"Gina!" Gloria's slightly annoyed tone cut through the scene, as she stopped by the older twin's side and more-or-less gently batted Regina's hand away. "Calm down, will ya? You're being rude."
Regina rolled her eyes, shooting her friend with a quick glare to then bring her attention back to the boy. "I'm just trying to help! You're not mad at me, right?"
With five pairs of eyes set on him all of a sudden, the boy couldn't help the blush that came to burn at his cheeks. Out of instinct, he shook his head and looked skittishly between the two girls, settling then on a sheepish smile. "…No worries! It's fine, really." His voice was a bit quiet, probably from the embarrassment of the situation, and it was soft and nice to the ear, but sounded hoarse for some reason – as if he'd just woken up after sleeping for days, rather than the hour or so he'd spent in bed.
"Oh, so we do speak the same language! Awesome!" It was Felix's turn to receive a batch of odd looks, but his remark wasn't entirely out of place. If the boy had dropped from an airplane, like he seemed to have had, then he might as well have been from another country. Didn't seem like it, though, which was great because everyone had a lot of questions to ask. "Can you tell us what happened?"
"Yeah," Regina continued, "Where did you come from? Not every day that someone gets dropped down at the backyard."
"My backyard," Riley added with mild, but poorly concealed, annoyance. Whether the boy did it on purpose or not, the mess in the shed was there to be cleaned up regardless.
"And how are you up and running already?" Gloria added in, "You don't even look hurt at all, and that must have been some drop!"
"Um…" In a rare moment of making herself noticed, Halley glanced at her friends in turn. "Guys… how about we don't ask so much stuff for now? He just woke up and we're not even letting him breathe."
That… was a very good point. Realizing they were, indeed, smothering the poor boy, Gloria nodded at Halley and playfully held her arms out in front of her friends, as if pretending to keep them at bay. "Sorry, she's right! We got too excited." Smiling warmly at the stranger, she made sure to speak in a less hectic tone that time. "First things first: what's your name?"
The boy opened his mouth to answer, but immediately cut himself short – to everyone's puzzlement. A second went by, two, three, ten, and nothing. He couldn't come up with anything. Such a basic question, yet nothing came to mind. "I… I don't know."
"…Oh." Gloria frowned, and so did the others. "Maybe you're just still a little wonky from the fall? Where are you from, do you know that? What about your family?"
Suddenly, the boy was looking much younger than all of them, much smaller; so much more vulnerable. A dark shadow of fear gashing through the beautiful, deep blue of his eyes, as his hand came up to hold the side of his head and his brows furrowed in a frown. Again he attempted to grasp at something, anything, but it was useless. Only the same nothingness came to him. No name, no location, no faces, nothing. Nothing familiar. His mind was empty from start to end, like a clean slate. "No… I can't remember."
And he looked so dejected that a wave of sympathy and compassion immediately overcame the five friends. Crashing through a roof? Sure, that sucked and the boy was likely sore all over, even if he didn't seem particularly injured. But amnesia? Not being able to recall his own name, not knowing who he was? That was some seriously distressing experience to go through. So much so that Riley was soon forcing himself to recover a level head, as he would often do whenever his friends were at a loss. Stepping closer, he gently squeezed one of the boy's slender shoulders.
"Hey… it's gonna be okay. You probably hit your head during the fall and now everything's out of whack. Sucks, but it's gonna get better before you know it."
Halley promptly joined in, nodding with a comforting smile. "And you're not alone! We're gonna help you, don't worry."
Riley nodded again, but he wasn't done. Looking back at the boy, he suggested something he'd once seen in a movie but that might actually work. "Just take a deep breath. If you stress over it, then it's gonna get even more blocked." To illustrate what he meant, he slowly inhaled a good bit of air and let it out again, and was glad to see that the boy was at least functional enough to get the message and follow his example. "Now, close your eyes. Try to relax. Don't force anything, just wait a bit and see if anything comes to you."
That was exactly why they all admired Riley. He was so together! Even the boy seemed a bit more serene, already. Doing as he was told, he closed his eyes and breathed in again. The group of friends observed, all of them keeping respectfully quiet as to not disturb the process. A few more moments went by and, when the boy reopened his eyes, there was a new glint to them; very faint, still mostly overwhelmed by fear, but it was there. "Sora… my name is Sora."
"Awww!" Regina clapped her hands together, cooing. "That is such a cute name! Doesn't that mean 'sky' in another language? Really suits you, ya know!"
Typical Regina. Before it could escalate, Felix attempted to bring the conversation back to a more useful topic. "See, you're gonna be as good as new in no time. Anything else you remember?" For example, what galaxy do you come from? – that was kind of what he truly wanted to ask but, unlike Regina, Felix did have a reasonable sense of time and place.
The boy – Sora – pursed his lips. Nope… only that one name. It'd somehow popped out in the void of his mind and, because it was the first thing surfacing, he assumed it might be his name. It felt kinda… right, when he thought about himself being called Sora. It felt fitting that many people before had called him by that name. Other than that, though… Sora closed his eyes again, tried to repeat the trick, but it didn't work. No other names came to him, no other concepts or terms or ideas. Or… well. Maybe something, but it was so vague that he didn't know what to make of it. It was… some sort of light. A silvery light, gentle and tranquil and comforting, even in the midst of the panic that was presently seizing him. What could that light be…? Was it even anything?
Reopening his eyes, Sora shrugged and shook his head. "No… nothing."
And maybe it really was the panic silently but surely getting to him, maybe it was having so many news faces and so much new info to process all at once, maybe it was that he did give himself a concussion – either way, Sora suddenly felt like the floor swayed under his bare feet. His surroundings grew blurry for an instant but, before he knew it, there was an arm safely wrapped around him and a strong figure to lean on. Riley caught him before he even had the chance to start falling.
"Right, enough." Again calling the role of leader back to himself, Riley gave his friends a knowing look – while making sure that Sora wouldn't just flop over, like he'd just threatened to do. Clearly, the boy was weakened and the simple act of remembering his own name had taken a good chunk out of him. An interrogation session was everything he didn't need for the time being. "We know your name now, that's good enough. How 'bout we move on to more important things, like dinner? We could have pizza."
The suggestion was promptly welcomed by everyone, and even Sora smiled at the prospect of food; realizing that his tummy was as empty as his head. There was one thing he needed to know, though. "What's pizza? Is it good?"
"My goodness!" Halley's gasp was audible, especially for someone usually so quiet. "Did you forget about pizza, too…? You poor thing, no one deserves that!"
It was such a heartfelt lament that Sora had to laugh that time, and the sound was contagious. All six of them were soon laughing like they'd known each other for ages and there was nothing out of the ordinary about the situation, and the thick tension that had been hanging in the air dissipated somewhat. Riley was quick to grab two pizzas from the freezer, pepperoni and extra cheese, and to plop them in the oven. The marvelous smell flooded the kitchen in a matter of minutes and the group, now with their new sky-fallen addition, returned to the coffee table to use it for an improvised dinning surface instead. The first slice was obviously offered to Sora, and it was love at first bite. Amnesia or not, he could swear he'd never eaten anything more delicious before! The chatter then developed spontaneously from there, in between pizza and orange juice and a large bag of chips, with the five friends talking a bit more about themselves and Sora following with interest.
It was such a nice time that they didn't even notice Riley's brother eventually returning home from work.
SETTING: Yggdrasil, cockpit; 11:11 pm
The more they approached the region where the Yggdrasil's main computer system had predicted the frontier between universes to be, the more the environment changed. Leaving behind the familiar, friendly-shaped worlds and plunging deeper and deeper into outer space; into the unknown. Battles with Heartless ships had gradually subsided and stopped entirely after the first couple days of travelling. Which was… surprising, if not odd. They'd expected it to be the opposite, that the frontier would be heavily guarded. Instead, space around them was becoming more of a wonder for scientists and philosophers, rather than adventurers. Were the paths of Anima Mundi truly so forgotten? There was a pervasive sense of eerie quietness and peace, and distances between the stars were growing exponentially more extensive. It felt like travelling along a piece of fabric that somebody was pulling at and stretching.
Riku would be lying if he said he hadn't enjoyed that tranquility, at first. Fun as shooting enemy ships was, he wasn't too crazy about it and it got old pretty fast. As the days passed, however, and there wasn't much left to do other than wait to arrive at the destination, the solitude he could find outside while glancing through the beautiful crystal windows quickly grew slightly overwhelming. Especially for someone already filled with such wistful longing. That solitude resonated far too much with Riku's state of mind. Sora was out there, somewhere… all on his own. Sure, he could take good care of himself, but that didn't stop apprehension from gnawing at Riku's insides. It didn't stop his heart from aching for the half that was missing. And it didn't help that, at least until they did cross the frontier, Riku's options were severely limited; again, nothing to do besides to wait. Wait and stare outside at all those stars dotted around. It made Riku feel small and helpless, as though he was less than a grain of sand in comparison with the vastness of the cosmos.
"Riku? Would ya like some warm milk, pal?"
So distracted Riku had been while gazing outside, so submerged in his thoughts, that he completely failed to notice Goofy's presence until the knight was right beside him. Truth be told, there was nothing to do at the cockpit at the moment and no reason to be there. The ship ran on autopilot during the nights, or at least what conventional night time was supposed to be, and there was no need for any manual input. Riku had often been finding himself there, though, especially when he was supposed to be in bed. Because it was still better to look outside and see mostly nothing, exhaust his brain with wondering if Sora might possibly be in one of those faraway bright dots in space, than to fall asleep and be tortured by dreams of never finding Sora for good. Dreams of Sora alone and frightened, crying for help. Or the particularly cruel ones that had Riku waking up drenched in cold sweat, eyes burning with freshly spilled tears… dreams of finally finding his lover, only to realize Sora wasn't breathing anymore.
Goofy didn't seem too surprised to see Riku there, though, nor did he seem about to demand explanations. The usual friendly smile on his face and a mug in each hand; one was decorated with the castle's royal insignia, the other had a pattern of stars similar to those adorning Yen Sid's tower.
Shifting on his seat, Riku blinked twice; first at the mugs and then at Goofy. "That's for me?"
"Help yourself!" The knight handed Riku one of the mugs. "Makes ya sleep better, and it looked to me like ya need it."
It might be ridiculous, perhaps even a little sad, but the teen was at a loss for words in face of such kindness. Had Goofy really gone out of his way to make him a cup of warm milk just because he'd thought Riku looked upset…? When was the last time anybody had done something so thoughtful for him? Not to say that he didn't have amazing friends, of course, who'd be more than happy to provide if Riku needed it. Regardless, he was so used to going through most of his missions and fighting most of his battles on his own that, the moment he was on the receiving end of such care, it was as though his brain drew a blank and he didn't really know how to react. With a little ball of warmth spreading in his chest, Riku smiled as he accepted the mug.
"Thanks, Goofy. That's really nice of you."
The dog offered a very characteristic a-hyuck. "Might be that you're older than Sora an' all that, but you young fellas still need to be taken care of. Eat well an' get plenty of rest, ya know?"
Riku laughed quietly, sipping the milk; the mug also had a little stick of cinnamon in it, and the blend of flavors was, indeed, very pleasant. And it was funny because, in reality, he'd never gotten to spend much time with Goofy or Donald, before. He'd heard all the tales from Sora, certainly, and he considered both dog and duck as good friends as well, but there was still a lot that Riku didn't know about them – as the present moment was making evident. Maybe that unexpected journey together would be the perfect chance to start learning.
"Don't worry, I promise I won't be as much trouble as Sora."
"Golly!" Goofy laughed, that time. "Being with ya sure is a lot more tranquil! If Sora was here, he'd already be bouncin' off the walls for having nothing to do. And he'd prob'ly go asking Mickey every ten minutes if we're there yet."
Sounded like Sora, alright, and Riku's heart deflated a tiny smidge more; I miss you so much. "Yeah… he would, wouldn't he?"
Sensing the hint of sadness in Riku's voice, Goofy renewed his smile and pointed a finger up in the air. "Well – then what's gonna be the first thing you tell 'im when we find Sora again?"
"Hmmm…" It was a blatant effort to veer the chat towards a less depressing tone, Riku could immediately see, but he didn't mind it. In fact, he had nothing for Goofy at the moment if not appreciation and gratitude. "When we find him… I'm gonna hug him so tight he's gonna yell that I'm trying to break his ribs. And then I'm gonna need you guys' help to tie him up and never let him go get himself in trouble again."
As for what Riku would actually tell Sora… Likely, something along the lines of: You stupid idiot, don't ever scare me like this again. Do you realize how scared I was? I thought I'd never see you again! I thought I lost you… Please, Sora, please don't ever leave again. I can't take it. I missed you so much. I love you so much.
Yeah, likely something like that.
Not that Riku would ever share it with dear Goofy, or anyone else for that matter.
Because Riku wasn't a total sap, thank you very much.
"Gawrsh, I like me that idea! Count me on!"
Laughing some more, Goofy sat by Riku's left and started sipping his own milk. He himself couldn't wait to see Sora again, just as much. Life was very dull without that sweet, sweet boy around to brighten up everyone's spirits! Poor Riku, however… Riku more than missed Sora; Riku had nearly withered away during the past year, like a flower who'd lost all sunlight. So, needless to say, Goofy and Donald and Mickey would do as much as they could to cheer up the silver-haired teen till the two were reunited again. Even if it was just something as simple as sitting together while enjoying a nice, warm drink.
SETTING: Ashella, Riley's house; 8:10 pm
"Hey guys! I can smell that cheesy goodness, you better have saved some for me!"
Jacob, or Jake as everyone called him, was about five years older than Riley. In fact, he pretty much was a grown-up version of Riley – the same wavy, jet-black hair except Jake's cut was shorter, the same golden-colored eyes, a similar muscular and tall complexion. Jake smiled more often than his little brother, but their hardened gaze told the same tale of a not so easy childhood, after their parents' death; of having to mature and wise up beyond their years. Since, at the time of the accident, they hadn't had any other family living nearby, Jake and Riley ended up kind of staying on their own. Their aunt, their mother's sister, had been sending them a generous amount of money every month ever since. While that obviously had been very helpful to pay the bills and keep them with minimal life quality, though, the two brothers still had to quickly learn how to become independent and shoulder all the typical adult responsibilities. And, at present, Jake was enrolled in university and majoring in Computer Engineering (and there was no better hacker in town, he often liked to brag), but he also juggled two part-time jobs because he knew they couldn't depend solely on the money of an aunt that they saw once a year for Winterfest.
Humming as he stripped his jacket and tossed it carefreely over the couch along with his backpack, Jake approached the friends he was so used to see hanging out with his brother. The five of them were always together, it was actually heart-warming to know that Riley belonged in such a tightly-knit group. That time, however, Jake spotted an unfamiliar face.
"New friend? Nice to meet ya, I'm Jake!"
Smiling, the young man offered his hand and that one boy with the spiky brown hair and eyes in the color of the ocean promptly shook it back – but Jake didn't fail to perceive the wave of contempt that came sweeping over the living room like a tsunami. The lively chatter died down, awkward glances were being exchanged among the five friends, the new boy looked so terribly out of place that Jake had to feel sorry for him, and even the ever-stoic Riley was wearing a compromised expression.
"Huh… why the long faces, everyone? Am I interrupting something?"
You never knew, with teenagers. Sometimes, the smallest things could become the end of the world, for the good and for the bad. Regardless, there had never been any secrets kept between Jake and Riley so, if even his little brother was acting odd, maybe there really was something up. In fact, it wasn't much longer before Riley was abandoning his slice of pizza back on the plate and getting up. Still wearing that same I gotta talk to you but I dunno where to start expression.
"Nothing's wrong, Jake. It's just– well, you better come see for yourself."
Having been so into the delicious dinner and the friendly conversation that built up, no one had truly thought of how to break the news to Jake. Which was admittedly dumb, because it wasn't like they could just hide Sora under the bed or something, or pretend like they hadn't heard a thing when Jake eventually came to see the absolute state of the shed. But the five of them had been so dedicated to helping poor Sora feel better that all the rest had temporarily lost importance, including real life.
Fortunately, once more, Riley didn't hesitate to take charge. He knew his brother, of course, and knew that Jake was a reasonable person. Even though he was older, Jake never had the habit of disregarding Riley for being younger neither did he ever act like Riley was just a child and therefore his opinions and insight didn't matter. On the contrary, the two of them usually always made all the important decisions together. Therefore, Riley was pretty certain that Jake wouldn't just dismiss the tale they had to tell and call them delusional and be done with it. Regardless… the whole Sora situation really was one of those things that had to be seen to be believed. So, first and foremost, they went back outside to show Jake the mess in the shed and the hole that had been left behind by Sora's very uncanny arrival. Riley did most of the talking himself, his friends understanding that it'd be best for them to stay out of it for the time being. Riley then explained how they'd helped Sora inside, how he'd eventually woken up, and concluded with how the boy couldn't currently remember anything other than his own name.
It stood to reason that, by the end of it, Jake had absolutely no clue how to react. It was just… A boy crashing down from the sky? It was just a little too over the top, wasn't it? A little too ridiculous, kinda like badly written fanfiction…? And yet, facts couldn't be denied – there was a goddamn hugeass hole in the roof. Something, or someone, had made that hole. And… even if the group of friends had wanted to prank him, no way they'd, indeed, go as far as to destroy half the shed for that sake. His brother liked mischief as much as any other kid his age, but Riley was smart and responsible and would never settle for such a thing. Neither would the other four, to be honest; Jake knew them all well and knew they were also good people. And the mysterious boy, Sora… Never judge a book by the cover and all that, but he looked nothing if not too innocent for all that mess. Jake prided himself on being a good judge of character, and he couldn't find an ounce of deceit in Sora's gaze; on the contrary, the boy looked genuinely vulnerable. Genuinely lost.
Which, of course, left Jake with a dilemma in hands. It had been understandable for the kids to not know what to do, and instead temporarily forget about it and just settle for pizza and jokes, but the same couldn't be said for him. Jake was the official grown-up. He couldn't just adopt Sora like he was an abandoned puppy on the side of the road, and pretend the whole story was your typical Tuesday. First of all, Sora needed to be seen by a doctor, to get that whole amnesia trouble checked. Then, the best course of action would be to take the case to the nearest police station. Maybe leave out the part where Sora crashed through the roof, but explain that he'd suffered some sort of accident and couldn't presently remember his identity or address nor had any sort of documents with him. Surely, his family must be on the lookout for him? Yeah, that sounded like a decent plan… Given the abnormality of the situation, however, Jake also decided to let his own bewilderment settle down some more, before taking action. At the very least, one good night of sleep would certainly benefit everyone involved.
Once explanations were out of the way, then, and matters were as clear as they could possibly be, it was decided that, for the time being, Sora would stay with Riley and Jake. Felix, Gloria, and the twins bid their farewell after helping to clean up the dishes and the kitchen, since it was getting late, and then it was time to accommodate for the unexpected guest. Which, thankfully, wasn't all that difficult. The house might not be too spacious, but there was a room that Jake and Riley used partially as a study nook, partially as an improvised music room for whenever Jake was in the mood for his guitar, and partially as yet another excuse to pile up stuff to be tidied up later. In that room, they had actually kept their parents' bed – call it sentimentalism or what have you, neither of the siblings had ever had the courage to dispose of it. It turned out it was very useful, whenever one or either of them had friends staying over, and it was about to come in handy for Sora as well.
Speaking of which, Sora was then offered a shower, which he very much welcomed and was thankful for. His clothes weren't looking too bad, especially for partaking in such spectacular entrance, but there was still dust and dirt and little splinters of wood all over the fabric, so Jake decided it was best to just shove everything in the washer. Meanwhile, Riley went through the contents of his dresser and separated a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, so that at least Sora would have something decently comfortable to sleep in. It was soon evident, however, that even clothes that were relatively tight on Riley became all too loose when thrown on Sora's slimmer frame. The t-shirt wasn't too bad, even though Sora was basically swimming in it, but the pants might become problematic; there was no way they would hold around Sora's waist unless he kept tugging them up, and the last thing everyone needed was for the boy to trip on the pants and fall over and hit his head all over again.
Riley went back outside, then, to fumble around in the mess of the shed and to find some clothes of a smaller size, back from when he'd been younger. They were kind of worn-out and definitely had gone out of fashion already, but it'd have to do. Maybe Felix's stuff would fit Sora better, or maybe they could go and buy him some actual new clothes, the next day. For the night, it should be good enough. Returning to the house, Riley headed for the bathroom. It didn't even occur to him that he should have knocked first, so used to sharing space with his brother only, but Sora didn't seem to mind it either.
"Here, try these ones."
"Thanks!"
Sora got busy with getting dressed again and Riley was just waiting to see if his solution had worked, looking at nowhere in particular, but he couldn't help but notice something. Again, for someone who'd crashed through, Sora was remarkably uninjured – no broken bones, no scratches, no cuts, no bruises. For the most part anyway, because… he did have some sort of bruising on his back. Two bruises, to be accurate, over his shoulder blades; two dark-ish, irregular but almost mirrored, shadows that popped out in the boy's otherwise tanned skin tone.
"Do you want something to put on that?" Riley asked.
"Huh?"
Looked like Sora had no clue what it was about, glancing over his shoulder as he'd finally managed to successfully fit into pants that didn't just slide down his thighs, so Riley pointed with his chin. Sora blinked and tried to looked at his own back, which obviously did not really work, so he turned to examine it through the bathroom mirror instead and his surprise only grew. Where did those come from? Wiggling around a little, he touched the supposedly bruised area but it didn't hurt; it didn't feel out of the ordinary at all. Shrugging, he looked back at Riley.
"Dunno… maybe they're birthmarks? Maybe I always had them and I just forgot."
Sounded plausible… kind of? At least, given the situation. Sora wasn't in any pain or discomfort because of the bruises-that-apparently-weren't-truly-bruises, and that's what mattered anyway. Still, Riley was slightly amused at how easily the boy literally shrugged the whole thing off. Just like Jake, Riley was quite observant and he didn't need long with a person to already start perceiving the way they ticked and their basic characteristics. And Sora… he was still acting a bit shy, a bit awkward, a bit guarded, but it was already noticeable that his attention span wasn't his strong suit. Even during dinner, he would follow whatever someone had been saying for a moment and then just jump over to the next topic that caught his interest, without really concluding the first one. Which, granted, was the sort of thing that usually just grated on Riley's nerves… but he supposed he could cut the kid some slack.
Either way, with Operation Improvised Pajamas concluded, Riley then showed Sora to his new, temporary bedroom. The room was a bit cramped, admittedly. There was only one window, semi-covered by a bookshelf, and the bed itself had one side planted against the wall so that there would be enough space for the computer desk and chair. Still, it looked to Sora like something straight out of heaven. Exhaustion was creeping up on him and, after the wonderful shower, he felt as though his bones and muscle had turned to goo. That bed would be more than good enough for him to just faceplant, curl up, and have the nap of his life. Glancing up at Riley beside him, he smiled brightly and with earnest gratitude.
"Thanks Riley! You're doing so much for me… I don't even know how to make it up to you."
Now, Riley liked to believe he was someone who knew how to take compliments. He didn't shy from them like Halley would always do, and he didn't let them fuel his ego too much – unlike Felix and Regina. Still, the way Sora was presently looking at him… the glimmer in the blue of his eyes, the soft strain at the end of his sentence… for some reason, it made Riley not know how to react. It was like the boy was thanking him for saving his life or something, when all Riley was doing was offering a bed and some old clothes, and it was a little too much. Clearing his throat, he turned around and headed back to the door.
"…Look. It's not a big deal. Just go to sleep, you need it. 'Night."
"Good night!"
Yup, not a big deal. He would have done the same for anyone else who was in the same pinch. Deciding he didn't want to think about it anymore, Riley went to his own bedroom, put on his own night clothes, climbed up to the top bunk bed, and made himself go to sleep as well.
For some reason, that night he dreamed of the ocean and of waves crashing gently by the shore.
Final notes of clarification:
The setting at the start of each section is a way to keep track of what's going on, where and when. However, it doesn't imply that the action on the side of the five friends + Sora and the action on the side of Riku + his new adoptive dads is happening at the same time. For example, in this chapter, only a couple hours passed on Sora's side, while Riku has already been travelling for a few days. I hope this makes sense and isn't confusing?
Also, like I mentioned at the ending of chapter 1, Myr is a planet pretty much like our irl Earth. So Riku's party is leaving behind the more cartoon-y and KH-esque environment and entering a universe more as it works for us in reality. Which is why the journey went from Gummi missions and shooting down Heartless ships to what the actual cosmos is supposed to be like. Nonetheless, there is a lot of fantasy and sci-fi shenanigans to come in future chapters. This is just a little calm before a bunch of storms. ;)
(Also, yes, there is no pizza in Destiny Islands. The horror. No wonder Riku wanted to get out of there in KH1.)
Thank you so much for reading!
Theia
