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3am Challenge Day 9
Prompt: #180 - Inside Jokes (700 words)
Song: Lady Gaga - You and I

Characters: Kairi, Sora, Riku

"…And then we had to spend like half an hour trying to get Donald out of the damn tree!"

Laughter rang throughout the small, cozy space of Sora's bedroom. The three of them sat in a semi-circle, Kairi in the middle with her childhood friends on either side and a multitude of snacks laid out before them. It was just like old times – the sleepovers from back when they were kids and still blissfully innocent.

Piled up all around them were loose, glossy rectangles of memory. Dozens of landscapes peered up at them from the photos – some with people in them, some without. Sparkling oceans, lush forests, towering cityscapes with gleaming windows and shining walls, all places one or more of them had visited and preserved with the snap of a shutter.

Kairi giggled, shoving Sora's foot away as he lounged on his stomach with his knees bent up behind him. She held up a picture from somewhere near her thigh. "Okay, okay," she said, clearing her throat to coax out the last of the laughter. "Where's this?"

Riku leaned across her lap and squinted at the bright, leafy foliage immortalized within the photo. "I don't recognize it. Sora?"

The brunette shifted his weight up onto his elbow for a better look. "Oh! Yeah, I took that one." He gestured to the picture with the half-eaten cookie still in his hand. "It's the gardens outside Disney Castle. See?" He tapped a crumb-dusted finger over a spot in the corner of the image where a blob of yellow flowers engulfed any recognizable features. "There's the weird topiary that sorta looks like a drawbridge."

Sora's nose scrunched comically as a thought hit him. Reaching out, he snatched the picture from Kairi's fingers and frowned down at it as though it had personally insulted him. "Except… Disney Castle doesn't have a drawbridge. What the heck?"

Riku snorted. "Only you would get nitpicky about the accuracy of topiary." He squawked as Kairi swatted his arm. "Ow! Well it's true!"

The Princess stuck out her tongue at him. She flashed a playful smile at his mock pout and poked him in the leg for good measure.

"It's not about the topiary!" Sora insisted, shooting Riku his pout, though he couldn't quite keep it from morphing into a lopsided grin. "It's a fundamental rule of castles that they have to have a drawbridge!"

Kairi snorted. "And a moat. Don't forget the moat."

Sora nodded enthusiastically, brown spikes going every which direction with the movement. He made a sound that might have been a muffled "yeah!" but the amount of cookie shoved into his mouth made actual words indiscernible.

There was an amused "Oh my god, you two," from Riku, but it was drowned out by the snort of laughter emanating from Kairi. They giggled, and Riku just shook his head with a smile.

"Okay, now this one I recognize." He said, picking up the top picture in the stack nearest him. A beautiful night sky winked out at them, hundreds of stars shining down over the tops of neon-lit streets in Traverse Town's second district.

Kairi leaned in, exploring the city with her eyes. She sighed. "Aw man, I would love to go there someday."

Sora looked up at his friend over his can of soda. A brief glance over at Riku told him the silver-haired boy was on the same train of thought and he shrugged offhandedly. "…How about we go, then?" he asked into his drink, voice carefully nonchalant.

Kairi blinked over at him, startled. "What, really?" When Sora only shrugged she looked to Riku for an answer and got nothing but the rising of his eyebrows.
"But… I thought you guys didn't have access to the other worlds anymore."

"We…don't?" Riku offered. "But the King agreed we could take you travelling for your birthday."

For a moment there was silence as a slow grin cracked over Kairi's face. She launched herself at Riku and pulled him in for a bear hug, turning a moment later to do the same for Sora. "Hell yes!"

The boys exchanged beaming smiles, knowing they'd done well.

Kairi laughed. "Providing Sora doesn't get me stuck in any trees."