Hey friends!
Back with some more cute shenanigans for today's chapter. :)
Oh and the second half of the chapter is also the official start of the "Merlin Quests" mini-series!

Specific tags include:
part of the Merlin Quests mini-series; during KH BBS canon; post canon; post KH 3; smol Riku and Sora; and then not so smol; time lapse; hiccups; creative treatments for hiccups; friends to lovers; established relationship; alternating POV

Hopefully you enjoy! ^-^

Chapter 3: Singultus

It goes unnoticed by Riku at first. He and Sora are presently occupied with a very important project, namely to build a castle out of blocks that will harbor all the action in their next make-believe scenario: they're both knights and they'll save the poor princess who's been kidnapped by the Evil Bad Ugly Ogre and is now being kept in that same castle! Among the enthusiasm of placing block atop block, then, and the clinking noises the blocks make when bumping into one another that mingle with the young boys' own exclamations of glee, it goes unnoticed for a while longer.

Riku has an exceptionally keen sense of hearing, though. Once, he woke up in the middle of the night because he could hear a cat meowing on top of the roof – and then his mother had the trouble of a lifetime to convince him that they couldn't just keep the cute animal like that, because certainly it belonged to someone else in the neighborhood. So, even with the little ruckus they're making, eventually he starts catching up on it. It's a peculiar sound, high-pitched but soft, making itself heard in somewhat regular, short intervals. At first, Riku actually glances around the room, wondering if it might be a mouse that entered the house and is trapped somewhere; Riku has always loved mice for some reason, and one day he's going to have a pet mouse and they'll be best friends and go on adventures together. Sora gives him a curious look but doesn't comment on it, working on the mounting of blocks even more avidly than his silver-haired best friend, and it's not long before Riku spots the source of that mystery: the noises are coming from Sora! Riku furrows his brows, now understanding the where but not yet the why; though, the next time he hears that squealy little noise, realization hits him and he has to laugh.

"What?" Sora once more looks at Riku in confusion and, in doing so, confirms the obvious as yet another quiet hic! sound leaves him.

"You got the hiccups!"

Honestly, it's just like Sora to not notice it until it's pointed out to him. Sometimes, he gets so into what he's doing that the rest of the world melts away in face of his enthusiasm. It's likely this same enthusiasm that caused the hiccups to start with; Sora's been so excited about the whole castle building that his big blue eyes are shining even brighter than usual and a soft flush of joy tinges his cheeks, his nose, even the tips of his ears. He doesn't seem too bothered by it, either, reaching for more blocks – but, now that the mystery has been identified and named, it's suddenly a lot funnier to both children. Riku pokes at Sora's ribs and teases him by imitating the sound himself, and Sora sticks his tongue out and calls him "Poopie!" and tries to poke back, and laughs so much that soon the hiccups are growing more frequent. To the point where it eventually becomes a bit uncomfortable, since now Sora can't say two sentences in a row without hiccupping, and that's when Riku calls upon himself the role of being older and, therefore, having the authority to deal with the issue.

"Hang on, I know what to do."

At the very least, he remembers a couple tricks his parents have used before in similar circumstances. He remembers vaguely, but it should be okay. No force in this world is strong enough to defeat a young child's conviction, especially when they're setting out to help their favorite buddy! First, then, Riku brings Sora a glass of water.

"Here, drink."

Sora nods and obeys immediately, taking a few little sips. He's not so sure how it's supposed to help but he trusts Riku with his whole being, of course. Maybe it's magical water? Unfortunately, as seconds go by and nothing changes, hiccups still firm and stubborn, the two boys exchange a look of disappointment. Riku wonders what went wrong, because he does remember that, last time he had hiccups himself, drinking water solved the issue. Maybe mom did something to the water that he is now lacking? Maybe these are a special kind of hiccups that require different treatment? Either way, he's not discouraged. Time for plan B! Without further ado, he plants his small hand right over Sora's mouth, covering it.

Riku, Sora wants to say, what are you doing, he also wants to ask – but, speaking against Riku's palm, the muffled sounds come out as something more like: "Eee-Ooo, waa-oo iing?"

Riku doesn't balk, young features softly creased in concentration. He shakes his head and uses his free hand to gently pat the head of the shorter child. "Shhhh! Hold your breath for a moment. I'm gonna count to ten and then I'll take my hand off and you'll be fine, 'kay?"

In his defense, it is admirable that a child that will only start formal school and education a year from now already knows how to count to ten all on his own. Alas… precocious Math skills and good intentions cannot make up for the fact that Sora is still placidly breathing through his nose, and so the whole effort is unwittingly sabotaged from the beginning. The ten seconds go by, then another ten, a whole minute, and nothing changes once again. This time, Riku stomps his foot in frustration.

"Ack! We must be missing something!"

Sora isn't as fazed, despite being the actual victim of the hiccups, because that's just the way he is. His sunny disposition and fleeting attention never let him sulk for long. In fact, he's about to suggest they forget about it and just go back to castle building, far more interested in going to rescue the princess even if a Knight in Shining Armor with hiccups has never been heard of, but Riku is one step ahead again.

"Dad has a lot of books, I'm sure we can find something there!"

Books and grown-ups always know everything. Since there's no grown-ups available at the moment, as both their mothers went grocery shopping together, the second-best option will have to do. So Riku runs over to the bookshelf by the other end of the living room, glancing up at the tall piece of furniture. His father loves reading and owns books about everything, surely there is one here that can help. Problem is… which one exactly, among the myriad of all others? Riku may know how to count to ten but he still can't read, so looking at the titles displayed on the side of the covers isn't solving the impasse. Maybe if they take a look at the pictures on the pages? It's an option as good as any other, and this time Riku runs over to the kitchen and returns dragging along one of the dinning chairs, which likely weighs as much as Riku himself. Sora quickly joins in to help and, between the two of them, they manage to place the thing in front of the bookshelf.

"I wanna climb!"

"Nope, you stay down and hold the chair. I'll climb, I know what I'm looking for."

Not really, he doesn't, but Riku doesn't trust Sora to climb things. Last time, when they were trying to shimmy up the tree to grab a Paopu fruit, Sora ended up flat on his butt. The younger one now folds his arms with a pout, clearly not happy with the decision, but Riku wastes no time. He climbs on the chair, stands up straight on it, and starts examining the volumes on the top shelf. Will they need to look at them one by one…? That's gonna take forever! There's at least– many books to go through! Well, he has to start somewhere, and so he grabs the first one coming to hand and opens it, quickly skimming over the pages. Whatever it is about, there's no figures, so it's not gonna help them. Holding the closed book against his chest, Riku grabs the next one and repeats the operation, albeit with a bit more difficulty now that his arms aren't completely free to move anymore.

Sora, meanwhile, is already done with pouting and instead looking up in sheer curiosity. Standing on his tippy-toes, wiggling left and right and trying to sneak a peek at the contents of the books Riku is going through. Needless to say, he's not having much luck. Worse, in his struggle to see, he's leaning on the back of the chair for support – and the consequences don't need much longer to hit. Sora isn't heavy at all, but at the moment he's basically dead weight against that chair. It holds still for a while but, eventually, Sora accidentally pushes it forward a few inches and that's it. With a Whoa! of surprise, Riku loses his balance and topples over and brings along the books he's holding, the chair, and even Sora himself. All of them end up in a messy pile on the floor, with a couple other books left unsteady on the shelf falling over as well. One smacks Riku on the face, another smacks Sora on the head, and that's the precise moment their mothers choose to return home. The young women halt by the front door and, finding such a scenario waiting for them, resist the urge to facepalm only because their hands are busy with shopping bags.

What are these two little rascals up to, this time?

"What do you think this one is for? It's so… Well, it's original, that's for sure!"

Sora keeps staring at the exquisitely shaped vase he's holding, from one angle and the other, clearly fascinated by the colorful piece of ceramic even if he cannot fully understand it. Retrieving relics for Merlin is always a lot of fun, they get to explore caves in high mountains and sunken ruins and old temples and every other sort of exciting place – and, of course, every excuse to spend time alone with Riku is something that Sora cherishes the most. It doesn't come without cost, however; sometimes there's enemies to battle, sometimes the paths are perilous if not filled with traps, sometimes both and then some.

Currently, the two teens are making their victorious way home. And they're both safe and sound, save for a few minor scratches and bruises here and there, but they're definitely exhausted. The mission lasted longer than anticipated and they ran out of food in the last two days, and Sora heaves a sigh of impatience every time his stomach grumbles in protest. He's tired and sore and sleepy and so hungry and in desperate need of a shower, but there's still a good hour of trekking left till they return to the Gummi ship; nothing to do but to suck it up and keep dragging one foot after the other. Riku isn't faring much better, in reality, but he whines far less.

Regardless, not even exhaustion suffices to curb Sora's habitual cheery disposition. He might be tired and sleepy and hungry but he's also incredibly happy that they managed to salvage this one vase; if Merlin requested it, it surely must be impressive. Holding it up in front of him as he continues walking, Sora returns to his inquisitive musing. "Do you think it has special powers? What if it's magical? Oh, I know! Remember that tale Merlin told us that one time? About the Elixir of Eternal Youth, what if this is it! I mean, yeah, it's empty… but what if it's used for it? Like, to mix herbs and potions to brew the elixir? Riku, do you think–"

"You haven't changed one bit."

…Where did that come from? Sora glances at Riku in puzzlement, never mind how his train of thought was cut short, wondering what can his boyfriend possibly be talking about.

Riku grins, wiping a stray bead of sweat rolling down the side of his forehead. "Shut up for a sec and pay attention."

That only makes Sora's confusion grow thicker. Pay attention to what? It can't be enemies, otherwise Riku would already be acting on it instead of chattering away. Sora glances behind himself, wondering if they could possibly have been followed, but cannot spot a thing out of place. And he glances around next, once and twice, only to find more of that same nothing-out-of-the-ordinary. What's he supposed to pay attention to…? It's as he momentarily places the vase down, then, that Sora understands – because that involuntary, soft little sob in his chest, accompanied by the even more characteristic noise that escapes past his lips, is unmistakable.

"…I've got the hiccups."

He says it so matter-of-factly, as if it's no big deal that he's been hiccupping for the past ten minutes and only now became aware of it, that Riku can't help but laugh out loud. Classic Sora! It's just like him to get so thrilled about something that he talks and breathes too fast, having this as a result. And it's just like him to also be too thrilled to even notice anything else. Shaking his head fondly, Riku takes the vase for himself to carry for a while, in order to both free Sora's hands to deal with the issue and also to help him simmer down a little.

"Hold your breath and count to ten."

They're out of drinking water as well, so that's gonna have to do. And, to the younger one's credit, he does try. Sora clasps both hands over mouth and nose, holds his breath, counts to himself… but, just as he reaches nine, a hiccup ruins the effort. He exhales loudly then, and restarts; dang, this shouldn't be hard at all. Maybe it's the piled-up tiredness leaving him a bit loopy though, because he's suddenly consumed by a fiery impulse to laugh. Just laugh at how dumb this is, laugh in triumph because they succeeded in their mission, laugh in sheer happiness because he's here and Riku is just beside him and what else does he need in life, really? And laugh he does, after another failed attempt, and stops and hunches over with his hands on his knees; a mix of defeat and far too much amusement.

"I… I c-can't…"

Riku isn't surprised. So much so that he already has his emergency plan ready to be enacted. Placing the vase down again, he suddenly turns around and all but pushes Sora back against the nearby boulder. The younger one gasps in surprise but has no chance to further react before Riku slaps their mouths together and, for the upcoming minute or two, just kisses him – kisses and kisses and kisses, as if the world would end otherwise, till all that's left of Sora is a breathless mess on slightly wobbly legs. And Sora's not complaining, not at all, but confusion is written all over his face regardless.

Riku, meanwhile, waits a moment further and smirks once confirming that his plan worked. "There you go, hiccups gone. You're welcome." And he kisses Sora's cheek now, turning away to return to the vase and, from there, to the road back to the ship.

Thank you so much for reading!
Theia