Hey friends!

Today is Riku's Heart day. :3
It's also the day (well, night) before the Mark of Mastery exam, so our boys are preparing to do a good job and getting some much needed rest and sleep before all the serious business begins... or /are they/ resting and sleeping? Let's find out. *slurps my tea loudly*

Specific tags include:
part of the "Riku's Heart" mini-series; alternative title: local boy realizes he's Not Straight; during KH DDD; Yen Sid's tower; explicit sexual theme; nothing major but the vibes are all there ya know; teenage hormones are a force to be reckoned with; introspection; sleepy Sora; poor Riku just wants /to know/; and he almost has his *oh* moment; almost; Riku's POV

Hopefully you enjoy! ^-^

Chapter 12: Oneiric

"Riku?"

More than the sound of his own name, the silver-haired teen reacts to the insistent tugging at the hem of his night shirt. Riku rolls over on the bed, still very much half-asleep and ready to just shrug the whole thing off as a dream. It's still the middle of the night, after all. Nonetheless, the moonlight coming in through the moon-shaped window (Yen Sid's taste for décor and architecture ranges from poetic to tacky, depending on who you ask) is enough to illuminate Sora's face staring back at him, and that promptly makes Riku more alert.

"Sora…? What is it?"

"I need your help!"

"What…? Why, what's wrong?"

Riku makes himself sit up, still getting his bearings, but Sora doesn't reply; not with words, anyway. Without further ado and without a semblance of warning, what Sora does is to climb on top of Riku and straddle him with each knee by the side of the older one's hips, all but landing back on Riku's lap. Needless to say, Riku is suddenly very much awake, although his brain is malfunctioning even more.

"S-Sora, what–"

"Riku, I need you… Help me, please!"

Words spoken in a husky tone barely above a murmur, right by Riku's ear, and his brain goes from malfunctioning to downright short-circuiting. What in Chernabog's name is happening…? Sora is wearing an expression unlike anything Riku has seen on him before, half-lidded eyes shimmering with lustful haze and lips damp and parted at just the right angle. And it is Riku, of all the people in this world and all the others, who's privy to such a… tantalizing sight. It really is Riku that Sora is gazing at in such a way, it is Riku feeling the heat of Sora's body seeping through the thin layer of the shirt, it is Riku who feels the gentle friction between their lower bodies as Sora rolls his hips in a way so purposefully slow, so mind-numbing that it should be illegal.

"How can I help," Riku eventually manages to ask, mouth as dry as the Agrabah desert; not sure how he still remembers what words are and how to speak them coherently. And Sora does not answer, again. Instead, he leans so close that their chests are now pressed together, and momentarily hides his face in the crease of Riku's neck. Then Sora arches his back in a way so beautiful that Riku feels like he's getting whiplash without even moving, and rocks his hips again; starts a sadistically slow rhythm with it. The whimper of pleasure that falls from Sora's lips next is muffled against the side of Riku's neck but still audible enough, and he slips his hands under the older teen's shirt. His palms are scalding on Riku's skin, all of Sora seems to be afire at the moment, and he strokes Riku's sides once and twice before rolling up that same shirt.

Then those impossibly tempting lips move from Riku's neck to the nearest collarbone, over the shirt's fabric, all the way to Riku's chest where they stop for an instant… before they part and clamp over one of the nipples. Sora sucks gently, again so gently that it's a punishment more than a reward, adding his tongue to the mix and nearly making Riku's eyes roll to the back of his head. And Riku's not sure what happens next, obviously too distracted to keep track, if it is Sora pushing him or if he just flops down on his own like the ragdoll he currently feels like under such delicious teasing – whatever it is, he's now on his back and Sora moves accordingly; knees settled in between Riku's thighs, hands on the mattress by each side of Riku's face.

"Riku," Sora says to him, breathing heavily, as though he can barely contain himself, "Will you help me…? I need you!"

Riku's brain has gone from short-circuiting to actual implosion.

And he wants to say yes, of course he'll help, of course he'll do whatever Sora needs and wants and demands, please let me make you feel good, Riku wants to say it so loudly that he'll leave cracks along the walls, but it gets lost in his tongue. Sora doesn't wait for the answer anyway, cheeky little bastard who clearly took the day off to prove that he can put someone in cardiac arrest, and returns to the assault of tongue and lips. He leans down and kisses over Riku's Adam apple, brushes all the way farther down over the chest. Over the belly, right over the belly button where Sora leaves an eager lick that has Riku's soul pretty much leaving his body, farther down even, and–

And that's when Riku wakes up.

Gasping for air, heat pooled up ferociously in between his thighs, and not sure if he's gone to heaven or hell.

It isn't often at all that he cusses, but… fuck. Shit, fuck, fucking damn it.

Sitting up, this time for real and not like in the dream, Riku abruptly tosses the covers aside and buries his face in his hands. His heart is about to take flight with how frantically it's beating, and his whole body is covered in a thin sheen of sweat. Fuck… Did he really just dream about– about… that sort of thing… with Sora…? Riku can't even put the name to it at the moment, feeling absolutely mortified.

…Speaking of Sora.

In a sudden panic, Riku glances to the right side of the bed and only manages to breathe again when he confirms that the younger teen is sound asleep and has no idea of what just happened. Of what is still very much happening. Otherwise Riku might have to go and fling himself down the top of the tower, because what sort of pervert dreams of his best friend doing– doing… those things! Looking like that! Making those noises! How is he now supposed to ever look Sora on the face again?!

Sighing loudly and shakily, Riku stands from the bed and makes a bee-line for the moon window, more than desperate for the fresh night air. Thankfully, it helps to clear his head a little… though the issue in his crotch is clearly going to need longer to fade on its own. Because Riku utterly refuses to act on it, he already wants to sink into the ground and melt away as it is. He's already objectified his best friend enough for one night. And yet… who is he lying to, really? There's no denying that Riku enjoyed that dream, much as he's abashed at the notion. There's no denying that the Sora in his dream looked absolutely mesmerizing and, should it have happened for real, there's no way Riku would have brought himself to stop it. He wouldn't have wanted Sora to stop, much on the contrary.

What does this say about him, then…?

Is he really just a disgusting pervert and that's it? Or…

Can it be that it's no coincidence that the dream was about Sora? Not to be holier-than-thou, but Riku can honestly say he's never really had much interest in romance, before. Kinda hard to have the time for it, anyway, when there's always a psycho or thirteen trying to conquer the world and all that jazz. But now, to dream of such a thing and about Sora, of all people… Can it be that Riku's subconscious is trying to tell him something that he may or may not be prepared to acknowledge?

Heaving a deep breath, Riku turns around and walks a few silent steps back to the bed. The Mark of Mastery exam will begin in the morning, so Master Yen Sid kindly allowed for Riku and Sora to spend the night and accommodated them in one of the tower's spare bedrooms. Nothing fancy, more than good enough for a night of rest. There is only one bed but it's gigantic, so it really was no trouble for the two of them to share – like so, so many times in the past. Still… it is definitely the first time that Sora's presence overnight has had such a fulminating effect.

The same Sora who's sleeping without a care in the world, as usual; flopped on his belly, every limb sprawled like he owns the bed, his left arm actually dangling off the edge. Riku watches for a moment, fond smile on his lips, and… yeah, there is no denying that the mere sight of Sora makes him feel something. Riku may not know exactly what it is, but it's here; it blooms in his chest and spreads flowers all over his lungs and roots all over his stomach. It's a little bit like an aching, but it's a comforting one. It's a sort of urge to make sure nothing bad will ever happen to Sora, to make sure Sora will always be as happy as he can be, no matter the cost to Riku himself. What is this called…? Isn't this protectiveness? Isn't this friendship? It is, yet both terms do not seem to suffice. It's both these things, but also so much more. Is it lo–

"Riku…?"

…Not again. Heavens have mercy, he's only a sixteen-year-old boy who wanted to get some rest before an important exam, not to nearly develop an aneurysm and be left questioning everything he once thought was true in life! This time, though, Riku knows he's wide awake. And Sora is still in the same position in the bed [and not trying to climb Riku like a tree], the same lump tangled up in the covers, looking sleepily at the older teen with one eye open and the other closed.

"Did I wake you up?" Riku asks, quietly.

Sora shakes his head very lazily and closes his eyes again. But maybe Riku shouldn't have been staring so intensely, if it even stirred his friend out of slumber. Friends. That's all they are, isn't it? Of course it is. What else could they be? Pursing his lips, Riku stares a moment longer and then goes to sit on his side of the bed. Part of him wants to wake Sora up for good and just talk of all these confusing things [...maybe not the dream, though] until they start making sense, but… he's not even sure what's going on himself, how can he hope to be able to properly convey it to someone else?

Nonetheless, Riku eventually finds himself calling out. "Sora?"

The younger one takes a moment, but does answer back with a Mhmmmm? muffled against the pillow.

Now what? What's Riku supposed to say? Should he even say anything? If he got one munny for every time he overthinks, he'd be competing with Scrooge McDuck by the end of the year. Hands settled restlessly on his lap, Riku grasps at the fabric of his night pants and decides to take the deep dive. "Did you… ever think about kissing someone?"

Half of him wants an actual answer, the other half is praying that Sora's back to sleep and unaware of this very-not-smart idea. There's no telling for a moment, because Riku is sitting on the edge of the bed and with his back turned to Sora – but soon he hears, and feels, some soft rustling happening. Like the younger teen just rolled over.

"Dunno…? Guess I never did."

Judging from the groggy tone, Sora is far from awake even if he can still process some level of thinking. And it makes Riku feel bad, because he doesn't want to take advantage of Sora just blurting out things without an ounce of filter and, possibly, even without being completely aware of it; let alone about such a private topic that's nobody's business to start with. But… gosh, Riku really just wants to know. Needs to know, as if an invisible force is compelling him; that same little aching in his chest that's suddenly not so little anymore. As if his own future depends on the answers he may get.

"And would you like to?" And who would you like to kiss?

"Yeah… sure."

Now Riku almost laughs, because it's likely that Sora didn't fully process the question nor kept track of what it is about, but the prompt and lighthearted response is… it's just so Sora. And there's the aching yet again, this time accompanied by a soft sort of fluttering in Riku's belly. To his surprise, however, it seems like the younger one isn't stopping at that.

"You're lucky, Riku."

"Me? Why?"

"'Cause you can kiss whoever you wanna."

…Huh. With eyes now slightly wide, Riku chances a peek over his shoulder. "What do you mean?"

"Oh… c'mon, you know," Sora mumbles into the pillow, snuggling it closer to his face, and goes quiet for a moment. He's half-curled up on his side now, facing Riku, just as entangled in the bed covers as before if not more and looking just about ready to doze off for good, again. And there's no way Riku's poor heart will be able to deal with such a cliffhanger so, this time, he actually makes himself tug at Sora's t-shirt.

"C'mon you, sleepyhead! What were you gonna say?"

"Wha…?"

Seriously, Sora. Do you wanna make your best friend tear off his hair?

Breathing in, Riku makes himself calm down and tries once more.

"You said I can kiss anyone I want. Why'd you say that?"

"Oh," Sora says again, just like before, and if this time he doesn't finish that sentence then Riku will just snatch his pillow and smack him with it. He will. Don't test him, Sora. "'Cause you're awesome! And anyone's gonna be lucky t' kiss you."

Was it worth insisting on an answer? Riku's not sure, mainly because he can feel blood rushing to his cheeks so furiously it's leaving him lightheaded. Does Sora really mean that or is he just drunk on sleep and saying whatever non-sense comes to mind…? What about you, will you feel lucky if I kiss you? – Riku almost asks next, but his courage is already dwindling to the last droplets. This one, it's a loaded question and he might not be able to handle the answer, whether it's positive or negative.

Suddenly needing something to do with his hands, Riku stands back up and gets busy with fixing the absolute state of the bed covers; or as much as possible, considering the unmovable Sora lump. Effectively asleep again, not reacting as Riku tugs the sheets away, first, and then smoothes them over him till Sora is comfortably tucked in. Who would guess that this ball of innocence and cuteness may also be capable of things like–

…No, no, no, no no no no no. Riku, no. For your own sake. For your own sanity.

It's going to be a big day, tomorrow, and this is not the kind of thing you think about before a big day. You focus on what you have to do. Focus on entering the sleeping realms, on restoring their normal functioning, on doing what Master Yen Sid expects you to do. That's it. That's what you think about. And not about Sora sitting on your lap, dry humping you, begging you to do raunchy things to him.

With a final sigh that's equal parts frustration and resignation, Riku buries his face in the pillow and does his best to go back to sleep.

I've kind of surprised myself that I'm only now, a dozen chapters in, finally writing about the SoRiku bible that is DDD... but, at the same time, is it really surprising? Honestly, that game feeds us so much that it's almost odd to call this "fanfiction". It's more like simply describing canon. :')

Thank you for reading, I'll see you guys soon!
Theia