Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. Also, I hate to pick up dresses.
Warnings: This fiction contains and is not limited to boy/boy moments, the use and abuse of stereotypes, hints at original pairings, very despicable people, emo-Riku, lustful teenagers, underage drinking, a mix of the last two points, questionable situations, morally ambiguous choices and a few, occasional and really shy attempts at humor.
Chapter 18: The Calm Before the Storm
On Friday evening, Riku was standing in his room, facing one of the biggest dilemmas of his life: to ask -with all the consequent benefits and risks- or not to ask, knowing that he would have spent the rest of the evening wondering if he should have asked.
After a long and troubled questioning, he bravely opted for the most dangerous option.
"Mom!" he shouted. "Can you come here for a moment?"
The moment he heard his mother climbing the stairs, he regretted his choice.
"What's up, sweetie?" Rei chirped as she entered Riku's room, her eyes already looking his son up and down.
He hesitated for a second, before finally talking. "I was wondering..." he looked at the two pieces of clothing resting on his bed. "Which one of these would be better for the evening?"
"It depends on where you're planning to go." She answered far too quickly not to have expected that question, Riku was sure of that.
"Nowhere particular, we're just going to a new club that just opened".
For Riku's tastes, the smile on Rei's face was way too close to a grin. "That's great, it was about time that you started going out again, I was starting to wonder if I had to set up a date to push you out of the house again..."
Riku rolled his eyes. "Mom, please!"
"Alright, alright." she said calmly. "And... tell me, are you going with Sora?"
"He... will be there, too, yes." Lying wasn't an option with his mother, anyway. He could only hope to gloss over a few details and hope it worked. "But it's not a date!"
Rei raised an eyebrow. "This one." she finally said pointing at the white shirt that her son was wearing.
Riku couldn't help but feeling a little deceived. "No, wait, that's just too plain. I think the light blue one is better..."
She gave a quick long look at the shirt resting on the bed. "No, too much showy. It screams 'trying to get laid'." She then blinked. "Unless that's the message you're trying to convey, Sora may like it."
Riku cursed internally at the treacherous blush that was quickly painting his cheeks. "Thanks mom, that'd be enough."
"Unbutton the top button, though. That way is too much goody-goody." she added before retreating, leaving behind an embarrassed Riku.
On Friday evening, Roxas was standing in his room, facing one of the biggest dilemmas of his life: how could he avoid that evening?
With the fake ID, Sora had effectively neutralized his best escape route: being stopped at the front door because he was quite evidently underage. Excuses like 'I'm sick' or 'I have homework to do' were far too abused/pathetic to work.
With no other choices left and the clock ticking, he decided to resort to his last option and started walking -as slowly as possible- towards his brother's room.
He had to knock three times before finally getting an answer from inside. Cloud's voice looked less than happy, nevertheless he told him to get inside.
"Hey, Cloud, how are you?"
"What do you need?" his brother answered abruptly, cutting him short. He was laying on his bed, reading a book. He didn't look at him even once. As predicted, he was clearly still mad about the other day's discussion.
Roxas started playing with a bang of his hair. "I was thinking... you know... about the other day..."
"You need to learn to control yourself, Roxas."
Roxas laughed internally: if there was one thing he was good at, it was precisely that one. Unfortunately, there were still a few subjects that were a little too touchy to face for him.
He took a deep breath. "Listen: I'm... messed up, right now. Can I say 'I'm sorry' now and work on it later?"
For the first time since he had entered in the room, Cloud lifted his eyes from the book he was reading. "What do you need?" he asked once more, but his tone made clear that now he was sincerely offering his help to his younger brother.
Roxas paused for a moment. "I don't want to go out."
"Great. Don't go, then." Typical Cloud answer.
"It's... not that easy."
"Why not?"
Roxas sighed. "I need a good excuse for that."
Cloud lifted an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure that you can easily come up with a better excuse than I. So, why are you really here?"
His brother had somehow hit the mark: he wanted an excuse not to go, but at the same time...
"...I also want to go." he finally admitted, looking embarrassed at the ground.
Cloud sighed, then he moved slightly to make a little bit of space on the bed for Roxas, who took it after just a moment of incertitude.
"Let's try to analyze the situation from a different point of view: why do you want to go?"
A moment of silence ensued, then he shily talked. "Riku will be there." he answered in all sincerity. He could feel his brother's gaze on him, studying his reactions.
"I understand." he finally said, without adding anything else. "And the reasons not to go?"
"...come on, you know it."
"Roxas, 'I can't dance' doesn't mean anything! Everyone can do it."
"Well, I can't." he murmured lowly. "I... just have no idea how to move. I tried, really, but I feel... goofy."
Cloud sighed once more. "Listen, I know you: you have to always be in control of the situation. And you need to accept that, sometimes, you just can't. Let loose a little for once!"
"But..." He took a deep breath before ending the sentence. "What if they'll make fun of me because I'm ridiculous?" He sounded whiny even to himself, but at the same time he needed reassurance.
"Then try not to care about what other people will think of you."
"But... I do care." Roxas answered sincerely for once, surprising even himself. "I simply do."
Cloud studied for a moment his brother's desperate look. For a moment it looked like he would've punched him, but in the end he simply smiled. "Then simply pretend that you don't care about their opinion."
"Yeah, sure, like that would work."
This time, Cloud straight-up glared at him. "I'm serious, Roxas. Should someone say something to you, like 'Hey, you're really bad at dancing', try to look at them as serious as you can and answer something like: 'Yeah, I've never been a great dancer'".
For a split second, Roxas got déjà-vu of his infancy. A moment of silence ensued, during which Roxas slowly processed what -he was sure of that- was a crucial information.
"That was... surprisingly relevant. Thanks bro." he finally admitted, having found renewed enthusiasm.
"Whenever you need it." The older boy simply answered, while resuming reading the book he had put aside. Before Roxas could regain his room, though, his voice echoed one last time between those walls.
"Button up that shirt, that way it's screaming 'desperately trying to get laid'."
On Friday evening, Sora was standing in his room, wondering what he could have for dinner.
After a long questioning, covering the span of nearly half a minute, he opted for a frozen chicken that he promptly put in the microwave.
Once that matter was over, he grabbed the first piece of clothing he could find in his armchair and calmly walked out of his house, towards the bus stop.
He didn't have to wait for long before Roxas reached him.
"Hey, Rox." he greeted him. The blond boy was wearing a black shirt and a pair of jeans, simple but elegant, Sora thought. His hair was styled in a way not so unlike his usual style -windswept-like on his right side- but somehow different, more like 'I chose to make them this way' and less 'I woke up like that'. "You look pretty sharp, hoping to catch somebody's eye?"
"Cut it out." Roxas answered quickly. "I'm dressed up because that's what we're supposed to do." That was all the confirmation Sora needed: so, Roxas was seriously planning on hitting on someone, interesting...
And then the blond boy stopped and tilted his head, seemingly having realized something. "What have you done to the hair?"
Sora made half a smile. "Oh, I simply used a product to straighten them. I do that sometimes, but I'm not that convinced of the results, how do I look?"
The blush on Roxas' cheeks was evident and Sora didn't fail to notice it. "Pretty... good." Roxas finally said. "Oh, hey, here's our ride!" he added immediately after, clearly relieved to be able to drop the conversation entirely.
Sora followed his friend on the bus, more determined than ever to discover who his friend was interested in.
In the last row of the bus, Riku was silently counting the stops before ATD, where Sora -and probably Roxas too- would most certainly take the ride. For some inexplicable reasons, his heart was racing like crazy and...
Aww, whatever!
'I like Sora and that's it!' he admitted to himself, just when the bus started to slow down at the fated stop.
He thought he was ready for anything, but he discovered that it wasn't the case when his mouth fell open at the sight of the two boys climbing on the bus and walking towards him.
Sora was a sight! He was wearing a simple t-shirt, just adherent enough to let guess the lean muscles under it. Pants and shoes were nothing particular, but his hair... Oh, god! His hair was falling on the sides of his face, with a few bangs pulled on one side to avoid covering his eyes.
And Roxas...
Riku had to admit that Roxas looked really good too, dressed and with his hair combed that way. And, for a moment, he remembered why there was a time when he had been in love with him.
"Close your mouth, Riku. Flies will fly in." Sora laughed at the sight of his friend, managing to establish a new record for time needed to embarrass him.
"You... look great." Riku stuttered, desperately trying to pull himself together.
"Thanks, you look cool yourself." Sora said with a giggle. "Pretty sure you'll catch someone's eye this evening."
Riku smiled. "I sure hope so."
And only at that precise moment, Riku realized that Roxas had not said a single word yet. He was standing behind the brunet, quietly. His eyes were clearly fixed on him, his expression indecipherable. 'Why is Roxas staring at me that way?' Riku thought.
A second later, Sora realized it too and discretely elbowed him. "Close your mouth, Roxas. Flies will fly in!"
Well, it was shaping up to be an interesting evening.
End Notes: And here we are! The setting is ready, the players are lined up and I just can't wait to post the next couple of chapters! Time for things to spice up a little!
Preview: Let's enter the No Name!
Next Chapter: No Name - Part 1