Some NSFW spice ;p Sort-of.
Chapter Seven
When Kairi enters the foyer the next morning, there's breakfast waiting for her on the table with Namine. Sora and Lea are up in the cockpit, and Kairi can hear their voices. She thinks she hears them laughing, which she thinks is a good sign.
She isn't sure how she feels about the situation with Sora. She'd genuinely thought he hated her—that was how mean he'd been. But then he got weird and possessive and praised her and called her sweet girl and it was just…
Confusing.
In any case, she's eager to pretend the brothel and the Duke never happened.
"Morning, Namine," she says brightly, plopping down across from her at the table. "What's for breakfast?"
"Oh. Hi, Kairi." Namine gives her a cautious look. "Are you okay today? You had a nightmare last night."
Kairi pretends she didn't hear that last part.
"I'm feeling great today. Excited to get to Disney Castle tomorrow, though." She picks at the food. "Ooh, these are all my favorites. Did you make this?"
"No, Sora did. He said they were your favorites, actually."
Heat flares across Kairi's cheeks. "Really?"
"Mm-hm."
"That was nice of him."
"I'll say." Namine throws her a wink that makes Kairi giggle.
"Do me a favor, Namine. Never wink again. Total cringefest."
Both girls fall into another fit of giggles as they banter back and forth. By the time Kairi's finished eating with her, her face and stomach hurt from laughing so much. After cleaning up the food, they go to the small closet in the far corner of the room. It's full of board games. They're still selecting when Lea comes bouncing down the steps.
"Ayyy, it's the woman, the myth, the legend!" He lifts both fists into the air and grins. "Little Miss Kairi!"
"Another cringefest," Kairi whispers to Namine before she greets Lea with a smile. "Good morning, you. Did you get a chance to eat? We cleaned it up without thinking."
Lea pulls her into a one-armed side hug. "Oh, yeah. I ate loads before you woke up. Speaking of sleep…I've been at the controls all night so I'm headed to bed. You guys need anything from me before I go?"
"Nope," Kairi says.
"Me, neither," Namine says. She gives Lea a hug, too.
"Cool. Well, see you guys on the other side. Hey, though—head up there and talk to Sora. There's been a small change of plans." He gives them a two-finger salute and heads to his room.
Kairi and Namine exchange glances. Abandoning the game hunt, they make their way to the cockpit. Sora's focused on flying, a somewhat troubled expression on his face. Upon the two women entering, he tears his gaze away from the windshield momentarily.
"Hey," he says. "Did you eat?"
"Yes," Kairi says, sitting down in the second seat. She gives him a cheerful smile while Namine goes to stand on his other side, inspecting the buttons on the console with curiosity. "Thanks for making my favorites."
He does a double-take, his gaze falling to her smile. The corner of his mouth twitches up. "You seem like you're in good mood."
"Are you?"
He rolls his eyes. "I've never not been in a good mood."
"I beg to differ, young man."
He doesn't say anything but when Kairi looks at him, she's bummed out to see something tick in his jaw. She doesn't want things to devolve like they did when this journey began, so she changes the subject before any bickering can begin.
"Lea told us there's been a plan change?"
"Yeah." Sora scratches the back of his head. "We're stopping in Radiant Gardens. The King called and said he called Terra back to the castle to assist with the prisoners—once Riku and Aqua get there."
Namine looks up sharply. "That means Roxas would be alone."
"Right, so the King wants us to go, help him finish clearing out the Heartless, and let him ride with us back to Disney Castle."
"Okay," Kairi says. "Can't be that difficult with the five of us, can it?"
Sora casts her a sidelong glance. "You sure you're up for it?"
"Sure. Why?"
"The King was concerned. He said to only do it if you're in the right state."
"I'm fine." Kairi's heart beats faster. The locked chest in her mind rattles, memories of yesterday trying to make themselves known. "Did you tell him I wasn't?"
"I didn't tell him anything. He said Riku gave him a brief overview, but he doesn't know what exactly occurred. He's just concerned."
"There's nothing to be concerned about. I'm fine."
"Kairi."
"I'm fine, Sora," she snaps, suddenly viscerally angry. "I want to fight. Let's just go to Radiant Gardens, handle things there, and pick Roxas up, okay?"
He narrows his eyes. "Don't snap at me."
"Sorry. I just…everything is fine. I want everything to be normal."
Namine floats over and sits down on the arm of the chair Kairi's in. "Should I call Roxas and tell him we're coming, or did you already do it?"
"I texted him," Sora says. "He knows we're coming."
"Oh, good. Maybe I'll call him anyway. I'll find out what the Heartless situation is so we can be ready to jump in." Namine smiles to herself, casting a wistful, fond glance out the window. "And I kinda miss him."
Kairi can't help it. She looks at Sora out of the corner of her eye. He's focused on flying, but she wonders if he ever thinks of her that way. If he misses her, or gazes out wistfully with thoughts of her on his mind.
Who knows?
Namine pulls out her gummi phone and traipses back down the stairs, leaving Sora and Kairi alone in the cockpit. Kairi spins her chair back to face the front. She stretches her arms over her head, aching and cracking her back. She's glad Namine healed her. She doesn't ever want to feel that type of pain again.
Sora looks at her, raking over her with his gaze. "Is that my shirt?"
Kairi looks down, seeing the oversized black tee shirt and pajama pants she'd worn the night before. "I thought this was Riku's."
"Uhh…no."
"Oh."
They stare at each other. The seconds tick by, and Kairi wonders if he's upset. Does he dislike that she's wearing his shirt? Is he worried that she's going to soil it? Does he hate that her dirty body is—
He smirks.
"Want another one?"
Kairi flushes with the heat of embarrassment and looks out the windshield. There aren't that many Heartless ships or asteroids in this section. Just stars. Lots and lots of twinkling white stars.
"I won't steal your clothes, Sora," she says. "I really didn't know this was yours."
"I don't care if you wear my shirt," he says, leaning back in his chair. "Take whatever you want."
Kairi doesn't know what to say. At all.
"Um, so…what happened yesterday, when you guys realized you had to change plans?" Kairi says, changing the subject. "Did Lea try to come back?"
"Yeah, he did. He went back in after two hours, but they said you weren't 'available' yet." He shoots her a look, but doesn't question her about the reason why. Thankfully. "So he came back out and we had to brainstorm."
"Oh, wow. How did you guys know I wasn't inside the building anymore?"
"Phoebus, actually. He saw a carriage leaving the city that looked like it belonged to royalty, and he got suspicious. Came and talked to us, and we pieced it together." A small cloud of Heartless ships rockets toward them. Sora shoots the guns at them. His speed and aim are on point, and he takes them out in three seconds flat. "That's when Blinko showed up."
"What did Riku say when Lea had to come back out empty-handed?"
"He was concerned, but he said he had a feeling it would happen."
Kairi bites her lip.
"And what did you say?"
"You have no idea, little girl."
"I know," she says, sliding her fingertip across the bottom of the console, pretending to look for dust. "That's why I'm asking you."
"Why?"
"Just wondering if you attempted arson."
There's a pause. A delay in his response.
"I don't know what I did." His voice is quiet, bordering on a whisper. "I don't remember."
Her brows pull together on a furrowed brow. "What? How can you not remember?"
He rubs his fingers down the line of his jaw, huffing a laugh. "I don't know how to explain it."
"Try."
"I don't know. I lost it."
"Lost what?"
"My mind, Kairi!" he says, raising his irritated voice as he turns to look at her with his eyebrows raised. His spiky hair is unusually disheveled today. "I lost my fucking mind, okay? I don't remember what I did. I just remember everyone having to hold me back. Riku took my Keyblade away."
Kairi studies his face. "So you tried?"
"Tried to what?"
"To rescue me."
"Of course I did." Sora glares at her as though she's just said something inexorably offensive to him. "Of course I tried. Do you really think I'd just let you rot in there without at least trying?"
"No," Kairi says, her voice small. She wants to look away. His eyes are just so intense. But she can't. It's like he's got her trapped there. "I just…I don't know."
"What?"
"There was a moment in there when—well, when I thought I wouldn't mind if you burned the building down. I almost hoped you would. Does that make me a bad person?"
"Fuck no." His eyes search hers. "What made you come to that conclusion?"
"That I was bad?"
"No. That you wanted it to burn."
"Oh…" She lowers her head, finally free of that unbearably scorching-hot gaze. "It's not something I want to talk about."
He sighs. "Kairi…"
"No. I told you last night. I can't talk about it."
"Then why are you asking me these questions?"
"Nevermind."
"What's going on? I thought you said you were fine."
"I am fine. Just…nevermind. I'm leaving."
Kairi gets up to go, feeling like she's made of frazzled, frayed edges. She's stopped by Sora's hand on her hip, his hold firm. It makes her skin tingle and now, after what she's been through, she can't help but view her body in a different way. It's not just her hip he's touching. It is a device. Something to use.
She feels weird now.
"Stop," he murmurs. "Just sit down."
"Fine."
She plops back down, tucking her hands beneath her legs and watching him blast some Heartless ship swarms into pieces.
Kairi doesn't know why she asks the question she asks next. She has no idea what possesses her to do so, and she's so mortified that she nearly runs out of the room. It's only the fact that she's pretending to be "okay" and "fine" that keeps her seated.
"Sora?" she asks.
"Hmm?"
"Are you a virgin?"
The silence aches.
"...what the fuck?"
"Sorry," she squeaks out, the mortification making her body catch fire and flame. "I shouldn't have asked that. Gosh. It's not my business. I'm sorry."
"Kairi, why are you asking me these questions? Is there something I need to know?"
"No." There's something, all right. But she doesn't think he needs to know. "I was just curious."
"Right."
"Sorry. Act like I never said anything."
He sighs, keeping his gaze focused on a large ship that's taking him several rounds of ammunition to destroy. The clicking of the buttons is like a soundtrack to the awkwardness of this moment. She wants the answer so bad, but at the same time, she doesn't.
"No," he says.
"Huh?"
He glances at her before looking out the windshield again.
"No. I'm not a virgin."
Kairi's heart throbs with a sad song. She'd already suspected, but for some reason, she'd hoped that maybe it was an irrational thought. It makes sense, given they've never had anything overtly romantic between them and they are twenty-four. And frankly, he's extremely attractive. Anyone would want him. Add being tall, friendly, and a Keyblade Master to the mix, and it's a recipe for a good situation for himself. He's probably never had an issue with women.
It's Kairi who's behind.
At least, she used to be. She'd only had one embarrassing peck on the lips before last night.
Now, she's been suffocated with repugnant kisses from a devil, and her body's been seen and touched by monsters.
"Oh," she says.
"...are you?"
It's a loaded question. If she answers him, she's inadvertently answering part of the things he wants to know from last night.
"Yes," she whispers, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. "I've only kissed someone once."
"Oh." His eyes widen marginally. "Oh."
"Yeah," she says, dragging out the word.
"I'm sorry…about that." He grimaces and rubs the back of his neck with one hand. He rolls his head and she hears his neck crack. "I was a dumb kid."
"I figured." She gives him a short laugh. "You ran away and avoided me for like, a week."
"I think it was a week-and-a half."
They share a secretive smile that is as fleeting as the sunrise before looking in opposite directions.
"I don't blame you," she says. "It was an accident, after all."
"Was it?"
"Well, yeah. I think you tripped."
He smirks and shakes his head.
"What?" she asks, grinning. "Why are you smirking? What?"
"I didn't trip, Kairi."
"Yes, you did. I remember."
He turns his face and looks her directly in the eyes.
"I didn't trip."
Kairi blinks as cogs turn and shift in her mind.
"Oh," she says. "Oh."
She hides a smile. The kiss hadn't been accidental, after all. He'd done it on purpose, gotten embarrassed, and ran away. Maybe he'd thought she was avoiding him.
"I thought you were avoiding me because it was an accident," she says. She taps the toes of one bare foot against the aluminum floor. It's cold, but not so cold as to be like ice.
"I thought you were avoiding me because you didn't like me back."
There it is.
Kairi shakes her head. "No, Sora."
He hums.
"It seems like it was a misunderstanding," she says. "We were only twenty."
"So, what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that it was a misunderstanding." She takes a steadying breath. "I wanted you to kiss me."
He glances at her, arching one eyebrow. "Oh, yeah?"
Something about the way he says that makes her stomach flip and turn. Makes butterflies dance in there.
She nods.
"Interesting."
Kairi swallows against her suddenly-dry throat. "So…you thought I didn't like you."
"I mourned the fantasy," he says with another smirk. "I'd built an entire life in my head with you, and it was an utter devastation."
Kairi covers her mouth and hides her giggle behind it. "No. You didn't."
"I did."
"Oh, no. I'm sorry, Sora. That must have been awful."
"Oh, I made it through."
Kairi bites her lip again before she says, "I'm guessing that's why you're not a virgin anymore, huh? Because you thought—because of the misunderstanding."
He runs his tongue along his teeth. "You really want to know all this?"
"No. Yes. I don't know. I'm still curious."
"I've never had a girlfriend," he says, and that makes Kairi's breath hitch with embarrassing relief. "But I've fucked four other girls before."
Kairi's cheeks burn at the crassness of what he's just said. She supposes she should try to get used to such things. She's an adult. He's an adult. And he's a guy. They're a little more crude about these things, aren't they?
She thinks.
Still. Four girls? It's not that many, but she can't help but imagine what they might have looked like. Were they tall or short? Did they have curly hair or straight? Blue eyes or brown? Were they pretty in the gentle, classic sort of way, like Aqua? Or on the cuter side, like Xion and Namine? Kairi's always thought she was pretty, but what if she's not that pretty? What if she's not as pretty as the girls he's slept with before?
Were they clean? Or were they ruined like Kairi is?
"They were just people," Sora says into the silence. "Girls I met in San Fransokyo when I was out with the guys. And spread out over the years. Two of them I saw multiple times for like, dates, but it ended up not really becoming anything."
"When was...um…the most recent?" She blanches. "Unless that's too personal. You don't have to answer."
"Six or seven months ago?" He shrugs. "I haven't really felt like meeting women in a while."
"Yeah, things have been pretty busy with the Heartless, haven't they?"
"That, and…I don't know. Sometimes I feel different."
"Different?"
"I don't know how to explain it." He huffs. "Well, I do. But I don't think I should explain it to you."
Kairi feels a slightly uncomfortable heat spreading through her abdomen. "How do you mean?"
"It might freak you out a little."
"Sora…"
"It's nothing bad. It's just…I've felt different and when I think about meeting women, there are things I'm curious about that I don't think I want to explore with just anyone."
Kairi's heart is pounding in her ears, loud and deafening. She's a smart girl. What he's saying isn't that difficult to discern. It's just a little nerve wracking. Intense. Her legs are shaking, and she has no idea why. She's not scared of him or feeling anything negative. In fact, she feels thirsty for information. For knowledge about him.
Now that she knows the kiss wasn't accidental, she wonders what their lives would look like if they hadn't had that misunderstanding four years ago.
"What are they? The things you want to explore, I mean."
He doesn't look at her. "You really wanna know?"
"Are they…dangerous? Like, are you worried about the darkness?"
"No," he says, his tone suddenly sharp. "Why do you mention the darkness?"
Kairi thinks back to Riku's question the other day, about whether or not she'd noticed any changes in Sora's eye color. Somehow, she thinks that might shatter the positive atmosphere if she brings that up, so she pivots.
"I'm only teasing," she says. "Tell me what they are."
Sora looks at her, staring. Studying. Analyzing. Kairi feels her cheeks flushing hotter and hotter. It's like she's on display. He's not just looking at her. He's reading her.
Inadvertently, she noticed he's wearing joggers again, slightly tighter than his usual ones, and a black tee shirt with a V-shaped neckline. His silver crown necklace hangs in the open space.
He looks really good in black.
"How do you feel when I tell you you're good?"
Kairi chokes on her saliva and coughs violently to try and get air back.
Because how did he know that she's been feeling…odd… when he's praised her for other, different reasons before?
"You okay?" he asks, his eyebrow arching up again.
"I'm f-fine," she stammers, patting her chest and coughing a couple more times. "Just got some…you know. Swallowed air."
"Right."
"To answer your question," she says, forcing as much nonchalance as she freaking can into her voice. Under no circumstances does she want to disrupt, ruin, or modify this moment. "I think I like it."
He stares at her again and it's all she can do to stay still and not squirm.
"What about when I tell you you're sweet?"
"I don't—I don't know why you're asking me, but I…I l-like that, too." She coughs one last time. "Does this tie into your…curiosities?"
"Maybe."
"Oh." She can't look at him, so she looks at the stars again. "Are you saying you want to praise m—uh—I mean, someone?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, jeez," she whispers under her breath.
Kairi feels like they're floating on a cloud, so high up in the sky that the oxygen is too thin for her to get a solid breath. There's absolutely no room in her head for anything else right now. Nothing else other than him and this conversation.
"Tapping out already?" he says, sounding teasing. "All I've done is ask you two questions."
"No," she says haughtily. "Why would I be tapping out?"
"I don't know. Why would you?"
"I'm an adult, Sora." Kairi flips her hair back over her shoulder and pretends to inspect her fingernails. She hasn't painted them in months and they're a mess. "I can hear about someone's sexual proclivities just fine."
He snorts a laugh. "'Sexual proclivities?' What, is that today's vocabulary word?"
"Don't be mean to me!" She punches him lightly in the arm. "You're the one who's making it awkward!"
"I'm not doing anything. I'm just asking questions."
"Well, then ask them already! Instead of making fun of me, you jerk."
"All right. Fine." He smirks at her. "Do you like following orders?"
"Orders? You mean, like the rules?"
"Like doing whatever I tell you to do."
"Sora, why are you asking me? Aren't you supposed to be telling me what you're interested in?"
He drags a very strange, very intense look from her eyes, to her lips, and back up again.
"I am."
Kairi grits her teeth and squirms in her seat. Whatever it is she's feeling now, she has no idea what it is. All she knows is that it's somewhere in the vicinity of a place in her body she doesn't want to think about right now.
But unfortunately, she is.
"You're making it difficult on purpose," she bites out. "You're trying to get me to figure it out."
"Bingo."
"You're insufferable."
"Ooh. Another vocabulary word."
"Sora!"
"Just answer the question."
"I don't like the rules," Kairi says. "I'm willful, remember? Unless the rules or guidelines make sense. If they make sense, I follow them."
He slowly presses the autopilot button, shocking Kairi into silence.
The autopilot button.
The button he despises.
He turns his chair and leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs.
"And if I told you to come here…" he murmurs. "...would you do it?"
Kairi tries several times to start a sentence. Her head is light. She might faint.
"That wouldn't—it wouldn't make sense," she says, her voice barely more than a squeak.
"Wouldn't it?"
"No, Sora. I'm right next to you. Anything you would need to show me is right here on the console, or you could just tell me."
"You're being awfully willful, Kairi."
"Because I know what you're trying to do!" she hisses, fisting her hands in the hem of her tee shirt. The tee shirt she apparently stole from him.
"What is it that I'm trying to do?"
"You're trying to fluster me."
"Is it working?"
"You jerk!" She reaches forward and shoves at the front of his shoulder.
He grabs her hand and tugs.
"Come here."
Kairi is terrified, and not in a bad way.
"Wh-What?"
"You heard me." He tugs again, his thumb brushing gently down the side of her wrist. "Come here."
Kairi doesn't move. What would be the purpose of her coming over to him?
Well…she supposes she might as well find out.
She gets up and walks the four steps it takes to get to him.
"See," he says with another smirk. He leans back, keeping one hand on his leg and the other propping his chin up with his elbow on the chair's arm. "You like doing what I tell you to do. Don't you?"
"Maybe." It's a whisper. Like tumbleweed across the Pride Lands. "M-Maybe."
"Should I ask you to do something else?"
"No."
"No?"
"Yes. I…I don't know." Kairi wrings her hands in front of her cartwheeling stomach. "I'm out of my element here." She lowers her voice to a whisper again, looking at her feet. "You're making me nervous."
"Then sit down."
She looks behind her, at the chair she just vacated, and then down at him. "No. I just got up from there."
Sora grins, and it's positively devilish.
"Then find somewhere else to sit."
Kairi's head explodes. It explodes, blowing up into millions of little, flabbergasted pieces. And then her body rots into nothing.
Where the Hell is she supposed to sit? There's only two chairs. She doesn't want to sit in hers. He's in the other.
Bastard.
"I am not sitting on your lap, Sora."
"I didn't ask you to." He shrugs. "You can do whatever you want."
"I know." She curls her hands into fists at her side. "But it feels like if I do, you win."
"I win? Win what? This isn't a battle."
"Yes, it is. It's a battle of wills, you lazy bum."
He bursts out laughing, his eyes twinkling as he clutches his stomach. Kairi's distracted by how handsome he looks when he smiles like that. By how nostalgic it is to see him laughing.
"I haven't heard that one in a while," he says. "This is the funniest fucking conversation I've ever had."
"Well, it's not funny to me!" Kairi stomps her foot.
"It's not a battle, Kairi. I'm not battling you."
"I'm battling you."
Lifting her chin, she turns to her side and sits down in his lap. She rests her rear on one thigh and lets her legs hang over the other one. Her arms cross loftily over her chest and she shoots the ceiling a snooty look.
"There," she sniffs. "I win."
"Do you?"
Kairi cannot believe this. She cannot believe she's sitting in Sora's freaking lap, pressed up against his body. His warm, heated, comfortable body. This is ridiculous. They've hugged before in the past, several times, so she's been close to his body before. But not like…whatever this is. Up this close, with her sitting on him like this, she's looking down at him, forcing him to tilt his head up to her. Sora's eyes are just so damn blue. Like the deepest part of an ocean.
All she would need to do is grab his face and lean down…
She yelps when his hand drags along her lower back and around. He's looking directly at her when he trails his fingers up her side. They linger at her ribcage before stroking back down again. She grabs his wrist and holds it immobile.
"Is this part of your next question?" she asks.
"Do you want it to be?"
She's the one to search his eyes this time, the heat of his hand trapped in her own. Debating ensues in her head until one side wins out.
The brave one.
"I like it when you touch me," she whispers, and then she promptly lets go of his hand. "That is my answer to that question."
Sora hums his approval. "And before I even asked it."
"I can be smart sometimes."
"Yes, you can." His gaze falls to the pendant around her neck and lingers there before he looks up at her face again. "Want me to ask my next question?"
No, she thinks.
Yes, she thinks.
I don't know, she thinks.
Aloud, she says, "How about I ask you one?"
"All right." He leans back, his hand sliding from her ribcage to her back, where he presses his palm flat. It's warm enough to melt ice. He rests his chin in his other hand. "Ask away."
Kairi's blushing, even as she stays brave.
"Do you like it when I obey you?"
Chin still in hand, he says, "Yeah."
"Oh. Okay." She hesitates. "Do you like me sitting here?"
"Mm-hm."
Oh, dear. Kairi's out of her depth. He's looking at her in some type of way, and he's so confident. He knows what he's doing. He's been in this situation before.
Before yesterday, Kairi hadn't. And now she has. She's been seen and kissed and touched and even though she didn't want it, it happened. And she has no idea what she's doing.
"You okay?" he asks, his brow furrowing.
"I…I don't…" Kairi gasps and squeezes her eyes shut tight, fighting back tears. She cannot let that chest open. She can't think about it. Yesterday didn't happen. It never happened.
"Kairi?"
"I'm sorry," she says, her voice a cracked whisper as she fidgets with her hands. "I'm not good at this stuff. I'm not…I'm dirt—I'm rui—I just—"
"Hey," Sora says softly, his hand rubbing up and down her back. "Shh. It's okay. There's nothing to cry about."
"I'm sorry."
"Nothing to apologize for, either, okay?"
His fingers play with the ends of her hair. It tickles, causing an involuntary shudder to run through her. She looks at him, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. He watches her with a contemplative look on his face as he slides his hand up, up, up, until his fingers sink into her hair from the base of her skull. They curve and scrape up, gentle and soothing as they graze her scalp. A sound gets trapped in her throat as her head falls back.
"That feel good?" he asks.
Kairi's eyelids flutter shut and she nods.
"And this?"
Sora digs his fingers deeper into her hair, running his nails in soft, gentle circles and patterns from the back of her head, to the top, down the sides. The feeling is pleasant, and it mounts. Builds momentum the longer he does it. It makes her eyes roll behind her closed eyelids and her lips part.
"There you go," he breathes. "Just feel."
Suddenly, Kairi feels his nose against the side of her throat, almost nuzzling her. Right when it does, he curls a large chunk of her hair around his hand and pulls it tight. Not tight enough to hurt, like the guards had done to her—just tight enough to hold her still. His lips brush over her pulse, his breath hot against her skin in the ghost of a kiss, and it makes her stomach knot up so tight that it almost hurts.
And then Sora does kiss her throat.
It's nothing. It's barely a kiss. But it feels explosive to her and nearly makes her cry out. She stifles it, so it comes out strangled. Her hand slaps against his chest, fingers curling in the fabric of his shirt. The stars outside the ship have transferred themselves into her brain. Everything feels good. Everything is good.
Sora does it again, firmer this time. Still a shadow, but more corporeal. She gasps and squirms in his lap again, causing him to take his other arm and band it tight across her thighs. She can't move.
Kairi's eyes crack open, seeing the ceiling through a blissed-out haze.
The third kiss is right over the part of her pulse that jumps hardest. Real. With the slight scrape of his teeth. It overcomes her body, sending her reeling through the cosmos and into the center of some far-off black hole. Her back arches and she groans, her eyes rolling up in her head.
This…is nothing like yesterday.
This is transcendent.
He releases her thighs and wraps his hand around the opposite side of her neck, pulling her closer. He lays more kisses to her throat, hot as the sun and trailing flames over her skin, never once letting go of his hold on her hair. Kairi's chest heaves as her breaths get heavier, the weight on her chest intensifying.
"Sor—"
"Shh," Sora breathes, and it makes her shiver. "Be good. Let me taste you."
Where is she again? Who is she?
He runs his tongue behind the hinge of her jaw and sucks her earlobe into his mouth.
Kairi inhales and starts to cry out, but his hand leaves her hair, sliding around to cover her mouth. He continues to lavish attention to her sensitive throat, and her cries escape her, muffled and trapped behind the confines of his hand. Her thighs press together, trying to relieve whatever ache it is that's sprung between them. Her hips writhe on his lap.
It's too much. If he doesn't stop, she might die. She might burn up and pass away and float into nothingness.
Finally, just when she feels herself beginning to disintegrate, he stops. He leans back away from her, putting his arms on the arms of the chair, and leaving her bereft. Confused. Disoriented. Her vision is blurry when her eyelids finally flutter open again.
Kairi looks at him, puzzled.
If that's what it's all supposed to feel like…
…what had she done wrong to deserve to be punished with the pain the guards and the Duke caused her?
"I'm so tired, Sora," she says, her shoulders slumping.
Kairi wishes she could tell him why, but the shame would be too great. No one can know what happened to her in the Red Room. No one can know what the Duke did. Sora already saw too much when he tore his way into the carriage.
No one can know.
"You should take better care of yourself from now on," he says quietly. "Get more sleep. Eat more."
"I know."
"Go now." His hand presses against her back.
Kairi stands up, her legs shaky and weak. She has no idea how something so…simple could make her feel this off-kilter. It's embarrassing. But when she looks down at him, he isn't laughing. His eyes are lidded, drinking in every part of her that he sees, and she doesn't know what to do with that.
"I'll see you later," she says, combing her fingers backward through her tousled hair and she goes to the stairs, trying to lower her body temperature.
"Are you gonna eat?"
"Oh, um. Yes," she says. "You said I should take better care of myself, so I will. I'm gonna eat some lunch and take a nap."
"Good girl."
Kairi trips on the first step and nearly goes sprawling on the carpet. She can't believe he just said that. He just called her…after their conversation…after what he just did to her…what he made her feel…he just says it?
What.
What, what, what.
Why does she feel like her body temperature's just risen thirty-seven hundred degrees?
She scurries away like a coward, brushing past Namine—who's still gabbing with Roxas on her gummi phone—and heading right into the bathroom to take a cool shower and think about her actions.
And Sora's, too.
lawd have mercy