writetomyheart | [TEAM ONE]

Riku/Sora, practice kissing, 1.2k

“Can I help you?” Riku groused into the open line, phone shoved between his ear and shoulder as he finagled with his project. The call was a very welcome distraction from this assignment, and therefore Riku’s strict discipline said to end it as fast as possible.

Of course, the real strict action to take was to not have taken the call in the first place, but…

“Sounds like someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today,” Sora teased. He sounded bored and thoroughly determined to wreck Riku’s current focus. Riku sighed gustily, freezing in place as his project wobbled dangerously.

“Have you even done your project?” Riku demanded, carefully stilling his attempt at a windmill. He didn’t really care about explaining why these glorified fans were great for the environment, but he did care about getting a perfect grade.

Naturally, Sora didn’t. “Uhh, that’s gonna be a ‘no,’” Sora said sheepishly. Rustling came over the line, likely Sora wiggling on his rug. “It’s not due until Friday!”

“And today’s Saturday,” Riku retorted, rolling his eyes, “where are you going to find time to do it between blitzball and swim practice, plus your other homework?”

“Good point,” Sora said way too eagerly, and Riku narrowed his eyes in suspicion. The windmill seemed to agree, if the way its wings sagged sarcastically was any indication. “Come over and help me focus!”

Riku barked a harsh laugh. “You want me to go all the way to your place just to help you do your own damn assignment?”

“Mmm-hm,” Sora hummed, unrepentant and pleased.

Riku considered his shitty windmill, and squinted at the bright sun canting in from his window.

“Why the hell not.”

“You have five minutes to pick an idea,” Riku threatened with his hands on his hips, glaring at Sora, “or I’m leaving.”

“Noooo!” Sora whined, throwing himself as Riku to latch onto his waist. Riku pursed his lips to keep the flush of heat that stroked inside him at bay. “If you leave I’ll die of boredom!”

“I’m not here to keep you entertained,” Riku sniffed, but he kicked Sora’s bedroom door closed behind him with his heel anyway. Sora’s mom was at work despite it being a Saturday, and Sora’s windows were open, letting in the sluggish churn of sea breeze. It was humid and heavy on Riku’s skin and hair, like a particularly gross and sweaty embrace. It wasn’t pleasant whatsoever, and having Sora latched onto him like an octopus wasn’t helping. “Get off me, it’s too hot for that.”

Sora pouted but relented, backing away to sit with a gusty sigh on his bed. He threw himself backwards to starfish. “It’s too hot for homework,” Sora corrected.

Unamused, Riku picked his way over Sora’s mess of a bedroom to look at his desk. The assignment printout was at least there, covered in Sora’s usual distracted scrawl of doodles. There was a stick figure that looked suspiciously a lot like Riku kneeling to someone wearing a crown. Ha ha, Sora.

“Pick,” Riku said shortly, swiveling Sora’s desk chair around to straddle while facing him. He cupped his chin in his hand, elbow on the backrest. “Just think of whatever Aqua’s busy doing at the Center.”

“Oh!” Sora gasped, rocketing forward to sit straight with his eyes bright. “I’ll just ask her!”

Riku smirked, anticipating the inevitable paragraphs chocked full of information he’d be getting from her. She was passionate about her work at the conservation center, and occasionally she snagged Sora and therefore Riku into volunteering when needed. Terra of course was a bygone mention at those events, even though he worked somewhere else on the island. Ven the little sneak managed to get out of it half the time.

“...annnd, done!” Sora dropped his phone, leaning back on his hands. “You’re not leaving right?” Sora asked, worried.

“And walk back home after I just got here in this heat? No shit, I’m staying,” Riku said, just a tad fond. It was cute to know Sora still believed his empty threats so whole-heartedly. He thought they were pretty obvious himself.

They fell into mutual silence for a while, nothing but the rhythmic oscillating fan over head and the distance sea waves filling the silence. Riku never minded the silence with Sora. They spent so many hours staring at sunsets with each other that the comfortable quiet was as familiar as their mutual laughter. He closed his eyes, drifting in meditative thought as they waited for Aqua’s response.

Sora’s voice startled him a moment later. “Hey, Riku?”

“Hm?” Riku said, looking up only to find Sora watching him intensely. Recently, Sora had felt a little distant to Riku. They were both in the swim club, but Blitzball practice took up a lot of Sora’s time, and he’d made more friends than Riku in both sports, plus his original social circle. As a result, he’d fallen a little into the habit of being a class clown, a loud boisterous personality meant to make everyone laugh. It was still Sora, but it wasn’t wholly Riku’s Sora, and he resented the change a little.

He knew it was a bit of a put-on performance, just like Riku’s recalcitrant attitude with everyone else — a side of himself it was easier to show to strangers. But when it was just them alone, Sora dropped the playful facade, becoming more genuine. It made Riku’s heart flutter to know it.

“Have you ever kissed anyone?” Sora asked, blue gaze darting away at the last second.

Riku practically choked on his spit. “What?”

He could see Sora’s ears coloring red. “Have you?” He asked, sounding just a little desperate, as if Riku was embarrassing him instead of the other way around. “Kissed anyone?”

Riku’s mouth worked uselessly for a moment. He nearly lied, the impulsive need to always be ahead of Sora and keep his awed gaze on solely him an ingrained habit, but Sora was staring at his knees now, tanned cheeks betraying the hint of pink there. Riku’s own face felt like it was on fire, but he didn’t want to lie about this, at least not to Sora. “No,” he managed, slightly strangled sounding.

“Oh,” Sora breathed, tense shoulders falling loose. “Oh, me neither.”

Riku was grateful he offered that information without needing to be asked, because it would’ve killed Riku to wonder afterwards. He coughed into his shoulder. “W-why ask?”

“Selphie was telling me about it,” Sora said easily, most of his embarrassment fading now that he knew they were on equal footing. “Mostly about how important first kisses are,” Sora grinned. “I’d never thought about it much before, so I wanted to ask you!”

Familiar pride blossomed in Riku’s chest. Riku had always been the one Sora looked towards, and he didn’t want that to change. Of course, the more people Sora knew, the more he learned without Riku being around to be that guiding figure, but Riku couldn’t help that no matter how much he hated feeling left out.

“Selphie’s head is full of air,” Riku snorted. Still… first kisses. Who would he even want to kiss?

Sora laughed, and Riku looked at him, gaze lingering.

Distracted, Riku barely registered Sora’s next question.

“Do you want to practice kissing with me?”