writetomyheart | [TEAM ONE]

Kingdom Hearts, Sora & Vanitas, 800 words~

“With you, I’ll try anything.”

The suggestive leer in Vanitas’ words made Sora scoff, flapping his hand near his ear as if to shoosh off a pesky fly. Not like Vanitas was physically there to be glared at, but he knew the damned shadow could still feel Sora’s irritation.

“Anything except a new body?” Sora asked, grinning as Vanitas’ ire snaked around his spine, the usual mutual physical experience of emotions betraying Vanitas’ response. He heard Vanitas huff, irritated and all amusement gone.

“No.” Vanitas said stoutly, as if he’d long since tired of Sora’s attempts to get him the hell out of his heart and into his own proper body before he’d even started.

“Then that’s not ‘anything,’” Sora shrugged, knowing he was being pedantic but enjoying it nonetheless. It was always refreshing to be as acerbic and sarcastic as he wanted to be. Vanitas certainly enjoyed Sora’s sass more than his kindness, in his own weird way.

“I hate you,” Vanitas said, as if he was stating the weather.

“And you’re a parasite,” Sora responded cheerfully. He finished lacing up his shoes, standing from the low city wall and patting off his pants. The city was big enough that Sora wished he could still scale up the walls like he once could. But, like always, he’d lost all that. Vanitas probably could, but Vanitas would also take his body for a joyride and spend half his munny again, so that wasn’t an option. Seriously, how Vanitas managed to eat that much was beyond him. Sora had a big appetite but holy shit.

“Hey,” Vanitas pestered, and it felt as if he was hovering behind him, hands pressing into Sora’s shoulders as Vanitas leaned over to talk. “Hey, hey.”

“What,” Sora complained, “What now?”

“Lemme out. I want that thing again.” As always, he vaguely alluded to the things he demanded, taking a lordly joy over forcing Sora to indulge him with more attention and questions.

“Want what?” Sora asked half-heartedly, starting down the street towards where he thought they were supposed to go. Sora was normally right in these things, and didn’t falter to doubt himself even though the city was so huge it was overwhelming. Bright televisions cycling through the same preset ads took up most of the building faces, and on the ground floor was a constant flux of people. Initially, Sora had worried he’d garner attention for talking to himself, but he soon realized that in this world, gummiphones were small enough to fit into someone’s ear. Everyone assumed he was just carrying a conversation via phone.

“The… the fruity one. You’ve made it before.”

“Do you know how little that narrows it down?” Sora whined, threading his way through the mass of commuters. Sora couldn’t quite say he liked this world. So many people wore masks and he couldn’t see their faces, and none of them looked at him or would say hi. It was unfriendly, or it felt that way. And Sora was a little lonely.

“I’m right here,” Vanitas insisted loudly, looming oppressively closer. Sora wished for the days when Vanitas had still hidden himself. Now, he took extreme joy in annoying Sora as much as he possibly could.

“You won’t be my friend or leave my heart,” Sora said, rolling his eyes, “besides, it’s different hearing you versus… I don’t know. Touching you. Being able to hug someone.”

Something in Sora’s words struck a hollow chord in Vanitas. He felt the empty hole in his stomach, the sinking sensation of dread and resentment. He grimaced, rubbing at his belly as if he could distract his body from the shared emotions. This was why he couldn’t ever truly hate Vanitas or force him to do what Sora wanted. In the end, he was just too human, too easily wounded. No matter how sharply Vanitas raised his words, or how cruel his words, he couldn’t hide the way he felt from Sora, and vice versa.

The heavy presence at his back lifted, and Sora sighed. Even if he was an annoying pest, he was the only one Sora had. He wished he could turn and hold his hand out to him, tug Vanitas along beside him, but there was no way to do that.

Spying a tasty treat in some of the crowd’s hands, Sora hunted down the source. A crepe would cheer him up, the silly shadow at his feet. It was the least he could do.