[team one] luck hidden in a waffle

[green-eggs101.livejournal.com]

~2280 words, g-rated soriku. Continuation of my coffeeshop not!au... where they once again leave the coffeeshop portion of this coffee shop fic. But atleast there's amusement park rides. 

“It takes forever to get to the weekend,” Sora complained as he poured another macchiato togo order. “And Wednesdays are the worst.”

“What weekend?” his coworker snorted with laughter. “You work Saturday, and I work Sunday.”

“It’s still weekend vibes,” Sora insisted. “You know, with late night movies, and farmers markets, and—”

“And date night with Mr. R?” his coworker teased. “Oh, sorry, i mean Riku?”

Sora felt his face grow hot as he started on yet another macchiato. Why was the drink so popular? “Okay, yeah, that too.”

“Where’s he taking you this time on his fancy motorbike?”

“Ah well… I asked if he’d take me to that market over on 13th? I want to sort of make him dinner?”

“Sort of?”

“Well… make him dinner.” Sora felt his face grow even hotter. “You know. Woo him a bit.”

“Pretty sure all you’d have to do is smile is his general direction and he’d be wooed.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Oh I am definitely wooed.”

“Riku!”

Sora turned to the counter with that exact smile and saw for himself how Riku’s eyes softened. Then he felt his own heart stutter. So maybe Riku wasn’t the only one wooed. “What can I get you?”

Riku grinned. “Surprise me?” he handed over a bill that was more than enough to cover even their most expensive drink. Not for the first time, Sora wondered what Riku even did for a living while he was… here.

Sometimes Sora forgot that Riku— and himself— were from another world entirely.

“So a unicorn frappe then?” Sora teased. Riku stuck his tongue out in response.

“Okay so maybe I have limitations on that surprise.”

“Aww, come on.”

“You two gonna flirt all day?”

Sora grinned at his co coworker’s tease, and obligingly started on Riku’s drink, going for a chai latte this time. He heard the door to the kitchens slam open as his coworker went to go check inventory, or whatever they did when they wanted to give Sora and Riku a moment alone.

“So… i saw this advertisement,” Riku started, finding the marble countertop very interesting. “About an amusement park a little on the outskirts of the city. Wanna go there this weekend?”

“An amusement park?” Sora raised an eyebrow. “Like, with rides and stuff?”

“Yeah?” Riku shrugged. “Thought it looked like fun. You wanna go? Saturday after you get off of work? I know we probably won’t be able to try everything but—”

“Yes!” Sora agreed eagerly. “But only if you let me make you dinner on Sunday.”

“Sounds like a deal.” Riku nodded.

Sora’s smile felt permanent now. The weekend really couldn’t come fast enough!

But, slowly and surely, Saturday did come, with his morning shift dragging more than usual. But the clock soon struck 1pm and Sora practically ripped off his apron, flinging onto the hook with the others and waving at his coworkers. Riku was already waiting outside, moterbike at the ready.

Sora eagerly hopped on, hugging Riku from behind. “You know where youre going?”

“I have an innate sense of direction,” Riku said. “Plus I bought a map.”

Sora’s laugh echoed as they made their way to the outskirts of the city, the normally 40 minute ride from Shinjuku to Urayasu seeming to take no time at all.

“How are you gonna pay to park the moterbike?” Sora wondered as they got off the motorbike in an alleyway next to the park.

“What moterbike?” Riku smirked, checking one last time for pedestrians, before snapping his fingers. Instantly, the motorbike vanished, replaced with Riku’s keyblade that hovered in his hand for a moment before that vanished too.

“Huh,” Sora grinned. “Neat trick.”

“Thanks,” Riku held his arm out, which Sora eagerly took. “Now. Ready for some fun?”

“You bet!”

They explored Fantasyland first, just taking in the sights at first before Sora bought Riku a pack of green alien dumplings and himself a waffle in the shape of the park’s mascot.

“Oh look!” Sora grinned as he held up his treat. “A lucky emblem!”

Riku stared for such a long moment that Sora wasn’t sure if he had said something wrong. Then he remembered what he had said and he nervously rubbed the back of his head.

“Sorry… I’m not sure why… I said that?” It just seemed so natural. This shape… it felt lucky somehow.

Riku stared for a moment longer before his face broke out in a fond smile that calmed all of Sora’s nerves. “It certainly seems lucky. I wonder if we’ll find more.”

Sora hummed around a bite of waffle and took Riku’s hand, holding it tight as they explored some more.

There was some kind of meet and greet with the park’s mascot, though the character seemed to freak Riku out a bit as he stared. Sora waved a hand in front of Riku’s eyes. “Yo, you okay there?”

Riku shook his head. “It’s so strange seeing him so… tall?”

Sora hummed looking back at the character. He supposed it was a bit weird to see a mouse so… big. But still, it was a cartoon character, so maybe Riku was used to seeing him on TV or something.

Sora grabbed Riku’s hand again, dragging him away from the masked figure. “It’s alright. They’re just people in suits right? Nothing to be scared of or something.”

“Not scared,” Riku insisted, though his eyes were still a bit weary.

Sora distracted him with a side of the park that seemed to have a futuristic theme. It certainly dragged Riku out of whatever headspace he had been in, and they eagerly explored the space and science fiction themed area. Riku stared so long at the advertisement for one ride, that Sora insisted they try it. The wait for Space Mountain was definitely worth it though, if Riku’s flushed cheeks and joyful laugh was anything to go back as they whizzed by glow in the dark planets and stars.

As they exited, Sora caught sight of a young kid wearing a pirate hat and he quickly ran over to ask him where he got it. The kid’s parents pointed to an area to the otherside of the World Bazaar, and Sora dragged Riku over.

“I didn’t even know they had pirates here!” Sora cheered as they found the shop the parent had described. “Oh good they even have adult sizes.”

“Hmm, not sure if you qualify as an adult.” Riku teased, placing one of the hats on Sora’s head. “Suits you though.”

Sora grinned, grabbing a bandana that had two of the mouse ears sticking out, placing it on Riku’s head. “There! Now you’re my first mate!”

Riku’s eyes nearly rolled up into the back of his head as he tried to catch site of the bandana but obligingly paid for the hats. The cashier asked if they were going to go on the ride next.

“There’s a pirate ride too?!” Sora grabbed Riku’s hand. “I know where we’re going next!!”

The cashier laughed at their antics, Riku waving as Sora practically dragged him to the door.

The ride ended up being another dark ride, but this time on a boat. Sora hummed along witht he theme song, the words coming to his head almost as if he had already known them.

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirates life for me…”

Even though it was dark, Riku’s eyes seemed to glow in the dim light, another one of those stares that Sora was starting to realize meant that he was doing something or saying something that tied back to this other world.

Did they have this ride in his world too? Or did they have pirates in this other world? That would be even cooler.

By the time they exited the ride, it was starting to grow dark, an orange twilight now filling the sky.

“Wow,” Riku gasped, “Look at the sight of that!”

Sora turned, the sun getting into his eyes for just a moment and he squinted, looking at where Riku was pointing.

It was the castle at the center of the park, the stones turned pink in the sunset, the blue roof near glowing. It was beautiful.

And somehow so, so familiar.

Sora stared up at the castle for a long, long moment, something itching at the back of his head. A feeling, a moment, a—

But then a child screamed in delight, startling him. And the feeling left.

Riku was staring at him again, his eyes focused, and Sora got the feeling that the castle was supposed to make him recall something. But when Sora next looked at it, the feeling wasn’t there. It was just a theme park attraction— a pretty one, to be sure, but nothing that reminded him of anything.

“Sorry,” Sora mumbled.

Instantly, Riku was at his side, tiling Sora’s head up to stare into blue-green eyes. “Why are you sorry?”

“Cause… I’m getting the feeling that this park was supposed to remind me of something, but—” Sora cut off with a shrug.

He felt Riku’s strong arms encircle him, and a gently kiss was placed on his forehead, just under his pirate hat.

“Not at all. I just wanted you to have a nice time. Especially with all the monsters around lately, I wanted you to have some fun.”

“I have had fun today!” Sora insisted, raising his arms to hug Riku back. “But I just… this place… it feels familiar and not. You know?”

Riku hummed turning to stare at the masked figures of yet another meet and greet, these characters dressed as a duck and some sort of dog. “You have no idea.”

Sora giggled, pulling back just enough to peck Riku on the cheek. “You keep saying that the memories will come when they’re meant to. Until then, we have each other, right?”

Riku let out a sigh, almost too quiet for Sora to hear. “Right. Always.” he leaned into capture Sora’s lips in a chaste kiss before pulling away. “How about that haunted mansion ride next? Then it might be dark enough for fireworks!”

“I can’t wait!!”

—

Hours later, Riku pulled his motorbike up to Sora’s apartment building, the brunet half asleep at his back. Laughing, Riku half pulled- half carried Sora up to the elevator, and punched in the correct floor number. The elevator dinged open, and Riku carried Sora down the hallway, knocking quietly at the apartment door.

Strelitzia opened it, a small smile on her face. “How’d it go?”

“We had a good time.” Riku said, carrying an now sleeping Sora to his room, tucking him into his bed like he had done so many times before when they were younger.

“And… the other thing?”

Riku turned back to the girl, eyebrow raised. They never really had a chance to speak without Sora present, and he wondered just how much the girl knew.

“It didn’t.. Spark anything. There was a moment where I thought it might but— those memories are locked up tight.”

Streltizia sighed. “I thought so. When he told me where you guys were going, i had hoped, but—”

“Me too.” Riku admitted. “But… looks like we’ll have to do this the long way around. No shortcuts.”

“I have faith,” Strelitzia said.

Riku smiled wanely, and leaned in to kiss Sora’s forehead goodnight. “I’ll see you tomorrow, sleepyhead.”

Strelitzia grinned. “You can always stay, you know. We have a couch.”

“Yeah but…” Riku’s fist clenched. “The heartless tend to come out at night more. I need to see where they’re coming from.”

“Right…” Strelitzia raised her own hand, calling forth her keyblade. It wavered in existence for a moment before evaporating. “I wish I could help.”

“You’re doing a great job keeping him safe.” Riku assured her. “I’ll keep the rest of the city safe.”

“It’s a big job. You can’t do it all by yourself forever.”

Riku nodded in agreement but didn’t say more. What else was there to say?

He left the apartment building a mix of emotions, summoning his keyblade only because it made him feel a bit more asure of himself.

“Nice trick with the amusement park.”

Riku startled, but tried not to show it. Instead he glared upwards, towards the source of the voice. “Not a trick. Just… a distraction.”

“Riiight.”

A shadow dropped down, a figure stepping into the flickering light of a streetlamp. “Sure, was. Could almost count as cheating.”

Riku gripped his keyblade tightly. “Could. But it won’t. You didn’t say I couldn’t use things found in this world to try to jiggle a memory loose.”

“Hmm true. You are smart at finding those loopholes.” The figure crossed his arms. “Really should have accounted for that. Oh well. Didn’t do much, did it?”

Gritting his teeth, Riku didn’t answer. He was so close, he knew it! The castle had definitely sparked something. As did the pirate ride. And the lucky emblem waffle. The memories were there, just below the surface, but locked away.

“I told you. Wasn’t gonna be easy. And you can’t force it. That would—”

“I know.” Riku huffed. “It would reset everything. And I’d lose him again.”

“This time forever.” The figure’s voice was absolute.

Riku glared at the guy before nodding in understanding. These memories couldn’t be forced out. They weren’t something he could unlock with his keyblade. Sora would have to remember them on his own, slowly.

One spark at a time.

The figure nodded back solemnly before stepping back into the shadows once more.

Riku wasn’t sure if Sora’s memory loss was the robed figure’s doing, or if the guy was actually trying to help.

Like so many other things, the truth was probably somewhere in the middle.

next up is knittenkitten with "Like so many other things, the truth was probably somewhere in the middle."