places to hide / soriku
“Hey,” Terra says, a tall shadow in the doorway.
Riku looks up at him and smiles. He likes Terra. Not just because they shared a moment so poignant that it shaped Riku’s future, but because Terra is a kind, steady presence in his life.
“You okay?” Terra asks.
But most of all, Riku feels like he can let his guard down. He nods, his throat feeling thick with emotion he can’t quite place.
“Yeah,” Riku says.
“Sora was worried about you,” Terra says. “May I?” He gestures to the overturned crate across from the one Riku is sitting on. “He said this is your favorite hiding spot.”
Riku nods and Terra sits down, the door shutting slowly behind him. Once it closes, only the light from underneath cuts through the darkness. It’s enough that they see each other.
“Are you?” Terra asks.
“Huh?” Riku replies.
“Hiding from something?” Terra moves a bit so he’s more comfortable.
From everything, Riku wants to say. From expectations, from my innate drive to keep going and going, a dozen other things and some he would never dare say out loud.
“I asked Sora why he didn’t look for you,” Terra says. “He seems to think you might be mad at him. Another year wasted on me, he said. Did you and Sora argue?”
Riku shakes his head. “No, I just…” he says. “I may have been avoiding him a little.”
Terra lets the words settle in the room for a while. It floats in the air like dust motes, catching whatever light is left in the room.
“I like sitting in dark places, too,” Terra says. “You’d think after years of being trapped in darkness I’d hate it. But it feels… comforting.” He runs his hands over the top of his legs. “Guess I learned to love my chains.”
“I felt like a monster,” Riku says. “Or a Heartless. But now it just feels nice… kinda quiet and almost peaceful. It makes stepping into the light feel even better.”
“Perfect balance,” Terra says. “You’re a wiser man than anyone who ever tried to teach me anything, Riku.”
Riku shifts and smiles. “Except for Aqua and Ven,” he says.
Terra nods. “They’re always my exception to everything,” he says in a fond tone.
Another silence falls.
When Terra chooses to speak again he does so carefully. “I know how you feel,” he says. “About yourself. And Sora.”
Riku’s demeanor changes, his back slightly straighter.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Terra says. “Or admit anything. I’m not going to push you to do anything. But I know you haven’t stood still for a moment since you left your home. I know despite how strong you are and how brave you’ve been, that you’re tired.”
Terra looks away from him, when Riku puts a hand on his own face. “I know you’re frustrated, and that maybe you think you don’t deserve to want the things you do.”
“I just want you to know that you deserve good things,” he says. “You deserve to be a happy young man in the prime of his life. Don’t give up on that.”
Riku inhales sharply, leans back and nods. “I didn’t waste anything,” he says. “Not for him.”
Terra places his hand on Riku’s shoulder and stands. “Tell him that, when you’re ready,” he says. “I think his answer might surprise you.”
Riku looks up at him and looks every bit the young man he is. When he nods again, Terra puts his hand on the door.
“It’s a good hiding spot,” Terra says. “Mind if I borrow it sometimes?”
Riku laughs, a little emotion stuck in the sound. “Sure,” he says. “I don’t mind.”
—-
“Sorry,” Riku says, weeks later. “If you thought I was avoiding you.”
Sora shrugs against his side. He sat down beside Riku when Riku invited him in without asking. Real light doesn’t ask permission, real darkness never pushes back. Perfect balance.
“That’s okay,” Sora says. “My foot’s in a bucket.”
“Your foot is a bucket,” Riku shoots back. It takes a beat, but they both snigger.
The silence between them is so different than the one between Riku and Terra. It’s lighter, and there’s electricity.
“I know sometimes you need some space,” Sora says. “You’ve always been like that. I don’t mind!”
Riku imagines how he couldn’t have fallen for Sora. It seems so impossible.
“You can tell me,” Sora says. “Even if it’s just a ‘I want to be alone now!’ thing. And if I ever do anything, you can tell me. You don’t owe me anything.”
Riku looks at him. His blue eyes, his spiky hair, his eyebrows, one just a little higher than the other. The way his mouth always looks like it wants to smile.
“And you could never be a waste of time,” Riku says. There’s a moment and then relief seems to wash over Sora’s face.
“It’s a good hiding spot,” Sora says, an echo of Terra that makes Riku smile.
When Sora lays his head just ever so slightly on Riku’s shoulder and lays the back of his hand against Riku’s leg. An open invitation to something he’s wanted for as long as he can remember.
Just because Riku reached out a little.
“It really is,” Riku says, lays his head ever so gently on Sora’s.
He reaches his own hand out, farther than he’s ever dared.
In the darkness, he’s no longer afraid.
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Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Characters: Sora, Riku, Kairi, Xion
Rating: E (eventually tbh)
Pairing: Sora/Riku
Words: 4,758
Summary: Sora, a notorious phone-killer, thinks he's messaging his best friend about the plights of having broken yet another phone, but when a handsome man named Riku sends him a response and a selfie telling him he has the wrong number, Sora feels drawn to continue speaking with this gorgeous stranger.
He felt… something akin to an itch, an urge, and it only grew stronger as he chewed his far-too-sugary cereal.
His phone felt heavy in his pocket.
He was thinking of Riku again.
It would totally be weird to message him, Sora thought as he took another bite. He chewed his cereal thoughtfully, probably longer than necessary as he thought the idea over.
Pushing his half-eaten breakfast aside, he pulled out his phone and opened the messages. His heart thrummed loudly in his ears as he hovered over the keyboard with his thumbs. Licking his lips, he gently gnawed his lower lip as he took a shot in the dark.
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