Work Text:
Riku stared at Aqua, aghast.
"Status effects have always affected individuals differently," Aqua continued, as if the total meltdown going on wasn't obvious. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was just Riku who felt like he'd been abandoned on the play island in the middle of a hurricane. "You all know this."
It was true. Sora was more susceptible to pollen, given his allergy in general. Vanitas had the annoying advantage of being resistant to almost everything but sleep. Ven and Terra were both easily confused, and Aqua could be stunned more than the rest. Riku for the most part had never really given a thought to what his weakness was.
This, apparently, was it.
"This is unusual," Aqua agreed, probably seeing the incredulous look on Riku's face, "but, like all status effects, I'm sure it'll go away with time."
Glued to his side, Sora shimmied around until he could prop his chin up on Riku's bicep, grinning at him. "Come on, Riku! Don't look like it's the end of the world."
His expressions had always betrayed him, so Riku just groaned and covered his face with his free hand. This was an unmitigated disaster. No, it was just second to the worst thing that had ever happened to him. Despite his emotional reaction, Riku's other hand was still firmly pressing into Sora between his shoulder blades, squeezing him close.
"Please," Riku said, reduced to begging already as he peeked at Aqua through his fingers. "Isn't there anything? Esuna, or something?"
"We already tried that," Sora pointed out, chin digging into Riku's arm. Riku pointedly avoided his determined gaze, even though Sora's arm was snaking around to hook on Riku's.
God, Sora was unbearably hot. He was like a miniature furnace glued to Riku's side, generating endless heat and forcing all of Riku's awareness entirely on his right side where Sora was attached to. The skin between his sleeve and where his glove began felt almost singed by the intensity of Sora's proximity, and he desperately wanted to shove Sora off.
"Anything?" Riku tried, pleading with Aqua. She looked sympathetic, lips pursed as she thought.
"Honestly Riku, it'd probably wear off before I can come up with something," she admitted, gesturing towards the stack of books behind her in the grand library the land of departure hosted. The multi-colored sunlight through the floor to ceiling stained glass windows caught on dust motes, and in the corner of his eye Riku could see the blond hints in Sora's hair illuminated. "But I'll try."
Riku sagged in disappointment.
"Who would've thought," Sora began cheerfully, beaming sunbeams and generally shining in Riku's direction. Wilting, Riku dragged his gaze to finally meet Sora's. Wrapped like an octopus around his arm, Sora minutely bounced in place. "That magnet's your weakness."
"It'll be funny someday," Aqua added, trying to be helpful. Unfortunately, Riku had lost all sense of humor.
He groaned in response.
Aqua's pointed glance at the double doors wasn't any more subtle than Riku's pointed requests for her to Fix This, Please. With a resigned sigh, Riku turned on his heel, pivoting Sora around him as they clumsily tried to walk together — Sora yelped a harried thanks, Aqua! over their shoulders, and Riku remembered his manners only after it was too late to say anything — the problem was, Sora normally walked fast to match Riku's longer gait. They couldn't walk side-by-side, since either Riku stumbled on stunted steps or Sora tripped on trying to keep up.
Once the doors closed behind them, Sora sighed aggressively for the first time since they'd been stuck together. "Come on, Riku. Your legs are too long for me."
"What do you want me to do?" Riku demanded, glaring at nothing in particular. The hall outside the library was far too bright for Riku's sour mood. All the gilded golden crown molding and large open windows on the pristine white hall was enough to make Riku's dark irritation stand out even more. He started down the hall towards his room regardless. "Lose a few inches?"
"Or some." Sora bit out, digging his heels in to force Riku to a halt, startling Riku out of his gloominess. He finally really looked at Sora and found his cheery grin from earlier entirely wiped away. He didn't seem mad or frustrated, but his brows were drawn down and his lips had thinned into a line. "I don't want to keep jumping after you. Piggyback me?"
Riku's usual retort was on the tip of his tongue, but he wasn't in any mood to really drag Sora along either. With a muted sigh, he shifted in place until his back was to Sora, crouching until Sora could hop on his back, arms wrapping around Riku's shoulders with startling familiarity.
It wasn't an unusual pose, really. When they'd been younger, Riku had given Sora any number of piggyback rides. He was always scraping his knees or twinging an ankle, using any excuse possible to hop on Riku's back and chatter in his ear for the entire walk home. The balmy air back home meant Riku's hands would grow sweaty as he readjusted his grip on Sora's legs, and when he finally let Sora off the skin around his neck and shoulders would be uncomfortably sticky. It'd always been mildly annoying, but truthfully Riku had never minded.
Now, Sora's chest felt different along his back. More defined under the thin cotton of his tank, and his arms were stronger, gripping Riku surprisingly firm. Even his thighs squeezing Riku's hips felt different, and Riku prayed to every god he even knew the hint of existing that Sora couldn't see how red his ears were, or feel the furious blush on his nape. Sora's head settled comfortably on the crook of Riku's neck and shoulder, breath cool on his heated skin.
Riku's hands were still sweaty, but for an entirely different reason now, and at least Sora's pants and Riku's gloves could hide it.
The moment Sora clung to him, a niggling sense of unease deep in Riku's gut melted away, and his sigh this time was one of relief. Ever since he'd been hit with that magnet spell, being even a centimeter away from Sora had induced a restless anxiety that made him ill and feel as if he was falling physically apart, like meat off the bone. Sora seemed to feel the same way, given he wouldn't dare to separate from Riku.
He was a weight on Riku's back, but not one that was uncomfortable, so Riku's pace towards his room was steady as ever as he carted Sora along.
Sora, at the very least, didn't seem to have any qualms about the situation. He snuggled in close, lips brushing Riku's neck and making him stiffen, before he forced himself to relax.
An uneasy quiet descended, one Riku was reluctant to break. Everything he did or said felt like it had been dialed up to ten. There was no hiding when Sora couldn't leave his side, could feel every tense muscle and his heartbeat racing in his chest despite the easy pace he was walking at. Any moment now, Sora would put one and one together and come out with the obvious two: Riku was in love with him, had always been in love with him, had never know what it was even like to not be in love with him.
"Riku?" Sora murmured, and Riku bit his lip, breathing going still.
"Yeah?" All his earlier aggravation had simmered into a neutral tone. If there was nothing to do but wait, then at the very least Riku would keep his mouth shut.
"Are you mad at me?"
"What?" Riku demanded. So okay, Sora had never been particularly good at math, but in what world was Riku mad at him? "What makes you think that?"
"Iunno," Sora said defensively before he sagged back down, burying his face in Riku's neck and making him shiver. Sora snuffled, likely because Riku's hair was tickling him, and the soft breath was Riku's undoing. Tan, limber arms squeezed, calloused fingertips dipping under Riku's collar without a thought. It was just the barest hint, Sora probably didn't even know since Riku's shirt was rucked up from Sora's movements, but Riku swallowed hard as skin that was never touched by anyone else was suddenly thoughtlessly, idly caressed. "You're upset."
Licking his lips, Riku tried to focus. "And that makes you think I'm upset at you?"
"What else am I supposed to think?" Sora grumbled, words a vibration along the column of Riku's neck. Riku was very positive he was going to die. "You've been mad ever since we got stuck together. Maybe if it was... Terra or— or, I don't know, Ven you wouldn't be so bothered."
Riku sucked in a breath to sharply correct him, but Sora forged on. "I know I can be annoying sometimes and this probably isn't how you wanted to spend your afternoon, stuck like this because of me again. I'm sorry, Riku."
He would've given anything to look at Sora's face then, but Riku had to settle for squeezing one leg, dropping the other to quickly grasp Sora's arm as reassuringly as he could. "Sora, no I'm not mad at you. It's not your fault, and if I had to pick anyone in all the worlds to be glued to, it'd always be you — even if you're hot as a furnace." Riku squeezed Sora's arm before grabbing his other leg again, hoisting him up where he'd slid down some.
Sora was quiet for a moment. "Really?" He asked, sounding small.
"Of course," Riku grumbled. It was the stupid truth. For all the heart pounding and sweaty palms and endless anxiety that his every thought was on display, Riku would still choose Sora over anyone else.
"Then why are you upset?" Sora demanded.
"It's not an ideal situation," Riku retorted wryly.
"It's more than just that," Sora replied instantly. Damn.
"I don't know, Sora," Riku sighed, and his room was coming up just down the hall. Thankfully, they hadn't passed anyone else. Explaining this would be more annoying than Riku cared to entertain. "I'm just frustrated. Now I'll always have to be careful of magnet spells. If this happened in the middle of a battle, I don't know if I'll be able to fight."
"We could," Sora said confidently, squeezing him so Riku could free a hand and open his door. "Together, we could."
It was the way he said it, like there wasn't a single doubt in his mind. Riku's heart kicked into double-time, touched and flattered at Sora's boundless confidence in them, 'together.' Riku let them in, toeing his shoes off and almost unbalancing as Sora tried to wiggle his off too before giving up and slipping them off for him. Then, because he felt guilty and wanted to somehow fix things, he turned his back to the bed and fell on top of Sora, who groaned and fussed and half-heartedly tried to push Riku off.
"Riku!" Sora whined, hands on his shoulders shoving at him. "You're squishing me."
"Maybe if you weren't five feet tall you could actually push me off," Riku teased, enjoying the way Sora squirmed around.
"I'm five-three and you know it!" Sora's hand slapped around until it found Riku's face, pinching his nose shut.
"Ow," Riku grunted nasally, and Sora snickered into his neck as he proceeded to blow a raspberry there. Ticklish and bucking, Riku flailed hard enough to dislodge Sora's hand, and as payback sank even heavier on Sora. Sora scrambled around, hands fisting in the front of Riku's shirt.
Wore out, Sora groaned and let it go for a minute, and for a while the only sound was their breathing. Riku bit his lips, staring at the ceiling. Their two-paned windows were pushed open, so that the curtains lifted within sight when they caught on a cool breeze. Riku could feel Sora's heartbeat against his back, steady and calm, and his legs had naturally fallen with one between Sora's on the bed.
With his body elevated off the bed courtesy of Sora being under him, Riku's hands fell lower, and he pinched the fabric of Sora's pants between forefinger and thumb, hesitating with his honesty.
"I'm sorry," Riku managed, closing his eyes. "I didn't mean to make you feel like you're annoying. It's not you, cliche as that is. I just..."
"Hate feeling out of control?" Sora offered softly, and Riku nodded. Sora's arms snaked back around Riku's shoulders, crossing over his chest as Sora squeezed him in a hug, heartfelt and snug. Sora wiggled his face in an odd jerky motion before he was able to just barely rest his cheek on Riku's shoulder. "It's okay."
Relief eased all the tension out of Riku and he unintentionally let go entirely — Sora wheezed, slapping Riku's chest. "Okay big guy, now I really can't breathe."
Laughing, Riku rolled off of him and to the side, landing on his back so that their arms were lined up neatly. It felt worse than before, when they'd been almost plastered to each other, and going by Sora's frown, he must've felt the same.
"Sit up against the pillows," Sora demanded, pushing at Riku's waist in a way that made him skittish and recoil in the direction of the headboard. Rolling his eyes, Riku acquiesced, even though it was a very awkward game of touching enough to not feel like throwing up from vertigo as they scooted up. With a very firm shove at Riku's chest, he landed with an oof against the made pillows, and Sora sat between his legs contentedly. When his back hit Riku's chest, he relaxed.
"You could've said please," Riku grumbled, arms naturally coming to wrap around Sora's waist as he slouched in place.
"And you could've said thanks to Aqua," Sora pointed out, digging for his gummiphone. Riku nodded reluctantly in agreement — he had a valid point there. He pulled up one of the countless minigames Chip and Dale had offered. Riku had tried a few of them, but he'd been too busy or distracted to really sit down and devote time to what was essentially a simple game.
He cocked a brow as Sora's high score popped up on the screen. "How much free time do you have?"
"If you turn the volume down low and if Terra's the one teaching, you can totally play during class," Sora bragged.
"Sora!" Riku said. "This is why you always do bad on tests."
"Then maybe you should tutor me sometime," Sora said, wiggling and getting way too comfortable in Riku's embrace as he started the game. "If it's you I'll pay attention."
"Oh?" Riku said, grinning. He reached up to tweak Sora's red ear, chin resting in Sora's hair. Sora shyly giggled but couldn't move away. "And what do I get out of this, oh Grand Seeker?"
"Not a Grand anything yet," Sora grumbled, then spoke louder, nimbly and easily clearing a few levels. "You get the pleasure of my company."
"Ugh, don't say that," Riku wrinkled his nose, and since Sora apparently had no qualms being as comfortable as he pleased, Riku settled one arm across his chest. "You sound like Roxas."
"You make it sound like a bad thing," Sora teased.
"It is."
"I'll tell him you said that."
"Oh no," Riku remarked, dryer than dessert sand and Aqua's sense of humor, "whatever will I do to avoid this?"
"Tutor me!" Sora paused the game and tilted his head suddenly up, and Riku had to lean back to avoid kissing him. Sora grinned, wide and bright eyed. "Sound like a good deal?"
"Perfect," Riku said, sarcastic, and the twinkle in Sora's eyes told him he caught it. Sora rested back against him and Riku naturally dropped his chin back on his head, idly watching Sora clear more and more levels. There was a drowsy sort of quality there, the repetitive music and Sora's steady breathing lulling Riku into comfort.
He didn't notice when the tightly coiled band of magnetic unease finally unraveled, but he sighed with it, squeezing Sora momentarily tighter as he closed his eyes in a meditative state.
If he held Sora too close, he didn't mention it, and Riku didn't either.