Archive of Our Own

It was nearly impossible for Riku to fall asleep that was until Kairi came to his aid. Early sleeping was a impossible no one would have known it by how fast he dosed off in the smaller girl's arms she put him to sleep like it was nothing.

Were someone to walk in on them the only way to describe them would be two kids at a sleepover, just something about the way his long arms were tossed over her red hair, her wild legs stuck out from the thin blanket snoring made them look childish together.

Riku's sleep was corse you would think being part dream eater would mean Riku himself could not have nightmares being the benevolent one devourer of nightmares he could consume his own bad dreams.

Whoever would think that and they'd be wrong.

When Riku's unconscious thought wasn't inside someone else he would really only have nightmares. Ever once in his life did he remember having a good dream when he was a child sleeping next to Sora and Kairi at a sleepover.

Inside his mind was dark and threatening it made back alley side roads look safe, outside he muffled sluggish incoherent mumbles his mouth wouldn't properly allow him to form the words he wanted to say out loud.

The weight wrapped its arms around Riku settling behind him interlocking its fingers around his chest.

Riku felt it all in his sleep he knew who it was so he didn't feel a need to wake up fully or move. His chance to do something would come when he was awake.

 Riku stayed asleep the entire night long between two bodies one on his front and one on his back. Calm breathing and small sleeping noises circled the room until morning.

It was faded but Riku heard a whine from the person in his back at what he can assume was around some 5 o'clock in the morning. The person in his back was pushing him trying to wake him, Kairi lightly complained.

“Rikuu˜” The familiar voice continued to attack his sleeping drowse shaking his shoulder calling out his name loudly.

“Riku wake up!”

He didn't want to, he groaned his upper lip twitched. “I don't want to…”

“But Riku I'm hungry˜”

He emphasized how Hungry he was tugging the silver haired boy's arm pushing on his back shaking Kairi with him. She groaned but didn't bother waking herself up for this foolishness. Riku couldn't care less about the self-proclaimed overly hungry boy he was tired dang it! Sora would have to wait or get something on his own cause he wasn't getting up right now.

“Well I'm sleepy.” he said, through gritted teeth.

“But, you're awake right now! You're talking to me so wake up and feed me!”

Sora put his back into it this time he pulled Riku onto his back almost falling off the bed. Kairi made angry noises this time sitting up wiping the sleep off her face.

“Sora go get something yourself, leave us alone!” Kairi snapped.

“Yeah, you're the only one who's hungry so go get Lea to make something for you, he's across the room from here.” Riku agreed.

Sora pouted. “Fine” he threw himself off the bed with his elbows stomping out of the room to bother the redhead.

it was silent again, finally Kairi's body dropped onto his side reburying her face into side. He wouldn't get back that peaceful sleep he had but he would get in a few more hours of a replication of it.

 The error of what they've just done didn't hit Kairi until she really thought about what two stupid boys could do in a kitchen without proper guidance.

Kairi groaned craning her neck towards Riku's ear.

“Riku I don't think Axel can cook…”

His tired muscles begain to move his heavy eyelids trying to open.

“God if there's a fire I'm killing both of them.”

He exhaled sitting up turning over to the side of the bed, his foot met the cold wooden floor putting weight onto each leg carrying him outside the jumbled room, In the hallway a tart sting of smoke lingered in the air, in his throat nauseating him. The smell becoming stronger the closer he came into the kitchen.

Coughing thickly Riku tried to block the smoke from entering his mouth with his wrist but the smell tickled his nose causing him to go into a coughing fit again.

“damn it Sora. ” Riku clenched his jaw maneuvering to the source of the smoke Kairi following suit. He staggered into the kitchen to find Lea fanning a smokey stovetop in a fluffy pink robe while Sora who was hugging the pancake mix to his chest saying sorry multiple times non-stop.

“Sora you barely know how to do any normal housework, just...” Riku took pancake mix from Sora fixing it into the bowl to create pancake mix and started pouring the chocolate chips into it. “Let me do it.”

 He didn't trust any of these maniacs near cooking utensils.

Once the pancakes were done everyone including himself had plates full of whipped cream, strawberries, blueberries, and whatever else they saw fit on their stack of fluffy cakes. Riku ran the faucet water over a rag so he could clean up his work space he wasn't a messy cooker or a clean freak but his mother taught him the basics to cleaning up after yourself.

“Hey Riku?” up until now the boy sat silently chewing his lips Riku swat his hand down the boy's face causing him to jump quitting the action immediately after being caught.

“Stop chewing.” Riku warned him.

“Ah, sorry,” Sora wiped his face. “Riku.”

“ you have my attention.”

“I've been doing some self discovery stuff about myself and I wanted to um, tell you about i um, what I found out about myself.”

His eyebrow raised looking at Sora. “Give me a minute”

Riku wiped down the counters and put away the dishes checked in on Kairi in the other room with Lea to make sure this moment was just between the two of them.

“Go on, I'm listening.”

He climbed onto the spot next to Sora shifting on his hands to cross his legs, now that he was comfortable he could listen. 

“Sweet, Okay.” Sora took a deep breath. “I—huh?” He was trying to comfort the nervous boy but maybe he came off as creepy? Riku's hand found itself on Sora's leg startling him.

“Sorry” He removed it but Sora grabbed it back with both hands.

“No! It's fine you can touch me!”

“Okay...” He rested his hand back on Sora heat gradually increasing in his cheeks just from that touch alone.

“Um, what was I saying? Oh yeah! Riku how would you feel if I...If I decided I wanted to wear a dress?” he said, pulling at his kingdom chain around his neck. “Would you still like me?”

Riku was quite surprised at his comment. Of course he would still like Sora, no matter what he wore Sora was still Sora.

“Of course Sora! I don't care what you wear I would always like you.”

“What if i– Started to wore girl clothes? Would you still like me?”

“What? I mean, yes I would still like you but where are you taking this? What's girl clothes? You mean dresses? If you decide to change your wardrobe I couldn't careless Sora I just like you for you, and if that's what makes you happy i would be happy if you wore girl clothes.”

Wait...was Sora trying to tell Riku something? But he was hiding it behind his messages? Was he trying to tell him he something about his sexuality?

“Sora what are you trying to tell me?”

“Riku I don't wanna be a boy.”

Oh....

“You don't? What do you wanna be Sora?”

He leaned in supporting his friend by wrapping a arm around his shoulder rubbing his thumb over it slowly.

“Not a boy or a girl. I wanna be me, not Roxas not whoever else is inside me, I wanna be me.”

“Who is Sora then?”

“Sora is Sora, I don't wanna be labeled I wanna wear pretty stuff sometimes but I also like wearing pants does that make me weird Riku? That I'm a boy and I wanna wear a dress?”

“I told you before Sora.” Riku sat up straight his hair flowing with him. “There is no such thing as Boy clothes and Girl clothes everybody just wears what they want and call themselves what they want, you wanna be Sora then be Sora, Sora.”

Sora looked at Riku for a long time the boy was coming out to him he finally realized it putting the pieces of what was being said in place, it seem to him like Sora was confusing blue and pink to be separate things when infact everything was purple.

“Do you mind calling me They/Them Riku?”

“Sora you are the cutest They/Them I've ever met, I know Roxas is in there so excuse me dude but I have to kiss my significant.”

Sora's lips still had remnants of chocolate on them which was even sweeter than what he was expecting from them to taste like. Riku grunted towering over Sora trying to keep them both from falling off the counter but still kissing them abit roughly as a reward for having the courage to come out to him.

Sora put their hands on Riku's chest pushing him back his heart caught up with him backing off the smaller one. “S–Sorry.”

“No it's okay, I...Thank you Riku.”

This time Sora took initiative but their moves weren't as brash as Riku's. Sora pecked him on the cheek looking shy afterwards as if they had just stole a cookie from a cookie jar.

“Come on Sora I know you can do better than that!”

Sora grabbed him by his hair yanking into a kiss but it failed when their teeth collided causing Sora to freak out, Riku laughed patting their head.

“We don't have to kiss again Sora, it's okay.”

“What?! NO FAIR you were so smooth though! How didya do it?”

Riku started to sweat, his eyes became tiny, he totally didn't practice on his pillow each night when he was with Maleficent as a kid.

“I guess it's just pure skill.” he lied.

Sora pouted puffing out his cheeks, would Riku always be so good at everything all the time?

“Well, I still got something you don't got.”

“Oh? What's that?”

“A boyfriend.” they said with a cheeky grin.

Ahh but that is where Sora was wrong.

“I have you whatever you wanna call yourself you'll always be mine Sora.”