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Gummiphones are among the greatest inventions in all the worlds, Sora is certain. Anything that allows him the chance to keep up with what his friends are doing, no matter how far apart they are, is indispensable to him. It does, however, also act as a window into all of the fun his faraway friends are having without him, and it makes him restless.
Or as Riku would say, it ignites his wanderlust. That’s a word Sora wouldn’t even know, were it not for Riku, but he knows he’s right, as usual.
Sora still isn’t used to technology, but scrolling through Kingstagram is easy enough even for him, and he’s just as eager to post about his own adventures as he is to check up on those of his friends.
On this scroll session in particular, Sora finds himself leaning his back against Riku’s as they sit on their island, enjoying the breeze and a day of peace as the wind blows their hair and the sun warms their skin. It’s comfortable, but boring. Sora knows Riku would agree, even if he isn’t saying so.
He’s near falling asleep like that, swiping up on his Kingstagram timeline, until he hits a string of posts from his favorite superheroes, right in downtown San Fransokyo. The buildings tower high, but in each picture, the streets are filled with decoration, with stands of food and information and art, and there’s even live music in the background of one of Wasabi’s posts that Sora focuses in on. Sora’s face lights up, and his back straightens off of Riku, his thoughts racing and a smile growing across his face.
“Let me guess,” Riku laughs, and Sora leans back just to feel the vibration of it against his back. “Get the Gummiship?”
Sora cranes his neck back, giving Riku a cheeky grin. “Trust me, you’ll like this one. I’ve actually been dying to take you here!”
“Where?” Riku wonders, reaching for Sora’s phone, but Sora is quick to pull it out of his grip and move up onto his feet.
“You’ll see!” he says, hiding his phone behind his back. “I want to surprise you. So just…” he backs away, taking careful steps backward and keeping his eye on Riku until he’s in place to take off in a run.
“I’m not racing you,” Riku calls after him, but Sora doesn’t flinch.
“That’s a forfeit then!” he retorts, and can only grin with satisfaction when Riku sighs and takes off after him. The head start is enough though, and Sora is victorious, placing his hand on the ship first and mimicking the sound of a roaring audience when Riku follows behind him. “Sora takes the gold!” he cheers himself on, and he’s lost in the moment, only broken from it when Riku places a hand against his back to pass him and get to the driver’s seat first.
Sora’s face is red, and his back feels warmer than the rest of him, and he’s never been more willing to let Riku drive for once.
“I’ll put in the coordinates so we can just put it on auto-pilot,” Sora grins, tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth as he types the numbers in with unnecessarily intentful points of his index fingers. “But you can still pretend to take control if you want.”
“Oh yeah?” Riku chuckles, crossing his arms and leaning back, making himself comfortable in the pilot’s seat with no signs of moving. “And where are you going to sit?”
“Nowhere!” Sora beams without a beat between them, jumping behind Riku and shaking the chair with his hands. “I’m too excited, you’re finally gonna see San-- Uh, this really cool place!”
“Hmm,” Riku hums thoughtfully, and he leans his head back, arms still crossed, with an arched eyebrow as he looks up at him. “And what does this place have to do with me?”
Sora blinks, eyes on Riku’s, and the way his eyelashes flutter as he blinks back just the same. “Your face…” he says without thinking.
“My face?” Riku sits forward, ruining the moment and rubbing his nose and cheek for whatever may be lurking. “What? Did I get it?”
Sora shakes off a feeling he can’t describe from deep within his stomach, and opts for leaning against Riku’s seat from the side instead, so he can make use of the arm rest. “Nothing. Just thinking you deserve some of the face paint they’re passing around.”
“That seems more like your kinda thing,” Riku smirks, nudging Sora’s side with his elbow now that he’s close enough for it.
“Doesn’t mean we can’t share it,” Sora mutters, but it’s loud enough for Riku to hear still, and to Sora’s relief, Riku smiles after they lock eyes and nods along with him. He seems oddly intent on keeping his eyes forward after that, but Sora decides there couldn’t possibly be meaning to that — even if he does feel oddly compelled to do the same.
He spots the skyscrapers before anything, and his heart starts racing as soon as he feels the ship shift to manual, and watches in awe as Riku flawlessly lands it without any signs of hesitation. “Whoa!” bursts from him. “How are you so good at that? Not even any bumps.”
“Practice?” Riku holds his concentration until the ship shuts off, but he does smile, and if Sora’s not imagining it, he’s even turning red. It makes Sora proud of himself for reasons he can’t quite articulate.
Sora’s already bouncing by the door by the time it opens, and he doesn’t wait for Riku to adjust himself, reaching for Riku’s jacket and giving it a yank, dragging him outside and into the city with full force, giving Riku no room to resist or stop until they reach the bridge where Sora had first landed. Once confident in his placement, Sora stands them near the opening of the bridge, with their backs to it, and the city ahead.
Before them, the buildings stand tall, taller than they’ve seen anywhere else, and balloons hover in the air above, bright flashes of color against the blue sky. Music plays not far in the distance, and the streetcar passes with a ring of its bell, something that piques Riku’s interest, and Sora beams with pride watching every flicker of Riku’s eyes, taking everything in, like Sora had the first time he arrived.
“You were the first thing I thought of when I found this place,” Sora explains. “You always liked the busier places in our storybooks. There’s something so cool about it, about how there’s so much going on, but it all comes together. Don’t you think, Riku?” Sora looks over at him, and Riku’s eyes are shining. The sun must be brighter here.
“Look out!” Riku calls, and Sora finally realizes they’ve been holding hands this entire time, a realization that only strikes him when Riku suddenly grips his hand more tightly and pulls him closer and off to the side, away from a motorcyclist that zooms right past them, giving Sora an apologetic look as he passes.
“Whoa, quick reflexes!” Sora laughs, and the warmth he feels in Riku’s arms, albeit unintentionally, overpowers any shock he may have had from the near-accident. A part of him deep down wants to stay right here.
But Riku has other plans, and Sora can’t blame him; he did drag Riku all this way to experience the city, and Sora can’t bring himself to protest when Riku pulls away and heads in the direction of all the commotion. “I’ve never seen so many in one place,” Riku says as the buildings get closer and tower above them, eyes towards their tops, and Sora rests a hand on Riku’s back to guide him as long as he’s going to be so starstruck.
Sora’s taking in the sights too, but only the new ones — there are rainbows everywhere he looks, various patterns mixed in at every stand in the form of flags, pins, jewelry, t-shirts. Even some of the food appears to be dyed appropriately. It’s all so festive, but Sora can’t say he has any idea what it is they’re celebrating. Whatever it is, Sora wants to know more, because the event goers are more affectionate than he’s used to seeing. All over, pairs are allowing themselves to embrace it, groups of all ages and genders hugging and holding hands down the street. Sora’s heart warms.
“Everyone seems so happy here,” Riku says beside him, and Sora’s head snaps to face him, tilting curiously when he notes that Riku’s face shows an abundance of curiosity over all else. He wants to see Riku smile too.
“Yeah…” Sora looks around once more, and carefully takes Riku’s hand in his own, swinging them together. “Heh. Everyone else is doing it,” he shrugs, though Riku’s cheeks flush, Sora doesn’t question it. If he did, he’d have to question why his are too. He’s acutely aware as Riku looks around like he’s waiting for something, but his fears seem silenced when he notices exactly what Sora had. It seems to be the norm here.
“You, uh, hungry?” Riku asks in a low voice, and Sora nods, just happy to have their hands joined without Riku pulling away from him.
Even though it had been Riku’s idea though, it’s Sora who leads, dragging Riku along by his hand to follow the delicious scent of baked goods. His nose leads him to a stand with assorted cookies and cupcakes, all topped with those same color patterns he’s been seeing everywhere. In the back of his mind he remembers some of Donald’s lectures about being careful when addressing the cultures of other worlds, so Sora isn’t certain what kind of alliance he’s taking by choosing the different colors, and leans against Riku with uncertainty. “What should we get?”
Riku doesn’t hesitate. “Two Pride cupcakes,” he requests, and after paying, presents one of the rainbow-frosted cupcakes to Sora. Their hands remain locked together.
“Pride…?” He wonders curiously, but is less hesitant to take a bite out of it. He only needs one hand for that.
Riku points upward, to the banner hanging above them. “San Fransokyo Pride Festival,” he reads aloud. “That’s what all the rainbows are for.”
Sora hadn’t even noticed, or thought to read anything; his eyes have been on the people, watching the way they mingle and enjoy themselves, and he eats his entire cupcake in a few bites, determined to pay more attention to what it is about this place that has everyone in such loving moods. “You’re smart, Riku,” Sora says softly. “So what’s this pride stuff then?”
Riku takes in a breath so tight that Sora can feel it, and his eyes focus on their hands, refusing to part them, even when Riku tenses up and grips Sora just a bit too tightly. It releases when Riku’s breath does, and Sora keeps walking, unperturbed, eyes traveling up from Riku’s hand in his to his strong arms, over his broad shoulders, and to the distress written all over his face. “Pride is…” Riku averts his eyes. “A celebration. Of being proud to be different. For people who...are different. In who they are, or how or who they love.”
Sora nods in thought, but he’d be lying if he claimed to understand completely. A celebration of love is a great idea, but he’s never thought of any love to be different. “Different from what?” he thinks out loud. “And how do you know all this?”
Riku pauses, but Sora doesn’t hang on it, too interested in his answers, hooked on each one of them. “I’m different too,” he says, almost too quiet for Sora to hear, but he does.
“Riku…”
“Hey, Sora!” His attention is called away, to find Hiro coming up behind him with Baymax in tow, and some of his questions are pushed to the back of his mind for the time being.
“Hiro, Baymax!” Sora presses both his hands into fists, holding one out for each of them and following up their fist bumps with a perfectly executed ‘ba-la-la-la-la’ that he still doesn’t understand. “This is my best friend, Riku!” he gestures to him with both hands, and Hiro gives him a half-wave, while Baymax properly scans him.
“Your heart rate is elevated,” Baymax tells him. “Have you considered meditation?”
Riku stutters, turning wide-eyed back to Sora, who puts a hand on his hip and nods. Riku relaxes. “I’m just...excited. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“Riku’s a city boy,” Sora explains with a fond grin. “I’ve been wanting to bring him here ever since we met. We didn’t know anything about this festival.”
“I see,” Hiro knits his eyebrows incredulously. “So you’re not…” He waves his hand, gesturing all around them. “You know?”
“Huh?” Sora looks around, wondering what it is he’s supposed to be seeing. Everyone looks the same, nothing about them giving any indication he’s supposed to see them differently, outside of how happy they all look. That’s normal at a special event, isn’t it? “We’re...not from around here,” he fumbles, keeping Donald’s rules in mind. “I don’t even know what all this stuff means.”
“That’s okay,” Hiro says with earnest, shrugging knowingly and glancing over Sora’s shoulder. “Looks like you’re the only one, though.”
Sora follows his gaze, to see Riku a short distance away at a merchandise booth. Sora’s never thought of Riku as one to wear accessories, but he watches in awe as Riku eagerly buys a pin with the rainbow flag on it and is quick to pin it to his jacket. He jogs back over towards them, and Sora can’t help but reach out and touch it. “This must be important to you,” he notes in a low voice, his words meant only for Riku even with his friends within earshot.
“It is,” Riku says with certainty, and a level of confidence that has him holding his head high and his breath at peace. The positive energy is contagious, and Sora beams when they lock eyes, his hands falling to rest at his side.
“Well, good,” Sora searches for the words, when he’s no closer to understanding. “If it’s important to you, then it’s important to me too.”
Riku’s eyes widen, but he’s smiling. “Really?”
Sora smiles back, and clasps a hand on Riku’s shoulder. “Of course.”
A few seconds too long pass like that, a moment Sora almost loses himself in until Hiro clears his throat rather aggressively and gives Sora a nudge. “You two need some alone time or something?” he teases, and Sora genuinely considers it, but he won’t pass up this chance to explore the event to the fullest.
“Nah, not yet,” he says cluelessly, and excitedly pumps up a fist. “What about you, Hiro? Are you…” he mimics Hiro’s early hand movement. “You know?”
He still doesn’t know what that means. But Hiro does.
“That obvious?” he shrugs shyly, and turns his head to show off his cheek, where he has a different flag displayed — one with a trio of pink, yellow, and blue, plastered onto his cheek with face paint.
“Cool,” Sora fakes, and gives him a thumbs-up. “I kinda want to get my face painted too, but I wouldn’t know which flag I’m supposed to use.”
If his eyes are to be believed, Sora thinks he catches Hiro and Riku exchange an inquisitive look, but as usual, he feels like there’s something he’s missing, like there’s a piece of the puzzle he hasn’t yet found.
“Honey Lemon is doing face paint at a booth further down the street,” Hiro points, eyes looking right into Sora’s almost accusingly. “I’m sure she’d be happy to help you pick one.”
“Oh, cool!” Sora says again, but this time genuinely, and there’s only a hint of shyness when he holds out his hand out towards Riku for him to hold. “What do you say, Riku? Sound fun?”
Riku blinks, and Sora swears he’s about to take his hand when an alarm goes off on Hiro’s phone, and after checking it, he pats Baymax on the arm and climbs onto his back. “Wait until after the parade though. Baymax is going to be one of the floats, so you should watch and check him out.”
“Great,” Riku answers all too abruptly, and offers a quick “We’ll see you there” as he takes Sora’s hand in his own and guides him over to the sidewalk, already looking for a good place to stand where the crowd won’t be blocking his view while still avoiding the front row so as to avoid too much attention.
As far as Sora is concerned, his is all the attention Riku needs anyway, so that’s fine by him, and he’s quick to slide in against Riku’s side, using the crowded street and all the locals filing in as an excuse to get closer to him. Riku doesn’t seem to mind, and that makes Sora feel all the warmer.
The parade starts with a musical artist Sora has never heard of, but the singer has captivated the crowd from the first beat, and all through the street their voices echo, singing along with the lyrics about how love is love, and that love doesn’t always come from where you’re expecting but that the truest love will always be waiting there when you’re ready. The beat is fun, and the message is loving, and the joy spreads through the crowd, including Riku, whose smile grows with each passing lyric.
The singer’s friends throw things from their float, and hands reach up all around them trying to catch the memories in their hands before they move on, and Sora wants in.
“Riku, I might be too short for this,” he complains into his best friend’s ear. “I think I need a lift.” He grins, feeling spoiled, but just as certain he’ll get his way, and Riku doesn’t question it, bending a knee so Sora can climb up onto his shoulders, and Riku holds tight onto his legs once he’s seated.
“Comfy?” Riku chuckles, patting Sora’s thigh and smiling up at him. “I promise I won’t drop you as long as you don’t start kicking!”
Sora sticks out his tongue, but doesn’t disagree, and uses his newfound height to catch what turns out to be a rainbow-beaded necklace around his wrist. “Hey, I got one!” he chirps, but he doesn’t put it around himself, instead placing it around Riku’s neck and admiring the sight of it. “You get cuter with each rainbow,” he teases, and insists he’s imagining how warm Riku’s cheek feels against his calf when he tries to hide his face.
More floats continue to pass, and Sora may not know all of the businesses and organizations present — how could he? — but he knows fun when he sees it, and when a float passes filled with dancers in extravagant outfits and feathers on their heads, he can’t help but point.
“Look at those costumes, Riku!” he shouts, hand in Riku’s hair to keep his balance, which comes in handy when the dancers throw out more necklaces, and Sora catches one right in the palm of his hand. Even he can feel how wide the smile on his face is.
“And you called me cute?” Riku teases, but with what Sora knows is a genuine compliment, and suddenly he turns red in the face, slipping the necklace around his neck and taking the opportunity to cover his cheek with his hand. His heart is racing, only made stronger when Baymax comes floating by, with Hiro riding on his back, both of them in their superhero suits representing Big Hero 6. Sora waves with his whole body, and he can feel Riku gripping him with his whole arms to keep him steady, but Sora has never felt more safe despite the undeniably delicate position.
“I may not really get all this stuff,” Sora admits once Baymax passes overhead. “But I’m having fun.”
“Me too,” Riku pats Sora’s leg in agreement, and looks up at him, offering Sora a gentle smile. “Thanks for bringing me. It means a lot, Sora.”
The warmth inside is growing, and Sora is struck with a desire — no, a need to hold Riku’s hand again. More than that, even. Things Sora can’t even define. All he can do is stare, waiting for something even if he isn’t sure what that is. Suddenly, Riku’s expression changes as he watches the parade, eyes wide but soft, lips parted in surprise, gaze fixated. He’s never seen Riku look like this, so mystified.
Sora feels something similar, when he follows Riku’s eyes to the float passing in front of them, where a man is on one knee in front of another, holding out a ring, and though he can’t hear their words, Sora has seen this before. The crowd cheers uproariously when the men stand together and embrace into a passionate kiss, but Sora and Riku both remain silent, almost still. Sora’s heart stirs, and his lips curve into a smile that overcomes him, but it’s nothing compared to what he sees when he excitedly looks down at his best friend, where Riku is beaming, eyes shining and grin pulling at his cheeks.
Sora knits his eyebrows together and looks up again, back to the joyous men holding each other and enjoying their kiss despite the public setting. Like they’re proud of it.
He looks back to Riku, and Sora feels warm again, reaching levels of understanding of both everything he’s experiencing and Riku’s heart.
“Hey, Riku…” Sora says without looking at him, observing the couple with fondness in his eyes, but a level of curiosity throughout him. “Those two guys are in love, aren’t they?”
Riku looks up with a jerk of his head, caught off guard, and Sora can feel the way his heart rate spikes. But he still answers, “Yeah. Do you...have a problem with that?”
Sora almost laughs, but bites it back, breathing out his nose. “No way, I just…” He cocks his head to the side and kicks his leg absently, surging with a new energy. “I guess I didn’t realize that was something we could do.”
“We?” Riku asks, but Sora doesn’t think much of it, never one to put much thought into his phrasing or harp on it.
Thoughtfully, he leans forward and rests his arm on top of Riku’s head, twirling a lock of his hair teasingly. “Say Riku,” he lays it out. “You fall in love with guys, huh?”
“Huh?” Riku chokes, sounding almost like Sora himself, which would make him laugh were it not for the fact that he also stumbles, and for a few seconds Sora wonders if he’s about to be dropped, but as always, Riku doesn’t fail him, holding steady after getting over the surprise. “How did you…” Riku clenches his fist, something Sora feels directly, as Riku’s hands both still rest on Sora’s legs to hold him there safely. “Yeah. That’s where my heart leads me.”
Sora goes quiet. He might not have the full picture yet, but many of the pieces of the puzzle have fallen into place for him, and there’s a sense of relief that floods through him. “Am I the first person you’ve told?”
“Directly, yeah,” Riku admits, and Sora smirks.
“Okay!” he says brightly, and leans his body back fully, pressing his hands to the sidewalk and flipping his legs over and out of Riku’s grip so his feet land flat on the ground. He’d expect praise, if there weren’t something else on his mind. “Let’s go do that thing,” he suggests, taking hold of Riku’s hand and dragging him along. “You know, the face painting. You can meet more of my friends too.”
“Wh- But I-” Riku protests, but Sora doesn’t give him much of a fighting chance.
“No buts!” he says with his back straight. “I’ll even do it with you.”
That triggers another sound out of Riku, one that’s not by any means a word, but Sora merely chuckles to himself, dragging Riku to the booth where Honey Lemon sits and shoving him right into the seat in front of her, hands clasped on Riku’s shoulders from behind him.
“Sora!” she calls, launching her upper body over the counter of her stand and throwing her arms around Sora in a tight hug. On what seems like instinct, she does the same to Riku, only to pull back when she realizes it’s a stranger. “Who’s this?” she asks.
“My best friend,” Sora sighs, leaning much of his weight on Riku’s shoulders. “This is Riku. He’s cool, right? And he needs one of those flags on his face.” Leaning over him, Sora points to the rainbow flag, that he’s seen all over, and that Riku has pinned to his jacket. “That one. I want one too.” He pulls up a seat next to Riku, their knees bumping against each other, but Sora pays them no mind, finding comfort in the close proximity while he focuses his attention on Honey Lemon.
“Did you two come all this way just for Pride?” she asks with excitement in her voice, picking up her brush and painting across Sora’s cheek. “Not that I’m not happy to see you!”
Sora holds his chin out and upward, his cheek exposed to her, and from this angle he properly takes note of her cheek, where she’s wearing painted symbols of her own — three star shapes, one of each in pink, purple, and blue. Something about the color combination looks nice to him. “I always wanted to show Riku all around San Fransokyo,” he explains, throwing Riku a glance with just his eyes and attempting to smile at him without moving his cheeks. “When I saw everyone having fun in your Kingstagram posts, it just seemed like a good chance.”
“Oh~” Honey Lemon sings, amused. “So it’s just a coincidence? Neither of you are…” She doesn’t wave her hands around like Hiro had, but she looks between Sora and Riku and does a tiny jig in her seat.
“Oh,” Sora freezes, now having at least some more context for what she’s suggesting but hesitating in his answer. “Um-”
“I’m gay,” comes Riku’s voice from over his shoulder, and Sora turns to him, a happy smile taking over his face, and he locks eyes with him, giving him a proud nod before his smile becomes so wide that it closes his eyes.
“Yeah,” he says back to Honey Lemon. “We both are.” he can feel Riku’s eyes on him, but he suddenly feels the slightest bit older, and it confuses him.
“Well, you’re cute together,” Honey Lemon beams, and shifts over towards Riku. “I hope you don’t mind, Sora, but I made yours in the shape of that necklace you’re wearing again — the crown.”
“My crown?” Sora reaches for the hand mirror on the table, admiring her handiwork, when an idea strikes him, and he roughly sets it down. “Oh! Can you put a heart on Riku’s face? That’d be perfect for him.”
“A heart?” Riku questions, skeptical, but Honey Lemon is already yanking him closer, biting her lip in concentration as she works on painting it across his cheek.
“Trust me,” Sora shakes his head. “Have I ever had any bad ideas?”
“Oh, all the time,” Riku teases back, and nudges Sora in the side, but he never drops his smile, and Sora is keeping a very close eye on the red tint in Riku’s cheeks.
Honey Lemon’s phone chirps as she’s almost finished, and instead of completing it, she checks her notifications and promptly stands, pushing the paint brush into Sora’s hands. “Take this!” she instructs. “There’s only a tiny bit left, I’m sure you can take care of it! I’ll be right back!”
She’s gone within seconds, leaving Sora with a job to do, and one he has very little confidence in at that, but painting should be easy enough. “There...are only a couple of colors left,” he offers, agreeable, and uses his feet to turn Riku’s chair towards him. “I promise I’ll be gentle.”
“You better,” Riku jeers, but the expression he wears is soft, his eyes closing when he faces Sora, elbows rested on his knees so he can lean in towards him.
“Right…” Sora agrees dumbly, taking Riku’s bare cheek in hand against his palm for leverage, as he taps in the last of the colors to complete the tip of the heart on his cheek. It’s more difficult than he had imagined; not because of the skill required, though. No, Sora’s struggles lie elsewhere, as the sun shines down and highlights Riku’s skin better than any paint ever could. His eyelashes flutter under his eyes, and his skin feels soft under the pad of Sora’s thumb. He’s always found Riku to be handsome, but in this moment, if pressed for a descriptor, Sora thinks he’d arrive at beautiful .
Over Riku’s shoulder, Sora spies where Honey Lemon ran off to, as she giggles and shares a quick kiss with Gogo where her motorcycle is parked. There’s an orange and pink flag waving from it, and Honey Lemon twirls her finger in it as they flirt away from prying eyes. It feels invasive to watch, so Sora quickly darts his eyes back to what he’s doing, but his heart races when he catches sight of Riku again and finds himself staring, wondering what exactly it is deep inside that makes people want to kiss each other, and what it feels like, and whether or not Riku would kiss him--
Sora plants the last dot of purple at the tip of the heart on Riku’s cheek, and hurries to push onto his feet, chair squeaking against the sidewalk as his legs push it back behind him. “All done!” he says, breathless for some reason, and he mysteriously finds himself averting his eyes when Riku opens his and looks in the mirror, admiring the job Sora did.
“Trusting you never steers me wrong,” Riku jokes, and he looks so happy that Sora can’t take his eyes off of him.
“Hey, Riku?” he requests in a smaller voice than he’s used to using in public, hesitantly reaching out a hand for Riku’s wrist and curling his fingers around it. Riku regards him with intrigue, and his attention is so direct and unwavering that Sora feels embarrassed — more than he has in a long while. “Um…” Words escape him. But it doesn’t matter for long.
“Yo, Sora!” Sora pulls his hand away from Riku like it shouldn’t be there, even though he wasn’t doing anything he doesn’t do normally, and he wipes his sweaty palms on his hands as Wasabi approaches him with Fred in tow. Wasabi’s necklace holds a tiny flag with black, gray, white, and purple on it, and Fred’s beanie is sporting a rainbow patch right across the front.
“We interrupting something?” Fred waggles his eyebrows at them, and Sora shakes his head, nervous to be caught and reacting by his gut instead of his heart. “This the famous Riku we keep hearing about?”
Riku nods and introduces himself to each of them, and though there’s chatter between them, Sora can’t hear it, his heartbeat so loud in his ears that all the noise around him is muffled as if he were underwater. “Sora?”
Riku shakes Sora’s shoulder, and it’s then that he realizes they’ve been calling his name, and Sora does his best to shake it off. “Yeah!” he says cluelessly. “What were you saying?”
Wasabi laughs and lightly punches Sora in the shoulder. “I said, do you want to join us for the fireworks? We’re gonna watch from up top.”
“Oh, yeah!” Sora replies honestly this time, looking up towards Riku and unconsciously reaching out with both hands to grab his arm. “That’s okay with you, right?”
Riku glances between Sora and his chipper friends, and surprisingly doesn’t so much as shift in Sora’s grip. “I wouldn’t be interrupting?”
“Nah!” Fred waves both hands and reaches over to wrap an arm around Riku’s neck, nuzzling his shoulder with a fist. “Any friend of Sora’s is a friend of ours. Besides, I think Hiro’s bringing a date too.”
A...date? This is something Sora considers quietly instead of asking questions. Riku doesn’t react, and Sora suddenly can’t figure out if it’s because it is a date and Sora’s the only one who doesn’t know, or if it’s because Riku doesn’t get bothered by teasing like that.
Funny, he never used to worry about this before.
“We’ll be there,” Sora tells them, without letting go of Riku’s arm, and focuses far too hard on the way Fred throws them both a wink and finger guns as they walk away.
“What was that about?” Riku wonders, hand on his hip and an eyebrow raised. He assumes Sora knows more than he’s letting on, but instead Sora’s wondering if Fred can somehow read his mind, because even he isn’t sure what’s going on.
“It’s nothing,” he shakes it off, and his hand slides back into Riku’s, holding their palms cupped together. “Hey, Riku...is it okay if we walk? Up to the roof, I mean?”
Whatever face Riku makes in response, Sora misses it, too insistent on staring forward as he walks toward the building, and once he has Riku’s agreement, he pushes onward, giving Riku’s hand a squeeze as he leads him inside one of the many tall buildings and making use of the elevator. Inside it, Sora swings their hands gently, amused like it’s the first time they’ve held each other’s so simply like this.
“Not that it’s a bad thing,” Riku starts, voice wavering. “But you’re acting differently today. Everything okay?”
“Am I?” Sora says innocently, and even he doesn’t even know if it’s true or if he’s teasing at this point, and when the doors of the elevator open to the top floor, there’s a skip in Sora’s step as he exits, pulling Riku by both hands out the door and onto the roof.
From up here, they can see the entire city, and miles and miles outside of it. Few of the balloons reach this high, but enough of them to be a reminder of what’s down below, and the live music from the stage is still loud enough to act as the soundtrack to the moment. A soft but joyous pop song underscores the scene as Riku approaches the edge of the roof and looks out over the scenery, and the way the wind blows Riku’s hair out of his face makes Sora’s chest tighten.
“I’m just happy,” he explains, folding both hands behind his neck and crossing one leg over the other in his default pose. “I feel like I learned a lot about your heart today, and mine too.”
“Hmph,” Riku smirks, hand on his hip and reducing the distance between them. “It’s not like I’m that hard to figure out, am I?”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Sora laughs, but it’s an earnest one, and he moves out onto the center of the roof with pep in his step. “Come on, Riku!” he calls, and lets himself get into the music, dancing around without a care. “No one’s watching, I promise!”
“I sure am!” Riku laughs, the hand on his hip turning into two as Riku watches in amused disbelief. And then, in a quieter voice, he confesses, “Anyway, I can’t dance.”
Sora doesn’t stop, but he does dance his way over to Riku and bumps his hip with his own. “Everyone can dance,” he scoffs, and takes both of Riku’s hands in his own, crossing them and twirling them around so they both spin and un-cross their arms. “See?” He loses himself in the music, acting like a fool and not caring one bit, and after a loud groan, Riku finally joins him, following Sora’s moves, hesitant but light on his feet.
Near the end of the song, Riku surprisingly takes the lead and spins Sora under his arm, a move Sora is more than happy to comply to. “You’re the only one who can get me to act like this,” Riku says, exasperated but grinning ear to ear, and Sora would swear he can see a twinkle in his eye.
“Same here,” Sora responds in kind, their hands remaining joined after the spin has completed and the song has ended, eyes locked and a smile exchanged between them.
He feels brave, and once again, Sora tries.
“Hey, Riku…” he starts, and nothing interrupts him but his own thoughts and the way his stomach twists. Riku is giving him his full attention, even when the sun finishes setting behind him and the fireworks soar up into the sky to their side. The lights illuminate Riku’s face, reflecting in his eyes, and Sora has never seen anything so breathtaking.
So much so, that his breath does stop for just one second, and Sora has to take a deep breath, and he boldly threads the fingers of their clasped hands together, bringing himself in one step closer.
“You seem like yourself here, Riku,” his voice softens, unconsciously forcing Riku closer so he can hear him over the fireworks. “When I’m with you I feel most like myself too.” Sora closes his eyes, and his free hand rises to flatten over his heart. “You said you felt different, because of who your heart led you to. But if you’re different then so am I...because our hearts led us to the same place.”
Carrying the warmth of his heart, Sora’s hand reaches for Riku’s free one and laces those fingers together as well, eyes now open and fixed on Riku’s. He gently squeezes both hands and closes the rest of the distance, forcing Riku’s arms around him and wrapping Riku’s torso into a hug.
“I may not know for sure yet what my colors are or what my flag is,” he says, forehead pressed to Riku’s chest. “But I know my heart leads me to you.”
Riku’s chest tightens and he inhales sharply, arms close to shaking as they rest around Sora’s back. “Your heart? Me? You mean…”
“Come on Riku, you’re more eloquent than that,” Sora teases lovingly, leaning his head up to look at him. There’s no fear inside any part of him, not now, but the few seconds of silence feel like hours, and Sora wishes more than ever that he was tall enough to take this into his own hands.
“Eloquence is overrated,” Riku gives in, taking Sora’s face into one of his hands and guiding their faces closer, ghosting a kiss over his lips so delicately Sora almost doesn’t feel it. The electricity is too strong not to though, and it’s Sora who grabs Riku by the collar and finishes the job, much more deliberate in the kiss he initiates from his tip-toes.
The fireworks continue to light up the sky, and their kiss, and Sora would call himself cliche if he cared about that sort of thing, but instead he feels lucky. He feels magnetized, lips refusing to let go when Riku finally does pull away, and they both laugh when they unconsciously suck in their bottom lips.
“Did you plan this?” Riku questions, looking around. “Your friends seem to be missing most of the fireworks.”
“No!” Sora defends, cheeks red for a combination of reasons and his grip around Riku loosening. “I think I just went to the wrong roof… Oops?” He doesn’t look or sound legitimately regretful because he isn’t, and Riku doesn’t appear to be either, more confidence in his kiss with each passing second.
Sliding an arm around Sora’s waist, Riku moves them to the edge of the building, where they both sit and hang their feet off the side of it. They’re facing against the wind, which makes Sora feel safer, but it is colder, and he ends up shivering. It only takes once though, and Riku is already wrapping his jacket around Sora’s shoulders, an action that has him considering that having a bigger boyfriend has plenty of perks. He shifts in place, leaning against Riku’s side and feeling his heart pound happily when Riku then rests his arm around his shoulders.
Sora lets his head fall against Riku’s shoulder, resting his full weight on him while his hands tightly hold onto the jacket he can’t help but cling to. “Hey Riku,” he says for the umpteenth time today. “You love me, don’t you?”
Riku’s heart races next to him, but Sora can see how peaceful Riku looks on the outside, and feel how Riku looks down at him and focuses eyes on him seriously. “Yeah, I do.”
“Good,” Sora smirks, nuzzling in against him. “Me too.”