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Kingdom Hearts: Special Knots, Hospitality
.special knots.
Axel slept in a fire hazard: cluttered fabrics and piled feather pillows. He liked knowing that in the event of a surprise attack while he slept, he could light an inferno the instant his eyes opened, and charbroil his attacker.
He didn't like strangling and nearly choking on that reaction when the surprise attack was from Roxas, and his only greeting or warning a low, "I can't believe it. You really wore it to bed." The blond's weight on the mattress shifted, moving closer.
"I don't have much choice," Axel said, disgruntled. He pulled himself into a sitting position against the headboard, surrounded by pillows. Roxas followed him up. "I can't untie it." And our beloved Superior warned me that if I burned it off before he authorized its removal, the next one would be put somewhere I really wouldn't want to burn.
Suspicious, he asked the approaching blond, "Did you break into my room in the middle of sleeping hours just to see if I was wearing that stupid thing?"
"Maybe."
Axel scowled at him, but the darkness quite ruined the effect. He turned on the lights in the room with a quick twist of will and Roxas blinked at the sudden flood of illumination. He looked smaller without the dark. Axel thought he should probably complain, but he honestly couldn't think of anything to complain about except for the part where now the lights were on and Roxas didn't look inclined to move any closer to him at the moment.
Axel tucked his long limbs into a cross-legged position and the bell tied to the leather strap around his neck jingled irreverently in response to the movement. He warned the blond in the same heartbeat that he smirked, "Don't say anything!" Roxas didn't even comment on the order, but he leaned in and cool fingers coiled around the bell that hung in the hollow of Axel's throat.
Stupid thing. But blue eyes were riveted on him, so he had to take advantage of that fact. The redhead smirked and said, "You seem to like it."
"I think," Roxas said, letting the bell fall and listening to it clink, "that this was the best idea Xemnas has ever had."
"I bet he calls it the Crier of Unintended Observations."
Roxas gave him a dirty look. "Don't ruin it for me." Suddenly he leaned in further and slid an arm over Axel's shoulders in what seemed extremely promising, until he stopped.
"Hey now, Thirteen. You get a bit lonely at night, I guess?" he teased. Then the leather cord loosened. The bell jingled as it dropped half an inch lower, and Axel nearly smacked his head into the wall trying to peer back at Roxas's hand. "You got it?" he asked.
"It's only a knot."
"It isn't-- I'm the only one who can't undo it," Axel realized, annoyed. He was going to have to find a reason to bring lots of noisy bells into Vexen's laboratory on a regular basis for the next few weeks to thank him for conceiving of this undignified 'punishment'. And Demyx for agreeing with it. "Well, whatever. Take it off."
Roxas hovered for a moment, then his lips twitched so slightly, and cruel fingers tightened on the knot again, securing it back in place. Axel swore.
"I like it on," Roxas said, drawing back to take him in. Then the blond was up and stepping swiftly across the room, and he'd vanished out the open window before Axel could muster a suitably indignant response.
Teasing little bastard. Give me fifteen minutes and a broom closet, I'll teach him some new definitions for 'teasing'...
.hospitality.
He didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he turned the corner and saw that The Boy was there and suddenly the air just eased out of his lungs. The Boy was in that indeterminate range of late teens, his legs strong and tanned, his body a graceful arch on the grassy hill and his eyes deep cornflower blue and wholly distracting.
Riku tried to breathe regularly and opened his mouth to call out to The Boy, but suddenly he turned, those distracting eyes focusing on him as surely as if he'd been warned of the taller youth's approach. The natural, wholehearted smile that crossed The Boy's lips threatened his newfound regular breathing.
"Hey," Riku said faintly, at a loss.
"Hey," said The Boy, propping himself up on his elbows. "It's Riku, right?"
"Yeah... but I still don't know your name." Riku settled cross-legged onto the ground nearby, unwilling to go any closer and risk giving himself away. "I forgot to ask."
He'd spent the entire evening pacing his bedroom and cursing himself for a fool. What if The Boy was someone's mother's cousin's nephew and only around for a visit? At least if he had a name there could be some futile efforts to ask around, or even find a phone number -- and then totally make himself look like a stalker, but it might be worth it, all things considered.
Riku had lived through his fair share of crushes and relationships, for a boy of eighteen, but he hadn't ever felt quite like this quite so fast.
"Heh. It's Sora," said The Boy, turning his attention up to the sky. "I thought maybe if I came back here, I'd see you again."
Don't look into that too much, Riku... But he was starting to flush. He rubbed the side of his face with one hand and followed Sora's blue gaze. "Do you... Do you come by here often?"
"Not really, but I might stop by more often now, I think. It's so nice here, and nobody ever comes running from..." The brunet grimaced.
Riku did also. Perfect way to make a great impression. "What, the psychiatric hospital?" Sora's nod made him sigh. "Sorry if anyone from there has bothered you..."
Sora raised eyebrows eloquently. "Why are you sorry? It's not your fault, right?"
"My dad owns that old place, he's one of the head doctors there..."
"Seriously?" The shorter boy laughed. "Well, that still wouldn't make it your fault."
"Maybe not, but..." Riku threaded back his silver hair, impatient. It was such an embarrassment, to be affiliated with that place. Everyone there was a headcase (like poor Mulan) or a behavior case (like Axel). He brushed it off, saying, "You don't... know anyone who belongs there, do you?"
Sora rolled onto his stomach and nodded, propping his head up on one hand. "A friend of mine," he said cheerfully. "His name is Roxas. He's got behavior problems." The brunet smirked in the general direction of the hospital.
Stupid to be jealous, Roxas could be anyone, could be the old man everyone always played chess with... Although Riku frowned. One of the doctors had mentioned a Roxas to him recently.
"If I see him, I'll say hi," he promised, and was startled when Sora burst out laughing. The sound was carrying and sweet, like the butterflies in his stomach from hearing it.
"You won't see him," Sora said, still smiling. "No one can see him except me."
Riku stared. The brunet shoved himself to his feet suddenly, brushing off khaki slacks and observing, "It's almost time to go back in, and they get really fussy if I don't take my pills on time. Well... I guess you'd know that, right?" He grinned at Riku, unashamed, and called, "Maybe I'll see you again sometime!" as he took off at a jog for the hospital.
Riku braided a few spare strands of grass together until his clumsy fingers couldn't work them anymore, and then he tore it to pieces and sighed. Of course. The transfer case, they called him, the one who got tossed from hospital to hospital, the one who refused to admit his imaginary friend who received all the blame for Sora's misbehavior was only a way to cope with misdirected impulses...
Now I feel like a total pervert, the silver-haired boy thought, but somehow when he closed his eyes he could still see that lean form reclining in the sun...
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*dies*
And for two? I LOVE YOU. *huggles*
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♥ *hugs back* Glad you liked~
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The second one just makes me very sad. In a kind of aching sort of way.
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The second one is actually the first of the Institution Thirteen longer story, still continuing. It's fun and fluffy and not sad (~yet) overall, but I'm glad it touched you. ♥