Her Big Mouth, His Big Feet

By Fantasy

Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue.

Pairings: More and more and more blatant fangirl hints of Tidus+Riku+Sora

Uber Author's Notes: Hahaha, I've been gone for so long that I forgot that I even existed. Sorry guys, college life really sucks and blows popsicles. But without further adieu…

Summary: In which the building of the raft is commenced, and sand ball fights just aren't what they used to be.

Warnings: Yaoi, slash, whatever you call it. No matter what though, it's always boi-on-boi to me.

Chapter 7: Among Wrenches and Sandballs Fights

It had all started when Riku had asked for the saw.

Tidus was nowhere to be found, and Sora seemed to be missing a part of his brain.

What normal person did not know what a saw looked like? Sometimes, he wondered if Sora put on his 'dumb girl' impersonation to get out of doing work.

"Is this a saw?" Sora asked, holding up a hammer. Riku slapped his own forehead and looked wistfully at the tool in Sora's hands. He wished he could knock himself out with that hammer…or at least knock some sense into Sora.

"No…" he grumbled. Making his way to the toolbox, Riku looked inside to see that the saw was missing. He frowned. "Tidus must've taken it."

There was no response. Riku turned his face sideways to see what Sora was up to when a sandball plowed right into his face and knocked him off balance. It stung, but not as much as it pride did.

Embarrassed, he got up to Sora's laughter, taking up with him a handful of sand. Sora didn't even notice; he was laughing so hard…

Just as riku was about to retaliate, however, another sandball attacked him, this time hitting the back of his head. Rikue landed on his knees. Sora, now paying full attention, went into another peal of laughter, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Sandball fight!" Tidus howled, and he chucked another sandball…this time at Sora. Sora, who was too busy laughing, was hit square his face. His laughter stopped abruptly.

"Hey!" he yelped, his mouth full of sand. Tidus started laughing, pointing at him. Sora, spitting out sand, grabbed another handful of sand and chucked it at Tidus, who didn't even bother to dodge. He fell over, laughing still, and Sora began laughing as well too. What exactly they were laughing about, Riku had no clue.

Unbeknownst to both of them, Riku watched on, not even bothering to retaliate or get revenge. He was hypnotized both their innocence… their ability to appear both cute and sexy at the same time. The sand only made them look even more sexy…and Riku couldn't help but blush as he imagined doing things that involved that chocolate lube Sora was so fond of and Tidus's huge beach blanket…

"Back to work!" Riku yelped, interrupting their laughter as he abruptly stood up and ran back to the place where the rest of the supplies laid. He didn't want them to see his bright red face.

Maybe doing some more work would clear his head of those dirty thoughts…

An hour into his work, all that was on his mind was venturing into the sunset with Sora and Tidus, laughing gaily as their raft floated further and further away from the island…

"Sora….SORA! For the last time, THIS IS NOT AWRENCH!" Annoyed, Riku threw the flathead screwdriver next to the other discarded tools that weren't a wrench. "Try again!"

Embarrassed and blushing, Sora looked at Riku, raising up another tool that was, yet again, not a wrench and waved it side to side. "Is this it?" he hollered.

Riku slapped his forehead while Tidus chuckled helplessly, shaking his head from side to side. Poor Sora. He obviously didn't get the full version of the "Birds and the Bees" speech if he was having trouble picking out the right tools. However, after receiving a quick dark look from Riku, Tidus quickly returned to work, tying up the last of the logs together with thick tweed rope.

Riku sighed. Inwardly, he felt horrible for treating both boys badly. However, between the sweltering heat, Tidus's awkward glances, and Sora's ignorance of every tool known to mankind, Riku was beginning to believe that they'd never get off the island.

Besides, Riku wasn't known for being a patient guy, either.

"No, Sora!" yelled Riku, banging his hand against the raft. "Geez, what kind of man are you, not knowing what a wrench is?!"

Turning redder than ever, Sora's embarrassment became anger. "Does it even matter?! You're building a raft—logs and rope! What do you need a wrench for!?"

Riku froze and blinked as a blush slowly spread across his cheeks. He completely forgot what he had needed the wrench for. With this thought, Riku quickly turned his head and mumbled, "Nevermind."

Feeling victorious, Sora threw all the rest of the tools back in the toolbox. Why there were so many, Sora would never know. All he knew was that tools were stupid, and he had finally one-upped Riku.

The day was finally looking up for Sora.

Closing the toolbox and skipping towards the raft, Sora placed his foot on top of the raft. "So, how's Excalibur coming along?"

"Well, High Wind is coming along fine without you stepping on it," replied Riku, still pink.

"We're actually pretty much done," Tidus piped up, waving a piece of cloth. "All we really have to do is add the flag and we're done!"

Sora found himself saddening at that. Kairi was the one who was supposed to be designing and placing up the flag…however, when they approached the house, her aunt had coldly turned them away, saying that Kairi was feeling more than unwell to see anyone, especially the one who 'broke her poor delicate heart'.

"Don't forget, we also have to get food and fresh water for our adventure…" Riku noted, double the last logs. "Let's see…since Sora hasn't done anything all day but daydream and not find wrenches, how about he get the provisions?"

"I can second that!" Tidus readily agreed, not exactly over the splinters that were still in his hands from cutting up those logs. Sora was supposed to help him, but after Tidus had witnessed how haphazardly Sora was pulling out the saw, Tidus quickly had handed him over to Riku.

"Hey!" Sora pouted. Even though it was true that he really hadn't done anything the entire day, Sora had been hoping to spend more 'best friend alone time' with Riku. Now, it seemed, the only ones who would be getting 'alone time' were Riku and Tidus…

Sora scowled. He didn't like the sound of it. Not one bit. Even if he was Riku's and Tidus's best friend, that didn't mean he had to automatically give up any hope that there was a possibility that either of them liked him…or something like that, right? Riku had kissed him, and Tidus did spend a lot of time with Sora….

Besides, Sora was tired of being left on the backburner. In the end, Sora feared he would end up alone…or even worse, a third wheel.

"That's not fair!" Sora whined. "How about this? A race! The last person to cross the line wins and doesn't have to get the food!" He turned to Riku. "Of course, since you did the most work today, you won't have to participate…it can be just me and Tidus!"

Tidus tried not to frown. There was something a little fishy about this…

"Or, how about this…" Riku countered, holding up a familiar star shaped fruit. Both Sora and Tidus stared at it, memorized. Incredulity was equally present in both their faces. "The winner gets to share a paopu fruit with me!"

"Isn't that a bit…steep?" Tidus wondered aloud. "I mean, isn't that like going from 'Hi nice to meet you,' to 'Hey let's have babies and ruin our lives for the next 18 years!'"

Sora looked at him for a long time before saying "…your mom was the one to give you the birds and bees talk, wasn't she?"

Tidus blushed, but made no sign of explaining himself.

"I guess in a way you're right, Tidus," Riku admitted. A cocky smirk made it's way onto his face. "But I'd think it'd be interesting to see who'd want to be with me that badly!"

Sora's stomach dropped. So…this was Riku's way of finding out who really liked him then…and he wasn't even being sneaky about it! Sora suddenly felt a determination like he had never felt before…he would win this race!

"So how about it?" Riku challenged. "Are you up to it or not?"

"Hell yeah!" Sora whooped. Tidus still looked unsure. Sora turned to him, smile triumphant. "What's wrong, Tidus? Stakes too high? Scared you're gonna lose?"

"At this point, I don't stand a chance against you, Sora," Tidus said quietly, and Sora couldn't help but feel that there was a secret meaning behind that. "So I think this little race has me at a bit of a disadvantage…how about we all share the paopu fruit and you and I can just look for the food and water together?"

Sora stared at him in disbelief. "But wouldn't that be just weird? I mean, the paopu fruit is supposed to be shared with those who are.…" Sora blushed. What was he saying? He had almost admitted his feelings without even saying it! Sora hoped his enthusiasm was being taken as him merely being uber competitive and not…romantic. Otherwise Riku and Tidus would probably just feel uncomfortable and maybe even leave him alone….

Tidus laughed. It sounded forced. It was forced. "No!" he laughed loudly. Sora blushed and Tidus felt terrible for making him feel uncomfortable. It was just that…he didn't want to lose Riku or Sora. This was the only way. Mentally, he apologized and glared at Riku. If he hadn't brought this up in the first place…"Girls just make it sound that way. The paopu fruit is eaten by those who want their lives to be intertwined for the rest of their lives. That means, no matter what world we visit, no matter how far we go, no matter how lost or separated we get…we'll be able to find each other one day."

Sora looked wide-eyed. And then he smiled. So brightly, that both Tidus and Riku smiled as well. Tidus didn't feel as bad anymore. "That's perfect!" he yelled happily. "Then we can all be together forever, and no one has to be left out!"

Tidus blushed as Sora pulled him and Riku in for a hug. It was as if Sora had read his mind…

Riku. Tidus turned to face him, curious. Riku looked happy enough, at least. Maybe, just maybe…he'd be able to worm his way into both their hearts before they realized their own feelings…and there'd be room for Tidus to be loved too.

"Okay, okay," Riku laughed. His voice was so rich and mature…every word he spoke almost made Tidus blush more and more. "So let's split this three ways then…" He broke it, and then again, until there was what looked like three equal pieces. Each one took one piece, and Tidus felt an electric shock of excitement brewing in the bottom of his stomach. He couldn't believe this was happening…

"To discovery!" Riku said, holding his piece of fruit in the air.

"To adventure!" Sora added on, pushing his fruit forward as well.

A feeling so strong it overwhelmed Tidus, and a tear streamed down his cheek as true happiness blossomed inside of him. "To being together, forever!" he yelled.

"Yeah!" Riku and Sora agreed, and together, the trio swallowed their fruit, not bothering to chew, not leaving a single drop of paopu fruit even on their fingertips.

Tidus had never tasted a fruit so sweet.

AN: Once again, so so so so sorry for this being so late. The latest reviews though are what inspired me to write this chapter, so please do review. This is probably my worst piece of work ever written…I didn't even spell check. I'm so depressed T.T.