happy birthday to my lovely friend, who not only is an amazing young writer, but a very dear friend. who i love to plot with. oh yes, we tend to plot a lot. so she deserves this long oneshot as a birthday gift. considering her birthday is the tenth... this is an early gift. oh well. (you better like it, too) well, anyone who reads, leave a review with feedback and stuff!
CHARISMA
Charisma (noun)
1. personal magnetism
the ability to inspire enthusiasm, interest, or affection in others by means of personal charm or influence
2. divine gift
A gift or power believed to be divinely bestowed.
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Charisma. With charisma you could basically get anywhere in life. You could get your dream job and make a myriad of money. You could charm anyone who came your way and thus easily find your soul-mate. You could make a plethora of loyal friends. Basically, you could have an amazing life as long as you had charisma. Of course, sometimes you needed just a dashing of luck.
Sora Kayaki was the luckiest teenager in the entire world, by far. At the ripe age of nineteen, Sora had acquired a massive penthouse, an amazing job, a colorful array of friends, and more cash than he could ever think of spending. Sure, he was spoiled, but he never thought of it like that. Sora just considered himself to be extremely lucky to have such a blessed life. The brunet had grown up in the fray and was used to the onslaught of cash and 'the good life'. His older brother, Cloud, had attributed to his success.
The one thing missing in Sora's life was a love interest but the brunet figured that he could find someone special in his later years. Right now Sora was caught in the rush of his 'best years'. With luck and a wondrous family what could possibly go wrong for the rich, kind, and downright shy Sora Kayaki? The first lesson in life… never, ever wonder what could wrong, because everything that could possibly go wrong will. After all, fate conquered luck. Every time.
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Am I loud and clear or am I breaking up?
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Sora rushed through the crowd of people he barely even knew. The brunet attempted to make his way to the bathroom, feeling sick from all the alcohol he had just consumed. Cloud had warned him not to drink so much, but as always, Sora never listened. Sure, the brunet respected his older brother, but Sora was more of a 'learn hands on' person. And now that he realized how bad it felt to be drunk, he was learning his lesson. However, at this precise moment, all Sora desired was a bathroom and quickly.
Somehow Sora had been persuaded to take part in a drinking contest with his close friend, Tidus. Tidus had challenged Sora, claiming that he doubted the brunet could down even a glass without falling off his stool. That was how it started. Now six glasses later Sora was beginning to regret competing. How could he be so damn foolish? The light brunet hurried through the thick crowd of people in hopes of making it to the bathroom before he emptied his stomach right on the club floor.
Sora hugged his arms to his body as he pushed his way into the bathroom. The bathroom reeked of alcohol and soap. The brunet's mind was far too fuzzy to even care about the stench. Quickly, Sora scampered his way over to the sink, knowing that anywhere else was out of the question. Within seconds, Sora had begun to heave, his stomach hurting from the pressure being forced on it; not the mention the stinging feeling in his throat as his hands weakly held the side of the sink.
"Are you okay?" came a quiet question.
Sora swiveled his heavy head to the side, staring dully at the man beside him. Cloudy, drunken blue eyes met equally intoxicated aquamarine. However, the man beside Sora seemed to be fairing a lot better in his drunken state than Sora was. Then again, anyone was doing better than Sora at this moment. Sora blinked a few times before murmuring, "Fine." And, as cliché as it sounded, he hiccupped.
"No, you're sick," remarked the taller of the pair, kneeling beside Sora. By now Sora had collapsed onto his knees, his hands still gripping the sink as his knuckles turned white. Heavy blue eyes shut, his body trembling. God, was it possible to feel even sicker than he was?
"Too… much to drink," Sora explained, trying his best not to fall asleep. Weakly, Sora pried his eyes open and smiled optimistically at the stranger. "First time drinking," Sora elucidated to the best of his abilities. There was the occasional stammer and slur but for being drunk Sora was doing quite well.
"I can tell," laughed the other man, offering a gorgeous smile. "The more times you drink the easier it is to remain on your feet when you're drunk," informed the man. "Believe it or not, I'm knocked off my ass right now. Amazing, huh?"
Sora laughed softly at this, his head hurting a bit. No matter how hard he tried, Sora couldn't make out the male's features. No. This man was just like the others he had been dancing with earlier. Usually Sora was reserved, quiet, and incredibly shy, but with alcohol in his veins, the brunet had become the star of the dance floor. Sora couldn't count how many lips he had kissed over the course of the night. Hell, he might have even kissed Kairi and Tidus once. Sora mentally groaned at that idea. "You're funny," Sora murmured, his hands slipping off the sink.
"I'm much more intelligent sober," the stranger reassured Sora, chortling. Silence fell between the pair as the loud bass of the music in the club entered the bathroom, thumping in their hearts. Not as loudly as before, of course. "You want me to help you clean up?" offered the friendly, drunken stranger.
"You don't have to," Sora answered, shaking his head. All Sora wanted was to go home, and that would involve finding the sober Kairi and begging her for a ride back to his house where he would be ridiculed by Cloud for not taking the limo and for drinking. Wonderful. "I'll be fine."
"I insist," persisted the stranger. Without another word from either party, the kind man had snagged a few paper towels and dampened them in a clean sink. Carefully, the taller man turned on the sink above Sora, figuring that it'd be polite to allow the hot water to clean it. The beautiful stranger kneeled back down, gracefully, in front of Sora and ran the damp towel along the brunet's jawbone. "You're a wreck," he chuckled.
"Thanks," Sora groaned and lightly leaned into the warm touch, loving the clean feeling he was getting. "You're awfully kind," Sora said quietly, his head throbbing already. Tomorrow was going to be a painful morning, he just knew it.
"Thank you," answered the stranger as he led his dexterous fingers along the contours of Sora's face. "And I'm sure you're even more beautiful when you're clean," commented the man with a chuckle. His voice was calming and almost alluring. If Sora was in his right mind he would have mentally noted this but instead…
"I like your voice," Sora complimented stupidly, a goofy smile etching onto his face. "It's nice."
"Thanks," chuckled the stranger, lamely abandoning the towel. Now, his fingers ran along the cleaned brunet's face, as if to memorize it. "I was right, you are beautiful."
"Oh, and you're smooth, too," Sora giggled, openly leaning into the touch once more. The brunet's eyes slid closed pleasantly, a wave of warmth shooting through his numbing body. Now he really didn't want to go home. "Perhaps this is a dream?"
"It could be," the stranger answered with a genuine laugh in his drunken state. "If it is, then I must have had something really good to eat to think up someone as gorgeous as you," the stranger said quietly, his aquamarine eyes softening at the sight of the brunet. "You're like an angel. An angel who stumbled off his cloud due to the lure of alcohol."
"Now you're a poet? That's nice," Sora answered in a quiet tone. "I like poets. They're sensitive and nice." Sora's vocabulary had decreased significantly. Oh well. It wasn't like either of them would remember this come tomorrow. Only the fuzzy details, not word for word or the details of the other's face. Of the other's voice.
"I take it you like nice things?" the stranger guessed, his hand gingerly cupping Sora's warm cheek. Sora nodded and then offered a drunken smile towards the stranger. "Funny. I had to meet someone like you when I'm drunk. That's wonderful."
"Well then," Sora almost purred, arching his neck and impulsively nuzzled his cheek into the male's hand. Affection. He liked that. "What's your name, my savoir?" Sora requested, his eyes flickering open once again. It was hard to even remember when he had closed them. Yeah, he was never going to become intoxicated again. It wasn't worth it.
"It's Riku," the male answered, his silver hair blending in with the grey tile behind him in Sora's vision. All he could see were beautiful green eyes that had shimmers of blue. "And what's yours, my drunken angel?"
"Uh…" Sora was having difficulties remembering his name. That was great. "I kind of forgot," Sora admitted sheepishly, scorching a dark red in embarrassment. Even drunk he knew what embarrassment was, yet he didn't recall his name. That probably looked horrible in Riku's eyes.
Riku chuckled at this. "Forgot your own name? Wow, you really are drunk," the silver haired male laughed and brushed Sora's bangs out of his eyes. "All right then, I suppose I'll just have to force myself to remember your face." Neither was thinking enough to ask for one another's number so that they could keep in contact and meet again, this time sober.
"Thanks again for… cleaning me up. You're nice," Sora repeated, the adjective becoming his new favorite word in his drunken stupor. "Riku, right?"
"Riku," Riku repeated, nodding as his hands softly cupped both of Sora's cheeks. The smell of alcohol mingled with the stench of vomit but the prior of the pair was more prominent. It was apparent that the brunet hadn't had dinner before coming to the club. "How about I leave you something to remember me by?"
Sora blushed, easily bending his body forward so that only centimeters separated their lips. "Riku," Sora murmured repetitively. "Riku," he said for the third time as their lips met, the taste of alcohol slipping onto both of their lips. The brunet's mind shut off as he allowed his body to melt into the stranger's, the headache suddenly seeming so insignificant. This had to be the twentieth kiss tonight and yet it seemed like the first. Excitement coursed through Sora's alcohol-drenched blood as their lips separated. "Riku," Sora whispered, blue eyes lazily staring at the man before him.
The pair was about to kiss again when the bathroom door was flung open in a slam. Riku lunged backwards in stun, away from the brunet out of instinct. Sora's eyes widened as he drowsily tried to see who had entered the bathroom and interrupted his pleasant kiss.
Standing in the doorway was none other than Kairi. How she had managed to get into the men's room, no one knew. "Get off my best friend, you freaking drunken pedophile!" Kairi shouted vengefully as she whacked the silver haired male upside the head.
"Kairi?" Sora asked dully, tilting his head to the side as a sleepy feeling suddenly became apparent. "Is that you?" he asked stupidly.
"I'm not a pedophile! I was helping him clean up!" Riku shouted, raising his hands to cover his head, as if afraid that he'd be stricken again. "Geez, I was just trying to help the guy!"
"Yeah well, our definitions of clean up are completely different, mister," Kairi snapped and promptly marched over to Sora. At once, she grabbed him by the collar and began to drag the brunet out of the bathroom, barely allowing time for Sora to stand. As Kairi dragged Sora out, Riku's eyes set upon his through the bathroom, at once imprinting on his soul.
A change had occurred in Sora but he was far too drunk to even notice. Or too care. All the brunet cared about was the beautiful savior that he saved him from his drunken state. Yes. Even though he wouldn't remember him, he was thankful. So thankful.
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Am I still your charm or am I just bad luck?
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"Uncle Riku," sang a cheerful voice. The female began to shake the sleeping male with growing anticipation. "It's lunchtime! Come on! Wake up you sleepyhead," she groaned, her lips curling up into an amused look as she continued to shake the slumbering man who was passed out on his bed. After a few more failed attempts, the child sighed and crossed her arms to her chest. She appeared to be no older than nine. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail as her bright blue eyes stared down at her Uncle with rising anxiety.
"Huh?" Riku mumbled, hugging his pillow tighter as his cheek nuzzled against it. The silver haired male had a slight headache, but it wasn't anything too bad. Which was weird. Usually Riku suffered from horrible headaches and hangovers. Wow. How lucky…
"It's noon," his niece declared as she began to poke his shoulder. "Dad dropped me off an hour ago. I thought that I would let you sleep for an extra hour because you looked really tired, but now it's noon!" she commented, nodding her head eagerly.
"I'm sorry," Riku apologized, sea-green eyes opening as he glanced over his shoulder to stare at the brunette. "I had a long night last night. I'm sorry, Olette," he apologized full-hearted.
"It's okay," the brunette sighed and hugged her knees to her chest, playing with the hem of her purple dress. "Did you have fun last night?" she wondered, looking for anything to use to start a conversation with her uncle.
Last night had been one of those rare nights that Riku dared to venture out to the clubs. Usually the silver haired male was stuck babysitting his brother's daughter while his brother attended his college classes. Last night, though, was his free night. The only detail Riku could remember about the night prior was being whacked upside the head for making out with some guy in the bathroom. How pathetic was that? He had hit on a guy in the bathroom? How did that come about? Perhaps he deserved the beating?
"Yeah," Riku lied, not wanting to make his niece worry. "It was entertaining, thanks for asking, Olette."
"You're welcome!" she beamed and clasped her hands together happily. "Oh! Daddy was wondering if you finally got together with someone yet?" she asked, cocking her pretty head to the side.
Riku blanched. "No. No I haven't. Can you tell him that I'd prefer if he asks me that himself and that my personal life is none of his business?" Riku requested, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration.
All right, so here were the basics. Eligible bachelor Riku Karada was single, utterly gay, and near the point of poverty. Somehow, Riku had managed to keep a steady job that paid the bills for his small, two bedroom apartment. Riku's personal life suffered in the process. Lately, all Riku had time for was his crappy job down at the local café and to watch his loveable niece. His life wasn't the best but at least it was cozy. Of course, there were other downfalls to the single man's life.
Riku suffered from something known as bad luck. It was amazing how someone as suave and gorgeous looking as Riku Karada could have such bad luck. Things such as randomly tripping (in public, for god's sake), losing bets, never guessing things correctly, forgetting important dates and names, and the list went on. If a subject involved luck Riku failed entirely. The fates were against him and he knew it. Luck was not his middle name (which was probably why he could never score a legit date with someone he actually had interest in).
"Daddy also said that you're a… hobo? What's that mean?" Olette asked as Riku sat up, rubbing his forehead, surprised at the lack of pain. However, alarm flashed in his eyes.
Hobo? He called me a hobo? I have a home, thank you! Riku thought defensively, eying his niece. He was about to answer curtly when he realized that hobo wasn't the word that Sephiroth had used. More like homo… but he didn't want to teach Olette such things at such a young age. "A hobo," Riku said carefully, "is a homeless person. Which I am obviously not…"
"Oh," Olette said and then glanced off to the right. "Oh! By the way! When I got here your phone rang so I answered and took a message for you!" she informed him, springing off the bed and charging towards the door. Remembering that she had to tell her uncle what the message consisted of… Olette turned back around and smiled sheepishly at Riku. "Someone by the name of Axel said to tell you that you were promoted to manager."
Riku stared, wide-eyed at Olette. Manager? Why would Axel make me manager? Nothing good like that never happens to me… what gives? God, this day is so weird already… "Are you sure that's what he said?" Riku asked hesitantly, not wanting to get excited just to be letdown.
"Yep!" Olette announced and cheerfully exited her uncle's bedroom and headed down the hallway. Riku arched his silvery eyebrows and followed after the young brunette. "He said to call him back when you woke up," Olette explained as she stopped in front of the phone, gesturing to the small sticky note that held Axel's number.
"I'm going to make a sandwich, okay?" Olette told Riku as she giddily ran off into the kitchen to fumble through the fridge. Riku nodded slowly and turned to glance down at the number that had been scribbled onto the purple note.
"Well, here goes nothing," he announced and hoisted the phone into the air. Cautiously, the silver haired male dialed the number and rose the phone to his ear. If he was joking, I'm going to fucking kill this man, Riku thought sourly. Axel was a joker… but to joke about a promotion? Now that seemed a bit too cruel. Even for Axel.
"Hello," hummed the sultry voice from the other line.
"Axel?" Riku guessed, fidgeting as he stood there.
"Oh, Riku!" Axel exclaimed, as if delighted by the fact that Riku had returned his call. "I'm so glad that you called back!" Well, now that that was clarified…
"Oh," Riku articulated.
"I wanted to talk to you about promoting you to our second store's manager," Axel explained, almost casually. "I know that Naminé is doing a wonderful job but with the absence of Zexion… I feel like we are lacking some ordinance around the place, so I am therefore placing you as the second manager," Axel declared dramatically.
"Seriously?" Riku asked, skepticism drenched in his voice. These things don't happen to me…
"Of course!" Axel chirped excitedly. "You are one lucky man, Riku Karada. So many people want this job! But you. I know you can handle it excellently. You start tomorrow," Axel informed him, sounding quite pleased. "You do accept, correct?"
"Gladly," Riku breathed in relief. "Thank you, Axel."
"No problem."
The short conversation ended and Riku was left staring widely at the phone. Had he just had good luck? Riku beamed suddenly and placed the phone back onto the receiver. If he was store manager that meant that he would be receiving almost double his current income and that would mean that he could live more comfortably. The idea of that made Riku shiver in anticipation.
"So, did you get the job?" Olette asked, standing by the edge of the kitchen, holding a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in-between her small hands. With a swift nod of Riku's head, the silveret made his way over to his niece, promptly hugging her tightly, despite the sandwich in her grasps. "Heh!" she said, trying not to let the sandwich crush against her uncle's face.
"How about we go out for ice-cream after lunch?" Riku suggested, a smirk appearing on his face as he stood up.
"Really?!" Olette exclaimed, her eyes lightening up at once. "Really really?!"
"Yeah," Riku answered and made his way into the kitchen himself, in search of his own lunch. "We'll go get ice cream and then I have to work, so I'll drop you off at your dad's place. How does that sound?" After Olette had answered, Riku began creating his lunch, a new spring in his step. It was amazing how one good thing could generate such happiness. A promotion was something that Riku figured he'd never get and here he was… the new manager. Things were definitely looking up!
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Are we getting closer, are we just getting more lost?
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Today was, by far, the worst morning ever. And by that, Sora meant that it couldn't possibly get any worse. First, he awoke with a headache triple the pain that his usually were. Next, he had misplaced his wallet and spent a good forty-five minutes looking for it. After that, he had somehow managed to get the bedroom doorknob stuck, so there he was for another thirty minutes, trying to unbar it. Eventually, Sora managed to pry it open. Next, Sora realized that all of his suits were in the cleaners and that he had forgotten to pick them up on the ride home last night. And that left him here.
Now, the brunet tycoon was making his way down the sidewalk, wearing a casual black shirt with baggy jeans. The brunet shyly ran a hand through his brown locks of hair, feeling quite out of place. Usually he would ride the taxi to work, but for some reason Sora couldn't flag one down this morning. After the tenth try, Sora just gave up and decided to walk to work. Go to work with his pounding headache and hangover. Wonderful. He was already late as it was, so why not be even later?
Thankfully, Sora had run into Kairi on the walk to work. The red-head had exited a shop that seemed to sell spiritual goods. Their inventory ranged from claimed 'magical books' to charms and then to 'fortune telling cards'. Sora was never a believer in superstition, but regretfully, his best friend was.
"I can't believe all of this stuff was on sale!" Kairi declared greedily as she stuck her nose into the bag, gawking at her newly purchased merchandise. "What a steal!"
Sora groaned, her words hurting his head. Every time a horn would blare, Sora would grab his head in despair. He was never drinking alcohol ever again. He couldn't even remember anything about last night. Wonderful. "That's nice," Sora murmured in response.
"And it was all under fifty bucks! God! I'm so sly!" Kairi went on to say, observing the times tentatively as the pair continued walking. It wasn't until five minutes later that Kairi realized that Sora was walking to work. Sora never walked to work. "Sora…you're walking."
"Really?" Sora answered sarcastically, looking to Kairi with a look of despair and agony. "I couldn't get a taxi and this morning has been horrible," Sora explained, speaking sending rounds of pain into his body. Stupid, stupid alcohol!
"You? Have a bad day?" Kairi remarked, her eyebrows quirking as she closed her bag and went onto staring at her brunet friend with the utmost curiosity. "You never have a bad day."
"Rub it in, why don't you," Sora mumbled and hugged his arms to his chest.
"And you're not wearing a suit, either," Kairi noticed, her eyes scanning Sora's body head to toe. "What's up with that? You're always wearing a suit during the day."
"I left them all at the dry cleaner's," Sora enlightened her, hanging his head low in despondency. "And yeah. Bad day."
Kairi frowned at this knowledge. "I'm sorry, Sora. Perhaps you should just call in sick now and take the day off. It's obvious that your day is going horribly," Kairi suggested with a hopeful smile. "Here, you can even use my cell phone," the red-haired female said as she dug into her bag and pulled out a pink cell phone.
"That sounds like a good idea," Sora murmured and graciously took the phone. After a few moments of conversation with Cloud, Sora hung up and passed the phone back to its owner. "Thanks, Kairi," Sora said and began rubbing his temples once more, trying to push the headache away.
"You're welcome," she answered and continued to survey her friend. "What'd Cloud say?"
"He said it was fine and that I should get some rest," Sora educated his female friend. "I want to go out for lunch, though," Sora went on to say. "At least make this journey worthwhile." Sora winced when a car blasted its horn in the far distance.
"You have a hangover, don't you," Kairi deadpanned.
"…maybe," Sora answered with a light blush. "I… didn't realize that I would get drunk so fast. It's all Tidus' fault!" Sora blamed quickly, waving his hands in the air frantically at the red-head. "I didn't know that to win I had to drink that much!"
"I'm surprised that someone as lucky as you even gets hangovers," Kairi laughed and rolled her eyes. "I suppose this serves as a lesson, Mr. Irresponsible. I suppose you're going to give up drinking, huh? I mean, there I was, enjoying my night, and then I realized that you had disappeared. I asked Tidus where you were and he said the bathroom. So… when I went to bring you home there I found you, locking lips with some guy in the men's room! God, Sora!"
"I was making out with someone in the bathroom?" Sora repeated in disbelief, his eyes widening as his cheeks turned a dark red.
"Yeah. You looked pretty into it too," she sneered and hummed nonchalantly. "The guy looked like he wanted to fuck you right there on the floor. Of course, I was there to save my lovely virgin Sora from meeting his demise."
"What did the guy look like, anyhow?" Sora wondered, fidgeting nervously. It was a bit weird to not remember what had happened and have someone else tell you. Very weird indeed. Sora hated it.
"I don't know, Sora. I was too busy trying to get you out of there," Kairi murmured and proceeded to roll her eyes, swinging her bag back and forth.
"Great… first I have a bad day and now you tell me that I was making out with someone I didn't even know? Great…" Sora sighed and smacked his palm against his forehead. Just the very idea of making out with someone sent shivers down his spine. Relationships were something that Sora had very little experience in, what with his job and all.
"Well-" Kairi began and then froze when a car rushed by them, kicking up a puddle of mud. Kairi cringed a the mud shot through the air, towering over her friend's attractive body. Within seconds, the mud gracefully danced down onto Sora's clean form, covering him entirely with a mixture of mud and water, more commonly referred to as muddy water. Kairi burst into a fit of giggles.
"W-what!?" Sora demanded, holding his arms out frantically as he stared at his dripping close, his eyes watering in frustration. "M-mud?!" This was not a good day.
"Geez, Sora. It's like your luck is gone or something," Kairi laughed and reached into her purse and snagged a tissue. "Here," she said, passing him the cloth.
"Yeah, Kairi. Like a tissue is really going to clean me up," Sora murmured and disdainfully took the tissue. "God… this would have been ten times worse if I had had my suit on," Sora said to himself as he cleaned his face clear of the goop, throwing the tissue into the nearest trashcan.
"Here," Kairi offered, snagging Sora by his hand and dragging him into the nearest building; Sunset Cafe.
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I'll show you mine if you show me yours first
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"I can't believe that you got the job!" Naminé exclaimed happily, wrapping her arms tightly around her silver haired friend. "I'm so happy, Riku! Now we're both managers! Wow, today is amazing!" the female cooed as she tightened her grip on Riku, refusing to break their friendly hug anytime soon.
Naminé and Riku had been friends since ninth grade. It had been Naminé's idea to get jobs at the same café. Thankfully, the owner, Axel, had taken a liking to the pair and agreed to allow the two to work side-by-side. Things had been like this for two years now. Riku, being nineteen, was in need of attending college, but the way things were going now, the silver haired male doubted he'd ever be able t do such. Not with his hectic life.
"Thanks," Riku chuckled as he returned the gesture, hugging his petit blonde friend. "I'm still in shock, I suppose," Riku confessed, shrugging a bit when Naminé released her death grip him. "I wasn't expecting to be chosen for it."
"Well, I'm glad you were!" Naminé said with a sharp nod. "You're manager material," she remarked and tweaked her friend's nose before turning to look out at the café, a bright smile painted onto her lips. "You know, I really love this place, Riku."
"It is quite comfortable," Riku remarked, leaning against the counter as he stared out at the filled tables of people chattering with bagels and specialty drinks. It was a nice atmosphere, to say the least.
"Was Olette excited?" Naminé asked, glancing over to her silver haired companion.
"Yeah, she was the one that took the message. I was asleep," Riku said and chuckled, shaking his head in dismay. "I… had a long night."
"Oh?" Naminé wondered, leaning her back against the counter as her curious eyes observed the silveret. "Care to tell, now that you brought it up?"
"Well," Riku cleared his throat and glanced up at the ceiling, trying to conjure up the details. "I was having an unlucky night, as usual. I had failed to find anyone worth dancing with or even talking to and had lost my twenty-dollar bill during the course of the night. Things were going so badly," Riku murmured, shook his head, and then continued, "so then I figured I'd just have a few drinks. A few turned into several and the next thing I knew I was drunk. I don't remember much… I remember making out with some guy in the restroom and his friend beating me senseless, thinking I was some sort of pedophile."
Naminé snorted at this. "Was he cute?"
"I wish I knew," answered Riku, shrugging his shoulders. "I can't remember anything except that I actually got to kiss someone, and hell, that's all I need to know."
"You're not even interested in who it was?" Naminé wondered, arching her thin blond eyebrows at him as she tapped her fingers on the counter.
"It wouldn't work," Riku stated bluntly. "You know me, Naminé. I have horrible luck. I'd probably end up hurting the guy somehow, or he'd find someone better than me after a day."
"Way to be pessimistic," Naminé noted, rolling her eyes. "Come on, Riku. You need a boyfriend. You're so grumpy and uptight. I mean, you spend more time with your brother's daughter than you do with potential boyfriends. That's sad."
"A boyfriend wouldn't work into my life," Riku mumbled. "Right now I need to focus on my life and-" Riku was about to finish his statement when the doors to the café open, allowing two figures to enter. In walked a fiery red-haired female and a drenched teenager boy. Naminé arched her eyebrows and rushed to their assistance, snagging napkins along the way. Riku followed suit after Naminé, bringing a few napkins himself.
"This has never happened before," Sora complained, sounding quite strained and depressed. "Can today get any worse?"
"Don't say that, bonehead!" Kairi said, nudging Sora in the shoulder. "Come on, your day is just getting off to a bad start, that's all. Now let's get you cleaned up," she said and looked to the two workers that had come over. "Oh, hi…"
"What happened?" Naminé wondered, passing Sora a cluster of napkins. The brunet eagerly took them and began wiping the mud off his body. This was disgusting.
"A puddle," Kairi stated and sighed. "I'm sorry if we're disturbing you guys. I promise we'll be in and out quickly." Kairi gave Sora a light shove in the direction of the bathroom. "Go get clean or I'll force you to do my 'voodoo' stuff with me!" she warned, raising her bag into the air. Sora winced and scurried off into the bathroom, leaving the three to converse amongst themselves.
"Rainy days are notorious for these kind of things," Riku stated as he watched Kairi taking the nearest seat.
"Tell me about it," Kairi answered and began looking through her bag once again, not really paying attention to Riku's physical features. "Sora usually doesn't have days like these. He's probably the luckiest person I've ever met. That boy has a wonderful life… so it's odd to see him have such a rotten day."
Naminé laughed and looked to Riku. "That's funny. Riku here is probably the most unlucky person in the world," the blonde female giggled, lightly smiling at her taller friend.
"Yeah," Riku agreed, a bit saddened at the prospect. "I can't count the times that I've been splashed by a car on the way home from work," Riku said as he sheepishly rubbed the nape of his neck. "It's become a ritual that every rainy day…"
"That sucks," Kairi murmured, glad that those things didn't happen to her.
"It does," Riku agreed and then paused, glancing over his shoulder. "Here, let me go help him. From the way you're talking about him, he probably has no idea how to get mud stains out."
Kairi and Naminé nodded, beginning to talk amongst themselves as Riku vanished from their sight. The silver haired male made his way through the café and towards the bathroom with ease, not aware of the slight feeling of deja vu that was coming on. Regardless, the silver haired teen pushed his way into the bathroom, smirking in amusement as the brunet banged his head repeatedly against the wall.
"It's just mud," Riku stated coolly, causing the brunet to jump. Sora swiveled his head around and met Riku's gaze, laughing nervously. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," Riku reassured the brunet, shaking his head to prove his point.
"I suppose," answered Sora, looking into the mirror with disdain. "God, I hate bad days, I never have them…"
"I always do," Riku chuckled in irony and stepped up beside Sora, glancing at him with a curious expression. "Are you even going to try to get yourself clean or are you going to stalk around town covered in mud? Hm?"
"What's the point?" Sora sighed and shook his head. "My clothes are ruined as it is…" Sora paused and glanced at the silver haired other. "I'm sorry if I come off as a whiny kid… I'm just not used to things going so badly."
"Don't worry about it," Riku replied, shaking his head. "It's fine."
"Okay," Sora breathed, sighing in relief as he turned on the water, wincing as he stared at his mud encased arm. "This is disgusting." Riku laughed and reached for a paper towel. With ease, the taller of the pair wet it and offered it to Sora. Sora graciously took the offered cloth and ran it along his face, glad to have the mud gone. "Thanks again," Sora whispered and turned to Riku, a soft smile displayed on his face.
"You're welcome," Riku said and then chortled. "I'm just helping out a fellow sufferer from a thing known as bad luck."
"You believe in that stuff, too?" Sora asked curiously, beginning to clean his arms.
"Yeah. You kind of have to when you go an entire year with bad days. It becomes second-nature," Riku explained, chuckling despite how pathetic his words sounded. "But I'm used to it. It's not big deal anymore."
Sora laughed, despite his dirty self and continued running the moist towel along his arms and chest, in hopes that it'd cleanse his clothes. Blue eyes stared intently in the mirror, watching as silent sea-green hues stared back at him in a friendly manner. "I'm sorry for coming into this place all muddy and stuff," Sora apologized, sheepishly smiling into the mirror.
"Nah, it's fine," Riku said dismissing the awkward air. "People have come into this place doing a lot worse than seeking help," he laughed, genuinely smiling into the speckled glass before him. "You wouldn't believe the things people will do in public on their own accord."
"Hm…" Sora trailed off as he rose a now clean to his chin. Diligently, the brunet stroked it, as if captured by rapture of the idea of miscellaneous ness. "So I'm not the only unlucky fool wandering into public establishments?"
A smirk. "Nope," Riku stated simply.
The silver haired male tossed Sora a chuckle before dampening another piece of paper towel. Instead of passing it off to the brunet stranger, this time he went to busily wiping the brunet's air clean of mud. Strangely, Sora did not turn a shade of red due to this action. Not one bit. He remained his pale self. Perhaps he was too absorbed in his bad luck to realize what the other was doing. Care freely, Riku continued swiping the mud off Sora's brown locks, as if enthralled by the idea of keeping Sora clean.
"You know," Riku began, "You're welcome to come in and mess up this place anytime you want to."
Sora blinked as his distant thoughts were shattered. The teen was forcefully dragged back into reality by the stranger's soft, joking words. "I might have to do just that," Sora whispered back graciously, fingers running along his sleeves, looking for any remnants of the mud.
"Riku," the silver haired male offered, dropping the towel from Sora's hair and dumping it into the small wastebasket next to the sink.
Sora blinked quizzically. "Hm?"
"My name. It's Riku," he restated, folding his arms to his chest with ease. "Figured that giving you my name would be the polite thing to do, right?" A brilliant grin danced onto the older's lips.
"Oh," Sora laughed, sheepishly looking down at the now brown sink. "My name's Sora, then."
"I have to get back to work, but I'll see you around, right?" Riku asked. The male made no movements to leave and instead just stood there immobile, staring at Sora through the cloudy mirror. Aquamarine and blue met in the foggy glass. Not perfectly, not entirely, but somewhat.
"Sure! I'll… try to stop in sometimes. Usually I work a lot but today I figured I'd just call in sick seeing my day is going so badly so far," Sora murmured in distaste as he looked downward, turning the faucet on to clean the sink. "But I'll try. When do you work?"
"All week," Riku stated with a forced laugh. "Just got promoted to manager today so I'll probably be here longer than I used to be."
"Lucky you," Sora replied and shook his arms by his sides, watching beads of water drip from them. "Well… thanks again, Riku."
Riku nodded and watched as the brunet threw away the remaining towels into the garbage before tediously making his way to the bathroom door. The silver-haired manager followed quietly, figuring that he'd just get back to work and then get one of his new employees on the job of cleaning up the café floor from the mud Sora had dragged in. Yes, that was a brilliant plan by a brilliant creator. And that's exactly what he was going to do. Good gods did it feel great to be a manger.
"There you two are!" Kairi cheered thankfully as the pair exited. The red-head blinked for a moment, eying the silver haired male for the first real time. A slight wave of déjà vu covered her but it went unnoticed. If the female could count the times she had a feeling such as that the number would be over a million.
"I'm a little wet… but clean, nonetheless," Sora announced as he sauntered over to where Kairi sat, holding his arms out, hoping his sleeves would dry. "I'd say we go do something fun for the rest of the day but I don't think I can afford anything else bad to happen."
"Well…" Kairi drawled and eyed Naminé and Riku once more. "Well! Thanks again! Sora and I really appreciate it! If this caused you guys any inconvenience at all, we're really sorry. Thanks again and er… see you around?" Kairi stated as she snagged Sora by the wrist and promptly dragged the brunet out of the café, not wanting to intrude on the workers any more than they had.
"What was that about!" Sora hollered as he was yanked outside. The sunlight beat down on his wet body, generating a shiver from his parted lips.
"I'll tell you when we get back to my place…"
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Let's compare scars I'll tell you whose is worse
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Kairi double-locked her apartment door. If she had a third-lock, she would have done such. The suddenly paranoid red-head glanced over her shoulder into her living room, watching as Sora made his way to the couch. Her mind was so lost in whatever thoughts it was conjuring up that she failed to inform Sora that a box of tacks were resting on the couch (from her earlier bulletin-board project). The only reminder of her ignorance was a pained yelp from Sora as he sprung up from the couch and reached for his backside with a agonized look etched onto his face.
"Oh yeah…" Kairi enunciated, a small blush forming on her lips. "Sorry about that, Sora," she began sheepishly, "I left my tacks on the couch… Didn't think you'd be over. Sorry!"
Sora groaned and plucked a red thumbtack out of pants and glanced over at his friend. "It's all right," he grumbled, cautiously taking a seat in the sofa. Good. No tacks. "I mean, what else could possibly go wrong today?"
"Sora!" Kairi scolded, marching promptly across her apartment over to where Sora sat by the window. "Never ever say that! That's the worst possible thing to say!" she declared dramatically, throwing her skinny arms up into the air.
"…More superstition?" Sora guessed lamely, rubbing his head to fight off a headache.
Kairi scowled. "If you have a problem with that, you can leave," she stated coldly, "but I must tell you, I think I know why you're so unlucky today."
"Oh great…" Sora sighed and turned his head to stare out the window, suddenly finding it more interesting than his best friend. Was today over yet? Nope. Sora folded his arms to his chest, his body aching all over. "What's the reason?" Sora finally questioned, daringly looking back to Kairi who had taken a seat across from him.
"Well… while you were cleaning up, I was reading up in my books," she motioned to the collection of books in the bag she had just received earlier that day, "and I noticed an excerpt about luck. It talked about what it was and whatnot… really interesting stuff… well, anyway, I read this part about how you can inadvertently give your luck to someone else if they're in need of it."
"…Kairi, that's stupid," Sora said bluntly, arching his eyebrows afterwards.
"It'd explain why you're having such a rotten day, right?" Kairi pried.
"…Coincidence," Sora mumbled as he shook his head in disbelief.
Kairi's lips dropped into a frown at this. "Sora!" she hollered angrily. "You're the luckiest person I've ever met! Probably in the whole entire world! And for your luck to just vanish one day is hard to believe. Something must have happened last night for you to lose it! And don't you dare think I'm insane, because then I'll have to beat you upside your head," she seethed, slamming her hands down onto her hips. "Now either we're going to figure out who stole your luck or you're going to lead a miserably, unlucky life for the rest of your… well, life!"
Sora blinked thrice. "I think you're blowing this way out of proportions…"
Kairi huffed. "Men, typical."
"Kairi, it's not that I don't believe you but think about what you're saying. I mean, maybe I'm just having a bad day for once? I don't think anyone could possibly steal my luck from me. It seems…impossible," Sora said dryly, sheepishly raising his hand to scratch his head.
"Maybe it was that guy!" Kairi suddenly divulged, clasping her hands onto her face.
"What guy?..." Sora asked, tilting his head to the side a bit nervously.
"The pedophile!" Kairi screeched, anger coursing through her body as she began to pace back and forth, stomping her feet occasionally as she threw a fit.
"What pedophile?" Sora demanded, jumping up from his seat to stare at Kairi with stun and fear. "There was a pedophile?! Where?! Did he touch me?! What are you talking about?!"
Kairi took a deep breath and looked back to Sora with a weak smile. "Er… the guy I caught you making out in the bathroom with. The one I told you about earlier. The one that wanted to fuck you on the floor. Yeah. I bet he did it. He seemed like the sneaky kind! Gwargh! If only I could remember what he looked like!" Kairi proceeded to smack her forehead repeatedly. "What did he look like?!"
"Uh… I have no idea," Sora said shamefacedly. "I can't remember…"
"Well, whoever he was, I bet he had something to do with this! Mhm!" Kairi began to stomp back and forth once more. "But how are we going to find him?! How will we know it's him if we both can't even remember his face!?" Kairi sighed exasperatedly and took a seat. "Sora… you may be screwed."
Sora winced and gaped, "Well…thanks for that."
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Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words
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"Uhm…Sora?"
It was the next day. Day two of Sora's unlucky streak. Day two of hell. Day two of all the unluckiest things in the world. Currently, the brunet was sitting at the café counter, head repeatedly banging itself down against the wooden surface. Only when Sora heard his name did he look up, blue eyes drenched with anguish, frustration, and a dashing of confusion. Blue hues blinked a few times at the silver haired male on the other side of the counter, as if trying to gauge why the man was speaking to him. "Yes?" Sora asked after a moment, attempting to blink away his pain. Nope. Didn't work.
"Are you okay?" Riku wondered, arching an eyebrow as he leaned against the counter. "Last time I checked it's a bit abnormal for people to bash their heads against wood. Correct me if I'm wrong." He proceeded to lightly chuckle. Sora groaned in response. Riku blanched. "No, seriously, what's wrong?"
"…I lost my job!" Sora bellowed in despair, throwing his arms up into the air as if screaming to the heavens. "They fired me!"
"Why?" Riku asked as he shifted, tilting his head to the side as aquamarine eyes set upon Sora's flustered form.
"I didn't go to work yesterday," Sora supplied.
"…They fired you for missing one day of work? That seems pretty farfetched…" Riku drawled and only paused when he noticed Sora smacking his palm against his forehead. Concerned, Riku reached out with his right hand yanked Sora's arm down, not wanting the brunet to cause himself any more harm.
"That was my sixth sick day," Sora informed Riku with a frown. "And I forgot to call it in… The people at that corporation thing are really strict and they don't like when people do that and… And I probably am so annoying right now, huh?"
Riku chuckled and waved dismissively. "Surprisingly no. I like hearing about other people's problems for once," he admitted, gently releasing Sora's slender arm that he had forgotten he was holding up until that point.
"Are you just saying that so I don't start hitting myself again?" Sora deadpanned.
"…Well, that too," Riku confessed. Before Sora could cause himself any more harm, Riku interjected, "But, that's not the only reason. I don't find you annoying whatsoever. In fact, I find you fascinating, in a non-stalker kind of way." Riku offered Sora a dismal smile, hoping to brighten Sora's dreary mood.
"Well, thanks," Sora snorted in slight amusement. "I don't see how you can put up with me," Sora laughed. "I mean, you've only known me for two days and I've already shown my true colors." Sora shook his head after this in self-pity.
"If these are your true colors, I don't mind them at all," Riku said with a slight smirk. "I'd rather be friends with someone interesting than boring."
"…That's kind of cliché," Sora answered with a small laugh, a smile forming on his lips as he watched Riku with growing entertainment.
"But it made you laugh," Riku pointed out with a suave grin. The silver haired male laughed and pushed his silver hair behind his ears as he stood up and stalked away from Sora. Sora watched in confusion as Riku left, a small feeling of loneliness forming in the pit of his stomach. Blue eyes watched as Riku made his way over to the blender, tossing in a few ingredients before turning it on. The usual churning/buzzing sound was heard and moments later Riku returned with a Grande sized drink.
"Here, on the house," Riku informed Sora, passing the brunet the frozen drink.
Sora blinked in utter surprise. "R-really?" he said with a slight blush. "You didn't have to… I can pay for it! I uhm!..."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Riku calmly reassured Sora, leaning back against the counter, his elbows propped up on it so that only a foot separated their faces. "You're having another bad day so I figured it would only be polite to do something to make it less…bad."
"Thanks," Sora finally decided upon, taking a sip with a beautiful smile forming. "You're really nice," he said in between sips, watching the silveret with growing gratitude.
"And you're cute," Riku retorted.
Sora blanched and quickly averted his gaze, staring down at the counter and his drink with fascination. The brunet's cheeks turned a pink color as he sat there, attempting to keep his embarrassment down to an acceptable minimum. "I'm not cute," Sora stated stubbornly, unable to accept such a compliment from someone as gorgeous as the other.
"How can you not be?" Riku said, eyes widening a fraction. "You're like an angel, almost. You know, the innocent look, the slim body, the adorable face. Yeah, an angel, definitely," Riku decided with a sharp nod, lacing his hands together under his chin as he watched Sora politely.
Sora laced from the irony of it all. "Wow… I finally meet someone who's really nice and it's on one of my bad days. That's kind of contradictive, don't you think?"
"I don't know," Riku reasoned, reaching out to lightly tuck a bang behind Sora's ear. "Maybe I was just destined to make your unlucky streak tolerable. What say you?"
Sora blushed, a cherry red to be exact. "I'd say that you're quite the romantic," Sora giggled quietly and glanced back down at his drink. "You must have the ladies all over you, huh?" Sora looked back up to his new friend, blue eyes shimmering with newfound curiosity.
"I do," Riku concurred with a swift nod. "But I always turn them down."
Sora blinked in sheer surprise. "Why? Are you married or something?"
"Marriage," Riku laughed at this. Laughed a lot, actually. "Marriage isn't something I'd do well in with my horrid luck, trust me. I haven't been able to hold a steady relationship for years now," he admitted with a shrug. "And besides, I'd turn them down because I wouldn't be interested in them."
"Why? Like someone else?" Sora guessed, completely missing the point at hand.
"Uh… not necessarily. It's kind of hard to date someone that you have no sexual interest in." Riku smirked and stared at Sora, hoping the brunet would catch his drift without coming out and saying it. However, the confused look gracing Sora's face proved Riku correct. The silver haired male sighed and then bluntly stated, "I'm gay."
"Oh!" Sora said, another round of color rushing to his face. "Oh," he repeated and nervously fidgeted in his seat. "Oh," he said for a third time.
"Don't tell me, you're homophobic?" Riku guessed lamely, a disappointed frown appearing on his breathtaking features.
Sora rapidly shook his head back and forth. "No! I'm not!" he said quickly, pointedly pointing at himself. "In fact, I like guys too!" He was talking quickly again, hoping not to offend his friend. The last thing he needed was for Riku to think he was homophobic, of all things. That'd surely ruin their friendship right off the bat.
Riku chortled. "Calm down," he said, motioning for Sora to sit back down.
Sora, who had just realized he was standing, quickly took his seat. "Uhm… I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to think I was weird or something and that I was homophobic and yeah… Er… Man, I must look so weird to you, huh?" Sora grimaced soon after.
"You worry a lot," Riku noticed and smiled softly at the brunet. "You shouldn't. If someone doesn't like you for who you are, it's not your problem. Don't worry about it, move on. Their loss in the long run. Me on the other hand, like I said, find you fascinating and hilarious."
"Oh," Sora stated slowly, nervously laughing. "Maybe I should learn to calm down, huh?"
"That'd be helpful," Riku said with a laugh. "Now… you said you got fired, huh?"
Sora moaned in despair. "Yesss. And now I don't have a job and I'm going to lose my apartment and my brother is going to be so disappointed in me! And Kairi is going to hate me and good gods! I'm doomed!" Sora paused when he noticed Riku's arched brow. "Oh right… worrying again… sorry."
Riku shook his head, chuckling under his breath. "How about you work here part-time until you can settle your job issues?"
"I…I couldn't do that. I wouldn't want to intrude and stuff…"
"Naminé and I are the managers here and the boss wouldn't mind. We need extra help anyhow," Riku informed Sora, pointedly motioning over his shoulder to the 'help wanted' sign adorning the wall behind him. "Besides, it'd give us time to get to know each other better. And perhaps I could help you avoid that bad luck plague."
Sora beamed ear to ear. "You seriously would do that for me?!" Wow, this Riku guy was unbelievable. He was like a god-sent saint.
"Hey, it's the least I can do. In life, you need to give back what you gain, so I figured I could start by helping you out."
And perhaps, his bad luck was suddenly turning … that was, until Sora realized, he was developing a slight crush on his beautiful, good-luck savoir. And that, in itself, was bad luck indeed.
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If love is a labor I'll slave 'til the end
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It was day four of Sora's bad-luck streak, as Riku commonly referred to it. Sora had begun working down at Sunset Café alongside his new friend (and sadly, crush) after Riku's constant nagging. Kairi continued to vehemently support the fact that the 'pedophile' from the bar had stolen Sora's good luck and the only way to get it back was to steal it back. How? Well, Kairi wasn't too sure how just yet. The red-head had promised Sora that she'd help figure out who it was and how to get his luck back. Until then, he just had to learn to deal with his newly acquired life.
So far, in only four day's time, Sora had managed to be splashed by a speeding taxi, trip more times than he could count, lose his wallet, forget his keys at work, lose his job, lose his brother's cell phone number, forget to feed his fish (the poor things didn't deserve that), and finally develop a crush on his manager aka new friend aka the gorgeous and kind Riku.
"I think someone stole my luck," Sora stated as he handed a customer their drink. The statement was directed to his silver haired manager, but somehow the customer had thought it was aimed towards them. The man quirked an eyebrow and hurried away, leaving Sora blushing in embarrassment.
Riku, who had managed to hear the statement over the radio, turned to glance at his brunet friend. "Why do you say that?" he questioned curiously, closing the cash register. Riku promptly leaned against it and eyed his brunet, apron-clad worker.
"Because," Sora answered as he slumped his form against the counter. "Because my whole life I've been blessed with good luck and suddenly it's gone. Someone stole it from me."
Riku chortled to himself and made his way over to Sora, slinging his arm around the brunet's shoulders. "You think someone stole it? Come on, Sora. That's pretty impossible."
Sora sighed and did nothing to rid himself of Riku's warm touch. "Well, whoever has it, I hope they're putting it to good use."
"I hope so too," Riku concurred, distractedly playing with Sora's hair as they stood there. "Wanna come over after work? Unless you're doing something."
Sora smiled at this and glanced at Riku, a beautiful smile etched onto his face. "Really? Sure, why not. Sounds fun." The brunet vigorously nodded and wiggled out of Riku's clutches before jubilantly making his way over to the coffee machine. "Want me to make you something?" Sora wondered, cheerfully tilting his head to the side.
"Nah, I'm good," Riku answered and leaned his back against the counter.
"Hey…Riku?" Sora asked as he sauntered back over to his friend.
Riku glanced back over at Sora, arching his silvery eyebrows. "What's up?"
"I…don't mean to be rude but why are you working here and not at college or like…stuff?" Sora mumbled, turning a light shade of red. No matter how he said that he would have sounded rude. Sora cringed as his gaze darted downwards, avoiding Riku's at all costs.
"…Don't have the time or money," Riku admitted and shrugged. "Most of the time I'm with Olette or here," Riku explained, shaking his head to the side. "I have priorities and apparently not one of them consists of me going to college. I mean, this past week things have been going good for once. I'm actually happy. It's just… I know they won't work out. So I'm not going to try."
"But you should!" Sora suggested, frowning at Riku's answer. "I mean…er… You want to make the best out of your life, right? You should go to college. You seem really smart and yeah," Sora said and then proceeded to laugh nervously. "Take out a student loan or something. I'm sure you could find a way to do it if you really wanted to."
Riku sighed, shrugged, and then went back to managing the cash-register. "If my luck continues going the way it has been these past few days, I'll give that some thought," Riku whispered, more so to himself than to Sora.
Luck had brought him a promotion, more time to himself, and now a new best friend. Luck had brought him Sora.
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I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand
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"Sora!" Kairi bellowed as she tackled her friend on his way back home from Riku's cozy apartment. The two males had spent a whole four hours having dinner, talking about life in general, and playing those lame, but fun, board games. Basically, it was the most fun either had had for a long time. It was weird how bad luck could bring together two completely different people. Sora, the once business tycoon with the best luck imaginable and then Riku, the casual, suave, and bad-luck cursed. Perhaps fate was the cousin of luck.
"What?" Sora asked, turning around when he felt Kairi's arms wrap around his neck. Wearily, Sora wiggled free of her death grip and stood meekly before her, gesturing for her to say what she wanted to. There had to be a reason why she tackled him, right? Of course.
"I," deep breath, "think," pant, "I know," sneeze followed by a bless you, "who took your luck."
Sora blinked thrice and sheepishly looked to the side. "I don't… think I really care anymore, Kairi. I mean, I'm actually enjoying being a normal person. Working at the café is fun. I mean, I've met Riku and Naminé and everyone else that works there… I'm not as stressed as I used to be… it's actually fun."
"But Sora!" Kari protested, waving her hands in the air dramatically. "I know who took it and how to get it back! Come on. Don't you at least want to know who the culprit it?"
Sora sighed and cocked his head to the side. "And how did you figure out who took it first of all?" he asked wearily, a bit afraid to know what Kairi's means of investigation had been. How did the red-head figure out who had stolen his luck in four days?
"I…remembered what happened the night you lost it," she informed him with a swift nod. "I remember who that creep was that was making out with you in the bathroom. The moment I dragged you out of there, you tripped. Even before you went into that bathroom you maintained your balance. That creep took your luck!"
"How is that possible, though…" Sora sighed, looking at Kairi with a strained look. "Luck is like… just a force, I guess. How can someone steal that from you? It seems kind of impossible, don't you think?"
"I don't know how it's possible but it just is, Sora! Now would you please listen to me?" Kairi demanded as she placed her hands on her hips, looking entirely out of breath and a bit light-headed. Small beads of sweat formed on her forehead, giving proof that she had just ran here from wherever she had been prior.
"Kairi… you're my best friend. I know you're worried about me but I don't believe in this—" Sora began with a weak smile but was cut off.
"It was that Riku guy!" she stated loudly, throwing her arms up in the air. "He stole it from you when he kissed you!"
Sora blanched. "Riku?" he sputtered, hands dropping the bag he had been earlier carrying. "Riku?" he repeated, the color draining entirely from his usually blushing face. "Riku kissed me? Riku made out with me?!"
"…and stole your luck," Kairi added on, cautiously taking a step away from Sora.
"H-he," Sora stammered and nervously raised his hand to touch his lips, desperately trying to remember that night. "God, I can't even remember. And he doesn't remember and… argh and- Why did you break us up then?! He wasn't going to rape me!"
"Sora!" Kairi scolded, whacking him upside the head. "He was a stranger. You both were drunk. He looked like an attractive pedophile. I'm your best friend. What did you want me to do? Give him my best wishes and remind him to use a condom before screwing you senseless?!"
"…He wouldn't have!" Sora argued, shaking his head furiously.
"Why are we even arguing about this?" Kairi demanded and then paused, glancing up and down the street. "You wanted him to take you, didn't you? You wanted to wake up next to him, didn't you?" she teased.
"Not at the time!" Sora said and then blinked. "I uh…I mean, I uh…"
"Sora has a crush!" Kairi squealed, realization finally hitting her. "That's why you don't want your luck back! You want to continue working alongside your crush! If it wasn't for Riku stealing your luck you would have never met him in the first place! Oh god, Sora. This is so material for a cliché romance novel!" she swooned happily.
"Kairi, shut up," Sora mumbled as he scorched a dark red. "It's just a small crush… and besides, Riku's my friend and if he does… somehow have my luck, he can keep it. He seems really happy now that his bad-luck streak is over," Sora admitted, shrugging his shoulders.
"Aw, isn't that cute?" Kairi teased as she reached over to pinch Sora's cheeks. "But here's the thing, Sora. The only way to get your luck back is to kiss him back, you know? And if you really like him, you're going to end up kissing him whether you want your luck back or not."
Sora frowned at this. "W-wait… how can you be so sure?"
"Wanna test out our theory?" Kairi asked, lacing her hands behind her back. "How about this… next time you go over Riku's, play a game with him. Like a board game. Kiss him after a few turns. If all goes well, he should be winning at first and the moment you kiss him…BAM! You start winning with amazing luck. Got it?"
"I…have to kiss Riku?" Sora squeaked, turning a dark shade of red.
"If you want to make sure he's the one who has your luck. If he's not… well, we'll try and find someone else, then. I'll try and remember other people I caught you kissing," Kairi teased and then encouragingly patted Sora on the shoulder. "It's just one little kiss."
"But… what if he doesn't like me?" Sora whispered nervously, recollecting his fallen bag. "What if he pushes me away? What will that possibly solve?"
"It'll stop you from crushing on him," Kairi concluded and hugged Sora once before letting go. "Trust me, Sora. If you go through with our plan, you'll be killing two birds with one stone. Just try not to mess it up, okay?"
Sora watched as the red-head ran off, as if she had something better to do. Sora sighed and glanced down at his bag. How was he supposed to kiss his newly acquired best friend? What if Riku hated him for it? What if he wanted Riku to keep his luck? What if Riku wasn't the one who took it? What if Riku… There were too many what ifs. Right now all that Sora needed was something certain. Something positive. Something … like a kiss.
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I've been here so long; think that its time to move
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"Am I going to finally meet your friend today, Uncle Riku?" Olette asked as Riku distractedly tried to pin a bow into her brown hair. After several failed attempts, Riku finally managed to place the purple ribbon securely in her hair. Riku smirked and then paused when the question reached his ears. Was Olette going to meet Sora?... Well, Sora was coming over for the afternoon (seeing it was a Saturday)…
"Yeah. He's really sweet. You'll like him," Riku informed the brunette.
Olette grinned and skipped off to her room. Riku sighed and glanced downward before raising a hand to run it through his hair. If Olette said anything at all regarding these past few days, Riku was going to make her pay. Weakly, Riku got to his feet just in time to hear the doorbell. With one last gulp, the silveret made his way over to the door.
When he opened it, Sora beamed brightly back at him. The brunet waved sheepishly at him as his taller friend let him in. "Your niece is here, right?" Sora wondered as Riku closed the door quietly behind him, barely producing a sound.
"She is," Riku confirmed as he passed Sora, making his way over to the couch. The silveret motioned for Sora to come take a seat beside him. "She's… really ecstatic to meet you," Riku informed Sora the moment Sora had taken a seat beside him.
"She is?" Sora asked in surprise, a small blush dancing onto his cheeks. "Why would she be? I'm nothing great," Sora chuckled, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.
"Eh," was all Riku said as he shrugged.
Moments later, the young brunette skipped back into the room. At once, her beautiful eyes widened at the sight of another person in the house. With glee, the brunette ran over to Sora, standing in front of him and her Uncle with a large grin plastered onto her face. "Hiya!" she declared, shyly extending her hand. "I'm Olette." Her voice was a mixture between shy and excitement.
"Nice to meet you," Sora answered, gently shaking her petit hand. "I'm Sora," Sora responded, offering a small smile back at the young brunette.
"Heh, I know," she giggled, swaying back and forth on the balls of her feet. "Uncle Riku's told me about you," she hummed teasingly, her innocent young eyes glimmering with amusement.
"He has?" Sora wondered, glancing over to his friend with confusion.
"Yep!" Olette said as she tugged on her Uncle's hand. "Isn't that right? You said that he's—"
"Uhm… that's enough," Riku stated quickly, knowing what his niece was going to say even before she began. Riku quickly changed the subject. "So, Olette, tell Sora what you did in school Friday," Riku suggested, a small amount of color appearing on his cheeks.
"Oh! We made this painting of our favorite animals! It was amazing," she informed them with another giggle, her smile never once fading. "I did mine on the snow leopard!"
"That's awesome!" Sora answered with his own healthy smile.
"Heh! Thanks!" Olette responded before looking back to her Uncle. "He is cute."
Riku paled and quickly looked off to the right. That was right, you never tell any child a secret, they aren't capable of keeping it. Riku continued to lose the color in his face as he glanced off towards the window, doing his best not to look at Sora. Sora, on the other hand, had scorched a dark red and had begun to nervously laugh. "He said that?" Sora asked shyly.
"Mhm! He said you were the cutest person he had ever met and that you were—"
"Olette… why don't you go to your room and finish your homework while I talk to Sora about some… grownups things?" Riku suggested quickly, his eyes begging and pleading with his niece. Olette appeared contemplative for a moment before sharply nodding. Before she left, she gave her Uncle and his guest a quick hug before skipping off.
Silence shrouded the pair before Riku cleared his throat and offered to go collect the Yahtzee from the cabinet. Sora sheepishly nodded and watched in slight amusement as his friend returned with the board game, his face still a mixture of white and pink. It was oddly adorable on Riku's face.
"She's cute," Sora offered as Riku set up the game, placing the dice on the board.
Riku glanced back and Sora, nervously laughed and nodded, and passed Sora the score sheet. Wordlessly, Riku took his turn, receiving four sixes and one five. Yes. That was truly lucky.
"…Lucky," Sora pouted, watching as Riku re-rolled the five. On the third and final roll, a final six emerged.
"Yahtzee," Riku declared triumphantly, marking it on his card.
"Yeah yeah, be that way," Sora grumbled and collected the dice and rolled them. Two two's, one three, one four, and a one. What a crappy roll. Sora groaned in despair and rolled all his dice again. Sadly, he got the same exact thing two more times. Growling, Sora took the single one and passed the cup of dice back to Riku.
Before Riku could take his second roll, Sora had slipped his hand shyly onto Riku's cheek. The silver haired male paused and slowly averted his gaze over to Sora, watching as his brunet friend inched a bit closer. Riku stared at Sora for a long while, his cheeks turning a dark red from where Sora's hand rested against it. Brilliant aquamarine eyes stared at the brunet for awhile before Riku asked, "Something wrong?"
Sora shook his head and shyly laughed, slipping his other hand onto Riku's shoulder. Sora swallowed and then nervously leaned closer, brushing his lips once against Riku's. A surge of warmth spiraled through Sora's body as he remained there, a feeling of déjà vu emerging. Was this how it felt when he and Riku had kissed the first time?
Riku emitted a pleased sound before his arms wrapped around Sora's body, about to kiss Sora for a second time. Before he could do such, Sora tilted his head away, his lips out of access. Sora quietly gestured for Riku to roll. Dumbfounded, Riku rolled. A one. Two threes. A six. And a five. Bad Luck. Bad roll… Riku had never gotten a bad roll in this game when he played with Sora.
Riku was about to roll the dice again but Sora cut him off, leaning close to recapture his friend's lips between his. A surprised gasp elicited from Riku's lips as his arms tightened around Sora's middle, yanking the brunet into his lap. Riku's dexterous hands danced along Sora's back, massaging the area occasionally as his lips meshed continuously against Sora's.
"Sora," Riku moaned against Sora's lips, melting as Sora's hands slipped shyly around Riku's neck as he leaned into the kiss. Hungrily, Riku kissed Sora's lips once more with growing passion before they both broke away, in dire need of air.
Sora inhaled deeply, his heart racing as his chest inflated and deflated at insane speeds. "U-uh…heh," Sora laughed quietly as he struggled to remember whose turn it was. Quietly, Sora slipped out of Riku's lap and back onto the couch beside his friend.
Riku cleared his throat and picked up the dice, rolling them again. Five sixes. Riku still had the luck. Sora sighed mentally. He has my luck… and he's so happy with it… but I… like him. But if we kiss… it switches and… and that wouldn't be fair to Riku…Maybe I should just tell him not to bother with me? He deserves it a lot more than I do.
"I… better go. I forgot that I promised I'd do something today with Kairi," Sora mumbled as he got to his feet.
"What?" Riku said, his head whipping to side in confusion. "I thought you were going to—"
"I'm sorry. I forgot. I'll see you Monday at work, okay, Riku?" Sora questioned, slowly making his way to the door, his stomach churning with grief. Of all the people to have it… it had to be Riku. And he just had to be a great kisser and god. I think I really like him…
"Sora?"
Sora didn't answer as he left the apartment, gently closing the door behind him. Riku didn't deserve someone like him. Riku deserved someone as lucky as himself who wouldn't steal his luck with every kiss.
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The winter's so cold summer's over too soon
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"I just don't get it," Riku groaned as he looked to Naminé for help. "He kissed me. I kissed him back. He kissed back, then he left. And he hasn't talked to me since. What did I do wrong?" Riku asked, looking to the blonde with desperation flickering in his eyes.
Naminé removed her apron and set it up on the counter. The female made her way over to her silver haired friend with a sad smile. "I don't know, Riku. If he kissed you first, he obviously likes you. And if he kissed back when you kissed him, that just proves it. Maybe Sora didn't know if you really did like him… maybe he's confused?"
"I don't know," Riku groaned and ran his hand through his hair. "Everything's just been going so good lately. The promotion, meeting Sora, getting a raise… Sephiroth trying to help me get into college for once… I just didn't expect something bad to happen again."
Naminé sighed and hugged her taller friend. "Don't worry. It'll work out. Just give Sora some time. You guys have only known each other for almost a week now. He'll come around and talk to you."
Riku eased his tense body into the hug and sighed. "If you say so, Naminé."
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So let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow
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"He has my luck!" Sora declared dramatically as his arms tangled around Kairi, looking like he was about to weep. "And! And I can't kiss him anymore because when I do it changes and he deserves the luck more than me and oh god, Kairi!" Sora whined as he hugged his red-haired friend close. "What do I do?! I really like him!"
Kairi, who was attempting to eat a pastry and read her book, eyed her clingy friend with annoyance. "Sora… I told you. It's not that big of a deal. So you guys switch luck every so often. Or just make sure you get the last kiss in. Always. Or something. Just calm down and let go of me. I'm about to drop my muffin!"
Sora sighed vehemently and took a seat across from Kairi. Thankfully the pair was eating lunch at Kairi's house and not the café. Right now, Sora couldn't muster up the guts to see his friend after they had kissed. Not now. Not now knowing that they both liked each other and were playing with luck. "Kairi… why did this have to happen to me? Why?!"
"I don't know. Maybe Riku needed more luck than you or something," Kairi mumbled as her eyes glued themselves back to the novel. "Just talk to Riku about it or something. There's no point in avoiding him because of this. I'm sure you guys can come to live with the fact tht you're both naturally unlucky."
All Sora could do in response was groan in despair.
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But we've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world
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"So, let me get this straight. Riku likes Sora, a lot, right?"
Nod.
"And I know Sora likes Riku, too."
Another nod.
"And Riku won't come out and ask Sora out because he's afraid he'll say no?"
Nod.
"And Sora doesn't want to ask Riku out because he's afraid he's going to mess up his life with his bad luck and stuff."
Hesitant nod.
"So, tell me Naminé, why are we sitting around doing nothing while are our best friends are making fools out of themselves? I mean, it's obvious that they both want to date one another. I can see it in their eyes. So, let's try and think of a plan. Are you game?" Kairi grinned devilishly as she looked to the blonde girl before her, extending her hand across the table to Naminé. Naminé hesitantly shook it.
"All right then. Let's start."
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We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go
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Riku glanced at Sora weakly. How they had ended up in this mess was beyond his understanding. All that Riku could think of was that the girls had thought it was a brilliant idea to lock them in Naminé's small apartment bathroom, figuring that they'd work things out. After all, they had met both times in a bathroom, so why shouldn't it work this time? The thing was, this bathroom was barely big enough for one person, let alone two full-grown men.
Sora sat on the toilet with his knees hugging his chest. Blue eyes glanced ahead at Riku who was sitting on the edge of the counter. Barely three feet separated them. The pair remained silent, figuring that they'd just wait out this lock in.
"They set us up," Riku stated dryly, toying with the ends of the strands of his hair. "I can't believe them. Leave two girls alone for five minutes and they're already scheming." Riku was pleased when he saw a light smile creep up onto Sora's lips.
"What do you think they think this will accomplish?" Sora wondered, leaning his chin against the top of his knees as he looked to his aquamarine eyed friend.
"They probably think that you're going to throw yourself at me and that I'm going to pin you in the shower or something crude and adulterated like that. They probably have cameras set up in here too," Riku joked and offered another smile at his brunet friend.
"Heh. Knowing Kairi, I bet you she does."
Riku smirked at this and swung his feet back and forth over the counter. "Why'd you leave so soon the other night?" the silver haired male dared, staring at Sora behind a veil of silver, his bright viridian eyes stealing glimpse at him.
"I… just needed some time to myself and stuff," Sora murmured and shyly looked off to the side, cheeks turning a dark red.
"You look sort of guilty," Riku commented as he swung his body off the counter and stood up. The silveret stalked over to where Sora sat on the lidded toilet. Easily, Riku kneeled down and eyed Sora, watching as the brunet scorched a dark red. "Feet down," Riku instructed as he tapped the tops of Sora's knees. Obediently, Sora flattened them. Of course, staring down at a beautiful, gorgeous male like Riku kneeling while you sat down wasn't that 'settling' of a sight.
"Naminé told me you were worried about luck?" Riku wondered, his hand resting on Sora's knee, instantly causing the brunet to tense beneath his grasp.
"Luck…heh…oh that's a funny thing, isn't it?" Sora laughed apprehensively and glanced around, as if hoping to diverge his mind away from the fact that Riku was so close and in such a provocative position. Oh dear lord.
"Now Sora, I don't care what the hell will happen if you kiss me. I don't care if the earth will stop spinning of if I'll catch a cold or if I'll be blackmailed. I frankly don't care," Riku purred as he leaned closer, leaving only a small gap in-between their faces as Riku's hands rested on Sora's thighs, dangerously close to Sora's waist.
"Y-you don't?" Sora squeaked, trying his best not to let Riku's touch get him too worked up. "I…erm… wait. You… kiss me?"
"Mhm," Riku stated simply. "I mean, come on. Someone as beautiful as yourself should know that luck is just another force in life and that it'll succumb to the power of love," Riku stated mischievously, pressing a tender kiss on the top of Sora's nose.
Sora shivered and nodded slowly. "You do know that we made out when we were drunk, right?" Squirm.
"Mhm…?"
"And that the only reason we stopped kissing was because Kairi interrupted us, right?" Another squirm.
"Yep, pretty much."
"And that it was so much easier to confess our attraction when we were drunk than it was when we were sober?" Sora went on to ask, a healthy blush dancing onto his cheeks.
"Of course," Riku murmured.
"So you don't…care about how when I kiss you our luck changes?"
"It's just Karma. If I was really that unlucky of a person I would have never met you in the first place," Riku chuckled and kissed Sora's cheek, relishing in the way the brunet squirmed and squeaked at the simplest of touches. "Now, let's evaluate this situation," Riku began, a smirk appearing on his lips. "We're locked in a small bathroom together after confessing our attraction."
"That we are," Sora confirmed nervously, watching as Riku slid closer, his hands remaining on his inner thighs. The brunet's breath hitched when he felt Riku's warm breath on his own, almost begging him to kiss the taller.
"Who knows, maybe if we kiss enough our luck will even out?" Riku wondered before pressing his lips squarely on Sora's.
Sora squeaked and nervously eased into the kiss, his eyes dilating before closing. Obediently, Sora leaned into Riku's touch, allowing his warmth to overtake him. This was what he wanted all along, right? This was what he wanted for the pass week, right? For Riku to kiss him? For Riku to date him? For that gorgeous, smooth-talking, angelic Riku to pay attention to him and be his? That's all he really wanted.
Sora sighed peacefully as Riku continued brushing their lips together, occasionally nipping at Sora's bottom. At times, Riku would lean impossibly closer, trailing his tongue along Sora's parted lips, as if about to enter, but in the end resisted. Their eyes remained closed as theirs lips began to become acquainted with one another's, relishing in the euphoric feeling that the other gave them.
Riku brushed his knuckles down along Sora's sides, smirking when he felt Sora jerk beneath him. His other hand rested on Sora's thigh, keeping the brunet in a secure, sitting position.
It must have been over twenty minutes that they remained like that, making out in the bathroom. Whenevr Riku moved away to catch his breath, Sora mewed in protest and followed Riku's lips, locking them into a searing kiss. Somewhere along the line they had both ended up on the bathroom floor, Riku above Sora, securely pinning the brunet beneath him.
The silver haired male's lips passionately licked at Sora's and trailed along his jaw and neck, quivering occasionally when he heard a muffled moan pass through Sora's. It was bliss. It was almost a half an hour of pure bliss.
Sora was almost entirely lost to his newfound passion when he heard a fumbling at the bathroom door and muffled murmurs. Sora wearily, and cloudily, looked to the door to his right as Riku continued nipping at his neck, making marks along it. "Hrn?..."
"I can't hear anything..."
"Maybe they're tricking us?..."
"Do you think it worked?"
"Ma-ybe!" The last word was a yelp as the bathroom door flew open, both girls landing squarely on their faces beside one another. Somehow, Riku had maneuvered his body off Sora's and gone to open the door. When he did such, and found that it was inf act unlocked now, he threw it open. Now, both eavesdropping girls laid on the floor near Sora, whining in pain.
Sora squeaked as he got into a sitting position, blushing deeply as he eyed Naminé and Kairi. "You guys were! You guys!" Sora panted heavily, unable to catch his breath. Stupid Riku.
"You were making out the entire time?!" Kairi screeched as she got to her knees, eying the pair of flustered boys. "I cannot believe you!" she groaned in despair and looked at the blushing smile on Sora's face. "Then again, I can believe it." She sneered moments after.
"Maybe we should go…" Sora said nervously but was silenced when Riku draped his arms around his neck from behind. Sora squeaked and scrambled onto his feet, colliding straight into Riku's chest. "Uh…hehe…hi?"
"Aw!" Kairi squealed, lacing her hands together cheerfully, almost forgetting that she had been in pain moments prior. "You two got together for real! That's adorable!"
Sora flushed a dark red and nervously eased back against his boyfriend's chest, staring up at him. "So we're…together, huh?"
Riku smirked and placed a tender kiss onto Sora's forehead. "Of course."
Kairi squealed, followed by a relieved sigh from Naminé. The two girls were shot a look of annoyance by both males moments later. "Naminé… I think they want us to give them some private time," Kairi said in a huff, finally getting to her feet alongside the blonde.
"Good idea," Naminé said with a small smirk as the two girls exited the bathroom. Before Riku or Sora had any time to leave, the two girls had slammed the bathroom door shut. Now, whose idea was it to have the door lock from the outside?...
"Again?" Riku groaned as he helped Sora to his feet. The silveret heaved and glanced wearily at his tired brunet boyfriend. "Well…now that we're along again…" Riku trailed off before looping his arms around Sora's waist, yanking the lithe boy closer to him. "So basically, you're all mine now." A smirk.
"I can't believe you actually like somebody like me," Sora laughed nervously, leaning back into Riku's grasp, a small smile forming onto his content lips. "You've done so much for me this past week and just wow… I don't know what to say," Sora admitted with a fond laugh.
"How about a thank you?"
"Thanks," Sora giggled and titled his head up, staring up at his boyfriend's downcast gaze before capturing his lips into another kiss.
And maybe if they kissed each other another their luck would even out. Maybe if they went farther than kissing they'd both become lucky… There were so many things they could try… and they had so much time to do such. Even if they didn't get their luck back, they had one another. Riku had the beautiful Sora and Sora had the gorgeous Riku. And Olette. Sora liked Riku's niece as much as he liked his new friend, Naminé, even if she did tend to scheme with Kairi far too often.
Even if things had gotten worse before they got better, it still worked out for the best. And now they had affection. Luck had nothing to do with it, right?
fin