A/N: The lack of good Roxas x Sora makes me cry at night.
This fic is set after the events of KHII, in which the characters were gifted with bodies and hearts in hopes of them becoming productive members of society. In this fic, Roxas and Sora are NOT brothers and they are NOT the same person.
If you want to know the other pairings that occur, feel free to PM me, as I know some people hate not knowing. Personally, I think the suspense makes it all the more enjoyable.
I urge you to try this fic, even if just for 'Riku's Pretend Lovelife'. Pure Amusement.
There was a knock at Roxas' bedroom door, and it was abruptly pushed open. He jumped only a little.
"Just me," Sora said, sticking his head in first before coming all the way inside the door. "No need to panic."
"I wasn't panicking," Roxas replied, not moving from where he was sitting, in the middle of his bed. I'm just adjusting.
Sora closed his door quietly, and Roxas saw he was holding something behind his back. Not very sneaky, his other. The chord to whatever it was could be clearly seen dragging on the floor behind him as he walked further into the blonde's room.
"What do you have?" Roxas asked, suspiciously.
"A present," Sora replied, coming closer. It made Roxas shift uncomfortably for a second.
"Why? Its not my birthday or Christmas or uh…whenever else you get presents," Roxas pointed out, still wary. He'd never celebrated any holidays so he didn't really know.
Sora sat down on his bed next to him, almost causing him to topple. "Hanukkah, if you're Jewish. But we aren't." Sora nodded like he had only just decided this. "Anyway, Tadaa!" Sora produced something that was yellow and red and looked like a rocket ship.
Roxas lifted an eyebrow. "What is it?" he asked. It looked like there was liquid inside, and a giant glob of wax in the bottom.
"It's a lava lamp!" Sora exclaimed, setting it on Roxas' desk. "I thought, since you said you had a lot of glowy stuff in your room before-" he stuck his hand down behind Roxas' bed and groped around for the outlet. "-that you'd like this." He seemed to have got the plug in because he jumped up and turned the lights off.
Roxas didn't move from his spot on the bed. He smiled a little in the dark. Sora was pretty thoughtful. When Roxas had come back with him to the island, he'd had nothing but the clothes on his back. Yet Sora had been completely generous and willing to share everything he had with Roxas. One look around Roxas' room and you'd think he was horribly boring, nothing on the walls, no mess, not a whole lot of clothes in the drawers. He didn't mind, though. He was getting there.
"Okay, now watch how cool it is," Sora said, sitting back down on the bed. He reached over and pulled Roxas' arm to get him to come closer to the strange little rocket ship. Roxas waited patiently, and Sora finally clicked the power on.
The yellowish light from the lamp immediately splashed over both their faces, but as for the most part, it just sat there. Sora stared intently at it, and Roxas began to wonder if there was maybe something he wasn't seeing.
"Um…does it do anything?" Roxas asked, for some reason feeling the need to whisper.
"Of course," Sora insisted, not taking his eyes off it.
Roxas waited another second. Sora wasn't crazy…right? He looked at the lamp. It really was just sitting there.
"It doesn't really look like it does anything Sora," Roxas said, moving to get up and turn the light back on. Sora caught his arm and pulled him back down onto the bed.
"Its just warming up," he informed Roxas. Any minute now, really.
"Sora, you realize you sound like a nutcase?" Roxas sighed.
Sora wrapped his arm around Roxas' neck and pulled him into a headlock. "Shut up, you're killing the moment."
"Ack! Let go!" Roxas protested, struggling. What moment?!
"Look! There it goes!" Sora said, suddenly, letting go of Roxas so he could see.
Roxas watched a red blob detach itself from the bottom of the lamp, and slowly rise to the top, before falling down again. He emphasized theslowly.
"That's it?" he asked, after a second blob had made the round trip.
"What do you mean 'that's it?'" Sora cried, indignant. "Its COOL!"
Sora pouted in Roxas' general direction, and Roxas couldn't help but feel bad. Sora's face was too cute in the funky yellow light, and he'd been thoughtful to bring him something for his barren room.
"Uh, of course its cool. I mean. Yeah, just look at it," Roxas said, trying his best not to be totally lame. He half-smiled at his other. "Thanks, Sora."
Sora perked up immediately. He tackled Roxas onto the bed in a hug. "You're welcome!" he said, before climbing off his bed and heading out of his room, not bothering to turn the light back on.
Roxas stayed lying down on his bed where Sora had tackled him, nothing but the strange yellow light illuminating his room. He reached up and touched his cheek a moment later, noting that it was warm. A little like the rest of his body felt from the sudden contact with Sora's.
The point was less that he felt warm, and more that he felt at all.
Roxas shook his head a little. I'm just adjusting.
"Hey! Hey!" Axel called from across the street. Roxas finally spotted his flaming red hair and looked for cars before darting across.
"You are painfully easy to spot in a crowd of normal people," Roxas pointed out.
Axel sort of ruffled his hair. "Yeah, should I have gotten a less amazing hair color?" He said, running his fingers through his ridiculous two-toned spikes.
Roxas sort of laughed. "Less obnoxious, maybe." He dodged a punch to the arm and took off towards the ice cream stand.
Roxas spotted another blonde waiting in front of the small vendor, and allowed her a short hug before getting in line for everyone's favorite treat.
"Its good to see you," Namine said with a bright smile. Roxas nodded in agreement. She was a little quiet, but Roxas still had a soft spot for her somewhere inside. Some kind of protective brotherly instinct that he'd never experienced before. Just one on a long list of sensations he was getting used to.
"I'm paying," Axel said, laying his arm lightly across Roxas' shoulders.
"What's the occasion for this date, huh?" Roxas asked, taking a step forward with the line, sliding out from under Axel's arm. He was always flirting like that, Roxas had gotten used to it.
"I got a job!" Axel announced, quite obviously proud of himself. It was a huge step towards normalness and settling down in society, after all. Roxas and Namine would have their first day of school soon, too.
"Have you gotten paid yet?" Namine asked suspiciously.
Axel rubbed the back of his head and sort of laughed. "I did JUST start yesterday…"
"I'll pay for it," Roxas said, rolling his eyes. "Sora's Mom gave me some money." She was a really sweet woman. Roxas couldn't really refer to her as mother, though. It seemed too strange.
The three got their ice cream and headed out towards the boardwalk. Namine stayed close to Roxas, he could tell she was adjusting, too. Still getting used to being around so many people. Axel linked his arm with Roxas' free arm, and Roxas paid no mind at all, reclaiming his arm from Axel's grip as they neared the end of the dock.
The three former nobodies sat down on a bench at the end of the walk. Namine licked her ice cream thoughtfully and carefully, keeping her knees together like a proper lady, and angling them so they rested against Roxas' sitting next to her. Axel devoured his ice cream in a matter of seconds, and placed his arm up on the back of the bench, occasionally brushing his hand against Roxas' shoulder.
There they sat, in front of the ocean. It was comfortable, just the three of them, even in silence. Each of them on their own had felt like complete strangers in this world, but being together for a little while was refreshing.
"Where did you get a job at?" Roxas asked, after a long moment of silence. "Are you gonna get us free stuff?"
"If you need a new carburetor," Axel said, leaning forward towards Roxas' face. "I think I can hook you up," he suggestively bit down on Roxas' ice cream.
"Hey!" Roxas said, as Namine giggled a little. Roxas pouted and turned to keep his ice cream to himself. "I don't even know what a carb-rater is."
"Carburetor," Namine corrected. "That goes in a car, right? So you work on cars?"
Axel nodded. "Riku's uncle owns a place, he got me a job there. Its cool so far," he shrugged a little. Roxas wondered how he'd take the responsibility, usually being so laid back and just doing this and that. He wondered how Axel was doing, living by himself, being normal. Roxas bet he hated doing all his own dishes.
"How is Sora's house?" Axel interjected into Roxas' thoughts, giving him a little nudge. Roxas pulled the last bit of ice cream off the stick as he thought about it. "Sora's Mom is really great. She makes really good food and she's treated me like her son from the day we met. I have my own room so, its cool. " Roxas sort of left it like that because honestly, as for living with Sora specifically, he was at a loss for words. It would require a lot more thought than that. "He got me a lava lamp, since there's not much stuff in my room," he remembered and added.
Axel's hand squeezed his shoulder lightly before Roxas stood up and stretched. "You and me should go get some stuff for your room, and my apartment." Axel suggested. Roxas nodded. Exploring the local mall and shops with Axel would be great. He'd need Roxas there to pick out some good stuff for him, anyway. Roxas had seen his room in Castle Oblivion. Not exactly feng shui.
Namine licked her ice cream. "What's a lava lamp?" she asked, a curious look on her face.
Roxas smiled, thinking of Sora's excited face bathed in the strange glow of the yellow and red rocket. "I'll show you later."
"Don't get me wet!" Kairi complained just a little, as Sora and Riku chased each other around the shallows. She was still wearing her uniform from working at that clothing store in the mall Sora could never, ever remember the name of.
"Riku's fault!" Sora called out, as they got into a pickle around Kairi, Sora making to dart left and Riku mimicking his actions, as if he were dead either way he chose.
"You guys!" Kairi said, trying to keep her khaki pants from getting soaked.
"Sorry, sorry," Riku said, grabbing her around the middle and hauling her away from the water. She laughed and struggled just a little until Riku set her down on the sand again. Sora ran up panting, sand and saltwater covering his legs. "I found a sand dollar!" he announced, presenting it to them.
"Great Sora, then you can buy us lunch," Riku said, pulling him into a head lock and attempting to furiously destroy his hair.
Sora squirmed as Kairi laughed. "I promised Namine I'd teach her to bake cookies, so no lunch plans for me," she informed them.
"Yeah?" Sora said, finally pulling his head out from under Riku's arm. "Does she like it at your place?"
"I think so," Kairi said, "We do a lot of stuff together, and she's excited for school to start."
"I'm not excited for school to start," Riku replied flatly.
Sora punched him in the shoulder. "You're not excited for girls to throw themselves at you?" he asked. To demonstrate he threw his arms around Riku and bat his eyes at him.
"Nope," Riku replied, shoving Sora off playfully. "Can I get some repellant somewhere?" He joked.
Sora gave him a push, and Riku pushed back, almost causing him to topple over. "What about you, Sora?" Riku asked pointedly.
"Drop me off at home?" Sora asked, smiling his 'pleaaaaaase?' smile that no one could really resist.
Riku rolled his eyes. "How could you leave your best friend to eat lunch by himself?"
"I'll make it up to you tomorrow," Sora promised. "Today is the day I introduce Roxas to videogames."
Riku nodded, pulling Sora into another headlock and dragging him towards the car. "Fine. I couldn't deprive Roxas of that just for your company." Riku reluctantly had to let go to dig his keys out.
"I think he's nervous to go to school, but I know its gonna be awesome," Sora said. Roxas would get a little jumpy once in a while, but Sora was patient with him. He couldn't imagine how it was experiencing feelings for the first time. Sora slid into Riku's car after wiping as much sand off on the grass as he could manage.
"Roxas likes living with you, Sora?" Kairi asked from the backseat.
"Even though you make such a huge mess everywhere?" Riku added, smirking.
Sora looked out the window and watched the beach disappear downhill as they climbed into the residential areas. "I got him a lava lamp," he said absently, remembering the smile on Roxas' face when he'd thanked Sora for the decoration. Sora had been absolutely thrilled. He grinned now, just thinking about it. "I think he liked it."
Riku's Pretend Lovelife begins in chapter two: "Master Plan."