Title: Entropy and Cough Drops

Author: Arithion

Fandom: KingdomHearts

Disclaimer: Do I look rich to you? No, don't own them, sadly.

Rating: G?

Word count: 1320

Pairings: Riku/Sora

Warnings: Introspection, a tad angsty Riku

Summary: Sometimes wisdom isn't always infinite.

Note: For Casey, you're evil, but I heart you. Thank you for the prompt and quick beta.

Entropy and Cough Drops.

Sora's eyes blink open, and his mind hazily tries to make sense of the ceiling above him. Try as he might, he can't seem to remember where he is, or why his head is fuzzy. That is, he can't until a sneeze violently wracks his frame. Then at least one of the things becomes as clear as his foggy mind can manage.

"Yes."

Leaving his thoughts alone, Sora seeks out the source of the voice, bleary eyes resting on an equally cloudy head, that slowly solidifies into recognition.

"In your infinite wisdom, you thought to keep a watch out for Kairi last night." Riku raises an eyebrow at the half assed grin on Sora's face. "In the pouring rain."

Sora continues to smile. "Mmmm."

"It's the middle of winter."

Sora grins wider and starts to reach out a hand. "You have pretty hair."

Riku takes a step back trying to find a shadow to hide his blushing face in, but is confined by the small quarters he's trying to maneuver in. "You're not well, Sora." He sighs, wondering just what it is that's going through the other's foggy brain. As well as he knows him, there's just times he finds it hard to guess motivations.

"I'm perfectly fine," Sora begins, a slight frown on his face as he starts to push himself into an upright position, but sits back as a cough wracks his frame, eyes opening wide with surprise.

Riku, freed from Sora's wandering hand, moves around towards the sink at the far side of the room to fill a glass with water, trying to ignore the coughing in the background. He opens the drawer next to him before heading back, and grabs something out of it, before heading back and sitting on the edge of the bed.

While he waits for the coughing fit to subside, his eyes wander a little. Sora's hair is untidy, yet somehow keeps its style regardless of the fact that he's been asleep for the last 12 hours. His eyes seem to be a duller version of their gorgeous blue, yet somehow still almost hypnotizing.

No matter how sick Sora is, if Riku lets himself look into them for too long, he knows he won't be coming back the same. They're fathomless, just a part of his strength that enables everyone he meets to trust him, to know he's really who he shows. Riku envies him in some ways. Such an open honesty, such an unwavering faith in himself and those around him. Riku finds himself thinking far too dark thoughts, far too often.

The coughing fit is over, and he hands Sora the glass of water silently. Those blue eyes look up at him, a little clearer now, filled with thanks – almost inviting him in to his doom.

Just give in to me they say.

Riku clears his throat and looks away, not quite wanting Sora to see the blush in his cheeks. "Here," he holds out his hand, the twirl of paper enclosing the cough drop clenched between his fingers, and somehow feels empty when Sora takes it away from him.

It's all he can do to stop himself from shivering at the thought of being alone, the thought of entering the darkness he strove so hard to escape. He doesn't want there to be a time without Sora again, and he'll fight himself if it means preventing that. The paper crackles as Sora opens it and plops the cough drop in his mouth, and Riku breaths a breath he didn't realize he was holding in the first place.

For a few moments they share silence, well, at least a silence punctuated by the echoes of a cough drop against all too perfect teeth. Riku sighs, and runs his fingers through his hair.

"It wasn't really wisdom, you know?" Sora's voice is soft, a little raspy from the coughing fit, and he's concentrating on the fingers he's currently intertwining.

Taken a little aback, Riku looks down at that head of disheveled hair, wondering just what shade of blue those eyes are right now. "What wasn't wisdom?"

"Waiting for Kairi," Sora turns a little, blue eyes peeking out from under the arms he has crossed over his knees, watching Riku.

"Ahh." There's really nothing else he can think of to say in response. It's really just a noise he hopes Sora takes as encouragement for an explanation, because honestly, as long as he can see those eyes, see that body, hear that voice – he knows he won't slip again, that everything around him won't come crashing down in the nightmare he's never certain he's escaped.

"I wasn't waiting for Kairi," Sora almost repeats himself, his expression takes on a determined sheen and he lifts his head, a little defiantly, to look Riku square in the eyes. "I was waiting for you."

"Oh," Riku blinks, once, twice… no he's sure it's three times, and he still can't break that eye contact. Not that he wants to, or is even really trying, but it's so hard to believe it's there. Such a feeling of relief, such a welcoming. He feels his face break into a rather sheepish smile, derision taking a back seat to genuine feeling. "Oh, well, I guess that makes the difference then."

Sora is looking at him, grin plastered on his face, cheeks flushed with more than just a cold. "So, you owe me."

"Owe you?" Riku raises an eyebrow, questioning even though he follows the train of thought precisely. "I owe you something?"

"Yes." Sora makes an effort not to be too exuberant, the memory of that coughing fit still rather firm in his mind. "You, owe it to me, to take care of me while I'm sick, since it's all your fault."

Riku can see him flick the cough drop from one side of his mouth to the other with his tongue, and wonders if he's getting a fever as well from the heat it makes him feel. Sometimes he wonders if everything he's been through left any part of his sanity intact.

"Oh," he manages to say again, suddenly very aware of his newly found fondness for the word. "Well then, I guess I'll keep you stocked on water and cough drops for a while."

"That's a start," Sora's voice is low, husky, and he inches over a little, making more space on the bed, his eyes never leaving Riku's face.

It's a wordless invitation, one that had Sora made it while he was one hundred percent in good health, Riku knows would have been accompanied by a lot more insinuation, a few grins, jibes and laughs. But for once, just for once, he finds that he likes this more reserved Sora and moves himself onto the bed, turning on his side to look at his friend thoughtfully.

Sora doesn't wait for him to say a thing, he just burrows his head down, and rests a warm forehead on Riku's shoulder, a small smile on his face. "Tired." Is all he says, before those beautiful blue eyes flutter closed, leaving Riku to his own thoughts.

Maybe it doesn't bear too much thinking, for he's one to overanalyze if given half the chance. His mind is one to wander back to the days of the heartless, back to the times he thought he'd never again see Sora, never again see any of his friends or remember what it was like to be himself.

There are days when he wonders if he's dreaming, and if he'll truly wake up into a world run by nobodies or filled with heartless, of which he himself is one. He shivers a tad, and feels Sora stir a little in his sleep.

Riku tightens his grip, and smells the eucalyptus on Sora's breath. Maybe his sanity is still safe for a night. For the moment it appears Sora and cough drops have quieted his fears.

~*~

mmm – not what I intended, but they seem to be happy, for now 

~Ari