Author's Notes…

I have no real excuses for vanishing for so long, except that I got sucked into the Star Wars fandom since it was so quiet over here! But in playing through KHIII (still not done, please no spoilers!), I got inspired to pick this up again! And the others, but I'm still poking at those.

Anyway, for those of you still out there, hi!

Paopu Glamorous

Chapter Seven

The Go-Around

"Sora, what did you do to your nails?" The makeup stylist, Garnet, a petite black-haired girl with warm, brown eyes, sighed at him. "Something is going to have to be done about this. I thought I told you to stop biting them?" She worked as she talked, returning to his makeup.

"I'm just stressed out," Sora mumbled distractedly.

"We're all stressed out, baby. But it's your face on camera. Pull it together," she said with a smile. "How are the lines?"

"Lot of making out this episode." Sora frowned at the script.

"Oh, the viewers are going to eat that right up. Look up—thank you." She paused. "You're not… against that sort of thing, are you?"

"What?" He looked up. "Oh! No! It's not that. Riku and I go way back, you know?"

"Oh, yeah?" Garnet attacked the shadows under his eyes with foundation and concealer. "That's pretty cute."

"Yeah… he kinda bullied the crap out of me." Sora found himself laughing, and it surprised him.

"Oh, no! So you're kissing your mortal enemy," Garnet teased.

"Something like that."

It was more along the lines of the fact that Riku hadn't talked to Sora since their fight, but Sora couldn't say that. It wasn't anybody's business, and it'd just get leaked to the press somehow. He'd learned not to let anything out that he didn't want on a tabloid somewhere, or on a social media thread that got blown out of proportion.

He had said the truth. It wasn't just kissing this episode… it was full on making out. Satoshi was going to feed Yukito his blood, which was supposed to make Yukito kind of high or whatever, and then… sexy times. Not complete sex, no. They would get interrupted before that.

Small blessings.

"All right, here comes the pale makeup…" Garnet liked to inform Sora of everything she was going to do to his face. Sora was perfectly fine with this.

"Yay, I'm a vampire," Sora rallied rather sarcastically.

She gave a quick smile before her features pulled back into concentration.

Sora enjoyed his job, he did. It was just the amount of makeup sometimes made him feel as though he should star in a lipstick commercial. Because after this, Garnet was going to apply a ridiculous amount of lipstick and lip-gloss. For whatever reason, Yukito had to have glimmering lips.

Garnet said it was because Sora had such a pouty lower lip.

Whatever.

An hour later, once makeup and wardrobe were done and he had his caps on his teeth, he ambled his way to the set. Today filming would start outside of this church they'd found that was almost gothic in its appearance. It had gargoyles on the eaves. It was here Yukito would discover he couldn't enter sacred ground. The ensuing angst fest meant Sora was going to have to summon up more tears.

At first, it had been difficult to cry on command. He'd never had a reason to. He wasn't a psychopath. Well, or an actor, of course. That was different now. But it had been made clear he'd better start learning, so he always thought of the most painful memory he had. One he wouldn't even dredge up now, because Garnet would kill him if he ruined the makeup before it was time.

Sora was given the signal they were ready to go in five, four, three…

He inhaled.

He ran to the front steps of the church. Later, they'd edit it into the classic vampire blur. He hesitated here, raising a hand, letting it hover just before the wooden door. On his expression, he did his best to convey Yukito's thoughts. I'm scared this won't work… but I have to try!

His hand curled around the doorknob as Satoshi called out to him.

"It's pointless, you know."

Yukito's shoulders straightened, full of tension. Half of it was acting for the scene, the other half was because it was Riku, Riku was here.

"You can't walk on consecrated ground. If you try, you're going to get burned," Satoshi pressed in a singsong voice.

Yukito whirled, baring his fangs.

"I know, I know…" His maker waved a hand idly in the air. "Yet another thing I've taken from you. Except I don't really see what the problem is… You weren't very religious before."

"You—!"

Satoshi's eyes flashed as they narrowed. "Do me a favor, Yuki. Quit blaming me for everything. You hated your life. You wanted an escape. I gave you one. Are you going to spend the rest of eternity, railing against your grievances with me?"

"I will hate you until I really do die!" Yukito spat. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides. "It wasn't your choice to take away my life! It was mine!"

"You hated your life," Satoshi repeated. A gust of wind pushed past, and his long silver hair whipped within the confines of its ponytail. Special effects would turn his eyes gold in the edit. It was always a sign that Satoshi was losing his temper. "I'm growing weary of this, Yukito."

"It was my life to hate!" Yukito cried passionately.

He ran away from the church in what would be another future streak of movement.

Sora knew from the script that Satoshi was watching after Yukito impassively.

"Cut! Let's take a moment, then go another round! There's some more shots I want to work in! We need a close-up of Damenson's face when—"

Riku wouldn't meet Sora's eyes as the director's words became their own blur in Sora's background world. Sora wet his lips and took a hesitant step toward him. His fingers lifted. They were so close to touching Riku. He'd never really done this before—grabbed for the other man.

"Ri—"

"From the top!"

Sora swallowed back a sigh.

Their make-out scene later was going to be so awkward.

Sora chewed the inside of his lip where he was curled up on his bed by the headboard. His knees were against his chest, his chin resting on them. His hands were clasped loosely around his ankles, and his eyes were fixated on the black screen of his phone.

Normally, he'd have heard from Riku dozens of times since they last saw one another, but there hadn't been a single peep from Riku's end since… the Incident. Riku was so mad at him. Sora understood some of it, but not all of it. It wasn't that he didn't want to—he did.

He really, really did.

Yet how the hell did he make amends with Riku when he never had before? They'd bicker, Sora would add it to his list of grievances, and then…

And then things would just… keep being the same.

Memory flickered, showing him Riku's tear-stained cheeks.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen Riku cry, and it sure wouldn't be the last. But this time Sora felt bad. What was he doing, leading Riku on? It was like Riku had said—Sora had known exactly what he wanted from Riku when he went over there. Why did Sora pretend differently?

Sora began nibbling at the edge of his thumbnail.

All this time, Riku had been the asshole. Yesterday, Sora was one.

…And it wasn't…

…the first…

He couldn't take it anymore. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it. He tapped open his text window, and it was where he'd left it, on his last conversation with Riku. His thumb hovered over the keypad—went back and forth between it and the call button on the upper right of the screen. Which did he want to do more? Text Riku, hear his voice—

Hear his voice?

Sora dropped his phone and put his face in his hands, falling onto his pillows.

Oh, man.

He grew bitterly aware of the fact that it wasn't until Riku's presence was noticeably gone that he realized the aloneness he'd craved for wasn't as great as he'd expected. The reality was such a stark difference. There was life with Riku, and then there was life without him.

And it was awful.

shitfuckshitfuckshitfuck

Sora called Riku before he could talk himself out of it.

He was completely prepared for it to go to voicemail, so he almost fell off the bed in surprise and face-planted when Riku answered.

"…What do you want, Sora?"

"Um!" Breathless, Sora pushed himself back into an upright position. He clutched his phone to his ear, feeling how red his cheeks were. Riku! Making him blush! Grrah! "…I just—I hadn't heard from you, so I—"

He sounded like a bumbling idiot. It was humbling.

"Well, I'm fine," Riku told him shortly. "I've gotta go, Sora. It's late, so—"

"Please come over!" Sora blurted out.

He slapped a hand over his mouth and closed his eyes.

Oh—

Oh, no.

Oh, this was going to sting so badly when Riku told him no.

But Riku's voice grew wary. "Why?"

For several moments, Sora didn't say anything. His fingers dug into his cheek as his mind scrambled to come up with the words that would make Riku forgive him, or at least not be so upset with him. He was so far beyond the habit of apologizing to Riku that he didn't know where to begin, how to begin.

A sigh crackled over the line. "Bye, Sora—"

"No! Wait!" Sora cried. He gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut.

Damn it…!

His pride be damned!

"Look, I just need to see you," Sora said, and if his voice shook, he didn't care at all. Yeah, it made him vulnerable as hell, but how many times had Riku been vulnerable around him, willingly or no? There was a reason Sora had spent so many nights near Riku so the other boy could get peaceful sleep for once in his life.

"Tell me why," Riku insisted softly. "Tell me why, or I'm not going."

Why is he doing this? Sora thought desperately.

He's really going to make me say it!

"But I don't think you will," Riku continued. "So I'm hanging up, okay? I'll see you at work tomorrow."

Why?

"Bye—"

"Because I need—you here!" Sora managed to choke as panic exploded through him. He didn't want Riku to get off the line. He didn't know why, he only knew he couldn't let it happen. Not yet. Not without… "Things aren't right between us—I—I haven't heard from you, and I—"

"Yeah, well, I needed some space, Sora," Riku said more harshly.

"I don't—want space, damn it!" Sora found himself yelling. "I want to see you!"

There was a long moment of silence.

"Riku…?" Sora rasped.

"Then show me," Riku said. "If you want to see me so bad, then show me."

He hung up.

Sora stared at the phone, shaking so hard his teeth were chattering. He set the device carefully on the bed and then fisted his hands into his blankets, bowing his head between his shoulders. Of course, Riku would do this—of course, he wouldn't let it be easy. When had he ever let anything between them be easy?

I should go to bed, he thought.

He needed to stew. He needed to—

Sora flung himself out of his bed and yanked on clothes. He grabbed his wallet and keys off the nightstand, petted Serena, and then locked the apartment and climbed into his car.

He was going to Riku's.