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The night had started out calm. Well, as calm as a party at Kairi and Namine’s with all of the human keyblade wielders could be.
With all large evils vanquished, everyone went on living their own lives, most still working for the greater good in their own way. Sora, Riku, Ventus, Terra, and Aqua lived at the Mysterious Tower and did check ups on all the worlds. Roxas, Axel, and Xion stayed in Twilight Town, relaxing and living normal lives, helping the Mysterious Tower gang with anything they needed. Kairi and Namine lived in Radiant Garden, helping with its restoration and management. They all had decided to keep in touch after all they had been through, and figured the best way to do that was with having a party every few months. This one in particular was at Kairi and Namine’s house in Radiant Garden. She had clearly decorated the place; there were streamers and decorations everywhere, a snack table with a fun party tablecloth, and fun plates and napkins, among other things.
The party had been underway for a while, and everyone was at least a little bit tipsy on both alcohol and the fun atmosphere. For the most part, everyone had been hanging around, talking and catching up with each other.
“Guys! Guys!” Kairi called from the middle of the room, standing on the coffee table, hands behind her back, “I have a game for us to play!”
Everyone gathered around, questioning what kind of mischief she would be up to. Once she had everyone’s attention, she brandished a deck of playing cards, holding it dramatically for flair.
“A card game?” Axel questioned.
“Not just any card game,” she looked around the group with a smirk on her face, “Strip poker!”
“What!?” Aqua said, clearly not expecting it, despite knowing and training with Kairi for years.
“Don’t worry, nothing indecent! Just down to your underwear!” She grinned, and then tacked on, “Only if everyone here is okay with it though!”
That statement calmed Aqua down, and she nodded to show her agreement. Everyone else nodded along as well, and so it was settled. They all gathered around the kitchen table, and Kairi shuffled the deck and started dealing cards. She explained that it would be a normal game of Texas Hold ‘Em, but there would be no folding, and if you have the worst hand at the end, you have to remove a piece of clothing.
“Okay, sounds easy,” Sora said.
So basically it's just a game where the unluckiest person has to remove a piece of clothing.
…
Kairi and Sora were sitting next to each other at the table, Kairi missing her tights and jacket, and Sora in just a shirt and boxers. Everyone else around the table was also in various states of undress, having lost a round or two. All except Riku and Axel, who had had exceptional luck and hadn’t lost at all yet. Namine (only jacketless so far) was gloating in her win, while Sora had just finished removing his pants, being the loser of the round. Kairi spoke up.
“Haha, Sora, you know if you lose one more round you lose your last piece of clothing and you’re out, right?”
“Don’t remind me. How come Riku hasn’t lost any clothing, huh? Axel too!” he pouted, “Why am I the only one with one thing left?”
Axel, who was on Kairi’s right, still fully dressed, chimed in, “Y’know, now that you mention it, Riku is the only other one here who hasn’t lost anything yet…”
Sora grumbled, and crossed his arms, upset with his loss. Kairi giggled at his misery, lightly batting his arm.
“Maybe their luck will turn around and one of ‘em will lose soon, or maybe you’ll at least not lose soon!”
“Yeah, I guess…”
All of a sudden Axel leaned over the table.
“Hey, Riku.”
Riku, who was across from Sora and Kairi, Ven on his left and Namine on his right, looked up from his hand from the last round.
“All or nothing.” Axel stated clearly, putting his hand on the table to brace himself to look intimidating. It didn’t really work.
“Huh?”
“We’re the only two left who haven’t lost anything yet, so I’m challenging you to an all or nothing round.”
“So…”
“Winner keeps their dignity, and the loser strips. Everything. Well, everything according to the rules we put in place, so not really everything, but you get the idea.”
Although they had all been sobering up, too distracted by the game to continue drinking, Riku must have still been a little bit under the influence somehow with how hastily he agreed.
“Alright, you’re on,” He said, no hesitation in his voice. “Kairi, you’re the dealer.”
Everyone shuffled around, and Riku and Axel sat opposite of each other at the table, Kairi in between them to dole out cards. People crowded around each of the men, either rooting for one or the other, or moving around the table and trying to get a clear view of the hands. Sora had decided to do the latter, and went over to Riku’s side first. He had the five of hearts, and the ten of clubs. He then went over to Axel’s side, and peeked at his hand. He had the 4 of diamonds, and the 7 of clubs. Overall, not great hands for the so-called “luckiest” people of the night. He then returned to Kairi’s side, siding with neither of the players, waiting to see what cards she would flip.
Kairi flipped over the first three cards, pausing in between for dramatic effect. The jack of spades was laid down, then the ten of diamonds, and lastly the 2 of hearts. The people rooting for Riku, Terra, Aqua, and Namine, lit up.
“You’re in the lead!” Namine exclaimed.
Terra put a supporting hand on Riku’s shoulder.
Axel’s cheering squad, Roxas and Xion, were decidedly less quiet.
Ven and Sora stood by Kairi while she was dealing the cards, not supporting either side.
The next card was flipped.
The seven of hearts.
Axel’s side lit up.
“Yeah, this is winnable now!” Roxas cheered.
“Now hold on, Roxas” Riku smirked, “If the next card is anything but a seven, I win. Those aren’t great odds”
Roxas glared at him from his position behind Axel.
Once the room went quiet again, Kairi readjusted the deck in her hand, ready to deal more cards.
Everyone looked in her direction as she grabbed the top card.
She lifted it high above her head, facing behind her so no one could see what it was, and slammed it down on the table face up. Everyone leaned in, anticipation at a peak.
Her hand was covering the number.
“Kairi! Come onnnnnn!” Sora whined, impatient.
“Oh, sorry!” She lifted her hand off the card.
The room went quiet.
Roxas broke the silence.
“Holy shit!”
Sitting on the table, at the end of the row, was the seven of spades.
Axel’s side of the table erupted in joy as Riku’s side sat, stunned. After a minute or so of celebration, Axel finally decided to speak to the loser.
“Alright, we had a deal, Riku. You know what to do.”
Riku exhaled deeply as his face started to redden. In many of the previous rounds, everyone would be setting up for the next one or talking. Riku realized this time, everyone would be watching him. Sora looked at him, teasing.
“Come on Riku, you have to, you made a deal!” a big smile was written across his face. Since Riku had lost the all or nothing round, Sora wouldn’t be the first one out!
Sora was pulled out of his minor victory thoughts by everyone gathering around to watch Riku begin removing his clothing. There were some cheers in the small crowd, egging Riku on and trying to make him more confident. This was all for good fun, after all.
First, he toed off his shoes, and Sora’s eyes were drawn to the action.
Then he moved one leg up and across his knee to take one of his socks off, and repeated for the other foot. He folded his socks, and put them neatly in one of his shoes.
Of course he’d still fold his clothes in a situation like this.
Next, he took off his jacket. Sora forgot other people were even watching, until Kairi’s cheering broke his trance.
“Woooo! Go Riku!” She said, laughing all the while. Riku’s face grew even redder as he folded his jacket and set it neatly on the chair next to him.
He moved his hands to his waist, pausing for a moment, deciding to undo his belt buckle before trying to remove his pants. Sora’s attention was drawn to the sound of the buckle clinking, then his eyes moved to focus on the slide of Riku’s belt out of his belt loops.
Riku dropped the belt unceremoniously on the ground, and Sora’s eyes snapped up.
Riku, in all his flushed glory, was staring directly back at him. Sora felt his face redden and his stomach flutter. They maintained eye contact for a short second, then Riku went back to taking off his clothes.
Why was Riku looking at me? Why do I feel so weird? It’s like my stomach is flipping around over and over. This usually only happens when I get compliments from him…
He went back to watching. Riku undid the button on his pants, and then unzipped the fly. He grabbed the waistband of his pants and started to drag them down. Some people cheered, Sora didn’t hear who. His mind was taken over by the reveal of inch by sinful inch of tan skin. Sora noticed Riku’s abs, and flushed, averting his eyes for a second and then immediately looking back, and then away, and then back again because it would look weird if he was the only one not looking, right?
Why is it so hot in here?
He tugged at the top of his shirt, trying to cool himself down, and Kairi noticed from her position beside him. She smirked, leaned in and whispered to him.
“See something you like?” She pointed to Riku, who’s brow was furrowed as his pants had gotten stuck on his boxers, and he didn’t want to reveal too much by accident. Sora looked at her.
“Wha- what are you talking about?” he stammered, voice a little higher pitched than normal. He knew Kairi could read him like a book, but he had no clue what she thought he was feeling, when he didn’t even know himself.
Kairi giggled at his floundering, and then turned her attention back to their friend. Sora looked back too. Riku had gotten his pants over his boxers (plain dark blue ones, very Riku of him) and was now moving the pants down his legs. Sora’s mind was taken over by those thighs and what it would feel like to touch them.
What is going on with me today?
Riku’s pants were past his knees, and Sora was getting redder and redder by the second as Riku revealed more skin. Eventually, his pants reached his ankles and he lifted up one leg at a time to take them off.
With the pants off, he folded them, and then moved on to his shirt. He grabbed the back of the neck of his shirt, and tugged it off over his head quickly. To Sora, however, it was in slow motion. He watched the muscles on Riku’s arms and chest move with the removal of the shirt, and his eyes widened. Kairi looked over at him. Watching Sora look at Riku had become more entertaining than just watching Riku himself. She chuckled when she noticed that Riku was done taking his clothes off, and Sora was just staring at him.
“You can’t ogle him all night, y’know?”
Sora snapped out of it, surprised at her presence, “Woah! Kairi, you scared me!”
“You really zoned out there, huh?” She giggled, “I see you’ve been paying special attention to Riku tonight.”
Any flush that had left Sora’s face immediately came back as he brought a hand up to his face in worry. What does she mean by that? She laughed a little, and took Sora by the shoulder and guided him out to the porch to chat. Once they got there, she sat him down.
“You know I’m not trying to be mean, right?”
“No no, of course!” Sora said back, voice still a little high.
“Okay, just making sure. But you know you can tell me what’s going on, right?”
“That’s the thing , Kairi, I don’t even know what’s going on!”
Kairi was taken aback. Before she could stop herself, she spoke aloud, “No way! You realize you obviously have a crush right?”
“Huh?” Sora paused, face going blank.
“The tension between you two is so thick you could cut it with a knife, Sora!”
Sora held his hands out in front of him, shaking them. “No no no, I thought I had a crush on you when we were kids, Kairi, and this isn’t like that!”
“Sora, you doofus, crushes can feel different than that! You’re a different person than you were then, your feelings can feel different too!”
She continued as Sora comprehended her words.
“Describe how you feel around him.”
Sora was hit with the question, and felt his mind slow down as he made a mental checklist..
“My stomach did feel weird earlier… and it does that when Riku says something nice to me too…”
“See? That’s what I’m talking about! I’m assuming it’s not like that for anyone else?” She exclaimed, pushing his arms back to him. He shook his head no and looked off to the side, trying to hide his face, a habit he picked up from Riku.
“What about the other things?”
“Well, I like being around him all the time, but we’re best friends! Of course I like spending time around him!”
“Sora,” She paused, making sure he was looking back at her. “Normal best friends don’t choose to share a bedroom. Normal best friends don’t hug for as long as you two do, or are as touchy as y’all are. Normal best friends don’t look at each other the way you two do. Sora, n-”
Sora cut her off, putting his arms on her shoulders “Okay, okay, I get it!”
“No wait, wait, I have one more.” Sora looked at her questioningly. “It’s good, c’mon, you gotta let me say it,” she pleaded.
“Fiiiine,” He rolled his eyes, not ready for what was to come.
“Normal best friends don’t break the laws of reality to make a combined keyblade.”
“Kairiiii!” He whined, face glowing with red for the umpteenth time that night.
“It’s true though!”
“I get it, I get it! I might like him…”
“ Might? ” She started laughing, “I can’t believe it took you this long! You’ve been like this for years!” She kept giggling, the occasional snort coming out of her. Sora sat there, still red in the face, but also coming around to chuckle at the situation.
He dove deeper into his thoughts. He really did want to spend as much time with Riku as possible. When they couldn’t go on missions together it tore him up inside. His stomach did feel twisty and turny when Riku complimented him, but it was a good feeling, not really a bad one. He really liked how kind Riku was, and how he was willing to drop everything to help people, especially Sora. He liked how he was usually calm and -
Kairi spoke up; she had stopped laughing a second ago.
“I’m assuming you find him physically attractive?” She looked over with a teasing grin, clearly wanting to fluster Sora more.
“What?”
“Do you find him physically attractive?” Her face had not changed, clearly looking forward to the answer.
Sora covered his face with his hands. He mumbled, “Maybe… maybe a little bit.”
Kairi started laughing at his expense again.
“A little bit? Sora, you were outright staring tonight! No shit you like him!”
Sora buried himself even further in his arms. He grumbled, embarrassed beyond belief. Kairi took notice and calmed down.
“Hey, you know it’s okay though? I’m here for you. Despite what it may look, I’m not doing this to make fun of you.”
“I know, I just think I need time to think on it. Its a lot to take in, that you probably like… no, love someone but didn’t know it.”
“I know, I know,” She got up, patting him on the shoulder, choosing not to mention his change in words, “Alright, I’m going to go get a drink, when I come back, we can talk about confessing!”
Sora looked up, exasperation on his face.
Confessing? I just figured out my feelings! I don’t have a clue how Riku feels!
He turned around to the backyard, and sat, thinking. What would confessing be like? How would he be able to stare into those gorgeous aquamarine eyes and bare his feelings like that?
Speaking of gorgeous, the rest of him?
His silver hair that Sora wanted to card his finger through. His face, that Sora wanted to see happy as often as possible. His body… god that body. Sora stared off into space, thinking about what it would be like to fall asleep in Riku’s arms.
He was violently brought back to earth by the door to the porch opening, the background noise of everyone chattering inside masking the footsteps coming towards him. He spoke, still looking out at the yard.
“Kairi, I don’t think I’m gonna confess yet, I just figured out my feelings, but I don’t know how he feels yet.”
A rough cough came from behind him.
A cough that came from someone whose voice was too deep to be Kairi.
Sora blanched, turning white as a sheet, and slowly turned around. As he turned, his fears were confirmed as he caught a look at silver hair and aquamarine eyes. He had just accidentally said that in front of Riku.
Shit, he had just accidentally said that in front of Riku .
Riku, who was still in just his boxers from earlier. (Not that Sora was doing much better, just in boxers and a shirt.)
“Uhh, I’m assuming you were expecting someone else?” Riku tried to put his hands in his pockets and failed, as he had none, so he decided to rock a little bit back and forwards, awkwardly.
“Uh, y- yeah, you could say that.” The color was slowly starting to return to Sora’s face.
Instead of bringing up the obvious, Riku decided to start a casual conversation. Sora was thankful Riku could read him so well, and carded it away in the new section of his mind labeled, “Things I love about Riku.”
“So, did you have fun playing poker?”
“Yeah! Everyone seemed like they had a good time, and even though I lost a bunch, it was still a good time,” He brightened up again. Riku came over and sat down where Kairi had been a few long minutes ago.
“Good, and hey you didn’t actually lose, technically I did.” He grumbled, rolling his eyes in fond exasperation.
“Yeah, Kairi was having a field day teasing me about possibly losing.”
“Speaking of Kairi…”
Sora looked up, to find Riku looking right back at him. Their eyes met for a split second, before Sora glanced away.
“How did you mistake me for Kairi when I walked through the door? She was yelling about something in the kitchen, I thought you knew it wasn’t her.”
Sora felt his face become red again (he should really pick up a part time job as a tomato or something at this rate).
“Well, I was a little bit, uh, distracted?” He took a glance over Riku’s figure and then looked up at his face. Aqua eyes met his own. Shit, busted.
Riku glanced down at himself, and then back at Sora, soft smile on his face.
“Jealous?” Riku flexed one of his arms a little bit and Sora felt his brain short-circuit.
“Whuh?” Sora thought Riku had caught on for a second, but he was saved.
“It’s okay that you’re not as bulky as me y’know. Makes you faster and harder to hit.”
Leave it to Riku to turn Sora’s apparent jealousy into a compliment for him. Sora’s stomach started to do the weird twisty turny thing again. Oh god . Riku reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Seriously, you also look good, and hey you have some muscle, it’s just more lean.”
“Stop that,” Sora whined, pushing Riku’s hand off his shoulder, “Every time you compliment me my stomach gets all weird feeling.” He held his hands over his face, covering the flush that was apparent there.
Riku just looked at him in confusion, tilting his head like a puppy.
What does that look mean?
Riku spoke up again before Sora could think of what to say.
“Hey, who were you and Kairi talking about before I came out here?”
“Oh, uh, nothing big, s’just … uh…” he trailed off. Riku put a hand on his knee, interrupting his floundering.
“Whoever you want to confess to, I’ll support you, y’know.”
That caught Sora off guard. Thoughts jumbled from the last minute or so of conversation, and he just blurted out the first thing on his mind.
“Why would I want to confess to someone other than you?”
He paused, letting his brain catch up to his mouth. His stomach dropped.
Shit . Shit shit shit. I really just said that out loud.
His head dropped to the ground. Eyes wide with the realization of what he just said.
A hand came into his vision, and gently tipped his chin up. Riku was looking directly at him, the most adoring smile on his face.
“Y’know,” Riku started, “ I can’t think of anyone I’d rather confess to either.”
Oh.
Sora’s eyes widened, and he realized again, oh, now he basically had confirmation Riku liked him back, there was no reason not to confess at this point.
He took Riku’s hands in his, and then looked back up at his face.
Alright .
“I… I -” he paused, breathing in deeply, “Whoo, gosh, sorry, this is harder than I thought it would be…”
Riku chuckled, lightening the mood a little bit, “Hey it’s okay, I’ve been wanting this for a while now, I don’t mind waiting an extra minute or two.”
“Okay,” Deep breath in, and out, not even processing what Riku had just implied. After another moment, he started again.
“Riku, I may have not known it until about 20 minutes ago, but I like you. Really, really, like you. Like, love you.”
Riku’s eyes were practically sparkling in the light on the porch.
“Sora, I’ve loved you for so, so, so long.”
WHAT?
“Since when?” Sora almost yelled. How long was “so, so, so long?”
Riku turned away and rubbed his hand up and down his arm, an embarrassed gesture. “Since you were like 15, you goof. Probably before then, even. That’s kinda just… when I just realized it, I guess.”
“You’re telling me I’ve known I loved you for 20 minutes, and you’ve known you loved me for literal years? ”
Riku laughed, loud, and unhidden. Sora was stunned by just how happy he looked. He’s beautiful. Riku reached out and pulled Sora in for a hug, which he returned. They stayed there for a solid few minutes, Riku’s laughs rumbling through Sora too.
Eventually, Riku gently pushed Sora away, hands still bracing his shoulders.
“Sora, will you be my boyfriend?”
Sora’s mind short-circuited for the second time that night.
“I- Uh, yeah.” He paused for a second. “Yes! I- yeah, definitely!” He responded more enthused, correcting himself. Riku chuckled in response, and then brought him in for another long hug.
They stood up, hands interlocked, and decided to go back inside. Everyone was gone, save Kairi, who was cleaning up some paper plates from the counter. Sora was the first to speak up.
“Where’s Namine?”
“She went to sleep just a few minutes ago, she said she’d help me clean up in the morning, but I thought I’d just take care of it now since everyone else left a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, if everyone else has left, we should probably head out too, unless you want some help?”
“Nah, I have it covered. Goodnight you two!” She brought the plates over to the trash, and dropped them in.
“Goodnight, Kairi. The party was great!” He waved at Kairi, and dragged Riku out the door. Riku looked back at Kairi as he was dragged. He sent her a smile and a thumbs up, to which she originally gave a confused look before what happened dawned on her, and she silently cheered for Riku on his way out the door. Sora didn’t notice.
Kairi laughed to herself after they were outside, glad she had gotten sidetracked in the kitchen earlier.
…
They went back to the tower in Riku’s gummiship, making casual conversation all the way, slightly awkward with the new label between them.
They made their way up to their room, holding hands and chatting all the way up the stairs. Once they got just inside the door, Riku spoke.
“Hey, I’m going to go take a shower, you gonna head to sleep?” Sora looked up from where he had been staring at their hands, a soft smile on his face.
“Oh, yeah I guess, I’ll probably fall asleep pretty fast, so I’ll see you in the morning. Oh, we can eat breakfast together!” He grinned.
“Yeah sure, if you can wake up before noon,” Riku looked down and matched Sora’s smile. He pulled Sora in for a hug, and kissed him on the crown of his head.
“Goodnight,” He said, pulling away and heading for the bathroom, leaving Sora standing in the middle of the room, flushed. He changed into his pajamas on autopilot and flopped down on the bed. He grabbed his pillow, and clutched it tight in his arms. He rolled over onto his stomach and kicked his feet on the bed like a schoolgirl, high on the happiness.
He kissed me on the head!
Little did he know, Riku was in the bathroom, standing with his hands over his red face, stunned at his own actions.
I kissed him on the head.
They both flushed an even darker red, and smiled.