Happy New Year!
"No, Sora. Go. I'm not interested in bar-hopping and clubbing," Riku sighed. "Seriously. I did that last year. I threw up in a Dumpster and didn't make it to midnight. I swore off drinking forever after that."
"You could--" Sora began stubbornly.
"No," Riku said firmly. "Look, I know you're worried about leaving me alone. But I'll be fine. Knowing that you and Kairi are out having a good time on my behalf. I'll stay in and relax. It'll be great, with my parents off God knows where."
"...well, if you're sure..." Sora said dubiously. He'd just turned 21 this year, and Riku knew he was eager to confront the alcohol. Given how Riku had lorded it over him last year, what with the being a year older thing, how could he not?
"I'm sure," Riku said firmly. He smiled a bit to himself as he watched Sora head off down the street, dressed in what he thought was appropriate clubbing clothes. It was vaguely pirate-y, so Riku suspected it might actually be appropriate.
Once Sora was well gone, Riku retired to his room, walking out onto the familiar balcony that faced the sea. He leaned on the railing, closed his eyes as the breeze ruffled his silver-pale hair, and sang, "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and ne'er brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?"
A voice interrupted him before he could get to the chorus. "You are such a liar," it said, filled with sly amusement.
Riku straightened and walked inside, closing the glass door quietly. "I am not," he sighed.
"What was all that about staying here alone tonight?"
"I didn't say I was staying alone. I said I'd be here without my parents. Relaxing. Why didn't you turn the lights on, Axel?" Riku didn't reach for the switch. He could see the redhead stretched out on his bed, dressed all in black, just fine. "And don't ask why I didn't," he added hastily. "I don't need to and you know it."
"How much light do you need to flop on a bed in a disgustingly neat and tidy room?" Axel retorted, stretching and rolling on his side to prop his head up on his hand. "Besides. It would have told Sora I was here, and you don't want that...do you?"
Riku shook his head a bit, smiling. Sora still saw the world in black and white, and he wouldn't understand this. He wouldn't understand why Riku hadn't told him it was possible to draw Nobodies back...why Riku had even tried. Even for Axel. Riku felt, if he'd been given a second chance...at least Axel had deserved one, as well, for saving Sora's life.
"Don't try and threaten me, Axel. It won't work. I know you better than that, by now. You don't want to wake Roxas."
"That's a low blow," Axel huffed. It didn't hold the bitterness it had four years ago, though Riku was under no illusion that if Roxas had woken up, Axel would have run off with him in a heartbeat.
"So's threatening Sora," Riku retorted. "Did you get the champagne?"
"I thought you wanted a quiet night in," Axel taunted.
"Champagne is only noisy if you shake the bottle before you take the cork out," Riku said loftily, reaching for the bottle on the bedside table.
He gasped as Axel's hand closed around his wrist, hard, and hauled him down onto the bed. Riku knew his eyes were wide and startled as Axel rolled on top of him. "What are you doing?" he squeaked.
"Making a New Year's resolution," Axel muttered, just before he took Riku's lips with his, hard. Riku made a noise of discomfort as teeth clicked together and pushed Axel away.
"I'm not Roxas," he gasped out.
"That's kind of the point," Axel agreed, biting at Riku's neck. Riku shoved him away sharply, squirming out from under Axel and fleeing to the balcony door.
"I don't want to be somebody's second choice," he said harshly.
"That why you don't go out with Sora much?" Axel said. Riku flinched; Axel always went for the soft underbelly. The redhead joined him at the door, staring out at the ocean. "Roxas is dead. I'm allowed to get over him."
Riku stared out at the ocean, as well. "It's not nice to use someone for something like that."
"God, you can be an idiot sometimes," Axel snapped. He spun Riku around, pinning him against the door this time. His eyes locked with Riku's, and Riku suddenly felt like he couldn't breathe. "I'm not using anybody for anything."
Riku knew, by now, that Axel didn't talk about what he was really feeling. He suspected it was a holdover from his days as an Organization member, when he wasn't supposed to be feeling anything at all. It had taken a few months for them both to figure out it wasn't true and never had been, that Nobodies felt nothing.
Which meant that Axel was saying...
Riku didn't particularly get the time to process it before Axel's lips descended on his again--softer this time, gentler though not quite gentle. Riku closed his eyes, reminding himself to look with his heart and not his eyes.
His heart told him that Axel's feelings for him weren't the kind of all-consuming passion he'd had for Roxas. Riku didn't mind that. He suspected his own tangled feelings weren't in any better shape. But for both of them, the feelings were, he thought, real ones.
"It's gonna be a good year," he murmured against Axel's lips, relaxing into the kiss.
"Yeah," Axel breathed, hands wandering across Riku's back and hips. "Happy fucking New Year."
"I think," Riku agreed unsteadily, tugging at the zipper on Axel's coat, "that we can arrange that.
- fin -