fic: How Everyone Started Sleeping Together (3/5)
How Everyone Started Sleeping Together (3/5)
Pairings: Sora/Riku/Kairi + Sora/Riku/Roxas + Roxas/Axel + and all subsets thereof.
Summary: Sora didn't mean for things to get so complicated so fast. Mostly, he blames Roxas. Post-KH2, ignores KH3D.
Warnings: Weird consent issues arising from people sharing bodies (no actual dubcon or noncon in my opinion, but read at your own risk).
Sora had Roxas to take over gym class for him, so he didn't really think about how hard it must be for Riku or Kairi. It hadn't occurred to him that magical powers would cause just as many problems for them as they did for him, though probably he should have realized that.
Riku wasn't in Sora's gym class, so Sora didn't see him struggling. But gym classes were co-ed, so Kairi and Sora were together then. At first, there were no problems. It wasn't like Kairi was tempted to dodge roll everywhere the way Sora was, and she was just learning to use her keyblade, so she didn't have a lot of special powers or anything. But as they trained more and more, Kairi sort of learned to be where you didn't expect her. Turn to the right to fight her, and she was suddenly on your left, or completely behind you. It was the same when she was doing sports, and it meant that soon everyone was picking her for teams first.
And then she got even better at it, and Sora was pretty sure that most people couldn't move all the way across the soccer field while everyone happened to be looking the other way. Her team always won. So then Sora decided that wasn't really fair, and, well, okay, maybe he used a little magic of his own when Roxas didn't feel like doing gym, to give himself just a moment more in the air to shoot the ball at the basket, or to swim a little faster when they did relays. It was only fair, when Kairi's team was doing so well.
"I don't know how the two of you do it," the teacher said to them, after a few days of this competition. "Keep up the good work."
When the teacher was out of earshot, Sora said, "We'd better stop doing this."
"Doing what?" Kairi asked.
Sora stared at her.
"You mean you were doing it on accident?" he asked.
Kairi's expression grew irritated. "Doing what?" she asked again.
Sora wasn't quite sure that what she was doing was magical. Maybe it was just an ability, like when Sora had finally gotten the hang of blocking attacks. But it didn't seem quite fair to the other students, regardless of the source of her power. And Sora and Roxas hadn't been helping at all, with their competition against her.
"You sort of... disappear," he said, lamely, because he wasn't sure at all what she was doing.
Kairi still looked confused, but at least she didn't look annoyed anymore. "I do?" she asked.
"It's just like when we're fighting," he said. "You're never where I think you're going to be, and then suddenly you're somewhere else."
"But..." she said, "I don't do anything special. I just go where I need to be."
"Maybe you should 'go where you need to be' a little more slowly?" Sora said. "I mean, people are going to notice pretty soon."
"Does it matter if they do?" Kairi asked. "I mean, we aren't quite normal. Especially you and Riku. Is it wrong to use those powers?"
"It might freak people out," Sora said, uncertainly.
"So?" Kairi said. "That's their problem, not ours. The three of us freak people out every day by dating each other. Does that make it wrong?"
"No..." Sora said. "But that's different. That's not hurting anyone. But when we win at all sports all the time, someone else has to lose."
Kairi bit her lip. "It's just gym," she said. "Sometimes you overthink things, Sora. But maybe I'll tone it down a little."
Sora smiled at her, and she smiled back, and, without thinking, Sora leaned forward and caught her mouth in a kiss. It wasn't as deep as it could have been- as deep as Kairi preferred- but it was the most public kiss he'd ever participated in.
There were a couple whistles from behind him, and Sora pulled away.
"No PDAs," the gym teacher called out.
"Sorry," Sora shouted back in reply, but his heart wasn't in the apology.
One of the confusing things about coming back to the islands after they'd been destroyed for a year was that everyone thought he was still fifteen, when actually he was a year older. He tried to explain to his mom about that, but she refused to listen. So maybe it was too much for her to think that for a year she just hadn't existed, or maybe she thought he was trying to get twice as many birthday presents, but anyway, she didn't believe him.
So on Sora's birthday, there were sixteen candles on the cake, and when Sora complained to Riku and Kairi, Riku just arched one eyebrow.
"You were sleeping for one of those years," Riku pointed out.
"Roxas wasn't," Sora said.
"You can't count Roxas' years as your own. You'd be eighteen by that logic, since he's been with you for over a year."
"Well, the year I was asleep still counts. I mean, I grew like a foot during that time."
"You're still a midget," Riku said, affectionately.
"Everyone is a midget compared to you," Sora said.
Kairi giggled. "It's true," she said.
So, okay, that conversation went nowhere. But Sora still maintained that he was seventeen, no matter what anyone else said. At least to Riku and Kairi, since they understood about what had happened. But he blew out his candles without any more complaint, and opened his presents.
It wasn't a big party. Sora's mom had wanted to invite practically everyone from Sora's school, but Sora had declined. Still, Riku and Kairi were there, and Sora's mom, and even his dad had managed to get off work early to eat cake with them and give Sora a present.
Sora didn't get anything too extravagant. Riku gave Sora a few gummi ship parts he'd picked up on his travels, which was nice because Sora still liked to tinker with the gummi ship when he had some free time, and Kairi gave him a key chain she'd made, to try with his keyblade. It was three colors of twine, all twisted together in the shape of a star.
"I don't know if it'll work," she said, "but I figured it was worth a try."
So of course, before Sora could open presents from his parents, he had to try out the new key chain. He summoned his keyblade, which caused his parents to gasp- had they really never seen it before? He supposed they hadn't- and quickly attached the new key chain.
The keyblade shifted form. Sora was glad about that. He'd never tried just any keychain, and he'd been worried that they keyblade would just stay the Kingdom Key. The form the keyblade took was ornate and flowery, and it took a moment for Sora to recognize it.
"Hey, it's your keyblade, Kairi," he said.
Kairi beamed.
So then Sora had to explain to his parents what the keyblade was- again, since apparently they hadn't been paying close attention that first mad day when he'd first come home- and insist that no, he wasn't going to stop using it, because it had saved his life countless times, and anyway, he knew how to use it so it wasn't dangerous to him. Or to anyone around him, yes Mom, he was sure.
After all of that, he got to open his presents from his parents. His dad got him some cash, which was nice enough- Sora had lots of munny from his travels, but he was afraid to spend it in case people started wondering where a seventeen- Sixteen, Roxas corrected helpfully- teenage boy had gotten so much to spend. Plus, Sora wasn't sure how taxes worked or anything, but he was pretty sure that "Saving the worlds" wasn't a valid way to earn income.
Anyway.
His mom got him an mp3 player, and Sora was certain he'd break it before he figured out how to work it. But he thanked her for it anyway, because it was the thought that counted, right?
They don't know you anymore, Roxas observed. They don't know what you like. But they tried.
He hadn't changed all that much, had he? It wasn't like he'd had time while he was out saving everyone. But he'd come back to find that wooden swords weren't that interesting when you could pull out the real thing at a moment's notice, and that the games he'd played before he left seemed childish now.
He didn't feel like a kid anymore.
He grinned at everyone who was there for him, and tried not to mind that things had changed.
They ate a little cake, and then Sora and Riku and Kairi went out on a walk.
"Those weren't our real presents," Kairi told Sora. "We have something better."
"Yeah?" Sora said, brightening even more than he already had. "What did you get me?"
"Shh," Kairi said. "You'll find out." She smiled, and Sora decided he'd rather keep seeing her smile than pester them more.
It was a near thing, though.
They took a long, circuitous route to the beach, passing by Kairi's house for her to grab something. And then they took their little rowboats out to the play island. The boats were getting cramped. They'd have to get bigger ones, soon. Or maybe one big one, that they could all share. Sora wasn't sure how Riku was managing to avoid falling out of his boat.
They went to the secret place again, because it was the most private place they had. It still wasn't too nice- there was just an old couch and a pile of rugs, and the door to the heart of the world still lurked ominously nearby- but it was the best they had.
"I want to give you a hand job," Kairi announced, a little too loudly. Sora looked around quickly, in case someone had materialized behind them in the past few minutes, while he wasn't looking.
You're such a virgin, Roxas said.
So are you, Sora said, confused, and he would have tried to figure out what the really pointed silence he got in response meant, except, you know, there was a hand job waiting for him and he was kind of distracted.
"You're sure you want to?" Sora said.
Kairi stuck out her tongue. "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it." Then, more serious, "I mean, if you don't want to-"
"I want," Sora said. "I mean, as long as you do. Course I do, what guy in his right mind would say no to that?"
Guess that's my cue to get out of here and leave the three of you to fumble things out, Roxas said, and Sora could feel him sort of fade out as he went to sleep. It was a weird feeling, but Sora was almost used to it by now.
And then Kairi sat next to him on the couch, and kissed him boldly, and unzipped his pants. Riku sat on Sora's other side (the couch made an ominous noise at their combined weight, but held) and cupped Sora's face, drawing him into a deep kiss. Meanwhile, Kairi had pulled out a little bottle of hand lotion from her bag, and was rubbing it on her hands. Huh. Well, clearly she knew what she was doing. Sora wasn't sure how, exactly, but he wasn't going to complain. Maybe she'd been talking to Riku.
Kairi's hands were calloused from keyblade practice, but Sora expected that. He knew Kairi's hands pretty well. He'd held them, and kissed them, and now they were doing exciting things with his penis, and that made them even awesomer hands. All parts of Kairi were pretty awesome, Sora decided.
The slippery-smoothness of the lotion made her hands new and different, though, and Sora let out a little moan.
He didn't last long, especially because Riku kept making aroused noises against Sora's neck. They were almost as loud as the moans Sora was making, honestly.
When he finished, he looked up at Kairi's face and saw a satisfied smile. So that was good. Sora had a half-formed fuzzy notion that maybe girls would be grossed out by penises or something, but obviously this was not the case.
Sora collapsed onto Kairi's lap once he'd cleaned himself up a bit- they kept a box of tissues in the secret place, although they'd been meant more for the cold Riku had had a couple weeks before than for cleaning up after- um. Well, Sora wasn't going to complain. He felt sort of warm inside, and tired. The tiredness was pretty normal, he was sure. But the warmth- that was new. He felt... loved, as cheesy as that sounded.
What did you mean about me being such a virgin? Sora asked Roxas. Does that mean you aren't one? But Roxas was fast asleep and didn't respond. Or maybe he was just being quiet because he didn't want to answer. It was hard to tell. Sora made a mental note to ask Roxas about that later when it would be harder to avoid the question.
After the hand job, Sora sort of lost his interest in making out for a while, and since it was his birthday, he got to pick what they did. So they just sat and talked for a while, Sora's head on Kairi's lap and his legs tangled up with Riku's on the other end of the couch. Sora sort of felt Roxas wake up, a little after that, and said: hey.
Hey, Roxas said back. And then, with the mental equivalent of a smirk, You seem pretty satisfied.
Sora wanted to stick his tongue out at Roxas, but recognized that this was both childish and very difficult to do, so he settled for a contented silence, letting Kairi and Riku's talk wash over him like waves on the shore.
He drifted off at one point, and when he woke again he was standing on the shore of the play island, staring at the sunset. His hands were clenched into fists."Everything okay?" Sora asked, gently taking control back from Roxas.
"Just thinking," Roxas said.
"About what?"
Roxas was silent for a moment. "About why the sun sets red," he finally answered, which wasn't an answer at all.
"Where are Riku and Kairi?"
"Kairi had to go home. Riku is around, somewhere. I told him I needed a bit of time alone."
"You're sure you're okay?"
Roxas shrugged Sora's shoulders. "Fine," he said.
Sora could tell that Roxas wasn't all that upset, at least at the moment, because he couldn't feel much from that side of his heart. So he just went off to look for Riku.
It wasn't that hard to find him. No one ever came to the island but them anymore, which meant there weren't many footprints to follow. Riku was on the little island that he'd always practiced swordsmanship on, back before they'd had real keyblades to fight with.
"You alright?" Riku said. "You seemed really upset."
Roxas shook Sora's head. "No, I'm fine."
"You never told me what your real present was," Sora said, to spare Roxas any further questioning.
Riku looked sheepish. "Er," he said. "It's not, you know, like Kairi's."
Roxas shrugged. "Neither of us expected it to be."
"It's just," Riku said. "I mean. Spring break is coming up in a few weeks. And I know both of you miss your friends on other worlds. Like Pence and Olette and Hayner. So I talked to Kairi, and we thought it would be a good idea to go on a little vacation on the Gummi ship. Just- you know- all of us. You and Roxas, me, and Kairi."
Sora could feel his face light up, and he absolutely could not have said if it was him that was so happy, or Roxas.
Then reality kicked in.
"My mom will never let me go," Sora said.
"She's fine with it, actually," Riku said. "I mean, she was when I brought it up to her. I won't say it didn't take a little convincing-"
Sora threw his arms around Riku in what was probably the least manly hug ever. But then again, since everyone kept insisting he was only sixteen, it wasn't like anyone thought he was a man anyway.
"You," he told Riku, "are the best boyfriend ever."
Riku turned red.
One of the conditions of Sora's mom letting them go on vacation all together was that they had to keep in touch. At first Sora wasn't sure how to do that- it wasn't like sending letters in bottles was what you would call the fastest method of communication- but after some fiddling with the home phone (breaking it three times in the process) Sora and Roxas managed to rig it up so that the Gummi ship could make calls to Sora's home phone. Sora was going to give Roxas all the credit for that. He certainly hadn't managed it all on his own.
And then, finally, spring break came. Sora's bags had been packed for days, with some of his own clothes, and some of the ones that Roxas barely ever wore. He'd grabbed a bunch of his favorite key chains, too, just in case there were Heartless on their trip. There seemed to be a few Heartless everywhere- Sora had even fought off a couple of Shadows on Destiny Islands since they'd returned home- so it was a good bet that they'd run into some while they were in Twilight Town and other worlds.
Kairi and Riku seemed a bit more prepared than Sora and Roxas were when they all piled their luggage into the Gummi ship- they had at least twice as much luggage- but Sora figured that if he'd managed to rescue Kairi and Riku from the clutches of darkness and defeat Xehanort's Heartless and Nobody with just his keyblade and the potions he'd picked up along the way, then a vacation wasn't going to pose much of a problem.
They went to Twilight Town first. Sora found Hayner and Pence and Olette right away and introduced them to Riku and Kairi. Sora let Roxas have control almost the whole time they were there. Roxas deserved a chance to get to know the real Twilight Town kids. Sora had noticed him staring at the photo Sora had, of all four of them together. It wasn't right, that Roxas had been ripped away from his friends like that, even if it had been all fake. This was a good chance to fix that, even though it wasn't going to last.
They ate sea salt ice cream on the clock tower, and Sora could feel Roxas' mood become melancholy.
What's wrong? Sora asked.
Nothing, Roxas said, in a tone that made it clear that he didn't want to talk about it. I'm just thinking.
Sora didn't know what to make of that. Did you come here when you were in the simulated Twilight Town? Is that why you're sad?
Roxas sighed, which made everyone look at him. He shook his head.
It's nothing, he said, again unconvincingly.
Getting Roxas to talk was like pulling teeth. But that was normal.
Everyone gradually looked away from Sora and Roxas and went back to their ice cream. Sora licked a drip off of Roxas' ice cream to keep it from falling. Roxas didn't even get annoyed, which meant there was something seriously wrong.
You can tell me, Sora wheedled.
Roxas sighed again, this time just internally since Sora had control of their body at the moment.
I used to sit here with Axel, he finally said. After missions.
Oh.
They didn't talk much about what had happened to Axel. It hurt both of them to think about it. Sora hadn't really even known him, and it still hurt to think about how he'd sacrificed himself to save Sora. He could feel a little of Roxas' pain, too, and he knew he was only feeling a fraction of what Roxas felt.
"You're upset," Olette said, glancing over at Sora and Roxas. "Is everything alright?"
Sora didn't see the point in denying it. Roxas was the one who gave evasive answers and was too quiet. Sora wasn't like that, even if they were technically the same person.
"I was just- remembering someone," Sora said. "A... friend... who died."
Olette, who was sitting nearest to Sora, was first to respond. "Oh, no," she said. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay," Sora said. "I mean- it's not your fault. And it was a while ago. I just... still get sad, sometimes, thinking about it."
Kairi knew what was going on, and it was her who pulled Sora into a hug, stepping around Olette to do so. Riku wasn't far behind.
See? Sora told Roxas. Everyone wants to help.
But that didn't seem to make Roxas feel better, and his mood bled over to Sora until he couldn't really enjoy himself in Twilight Town anymore. It wasn't until later, when they were back in the gummi ship, that Roxas seemed to forget about Axel for a while, and that was because he drifted into an uneasy sleep in the back of Sora's mind, obviously troubled but unwilling to deal with it just then. Sora let him sleep.
"Was that you or Roxas earlier?" Riku asked. "Usually I can tell, but..."
"It was me," Sora said. "But I was speaking for both of us, I guess. Riku, Axel was Roxas' best friend. His only friend, I guess. I don't know how to comfort him. I keep thinking, what if it were you or Kairi that had died? I don't know what I would have done. And Roxas has to deal with that every day. And- it isn't his fault that Axel died, but I'm not sure he knows that."
"It's only been a few months," Kairi said. "I'm sure he'll feel better if you give more time."
Sora sighed. Waiting. He hated waiting. But there was nothing else to do, he guessed.
They visited Belle and the Beast next. That was an overnight trip. It was dark when they got there, and they were treated to a feast. Sora was starving- it had taken hours to get to the Enchanted Castle from Twilight Town- and he dug in right away, not paying much attention to what anyone was saying. It was all small talk anyway, and Sora usually liked small talk, but not when he was hungry.
At night, Sora and Kairi snuck out of their room and found Riku.
It was the first time they'd been assured privacy in a place that wasn't a cave or the tiny cramped gummi ship. Sora had been carrying a couple of condoms around just in case, and apparently Riku had, too.
It was awkward. None of them were quite sure what to do, and Sora finished too quickly, and Riku wasn't far behind, and neither he nor Riku managed to get Kairi off until she guided their hands down and told them exactly what to do. Even then, she was doing more of the work than they were, and Sora paid close attention to what she was doing, and what she was directing him and Riku to do, so that he could do it better, next time.
He wanted to make her happy. He wanted to make both of them happy. Not that any of them were exactly unhappy, after- Sora would have been so embarrassed if he'd been that bad- but, well, there was a lot of room for improvement.
They slept all in the same bed, because the beds at the castle were big enough for that. Sora drifted to sleep slowly, feeling satisfied and warm and loved despite Kairi's knees jammed against him. He hoped some of that bled through to Roxas, even when they were both asleep. Roxas could use some of that feeling.
Next in the trip was Neverland. Kairi had never been, and so she'd never had a chance to fly. They met up with Peter and the Lost Boys for a while, but they couldn't stay to chat- they were engaged in battle with Captain Hook. Sora thought he'd defeated Hook for good last time, but then again, this was Neverland, and it didn't really change. And maybe Neverland wouldn't even be any fun without Hook to beat. They helped out with the battle, and once it was won, they moved on.
Roxas was still moody. Sora wasn't sure what to do about that. But it seemed to help, visiting places. Sometimes Roxas would say, quietly, to Sora or sometimes to Riku and Kairi too, that he'd been here with Axel on missions for the Organization, or that he'd once spent half a day here just relaxing, all by himself. There was nostalgia in his voice and thoughts, and a lot less pain than even a day or two ago. And Sora listened with fascination as Roxas sketched out a rough picture of his life before he'd been a part of Sora.
It was weird to think of Roxas as ever having been separate. Sora hadn't known about Roxas when they were different people. Sora had spent most of the time Roxas wasn't a part of him sleeping. They'd never even properly met until everything was over. So it was strange, thinking about Roxas walking around on his own, alone. But then, it was weird to think of the time before Roxas had become part of him at all- strange to think that he'd been all alone in his own head, no one there to provide commentary and an alternative viewpoint and sometimes insight into what Sora was feeling when Sora himself wasn't sure.
Sora didn't mind Roxas being a part of him. More than that- he liked Roxas being there. And he knew Roxas felt the same- he could feel that, sometimes, when they talked, though the feeling was vague and hard to define.
In any case, Sora wanted Roxas to be happy, and he was glad that Roxas seemed to be recovering, a little.
There were only so many worlds that they could squeeze into one vacation. After a week and a half away, it was time to go home. They arrived late at night, much later than they'd intended. It was nearly dawn. They spent their last hours of freedom docking the Gummi ship and then went to the Secret Place. It was a hot, sticky night on the islands, and the cool cave was welcome relief as the sun began to beat down, especially after the hard work of tying the Gummi ship up.
Sora collapsed onto the stone floor of the cave, totally ignoring the beaten-up couch. The floor was cooler. Riku and Kairi sat near him, not sprawled as he was, but leaning against the walls of the cave. Kairi leaned over him to give him a quick upside-down kiss, and Sora smiled against her lips before kissing her back.
Their tiredness was quickly forgotten as they kissed more, Riku joining in a little later. He'd done a lot of the work tying the Gummi ship to the docks, and was obviously pretty worn out by it.
Roxas didn't actively participate in the kissing, but he basked in the back of Sora's mind like a cat in a sunbeam, obviously enjoying that Sora was enjoying it, if nothing else.
One thing led to another, and they used the last of their condoms that morning. They were all a little better at it than the last time, though still not great. They needed practice, Sora guessed. He wasn't going to complain about that.
They washed up by swimming in the ocean, and then rowed back to the main island. The sun was fully up by then, and they split ways not long after reaching it.
"I'll see you guys later," Sora said.
Kairi and Riku smiled at him, both a little stupid-happy. Sora guessed his expression looked the same. "Yeah," Riku said. Kairi echoed him.
Sora's mom was in the kitchen when he and Roxas got home.
"Welcome home! Did you have fun?" she asked, as he took off his shoes at the door.
"We did," Roxas told her, with a big, genuine smile.
And Sora was glad.
Sex with Kairi would have been a lot easier if there had been more than one drug store in town. There was nowhere else to buy condoms, and none of them were willing to go while Tidus or Selphie manned the checkout. Which meant skipping school, and all of them had done more than enough of that to last a lifetime.
The consequence of this was that, for a while, Riku, Roxas and Sora had sex together a lot more often than they did with Kairi. After all, none of them had ever had sex with anyone else, so it wasn't like they had to worry about diseases- just pregnancy.
And that was a huge problem, because it turned out that Kairi was way more insatiable than either of them, and she was not okay with sticking to fingers and tongues.
The solution, eventually, was to pilfer condoms from Sora's mom and dad. Which was mentally scarring enough. Sora had never wanted to think about his parents having a sex life. But then Sora's mom had noticed that the condoms were going missing.
"I'm glad you're being safe," she said. "But you and Kairi really aren't old enough to be making decisions like this. You're barely sixteen. What if the condom fails? She could get pregnant. You could end up with a baby, and the two of you are too young to deal with that."
"The three of us," Sora said.
Sora's mother's brow furrowed. "Pardon?""The three of us aren't old enough," Sora said. Better to get all the awkwardness out at once. "Me, Kairi, and Riku. The three of us aren't old enough for a baby. Don't worry. We all know that."
Actually, he thought, it was more like the four of them. But that was a bit more than Sora felt like explaining at the moment.
Sora's mother looked like she'd swallowed a lemon."We're being really careful," Sora said, as if that were the first problem in his mom's mind. "With. You know. Condoms and things. Um."
This did not seem to appease her, not even a little bit.
"This is not acceptable," she said.
"Why?"
It wasn't that Sora didn't realize that this was outside the norm. He was aware that couples usually came in- well, couples. But it wasn't like they were hurting anyone. It wasn't like they were doing anything wrong.
There was a moment when Sora's mother stared at him as if she didn't even know him, like it was the first moment when he'd come back, before she'd remembered, abruptly, that she had a son.
It hurt. But Sora didn't let the hurt show.
"You're not ready to make choices like this," she said, retreating into her previous argument. "I don't want you seeing either of them again."
Sora hadn't expected that.
"But mom-"
"Don't 'but mom' me. This is wrong, and you will do as you are told."
Sora's mouth opened. It closed. He felt a sense of dread falling over him, and he couldn't move. He couldn't protest. He hadn't exactly expected this to go well, but he hadn't anticipated it going so horribly wrong, either.
And then Roxas said: "There are worlds out there that are a lot more accepting, you know."
Sora's mother's eye's narrowed. "What does that mean?"
"It means that we still have a gummi ship hidden away," Roxas said, giving Sora's mother a glare that Sora wasn't entirely comfortable with. "We can go to any world we want. You can't keep us here. There isn't a lock that would hold us. You know that."
Sora had told his mother some things about their adventures, though not nearly everything. She knew about the keyblade. She knew about the gummi ship. She knew that he'd made friends everywhere. He'd babbled it all out in a confused rush when he'd come back, on the first day.
He had never meant to use any of it as a threat. He'd never meant to see her face go ashen.
Some petty, angry part of him- the part he usually pretended belonged wholly to Roxas- was glad that Roxas had done it for him, so he didn't have to.
He hadn't journeyed across dozens of worlds only to be separated from his boyfriend and girlfriend by his mother.
"Fine," she said, words choked out a little. "Just-"
The rest of that sentence was lost in a sob, and Sora winced a little, internally. Roxas, however, kept their face from flinching.
"They're my best friends," he said. "No- they're a lot more than that. They're too important to lose. You've got to understand that."
Sora's mother turned, and walked out of the room.
Sora had known she couldn't understand. He was just glad he hadn't tried to explain Roxas at the same time. That would have been an even worse disaster.
Roxas got them as far as their room before giving control back to Sora, who promptly collapsed on the bed.
"That could have gone better," Sora said into his pillow.
You won't be separated, Roxas said. I couldn't make her happy about it.
Thank you, Sora said.
Then he rolled over and went to sleep, for all that it was barely 5 PM.
He woke up curled up next to Riku and Kairi on Riku's couch, and smiled.
Thank you, he said again.
"My mom knows about us," he muttered sleepily.
"Roxas told us," Kairi said, her fingertips dancing lightly through his hair. "It sounds like you had a rough day."
Sora stood up, stretched and yawned. "Yeah. What time is it?"
"Ten," Kairi said. "But don't worry, we've been working on homework with Roxas. You don't have anything left to do."
"Did I eat?" Sora asked, stomach rumbling a little.
The absurdity of the question might once have made him laugh. But he was sharing a life and a boyfriend and things like this no longer had the power to faze him.
Kairi giggled. Apparently she was not as immune to the absurdity yet as Sora was.
"There's more food in the fridge," Riku said.
Pig, Roxas added fondly. You're going to make us fat.
Ignoring him, Sora stuffed his face with leftovers.
Things were alright for now.
A/N: My apologies for taking so long with this chapter. One chapter left (and possibly an epilogue depending on how complete I feel the story is after the next chapter is completed). Thanks, as always, to my beta, british_spy. Any remaining mistakes are my own.
Chapter 4: Man's not dead while his name's still spoken