kingdom hearts; gen
Fandom: Kingdom Hearts
Characters/Pairings: Sora, Riku, Kairi; platonic
Title: Both Ways
Rating: G
Notes: Set pre-KH1; no spoilers. They're supposed to be little -- six, seven? Iunno.
Posted: kh_drabble, for the challenge 'question'.
Riku is wet and shivering and his knee is bleeding and the sand ground into the cut is only making it worse, Sora can tell.
Sora sees everything - he sees the practice sword swept out into the water, sees an exasperated Riku splash out to get it back. He sees the current shift, notes the uncharacteristic flash of panic on Riku's faraway face just as he is pulled under. Sora and Kairi make it to the shoreline just in time to see the splintered wood of one of the dock's supports scrape across Riku's knee as he fights his way back to the surface. The traitorous sword floats casually back to the beach, coming to rest gently at Kairi's feet, and Riku is left to struggle back to shore, stumbling as he breaks free of the water. He falls onto the sand and winces as his open cut hits the ground.
Now Riku is sitting in the sand, soaking wet and trembling in the chill of the windy sunset. His eyes are red-rimmed from the sting of salt water, and his knee is bloody and sandy.
It hurts. Sora can tell.
Sora's learned to read Riku's face. Right now Riku is cold and wet. He's angry at the sword for floating away, angry at the tides for pulling him in, angry at the dock for cutting him. He's still getting over the panic of having almost drowned. He's embarrassed that his two best friends saw the whole thing. His knee hurts.
But no tears.
Riku is upset, Sora knows it. Riku is miserable. But he just stares off into the distance, arms folded obstinately. He's silent, stony. Why is he acting so calm?
Sora doesn't know what to say. But then his confused eyes meet Kairi's concerned ones, and he makes up his mind.
"Riku, how come you never cry in front of us?"
"What?" Riku's head comes up sharply; he's startled, his eyes are unguarded, and for a moment Sora can see right through him.
"Kairi and me cry in front of you all the time," Sora continues earnestly. "So how come you never cry in front of us? It's okay. We won't laugh at you... I promise."
For a minute Sora thinks Riku doesn't hear him. He's quiet for what seems like a long time, just looking at Sora with that same startled look on his face. No one moves. Sora watches. Kairi watches. Riku is silent.
But then all of a sudden his face crumples, and he curls into himself and holds onto his knee and his shoulders start shaking. And it's quiet, but Sora can hear it. He's crying.
Sora and Kairi both move closer. Everything's still for a moment, except for Riku's quiet trembling. Then Sora hesitantly reaches out and puts a hand on Riku's shoulder.
Riku looks up, slowly. His eyes are watery and his cheeks are streaked with tears and he's sniffling - Riku's sniffling. And Sora has to kneel down and hug him, because it's a little scary to see Riku like this, but also because he knows this is a good thing, that maybe Riku feels a little better now, a little safer.
Then Kairi is kneeling too and all three of them are hugging, just huddled together in the sand. They stay like that until Riku stops shaking, and then Kairi says, gently, "Let's get you cleaned up," and they stand together.
And now Riku is leaning on them, and it's better this way - Sora can tell already.
Characters/Pairings: Sora, Riku, Kairi; platonic
Title: Both Ways
Rating: G
Notes: Set pre-KH1; no spoilers. They're supposed to be little -- six, seven? Iunno.
Posted: kh_drabble, for the challenge 'question'.
Riku is wet and shivering and his knee is bleeding and the sand ground into the cut is only making it worse, Sora can tell.
Sora sees everything - he sees the practice sword swept out into the water, sees an exasperated Riku splash out to get it back. He sees the current shift, notes the uncharacteristic flash of panic on Riku's faraway face just as he is pulled under. Sora and Kairi make it to the shoreline just in time to see the splintered wood of one of the dock's supports scrape across Riku's knee as he fights his way back to the surface. The traitorous sword floats casually back to the beach, coming to rest gently at Kairi's feet, and Riku is left to struggle back to shore, stumbling as he breaks free of the water. He falls onto the sand and winces as his open cut hits the ground.
Now Riku is sitting in the sand, soaking wet and trembling in the chill of the windy sunset. His eyes are red-rimmed from the sting of salt water, and his knee is bloody and sandy.
It hurts. Sora can tell.
Sora's learned to read Riku's face. Right now Riku is cold and wet. He's angry at the sword for floating away, angry at the tides for pulling him in, angry at the dock for cutting him. He's still getting over the panic of having almost drowned. He's embarrassed that his two best friends saw the whole thing. His knee hurts.
But no tears.
Riku is upset, Sora knows it. Riku is miserable. But he just stares off into the distance, arms folded obstinately. He's silent, stony. Why is he acting so calm?
Sora doesn't know what to say. But then his confused eyes meet Kairi's concerned ones, and he makes up his mind.
"Riku, how come you never cry in front of us?"
"What?" Riku's head comes up sharply; he's startled, his eyes are unguarded, and for a moment Sora can see right through him.
"Kairi and me cry in front of you all the time," Sora continues earnestly. "So how come you never cry in front of us? It's okay. We won't laugh at you... I promise."
For a minute Sora thinks Riku doesn't hear him. He's quiet for what seems like a long time, just looking at Sora with that same startled look on his face. No one moves. Sora watches. Kairi watches. Riku is silent.
But then all of a sudden his face crumples, and he curls into himself and holds onto his knee and his shoulders start shaking. And it's quiet, but Sora can hear it. He's crying.
Sora and Kairi both move closer. Everything's still for a moment, except for Riku's quiet trembling. Then Sora hesitantly reaches out and puts a hand on Riku's shoulder.
Riku looks up, slowly. His eyes are watery and his cheeks are streaked with tears and he's sniffling - Riku's sniffling. And Sora has to kneel down and hug him, because it's a little scary to see Riku like this, but also because he knows this is a good thing, that maybe Riku feels a little better now, a little safer.
Then Kairi is kneeling too and all three of them are hugging, just huddled together in the sand. They stay like that until Riku stops shaking, and then Kairi says, gently, "Let's get you cleaned up," and they stand together.
And now Riku is leaning on them, and it's better this way - Sora can tell already.