RiSo - The Art of Music Ch.4

The next morning Sora couldn't have possibly been any happier… ok so he could have been a little happier, he'd performed a miracle but Roxas had still decked him for it, causing Sora's nose to bleed and ultimately cutting their night (and Sora's time with Riku) short, however he'd still woken up refreshed and with a smile on his face and for the first time in weeks he joined his family for breakfast –or at least the part of the family who hadn't left for work yet- humming to himself while he grabbed a bowl and the box of cereal from the kitchen cupboard.

Roxas and Cloud both silently watched their brother, the oldest blond with his spoon poised at the entrance of his open mouth as he watched the brunet in astonishment and the younger blond rolled his eyes and diverted his attention back to his phone.

Sora dropped himself into a chair with a cheery smile and 'good morning' making Cloud drop his spoon, stand from his chair and march over to the brunet then prod his brother's shoulder and cheek to check that he was real and then feel his forehead for signs that he was sick. "Roxas?" he asked with a dramatically worried tone.

"Oh he's real alright," the boy answered without looking up at the pair and Sora frowned, batting his older brother's hand away with a huff.

"That's not funny Cloud," he mumbled and the older boy sat back down in his seat.

"I haven't seen you in weeks I thought you might have built some kind of robot or something to fool us."

Roxas snorted at this knowing full well that Sora wasn't clever enough for something so elaborate. In return Sora just huffed after pouring milk onto his breakfast, "and you wonder why I don't sit with you," he complained and stuck his tongue out childishly at his oldest brother which made Cloud laugh and returned the comfortable atmosphere.

"Actually I think I'm more worried about Roxas now, he hasn't stopped playing with his phone since he sat down, did something happen? Did you give him your reclusive antisocial syndrome?"

Sora rolled his eyes as Roxas gave his older brother an offended look making Sora smirk while he ate and he swallowed before childishly singing a rendition of "Roxas and Axel sitting in a tree, k.i.s.s.i.n.g" then stopped and looked noncommittal again "though technically it was The Student Bar but I don't know what would rhyme with that," Sora shrugged and continued to grin evilly as he watched Roxas' expression turn from offended to horror stricken and Cloud smirked with an unrelenting amount of cunning.

"I finally get to have the 'big brother' talk to someone," Cloud teased and everyone was sure that if Roxas' eyes widened with anymore horror his eyeballs might fall out of his head.

"Don't you dare Cloud or I swear I'll tell mum and dad why you really went to Tifa's house at Easter."

Cloud glared at Roxas and Sora grinned at the heavy tension, glad to finally have the attention directed at someone else for a change but then the older blond looked at the brunet with sudden realisation, "is that why your nose was bleeding last night?" Sora nodded.

"He punched me because I accidently knocked him into Axel even though it was Demyx who told me to move."

"It was still because of you."

"What are you complaining about at least you have a boyfriend now!"

"Ha! Sora started Roxas' relationship," Cloud laughed as Roxas and his twin now glared at each other but Sora finally sighed, he didn't have time to bicker with Roxas.

"Forget this, I'm going shopping," he said and stood from his chair and placed his empty bowl in the sink.

"For what?" Cloud questioned and Sora wasn't sure he wanted to answer, it was a little embarrassing.

"I need more art supplies," he mumbled.

"Already? How have you used up that much stuff in three weeks?" Cloud asked in astonishment and Roxas scoffed, looking up from his phone which had taken his attention again.

"Haven't you seen our bedroom? I'm sure if you had you'd understand why he needs stuff, and forget three weeks, he's used up most of it in the past three days."

Cloud continued to look astonished as a bright blush adorned Sora's face and he walked towards the front door, calling "don't go into my bedroom Cloud!" before closing the door behind him.

Silence fell over the two remaining brothers and Roxas sighed, redirecting his attention again as Cloud smirked "there's no way I'm not checking this out."

********

Sora knew once it had been mentioned that it was pointless telling Cloud not to go into his room, the older blond would never listen but he could hope, then again he was used to the older blonde's pestering so it was nothing he couldn't live with, right now Sora just wanted to focus on getting his art supplies and getting home to paint and hopefully think about his final piece, he only had four weeks to complete it and that thought alone stressed him out.

The shopping complex wasn't far from his home and with the weather being so nice he decided to walk; he liked the outdoors even if he had kept himself cooped up in the house for a few weeks, he usually got his painting ideas from the scenery around him and the one off encounters he'd have while he walked and he never left the house without his sketchbook so he could sketch when he wanted to, today was no exception but he only had one page left in his current book so he hoped nothing terribly interesting would happen.

On his way there Sora finally pulled out his phone and –in the mood for some company- he text his best friend Kairi, he knew she'd be interested in hearing about Sora's encounter with Riku and she was always fun to be around while shopping. She replied saying she'd leave right away and meet him there and the brunet continued his stroll with a smile on his face.

Once at the complex he only had to wait a minute or two before Kairi waved frantically from beside her car and jogged over to the brunet to give him a long hug. "Sora!" She grinned and pulled away with a small smile on her face, "you've been gone for too long! What happened?"

Sora laughed, "have I got a story for you."

The shopping complex they walked into was pretty huge, it was four floors high and seemed to go on forever, barely a minute went by that the places' announcer didn't ask for a parent to retrieve a lost child, -Sora and Roxas had been in that position once, they hadn't meant to get lost, just run around a bit, but the security guard had found them and taken them to a desk, their mother hadn't been too impressed by their actions but she could never be mad for long.

First they stopped by the book shop for Kairi who had been 'dying to read the Hunger Games' and then tried to find the art supplies shop for Sora, but that would take a while so he decided to explain his encounters with Riku to Kairi starting with the open mic night.

"Well first Axel and Demyx performed, then a girl band, they called themselves Black and White I think-"

"No way!" Kairi suddenly announced, "my cousin Naminé's in that band," she giggled, "sorry, carry on."

Sora smiled, "then there was this guy," the awe in the brunet's voice made Kairi smile at her best friend, "his voice was amazing, and he had these turquoise eyes, it was like looking into the sea Kai and this awesome long silver hair," Sora played with the beads on his multi-coloured necklace as he talked and stared into the distance, a grin on his face and Riku on his mind, the boy really had made an impact on the brunet and Kairi was happy to see Sora so love struck, it had been a while since Sora had looked so happy.

"But that's not the best part," Sora beamed after a moment of silence and Kairi encouraged him to tell her more but they'd arrived at the art shop and suddenly Sora's attention diverted to his supplies.

"So how's your final piece going?" the redhead asked as she followed Sora and looked at some of the supplies for herself.

Sora suddenly frowned, "it's not going anywhere," he admitted and retrieved a tube of green paint.

"Really? But we only have four weeks until the deadline."

Sora sighed, "don't remind me, I've been trying to force myself to paint something but-"

"But you've been too busy drawing this guy right?" Sora looked at Kairi in astonishment, he hadn't even mentioned drawing Riku yet and the girl giggled, "I know you Sora you always do that."

The brunet stuck out his bottom lip and huffed mumbling a "no I don't," before continuing down the shop with a grinning Kairi.

********

"Ok so tell me the best part," Kairi urged as they finally exited the shop and Sora rolled his eyes with a smile.

"Well I cooped myself up in my room and drew him for a couple of days," Sora admitted feeling more and more embarrassed about it as he spoke, saying it out loud seemed to make it all the more ridiculous. "Then Roxas told me that Axel had another gig at The Student Bar so I went with him. It was just a normal Thursday night except there were four acts instead of three -which I thought was pretty strange since they usually limit it to three- and I guess you already know where this is going," Kairi smiled but said nothing, "he was the third act, I couldn't believe it Kai, he goes to the university and he played this amazing song that Ven, Terra, Aqua and Demyx joined in on called Dig. Everyone cheered when it was over but then Roxas got all huffy because Axel decided he wouldn't perform, so Axel turned up at the table while I was sketching and I told him why Roxas was so upset and guess who he brought with him?" Sora began to get giddy and Kairi laughed.

"Mystery man?"

"Yes!" he beamed, "Riku, so Zexion left to find Demyx and told Riku to sit down, he asked to see my sketchbook but I said no, then Zexion came back with Demyx and we all had to move up a little to make space and I accidently pushed Roxas who ended up kissing Axel."

Once he was finished Sora smiled but it slowly turned into a grimace, "but then Roxas punched me and made my nose bleed so we had to leave."

"Wow, that does sound like an eventful night," Kairi smiled. "So what are you going to do about Riku?"

The brunet shrugged, he might not even see the boy again until he started university and even then the chance was slim, he really had no clue. "I'm sure it'll work out fine," the redhead encouraged and Sora smiled.

"Oh! You don't mind if we go to the music shop before we leave do you?"

"No that's fine, looking for anything in particular?"

Sora smiled, "Incubus."

********

By the time the pair had finished shopping it was pushing into late afternoon and Sora really needed to get home and think about his final piece, "I'll see you on Monday Sora," Kairi smiled as the brunet walked her to her car and she hugged him and placed a small kiss on his cheek.

"See you Kai," he replied and waved as Kairi drove away before setting off on his own journey home, his new and old sketchbooks both packed into his satchel as  he carried the rest of his things in the bags he was given.

The walk home was mostly silent and there was a cooling summer breeze tickling Sora's face as he walked, he was so content that he barely noticed the things or people around him, but suddenly realised just how far into his daydream he'd been when he collided with another body and stumbled backwards, tearing one of his bags in the process and all of its contents spilled onto the floor which he quickly bent down to retrieve, "I'm so sorry, are you alright?" the stranger asked frantically and Sora nodded and began to reply with an 'oh yeah I'm fine' but most of the words stuck in his throat when he looked at the stranger and found Riku scurrying after Sora's supplies with him.

When he didn't receive a full response Riku looked up and handed over the fallen paint tubes, "oh hey," he said as realisation struck him and he recognised Sora, "Sora, right?"

The mention of his name shook the brunet out of his gawking and he nodded, "yeah," he replied and took the tubes from Riku to put into his other intact bag while trying to remember how to breathe.

Once all his things were packed away he stood up with the silver haired boy who sent him an apologetic smile, "sorry about crashing into you like that I was in a world of my own," he admitted and Sora shook his head.

"Likewise, I should have been looking."

The atmosphere suddenly felt heavy as silence fell and Sora looked for something, anything to get rid of the awkwardness, "oh yeah, is your nose ok?" Riku suddenly asked and for a moment the brunet didn't know what he was talking about until he remembered the events of the previous night and blushed.

"Oh that," he laughed, "yeah, I'm pretty used to Roxas punching me in the face by now."

Riku laughed and Sora's heart skipped a beat, it was as melodic as his singing voice. "Well I'm glad you're not hurt it looked like he didn't hold back."

"I'm sure he didn't, sometimes I wish it was true that twins could feel each other's pain so he'd know just how hard he punches." Riku laughed again making Sora smile, he wanted to make the boy laugh all the time just to hear the beautiful sound. When silence fell again the brunet looked down at the book in Riku's hand and recognised it immediately, "you like Nicholas Sparks?" he asked and Riku turned the book over in his hand.

"Yeah, that and I need to read it for a lecture on Monday," he laughed.

"The Notebook's one of my favourites," Sora replied and smiled, "I love to paint. Most of the time I have all these thoughts bouncing around in my head… but with a brush in my hand, the world just gets kinda quiet" the brunet quoted making Riku laugh again.

"Wow, maybe you should help me with my paper," Sora's heart hammered against his chest and he resisted the urge to beg Riku to let him but at that moment his phone rang and the brunet frowned as a picture of Roxas lit up his screen.

"Hello."

"Cloud wants to know if you're coming home for dinner he's ordering Chinese food," Roxas' voice sounded thoroughly fed up and Sora could barely hear two male voices in the background which he assumed belonged to his brother and Axel.

"Yeah I'll be home." Sora replied, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice.

"Ok, hurry up then or he'll order without you."

"What's going on over there?"

Roxas sighed heavily, "one word, Halo."

Sora laughed and said goodbye as Roxas cancelled the call and the brunet returned his phone to his pocket before turning his attention back to Riku who was looking at him curiously. "Roxas," he explained, "apparently Axel and my older brother are playing Halo together; it's a recipe for disaster."

Riku smiled, "well I'll let you get back to what you were doing, it was nice to see you again Sora."

"Yeah, you too," the brunet replied and they both turned to walk away but Sora suddenly stopped, "Riku," he called but as the boy turned to face him the brunet changed his mind, he was going to ask the silver haired boy if he'd like to join him and the others for dinner but he suddenly remembered the state of his room and how Cloud would act and it became the most appalling idea Sora had ever thought of. But now he'd stopped the boy so he had to say something so he didn't look like such an idiot. "T-there's another gig next week at The Student Bar, will you be there?" Ok so now he sounded kind of desperate but he'd go with it.

In response Riku smiled, "yeah, definitely."

"Cool, I'll see you there then," Sora grinned and said goodbye again, at least now he had something to look forward to.

********

When he arrived home chaos had broken out, Sora found the trio of boys in the living room, Roxas lay upside down on a single chair with a book in his hand and a notepad on the arm of the chair as Cloud and Axel battled it out on Soul Calibur, shouting obscenities and praising each other as the fight progressed and the brunet had to laugh, so much for Cloud's 'big brother talk'.

The older blond looked up at Sora as he played, "finally, I'm starving," he said as the brunet sat in the only vacant chair opposite Roxas who gave him a bored and defeated look.

"Want to help me get the plates?" Sora asked and the blond expertly rolled off the chair and onto the floor to join his twin in the kitchen. "Nothing much has changed then?" The brunet smirked.

"Axel thinks Cloud will cut his head off if he goes near me when we're all in the same room, so no."

"I thought you were supposed to be happy."

"I am happy," Roxas said but it didn't sound too convincing, "I'm just not happy when Cloud's around." Sora laughed. "Did you get all of your stuff?"

"Yeah," Sora replied while he retrieved the plates from the cupboard, "I bumped into Riku on the way home too… literally," he added.

"Oh really? What happened, did you stand and gawk at him for the entire time?" Roxas teased and Sora scowled at him.

"We talked actually, he likes Nicholas Sparks and he remembered my name," the brunet beamed and Roxas rolled his eyes at him.

"Of course he remembered your name, idiot. He barely kept his eyes off you," the blonde's face split into a wide smirk and Sora blushed.

"Stop making stuff up," he scolded, "anyway he's going to be at the regular place next week too."

Roxas sighed, "I think I liked you better as a recluse," he mumbled and dodged the fork that Sora threw at him and laughed as he returned to the living room.