~ Till Death Do We Part ~

As soon as Riku passed the hydrangea blooms on his way to Sora's house, a scratchy, uncomfortable itch grew like vines up his throat. Every step made his body scream a little closer to death, until he had no choice but to cough. But he did so like someone who was entirely exhausted of giving in to his body's unwieldy demands, no matter the necessity – a half-ass gravelly grunt that rumbled more in his chest than the air around him. Can't wait two minutes, can you, Riku asked his lungs, though he knew the answer. Hands on his knees, he breathed in the autumn air as far as he could, and exhaled hard, just to prove he was capable.

Coughing weakly into his elbow, he stood, and picked up his pace, to put himself farther from the flowers but ever closer to the wooden fence surrounding Sora's yard that had long been a second home. The little wooden gate carved with Sora's family name squealed as he yanked it open, but he paid no mind to the poorly concealed and enchanted sound effects. He barely spared a glance to the spider webs creeping over the bushes and trees with real spiders in vibrant neons writhing in their temporary homes, or the carved, moaning pumpkins along the walkway to the door, or the infinitely flickering candles at the porch. On the door had a black wreath with skulls around it, and a little sign that said, "Witches Welcome." Riku was almost certain it was from the local craft store, ran by Kairi's mother, and so he had to snort: how funny that actual witches would use Halloween decorations like they didn't fit the description year round.

When Riku approached the front, he heard the telltale click and the tall, wooden door swung open on its own. Riku wasn't phased though; it'd been unlocked for him since he was five. As soon as he stepped through, his nose was met with a light pumpkin spice scent. It tickled his nose until it settled like a knot in his lungs, and he coughed fruitlessly into his elbow. Normally, this was the one place that didn't upset his lungs, with all the enchantments and raw magical energy in the air, but, even magic had limitations. That was at least part of the reason he was here. Sighing, he slipped his shoes off. Socks padding lightly across the wooden floors, he made his way to the living room where brown tousled hair peaked over the top, and Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas loudly stirred a gross, pale green soup on the TV screen.

Riku was quiet but not enough. Sora tilted his head back with wide, blue eyes, and said brightly, "Hey!"

"Hey," Riku said, smiling instantly as his anxiety melted. Speaking was a bad idea because he instantly wanted to cough but he repressed it. "Where's the–"

Sora replied with a grin over his shoulder, "On the counter." Riku nodded, walking toward him, and Sora continued with growing in enthusiasm, "Wanna order pizza? Parents are gone tonight." Hands behind his head casually, his bangs hung upside-down as he continued to lean back, though it hardly looked comfortable – kind of like a cat arching in a stretch. Which, did alert the undead cat slumbering on the top of the couch, her black head raising in alarm with brilliant yellow eyes. She took one look at Riku, hissed, and then jumped down to the cushion.

"Aww, don't be like that, Chester," Sora cooed, glancing to her for a moment before reverting his gaze back to him. Riku paid the cat no mind; they'd never gotten along. Besides, he was too busy admiring how cute his boyfriend was, practically elongating his spine on the couch just to keep eye contact with him. Riku wanted so badly to kiss the forehead was often hidden behind Sora's mop, and was close enough to do it – but, with an inward sigh, thought better of it. He booped his nose instead.

Sora made a cute, scrunched-up face, and a small noise of discomfort – so, for his sanity, Riku went to the kitchen. "Yeah? With what money?"

Riku didn't have to see him to know he rubbed his face to recover, and heard the triumph in his voice when he said: "Mom left me with thirty!" Then he began humming "What's This?" along with the movie – Chester meowed at him.

"Sure," Riku agreed, because one, more time with Sora, and two, free pizza.

The other cheered. "Hurry up and take your potion already, you're gonna miss the best part!"

Huffing in amusement, Riku obliged, eyes already scanning the kitchen counter for a purple jar. There were a couple scattered along the black-speckled marble, intermixed with various bundles of dried flowers, small animal bones, feathers, stones, report cards, candy, and receipts. About as coherent as the witches in residence. But Riku was desensitized to it by now, and grabbed the jarred brews. One in each hand, he considered them; looks like Sora's parents made him two this time. The dark jar color was to make up for the fact that the potion itself was pitch black, and tasted it too. But it kept Riku's lungs happy for a week, so, tar potion he'd willingly drink.

He put one back on the counter, and twisted the top off of the other. It smelled a little different – like they added cinnamon in with the normal lemon and sage. But, inwardly shrugging and eager to get the whole thing over with so he could breathe and watch a movie with Sora, he tipped it back and chugged it. And oh god, it was as awful as ever – burned going down, leaving a potent bitterness on his tongue that almost made him gag.

He grunted in disgust after the last swallow, shuddered involuntarily, and put the empty jar in the sink. The things he did to stay alive.

He headed to back to the couch, so ready to plop down next to Sora – Chester could move. The potion worked fast; the incessant itching at the back of his throat began to ebb mere breaths after drinking. He relished how empty and free his breaths felt, the normal cadence that synchronized with his heartbeat.

Until, that steady heartbeat slowed, and hardened like the beat of a big drum as he took his second step past the kitchen. Before he could even make a sound, his vision swung wildly, twisting the pictures on the walls and blurring the coffee table legs into the floor. A shiver went down his spine, and his gut felt like it dropped through the floor. Something wasn't right. "Sora, did your parents make the potion different this time?" he managed, voice thick – his eyes were so heavy, closing, and he couldn't think, "I… feel–"

His senses went dark before he could even feel his body hit the floor.

Waking was less a moment than a gradual progression from absolute nothingness to pitch blackness. All he could feel was the hard ground on his back and the muffled words of someone familiar, as if he stared up from the bottom of a deep lake.

It was Sora, Riku realized. Listening and trying to decipher was the impetus that bubbled his conscious closer and closer to the surface. He heard parts of words but nothing that made sense. He tried to open his eyes, fluttering them slowly.

He was on Sora's living room floor. He tried to remember how he got there, remembered taking his potion then– This. Groaning, Riku sat up lethargically, still numb and disoriented. He heard the familiar disgruntled meow of Chester and looked down; there she was, curled into a ball on his lap. He stared in amazement; she had never been this close to him before.

"Riku's awake!" Sora cried from the kitchen. Riku looked up in surprise. "Oh, thank–" He stopped for the little chatter that sounded like it came from a speaker; looking over, Riku discovered it was Sora'a phone. Sora listened to the person on the line, anxiously biting his lip and nodding.

"Okay," Sora said, then sniffled. "Okay. I love you, too. I'll take care of him." He listened more and turned bright red, glancing to Riku. "I'll tell him, Mom, gees. Bye." They hung up and the phone slipped into his pocket. Not even a moment later he joined Riku's side on the floor.

"What…" Riku started, then stopped, because that wasn't his voice that left his mouth. It had always carried a rumble-like timbre even with Sora's parents' potions, but the voice that accompanied his words was smooth and clear. "What happened?" he tried again, confusion mounting as it remained the same. It didn't hurt either. "I feel super weird."

"Err… so…" Sora began, hands fidgeting in his lap. "Don't freak out, but you drank my potion instead of your coughing draught," Sora replied hesitantly, grimacing. "It was my homework." He glanced to Chester in Riku's lap, eyebrows flitting together in confusion.

"Oh, that explains a few things," Riku said simply. And then the implications caught up to him, and he blanched. Sora rushed to explain more. "My mom already told me that she can cure you when she comes home tomorrow so, you're only temporarily a zombie."

"I– what?"

"My potion, um, turned you into a zombie." He rubbed the back of his head, chuckling nervously. "Which was not supposed to happen, I promise, and I'm super sorry–"

Riku was still reeling from the first sentence, stuck on the word "zombie". He looked down to his lap, to see his hands – and oh my god, they were blue-tinted instead of pink. Like he was dead. He stared at Chester, slumbering peacefully now, completely still as she did not need for oxygen.

It was then, Riku noticed that he wasn't breathing either. At all. In fact, his whole body felt... still. Empty. Like everything around him except Sora was without substance. Flat. Riku had never noticed his heartbeat before aside during exercise, but now without it, his body was stuck in deafening silence.

When he joked that Sora would be the death of him, this is not what he meant – and he could hardly blame fate for taking the bait.

But Sora still looked distraught, on the verge of tears actually, eyes puffy like he had been already. Not wanting to make him feel worse, and maybe still a bit in shock, he tried, "Well, your cat doesn't hate me anymore and, you uh, cured my cough."

"Yeah, by killing you!" Sora groaned, and put his forehead on Riku's shoulder. "Sora the witch, killed his first boyfriend at sixteen."

That earned a chuckle, just due to the absurdity of it all and the novel word 'boyfriend', and he replied, "I'm not dead dead. Just. Undead? Like her?" He experimentally pet Chester's head softly. He expected her to hiss and run away but no; she started to purr.

Sora bit his lip and stared at his cat, unconvinced. He turned his head to the side, looking up at him hesitant and surprised. "You're… not mad?"

Riku paused to think about it. Maybe he was too calm – but, this is exactly what kind of luck Riku had. Born with bad lungs only livable with magic, allergic to just about everything, picked the wrong potion, turned into a zombie. It all just fit. The only lucky thing that had ever happened to him was Sora – and even that, lately, he wasn't so sure. He was just waiting for the day Sora realized he deserved way better than him and his luck ran out, and did his best to slow down the countdown.

So, no, he wasn't mad, at Sora or being a zombie. "Nah," he said, tilting his head in consideration, "it was an accident - your mom's gonna fix it anyway."

Sora looked considerably relieved, finally smiling. Riku smiled back, and continued, "So, did your mom say anything else about … this?"

"Yeah. She said you're gonna like… go through "rigor mortis", or something?Basically we're both under house arrest so, you gotta spend the night," Sora finished, bashfully looking to the side.

Whatever "rigor mortis" was flew right out of his head at the news of the second part. The last time Riku had spent the night was years ago, before he discovered that "best" wasn't the only qualifier to "friend" he wanted with Sora. Funny, that their first sleepover since then would be now, as two-month-long boyfriends that barely acted it. Nothing much changed except hand-holding and texts. It made a overnight stay seem kind of a jump.

"It'll be like old times," Sora continued, picking up a little enthusiasm. "A sleepover!"

Like old times, Riku wondered. Like old times was why they'd stopped in the first place: Sora sleepovers meant all-night movies and falling asleep side by side. Sora sleepovers meant delirious giggling and goofy wrestling. Things that hurt too much when they were just friends. But they weren't just friends anymore, and there wasn't any helping it; Riku couldn't go home like this. So he had to try.

"Yeah," Riku said, "it's been forever."

Sora grinned and got to his feet. He stretched out a hand to help Riku up, and he took it. Chester meowed indignantly and clambered out of his lap.

"Woah, your hand is freezing," Sora said on Riku's way up.

"No, your hand is just super warm." Must be a zombie thing, he thought.

"If you say so. Hey, wanna order the pizza? I'm starving." Sora kept holding Riku's hand and got his phone out with the other, fingers deftly navigating to the pizza delivery app.

Riku stood there awkwardly, not sure if he should let go of Sora's hand or just stay. He opted to stay, if nothing else but for the self-indulgence of it, and the alluring warmth.

Before he finished the order, Sora glanced up at him. "About the sleepover," Sora mumbled, "uhm, I really missed them." Sora was cherry red again, eyes to the side.

Riku felt his own face flush; he wondered if he blushed blue. "Me too." Sora's hand felt like hope.

One Year Prior

Laughter drifted over the tombstones of Magnolia Cemetery – but it wasn't the sinister giggles escaping the dead, despite the holiday; no, it was just the raucous local teens, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Lea, Roxas, Xion, and Namine as they concluded their yearly successful trick-or-treat raid.

"If I fine one more Smarties, I'm egging the Smith's house," Roxas grumbled, his candy in organized piles spread out in front of him on a blanket in the grass. He wasn't the only one; all had dumped their pillow cases into their laps, counting and sorting candy for later trade.

"Maybe they're trying to tell you something, Rox," Lea said, snark in every syllable. It earned him a hard shove, nearly making him fall over. He only laughed in response, though.

"Well, I like Smarties," Xion said, giggling at Lea struggling to avoid Roxas's hands. "We can trade after counting."

"Ugh, you guys are distracting me," Riku said, to the right of Sora, his pile the least tall among them except Namine. Sora had nothing to do with that, of course, nor the already-empty wrappers that Riku kept finding.

Kairi, to Sora'a left, then shouted, "TEN, ELEVEN, TWELVE–"

"Aww, Kai, you made me lose my number," Sora lamented, though he hadn't made much progress.

"Pfft, you're gonna win anyway," Lea snorted.

"No, I am!" Roxas argued, "My pile's just as big."

Xion looked down to her pile, and sighed. "Hey Namine, wanna combine? It's the only way we'll have a chance."

"But, guys!" Kairi exclaimed, scandalized, "Who would get the kiss then?"

Sora didn't know how it came to this, their game; in years past, whoever got the most Halloween candy won first dibs at trading candy, or could copy homework from the others for a month, or something like that. But this year? The winner could kiss whoever they wanted.

Xion shrugged. "I'd let Namine have it."

"What?" the blonde said, frowning in surprise. "But you have more candy."

"I don't mind," Xion said gently.

Roxas then smirked elbow planting in his knee in his best investigating pose. "Who would you kiss, Namine?"

His twin, unfazed, merely smirked back, an evil look for her bloody nurse costume. She leaned forward with feigned interest, and echoed, "Who would you kiss?"

Roxas scowled. "Like I'd tell you."

"If you win, we'll find out, you know," Kairi teased.

Always easy to fluster, Roxas blushed. "Whatever."

"Well, I have 57 pieces," Riku announced, dropping a tiny Snickers onto his chocolate pile. Then he leaned back on his palms, satisfied. "Hurry up and count, it's already almost ten o'clock."

He looked so satisfied, despite knowing he wasn't going to win; Riku had the smile of an afterthought on his lips, the unconscious kind as he observed their friends. His lips were tinted green, like the rest of him for his zombie costume. Sora having witch parents came in handy for these holidays, able to turn skin, hair and eye colors any of the rainbow. The fake wounds on him looked so real, too; the one on his cheek to show convincing but fake teeth behind it; the slashes on his arms deceptively deep; one on his side that his parents kept less gory on purpose but still looked gross. Sora could see it especially well as Riku leaned back, his cut up shirt a bloody crop-top, essentially, leaving nothing to the imagine that Riku, for sure, must work out every day, like wow-

"You too, dummy, I'm not counting for you," Riku said, not a single note of condescension in his tone.

Sora snapped up, feeling his gaze, and released a sheepish, "Heh– oops, got distracted."

"The mermaids calling you home?" Kairi teased him; this year, Sora was a gender-bent Ariel, wearing the white toga-like garment that the princess wore after becoming human. But never one to skimp on Halloween, he had his parents given him brilliant green patches of fish scales all over his body, and his ears were transformed into fins. Tangled in the toga was a rope fishnet, hooks snagged in various places. He really did look like a fish out of water, a creature tragically washed up on the shore. And he loved it.

"I wanna be where the people are," Sora quoted with a grin, and turned back to his pile. Contradictory to his word, Riku started making piles of ten as Sora counted. It got quiet as they and the others finally settled to their task seriously.

"156," Sora finally said, proud. That was definitely a Halloween record.

"Aww, what?" Roxas cried, peering over scrutinizingly at Sora's sorted piles. He tsk-ed, "Shit. I've only got 97."

Murmurs around the group all rang out in the 70 range, though Xion and Namine's combined efforts got to 120. "Looks like you win, Sora," Namine said sweetly.

Lea didn't miss a single beat. "So Sora, who're you gonna kiss?" he asked with a wolffish grin, jade eyes glittering in interest.

All eyes turned to him, expectant. It twisted his gut, made the magic in his body writhe uncomfortably under his skin. Honestly, he didn't think he was going to get this far. His face warmed, and he automatically looked to Riku; it was the safest place to look. "Heh–uh, I mean, I dunno, I didn't really…?"

Riku tilted his head, confused. It masked over quickly, though, morphing into a rigid but soft smile. He was about to say something, but Xion interjected, "It's just a game, Sora." When the merman looked over, the rest had this knowing look in their eyes, but Sora didn't know what there was to get. "You don't actually have to kiss anyone."

"O-oh," he said, then laughed, "duh. Yeah." Though he looked at Riku again, somehow… disappointed. Riku was giving him a look – they normally communicated in their own silent way, but Sora felt like it was a new language he hadn't picked up. "Err– Riku, wanna trade? I have like, a million warheads." Sora knew lemon-flavored and sour candies were his favorite.

"Sure," Riku replied, seemingly happy to talk about something else, "I've got too many Skittles." He always had Sora's back.

And so, their Grand Exchange began. Lea, a known Jolly Rancher and Red Hot hoarder, basically traded everything he had for them; Roxas and Xion squabbled over the Sea Salt taffy and lollipops; Naminé and Kairi got the Smarties and gumdrops; and Sora kept most the chocolate, and traded for more Skittles.

While Lea shoved as many Red Hots in his mouth as he could for a bet from the twins, Riku teased Sora and Kairi for their traded candy, making them fight for it one package at a time.

"Riku," Kairi half-whined, half-giggled as she tried to snatch the gumdrop box from Riku's outstretched hand, purposely kept far away. "Give, me, the, candy!" she grunted, practically pushing them both over leaning so hard.

"What are you going to give me for it?" Riku said, voice so low and gravelly from talking all night, likely upsetting his throat. Still, the hint of amusement still rang for anyone with a trained ear, which Sora and Kairi had.

She swiped again at the box, fingers just brushing it. "Caramel duds?" she offered after the unsuccessful steal.

Riku pfft'd and said, "Sora, catch." He lightly tossed the box toward him, which fell naturally into Sora's cupped hands like it was fate. "Trade with him," he told her. He didn't even look over to him as he said it.

"That's cheating, but fi~ne," she said, straightening up, "Sora, what do you want for the gumdrops?"

He traded her for a Milky Way, and then turned back to Riku. "You uh, you gave me candy so I should give you one. What you want?"

Riku must not have thought anything of it, because he looked over at Sora in surprise. "It's fine, I got everything I wanted," which sounded like a lie, but okay. Sora frowned. "Wanna… share some Skittles?" He opened a bag before Riku could protest, sorting out the green and yellow ones.

Through his eyelashes he could see Riku's apathetic stare, unaware of Sora's plot. With an evil grin, Sora taunted, "Catch, zombie," and threw a green skittle at him; it pelted Riku in the forehead.

"Hey!" Riku retorted, glaring as Sora giggled, "Rude, wasting skittles." He was quick to break though, grinning despite the offense.

Sora just threw another, though yellow this time. It soared high this time, so Riku just opened his mouth and caught it – then smirked in victory.

"Oh yeah?" Sora readied another Skittle. "Catch this!"

Riku caught it in hand this time. "Ew, orange."

Sora opened his mouth expectantly, pointing. Riku laughed again, "You really are a fish," before he perfectly arched the skittle into Sora's mouth. "Gross."

"You're just a hater," Sora retorted, chewing the sugary treat.

The other shrugged, then coughed lightly into his hand. Sora frowned, forgetting anyone else was there at all. "Hey, why don't you spend the night? My parents could make the potion."

For some reason, Riku glanced to Kairi (who was conspiratorially eating gumdrops and whispering with Namine), and then shook his head. "Nah… it's fine."

Sora glanced between the two girls and Riku, eyebrows knitting together. Riku never spent the night anymore, not for years, so it wasn't the rejection that surprised him, but… What did it have to do with Kairi and Namine?

"Well," Xion sighed, her phone screen light shining on her face, "I gotta go, I told my mom I'd be home by eleven."

Sora looked at his phone, shocked it was already ten-thirty. Lea sighed and agreed, "Yeah, same. I'll walk you home; it's on the way."

"Me and Namine should go, too," Roxas said. His sister nodded.

They gathered their candy and said their goodbyes at the cemetery gates. As custom, Sora left some of his candies on the graves; a thank you to the spirits for letting them hang out in their final resting place. A couple ghosts poked their heads up to say Happy Halloween, so naturally, the chatty Sora was the last to leave. Riku and Kairi waited up for him at the gates. They were able to procrastinate by talking for a few more minutes before Kairi mentioned she should go, too.

"Me and Riku will walk you home," Sora said, sure. He grinned. "Right, Riku?" He thought about trying to convince Riku to spend the night after dropping Kairi off; sure, it'd been a long time since their last sleepover but–

"Err, nah, you two go ahead," Riku said, looking everywhere but at his two best friends. "I need to… pick up something from school. I forgot my homework." His hands went deeper into his pockets, shoulders narrowing in on himself.

Even Sora didn't buy it, but Kairi spoke, "What? Riku, it's super late. The school will be locked."

"I'll find a way–"

"And there's no school tomorrow, you could go then," Sora supplied, concern prickling at him.

Riku paused, face somehow conflicted and blank at the same time. He tensed in place, like a cornered cat. "I just, I just gotta go. Sorry guys, I'll – I'll see you later."

Before either of them could say anything, Riku turned and walked away. He disappeared around the corner before either of them thought of what to say.

Kairi sighed deeply. "That idiot," she said sadly.

"What's his deal?" Sora asked, staring at the last spot he was visible. He felt deflated.

"Uh…" Kairi avoided. Sora turned back to her, seeing her tap the concrete with the top of her shoe bashfully. "I think…. He thought you wanted to kiss me."

"What?" Suddenly he remembered his "prize". Then it was his turn to stare at the concrete. "Oh."

"You didn't, though… right?" she asked, still awkwardly fixated on her shoes. She kept her voice carefully void of assumptions, making it impossible for Sora to tell what she wanted to hear.

Sora could hardly believe he was having this conversation, but he had to be honest. "No, I… I don't, think so?"

The redhead exhaled quick, finally looked up, and smiled, "Thank god – I didn't really want to either."

Sora felt like this should be ground-breaking for him, should feel like a huge change but it– it wasn't. Instead he felt like, he was being told that water was wet – it just made sense. "What, would kissing me be that terrible? Gees, Kairi, thanks," he teased, strangely relieved.

"It'd be like kissing my brother," she replied, nose scrunching up cutely. Naturally, they began walking away from the cemetery, taking the same side-walked path to Kairi's house that they both knew like the back of their hands.

"Namine kisses Roxas, on the cheek," Sora argued.

"Yeah, as a form of bullying, I think," she giggled again. She flung her candy bag over her shoulder, like a hitchhiker would. As they passed the corner where Riku turned, Sora couldn't help but look down the empty street, wishing he could go after him. And say what, he didn't know, but–

"When are you going to tell him?" Kairi suddenly asked, her gaze down the same street.

Sora flushed; "Tell him what?"

"C'mon, Sora, every time someone mentioned the kiss you looked at Riku," she scoffed, but her smile was kind.

"No, I didn't," Sora denied, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized she was right.

She squinted at him. "And you're gonna tell me I didn't see you holding his hand through the haunted house?"

"Listen, it was scary!" he defended himself, but found himself smiling despite it. He'd almost forgotten about it already, given he'd had his eyes closed for eighty-five percent of it, and the other fifteen was Sora staring at Riku's back. Riku tried to be strong, but he felt every time he got scared, because he'd squeeze Sora's hand and flinch.

"Whatever," she sighed, looking at him like he was a lost cause. "You should at least tell him you don't like me."

As they approached her house, yard completely covered in carved, glowing pumpkins, they slowed. She crossed her arms as best she could with her pillowcase, and added, "I'm tired of getting shoved with you by default just 'cause he thinks thats what we want."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, "I'm sorry, Kai." It was probably Sora's fault that Riku thought that, even though it had been years since Sora had even mentioned it.

They stopped a couple steps away from her porch. "It's cool, I was half-kidding," she replied brightly. She dug into her pockets for keys, the slit hidden by the black lines on her Pink Crayola Crayon costume. "But seriously, I think you should tell him. It'd make him happy."

It… would? Was all Sora could think as Kairi pulled him into a hug. "Goodnight, Sora… and Happy Halloween! Oh, and thanks for walking me home."

"Of course," he said, sincerely, squeezing her affectionately before pulling away. "Text me."

"You know it!" She waved her phone in one hand as she unlocked her door with the other. "Bye!" she whispered through the door. And then, it closed and it was just Sora and the chilled, October breeze.

He texted Riku immediately, but didn't get a response until Sora was already home. Riku acted like nothing had changed – and maybe it hadn't. Maybe it was just Sora who had changed.

After Sora ate the entire pizza by himself – because Riku insisted it tasted like moist dirt to him – he got another time-tested sleepover idea.

"Remember when we used to make pillow forts?" Sora said excitedly. It was getting late now, though Sora felt very much awake.

"Yeah?" Riku asked, idly petting Chester. She wouldn't leave him alone; when he tried to put her down, she climbed his leg up to his shoulder to perch there. To avoid the claws, he held her instead.

Watching her purr and keen into his scratches, Sora frowned. He had made the defunct potion to become Chester for witch homework - but now he really wanted to be her. It wasn't fair.

"We should totally do that again!" Sora insisted, forcing his gaze back to his boyfriend and not Chester's, "It's like, required for sleepovers."

"Ha, you lead," Riku said, hardly suspending his disbelief with a faint grin.

So, Sora turned and headed down the hall, sending a smile over his shoulder to Riku who followed. He stopped halfway down at the linen closet for supplies. The extra sheets and pillows were stacked at the top, which, of course they were, and so he reached up on his tip-toes to grab them. That was when he felt Riku's hand as cold as ice on his middle-back.

"I got it," he said, low but right in his ear. Chester protested with a small meow, but it didn't override the hidden amusement in Riku's clear voice. It made Sora tongue-tied; how was it that Riku managed to make Sora so warm even when he was cold and technically dead.

"Just– just don't drop the pillows on me, Mr. Zombie," Sora said, because it was the only thing he could think of that didn't involve admitting how fast his heart was beating.

His undead boyfriend hummed, and then Sora's vision turned a dark grey; he put one of the blankets over him. "But sheets are okay?" Riku said, lofty and innocent, though Sora knew better.

"Boooo," Sora said, twirling to face him. They were still close, and Sora was so grateful for the sheet hiding his cherry-red face. He could barely see through it, but he saw Riku smiling softly down to him. Hiding under the blanket made him so much less antsy that, for once, Sora didn't pull away, allowing himself to stare up into that serene grin, bask in it like his mind could take a picture. It didn't matter Riku was undead; he was still Riku.

Riku chuckled again, flashing a toothy grin that only added to the insistent want, but then took a step back, to allow Sora out of the small closet. Right… the pillow fort.

They went to the end of the hall to Sora's room, a disaster as always; potion supplies on the ground, pens and toys floating in the air, his bed disheveled. Maybe this was why he got the potion wrong, Sora thought sheepishly.

"You never cease to amaze," Riku said, behind him, knowing eyes observing the suspended chaos.

"Whatever, mom," Sora retorted, before directing his magic to guide objects to corners and out of the way. When Riku snorted behind him, Sora suggested, "Let's drape the sheet over the TV, so we can watch movies and stuff."

"Sure," Riku agreed, struggling to get Chester off of him, "we could tie the other side to your bedposts."

And so they did, creating more like a cube with blanket walls than a fort, pillows stacked against the bed railing for them to lean. It was a little silly considering they could have done the same thing on the couch; but that'd be boring and against sleepover tradition. Sora wanted to distract Riku from being zombified, and figured this was the best way.

After Sora tossed in his bed's blanket, they clambered in, laughing how they were getting too big for this after Riku's head pushed against the top when he tried to lay back. He let himself slide down until he fit, making him look very slouched. Chester almost immediately clambered back into his lap, earning an incredulous laugh from him. Meanwhile Sora stared at the space next to him; it wouldn't be weird if he were close, right?

He decided that it would be weirder if he didn't. He sidled up so close to him that he could feel Riku's icy shoulder against his own; that counted as a victory. "What d'you wanna do?" he said, hopefully casually.

"We're still missing candy and string lights," Riku mentioned, eyes on Sora in a sidelong glance.

"Oh right!" Sora exclaimed. "Grab the skittles?"

"You mean at the top of the pantry where your parents are trying to hide it from you?" he asked, eyebrows raised knowingly.

"Hehe," Sora mischievously replied, "it's for trick-or-treaters, so it's for me anyway!"

"Pfft, not for another three days." Riku laughed doubtfully, but was already getting up. Sora kind of missed the touch, even though it was cold.

"Once a trick or treater, always a trick or treater," Sora cheekily replied. Riku laughed, but didn't warrant it with a reply, practically tripping on his way out of the fort.

As soon as Riku was gone, Sora grinned; he'd learned some new magic, and finally had an opportunity to show him. Scooting to the middle of their square structure, he cupped his hands close to his chest, falling into a rhythm with his breath. The spell required good thoughts, like flying in Peter Pan, so he thought about Riku, and thought about all the times they held hands, and their strings of good night texts that lasted hours after the first one was said, and let that warmth fill his chest, and–

A few muttered syllables, and he opened his eyes. He gasped in glee; it worked! Circling around him were small, glittering lights, exactly like the pixie dust in the Disney movie; he wondered if his ideation of them had anything to do with it, but it was perfect and he didn't care.

Riku returned then too, head ducking under the blanket first. "Woah," he said, buckling down to his knees to fit under the low hanging blanket. "You did this?"

"Yeah! It's a new spell I learned," Sora said, excitedly watching Riku for every moment of his reaction. His aquamarine eyes glittered from the lights, happy and entrancing. He even reflected off his hair, as silver as ever, and it was everything Sora hoped for.

"It's… really cool," Riku said in awe, "Uh, here." He held out his arm with the skittles bag in hand.

"Thanks," Sora said, for more than one thing, and feeling bashful again.

They returned to their spots, and Sora ate a handful of skittles out of anxiety more than anything else. "Okay, now what do you want to do?" he asked, only for Riku to shrug.

"You were watching Nightmare Before Christmas, so… I dunno, Corpse Bride?"

"It's because you're undead, isn't it?" Sora asked, leaning his head on Riku's shoulder with a cheeky grin.

"Shut up," Riku sighed, but smiled back.

It turned into a Halloween-themed movie marathon. Sora ate more and more skittles while Corpse Bride, Edward Scissorhands, and Beetlejuice played on Sora's TV. The clock showed higher and higher numbers until it went full circle, back to one, and then two. Eventually Sora and Riku laid down, Riku behind Sora, supposedly watching from over Sora's shoulder, propped on his elbow. It was only at the end of Beetlejuice when Sora realized Riku hadn't responded to him in a hot minute, and so looked over his shoulder.

Oh, he'd fallen asleep. And rather haphazardly, at that; his arm tucked under his head as a pillow, the other arm slightly curled into himself. He hadn't even brought the blanket up past his hips, but maybe, Sora thought, it was because him being undead made temperatures weird. Looking at Riku's peaceful, slumbering face brought a sympathetic yawn to the surface of Sora's throat, pulling it out of him like tugging a string.

The thought of crawling into his own bed never even crossed his mind – but memories of their childhood sleepovers did, how they fell asleep where they played and would wake up tucked into Sora's bed perfectly by his gentle mother. It filled his chest with warmth, and the lights in the fort shimmered a little brighter for that fleeting moment. He yawned again, and slid back down onto his side but faced his sleeping zombie – close to but not touching him. Sora didn't want to wake him up.

It was only when Sora settled that he felt how cold Riku was; it radiated off of him into the air surrounding him, it was so potent. Sora shivered a little, before sending his magic out to pull the blanket over him and Riku. Turned the TV off too, while he was at it. Sora's little fairy lights glimmered weakly over him, reflective of his tired state, but still gave off enough light to see around him – to peer at Riku's slumbering, unthinking face.

He looked so peaceful – and gorgeous, but that was always the case. His undead hue made him seem ethereal and larger than life effortlessly. Riku was always complimenting Sora's magic but didn't see his own. Sora couldn't take his eyes off it.

"It's not fair," Sora mumbled, to himself but also at Riku. "You're so calm about everything – you became a zombie and still act like normal. I couldn't do that…"

The yellow lights made Riku's face look a little green. Without his steady, somewhat rumbled breathing, he was so still it was alarming, but Sora wondered if Riku could sleep better this way. Sora kinda missed his normal voice though, the roughness and all.

That was the kind of thing Sora never said. Sora sighed, his breath moving a tuft of Riku's hair conveniently out of his fact. "I'm sorry, it's been so weird since we started going out – no, I've been weird. You've been…" he grinned, "so perfect I don't even know what to do with myself."

It was no wonder Riku had admirers at school. "You've probably already kissed someone, and I'm just being a big baby about it all. Probably not even a big deal," he grumbled.

But kissing Riku would be a big deal, for him – in a good way. He wanted to do all the things that boyfriends did, like kiss and cuddle, hold hands in the halls at school, and – maybe it was naive to think their parents would agree but – have sleepovers again. As long as it was with Riku. "I'm gonna stop being awkward about everything," he mumbled again, yawning afterwards. "And if I win the candy contest again I'll definitely kiss you," he told him, more like telling himself so that he couldn't back down later since it was said aloud. He curled his arm further into himself, readjusting his head to get comfortable. Riku can't lose blood circulation in his arm, right? Sora hoped not, as he was using it as a pillow. Even though Riku was cold, being so close to him made him blissfully warm.

It was so late that Sora quickly drifted off. He thought about what could have happened last Halloween. Maybe they could have kissed after they dropped off Kairi, since Riku would have walked Sora home, too – had he been brave enough. In the fantastical scenario in Sora's brain, Sora imagined kissing in the cemetery – practically the jungle gym of their childhood, where the ghosts played along with their games of Knights and Heroes and magical splendor. The fantasy quickly turned into a dream, Sora falling farther and farther into it until Riku's cold skin was instead the chilly October night wind, and Chester's purring behind him was the rustle of the willow tree leaves.

"So, how are you feeling?"

Sora and Riku sat at the kitchen table, a bowl of cereal in front of Sora and nothing in front of Riku. Riku tried a bite of Sora's Lucky Charms but, it still tasted like something vile and unholy. Which sucked, because Riku was starting to feel hungry – or something adjacent to it, like his stomach was utterly empty and the rest of him somewhat sluggish and restless.

"…Slow. And I'm kinda, hungry but not for food?" Riku said, testing the sentence, "But otherwise, fine? I think?"

Sora giggled into his spoon, teasing before taking a bite, "Are you hungry for brains now?"

Riku scrunched up his nose. "I hope not." It earned him more snickering. It was cute, always had been, the way Sora's laugh took over every part of him; his laughter always made him shake no matter how small, and his smile was always wide and toothy. It was accompanied by an atrocious bedhead this time, a result of using Riku's arm as a pillow. Not that Riku minded – in fact he wouldn't have given it up for anything. Because even though Sora was acting like nothing had happened, Riku knew.

At first, the whole rigor-mortis thing was absolutely terrifying, because he'd dozed off toward the end of Edward Scissorhands only to wake up frozen some time later. He couldn't move even a centimeter of his entire body, couldn't make a sound, and couldn't open his eyes. For a second, he thought he was actually dead, until he remembered what Sora's mom had said; she wasn't a woman to lie, so he trusted her when she said he'd be okay. But beyond that, what ultimately made him calm down was the searing warmth of Sora, cuddling up to him at some point in the night.

It was hard to think past the heat Sora emitted, being alive while Riku technically wasn't. And with no other senses active aside from sound and touch, those two went wildly hyper-focused; the electric, magical static that always announced Sora's presence, his soft hair brushing against Riku's arm as he drew near, his breathy sounds of shuffling and trying to be quiet but failing. Riku found himself waiting for his every move – it was strange enough with the paralyzation, but then, Sora had never done this before.

Riku wished with all his heart he could pull him closer and hold him.

And then, Sora spoke: little, tired mumblings that explained the last month of awkward pauses and stares. It kept Riku awake far past when Sora finally fell asleep, curled up against him emitting soft snores that brushed against his collar.

Riku woke up finally able to move. He woke up Sora, who unsurprisingly ended up sprawled across the floor. After some drowsy stumbling, they managed to get to the kitchen. After Riku sat down and realized everything that happened wasn't a drawn out, outlandish dream, he scrambled to find the right words to tell Sora that he'd gotten it all wrong.

It was as he watched Sora catch his eyes only for them to dart away, he started talking before he could really formulate a plan. "Err, so… last night, I kinda," Riku started, and Sora looked up from his cereal in alarm, "I kinda heard you. What you said."

Sora blinked, the vacant look residing there for a solid two seconds before he got it, slow horror blooming on his face in a blush. "You– you did? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I couldn't," he rushed to explain, "I was like… frozen, or something. I'm okay now, though."

"Oh," Sora said, then smiled sheepishly, "Err, I'm sorry if I made it super weird?" He rustled his own hair, something he did whenever he was nervous.

"No," Riku exclaimed, "no, it wasn't like that, I just–" Now Riku was nervous. "You said I had already kissed someone, and I uh…" He looked up from the table to see Sora staring at him with bated breath. Riku looked back down. "I haven't."

"What?" Sora said, clearly incredulous. "How? Everyone likes you at school!"

"I didn't like them back though, I was a little enamored with someone else," Riku replied, eyebrow raised at Sora's slacked jaw. His boyfriend pieced the compliment together and blushed, but Riku continued, "I didn't know you were worried about it. I actually… kinda thought you had kissed Kairi last year, so I was nervous that I wouldn't be as good?" He laughed humorlessly, almost a scoff. "But, what happened last year doesn't matter anymore anyway – we're together," he flashed a grin. "So I guess I'm saying… there's no rush on anything with me. We can go whatever pace."

The smile on Sora's face was near blinding, so sweet Riku thought he could taste it. "There you go, being all cool again," he laughed. Magically, but purposefully, his cereal bowl slid to the side to get out of his way. With both hands he grabbed Riku's, intertwining their fingers. "You don't have to be nervous," he said a little softer, "because we'll be nervous together!"

"That's… contradictory," Riku replied, and then began laughing, because they were so dumb this entire time, and it took Riku becoming undead for them to say anything.

Sora laughed too, the giddy, giggling kind that made him unable to sit still, dragging Riku's hands around with his. "And you really thought I kissed Kairi?" he asked.

"You won the kiss last Halloween," Riku admitted.

"I wanted to kiss you, dummy," Sora said, "I had just figured that out though."

"Huh," Riku released. It left him kind of speechless – speechless and dumb and so stupidly happy.

Sora kept playing with their hands, fidgeting uncertainly with them. "Then… did you want to?"

"Do what?"

"…Kiss."

"Oh," Riku said, every neuron firing yes but Sora's warm hands reminded him. He felt his face flush thinking about it, and wondered again if he blushed blue. "I really, really want to… but my lips are probably super cold right now, so… could you wait? Until I'm cured?"

Sora's smile turned a little sly, looking up at him through his long, curved eyelashes. "Yeah, that works for me."

For a moment Riku thought his heart skipped a beat.

The potion to cure Riku tasted like death itself, but damn, was it quick to work. Within moments his heart began beating full throttle and his brain screamed for oxygen. Being so cold quickly went from being a minor inconvenience to hypothermia, so Sora's parents also cast a warming spell, just to help his body along the living process.

Then, they had a late lunch; Riku was starving, considering the last meal he had was a whole twenty-four hours before. For a brief moment, it felt like they were kids again, sitting at the witches's table with Sora excitedly recounting their "adventure" like Riku had never been in any danger at all, while Riku practically cleaned out their kitchen of all edible items. Though he double checked his drink to ensure it was lemonade and nothing else. By the end of the meal, his skin was back to its healthy, youthful glow.

That apparently exhausted all of Sora's patience. They barely had the table cleared before Sora was claiming, "Me and Riku are gonna go to the cemetery, we'll be back later!"

Riku didn't even have to wait for his parents' answer before sliding his shoes on. In minutes Sora had taken his hand and dragged him out the door, not that he provided much protest. He felt more like a balloon, floating at Sora'a side the whole way down the street.

They stopped at the willow tree in the cemetery, a little ways past the gates and where they and their friends laid out blankets after trick-or-treating. In just a few days, they would return for that exact same purpose, but until then this place was theirs – and the ghosts'.

Sora stood on one of the tree roots sticking from the ground and pivoted. It gave him a little extra height, Sora's head just under Riku's nose. With the stars in his blue eyes twinkling, he started slyly, "So, you're cured now."

"Yeah," Riku said, standing in front of him, "though I'm still kinda sore." Riku supposed it was the price of living, muscles and joints and bones protesting their function.

"Aw, you could have said something, I bet my mom could help," Sora chastised him. "I'd do it but, I'm grounded from spells." He grinned apologetically and shrugged.

Riku snorted, sarcastically commenting, "You're so broken up about it."

"I did kill you," he shifted his weight onto his other foot, "which, I am sorry about."

"I'm better now," Riku argued. "It worked out. Just uh, maybe don't put your potions next to mine."

"Hey, I'm trying to apologize properly and make it up to you, but you're too forgiving," Sora asserted, looking up with a plotting grin.

"Err, what?" Riku asked, eyebrow raised.

"Did you forget already?" Sora asked, grinning. "We should kiss now, since you're not a zombie. It's my apology, kinda."

Oh. Riku felt heat rise in his ears, but found himself smiling anyway. "Kinda?"

"And!" Sora started to explain, his sweet grin chipping away at Riku's care for the reason, "I won the kiss last year, and I never did it, so I'm claiming it now!" Then he leaned back a few inches, hand going to the back of his head. "Unless... you don't want to?" He bit his lip as he watched Riku's face for a reaction, so quick to fidget.

Riku took his hand, squeezing affectionately. "Of course I do. The ghosts are gonna watch, though."

Sora brightened again, and drew closer. "I don't care," he said. To look into Riku's eyes he had tilt his face back, and Riku had to look down. The cute expanse of freckles on his cheeks started to turn pink. "Though, just warning you, I have no idea what I'm doing."

"When do you ever?" Riku teased, ignoring his heart pounding in his chest; a weird feeling, after almost twenty four hours of physical silence.

Sora gasped like he was going to protest, but then stopped. "Good point," he agreed, "that's why I have you. You'll have to tell me what to do."

Riku snorted and shook his head. "Just, stay there." When Sora did his best statue impersonation he added, with a laugh, "and kiss back."

Riku half-expected Sora to keep talking, but instead he nodded excessively. The suspense mounted when he stopped, staring expectantly at him. He silenced his brain inner fixation on, "is this really happening?" with a resounding yes, and dipped in.

In the last inches between them, Sora's breath hitched and his eye squeezed shut– still nervous. It was a little funny, and a lot cute, forcing him to chuckle lowly before he just went for it, kissing Sora – holy shit kissing Sora – square on the mouth, but quick.

It was over so fast Sora opened his eyes. "Wha– Hey!"

"What?" Riku asked with a ridiculously goofy grin.

"That was way too easy!" he said, grin growing to match. "Kiss me again, so I wasn't so nervous over nothing."

Riku didn't know how kissing made him more nervous than having a sleepover with a zombie, but it was the invitation he needed. He dipped back in, and Sora met him halfway – and that made all the difference. Sora's lips were soft but held force, the excitement that was ingrained in his character. It was the Sora that Riku loved most: his best friend that never slowed down, and never looked back. How Sora pulled Riku just as close as Riku was pulling him, hands gripping the front of his shirt… Riku was an idiot for thinking Sora suddenly didn't want him. It was more than just spoken reassurance, now, as the kiss seeped into every nerve. Riku thought the moment their lips touched, time would stop but his heart beat argued otherwise. He treasured every drum in his chest counting the moments they stayed lip-locked, Sora's lips warm and tingling against his.

When they opened their eyes, all Riku could see was the kaleidoscope of stars in Sora's eyes – he'd seen them like this once before only two months ago, and just like then Riku had to believe it was magic. He felt it in the very air surrounding him, the unseen force every bit as potent and loud as the witch himself.

Sora tilted his head, and smiled. "You sure you're not a witch, too?"

Feeling self-indulgent, he swiped the fringe of Sora's hair softly. "Pretty sure," Riku replied, head still swimming in bliss, "why?"

"Because that was pretty magical." He winked.

Riku snorted. "Nah, you're the only bewitching thing around here."

"Oh my god, that one was worse."

"Don't tell Kairi."

"If you don't tell her I temporarily killed you." He had stayed so close, their noses brushed together gently.

Riku would probably do anything Sora said. "Its a deal."

They stayed out until the sun sunk below the tombstones, and their stomachs called out angrily. Riku had to go home after dinner (and the last "make sure the potion worked" check up) anyway. They held hands the whole way, hesitance lower in the ground than the bodies of the graveyard.

"Hey, what are you going to be for Halloween this year?" Riku asked, eyes so stuck on Sora next to him he hardly watched where he was going.

"Mmm…" Sora considered, swinging their hands, "I kinda wanna go as Ariel again. Is that dumb?"

"I could be a zombie again," Riku supplied, then added wryly, "but blue."

Sora cackled like that was the most delightful idea he'd heard. "I could make the potion again!" Riku bumped his shoulder. "Okay, okay fine, but I'm going to win. And I won't let you run off this time."

Riku bashfully looked away. "I don't have a reason to. And you don't have to win to kiss me, dork."

They squeezed their hands, and Sora almost looked like he was glowing in the dying evening light.

"This Halloween is gonna be the best," Sora sighed.

Riku couldn't agree more.

A/N: 1. This was heavily inspired by Dance Gavin Dance's Summertime Gladness. If you read the lyrics you'll probably catch my references.

2. Also loosely inspired by Sankarea, a bad anime with cute concepts, lol.

3. HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I was legit upset I couldn't post on the day, but better than never?

4. I have art to go with this, thanks to the amazing bowiesnippleantennae on tumblr! It's on my tumblr astraia-writes ^o^

Thank you so much for reading! If you liked, leave a fave or a comment? As always I'm on twitter as kaiserinastraia and tumblr as astraia-writes or kaiserin-astraia!