Epilogue
"The Color Of Your Lips"
"Sora! Are you done preening yet, or are you going to spend all day in the bathroom?"
"Shut up! Stop whining, I'm almost done."
"These concert tickets aren't gonna flash themselves, you know—I don't care what kind of connections you got to the band!"
Sora sighed, applying eyeliner in the bathroom mirror. Yes, eyeliner. He was going to wear eyeliner, and it was all because Riku had gotten him started with the habit. Admittedly, he was pretty happy with the results most of the time, but this was his first time doing it by himself, and he couldn't get it to look right.
"What are you doing? Come on, man, we're five minutes late already. You're such a girl."
"Shut up!" Whined the brunet, huffing. "I can't get my eyeliner right!"
"...Are you serious?"
Riku opened up the bathroom door and thrust his head in. He looked relatively normal today, save that he was looking just a tad bit Goth, leering at Sora in disbelief with blackened eyelashes and perfectly-applied eyeliner, along with just a touch of dark-purple eyeshadow. His skin was a little less pale, but he was still rather ghostly compared to Sora, who had a nice golden glow to his skin. Riku had his hair pulled up in a high ponytail with black hair streaks in it, thanks to the hairtie.
Sora turned around and looked at him with a growl. The eyeliner was all wrong. Riku sighed.
"Oh, Sora, you're hopeless." He grumbled, walking in. "What did I tell you? Your eye shape isn't right for full coverage. Just touch up the corners. Half-lines, I said, half-lines."
"It's not my fault!" Whined the brunet, as Riku rubbed his eyes until they were eyeliner-less (as well as mascara-less; like Riku didn't notice his eyelashes were two times longer than they already were). "The stupid stick won't work with me!"
"No, you're just not working with the stupid stick." Riku sighed, holding up the eyeliner pencil. "Now, hold...still..." the tip of Riku's tongue touched his top lip as he concentrated, touching his thumb to the corner of one eye as he applied the black pencil to his darling Sora's eyelid. In a matter of some minutes, Sora's eyes were perfectly lined and mascara-d. He had a black hoodie on as well as blue pants, but he still looked stylish. The hoodie brandished a Heartless band logo on the front, and a larger version of it on the back. In comparison, Riku was wearing a tight black shirt that showed off his stomach, zipped up in the front, except for the collar and the bottom part by a few inches, and was wearing very baggy low-rise jeans. There was a white sleeveless jacket to go with it, but Riku decided to go without. Partially because his arms were now close to fully healed from the scars they held.
"There. Now can we go?"
"Yep!" Sora giggled, kissing Riku's cheek, leaving a lip-glossy smooch mark on his skin. "Thanks, baby!"
Riku sighed. "Come on, into the moving planet with you."
A Saturn—Riku now drove a silver Saturn. He was nineteen years old, and his appearance had hardly changed from two years ago, save slightly longer hair and sharper caribbean eyes that made all the girls (and guys) go gaga for him at the Senior Prom. To many a dismay, he was already taken by Sora, who was even so bold as to dance with him at said Prom. They even had a photo of them together, and Riku had joked at the time, "The only thing missing is a prom dress."
Later that night, Riku took Sora home and treated him to a hell of a show, dressed up in a black spaghetti-strap prom dress with an embroidery of red roses spiraling down from the hips, trailing the collar. Sora was disturbed, at first, but more than thrilled at the sight, and hot sex followed after. Tifa had yelled at them in the morning for leaving the house a wreck.
Riku made Sora feel special. They fit each other like gloves; everyone thought so, besides the two of them. When Sora had racked up the courage to tell Kairi the truth about why he'd broken up with her, at first she'd been mad—but only because Sora had deceived her, and he admitted shyly that he knew it had been wrong. After a few days, though, she cleared up, and was giving the two of them a big thumbs-up the whole way. She was happy that they were happy, and that made Sora feel better.
There were a lot of things that Riku would do for Sora, and only for Sora—like crossdressing. It happened on only the rarest of occasions, but when Riku was in the mood for it like he had been at Senior Prom...boy, did Sora really enjoy himself. It was a treat to catch Riku in such an especially bottom sort of mood, so whenever it happened, the brunet soaked it up and ravished the other while he could, before morning broke and the mood was gone.
Tonight was a treat that wasn't for just one of them, but both of them. Axel had given them a call (Sora had liked the teacher so much that he became more of a friend than anything else), and given them free tickets to come and see Demyx live with his brand-new localized band, "Nobody's Order." While the free-thinking blond hadn't hit big water yet, he was very popular in the local towns, and had managed to set up a couple of small concerts for his fans. This was one of them, and was set to take place downtown in Sunset Park. Driving on the way there, Sora was wriggling in his seat.
"I can't wait to check this out. Axel was so nice to give us these tickets!"
"If there's booze, I'll be set." Riku replied.
"Okay, yeah, no getting drunk, okay?"
"Why?" Riku grinned. "Drunk sex is fun sex!"
"I don't wanna fuck you when you're drunk!" Sora groaned, smacking Riku's arm playfully. "Be serious. Come on, Demyx is great; you'll love it! I've heard him playing at Axel's house before. He's super-good with the guitar."
"We'll see," said the other passively. Sora sighed, smiling still.
"You will love it, or else I will be mad at you for the rest of eternity."
Riku laughed. "That wouldn't be very long," he said, kissing Sora's cheek at a stop light. "You're very poor at holding grudges with people."
Sora just grinned. He knew that was true, but he still liked to tease Riku, and sometimes fake it, just to keep him on his toes.
It wasn't a very long drive there from Riku's house, and even being a few minutes late didn't hurt getting their seats close to the stage. Sora knew his ears would be ringing afterwards. Demyx's band was in a very punk-rock type of style, and he tended to be very loud. When they had settled down on their picnic blanket, food and all, Axel was nearby in casual dress as the band set up the stage. Nobody's Order consisted of Demyx on lead vocals and electric guitar, a guy named Even on the bass guitar, his friend Barig on the drum set, and Larxene on extras like flutes and violins. That blonde bombshell of a woman was Even's sweetheart, and Sora caught her giving Even a kiss before the concert started.
"Riku! Sora! Glad you could make it!"
"Hey, Axel!" Sora called, waving as the redhead strutted over with a smile.
"It looks great, doesn't it?"
"Fantastic!" Said the brunet.
"Can't wait to hear the noise." Riku added. Axel grinned.
"Demyx worked hard on this. You'll like it. He said he had a surprise waiting."
"Oooh," Sora awed. "I wonder what it is."
Just then, Demyx stepped up to the mic and strummed out the beginning notes to his opening song, and was soon shouting out the lyrics.
Riku had to admit, he was very impressed. It was pretty clear how much influence they got from The Heartless, the very band of which Sora was wearing the logo for on his hoodie. Demyx pointed this out at one point between songs, making the brunet blush and hide himself behind Riku with a few embarrassed mumblings. There was a big crowd; Demyx had a lot of fans, it seemed. About as they were nearing the last four or five songs, Demyx stopped and pulled out his acoustic guitar as he talked.
"About six or seven years ago, I met someone who opened me up to a lot of inspiration, and showed me just how much it didn't matter that I was a guy. I'm pretty sure a lot of my fans already know that I'm gay..."
Lots of whistles and cheers. Demyx was grinning.
"So I'm sure they won't mind if I send out a little thank-you?"
Even louder cheers, and Axel started gaping. Riku slapped his knee and laughed. "Oh shit, man," he snickered, "Here it comes."
Demyx smiled wolfishly and tested his acoustic. "Surprise, baby," he said into the mic, looking directly at Axel as he started to sing. It was a sweet tribute, with heartfelt lyrics and smooth-working arrangements. Of course, about halfway through it, Axel decided he would respond comically and grappled at his chest, kicking around on Riku and Sora's picnic blanket and hiding his face, which made the blond laugh in the middle of the song. ("Smile!" Riku exclaimed, snapping a photo of the silly moment on his cell phone.) Afterwards, though, the crowd was pleasantly surprised by an on-stage kiss. Axel jumped up the stairs and flung his arms around Demyx, and pressed his lips fully against the other's.
"Aww, they're so cute." Sora cooed, a happy grin on his face. Riku smiled and wound an arm around his waist.
"Yes, and so are you."
"Hm?" Sora turned his head to face Riku, and the teen ended up tilting his chin up and giving him a kiss shortly after Axel kissed Demyx. Sora blushed, wanting to protest, but finding it against his general will and ended up returning the kiss in earnest. He purred and slid his tongue into Riku's mouth, and for once, Riku allowed him the dominant side of the duel. Sora's ego got a big kick out of that.
But then it was knocked down the same level of pegs or more when Demyx laughed, and pointed them out, teasing them.
Sora squealed and hid his face against Riku's chest.
"Keep it PG-13, or I'll fail both of you!" Axel laughed.
"Shut up, you will not!" Riku replied.
"Oh, you're so sure of yourself!"
"Damn right I am!"
Sora was pouting for the next song or two, until the contest was over. It was true that Riku had gained a lot of self-confidence. Even in just two years, he'd improved a lot. Shortly after Ansem was sentenced to a life in jail, Tifa got Riku to start seeing a regular counselor—her name was Miss Kikyo, a very kind and gentle young woman whom Riku often described as having a calming voice. And with the help of Kikyo and Doctor Hughes, Tifa's own doctor, he was now taking prescription medicine to help with his schizophrenia. Dr. Hughes had mentioned how lucky Riku was that he only heard one voice in his head, and not many. Since, he said, most reported cases of schizophrenia heard multiple voices, and even hallucinated on occasion. So, compared to that, he'd explained, Riku's case was fairly mild.
And, Sora could now proudly call Riku his boyfriend.
Life was finally getting better for the silver-haired teen, and even more so for Sora. The brunet had never been happier.
Their styles often clashed, but they fit each other like a pair of gloves. Riku had gotten a little wild in the past year, in particular, now having to care for five piercings in each ear, and a silver stud in his tongue. Which Sora didn't mind at all, really...except that it meant Riku couldn't give him any oral for a while. (This was especially disappointing, since he'd only gotten a handful of actual blowjobs from the other before he'd off and pierced his tongue.)
When the concert was over, and they'd said their goodbyes, Sora got back into Riku's car with him and sighed, slipping down into his seat. "So where are we going to go now?" He asked, smiling. "My house or yours?"
Riku smirked mirthfully as he fished around in the glovebox for something. "I was thinking we could go to my place. My Mom's working late...your sister's at a sleepover...your parents couldn't care less what you do with me..." he looked at Sora, "...and I think I'm feeling a little frisky."
Sora giggled and leaned over towards Riku's seat. "Yeah? What kinda frisky?" He purred.
Riku chuckled softly, and pulled out a tube of dark—almost black—purple lipstick. The kind the commercials claimed could stay un-smeared for eight hours out of the day.
Sora's eyes immediately began to twinkle, and a grin crossed over his features. Whenever Riku put on any sort of color on his lips, it meant that the brunet was going to get one of his rare chances to top that night. That was always an extra special treat. Not just because Sora loved to be given the dominant role, but because Riku was so, so, sooooo sexy when he got fucked.
"Oooohhh, I'm gonna like this kind," Sora growled playfully, reaching to loop his arms around Riku's shoulders and bite his neck teasingly. Riku chuckled again, and capped his lipstick.
"Alright, get off me. I need to drive, you know."
"Hee, hee, hee." Sora pushed back the collar of Riku's black jacket-shirt to reveal the kanji tattooed on the right side of his neck. He sucked it lovingly, because he knew what it meant—Riku had looked up the Japanese kanji for Sora's name. Sora had Riku's kanji, too, on the left side of his neck—it had taken a hell of a lot of convincing from Riku for him to actually get the tattoo, but he'd done it.
"Now," Riku had said, "If only I could get this damn mark of that fucker, Ansem, off my chest." He meant, of course, the degraded symbol of the Heartless band that resided there. "Then we would be set."
The drive back to Riku's house was not very long, but it was long enough that by the time they had gotten there, Sora was feeling all kinds of excitement and was already scheming how he was going to take Riku tonight. It was actually a good thing Sora had grown so curious to expand his sexual deviancy: if he hadn't, he would have never figured out that Riku particularly liked rimming (giving or receiving, which freaked Sora out, at first. But Riku had a way of getting him to like anything they did in bed). He also would have never taken the chance to try and be on top. No matter what they did, if something was new, Sora was always a little apprehensive—but Riku was good about giving him encouragement.
Needless to say, Sora was now practically addicted to those special nights whenever Riku let him be top. Not to say, of course, that he didn't like being topped.
"Do we wanna do anything new tonight?" Asked the brunet as he unbuckled, now that Riku had pulled into the driveway.
"Well, I don't know." Riku replied, smiling at him as they got out. "That's all up to you. You've got the driver's seat tonight."
"Hmmmm..." Sora grinned wickedly, trailing not more than a few inches behind Riku as the teen unlocked the door to his house. The brunet suddenly turned him around, and pushed his back up against the door. He stood up on his toes, and nudged Riku's head down with his fingers buried into silvery locks.
"Maybe I'll just stick with the stuff I know you like." And with that, Sora meshed his lips against Riku's, breaking past the purple-painted barrier of his lips to slide his tongue into that warm, inviting cavern. He and Riku both shuddered—Riku from Sora's (increasingly) incredible kissing skills, and Sora from that funny (but sexy) new feeling of the silver stud rubbing against his tongue. Sora moaned softly into the kiss—he may be getting the top tonight, but he would forever and always be Riku's little "uke."
The both of them giggled and made out almost viciously on Riku's front steps, starting to undress each other right there, disturbing the eyes and mind of a middle-aged neighbor out on his porch, enjoying a cigarette. Sora moaned a little louder as Riku ground against him.
"Aaah, Riku..."
"Mmm...Sora...you're not gonna take up smoking, are you?"
Sora giggled again, followed by another pleasured sigh as Riku's hands trailed up under his shirt. "No, never...aah...it's a disgusting habit..."
Riku smiled and drew him into another fervent kiss, opening the door behind him, and stumbling backwards with him into the house, closing the door.
The forty-odd-something man stared at the now-empty porch across from him in dumbstruck awe, his cigarette burning away in his hand. He stared at the toxic little tobacco roll, blinked at it a couple of times...and put it out in his ashtray.
Author's Notes: Go here to see the lemon extension of this epilogue, and the results of the contest! (kujazlilmage. livejournal. com)