(no subject)

[arclights.livejournal.com]

Challenge: [081] Trick or Treat
Title: The Scariest Thing
Word Count: 486
Warnings: Little bit of name-dropping? Slight scent of OT3?
Notes:I haven't written anything for around 3 years. I got to missing the fic community, though, so I'm trying to re-learn to swim, as it were. (I'm really amazed by some of the awesome writing here. Wow, guys. ILYA. Be gentle with me <3) Archived at Karaoke Soul, gunners_view



the scariest thing
(it was a little rebellion)

It had really all been Kairi's idea. The boys just played along, both secretly relieved because it was awfully fun to do Halloween, and sometimes it was hard for even Riku to act tough and grown-up all the time. Besides, who can argue with free candy?

It was also her idea to go as the scariest things they could think of. Easy, right? They'd seen lots and lots of scary things in the last couple years. Choosing one would be the most difficult.

So when they gathered in the square, both Riku and Kairi had to grit their teeth hard to suppress the gales of laughter that threatened to escape at the sight of Sora. The long wig wasn't nearly as convincing as it could have been, what with the fat brown spikes poking out on top and all. The cardboard sword dragging along behind him was twice as tall as he was (easily), and while she had no idea what the black plastic bags tied around him were supposed to be, it was terribly funny.

With Namine's help, it had been a lot easier for Kairi to make her own costume, even if the end product was hard to walk in (she made a mental note to next year maybe not choose a costume that drug the ground quite so much), the headpiece was kind of awkward, and the paint made her face itch and flaked off her fingers all over her robes.

Sora and Riku both thought she looked pretty good, for a witch.

"Where's your costume?" Sora asked Riku, "or did you decide you were too good to dress up?"

Riku snorted. "I was in costume. You guys showing up kind of killed it."

"Whatever,” Sora retorted. "What's that supposed to mean, anyway?"

After a pause, Riku simply shrugged. "Well, it's supposed to be the scariest thing, right? And I thought about it a lot. Xemnas and Ansem and Heartless and Nobodies and they were all tough, but they weren't that scary."

"I'm glad you think so. I kind of thought they were pretty scary," Sora muttered indignantly.

"Anyway," Riku continued, "I thought about it for a few days, and I think being alone without you guys is a lot scarier than any of them."

There was a moment of utter stillness while the other two grasped for words. Riku kept his eyes downcast, scuffing the dirt with his toe without saying anything further.

"Yeah," Sora breathed, rubbing the back of his head, managing to look both touched and embarrassed. "I think I was in the wrong costume."

Kairi just laughed and took each of their hands in her own as she led them towards the beach. Sure, getting free candy would have been great, but there were things far more important, like cool nights spent around bonfires in the sand and friendship and the feeling of never ever having to be afraid again.

-fin
3.11.06
word count: 486

Comments

[tabitha-dornoc.livejournal.com]

*melts* Very sweet and everything is so right. I laughed, out loud, at Sora's costume. I'm still laughing cause the MENTAL IMAGE. And Riku is ten kinds of adorable and heartbreaking. And your prose is so accessible yet detailed, it's very nice. I don't feel suffocated by misused adjectives and awkward sentences; you have a very good command on language. Yesh. *hearts*

[arclights.livejournal.com]

I think Sora would make the absolute silliest Sephiroth cosplayer EVAR. And Riku. Riku...! I love him so.

Your lovely comments have done made me all warm and mushy inside -- doubly so, because the stuff I've seen from you around here blows me away every time. Thank you so much!

[euphonious-glow.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is very good. It's well-written, well-characterized, and sweet and cute and sad at the same time. Of course, Riku is adorable. I didn't realize that Sora was Sephiroth until I read the comments (but boy, he is scary). Nicely done.

[arclights.livejournal.com]

I imagine that Sora will pee himself for the rest of his life when he thinks of Sephiroth, because man. I was hoping the super-long sword would give Sora's costume away, because for some reason I had the urge to stay away from actually giving name to the costumes they were in.

Thanks for the love. <3 Riku is my homeboy, and while he might not be the wellspring of regretful WAH that Roxas is (in my head, at least), it's kind of weird trying to portray him as still being a sensitive little boy on the inside that we all know he is while maintaining that HOMG BADASS exterior. I was actually kind of worried that this Riku was a little too, I dunno, open, but people seem to be a little receptive, so I'm v. relieved.

[euphonious-glow.livejournal.com]

Sephiroth was way more kick-butt in KH1. ("Platinum Cup? Sounds like fun!" swirly-portal-of-doom "Oh crap").

Riku is kind of nostalgic for me. I love Axel, but I've liked Riku since I first played KH1. I kind of prefer the way he is in KH1 to KH2--it gets way too fangirly.

And I really just wanted to hug Roxas.

[arclights.livejournal.com]

I'd have to agree. I haven't beaten him yet in either game, though. *embarassed* I'm still working on CoM, but that's mostly because I spent about a year seriously hating on the battle system, though I've finally made my peace with it. >.<

Riku was, at one point, my favorite character (and I agree w/KH1 Rixu > KH2 Riku). I wasn't such a big fan of KH-1 Sora, but by the end of this game I've gained a lot - a lot - of respect for the boy. And I loved Axel, too, but not nearly so much.

Roxas. Man, I haven't been so enamored of a video game character since Hwaorang from Tekken. At first I was like D< and wtf? who is this kid?, but then I got so caught up in the circumstances surrounding Roxas' existence and how wonderfully brave he was when figuring out what was going on ... so much WAH. Maybe I'm just hot for the resigned-but-not-lame-about-it characters, and that's not even skimming the surface of potential post-merging into Sora's consciousness. I want to squish him and refer to him as "my brave little man" fairly exclusively, much to my embarassment.

I'll capture him on paper one day. He's a marvellous thing.

[euphonious-glow.livejournal.com]

I kind of got used to the battle system in COM. The storyline was worth the annoying card system.

Roxas is a really interesting (and tragic) character. I don't think I'd be able to write him because he's just so sad. And there are so many layers to his personality.

I kind of have a thing for the angsty-but-not-depressed characters too.

[arclights.livejournal.com]

God, I hope so. I cheated, and bought a strat guide, so yay. I'm in like ... the fourth? Fifth level? Something like.

Ohh, since the early days of writing, I've been utterly gay for tragedy. All I used to write (back in early high school) these awful pointless deathfics, and while I got over it, there's a part of me that still really wants to make people cry every time I string three words together. (I've since realized though that there are ways far more subtle that work even better.) In that way, I think Roxas is right up my alley, once I can gather him together ... which may take some time.

Y'all are making me really appreciate a certain number of characters that I didn't pay terribly much mind to during gameplay, though.

[euphonious-glow.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're starting to appreciate certain characters.

I'm somewhat of a tragedy fan too, but it depends. Not so much angst as... darkfic. It's hard to say exactly what.

Your icon is Haku! He's a tragic character himself.

That pic looks like it's from a Naruto video game I have. =)

[arclights.livejournal.com]

It's easy to do. Y'all here make them so loveable. ♥

I'm with you there. I used to be all about whiny wristcutting angst when I was a hormonal teenager (pre-emo lulz) but got over myself and realized that I found it far more interesting (and respectable) when characters could yes, have bad things happen, but not go straight to the corner with the knife and deal and make something wonderful out of it.

Haku was my first Naruto love, and I'm sad to say I haven't kept up with reading it the last year and am now woefully far behind. The last things I wrote were Naruto, and they're the bits I'm proudest of. :3

And yeah, I ganked the image from the character profiles for the game. Which I have not played. T_T