Rude Awakening (1x1 with Peanut)

[Forever Love 82]

Noel glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, hey Sora," he greeted with a smile. He then nodded to the other guest. "What's up, Riku?" He returned his gaze to the screen, following Lightning's lead; she seemed to know what she was doing, even if this game was fairly new.

 

Riku jerked his chin to Noel in greeting, though his eyes were on the two pink-haired girls in the room. One of them he didn't recognize, but the other seemed familiar. Was that the girl who he argued with recently?

[Peanut 26]

"You guys must be the new kids in school, huh?" Sora asked with a small smirk, seeing the girl without the controller turn around and giving a sheepish yet sweet smile. "I'm Sora. Noel's my younger brother." Well, adopted brother, but they were still close. It was only a four year age difference.

 

"I'm Serah," the girl greeted with a smile. "And this is my sister, Lightning." She looked over at her sister with an amused expression, hearing her give direction to Noel. But at least she did take the time and lift a hand to wave to Sora and Riku. She didn't even fumble with the controls, not recognizing Riku's name right away.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku made sure his eyes were kind with Serah, but when they found Lightning, they hardened. He remembered that name, simply because the girl caused him some trouble. His eyebrows furrowed as he heard Noel cheer at getting past a particular difficult point in the level, but Riku couldn't disregard the fact that it was through Lightning's direction. She seems logical enough...

[Peanut 26]

Lightning felt a pair of eyes boring into the back of her head, and since Noel was doing most of the work at this point, she had a moment of freedom. She glanced over her shoulder to see what was up, but then she saw the two boys. One, she had never seen before. That was Sora. But as soon as she saw Riku, she recalled her second day of school when he observed some of her classes and approached her at lunch and tried to get inside of her head. Her eyes reflected that unpleasant memory and she fought the urge to tense up. Serah would notice.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku caught the look in Lightning's eyes, and he smirked in slight amusement. You really don't like me, do you? He nodded to her faintly in greeting. It must have been a pretty small world, smaller than he originally noticed. He and Lightning were connected through friends, one way or the other. It was interesting.

[Peanut 26]

Lightning fought the urge to roll her eyes at Riku's confident smirk. Was he trying to annoy her? Because he was succeeding. Beside her, Serah grabbed her shoulder and started shaking it, telling her that it was her turn to move or so she thought. For the first time in Riku's presence, Lightning allowed herself to soften a little bit and didn't show any sharpness as she looked back to the screen. She wouldn't ever lose her patience with Serah.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku continued to study Lightning, his arms crossing over his chest as he watched the game progress. For a second, he thought he caught the pink-haired girl soften up in front of her sister. Why was that? Protective, perhaps? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't really worry about it now. He and Sora were here for a reason.

[Peanut 26]

"Oh, oh!" Sora exclaimed, rushing over to the free chair. "Shoot a portal to the upper left area!" He was getting into this game now, stalling from their true purpose of coming here. He wanted to see them beat this level, so he plopped down in the chair in time to hear Serah tell him that the area he was referring to was where they just came from. Oh well, at least I tried to help.

[Forever Love 82]

"Don't we have to go to the east of the starting point?" Noel asked, maneuvering his character alongside Lightning's. "That at least appears to be the objective." Lightning was better at solving the puzzles, but he at least knew where to end up. Or so he hoped. If not, then this game wasn't going to be beaten.

[Peanut 26]

"More like north-east, but yeah," Lightning said with a nod. "Shoot your portal to the right. I have an idea." Even if they didn't get it this time, they could try one or two more times. After that, it was time to go. She had to wake up early for her job tomorrow.

 

Serah smiled, nudging her sister gently. "And to think you didn't want to play earlier," she teased lightly. She got a grunt in return, but not a harsh grunt that Lightning would have given anyone else. With a smile still on her face, she looked over her shoulder and saw Riku standing by himself. "Come join the party," she said warmly, being kind and making friends as easily as ever.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku shook his head. "Thanks, but no thanks," he said, though his voice was kind to the younger sister. "Sora and I have to grab some things before he gets back to his wife." At the emphasis, he looked to his best friend. Time for being a child was up for today.

[Peanut 26]

"Uh-uh," Sora disagreed without looking over at Riku. "We have some time to enjoy Portal. Kairi will understand that I needed some quality with my brother, right Noel?" He smirked at his younger brother, hoping for some support here. As much as he loved Kairi (and he obviously loved her a lot or he wouldn't have married her), he wanted to enjoy watching Portal 2 while he could.

[Forever Love 82]

"Right!" Noel said, enthusiasm in his young voice as he played alongside Lightning. Her tactics were working well. At least, some of them were; a few were pointless. She was trying, though, and that was helping.

 

Riku sighed. "Noel, what happened to the times when you were on my side?" he asked, approaching the back of the couch to lean against it. Noel always used to pick on Sora with him when they were younger. It was amusing back then, but now Noel was branching out; he respected Sora and Riku both, so the teasing ended.

 

"That ship has sailed, man," Noel said, grinning at Riku over his shoulder. He squeezed his eyes shut suddenly. "Hey!" Riku messed up his shaggy brown hair by rubbing his hand over his scalp quickly, causing Noel's hair to look similar to Sora's. "Not cool!"

[Peanut 26]

Sora laughed, smirking at Noel's new hairdo. "Nice look, Noel," he complimented. "I think you should do your hair like that more often." He heard Serah giggle, and that made his smirk grow. Somebody else thought that he was funny! So, it wasn't just Kairi humoring him all these years, he actually did have good jokes!

[Forever Love 82]

Riku chuckled as well, catching the pun behind Sora's words. That, he agreed, was humorous. He barely heard Noel grumble something under his breath before fixing his hair, causing Riku to shake his head. He continued to lean against the back of the chair, watching the game progress. A little more of this and it would be time to go, for him and Sora at least.

[Peanut 26]

The rest of the night went on longer than they all anticipated, with Noel and Serah urging Lightning to keep playing and playing because she was getting Noel further than he had ever gone before. But when she finally put her foot down and said that she was done, Sora was glad. He really had to get back to Kairi by now, and Riku probably had to get to his own house. He supposed they wouldn't really have time to hang out other than this after all. As he rose to his feet and stretched, he glanced over at Lightning and Serah. "Do you guys know the way home?" he asked, seeing Serah look over at her sister, who shrugged faintly. That could have either been a yes or a no; he couldn't tell. If they were unsure, he or Riku could walk them back.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku looked to Sora then, leaning back against the couch. His arms were crossed over his chest once again, the boy comfortable in the position. "Should we show them the way?" he asked his best friend. Noel obviously had to stay, but Riku and Sora were both on the way back, or so he assumed.

[Peanut 26]

"You mind doing it?" Sora asked with a sheepish smile. "Just remembered I was supposed to stop by the store." While he was there, he'd have to pick up some flowers for Kairi to apologize for being so late. She'd forgive him though; if they got into a fight this early in their marriage, it was going to be a real problem.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku shrugged. "I don't see why not," he admitted. It wasn't like he had any urgent business to tend to like Sora. Leaving the two girls behind would be pointless. Not to mention they were both minors, and it was pretty dark. The Islands was a pleasant place, but it wasn't always paradise. He'd take them home, just in case. Edited June 1, 2012 by Forever Love

[Peanut 26]

"Cool," Sora said with a nod and a smile. "Alright, I'll see you guys around then!" He gave them a wave, hearing Serah call that it was nice to meet him before he disappeared deeper into the house to get the items that he was supposed to get from his mom. After that, he would be gone.

[Forever Love 82]

Noel stood up from his spot and smiled at his newest friend. "Thanks for coming over, Serah. I'll see you on Monday?" he asked. He doubted they would see each other tomorrow. He had homework to do anyway.

[Peanut 26]

"Yup!" Serah said with a smile. "And thanks for having all of us over this afternoon, it was a ton of fun!" Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lightning nod as well, silently thanking Noel for having Serah over. Though Lightning herself wasn't too social, she did realize the importance of people. That was why she was happy Serah made friends so quickly.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku watched Noel respond with a small nod, and the silver-haired young man stood upright. "You two ready to go?" he asked. They needed to get back before it got too dark. He wasn't too worried, though, since he would be with them. If it was just the two of them, however, he would have been a little nervous. Not everybody could be trusted.

[Peanut 26]

Both the girls nodded, though Serah responded with an "mhm" as well before starting towards the door. Lightning allowed her sister to get a few steps ahead of her and pass Riku. She wasn't completely against Riku since he was walking them home without making a big deal out of it, so before Lightning walked past him, she did nod faintly in thanks.

[Forever Love 82]

Riku caught that nod and returned it vaguely, but then he followed the girls out. "Later, Noel!" he called, hearing the boy reply before he shut the door. He stuck his hands in his pockets as he descended the porch steps behind the girls, hearing the crickets instantly. It was easy for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, so he could see mostly everything. And since he knew the ins and outs of the Islands, he could easily navigate the girls home.