Riku said he wore that friendship bracelet until the threads wore out and he lost it swimming, slowly eroded by the salt and sun of Destiny Islands, of the active lifestyle they led, chasing each other up and down the beach. Even the little plush charm Kairi sewed for him in Beacon was getting threadbare, its stuffing starting to get lumpy, sometimes tufting through broken seams.
That, and his missing lantern, were some of the first things Riku realized were no longer in his possession - but only after he realized he had arrived alone.
For someone who consistently teased Sora for being a complete sap, Riku was quite the sentimentalist himself, hiding it a little better while privately envying Sora's ability to wear his heart on his sleeve, to follow it without hesitation, to connect so easily and readily with so many other people.
Someone else trying to reach for that blindfold might have had their hand struck away. The list of those allowed to make the choice to strip it from his eyes is extremely short, with Sora ever at the top of that list. His eyes are wet and red-rimmed, but the way he flinches from the light is more than the sensitivity from crying. The shade here is deep but the sky is still bright, his eyes have yet to adjust to being in a world with actual sunshine.
To his credit, Riku does try to look, it hurts, it makes his eyes water worse until Sora's brown hair swims in his blurry vision, because he wants that badly to see his friend again the way he remembered him. Whole and himself. He sounds the same. Looks the same. He acts the same too, he's still that warm-hearted person who seemed to have enough room in his heart for everyone.
He still dazzles with the light that reminds him of why he did it, why he did any of it.
"Yeah," there's a little laughter in it, too, "It's really you this time," not some hallucination, not a dull echo tainted by someone else's selfish heart hailing from some distant star. His sniff is wet and bracing, he scrubs at his stinging eyes with the heel of his palm, like he's realizing something.
"Vanitas," this invites questions, ones he's not ready to answer, but Riku's relief overrides his common sense right at this moment. "He's going to lose it when he finds out you're here."
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That, and his missing lantern, were some of the first things Riku realized were no longer in his possession - but only after he realized he had arrived alone.
For someone who consistently teased Sora for being a complete sap, Riku was quite the sentimentalist himself, hiding it a little better while privately envying Sora's ability to wear his heart on his sleeve, to follow it without hesitation, to connect so easily and readily with so many other people.
Someone else trying to reach for that blindfold might have had their hand struck away. The list of those allowed to make the choice to strip it from his eyes is extremely short, with Sora ever at the top of that list. His eyes are wet and red-rimmed, but the way he flinches from the light is more than the sensitivity from crying. The shade here is deep but the sky is still bright, his eyes have yet to adjust to being in a world with actual sunshine.
To his credit, Riku does try to look, it hurts, it makes his eyes water worse until Sora's brown hair swims in his blurry vision, because he wants that badly to see his friend again the way he remembered him. Whole and himself. He sounds the same. Looks the same. He acts the same too, he's still that warm-hearted person who seemed to have enough room in his heart for everyone.
He still dazzles with the light that reminds him of why he did it, why he did any of it.
"Yeah," there's a little laughter in it, too, "It's really you this time," not some hallucination, not a dull echo tainted by someone else's selfish heart hailing from some distant star. His sniff is wet and bracing, he scrubs at his stinging eyes with the heel of his palm, like he's realizing something.
"Vanitas," this invites questions, ones he's not ready to answer, but Riku's relief overrides his common sense right at this moment. "He's going to lose it when he finds out you're here."