For Art (A Kingdom Hearts Modern AU)

For Art

Sora came home one afternoon the next week with sketchbook in hand. "Hey, Riku," he called, dropping his pack in the closet. "What time are you working 'til tonight?"

Riku was getting dressed and stepped out of the bedroom, fiddling with his tie. "Uh... it shouldn't be long . I'm secretary-ing a court session today. Usually the ones I get to go to aren't more than a few hours. Sometimes they can be a laugh, too." As he was talking, he kind of got confused and his tie ended up in the wrong orientation.

Sora smiled and moved in to fix Riku's tie. It was just a knee-jerk response, he would do anything he could to help. "Um, do you think I could come? Just to watch? And then, when you're done, could we go out for drinks or something?"

Riku laughed. "It is Friday night... don't you have work in the morning?"

Sora shrugged. "I'm not really gonna get drunk. Too expensive."

Riku smiled. "Then my answer is yes. But put something nicer on, the judge won't want to see you looking like that!"

Sora smiled and dug out a dress shirt and pants for himself too. Riku always looked sharp, putting on a suit jacket and tying back his hair. Sora tucked his beloved crown necklace under his short sleeve dress shirt, tied on his western bowtie and chased Riku out the door.

They walked the short distance to the courthouse - it was a beautiful summer day, but with a bit more of a breeze so they weren't so hot. The building itself was a big, 19th-century masterpiece with huge staircases and arched windows. It was pleasantly air-conditioned, and Riku pointed Sora in the right direction and then went off to find his firm. Sora wandered in awe for a few minutes, enjoying the gold light coming through the western windows. He went into the courtroom and sat in the back half of the stands where he could get a good view of Riku at the typewriter.

The case actually was interesting - not as good as what you would see on CSI, or even on Cops, but still enough to keep Sora's attention. A lady was looking to get a restraining order from her ex-husband, and besides the lengthy opening statements, Sora enjoyed it. A few people came to testify, but it didn't take much for the judge to deal out the sentence. Riku was a wicked fast typer, that's for sure!

Once Riku was done wrapping up, he met Sora back in the lobby and the two were ready to head downtown. The sun was still barely above the horizon.

The two young men had a few coolers at a trendy little bar in the downtown of Hampstead. They both were smiley, laughing drunks. Sora was careful to limit how much he took in. Riku loved when it was just the two of them out like this. He knew that he was drinking with the hottest man in the bar, and everyone else was jealous of him. That gave him some comfort, even if he couldn't do as much with Sora as he wanted.

They walked home late, coolness finally beginning to settle in. Riku gave his suit jacket to Sora to cover his bare arms, and it didn't take them long to get home.

"Riku," Sora's motives were finally ready to be realized. "I have a favor to ask you."

The older boy was hydrating, leaning on the kitchen counter with the top few buttons of his dress shirt undone. "Yes?"

"Would you..." Sora licked his lips. "Would you let me sketch you for my art class?"

Riku smiled, replacing the glass on the counter. "Sure. What do you need me to do?"

"A-any pose," Sora stuttered, shocked at how easy this was. He needed the intoxication to ask the next part, though: "you have to be... naked, though." Riku's eyes widened and Sora could see the doubt in them. "It's not gay if it's for art!" Sora insisted.

Riku closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. "No... no, it's fine. I don't mind. I wanna shower first, though. And maybe have something more to drink."

Sora started to beam. "Of course - anything you need."

Riku smiled. The things he would do for Sora if he asked. He undressed in the bathroom and took a quick, medium-cool shower.

Sora was excited, changing out of his dress clothes as well and putting on PJ shorts (basically boxers) and a tank top. His excitement was initially from the success of knowing that he was going to be able to complete his project for art class, but something in his heart was telling him he was excited about something more.

If he'd thought about it, he would've realized he'd seen Riku naked before. That would have made this situation a little less awkward. When they were little, they could get changed in the same room. Riku's shorts had been swept off in the ocean when they were eleven. But Sora had never seen Riku at his full potential, as he was now.

Again, he was excited.

Sora set up his sketchbook and a little lamp so he'd be able to see. He kept the rest of the apartment dark; he thought it would be less awkward that way. He was going to get Riku to lie on the couch, so at least he would be comfortable. The blonde came out of the shower wearing a cloth bathrobe and toweling off his silky hair.

Sora lay down on a couple cushions he'd laid out and propped up his 20"x16" sketchbook. He laid out is 2B-4B pencils - he liked them soft - and turned on his lamp. His mouth was dry as Riku finished drying his hair, straightened it into place and took off his robe. Sora's face was already flushed from the alcohol, so thankfully Riku couldn't really tell as Sora heated up admiring his body. He didn't look where he wanted to most.

"What should I do?" Riku asked.

"Just make yourself comfortable," Sora was trying to be professional. "It's supposed to be in the moment."

Riku sat down, flushed as well. He was really well built, but no one was good at being naked, especially not around your best friend of many years who you kind of wanted to bone. He stretched out on their couch with one arm behind his head and the other stretched along his side, legs loosely bent. It wasn't inherently sexy, but very romantic, much like a renaissance painting. His pose looked effortless, and Sora set to work.

"So," Riku chatted after a few minutes of silence. "You're still enjoying your art?"

Sora nodded, an eraser grasped in his mouth. "I lofe ih," he mumbled before dropping the eraser. "I mean, might as well do something I like if I don't know which career I'm going to end up in."

"You'll find something," Riku tilted his head up just a degree, but Sora noticed and swiped the eraser over his page. "Sorry," Riku quickly tried to correct it, but Sora shushed him, "no, go back, it's better that way. That's the perfect angle for your jawline." Riku returned to his second posture.

As focused as Sora was at his work, his mind started to wander as a masterpiece unfolded before him. Riku was so well built, his muscles all in perfect condition. This should have been no surprise - the two of them worked out together as often as they could, and Sora was seeing similar results in himself. There was something nice about seeing Riku, though: Riku was kind of forbidden territory, and everything showed so much nicer on him, too. Sora loved displaying it - his work was turning out excellently.

Riku was actually enjoying this experience. Once he got over the initial embarrassment, it was rather nice being naked. It cooled him off considerably, but the heat from the day kept him from cooling too much. Riku, for some reason, didn't feel self-conscious around Sora. He felt proud of his body.

He wouldn't mind spending more time with Sora like this.