Kingdom Hearts Fan Fiction ❯ Variable Thought-Space ❯ Chapter i: Drain ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: Scene breaks will be done with '---' they are done this way because doubly spacing just seems like a waste with online writing as it seems to confuse people. I'd also like to mention that this story has eaten my brain and will likely consume me until it is finished.
As a result I'm likely to finish it quickly.
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Variable Thought-Space
Chapter i: Drain

The first pale rays of daylight streamed unheeded through the frosted window pane casting long shadows across the polished wooden floor. Sora blinked tiredly as he awoke and turned to face the wall beside his bed.

" 's early... Cold... “He thought to himself sleepily and yawned.
Winter break had begun which was great, well, it would've been. If only Sora didn't hate the season. It hadn't much bothered him in the past; at least, he didn't remember it bothering him. It certainly hadn't in Christmas Town... But he hadn't really spent that much time outside there. The Castle in The World That Never Was had been much colder anyway... Did that have something to do with it? Sora yawned again tired of his own thoughts already. The why didn't really matter anymore just the fact that he couldn't abide the season enough to go outside for any long periods of time without being completely miserable.

Sora sat up. He knew he was fighting a losing battle. Now that he was awake, he was awake. He used to be able to sleep anytime, anywhere. Riku used to tease him about it calling it his 'super power'. But Sora hadn't been able to use said 'power' for awhile now.

"Suppose 's jus part of growing up." Sora mused aloud as he stood up and began to strip off his sleep ware and change into some sweatpants and an old t-shirt that fit much more snugly then he had realized.

Sora had done more clothes shopping in the past few months then he remembered doing in his entire life. Which is what happens when you return home a few sizes larger with only one set of clothing... Life would have been so much easier if his parents had just let him continue to wear the magic clothing the three good fairies had made for him. Of course his mother wouldn't hear of it - no matter how he tried to explain it.

Sora sighed. His parents didn't even seem to hear him when he mentioned anything about magic or other worlds. They seemed to think that their family had gone abroad for the time he'd spent away from his world. Sora figured that it was either some kind of magic or maybe just their way of coping with the fact that they'd forgotten their own son. At first he was frustrated but he really didn't mind it as much anymore. It could get lonely though. But he still had Riku and Kairi.

Sora yawned suddenly and stretched finding his old t-shirt rode up clear past his navel with the action. He shook his head and rolled it back down. Shoving his feet into a pair of ridiculous looking fuzzy pink bunny slippers he tromped out of his room grabbing his housecoat off the hook on his door as an afterthought. He tied the sash around his waist and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen.

He entered the kitchen and leaned against the table tiredly. It really was too early for him to be awake especially with his parents gone from the house. They were away for a week at some sort of business conference for his dad's work.

Sora hoisted himself up onto the counter and began to rummage through the cupboards for the cereal and bowls. He was annoyed that despite his increase in height he was still unable to reach the top cupboards well without using the counter.

'Bet Riku doesn't have this problem.' Sora though, vaguely jealous of his friend's luck.

Bringing his breakfast to the living room he sat eating before propping his feet up on the table and flipping on the television with the remote he found between the cushions of the couch. He vegged out a long while not really paying that much attention to the TV as he'd intended. His eyes drooped tiredly but he stayed awake and inattentive until the phone rang.

"'lo, who'sit?" Sora slurred.

"As articulate as ever."

"Hi Riku." Sora said as he hit the mute button on the remote.

"Good morning," Riku said as if he hadn't completely ignored pleasantries with his earlier comment.

"'Sup?" Asked Sora.

"Not much, bored. Did I wake you?"

"Nah, been up for hours." Sora replied before letting out a yawn.

Riku laughed over the line at his friend’s incongruities.
"Well you up for doing something?" Riku asked.

Sora shook his head lightly to clear away the sleepy fog that had once again settled over his shoulders.
"Er... Not outside, right?" Sora asked in reply.

"Oh, right. You, winter. Forgot." Riku laughed again.

"You could come over here." Sora invited

"I might then. Sometime later. Where have you been lately anyway?" Riku asked with a teasing edge to his voice.

"Jus' home," Sora yawned again. "Me, winter, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine.." Riku sighed out in a mock-annoyance before laughing quietly.

Sora was fairly sure that Riku was teasing him somehow and was confused by it.
Not that he'd admit it was confusing him. Probably, Riku's intention was to confuse him anyway Sora decided.

"K, see you later then?" Sora asked.

"Sure, if you're not busy." Riku asked with that tone again.

Sora sighed inwardly, "M'not."

"K then. I'll been there in a few hours. I have to clean this dump." Riku sighed in an actually annoyed tone.

"Why're you callin' me then?" Sora asked amused.

"Told you, bored. Needed something to look forward to." Riku laughed and hung up the phone.

Sora set down the phone and yawned, again.

'I should try to take a nap or I'll just bore Riku out of his mind.' Sora decided and climbed the stairs back to his room.

Sora threw off his robe and kicked off his slippers. He then set his alarm to ring in an hour and a half. He slipped under the covers before sitting up again and slipping his t-shirt off. That done he lay down closed his eyes and willed himself back to sleep.

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"...ora."

Sora sighed and reached for his pillow to try to block out the sudden sounds assaulting his sleep.

"Hey, Sora!"

Sora rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times as he recognized it wasn't just a noise, but a voice. Was Riku early?

When his eyes focused Sora found his room, but... Something was off. He quickly realized it was the colour which, despite the mid-afternoon sunlight, was leaning towards a dull grey... Everything in the room was in fact.

"Sora?" Something was resting very lightly on his shoulder and realizing this Sora jerked and turned.
Dark blue eyes stared down at him.

"Ro... Roxas?!" Sora exclaimed, rising from his sleeping position and sidling away a bit in shock.

"Yeah. Sorry." Roxas apologized, looking down and away.

"Er... That's okay. You just startled me." Sora got out, holding a hand to his chest as his breathing slowed.
"So I guess you're still...Er..."

Roxas laughed quietly without looking up.

"I don't know if I'm still, anything... If I was..." He sighed thoughtfully.
"But I am something, I think."

Sora just stared back at the blond boy, at a loss. Roxas continued to avoid his gaze and Sora turned again to gaze at their surroundings.

"Ah, where are we?" Sora broke through the silence finally.

"Just a dream. I projection of a familiar place. It's a bit too drab isn't it?" Roxas smiled just slightly.

Sora nodded in reply, realized Roxas was still not looking at him and replied again with an "Ah... A bit, yes.”

"I wanted to explain something." Roxas said finally, looking up at Sora.

"Oh?" Sora asked still a bit thrown by the situation.

"You see, I've been dreaming lately." The blond boy rushed out.

"...?" Sora looked at the other boy, confused.

"You see, that's why you've been so tired. I'm sorry!" Roxas was staring at his hands again.

"...Er..."

Roxas chanced another glance up and recognized Sora's confusion.

"I've been tired, because you've been dreaming?" Sora asked for clarification.

"Yes. I didn't mean to. It just... Happened." Roxas' eyes darted away again.

"Oh." Sora replied, not understanding what he was being told at all.

"I guess it's like I'm taking over your dreams, kicking you out of your own mind or something to make room for my own... Thoughts? I don't know..." Roxas seemed to grow more upset as he explained. "I'm not sure how it works but you've been feeling drained lately, right?"

"Yes." Sora replied.

"I think it's because I've been hijacking your dreams." Roxas sighed. "I'll try to stop."

Sora stared at his 'other'. The blond boy wasn't looking at him yet again, didn't seem to want to look him in the eye. He seemed, sad?

"What's wrong?" Sora asked instinctively, though, had he been thinking he may not have.

Roxas gripped his upper arms tightly and stared down at his knees.

"I... I don't want to stop." He laughed brokenly.

"Roxas?"

"I'm sorry... It's selfish, I'm selfish." Roxas shut his eyes tightly. "But what are nobodies if not selfish?" Roxas' laughter bubbled out hysterically then, before stopping abruptly as he regained grasp on his 'control'. "I'm sorry Sora. I will stop. It's hurting you, so, it's hurting me too."

Sora stared at him awhile not speaking, dumbfounded, not knowing what to say. He decided he needed to ask something.

"What is it...?” Sora began.

Roxas looked up at him, glassy eyed.

“That you dream about?"

A buzzing sound woke Sora up, for real this time. He groaned and rolled over to bury his face in the mound of pillows before angrily tugging the alarm clock out of the wall. He opened his eyes and found his room, colour and all.

'A dream?' Sora thought.

'No. I don't dream like that.’ He thought firmly.

Sora, while on his travels, had brushed off too much (though usually at Donald's insistence) of the things going on around him as simple coincidence or fatigue. He had realized all of these things would have made everything so much easier, in retrospect. He now knew he couldn't brush this meeting with Roxas off as easily as he had everything else.

"So, Roxas..." Sora said aloud.

He sat up stared at his ceiling fan while before he left the room to get ready for Riku's arrival.

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Why is it that when it's on paper it looks longer? D: I need a laptop.
Please R/R
Ask me questions! I like questions! Er... No math questions. I get enough of those, thank you ;p
Also I need a Beta, so if you're interested drop me a line ^^.
I realize I make terrible tense errors... Ha! Alliteration alert... 0_o... >.>; Goddamn...