Kairi and Riku -in progress-

[paopu-kairi.livejournal.com]

Who: Kairi paopu_kairi, Riku forthedarkness
Where In the kitchen
When: After Valentine's Day
Rating: PG at most
Summary: Kairi and Riku meet up unexpectedly, and catch up.
the Story:

After spending quite a lot of time shut up in her room - following the happenings of Valentines Day - Kairi finally gave in to her complaining stomach, and sought out the kitchen.

It took Kairi quite a while to get there - she had never been a well-navigated person, and had been constantly getting lost while she was growing up.

"It seems I haven't outgrown that flaw..." She sighed as she pushed open another set of doors.

Ah. The kitchen.

Comments

[forthedarkness.livejournal.com]

It was mid afternoon when Riku finally decided to abandon his pet project and go to the kitchen to retrieve some food, desperately hoping that he wouldn't somehow encounter Ansem on his way there. The man gave him the creeps, and even Xemnas gave him similar chills down his spine -- but somehow Ansem was worse, especially now that Riku had offered to be his 'pet' in return for Namine, Kairi, Sora and Roxas's safety.

Needless to say he wasn't too happy about it, but what else could he have done?

Brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes Riku went on his way, watching his back every step of the way as though the Heartless would jump out of nowhere, and after a few wrong turns, he finally reached the kitchen, only to encounter a rather pleasant surprise. He hadn't expected anyone else to be in here quite yet.

"Hey, Kairi," he greeted his friend with a small smile, taking a seat at one of the tables. Maybe he wasn't so hungry at the moment; maybe this would be a good opportunity to talk about the valentine misunderstanding and what the pair of them were going to do about it...

[paopu-kairi.livejournal.com]

Kairi loved muffins. She loved the way they looked, the way they smelled and especially, the way they tasted.

She didn't hear the kitchen door open at first. Just as she was taking the tray from the oven, she heard her name being spoken. She turned around slowly, and when she saw it was Riku sitting there, she smiled, oblivious to the burning tray in her hands. "Hey! Riku!"

It had been a while since Kairi had had the opportunity to speak to Riku (and Sora, for that matter) properly. "Heh, what brings you here?"

[forthedarkness.livejournal.com]

"Careful with that," he nodded to the probably burning hot tray in her hands, chuckling a little. It had been far too long since they'd last spoken properly, and well. To be perfectly honest, Riku had missed her and Sora quite a lot. More than he could really put into words right now, anyway.

"Oh, you know. The usual. Having to eat to live, and all of that," he chuckled, drumming his fingers on the tabletop in a simple rhythm. "Making muffins, hm? Mind if I have the honour of tasting one first?"

She hadn't changed a bit. Her appearance may have, sure, but she was still the same Kairi. Still cheerful and forgiving and kind and sweer, almost to a fault. And that was what Riku liked about her.

[paopu-kairi.livejournal.com]

If Riku hadn't said anything about the tray, Kairi probably would have dismissed the stinging in her fingertips as just... well, sore fingers. But she looked down, alarmed, and placed the tray on the counter. A long line of barely audible curses followed as she ran her fingers under cold water for a moment.

Smirking, she looked at Riku. "You sure can," She laughed, turning back to the muffins. "What flavour would you like? There's... chocolate, blueberry and sea-salt flavoured muffins. I don't know how well they turned out, the recipe was slightly different than at home, and I've never tried to make sea-salt muffins before."

Kairi took a chocolate one for herself, and sat down. She looked at Riku, and how grown-up he seemed now. 'I wonder if I seem more grown up and mature to Sora and Riku...' She thought to herself. "I doubt it." She said aloud, forgetting for a moment that Riku was there.

[forthedarkness.livejournal.com]

Despite the obvious pain that Kairi was in, no matter how minute, Riku still couldn't help but chuckle slightly at her carelessness. It was... strangely endearing, actually, but he would never, ever admit that out loud nor to anyone else. He took the opportunity to retrieve the tray from the counter and place it on the table, grabbing a blueberry muffin for himself.

"I think I might... pass on the sea-salt muffins and leave those for Roxas to devour to his non-heart's content," Riku chuckled, taking a bite of his muffin. They were... surprisingly good, he decided around a mouthful. Best thing he'd tasted ever since he'd been at the mansion -- which, admittedly, hadn't been all that long, but it didn't particularly matter.

He noticed Kairi watching him and gave her a small smile, wondering to himself why she looked so deep in thought. "You doubt what?" he asked, taking another bite of his muffin. "Is something bothering you? Something on your mind?"

[paopu-kairi.livejournal.com]

Kairi wondered, as she nibbled at her muffin, why - or how - she had forgotten to wear something over her hands, or at least wait until the tray was cooler before she grabbed it, or used a tea-towel or something to prevent her hands from getting burnt.
"What's done is done now, huh?" She said, indicating to her slightly red fingers with amusement.

Kairi grinned. She remembered Roxas liked sea-salt flavoured anything. She got up, took all the sea-salt ones out of the tray, and put them in a plastic container. With the pen she had mysteriously in her pocket, she scribbled on top of the container lid, 'ROXAS: Hope you like sea-salt muffins.', before returning to her seat.

"I... what?" She asked, before coming to the realization that she must have been talking aloud. "Oh... uhh... err..... well," She admitted, a playful smile on her face, "I was just thinking about how mature you and Sora look (and seem) now, compared to when we were on the islands together, and I then started to wonder if I seemed any more mature to you two... and that's when I thought, 'I doubt it.'"