Sora crouched down by the movies as Riku grabbed an oversized pillow and placed it at the end of Sora’s queen sized bed, laying down with his chest pressed against the pillow. Ventus knelt down beside Sora, helping search through the movies, eager for the chance to help pick.
        “How about this one?” Ventus held up a movie he knew Riku hasn’t seen; Big Hero 6. Riku glared at the blonde, whom smirked back at him in return. Sora jumped up, grabbing the movie in the process.
        “Oh, I love this movie! How about it, Riku? Wanna watch it?” Sora extended his arms, holding the movie towards the taller male. Riku could practically see Sora emitting excited sparkles and nodded, wanting the small brunette to be happy. Sora turned around quickly, placing the movie in the DVD player and closing it, before skipping over to the bed. The brunette crawled up onto the high bed, straddled Riku’s waist, and laid down on top of him, remote in hand. Ventus sat down, leaning against the foot of the bed, staring up at the large screen as Sora pressed play.
 

 
        “I’m gonna go get a drink,” Ventus said quickly as a scene with no talking came on. Standing up, he walked out the door and down the hall, not waiting to hear anything the other two boys might say. The blonde looked at the pictures that covered the hallway’s walls, stopping every-so-often when he came about a picture of Vanitas or Sora when they were kids. How did Rivita get these? He wondered, though never actually giving it much thought. The hall is long and somewhat narrow, a few doors scattered throughout it. Two bathrooms, one closet, and four bedrooms; Sora’s, Vanitas’, Rivita and her husband’s, and a guest room.
        “No… no, that doesn’t work.” A soft murmur sounded from the kitchen as Ventus rounded the corner, ready to grab a glass and fill it with water. “Crap…” the voice sighed, tapping away at a keyboard. Squinting his eyes, the blonde male search the kitchen, realizing there was another person in the room with him. The kitchen was large, but it was fairly easy to spot the slight glow of a laptop screen and head of spikey, black hair that somewhat blocked it.
        “Vanitas?” Ventus whispered, stepping closer to the frustrated male. Vanitas growled, snapping his laptop shut as the blonde leaned over his shoulder. He stood up abruptly, turning to glare at his brother’s friend.
        “Shouldn’t you be in Sora’s room?” he hissed, tucking the laptop under his arm.
        “I came to get a glass of water… were you writing?” Ventus questioned, staring down at the laptop under the other male’s arm. Vanitas said nothing, just walked away, leaving the kitchen for the privacy of his own room.
 
        “Hey Sora? Does Vanitas write?” Ventus asked the small brunette, whom was still laying on top of a certain silver haired male’s back.
        “Yeah. A lot, actually. It’s basically his job. He sells his writing online; both to people who commission him, and to newspapers and magazines. He writes all sorts of stuff. He’s actually really smart, you know. Why?” Sora looked up only when he questioned the blonde boy, his eyebrows furrowed.
        “Just wondering…” Ventus trailed off, still standing in the door way as he watched the screen.
        Backing away slowly, he made his way down the hall, towards Vanitas’ room. Knock once. No answer. Knock twice. Still no answer. Just as he was about to knock a third time, the door flung open with an angry looking teenager standing on the other side of the door.
        “What the do you want?” Vanitas asked angrily, glaring at the male in front of him.
        “Sora and Riku are all over each other, so…” the blonde started, peeking around Vanitas and into his room, “I was wondering if I could hang with you.”
        The raven haired male stared at the blonde, both dumbfounded and confused. “Why?” he asked, his angry demeanor slipping slightly.
        “Just because.” Ventus stared at the male in front of him, hoping he’d agree without an actual reason. Vanitas just stared at him, contemplating whether or not to let him in. Sighing, he let his arm fall from the door, allowing the blonde to walk in as he turned around and retook his seat in the wheelie chair at his desk, spun around, and got back to work. Ventus wandered in, closing the door behind him as he did so.
        The blonde aimlessly looked about the room, occasionally picking up a picture or decorative object to examine. There were several pictures of Vanitas and Sora, both on shelves and on walls. Most of them involved Sora seemingly forcing Vanitas into a picture, always smiling while Vanitas scowled. Except one; there was one picture where Vanitas was smiling. It was a soft smile, full of love of amusement. A third party must have taken it, because neither Sora, nor Vanitas could have. In the picture, Sora had his index fingers in his mouth, pulling his cheeks apart and sticking his tongue out as he made googly eyes at the camera, while in the background, Vanitas was smiling softly as he watched the brunette. It was a real smile, and Ventus couldn’t help but stare at the picture longer.
        “Why do you never smile like this?” Ventus asked, taking the photo over to the male. Vanitas took the photo from the blonde, staring at it in surprise.
        “Where’s you get this?” he asked, sounding surprised.
        “It was on your shelf.” Vanitas spun the chair around so he was facing Ventus, both teens wearing a straight face. Vanitas looked around his room, suddenly realizing all the photos everywhere.
        “Sora did my room.” He stated, standing up slowly and wandering about, “Where was this, exactly?” Ventus pointed towards the shelf above his bed, where an empty spot in the center could be seen. Vanitas placed the photo back on the shelf before taking a seat at his desk once more.
        “You didn’t answer my question.” Ventus stated, crouching down beside the desk, crossing his arms and leaning on the flat surface. The blonde placed his chin atop his arms, staring at Vanitas.
        “That picture was taken nearly a decade ago. People tend smile more when their young.” Vanitas said, not even glancing at Ventus.
        “That’s not much of an answer.”
        “What kind of answer do you want?”
        “The actual reason.”
        The two males made eye contact, neither daring to look away or smile. Vanitas racked his brain, trying to think of an answer that would satisfy the blonde and make him stop asking questions. Eventually, he only came up with one answer. The truth.
        “I have to reason to.” Vanitas stated, breaking their eye contact to stare at the screen, typing away immediately. Ventus stayed quiet, almost pitying the male in front of him. Soon, Vanitas hit the ‘enter’ button, leaning back and letting out a satisfied sigh.
        “Why’d you really come over here?” Vanitas asked, standing up and closing his laptop before flopping down on his bed.
        “Well, you might not believe it, but I actually enjoy spending time with you.” Ventus mumbled, following the noirette to the bed and sitting on the edge. “You’re not as much of an as you’d have everyone believe.” Vanitas laughed, wiping away imaginary tears.
        “Nah, I’m more of an than I appear, kid. You just don’t piss me off as much when others aren’t around.” Vanitas said quietly as his laughter died down. Ventus placed his hands on the other side of Vanitas’ legs, leaning back and following the raven haired male’s gaze to the ceiling.
        “I don’t believe you.” Ventus smiled, his eyes falling from the ceiling to Vanitas, watching him stare up blankly. The blonde felt a sudden urge to hug the male, but he knew he couldn’t. Vanitas wouldn’t probably hit him. Hard.
        “Believe what you want.” The raven haired teen yawned, tucking his arms behind his head. “I have to work in the morning, so I’m going to bed. What’re you gonna do?”
        “Oh… can I uh… sleep on your floor, or…?” Ventus trailed off, still staring at the pale teen beside him.
        “Sure, whatever. Go get blankets from Sora, though. And shut the light off.”