Title: Floods and other Dream Problems [Ventus, Roxas, Riku]
Rating/Warnings: PG
Summary: Riku tries to teach Roxas and Ventus to make Dream Eaters and Ventus makes a variety of Floods instead.
AN: Written for Shiritori. I love the idea of different colored Floods for different emotions.
Floods and Other Dream Problems
“What did I do to deserve you?” Ventus grumbled, nudging the orange puffy Flood with his sneaker. It sniffed at Ventus’s sneaker, unbothered, then chomped on the end of Ventus’s shoelace, yanking it loose. “Hey!”
He was supposed to be making Dream Eaters, not Floods, but the lesson wasn’t going very well. He was still holding the same handful of spirit pieces that Riku had handed him after they’d dropped into Dream Twilight Town, and each time he tried again, another Flood popped out. At least the pink embarrassment Flood had scurried off to hide itself; this orange one refused to get out from underfoot, nosing at Ventus curiously and trying to climb up his pant leg.
To add insult to injury, Roxas had manifested a Sir Kyroo on the first try, one whose oranges and yellows matched Twilight Town perfectly, and whose sword looked more like a Struggle bat.
“It’s ok,” Riku tried to encourage. “Just try again, there’s no rush. You’ll get it.”
Ventus hunched his shoulders, embarrassed that he was making a fool out of himself in front of Riku.
“You’re overthinking it,” Roxas said, clapping Ventus on the shoulder. “Just smoosh the pieces together between your hands and pump a little magic into it! Easy.”
“Ribbidy,” his Kyroo agreed.
Ventus gave them both a dirty look as he dropped to one knee to re-tie his shoelace, shooing back the orange Flood, which was still determined to pounce on his laces. Roxas bent down to scoop the Flood up, its little feet kicking in the air. He squished it gently, like testing out the stuffing of a stuffed animal. “These things are so weird.”
“Your thing is so weird,” Ventus grumbled under his breath as he climbed to his feet. He hadn’t meant anyone to hear that, and turned a bit pink when Riku snorted.
“Ignore him,” Riku said. “Try again.”
“Hey!” Roxas protested, although it was unclear whether that was because of Riku saying to ignore him or because the Flood had grabbed one of his hoodie strings to chomp on.
Taking a deep breath, Ventus reached into his pocket and pulled out the handful of Fleeting and Intrepid Figments Riku had given him earlier. He did his best to clear his mind and do what they’d both told him to do, hold the pieces tight between his hands and let his magic pour into it. Just like before, for a second it seemed like it was going right.
And then, just like before, there was a pop of magic backlash like a dozen rubber bands snapping against his palms.
“Ouch!” Ventus yelped, yanking his hands back and scattering Figments everywhere. In front of him, an angrily magenta Flood glared up at him before opening its mouth to screech its aggravation. “Yeah, you said it. Ugh.”
Riku peered down at the new Flood, hands on his hips. “What do you think is causing that?”
“I might have one idea,” Ventus said wearily, still shaking the pins and needles out of his hands. The center of his chest ached dully. “I’m gonna drop in and ask him. Should be easy since we’re already in a dream, right?”
“Don’t go far,” Riku cautioned. “This is Roxas’s dream portal, and it’s his first time making one, so there’s no telling what’s out past the edges of this area. If you get lost it’ll take more than a Wayfinder to track you down.”
“It’ll only take a minute,” Ventus promised, bending down to grab the magenta Flood. Unlike the other two, this one looked ready to cause trouble. It only took a second to unwind it back to nothing, Ventus practiced at reabsorbing them by now. He was already so annoyed that the burst of extra emotion barely even registered.
Ventus walked over to one of the nearby benches and sat down, letting his head tip back against the back of it. Closing his eyes, it only took a few breaths to drop into his own heart, easy as slipping into the deep end of a still pool.
Daybreak Town’s familiar streets and purple roofs spread out in front of Ventus when his vision cleared. He was still getting his bearings when the person he was looking for popped up behind him.
“What are you doing?” Vanitas demanded, making Ventus jump and whirl around. Vanitas was wearing a faded blue T-shirt and board shorts with turtles on them, the same clothes Sora had been wearing when Ventus had visited him a few days ago. Whenever Ventus spent time with Sora, Vanitas always ended up dressed like him, as if his heart could still sense Sora being in close proximity.
“Trying to make a Dream Eater,” Ventus said. “But I keep just getting—“
“What are you doing that for?” Vanitas interrupted. He was clutching at his t-shirt, stretching the collar. “It feels weird! Knock it off!”
“You can feel that?” Ventus asked, tilting his head. “I guess it is using heart magic, and you’re in here, so…anyway, it’s nothing to worry about.”
“Are you an idiot?” Vanitas scowled. “Our dreams have plenty of shit to worry about.”
Ventus furrowed his brow. “I don’t ever remember them…”
“Gee, why do you think that is?” Vanitas leaned into Ventus’s space, smile sharp and humorless. “Guess who’s been doing all your dreaming for you?”
“Oh…” Ventus threw arms around Vanitas neck and squeezed tightly. He only ever snuck a hug out of Vanitas by surprise, and hung on as Vanitas squirmed. “Then we need Dream Eaters for sure.” Vanitas huffed derisively and slipped Ventus’s grip by shrinking to Flood form. He gave Ventus one more warning hiss before darting off, zig-zagging out of sight.
Ventus opened his eyes back in Roxas’s dreamed Twilight Town to find Riku leaning over him.
“Hope your talk went well, because Roxas is getting tired,” Riku said, offering Ventus a hand up. “This dream won’t last much longer.”
Ventus let Riku pull him to his feet; past Riku he could see the orange Flood dashing past with the Struggle-sword in its mouth, Roxas and the Kyroo in hot pursuit. “Then I better get started.”
