One shot of Riddle x Kalim/ GoldenRoses based off of this screenshot !!
For the vibe I imagine it to be like this song
I hope this is at least mostly in character (｡•́︿•̀｡) 1.7k words!! Content after cut!!
꧁𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛꧂
The air was a bit chilly as Kalim led Riddle across the PE field. Kalim’s hand was warm as he held Riddle’s tightly. Neither of them said anything, but the lack of conversation was oddly comforting in a way, Riddle thought, as only the sound of chirping crickets accompanied them on their otherwise silent walk.
“Almost there!” Said Kalim, jovial as ever, as he turned to look over his shoulder at Riddle with a grin that could rival even the sun.
“How he can smile so easily I’ll never know…” As Riddle pondered his thoughts, he opted not to speak them aloud. “It’s almost something to be envious of, how he can be so carefree despite everything that’s happened.”
Glancing to the side, Riddle felt a bit awkward as he watched the magic carpet float beside them. Was it like a pet? Did it have more autonomy than that? It’d be rude to ask, right?
“You alright?” Kalim’s voice broke him out of his thoughts, his face a bit too close as he examined Riddle thoughtfully. He smiled again. “Nah, don’t tell me if you don’t feel like it! Come on, this place is perfect!”
They stopped in the middle of the field; since the43 wasn’t much light, you could see thousands of stars illuminating the sky. If Riddle looked to his left, he would’ve noticed Kalim watching him with a big smile, eyes sparkling.
The magic carpet lowered itself close to the ground to make stepping on easier and Kalim hopped on with zero effort, but Riddle hesitated to follow.
“Come on!” Kalim urged. “Here, I’ll help you up.”
Kalim took Riddle’s hand in his and helped him onto the carpet, then they both sat down.
“Are you sure this is safe?” Riddle seemed apprehensive, opposite to Kalim’s carefree demeanor
“Positive! I’ve been doing this since I was a baby, so trust me, it’ll be fun.” After giving Riddle a pat on the back, Kalim grinned at the red haired-teen, then the carpet soared up.
“Ah-!” The shocked and fearful noise escaped Riddle before he could stop it, and he reached to grab tightly to one of the carpet’s tassels, prompting Kalim to let out a laugh.
“Don’t be afraid, c’mon, look up! Isn’t it beautiful?”
Riddle felt his heart racing as he watched the ground grow smaller and smaller, then his face flushed when Kalim gently tapped under his chin, prompting him to look up at the sky, coming face to face with the clear night sky, thousands of stars shining above them as they soared along leisurely.
The wind in his hair, the stars in the sky, the earth below him…
Riddle had never felt so free.
“What do you think?” Kalim’s voice was gentle and soft as he leaned a bit closer, almost too caught up in admiring how the stars shone in Riddle’s normally stormy eyes.
“It’s…” Riddle was at a loss for words, letting out a shuddering breath and watching his breath come out as a white cloud from his lips, “Wow…”
“I know, right?” Kalim sat crossed-legged, watching Riddle with a strange smile on his face that the redhead had never seen before. It made his stomach flutter in a way he’d never experienced before. Or maybe it was the fact that they were so high up. He’d go with the latter to save himself the embarrassment. He cleared his throat softly and kept looking up.
“Y’know, I really admire you a lot.” Riddle’s head whipped around to look at Kalim, who had a cheesy grin on his face. The wind was blowing his fringe slightly.
“You do?” Riddle murmured in confusion. Kalim admired him? Him of all people?
“Mhm.” With a nod, Kalim moved to sit a bit closer, their knees touching. When he saw Riddle’s stunned expression he laughed.* “Course I do! I mean, you’re dependable and disciplined. You can be a bit stiff, yeah, but I know you’re working on it and it makes me admire you that much more! It’s like you’re the coolest person I’ve ever met!”
“W-Well, I admire you, too!” In response to Kalim’s praise, Riddle stammered out a response he’d definitely be embarrassed by later. “You always are so positive and take everything in stride! People go to you because you’re just a very comforting person to be around. Not to mention, uhm…” Riddle had to look down. How embarrassing. “You’re just really amazing all around.”
When Kalim didn’t respond, Riddle almost thought he’d said something wrong, that he’d been too forward, but then he saw Kalim’s sunny smile as his face went red and he blushed just as brightly as Kalim did. “You’re super sweet, y’know that?”
“Huh?” Riddle went silent when he heard Kalim’s earnest words, and suddenly he had butterflies in his stomach, “No, I…I’m really not, ha…”
“You totally are!” Judging by his expression, it was obvious Kalim wasn’t going to budge on this, so Riddle exhaled in defeat.
A moment passed of comfortable silence, Riddle sitting with his knees to his chest while Kalim lounged on his back, rambling about the stars or anything else that popped into that never quiet brain of his.
“I hope we get a lot of snow this year when winter roles around,” Kalim said, the offhanded comment catching Riddle’s attention more than it probably should have.
“I’ve never played in the snow much.” The redhead mused, looking up at the stars as they glided along at a leisurely pace.
“Huh??” Kalim sat up swiftly, looking incredulous at the very idea! “Do you not get snow in the Queendom of Roses?”
“No, we do! My mother was always just worried about me hurting myself or falling ill so she never let me.”
“Oh yeah, your mom’s a super famous doctor, isn’t she? Man, talk about pressure!” Kalim laughed, “But seriously, you never played in the snow, not even here on the school grounds? It’s all I could think about when I got my acceptance letter. We don’t get any snow in the Scalding Sands, so seeing it was like…I dunno, it was like magic to me! Haha, I fell more times than I can count, but I had so much fun.”
“I can imagine…” Riddle smiled slightly at the expression on Kalim’s face as he recalled the memory, chin on his knees as he hugged his legs closer, “And no, I haven’t. Not to say my dorm mates haven’t tried to convince me. I just don’t see the appeal of running around in freezing temperatures and pelting others with frozen water.”
“It’s not- ugh…” Kalim groaned comically and gave Riddle a pat on the head, which made his face as red as the roses in the Heartslabyul gardens. “There really isn’t a point when you’re having fun, it’s more like…uhm…the memories you make, in a way? About having fun with the people you care about.” Kalim grinned and lay back again, this time pulling Riddle with him. “Y’know, a lot of people care about you, Riddle. More than you realize, I think. I care about you a hell of a lot, honestly.”
“You do?” Riddle felt his heart flip as he turned his head to look at Kalim, taking in his side profile. He’d always been a bit stern; he could be a bit cold without really meaning to. He had a hard time imagining Kalim of all people caring about him.
“Of course I do! I mean, we’re friends, aren’t we?” “Friends?”
The silence that followed felt heavy and light at the same time, it wasn’t uncomfortable but it felt like there was things that went unsaid. Then, Riddle nodded “Y-Yeah, we’re friends.” The two then smiled at each other and looked up at the sky again, and Riddle didn’t even mind that Kalim hadn’t let go of his hands yet this entire time
“When it does snow, I’m definitely dragging you out to play around in the snow with me!” Kalim sounded so excited, so sure…Riddle couldn’t help but nod his head. “Uhm, I mean, I suppose an hour or so wouldn’t hurt, as long as we’re properly dressed.”
It was silent again, and they didn’t talk about much the rest of the ride, but neither of them minded. The silence felt natural; it felt right. An hour or two passed, and they were on the ground again! Kalim hopped off with ease, brought on by years of experience, and helped Riddle step down carefully into the grassy field.
“Thanks for doing this with me, I had a lot of fun!” Squeezing Riddle’s hand, Kalim beamed at his shorter companion, and they began walking back to the mirror room to return to their respective dorms for the night.
“I still can’t believe you convinced me to.” Riddle’s sigh wasn’t one of annoyance or fatigue, but of what almost sounded like fondness as he glanced at their intertwined fingers. “You had fun though, huh?” When Kalim asked that question with that cheeky grin of his, Riddle could only nod. “Yeah, I can admit I enjoyed the experience a lot more than I thought I would.”
“That makes me so, so happy.” The duo stopped in front of the hall of different mirrors and grabbed Riddle’s other hand, giving them both a squeeze. “I meant what I said earlier, about the snow! To be frank, I wanna hang out more with you! Like a lot more! I really like spending time with you.”
For what felt like the millionth time, butterflies fluttered in the redheaded teen's stomach, and his cheeks heated up, turning the same color as his hair. “I…I like spending time with you, too. I’d really like it if we spent more of it together.”
With a grin that could light up any room, Kalim seemed like he could barely hold in his excitement “You don’t know how happy that makes me!!” After a moment he cleared his throat and took a step back. “I’ll see you tomorrow in class! Sleep well, okay? Goodnight, sweet dreams!” Kalim waved goodbye, then stepped through the mirror portal to Scarabia, and Riddle was left standing there, still reeling. “S-Sweet dreams…” He mumbled sheepishly, then stepped through the Heartslabyul mirror.
꧁𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛𐮛꧂
HEHEHEH this is my first time writing the two of them so i hoped I didn’t do too bad(≧◡≦) if you made it this far thank you for reading to the end! I really appreciate it!