Nothing Much In Particular
A small fic for Scribbler because of her beautiful little review and rec, written as an out-take of the Variations of a Theme verse.
In which Yugi and Yami in Anzu's body stay up late at night with a jar of honey doing nothing much in particular.
Probably even less exciting than the description would suggest.
Title: Nothing Much in Particular
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Disclaimer: Not mine, and also follows on from Scribbler's Variations on a Theme.
Rating: Probably G but those with dirty minds may raise it a grade higher.
Yugi’s room was silent except for the soft slip of card on card and the low mumble of instructions or explanations.
‘-So Silent-Swordsman gains another hundred points, meaning that he’s stronger than your Curse of Dragon. I attack with my Silent Swordsman.’
‘Mmm… I’ve lot one hundred life points.’
‘Sorry.’
From opposite him Anzu’s eyes flashed a slightly deeper crimson. ‘Don’t apologise,’ the Pharaoh’s voice rumbled, ‘never apologise for winning Yugi.’
The short boy shrugged and blushed a little.
‘My turn… I place down Gia the Fierce Warrior in attack mode, and I’ll also play this card, face down. I will now attack with Gia the Fierce Warrior.
Yugi winced and sent his Silent-Swordsman into his graveyard without complaint. It was odd, he mused, hearing Yami-Anzu talk so quietly. From what he’d seen Anzu tended to... well, boom when the Pharaoh was in charge. To hear her talking in a low mumble was kinda odd. Him, though. He had to recall what Yami was a ‘him.’
Which was all sorts of weird itself when he came to think about it.
But it was very late. Anzu had come over earlier in the evening and stayed far too late. She’d finally fallen asleep and, for her own safety his mother had allowed her to stay over, which was pretty cool. Yugi had always wanted to host a slumber party.
Not that he was sure three people really counted as a ‘party.’ Not that there were even, technically speaking, three people here. But he counted the Pharaoh none the less because doing so effectively doubled the amount of friends he had and that simply couldn’t be a bad thing.
The excitement of the situation had kept him up and awake far past his bedtime, entirely unable to sleep. So he’d tottered down-stairs for a drink of milk and, instead of seeing Anzu curled up on the sofa-bed (not that he’d looked, obviously, because watching girls in nothing but their Pyjama’s sleeping was kinda purvey and he’d never do anything like that not even if it was Anzu. No way. Never. Not even a bit. Really!) he had found her sitting at the table with a jar of honey, a spoon and a deck of Duel Monsters.
Now he knew what was going on, it was pretty easy to tell who was in charge.
It was the way he moved which gave it away. Anzu seemed to… float sounded too girly… meld maybe? Shift? Skip? She moved entirely without effort, but with so much grace. Yugi had only seen that kind of movement in butterflies, or in cats.
The Pharaoh moved more… solidly, imprinting his presence upon the world, moving with all the conviction and purpose of a rail train. Anzu melded, the Pharaoh demanded.
When Anzu was around he noticed everything, from the way her hands held a glass of water or a pack of cards to the way she spoke to his mom, to the popular girls she hung out with, she made everything in the world around her significant, like a candle lighting up the darkness. When the Pharaoh was in control… it was more like a black hole; nothing mattered except him. His Grandpa could run across a duel field buck naked and no one would notice because that was the sort of charisma Yami-Anzu had.
At any rate, he’d asked Yami why sh… he was up, and Yami had confessed to a bout of insomnia before explaining that Anzu was still asleep but, whilst he was awake, would Yugi like a game?
Never one to pass up such an opportunity Yugi accepted.
So it was the two of them were sitting up into the small hours, playing a very quiet game of Duel Monsters and eating honey and hoping no one else woke up.
He looked back into his cards and smiled.
‘I play Gandora, Dragon of Destruction in attack mode,’ he said, with all the forcefulness a whisper would allow him, ‘and I attack!’
‘A good attempt,’ murmured the Pharaoh, a smug smile spreading over his lips, ‘but you forgot my face down card. I play mirror force, which protects Gia from your attack and instead-‘
‘I know,’ sighed Yugi, ‘bye bye Dragon of Destruction and bye bye 600 life points. I guess you’re gonna attack on your turn, right?’
‘Unless you have anything else to play?’
Yugi spread his hands out wide, signifying that they were empty.
The Pharaoh nodded solemnly and attacked with his Gia The Fierce Knight, metaphorically wiping out the last of Yugi’s life points.
Yugi shrugged and began to put his cards away, taking time to shuffle them, just like Yami did. Yami, Yugi reflected, seemed to stand on ceremony a lot.
‘Would you like to play again?’ asked the spirit in question.
‘Nope,’ said Yugi, ‘I’d like a break for a bit, if that’s OK.’
The Pharaoh frowned and nodded. He reached over for the honey jar and resumed consuming its entire content.
Yugi winced, thinking of Anzu’s calorie count. Plus, Yami really should have asked him before taking it upon himself to start eating his food. Not that Yugi minded but…
The Pharaoh, mistaking his gaze, pushed the jar in his direction.
‘Er… no thanks,’ said Yugi. ‘How can you do that?’
‘What?’
‘Eat an entire jar of honey?’
The Pharoah shrugged, ‘I like it, and its healthy food.’
‘It is?’
Yami nodded and put the honey coated spoon in his mouth, sucking on it slowly, crimson eyes still on Yugi.
Yuki kicked his legs under the table and tried to think of a conversation topic.
‘So…’ he said at last.
Yami tilted Anzu’s head curiously, ‘Yes?’ he said from around the spoon.
‘What’s it like to… er… you know… to… be a girl.’
Yami blinked.
He sucked on the spoon thoughtfully whilst Yugi watched on, enraptured. Eventually he removed it and, with great deliberation replied, ‘I don’t think it’s very different from being a man.’
‘Really?’
Yami nodded, ‘Then again I can’t recall my own name from back then, so perhaps I have no real source of comparison. This is the first body I’ve had for over five thousand years.’
‘Oh…’ said Yugi, a little uncomfortable. He hadn’t expected Yami to be so open. He usually played his cards so closer to his chest.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘what about other girls.’
‘What about them?’
‘What are they like?’
Yami frowned, ‘I’m afraid I don’t quiet see what you mean.’
‘I mean,’ said Yugi carefully, ‘as a girl you see other girls acting like… well… girls. You get to see how hey are with each other. So… what are they like?’
There was another long, considerate pause.
‘On the whole,’ said, ‘very dull.’
‘Really?’
Yami nodded, utterly straight faced.
Yugi sighed and put his head in his hands, considering. ‘That’s a bit disappointing,’ he said at last.
Yami shrugged, ‘All they talk about is other girls and hair care items and what happens to be on the Television. There is no interest in it at all.’
Yugi smiled, neatly decoding that as “They’re not competitive enough.” Yami, more than anyone else he’d ever known, tended to rely strongly on measuring himself up against those around him. It was probably a good thing he was so good at… well… everything because he dreaded to think what a defeated Yami would look like.
They sat in silence for a bit longer, Yugi floundering for conversation topics. This was the first time he had really had a chance to talk to the Pharaoh, certainly the first time he had chance to talk to him without Anzu around.
He just wished he could think of something to say.
Desperation caused him to fall back on an old favourite.
‘So… if you could be a super hero, would power would you have?’
Yami blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
‘If you were a super-hero, what power would you have?’
Yami looked blank, then his eyes slid to the side as he accessed Anzu’s memories.
‘I’m not sure,’ he confessed at last. ‘What powers would you have, Yugi?’
‘Oh, that’s easy, I’d have the power to go invisible.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’d be so cool! I could go all sorts of places and see all sorts of things and no one would see me or bother me at all. Of course, I’d want to be visible sometimes, to hang out with you or Anzu but…’ Yugi shrugged.
Yami’s eyes narrowed, ‘You shouldn’t wish for such things, Yugi.’
‘I don’t!’ he protested. ‘Not often anyway. I’m just saying that if I had a super power that would be the one I’d want. What about you anyway? Have you thought of anything yet?’
‘I suppose, if I were to have a power… it would be the power to fly.’
‘That’s it?’
‘There needs to be more?’ Yami sounded surprised.
‘No… it’s just that it’s not as spectacular as I’d have thought it would be. But then you’ve practically got super powers anyway so…’
Yami shrugged and went back to consuming his honey as the silence set in once more.
Yugi sighed, this wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be.
It occurred to him that Yami wasn’t really very good at this sort of thing. When it came to talking about important things, such as saving the world or the mysteries of the Puzzle, he was fine, and of course, there was always gaming. But when it came to the small stuff, stuff that didn’t matter, he was awkward… rusty.
Yugi wondered what it must have been like for him, as a Pharaoh. Grandpa had said that the ancient Pharaohs were worshiped as gods on earth. What must it have been like to be so very high?
It must be pretty lonely at the top.
How many friends had Yami had whilst he was alive anyway?
Suddenly Yugi felt much better about being small and yeah, a little useless. At least he had something to aspire to. At least he had always had Anzu.
‘You should do this more often,’ he said.
‘Do what?’
‘Nothing. Just… be here. Sit around. Talk. Stuff like that.’
‘That won’t help me get my memories back, Yugi.’
‘No. But it’ll help you make some new ones.’
Yami frowned, ‘I’ve been doing this ‘nothing’ as you call it for five thousand years now,’ he said softly. ‘When I was trapped in the puzzle and I can tell you, it hardly helped.’
‘Yeah, but you didn’t have me then, or Anzu… or even Bakura-Kun.’
‘You would… you are offering to do nothing with me?’
‘Yep!’ said Yugi cheerfully, glad that this was making sense in his own mind at least. ‘Hey, can I have some of that honey?’
Yami slid the jar over to him and watched intently and Yugi took up the spoon and enjoyed the sugary content. Calories be damned!
They stayed that way all night, waiting for Anzu to awaken. Just sitting round, eating honey and doing nothing much in particular.
Hope no one found that too disspointed. Comments are always well recieved!
In which Yugi and Yami in Anzu's body stay up late at night with a jar of honey doing nothing much in particular.
Probably even less exciting than the description would suggest.
Title: Nothing Much in Particular
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh
Disclaimer: Not mine, and also follows on from Scribbler's Variations on a Theme.
Rating: Probably G but those with dirty minds may raise it a grade higher.
Yugi’s room was silent except for the soft slip of card on card and the low mumble of instructions or explanations.
‘-So Silent-Swordsman gains another hundred points, meaning that he’s stronger than your Curse of Dragon. I attack with my Silent Swordsman.’
‘Mmm… I’ve lot one hundred life points.’
‘Sorry.’
From opposite him Anzu’s eyes flashed a slightly deeper crimson. ‘Don’t apologise,’ the Pharaoh’s voice rumbled, ‘never apologise for winning Yugi.’
The short boy shrugged and blushed a little.
‘My turn… I place down Gia the Fierce Warrior in attack mode, and I’ll also play this card, face down. I will now attack with Gia the Fierce Warrior.
Yugi winced and sent his Silent-Swordsman into his graveyard without complaint. It was odd, he mused, hearing Yami-Anzu talk so quietly. From what he’d seen Anzu tended to... well, boom when the Pharaoh was in charge. To hear her talking in a low mumble was kinda odd. Him, though. He had to recall what Yami was a ‘him.’
Which was all sorts of weird itself when he came to think about it.
But it was very late. Anzu had come over earlier in the evening and stayed far too late. She’d finally fallen asleep and, for her own safety his mother had allowed her to stay over, which was pretty cool. Yugi had always wanted to host a slumber party.
Not that he was sure three people really counted as a ‘party.’ Not that there were even, technically speaking, three people here. But he counted the Pharaoh none the less because doing so effectively doubled the amount of friends he had and that simply couldn’t be a bad thing.
The excitement of the situation had kept him up and awake far past his bedtime, entirely unable to sleep. So he’d tottered down-stairs for a drink of milk and, instead of seeing Anzu curled up on the sofa-bed (not that he’d looked, obviously, because watching girls in nothing but their Pyjama’s sleeping was kinda purvey and he’d never do anything like that not even if it was Anzu. No way. Never. Not even a bit. Really!) he had found her sitting at the table with a jar of honey, a spoon and a deck of Duel Monsters.
Now he knew what was going on, it was pretty easy to tell who was in charge.
It was the way he moved which gave it away. Anzu seemed to… float sounded too girly… meld maybe? Shift? Skip? She moved entirely without effort, but with so much grace. Yugi had only seen that kind of movement in butterflies, or in cats.
The Pharaoh moved more… solidly, imprinting his presence upon the world, moving with all the conviction and purpose of a rail train. Anzu melded, the Pharaoh demanded.
When Anzu was around he noticed everything, from the way her hands held a glass of water or a pack of cards to the way she spoke to his mom, to the popular girls she hung out with, she made everything in the world around her significant, like a candle lighting up the darkness. When the Pharaoh was in control… it was more like a black hole; nothing mattered except him. His Grandpa could run across a duel field buck naked and no one would notice because that was the sort of charisma Yami-Anzu had.
At any rate, he’d asked Yami why sh… he was up, and Yami had confessed to a bout of insomnia before explaining that Anzu was still asleep but, whilst he was awake, would Yugi like a game?
Never one to pass up such an opportunity Yugi accepted.
So it was the two of them were sitting up into the small hours, playing a very quiet game of Duel Monsters and eating honey and hoping no one else woke up.
He looked back into his cards and smiled.
‘I play Gandora, Dragon of Destruction in attack mode,’ he said, with all the forcefulness a whisper would allow him, ‘and I attack!’
‘A good attempt,’ murmured the Pharaoh, a smug smile spreading over his lips, ‘but you forgot my face down card. I play mirror force, which protects Gia from your attack and instead-‘
‘I know,’ sighed Yugi, ‘bye bye Dragon of Destruction and bye bye 600 life points. I guess you’re gonna attack on your turn, right?’
‘Unless you have anything else to play?’
Yugi spread his hands out wide, signifying that they were empty.
The Pharaoh nodded solemnly and attacked with his Gia The Fierce Knight, metaphorically wiping out the last of Yugi’s life points.
Yugi shrugged and began to put his cards away, taking time to shuffle them, just like Yami did. Yami, Yugi reflected, seemed to stand on ceremony a lot.
‘Would you like to play again?’ asked the spirit in question.
‘Nope,’ said Yugi, ‘I’d like a break for a bit, if that’s OK.’
The Pharaoh frowned and nodded. He reached over for the honey jar and resumed consuming its entire content.
Yugi winced, thinking of Anzu’s calorie count. Plus, Yami really should have asked him before taking it upon himself to start eating his food. Not that Yugi minded but…
The Pharaoh, mistaking his gaze, pushed the jar in his direction.
‘Er… no thanks,’ said Yugi. ‘How can you do that?’
‘What?’
‘Eat an entire jar of honey?’
The Pharoah shrugged, ‘I like it, and its healthy food.’
‘It is?’
Yami nodded and put the honey coated spoon in his mouth, sucking on it slowly, crimson eyes still on Yugi.
Yuki kicked his legs under the table and tried to think of a conversation topic.
‘So…’ he said at last.
Yami tilted Anzu’s head curiously, ‘Yes?’ he said from around the spoon.
‘What’s it like to… er… you know… to… be a girl.’
Yami blinked.
He sucked on the spoon thoughtfully whilst Yugi watched on, enraptured. Eventually he removed it and, with great deliberation replied, ‘I don’t think it’s very different from being a man.’
‘Really?’
Yami nodded, ‘Then again I can’t recall my own name from back then, so perhaps I have no real source of comparison. This is the first body I’ve had for over five thousand years.’
‘Oh…’ said Yugi, a little uncomfortable. He hadn’t expected Yami to be so open. He usually played his cards so closer to his chest.
‘Well,’ he said, ‘what about other girls.’
‘What about them?’
‘What are they like?’
Yami frowned, ‘I’m afraid I don’t quiet see what you mean.’
‘I mean,’ said Yugi carefully, ‘as a girl you see other girls acting like… well… girls. You get to see how hey are with each other. So… what are they like?’
There was another long, considerate pause.
‘On the whole,’ said, ‘very dull.’
‘Really?’
Yami nodded, utterly straight faced.
Yugi sighed and put his head in his hands, considering. ‘That’s a bit disappointing,’ he said at last.
Yami shrugged, ‘All they talk about is other girls and hair care items and what happens to be on the Television. There is no interest in it at all.’
Yugi smiled, neatly decoding that as “They’re not competitive enough.” Yami, more than anyone else he’d ever known, tended to rely strongly on measuring himself up against those around him. It was probably a good thing he was so good at… well… everything because he dreaded to think what a defeated Yami would look like.
They sat in silence for a bit longer, Yugi floundering for conversation topics. This was the first time he had really had a chance to talk to the Pharaoh, certainly the first time he had chance to talk to him without Anzu around.
He just wished he could think of something to say.
Desperation caused him to fall back on an old favourite.
‘So… if you could be a super hero, would power would you have?’
Yami blinked. ‘Excuse me?’
‘If you were a super-hero, what power would you have?’
Yami looked blank, then his eyes slid to the side as he accessed Anzu’s memories.
‘I’m not sure,’ he confessed at last. ‘What powers would you have, Yugi?’
‘Oh, that’s easy, I’d have the power to go invisible.’
‘Why?’
‘Because it’d be so cool! I could go all sorts of places and see all sorts of things and no one would see me or bother me at all. Of course, I’d want to be visible sometimes, to hang out with you or Anzu but…’ Yugi shrugged.
Yami’s eyes narrowed, ‘You shouldn’t wish for such things, Yugi.’
‘I don’t!’ he protested. ‘Not often anyway. I’m just saying that if I had a super power that would be the one I’d want. What about you anyway? Have you thought of anything yet?’
‘I suppose, if I were to have a power… it would be the power to fly.’
‘That’s it?’
‘There needs to be more?’ Yami sounded surprised.
‘No… it’s just that it’s not as spectacular as I’d have thought it would be. But then you’ve practically got super powers anyway so…’
Yami shrugged and went back to consuming his honey as the silence set in once more.
Yugi sighed, this wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be.
It occurred to him that Yami wasn’t really very good at this sort of thing. When it came to talking about important things, such as saving the world or the mysteries of the Puzzle, he was fine, and of course, there was always gaming. But when it came to the small stuff, stuff that didn’t matter, he was awkward… rusty.
Yugi wondered what it must have been like for him, as a Pharaoh. Grandpa had said that the ancient Pharaohs were worshiped as gods on earth. What must it have been like to be so very high?
It must be pretty lonely at the top.
How many friends had Yami had whilst he was alive anyway?
Suddenly Yugi felt much better about being small and yeah, a little useless. At least he had something to aspire to. At least he had always had Anzu.
‘You should do this more often,’ he said.
‘Do what?’
‘Nothing. Just… be here. Sit around. Talk. Stuff like that.’
‘That won’t help me get my memories back, Yugi.’
‘No. But it’ll help you make some new ones.’
Yami frowned, ‘I’ve been doing this ‘nothing’ as you call it for five thousand years now,’ he said softly. ‘When I was trapped in the puzzle and I can tell you, it hardly helped.’
‘Yeah, but you didn’t have me then, or Anzu… or even Bakura-Kun.’
‘You would… you are offering to do nothing with me?’
‘Yep!’ said Yugi cheerfully, glad that this was making sense in his own mind at least. ‘Hey, can I have some of that honey?’
Yami slid the jar over to him and watched intently and Yugi took up the spoon and enjoyed the sugary content. Calories be damned!
They stayed that way all night, waiting for Anzu to awaken. Just sitting round, eating honey and doing nothing much in particular.
Hope no one found that too disspointed. Comments are always well recieved!