[fic] Coming Forth by Sundown, Chapter 08 - Yugioh, drama/romance, PG-13
Title: Coming Forth by Sundown
Author: Chey (duelist_gurl163)
Chapter: 8/13
Overall rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/romance
Parings: YamixYugi, JouxMai, and references to YugixAnzu and YamixAnzu
Archive: You're lookin' at it
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Post-series, so many spoilers, including Yami's real name.
Summary: His was a story that ended in light. At the time, nobody realized that ending one story would only cause the beginning of another.
Disclaimer: Yugioh's still not mine.
01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07
---
Yugi was warm…warm and happy. There was a steady thumping noise nearby, and every time he breathed in he enjoyed a silky, comforting scent that left him feeling relaxed. A fuzzy contentment with the whole world had filled him inside.
With a happy sigh he snuggled against the chest of the person holding him, moving his head for a better angle to feel the heartbeat against his cheek.
“Atemu…” he murmured, fingers curling on the velvet of his skin. He heard a small chuckle and felt warm breath on his ear as Atemu nuzzled him. It tickled, enough to make Yugi shiver and curl up closer, nosing his way into the protective crook of Atemu’s neck. “Mn…Atemu?”
“Yes Aibou?”
“I love you.”
He could hear the smile in Atemu’s voice when he said, “I love you too.”
“You promise?” He asked playfully, smiling back against him, brushing his throat with his lips.
“I promise.” Atemu rubbed his back, finding all of Yugi’s favourite places, enticing a small purr from the young man in his arms and causing Yugi to momentarily forget what they were talking about.
“I’m glad,” He finally replied, coming back to the present and lifting his head long enough to look down through half-closed eyes into the crimson and purple irises gazing back at him. “Atemu, please don’t go away again.”
“I don’t want to go.” Atemu raised one arm to caress his cheek. “I want to stay right here. If it’s okay with you.”
Yugi smiled at the touch, and reached out to stroke Atemu’s dark face back, allowing his fingers to drift over his lips. “I’d like that.” He lowered his head, eyes closing. His fingers slid down to stroke the strands of hair at the nape of Atemu’s neck as he turned his head to capture his lips with his own.
Before they could touch, he felt himself falling. Even before he felt the bed or opened his eyes he knew it had only been a dream.
Yet…he still felt warm.
But that made no sense…
It also made no sense that he could smell that familiar relaxing scent in the air, when he knew he was definitely awake. But what was it?
Still sleepy and wishing to return to his dream, he tried to tug the blankets up to roll over and go back to sleep, but something heavy was holding them down. Confused, he opened his eyes and shook his head, lifting himself up. Then he froze.
Atemu was stretched out beside him.
He looked around for a moment, and noted that it was daylight in the room and Jounouchi had vanished. Outside the room, if he strained to hear, he could make out some hushed voices, but not what they were saying. Turning, he looked back down at the man beside him. He lay on his side, head resting against one arm, his hair tousled and falling in his face. Only one closed eyelid and the sparkle of bracelets were discernable through the strands. His breathing was remarkably gentle. Yugi had to lean in close to hear it.
How long has he been there?
Yugi had been so exhausted, he couldn’t remember waking up in the night. So he had no way of knowing when Atemu had come in. But why was he there at all?
Then he remembered once, many months ago, waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. Atemu had offered to watch over him for the rest of the night to prevent the nightmare from coming back. And after that, every so often, Yugi would sometimes wake with the odd feeling that someone was watching out for him. He had never spoken to Atemu about it…he didn’t want him to become embarrassed and stop…but he had always suspected, even up until their last night on the ship, that Atemu was guarding his dreams.
Atemu…did you stay up to watch over me again?
He smiled a little, noticing how uncharacteristically soft and vulnerable Atemu looked. He reached out to brush some of Atemu’s hair out of his face, and sighed softly.
You’re not a spirit right now, your body needs rest too. I know all of this is stressful on you…you need sleep more than ever. So why would you stay up for me?
With no answer for himself, the question was left open. So he lay back down and closed his eyes, drinking in the soft scent of Atemu’s body and letting himself pretend, for just a moment, that his dream was real.
- - -
Twenty minutes later Atemu awoke. He felt surprisingly refreshed and rolled onto his back to stretch, when his hand brushed Yugi’s shoulder and he realized where he was.
Going pale, he jumped out of the bed, backing away in a panic.
I must have fallen asleep. How could I have fallen asleep?!
Luckily, Yugi didn’t move.
He’s still sleeping…maybe he hasn’t woken up yet…maybe he’ll never find out.
But that hope vanished when Atemu noticed that Jounouchi wasn’t in the room.
Oh no… He groaned in his mind. Jounouchi will have undoubtedly seen…he’ll tell Aibou and then…Gods damn it, how could I have gone and fallen asleep?!
Outside the room he could hear voices. Great, the others were awake too…there would be no way to sneak back out to his original sleeping spot.
I must think of an excuse for being in here…
He was putting away the extra blanket?
No, that wouldn’t do, he’d left the blanket in the living room.
He had come in to see if Yugi was awake?
Depending on how long the others had been awake that might be plausible, but he had a feeling they’d been up long enough for his absence to be abnormally long.
Perhaps he could just say nothing. Maybe they wouldn’t ask.
But Anzu would know…why on Earth had he told her the truth last night? At the time getting the words out had felt right, but now he regretted giving into the weakness.
Finally, he pulled a book off the shelf in the room and opened it to a random page. Then he waited, till several minutes later as Yugi stirred, and he began flipping pages.
Yugi slowly sat him and look at him. “Atemu?”
“Huh? Oh…Aibou. G-good morning.”
“What are you doing?”
“I came in to see if you were awake…and then was just checking the books out.”
Yugi frowned slightly. “Atemu, all of those books are in Arabic. You can’t speak, much less read that language.”
“I was just looking…Arabic is an interesting-looking language.” He closed the book and set it back on the shelf. “I’ll leave now.” He left the room. Yugi blinked.
He’s pretending like he was never sleeping in here.
He considered going after him and asking him if he really had stayed up, but then Yugi made the choice to honour Atemu’s wishes. If he was trying to keep it a secret, he must have a reason.
- - -
Outside the room, Atemu found Anzu and Mai in the kitchen making toast and tea, muttering insults toward Honda, who seemed to have insinuated that because they were girls, breakfast was their job. The door to Marik’s room was still closed, and Jounouchi was mysteriously absent.
Atemu caught Anzu’s eye, as well as the slightly raised eyebrow she gave him as Yugi shuffled by. Atemu shook his head the slightest bit from side to side, in the hopes that she would interpret his meaning to be ‘don’t talk about it’ and went to pick up the blanket and pillow he hadn’t used.
“Where’s Jounouchi?” He asked Honda.
“He went outside to get the paper off the doorstep.”
“Did he…say anything to you guys?” He asked, lowering his voice as Yugi emerged from the bathroom.
Honda frowned. “About what?”
“Oh, nothing.” He backed off in relief.
Honda eyed him suspiciously, but before he could ask anything else Mai entered the room and thrust a piece of toast at him with a glare. “Here, eat your toast, you sexist pig.”
“Look, I said I was sorry about the cooking joke!”
The front door opened and Jounouchi entered, a newspaper under his arm. Seemingly ignoring them, he sat down the couch and opened it.
“Uh…Jounouchi?” Mai asked. “That paper’s in Arabic.”
He nodded mildly, his eyes moving as if scanning the page.
“How cute, he’s pretending he learned a new language overnight.” Honda reached for the paper. Jounouchi pulled it closer, glaring.
“Hey, it’s rude to try to take a paper away when someone is trying to read it!”
“Jounouchi, we all know you can’t read Arabic,” Yugi said, amused. “First Atemu and now you, I swear.”
Atemu blushed and looked down at his feet.
A cagey look on his face, Jounouchi shook his head. “I can read this. I uh…just never told you.”
“You never told us you can read a language you’ve never seen before,” Mai said, her voice patronizing.
The teen was looking more and more worried by the second. “Sure…see, the headline says: Residents’ Odd Behaviours ‘Unexplainable,’ Say Scientists.”
At that moment the door to Marik’s room opened and he walked out, stretching. “Good morning guys.”
“Marik, translate this headline for us,” Honda grabbed the paper and thrust it at him. Bewildered, he looked down at it. “Um…Residents’ Odd Behaviours ‘Without Explanation’ Say Scientists.”
“No way.” Mai glanced back and forth between Marik and Jounouchi. “Jounouchi was right?”
“Okay, who’d you get to translate this for you?” Honda asked.
Jounouchi looked guilty, and oddly panicked. Yugi frowned, advancing forward and studying his friend. His eyebrows contracted.
“You’re not really Jounouchi, are you?”
There was a collective gasp of realization. The blond grimaced, glancing around nervously, then burst out, “It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t mean to possess him!”
x-x-x
Notes: *sing songs* Faaaaaaanserviiiiiiiice. Okay, I'll admit it, that whole dream sequence was just for the squee factor. Hey, it's a holiday, who doesn't want a little Puzzleshippy fanservice for the holidays? Besides, the chapter did do some stuff to advance the plot too...
Happy Thanksgiving my fellow Americans. x3
Author: Chey (duelist_gurl163)
Chapter: 8/13
Overall rating: PG-13
Genre: Drama/romance
Parings: YamixYugi, JouxMai, and references to YugixAnzu and YamixAnzu
Archive: You're lookin' at it
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Post-series, so many spoilers, including Yami's real name.
Summary: His was a story that ended in light. At the time, nobody realized that ending one story would only cause the beginning of another.
Disclaimer: Yugioh's still not mine.
01 - 02 - 03 - 04 - 05 - 06 - 07
---
Yugi was warm…warm and happy. There was a steady thumping noise nearby, and every time he breathed in he enjoyed a silky, comforting scent that left him feeling relaxed. A fuzzy contentment with the whole world had filled him inside.
With a happy sigh he snuggled against the chest of the person holding him, moving his head for a better angle to feel the heartbeat against his cheek.
“Atemu…” he murmured, fingers curling on the velvet of his skin. He heard a small chuckle and felt warm breath on his ear as Atemu nuzzled him. It tickled, enough to make Yugi shiver and curl up closer, nosing his way into the protective crook of Atemu’s neck. “Mn…Atemu?”
“Yes Aibou?”
“I love you.”
He could hear the smile in Atemu’s voice when he said, “I love you too.”
“You promise?” He asked playfully, smiling back against him, brushing his throat with his lips.
“I promise.” Atemu rubbed his back, finding all of Yugi’s favourite places, enticing a small purr from the young man in his arms and causing Yugi to momentarily forget what they were talking about.
“I’m glad,” He finally replied, coming back to the present and lifting his head long enough to look down through half-closed eyes into the crimson and purple irises gazing back at him. “Atemu, please don’t go away again.”
“I don’t want to go.” Atemu raised one arm to caress his cheek. “I want to stay right here. If it’s okay with you.”
Yugi smiled at the touch, and reached out to stroke Atemu’s dark face back, allowing his fingers to drift over his lips. “I’d like that.” He lowered his head, eyes closing. His fingers slid down to stroke the strands of hair at the nape of Atemu’s neck as he turned his head to capture his lips with his own.
Before they could touch, he felt himself falling. Even before he felt the bed or opened his eyes he knew it had only been a dream.
Yet…he still felt warm.
But that made no sense…
It also made no sense that he could smell that familiar relaxing scent in the air, when he knew he was definitely awake. But what was it?
Still sleepy and wishing to return to his dream, he tried to tug the blankets up to roll over and go back to sleep, but something heavy was holding them down. Confused, he opened his eyes and shook his head, lifting himself up. Then he froze.
Atemu was stretched out beside him.
He looked around for a moment, and noted that it was daylight in the room and Jounouchi had vanished. Outside the room, if he strained to hear, he could make out some hushed voices, but not what they were saying. Turning, he looked back down at the man beside him. He lay on his side, head resting against one arm, his hair tousled and falling in his face. Only one closed eyelid and the sparkle of bracelets were discernable through the strands. His breathing was remarkably gentle. Yugi had to lean in close to hear it.
How long has he been there?
Yugi had been so exhausted, he couldn’t remember waking up in the night. So he had no way of knowing when Atemu had come in. But why was he there at all?
Then he remembered once, many months ago, waking up in the middle of the night from a nightmare. Atemu had offered to watch over him for the rest of the night to prevent the nightmare from coming back. And after that, every so often, Yugi would sometimes wake with the odd feeling that someone was watching out for him. He had never spoken to Atemu about it…he didn’t want him to become embarrassed and stop…but he had always suspected, even up until their last night on the ship, that Atemu was guarding his dreams.
Atemu…did you stay up to watch over me again?
He smiled a little, noticing how uncharacteristically soft and vulnerable Atemu looked. He reached out to brush some of Atemu’s hair out of his face, and sighed softly.
You’re not a spirit right now, your body needs rest too. I know all of this is stressful on you…you need sleep more than ever. So why would you stay up for me?
With no answer for himself, the question was left open. So he lay back down and closed his eyes, drinking in the soft scent of Atemu’s body and letting himself pretend, for just a moment, that his dream was real.
- - -
Twenty minutes later Atemu awoke. He felt surprisingly refreshed and rolled onto his back to stretch, when his hand brushed Yugi’s shoulder and he realized where he was.
Going pale, he jumped out of the bed, backing away in a panic.
I must have fallen asleep. How could I have fallen asleep?!
Luckily, Yugi didn’t move.
He’s still sleeping…maybe he hasn’t woken up yet…maybe he’ll never find out.
But that hope vanished when Atemu noticed that Jounouchi wasn’t in the room.
Oh no… He groaned in his mind. Jounouchi will have undoubtedly seen…he’ll tell Aibou and then…Gods damn it, how could I have gone and fallen asleep?!
Outside the room he could hear voices. Great, the others were awake too…there would be no way to sneak back out to his original sleeping spot.
I must think of an excuse for being in here…
He was putting away the extra blanket?
No, that wouldn’t do, he’d left the blanket in the living room.
He had come in to see if Yugi was awake?
Depending on how long the others had been awake that might be plausible, but he had a feeling they’d been up long enough for his absence to be abnormally long.
Perhaps he could just say nothing. Maybe they wouldn’t ask.
But Anzu would know…why on Earth had he told her the truth last night? At the time getting the words out had felt right, but now he regretted giving into the weakness.
Finally, he pulled a book off the shelf in the room and opened it to a random page. Then he waited, till several minutes later as Yugi stirred, and he began flipping pages.
Yugi slowly sat him and look at him. “Atemu?”
“Huh? Oh…Aibou. G-good morning.”
“What are you doing?”
“I came in to see if you were awake…and then was just checking the books out.”
Yugi frowned slightly. “Atemu, all of those books are in Arabic. You can’t speak, much less read that language.”
“I was just looking…Arabic is an interesting-looking language.” He closed the book and set it back on the shelf. “I’ll leave now.” He left the room. Yugi blinked.
He’s pretending like he was never sleeping in here.
He considered going after him and asking him if he really had stayed up, but then Yugi made the choice to honour Atemu’s wishes. If he was trying to keep it a secret, he must have a reason.
- - -
Outside the room, Atemu found Anzu and Mai in the kitchen making toast and tea, muttering insults toward Honda, who seemed to have insinuated that because they were girls, breakfast was their job. The door to Marik’s room was still closed, and Jounouchi was mysteriously absent.
Atemu caught Anzu’s eye, as well as the slightly raised eyebrow she gave him as Yugi shuffled by. Atemu shook his head the slightest bit from side to side, in the hopes that she would interpret his meaning to be ‘don’t talk about it’ and went to pick up the blanket and pillow he hadn’t used.
“Where’s Jounouchi?” He asked Honda.
“He went outside to get the paper off the doorstep.”
“Did he…say anything to you guys?” He asked, lowering his voice as Yugi emerged from the bathroom.
Honda frowned. “About what?”
“Oh, nothing.” He backed off in relief.
Honda eyed him suspiciously, but before he could ask anything else Mai entered the room and thrust a piece of toast at him with a glare. “Here, eat your toast, you sexist pig.”
“Look, I said I was sorry about the cooking joke!”
The front door opened and Jounouchi entered, a newspaper under his arm. Seemingly ignoring them, he sat down the couch and opened it.
“Uh…Jounouchi?” Mai asked. “That paper’s in Arabic.”
He nodded mildly, his eyes moving as if scanning the page.
“How cute, he’s pretending he learned a new language overnight.” Honda reached for the paper. Jounouchi pulled it closer, glaring.
“Hey, it’s rude to try to take a paper away when someone is trying to read it!”
“Jounouchi, we all know you can’t read Arabic,” Yugi said, amused. “First Atemu and now you, I swear.”
Atemu blushed and looked down at his feet.
A cagey look on his face, Jounouchi shook his head. “I can read this. I uh…just never told you.”
“You never told us you can read a language you’ve never seen before,” Mai said, her voice patronizing.
The teen was looking more and more worried by the second. “Sure…see, the headline says: Residents’ Odd Behaviours ‘Unexplainable,’ Say Scientists.”
At that moment the door to Marik’s room opened and he walked out, stretching. “Good morning guys.”
“Marik, translate this headline for us,” Honda grabbed the paper and thrust it at him. Bewildered, he looked down at it. “Um…Residents’ Odd Behaviours ‘Without Explanation’ Say Scientists.”
“No way.” Mai glanced back and forth between Marik and Jounouchi. “Jounouchi was right?”
“Okay, who’d you get to translate this for you?” Honda asked.
Jounouchi looked guilty, and oddly panicked. Yugi frowned, advancing forward and studying his friend. His eyebrows contracted.
“You’re not really Jounouchi, are you?”
There was a collective gasp of realization. The blond grimaced, glancing around nervously, then burst out, “It wasn’t my fault, I didn’t mean to possess him!”
x-x-x
Notes: *sing songs* Faaaaaaanserviiiiiiiice. Okay, I'll admit it, that whole dream sequence was just for the squee factor. Hey, it's a holiday, who doesn't want a little Puzzleshippy fanservice for the holidays? Besides, the chapter did do some stuff to advance the plot too...
Happy Thanksgiving my fellow Americans. x3