Chapter Text
Yugi’s not crazy, but he feels like he’s going crazy.
Wednesday, he was able to rationalize what he heard and saw and the way he had been acting by summing it up under the neat umbrella of “sleep deprived”. Sure, he wasn’t actually sleep deprived, but Tuesday night still wasn’t a restful sleep, and he had spent the whole day exhausted. It was so much easier to pass off the shadows and whispers then, but when he wakes up Thursday and Friday, and goes through his whole day the exact same way, he starts to think it’s less likely it was all in his head. Dark figures dart around at the edge of his vision, voices call out to him in incomprehensible speech over the droning music of the arcade, he finds weird things around his room he knows he didn’t bring in – it all starts to add up, and stops being something normal or natural and something more… Well…
It begins to start looking like something else entirely.
Yugi tries not to panic and sound any alarms. He really didn’t want to jump to any insane conclusions. There could still be completely rational reasons for all of it – maybe how creepy the hotel had been was still getting to him, maybe he was having an off week, maybe he ate something weird, and he was hallucinating. Literally anything else sounded better than the unnatural and paranormal alternatives he was currently battling. If it kept up past the weekend, then maybe he’d talk to Ryou about it and try to get some answers – he’d probably look actually crazy in the process, but if anyone would know, it would be Ryou.
Overall, he does his best not to let it get to him, though. He puts all his focus and energy he can muster into the quickly impending Friday night, and all the nervous excitement that entailed. He spends the afternoon before his shift packing an extra backpack full of clothes, snacks and essentials, and then makes his store-to-store run for batteries and film. He thinks, fleetingly, as he stands in the hardware aisle of the general store, about what him and Atem would do if things took a turn for the hot and heavy during any of the movies they were lining up, but his face burns and he quickly buries those thoughts. He spent the past two days not jumping to conclusions, he wasn’t about to break his record here. Sure, neither of them were subtle, and Yugi could still feel Atem’s hand on his waist like it was still there, but there was still room for error. Still plenty of ways for Yugi to be wrong about Atem’s intentions.
Would he be enthusiastically about it if things did take that turn? Well, duh. He would be a fool to not be. But was he going to expect it? Of course not. This was, on paper and for all intents in purposes, in the eyes of Yugi and Atem and God, a normal movie marathon weekend between two best friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
Yugi spends his entire shift at the arcade repeating that to himself over and over and over again like he was completely in denial while him and Atem work, even with all the looks and brief touches and words laced with triple innuendos. Maybe his thoughts start to sound a little delusional by the time Joey picks them up after they close up the building, Yugi slipping the arcade keys onto his ring next to his house key and heading over to Joey’s truck with Atem. Joey gives both of them a long look and then wrinkles his nose at Yugi’s second backpack. “Uh. Am I underdressed?” he asks.
Atem snorts. “Yugi’s staying the night with me,” he says, and Joey’s eyes twinkle. Yugi hopes he sincerely keeps his mouth shut just this once. “I figured you could drop us both off after we’re done.”
“Of course, that’s no problem,” Joey says cheerfully, a playful lift to his voice. “What do you two have planned?” he asks, like he doesn’t already know. Yugi barely contains the urge to kick him.
“Just movies,” Atem and Yugi say in unison, then give each other wide eyed looks, their faces pink.
Joey laughs and shakes his head, spinning his keys on his fingers. “Alright. Let’s go you two,” he says, and throws open the driver’s side door. “I don’t think it’s going to rain but you never know.”
Yugi slides into the passenger’s side, while Atem takes the backseat. Joey doesn’t need directions this time, all too familiar with the area directly around the town and of the groves themselves, but if they both sat in the backseat, Yugi was almost a hundred precent certain that he would make some snide comment. Their… whatever was so precariously balanced on a needlepoint as it was that Yugi couldn’t be confident that it wouldn’t collapse and fall apart with one wrong joke – not that Joey would be intentionally mean, but it was a delicate thing, nonetheless. Joey Wheeler wasn’t explicitly known for being delicate, either.
Their drive is quiet. Joey’s got some rock station tuned in on his radio, the volume turned down low, and as they pull off the more developed and paved roads, rocks kick back up on the tires and ding against the side of the truck. Yugi can distinctly feel Atem’s eyes on the back of his neck, but he contains the urge to turn and look, instead focusing his attention out the window. Clouds are gathered in the sky, covering from horizon to horizon, but not thick enough to really signify rain. The desert gives way to row after row of withered citrus trees, their skeletons grey and covered in equally as dried out vines that snake around the trunks and branches. The low moonlight makes them look far more intimidating and haunted than they do during the day, and that pit of fear in his stomach only rises as Joey turns off the road onto a much smaller, and far less used path that takes them into the grove properly.
The light from what did remain of the streetlamps fade until the headlights of the truck are all they have to illuminate their way. Eventually, Joey pulls over into a patch that was mostly cleared of foliage, and shuts the truck off, and without hesitation or another word, they slide out into the quiet night. The heat was less oppressive out here, away from the paved roads and warm concrete, but the droning of the crickets was nearly deafening. The old silt and sand of the irrigation embankments were washed away and overgrown with desert weeds, some as tall as Yugi himself, but from what he could vaguely remember of scouts, none were poisonous, at least. His feet still sink into the softened earth as he thanks God he kept those old hiking boots around after all, and he grabs his flashlight and camera from his backpack, before stepping away from the truck.
“Alright,” Joey starts, looping around to the truck bed. Atem and Yugi follow without a word. He pulls down the tail gate down, then sets his own backpack on top, digging around for a moment before producing three walkie talkies. He clicks each of them on, testing the channels, before handing one each to Yugi and to Atem. “These should cover about a mile. So I wouldn’t wander too far. I figure it’d be faster if we split up this time around, just because of how much space we have to cover. But if we see anything cool, we can use these.”
Atem turns his over in his hands for a moment, then hums. “Seems safe enough.”
Joey holds his flashlight in his mouth for a moment to illuminate his watch’s screen, then takes it out to speak. “Want to meet back here in an hour and a half, give or take?”
Yugi glances behind him at the dark trees, and something sinks in his stomach. “What if we get lost?” he asks, looking back to Joey and Atem.
Joey wiggles his flashlight as he puts his backpack back on, and closes up the bed of the truck again. “Just start waving your flashlight around. We should be able to find each other easily that way.”
Something about that didn’t comfort him, or convince him in any way that help would be easily found if something did happen. But he tries to level himself – they were out in the middle of nowhere. No one would be out here this late, and even coyotes would rather be wandering into town where a meal might be guaranteed. Yugi wasn’t even sure if birds spent their times out here. He just nods, and clips his walkie talkie on his waistband. “Okay. Well. See you guys in an hour and a half.”
That’s all Joey needs before he’s wandering off in a randomly chosen direction, disappearing behind the bramble and tree trunks. Atem hesitates, flashlight in one hand, walkie in the other. “Will you be okay out here alone?” he asks.
Yugi wants to say no – something desperately wants him to tell Atem to come with him. Instead, though, he just smiles and waves a hand dismissively. “Yeah. No, I’ll be fine, Atem. It’s just some old plants. Nothing too scary.”
In the lowlight, Atem doesn’t look convinced, his brows furrowed in worry – or maybe concentration. “Okay… Just don’t get too lost, okay?” he asks, dropping his voice a little.
“No worries, I’ll be safe,” Yugi assures him.
Atem seems to hesitate again, but takes a small, short step toward Yugi and presses his lips against his cheek – almost the corner of his mouth – before he pulls back just a hair to speak, practically whispering into Yugi’s ear. “Please do. I’d like you in one piece tonight.”
Yugi’s blood can’t decide which direction to rush, but his face feels distinctly hot when Atem pulls back even further to give him space, and all he wants to do is pull him into the bed of the truck and forget all about exploring the groves. But instead, he swallows the lump in his throat and nods. “T-Totally,” he stutters out, sounding far more lame than he wanted.
It doesn’t seem to bother Atem, much, though, because he starts walking backwards, a small smirk on his face. “See you back here soon, Yugi,” he says, and then steps off the embankment into the trees.
Yugi stands dumbfounded by the truck for a beat longer, his hand holding onto his flashlight so tight he was worried for a moment he might break it. He loosens up his grip, and then turns, heading off in a direction that led away from Atem and Joey, illuminating his path as he dips between the trees, pushing aside vines that hung down in front of him like thick curtains. The second he steps through them, it feels like the dying, shriveled vegetation all around him sucks up every last sound – the only thing Yugi was certain about hearing was his own heart beating in his chest and the sound of his boots stepping over branches and sand. It’s a little jarring – and very creepy – but Yugi presses on, passing his flashlight over tree after tree.
He stops to take pictures, mostly from the ground, looking up at the starry night sky, but every so often he finds items obviously left behind by people – bottles, a shoe, a sun-bleached and sand-flayed blanket, various kinds of litter and trash. He tries to document those, too, to show remnants and proof of humanity in places it had left behind, but curls his nose up at several condoms sitting on a rock next to a tree. “Really…? All the way out here…?” he mumbles to himself, and opts out of photographing that one.
A branch snaps behind him and Yugi turns on his heel so fast he feels dizzy. When he lifts his flashlight, nothing is immediately in his vicinity that he wasn’t already expecting, but beyond where his flashlight can illuminate, it’s pitch black. He has that distinct feeling of being watched again, that crawling sensation that runs up his back, making his skin erupt in goosebumps. Yugi rubs at the back of his neck, then turns away, heading off the way he wanted to walk, trying to shrug the feeling off as he did.
But it persists. He doesn’t hear anything else, no branches or footsteps, but he knows he’s being followed. It’s keeping its distance, far enough away that Yugi didn’t immediately feel threatened, but just close enough that he would know it was there. It was far more unnerving than Yugi would have thought, and he barely focuses on where he’s walking until he’s stepping out into a clearing of the trees, to a small building risen up on a short foundation, just above where the irrigation would have sat. Yugi steps up one of the windows, pointing his flashlight to the ground and looking in past the grimy glass. Inside it appears there’s a few tables, and some papers scattered about, so he steps over and tries the door handle.
He expects it to be locked, but the handle turns, and the door squeaks open on rusty hinges in a loud, grating sound that startles Yugi. At the same time, his walkie talkie buzzes to life. “Did you guys hear that?” Joey asks, his voice sounding panicked.
Yugi calms his racing heart and unclips his walkie from his waistband. “It was just me. I found a small building. The hinges on the door are loud,” he explains.
“Oh thank Christ,” Joey sighs.
“What’s inside?” Atem asks.
Yugi steps inside. The interior smells musty and vaguely of mildew, like at some point water had gotten inside, and caused some damage. When he passes his flashlight over, he finds one of the windows on the back wall broken, a large hole directly through the middle. A large rock sits in the middle of the room, and Yugi sighs in mild annoyance. The rest of the room is hardly anything to mention – the papers appear to be old invoices from the final years before Crawford pulled his company out, but most of the writing is faded and written in a cursive he can’t read. “Nothing fun,” Yugi laments. “Have you guys found anything cool?”
“Nope.”
“Nothing here.”
Yugi sighs through his nose and clips his walkie back onto his waistband. He gives the room one final look, before he steps back out, thankful for the small breeze that blows by. As he walks back down the short stairs leading up to the building, he trips over a small piece of exposed rebar on one of the steps and curses under his breath, steadying himself. As he starts heading back toward the trees, he stops, his blood going cold and icy in his veins.
Something was watching him, just beyond the tree line. It was dark, but a completely different kind of dark – a kind of void that Yugi’s flashlight couldn’t illuminate, not matter how uselessly he tried. He couldn’t see any eyes, but he knew it was looking at him, and it knew that he was looking at it. Yugi wasn’t sure which one was worse, but everything in him wanted to run, to start frantically sprinting in any direction and pray he found the desert or a road so he could use the walkies to get ahold of Joey and Atem.
But instead, he’s frozen in fear, standing just outside of the door. He watches it, flashlight pointed directly at it, and his heart jumps into his throat when it begins approaching him, not quite walking but not really hovering either. It’s slow and methodical, like it had planned out it’s every step and move, and Yugi really wants to run now, but something won’t let him move, his grip tight on his flashlight.
Then, it’s standing before him. It’s oppressive, like something heavy and unseen weighing on your shoulders, and smelled distinctly like old fabric and wood rot. And it was cold – far colder than anything should be on a hot summer night. For a long moment, neither of them moves, and Yugi’s sure he’s just hallucinating – but then, it lifts a dark limb vaguely shaped like an arm and moves toward Yugi slowly, far more calculated and steadier than it had been walking to him. A pit of dread and fear fills Yugi’s stomach suddenly, and just before it’s hand grazes his skin, Yugi squeezes his eyes closed, not wanting to see the outcome.
Nothing happens. For a long moment, Yugi stands there, his eyes closed tight, trying to will away whatever would be waiting for him when he opened them. Around him, the world is unnervingly still – there’s no wind, no sound of the old branches creaking, not even a distant car engine or horn from further in town. Maybe he was just seeing things in the dark, he tries to tell himself. Maybe there would be nothing there when he opened his eyes. Maybe he really was going crazy.
So, Yugi finds the courage inside himself to slowly open his eyes.
Staring him down is something Yugi could really only describe as being a face. But it wasn’t, not really – it was still black like void, but in the negative spaces between, he could make out vague features that were startling close to his own. And it was far closer now, right up in his face, practically nose-to-nose. There were no eyes that Yugi could see but he’s being stared at, intently, with purpose.
“You will try to escape this, and you will be unable to,” it warns in a voice Yugi can’t hear but can somehow. “They always try. And they never succeed. And you will be no different.”
Yugi wants to scream. Or be sick. Or both, maybe. But he’s paralyzed now, even as this…. Whatever it was grabs his arm, holding it tight. So tight, Yugi winces in pain and tears start to form in the corner of his eyes. It’s enough to snap him back to some kind of common sense, and he pulls his arm away with enough force that he stumbles back over his own two feet. He thinks quickly of the rebar exposed and tries to catch himself.
But it grabs the front of his thin button up first, holding tight and pulling it from its place tucked into his jeans. Yugi’s heart hammers in his chest as it leans close – something he could only describe as a grin breaks out across its face.
“But it will be fun to watch you struggle.”
And then, it’s gone. Yugi ends up falling to the side of the steps, landing in the brittle weeds and sand with a soft oof. He quickly scrambles up onto his feet, pressing his back against the side of the building in a vague attempt of some kind of safety – but he is well and truly alone this time. The wind picks back up, the trees around him groan in unison at the movement, and despite the heat that catches back up to him, Yugi feels frozen through and through. Cold, right down to his very center. He suppresses the shiver that threatens to run up and down his spine, just as his walkie talkie crackles to life. “Yo! I found some old machinery! Do you two want to come see?” Joey’s voice loudly exclaims from the other side.
That alone is enough to melt some of the tension in Yugi’s body. He leans down, picking up his flashlight and checking to see that it still turned on. “Are you at that big harvester off in the distance?” Atem asks.
Yugi looks up just in time to see light flashing from a dark shape on the horizon – it wasn’t far, but from his vantage point it felt like it. “Yup. Can you two make it here alright?”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Atem says easily. “Are you okay over there, Yugi?”
He unclips the walkie from his belt. “Y-Yeah sorry. I’m good. I’ll meet you guys there,” he says, trying to keep the tremble from his voice.
If either of them hear it, they don’t comment on it. Yugi puts the walkie back and starts in that direction, pointing his flashlight to the ground so he didn’t trip over anything else, that low thrum of nerves just under his skin. Did he just… imagine that? He runs a hand down the front of his shirt, and it was still tucked, and it didn’t seem anymore wrinkled than it had been when he put it on this morning. He rubs a hand tenderly over his arm, and nothing feels bruised – not even a small amount, like his shoulder had been.
It had felt so real, but was Yugi just… imagining things? Making something out of nothing but odd shapes in the darkness and the white noise of the desert? He wasn’t sure. Part of him didn’t really want the answer, anyway, because either way it meant admitting something he didn’t want to. Yugi grips his flashlight, checks sight of the harvester he can see just above the tree line, and really tries to push it to the very back of his thoughts.
When he finally finds the break in the trees, he finds the tall, rusting piece of machinery just on the edge of the grove, right before it all dipped back off into undeveloped desert. Joey was standing in front of it, already talking animatedly to Atem, and when they notice Yugi, they both offer waves. “Isn’t this cool!” Joey yells, and even with the distance he’s far louder than anything else Yugi had experienced that night.
Atem seems to agree because he flinches away from him slightly. “Definitely the coolest thing I’ve seen all night. All I found were weeds and lizards.”
Yugi pulls his camera up and lines a shot of the large blades, snapping a few photos with his flash. It illuminates the area, and Yugi tries not to focus on the odd black shapes that made no sense. “Yeah. I found that building. But there were just invoices and a broken window,” Yugi tells them as he steps closer.
“Anything fun on the invoices?” Atem asks.
Yugi snorts. “I couldn’t read them,” he says, then looks up with his camera to take another picture of the machinery. “Probably just about the citrus sold or something.”
“Probably,” Joey agrees. He looks up at the sky, then at his watch, humming quietly to himself. “Well... It’s been about an hour… We ready to call it quits?”
Yugi wants to call bullshit – he knows it hasn’t – but there’s a look on Joey’s face as their eyes meet that makes him shut his mouth. “I guess?” he says, then looks at Atem. “What do you think?”
Atem’s staring off at the trees. Something runs up Yugi’s back at that, so he turns to look, but he doesn’t see anything. Then, the weeds shift, and a wild rabbit hops out, ears turning in place. He relaxes, and Atem turns to look at him with a smile. “Sure. We can get a head start on the movies.”
Yugi’s tongue feels like it’s in knots so he just nods. Joey leads them back toward the truck with a surprising accuracy, and none of them say a word as they climb back in, and Joey starts the drive back into town. Yugi doesn’t feel himself start to completely relax until the streetlights come into view, and the darkness is pushed back out to the trees and desert. He sinks in his seat, and tries not to let a completely different kind of anxiety overtake him as Joey turns down Atem’s street, and comes to a stop in front of his house. “Well,” Joey says, really drawing out the syllables, and Yugi gives him a sharp look. “That was fun! I’ll let you two know when I’ve got our next place chosen.”
“Hopefully Tristan is able to come with next time,” Atem says with a laugh as he shuffles over to get out of the truck, leaving his walkie talkie on the backseat.
“Right?” Joey agrees, and once Atem’s out, waiting on the sidewalk for Yugi, Joey looks over at him, a smirk on his face. “Have a nice weekend, Yugi.”
Yugi roll his eyes, his face warm, and sets his own walkie down on the seat between them. “You, too, Joey,” he says sarcastically, and then gets out of the truck with both of his backpacks, stepping up beside Atem as Joey pulls away from the curb and heads down the street again.
They both stand there in a shared, nervous silence, before Atem pulls his keys from his pocket and clears his throat. “Uh… Well. Let’s get inside?”
“Sure,” Yugi agrees, and follows him up to the front door. Atem unlocks it and steps inside, Yugi right behind him. They both pull off their dusty shoes as Atem flips on the entry way light. “I, uh… I brought some snacks for us. I figured that would be… polite.”
Atem chuckles. Yugi sets his exploring bag down next to his boots. “I have snacks, too, you know,” Atem says, looking over at him. Yugi just shrugs. “I guess we’ll have some variety, though.”
“Exactly,” Yugi says. Everything he’s saying is coming out far lamer than he expected. When has it ever been so hard to speak to Atem? He decides to just wordlessly follow Atem into his kitchen, trying not to let the anticipation of what was to come get to him. “Are we uh… watching them in the living room? T-The movies, I mean,” he stutters.
Atem’s red in the bright overhead lights. He rubs his neck as he pulls out a few sodas from the fridge. “I… Um… I was thinking we could watch them in my room?” he suggests, obviously struggling to keep his voice level. Yugi’s heart drums against his ribs. “But if you uh-“
“N-No,” Yugi interrupts quickly, his own face hot. Atem gives him a briefly surprised look. “T-That’s fine. Your room is fine.”
Their eyes meet over the kitchen island, and Yugi wishes that it wasn’t separating them. Yugi was far more sure of the obvious tension building between them, now that they weren’t in a public setting, that there was no one to see them. Atem’s giving him a look that’s about as warm as Yugi’s stomach currently was, and he swallows thickly. “Do you want to uh. Shower. Before we start watching movies?”
“Yes,” Yugi says quickly, because he’s still sure he has sand stuck to him. “We can do that.”
Atem looks away, and it only manages to double the tension. “You can use my bathroom. I’ll shower in my parents’.”
Yugi physically bites his tongue to not suggest showering together, because that was way too fast given the context, even if they had been doing this dance for forever now. He just nods to that, not trusting himself to speak, and follows Atem back to his room, flipping lights off behind them just to be polite.
They step into Atem’s room, and Atem plugs in some string lights he has hanging around on his walls, rather than the overhead. It was just as Yugi had remembered from the other times he had spent the night. His walls are collaged with band posters and promotional photos they got at the arcade that Grandpa had let him take. His sheets are deep red, and his desk is clean with everything put in its place. It was so Atem, it was almost overwhelming. Yugi nervously hovers in the doorway, before he steps in and puts his backpack down at the foot of Atem’s bed. “Do you need me to show you how to work the shower again?” Atem asks, and Yugi struggles not to see some kind of offer between the lines.
“Uh… I think I remember. I’ll be alright,” Yugi says, kneeling down to dig through his things for clothes and his soaps.
He stands and turns, and they face each other for a long, tense moment. Yugi’s heart all but jumps into his throat as Atem steps closer, a determined look on his face, one that maybe starts to look more and more scared the closer he gets. It’s only when they’re a breath apart does Atem stop, their lips only inches away from each other, Yugi’s breathing coming rapidly and almost panicked. “A-Atem-“ Atem’s hand comes up to his cheek, his thumb briefly tracing over his skin, and Yugi feels like he’s milliseconds from imploding.
It’s only when Atem starts to lean in – slowly, cautiously – that Yugi pulls away, eyes wide, face dark red. Every last part of himself was so unbelievably overwhelmed that it was all he could think to do just to avoid completely shutting down. “Oh-“ Atem starts, sounding surprised.
“I uh-“ Yugi starts, holding his things to his chest, worried that his heart might beat right out. “I’m going to…. Shower,” he says, quietly, dropping his voice to barely above a whisper.
Atem only looks shocked, but he nods, stepping to the side to let Yugi pass. “Right uh-“
“I’ll be back,” Yugi says, walking past him and ignoring the sparks that pass between them just for that. He steps out of Atem’s room and heads to the bathroom, just to the right of the bedroom, slipping in quickly. When he closes the door behind himself, he all but drops his things onto the counter, leaning back against it and hiding his face in his hands.
Why did he do that? Oh God this was all he’s wanted for years, and then it’s just about to happen and he shuts it down? He was going to look uninterested now – or worse, offended at the idea of Atem even attempting that – and Yugi lifts his face out of his hands, eying the small window over the toilet. He could fit through that if he had to make a quick, embarrassed escape, right? Yugi groans quietly to himself and ruffles his hair in annoyance and agony, hearing Atem’s gentle footsteps step out of his room and head across the house to his parent’s room, and he takes that as good a sign as any to start the shower.
The water runs kind of murky as he washes the sweat and caked sand off his skin and hair. He cleans up quickly, and then gets out and dries off using an extra towel from under Atem’s sink. When he looks at himself in the mirror, he just stares at his reflection for a long time, then finally sighs and slips on an old band shirt, leaving the bathroom and stepping back into Atem’s room. His room is empty, but his TV is buzzing quietly with white noise, the VCR on top turned on, the movie paused just at the opening moments. Yugi pulls out the chips and packaged cookies he brought with him, then stuffs his dirty clothes into the bottom of his backpack, before he finally nervously – anxiously, awkwardly, uncomfortably – sits on Atem’s bed, facing the TV and idly twisting the bottom of his shirt while he waited.
Moments later, Atem steps back in, still towel drying his air as he dumps his dirty clothes in the hamper by his door. They make eye contact, holding each other’s gaze for a good long minute, before Atem looks away, draping his towel over the back of his chair. “Remember how to use the shower?” He asks.
“Against all odds,” Yugi jokes, chuckling quietly. Atem crosses with a pre-popped bag of popcorn he must have conned someone at the movie theater for and two cans of soda, handing one to Yugi. “Ready to get the movie started?”
“Of course,” Atem says easily enough, but there’s an edge to his voice that Yugi can’t quite pinpoint. He turns his soda nervously in his hands as Atem unplugs his lights, plunging the room into darkness broken only by his TV, grabbing the remote to start the movie.
Yugi’s seen it before. It was one of the first movies Ryou had ever let him borrow back in high school, and even with him trying, he finds himself tuning out all of the build up for the first thirty minutes, idly munching on popcorn and drinking his soda. Where him and Atem touch – just at their arms and shoulders – feels like static, skin brushing together every so often, that palatable tension building between them once more. Yugi does his best to keep his eyes on the movie, but eventually he looks over at Atem, only to find him staring right back. They hold each other’s gazes for a minute that feels like years, before Atem looks away. “I um…” he starts, clearing his throat quietly. Yugi’s heart flutters in anticipation and he leans slightly closer. “I’m sorry.”
Oh. “What?” Yugi asks.
“About earlier,” Atem says, trailing off as he rubbed the back of his neck. He struggles for a moment, but doesn’t meet Yugi’s eyes. “I-I should have said something first. So… I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
Oh. Yugi’s heart is lodged in his throat, and he shifts just a touch closer. It’s enough to get Atem’s attention. “You didn’t,” he starts, and his insides feel molten. He drops his voice a little, and continues. “Not at all.”
Atem’s throat bobs as he swallows. “I-I’ll still try to tell you before I do anything, though.”
“Like what?” he asks, innocently enough, but the tension between them was far from innocent now. “What did you want to do, Atem?”
They hold each other’s gazes for a long moment. Yugi’s heart beats hard and loud. “A few things,” Atem finally admits, his own voice low.
Yugi’s skin erupts in goosebumps, and he moves a hand to Atem’s wrist, sliding it up to his arm. They lean a little closer, shifting to face each other properly, but they weren’t quite touching yet. It was still close enough, however, that Yugi could feel Atem’s breath in warm puffs on his lips. “And if I had a few things I’ve wanted to do, too?” he asks.
Atem’s hand finds his cheek, cupping his jaw but not bringing them any closer together. They were right on the precipice of something that they had been working toward for far too long now, but the drop off into it was so sharp it felt daunting – it was something they wouldn’t be able to walk back on once it happened. Atem’s thumb traces across his skin and Yugi sighs. “Yugi…”
“Atem,” Yugi says, his voice bordering into pleading.
“Can I kiss you?”
Yugi doesn’t answer. Instead, he moves his hand onto Atem’s shoulder and presses their lips together. It’s sudden, and maybe a little uncomfortable, but their teeth don’t clack together and after a few moments of awkward lip sliding, they find a rhythm. There are immediate sparks between them and traveling up and down Yugi’s back, coiling a hot tension in his stomach. Atem’s hand stays steady on his jaw the whole time, and this was all Yugi’s wanted. All he’s dreamt about and fantasied about, and now it was happening. If this was all they did, he would be beyond content.
Atem pulls away a moment later, and Yugi’s blood is a rushing buzz in his ears as they both open their eyes and look at each other. “I’ve… I’ve really wanted to do that for a while,” he admits softly.
Yugi feels his face got hotter than it already was, and he smiles a little. “Me too.”
Gentle patterns are traced into his cheek, a steady back and forth of Atem’s thumb, before it dips to run over Yugi’s lower lip. Atem leans in, pressing their foreheads together – an intimate and comforting gesture. “Can I kiss you again?” he asks, like he has to. Yugi nods, though, and their lips meet again at the same tempo – gentle, slow, a lazy slide, both of them still just feeling this out, not wanting to press this too far too fast.
But then, one of Atem’s hands finds his waist, pulling him impossibly closer until Yugi’s in his lap. It’s enough that they pull apart once again, breathing just slightly heavier, their eyes half lidded and hazy. Yugi’s stomach twists as Atem looks at him, like he hung the stars, or was a work of art, or like he could eat him alive, he wasn’t sure what exactly – but he puts his hands in his hair, and tentatively grinds their hips together and –
Oh. They were both hard.
It gets a soft sound out of both of them, and it sets a fire to their already fiery exchange, and they press their lips together again, this time far more passionate. Their tongues meet in the middle, gliding together the deeper they kiss, and every little motion makes them both moan. Yugi presses closer, grinding down into Atem’s lap more, relishing in every sound he makes, his own heart beating so erratically he was sure Atem could feel it as their chests press together.
If he does, it doesn’t seem to bother him. He pulls away again, leaving Yugi breathless and slightly dizzy from the lack of oxygen. They hold each other’s eyes for a moment, before Atem leans in, pressing kisses to Yugi’s neck. Fireworks spark in the bottom of Yugi’s stomach, and he moans, lazily rolling his hips as Atem moves his hands to help guide him. “Atem…” he sighs, tightening his fingers in his hair.
Atem sighs himself against his neck, nipping just a little into his skin, but not enough to leave any marks. One of his hands snakes up under Yugi’s shirt, resting on his lower back. “Yugi,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to his jaw.
Yugi’s brain is nothing but static, especially as Atem shifts them, carefully pressing Yugi back into the bed, his movements slow enough that Yugi could protest if he wanted – but God he doesn’t. The moment his head rests on the pillows, Atem’s slotting himself between Yugi’s legs and leaning over him to kiss him again, deeply and slowly, grinding their hips together and Lord that felt a lot better in this position. Hot jolts of pleasure travel from the base of his stomach all the way down to his toes. Yugi moans against his lips, loud and unabashed, hooking his legs over Atem’s hips and moving his hands to his back to hold him close.
That seems to be all the encouragement Atem needs. The movements are rhythmic and steady, always just enough pressure to make Yugi’s head buzz, but never enough to feel smothering. Their tongues lock, and their lips slide together, and Yugi loses track of time in how like they’re like that, every sense hyper focused on the hot tension building in his stomach, and how Atem’s fingers trace over his skin under his shirt.
Eventually, Atem pulls back from the kiss, both of them panting now, breathing only more labored with every roll of his hips, eliciting more and more moans from both of them. Yugi holds onto his shirt tight, holding him close as Atem presses their foreheads together again. “A-Atem-“ he gasps, moving a hand to his hair, tangling in his fingers into a still-damp patch at the back. “F-Fuck-“
“Yugi-“ Atem says, but Yugi feels it more as a deep rumble between their chests.
He squeezes his eyes shut, trying to move his own hips up against Atem’s, to increase the pleasure, He was so close, a tight ball of heat far more overwhelming than anything he got on his own building faster and faster. “O-Oh, fuck, I’m so cl-“
Yugi doesn’t get to finish that. Atem presses their lips together again, and that was all he really needed. He holds him even closer as he comes, the front of his boxers wet and sticky as he does, but he doesn’t have the capacity to feel embarrassed – because Atem grinds against him for a few more moments before he lets out a loud moan as he reaches his own climax. It makes Yugi shiver from head to toe, even as Atem relaxes on top of him, breaking their kiss to pant for much needed air against Yugi’s neck.
His head buzzes. His thighs are a little shaky. He feels hot all over, not helped by Atem practically laying on top of him. But he doesn’t feel weird, that feeling he was so worried he’d feel if they ever got to this point. Rather, a pleased satisfaction was rising in him, from the base of his stomach up to his chest, and Yugi’s brain is so clouded from any sort of coherency that all he can think to say is, “I’m losing that bet with Joey.”
Atem doesn’t even lift his head to look at him. He just laughs, a comforting vibration of a sound that has Yugi joining in in moments, both of them holding each other and just laughing for a long few minutes, before Atem finally speaks. “He made that bet with you, too, huh?”
“Yeah,” Yugi says, now feeling a little giddy. “I didn’t think I’d win.”
They both shift a little. Atem goes up on his elbows and looks at Yugi, and Yugi can’t help but bring a hand down to brush hair back from his face gently. “I didn’t either,” Atem admits softly.
Yugi’s heart flutters in his chest. The reality of the situation beings to settle in around him and he blushes. “Atem… I-I really like you,” he tells him softly. Atem’s face softens. “I….I think that might go without saying.”
“I really like you, too, Yugi,” Atem says softly.
“What does this make us?” Yugi asks.
It’s Atem’s turn to go red. He stares down at him, but Yugi doesn’t look away. “I don’t know,” Atem admits quietly. Yugi doesn’t feel surprised by that answer – nor does he feel hurt. “I… I feel like we’ve been dancing around this for so long that I… I don’t know where we go now.”
Yugi rests a hand on Atem’s cheek, watching him. He trusted Atem, probably more than he trusted Joey sometimes, and the uncertainty of where they went now wasn’t nearly as terrifying as he always thought it would be – Atem didn’t know, neither of them really did, but he knew Atem wasn’t going to lead him on. They would find a resolution together. “Okay,” he says softly.
Atem pulls him back into another kiss, and it’s soft and lazy, a reassuring thing on its own. But it lingers just long enough that it sparks warmth in Yugi again. “But… until then…?” Atem asks quietly.
Yugi brushes Atem’s hair back again, smiling at him. “Until then… I feel like there’s a few ways we can spend our time…” he suggests softly.
“Mmm. What did you have in mind?”
Yugi doesn’t say anything. Instead, he just pulls Atem back into another kiss, the movie forgotten on the TV in the corner.
☆☆☆☆☆
Yugi knows he’s dreaming. Around him, it’s dark and quiet, just the sound of the wind in the trees and his own heartbeat to keep him company. The stars above him are bright, but the moon is just a thin sliver, casting barely any light. He can see the mountains on the horizon, and the lights from Crawford Hollow, but he’s alone, standing in the middle of the citrus groves, surrounded by the smell of orange blossoms and wet earth. When he turns in place, he finds withered and decaying trees all around him – their skeleton branches reaching in all directions, but especially toward him. Yugi rubs his arms, against the uncharacteristic chill in the air and looks down at himself. He was dressed in a plain T shirt that wasn’t his own, and a pair of boxers, hardly enough to be considered proper for the weather. He sighs into the air and begins walking in a randomly chosen direction, not sure where he was heading exactly.
The silence is grating, unnatural and uncomfortable. Yugi just wanted to get out, and get home. The further he walks, the more it feels like the trees close in on him, their branches pressing in more and more, oppressive and claustrophobic. He pushes them aside, trying not to get tangled up in the vine weeds in the process, feet sinking into the softened embankments, an annoyed huff on his lips.
Something’s behind him.
Yugi freezes – he isn’t sure why he knows that. But he does. He turns, and the way he came from is pitch black, heavy curtains of darkness blocking his visibility. There was still something there, though, unsee itself but watching him. And waiting, maybe until a moment he was weak. “Hello?” He asks softly.
Nothing responds. Just the wind answers him. Yugi starts to back away from it, before turning and sliding under a pair of tangled branches, starting to walk faster away. It still follows, however, just on his heels, so close he could almost feel it’s hold on him, suffocating him without a touch. When he starts to run, it keeps pace, until Yugi is frantically sprinting between trees, a sharp inhale of air the only way he knew how to breathe. The branches catch his hair and clothes and skin, until his arms and legs and cheeks are stinging from small cuts, and twigs and dried up leaves are stuck in his hair.
Whatever was following him was so close, though, and Yugi wants to let out a panicked cry until he stumbles out into a clearing. In front of him is a rusted and rotting away harvester, piles upon piles of plastic bins surrounding it, all of the empty. Yugi pants, trying to fill his burning lungs with air once again, and he turns. A dark shape was emerging from the trees, heading right toward him, and Yugi backs himself up until he trips on one of the bins, falling backwards and hitting his head on the metal tread of the machine. Pain blossoms out from his head and he hisses in pain, just as something grabs the front of his shirt, pulling him back up. “P-Please-“ he says frantically.
He has that same feeling of drowning on dry land. Of being pushed to the very further corner of himself, that something was slipping away from him, just out of his grasp. Yugi tries to grab onto whatever was holding him, but his hands don’t make any real purchase – where something should be is just a cold mass instead that he passes right through. Yugi gasps out another broken plead, everything starting to go dark –
☆☆☆☆☆
Yugi’s eyes fly open.
Above him, the night sky is full of clouds, thicker ones from earlier, heavy with summer rain, threatening to pour. He can hear the low rumbles of thunder in the distance, and for a long, disoriented moment, he just lays there, his chest tight and breathing sharp, before a familiar face comes into his vision, blurry around the edges. Atem stares down at him, eyes wide and concerned, brows knitted in confusion and worry. “Yugi, holy shit are you-“
Yugi sits up quickly and looks around. He was just in the backyard of Atem’s house, laying on the dry grass. Around him, the air is balmy, not even the hours after sunset enough to cool the weather down. He reaches around to the back of his head, feeling for blood or a knot or any sign of an injury, but nothing. When he looks down, he was still in Atem’s shirt that he had swiped off the floor, and his own boxers. “Atem-“
“Yugi, what are you doing out here?”
He looks over, and Atem is staring at him in concern, kneeling on the grass next to him. He moves a hand, and takes Yugi’s gently. “I…” he starts softly. “I don’t know.”
“I didn’t know you sleepwalk.”
Yugi doesn’t – that’s the thing. Never had he ever once in his life slept walked. He rubs the back of his neck, and shakes his head. “I don’t…”
That seems to just confuse Atem more. “Then… what are you doing out here?”
A cold, sinking feeling begins to rise up in his chest. Yugi hands starts to tremble against Atem’s, and in turn Atem just holds it tighter. The reality that had been facing him all week was now undeniable. Especially with Atem pushing him on it. “P-Promise you won’t think I’m crazy,” Yugi says softly.
“Yugi,” Atem says softly, his voice serious. “C’mon. You know you can trust me.”
“I think…” Yugi swallows thickly, squeezes Atem’s hand in return and does his best to meet his eyes.
“I think I might be possessed.”