Chapter Text
“All right, children! Stick to your partners and don’t wander too far!” The din of high-pitch chatter gobbled up the teacher’s voice, but her and her group managed to corral the elementary students enough to deliver the instructions.
Seto sighed, annoyed by the noise and hiked up his bookbag higher on his shoulders. If this assignment wasn’t pointless enough…
“Where do you think we should go first?” Amongst the yelling boys up front and squeals of the girls, Kisara’s soft tones were a welcomed relief. They needed to get out of this area and fast.
“Anywhere but here,” he grumbled.
Bakura’s obnoxious crackle drowned him out. “Ancient cultures, of course!”
Seto groaned. Loud. The others in their rag-tag group didn’t seem as put-off by the idea. “Which one?” Isis spoke up. “I would like to see the Ancient Egypt exhibit myself.”
“You would,” Seto mumbled his breath.
“Naturally that one!” Bakura crowed.
“Hmm, I think I’d prefer the Aquatic exhibit,” said Shada, hand cupping chin as he peered at the signs.
Around them the kids were dispersing from the lobby, taking their loudness with them. Seto felt a trickle of relief. Sensation of his hand being squeezed had him peeking down to questioning red eyes. “Which one do you want, Se-se?”
He made a face and scanned the signs and crowds. His friends made their decisions around him.
“Oh, the aquatic is a good idea!” Kalim nodded, hooking his arm around Shada’s. “Partners?”
“Then Bakura and I shall head to Egypt’s then.”
“Please be careful around him, Isis!” Mahad called out, looking frustrated.
“Jealous, magician?” Bakura laughed, successful in antagonizing him. Isis looked back him, her stoic eyes almost looking hopeful.
“Of you? Surely you jest.”
“Art,” Seto bit out, already tiring of the both of them. If the foolish magician just confessed to Isis already, they wouldn’t have to see him flounder every time. And… He glanced down to Te-te’s surprised eyes. Mahad getting over his crush on Atem was just a nice bonus.
“Art? Not science?” Atem asked. Kisara echoed his confusion.
Seto shrugged, “Less noisy. Kisara?”
She hummed, the bright blue of her eyes and the baby fat making her look adorable, tapping her chin. “The nature one, I think. I’ll see you later?”
“Of course. Try not to kill Mahad, though I’ll help you escape if you do.”
“Se-se!”
“Seto!”
He turned his nose up at both Te-te and Kisara’s reproachful, but giggly scolding. With a light swat to his arm, Kisara walked up to Mahad and did her best to calm him down, Bakura still making facing and remarks as he walked backwards. Shada, Kalim, and Isis had already disappeared.
“Let’s go.” Seto pulled Atem to the right, their hands never delinking.
—*—
As suspected, the Art exhibit had just a few elders, standing or sitting around, quiet. Seto relaxed, the budding headache he had shriveling up.
Next to him, Atem looked around almost bored. “Are you sure about this?”
“Hn.” He couldn’t turn back now; it’d make him seem silly if he did. One teacher had remained in the lobby —well, in the gift shop— to keep watch. So, he shrugged again. “I’m sure we can find something here. The assignment is easy.”
He looked over and reconsidered at the blank expression on Te-te’s face. A jolt went through him; he had never asked what Te-te wanted. “Unless there was something you wanted to check out?”
“Not really.” Te-te didn’t look up at him, still gazing around. He frowned at the answer, unable to decode if it was dismissive or the truth. The delivery and feeling too neutral.
Seto squared his shoulders, ready to march back to the lobby, embarrassment be damned… “Come on, let’s go back and find something else.”
One squeeze and tug to Atem’s side aborted his attempt to turn around. “I mean it. It doesn’t matter to me.” Red eyes peeked under his lashes, the smile warming Seto from head to toe. “Not when I’m with you.” A peck on that grumpy cheek.
Seto exploded into red.
Satisfied with the mush of Seto he made, Atem proceeded to drag a red-faced Seto to the nearest doorway. Maybe he’d find something while Seto recovered.
—*—
The Art exhibit were split into small sections, each dedicated to specific genres and eras and each with their own bench (or benches). The biggest being the Renaissance, but this section had been tucked in the corner, almost hidden away. The possibility of a secret room had caught his attention and he hurried them over to it.
Only to find it another exhibit. An empty one, at that.
Pre-Raphaelites…
Atem tilted his head. He’d never heard of them.
At his back, he felt Seto’s minor heat, and he tilted his head back. Other than the small patches of light red at his ears, the other boy had recovered. Shame. A blushing Se-se was a cute one, in his royal opinion.
“Pre-Raphaelites?”
Atem faced forward to skim the didactic placard describing the genre and the brotherhood. All around were paintings filled with realistic details, many of them featuring nature and red-headed females. “Sounds like an interesting bunch, don’t they?”
Seto snorted, “I suppose that’s a word for them. I can’t deny their work isn’t different from the time. With how real—”
Atem blinked at the cut off, looking up then following his gaze to find out the cause. A few paintings down, across from the side of their bodies was one of a red-headed female in an old Victorian like dress floating on her back in, what Atem guessed to be, a pond surrounded by the greenery. Colorful flowers dotted around her and the pond. John Everett Millais, “Ophelia,” proclaimed the label.
Pretty.
Next to it was super-realistic painting of a red-headed lady in a black and gold boat floating down another woody river. John William Waterhouse, “The Lady of Shalott,” read the label.
“They certainly liked red-heads.” He found the realism to be a bit off-putting, but he had to admit it made the whole thing pop and catch your attention. He wondered… “I think it’d be prettier if it was you,” Atem complimented, smirking.
Seto’s cheeks turned pink, but his voice was even when he quipped back with, “I was thinking it’d be the prettiest piece in the museum if it was you.” His eyes remained on the painting but his hand squeezed Atem’s tight.
Their fingers delinking for the first time since they got in the building, Atem giggled and wrapped his arms around Se-se’s shoulders. Admired how even in this lifetime, he was still shy. Then again, that was part of his charm. Soon he would have his gorgeous, handsome looks, but Atem hoped he’d retained his cute shy side.
Nuzzling his face into the crook of his neck, Atem sighed happily. “We should find a painter to make them for us. We could put them up in our future house. Right next to each other.”
He snuggled closer when Seto’s arms hugged him back, squeezing him tight, protective. “You don’t need a painting to fluff your ego.”
Atem grinned, that was a yes if he played his cards right. He tucked it in the back of his mind for later. “You’re one to talk about ego. I’m surprised you could fit in the museum.”
His boyfriend’s arms crushed him for a moment in reprimand. “Quiet, you.” Then he pulled back. Atem pouted, clinging to his neck. “Come on. Let’s do this ridiculous assignment so we can get out of here.”
“All right,” he sighed, letting go. The evils known as homework enjoyed putting a damper on fun. Booo.
At least, there was always the bus ride back.
And if they hurried… they could still catch the science exhibit. As long as they avoided their noisy classmates.