A/N - This is the edited version of Valentine's Day fic I wrote for the Pharaoh's Palace (the link is in my bio so join it if you're not a member). Honestly the only reason I'm putting this story up here is so I can add it to the Psychological Dependence C2, which you should also join if you have not yet (again the link is in my bio).
Yami hummed to himself as he pulled the red Ferrari into the large parking lot. Yami really had no clue where he was going. He had only arrived in the United States two days ago with his lover Seto Kaiba who had Kaiba Corporation business to deal with. Seto was now busy working leaving Yami to find something to do to entertain himself all afternoon. Fortunately Seto had bought the Ferrari so the former Pharaoh could go anywhere he wanted but those choices were limited, as Yami only knew a handful of the English language.
Exiting the Ferrari, making sure the car alarm was activated as Seto warned him about how easily cars get stolen in that country, Yami strolled towards the huge store that said 'Wal-Mart'. He really had no clue what the store was about but it looked busy so it must have been good.
Shivering, Yami wrapped his jacket tighter around him. He had heard that California was supposed to be warm but apparently the February weather beat out any warmness that was supposed to be around.
Yami marveled at the place as he walked through the sliding doors, it seemed a lot bigger inside then it did from its exterior. To his right it seemed like a grocery store to his left was all kinds of materialistic goods.
Not needing any groceries, since Seto had paid people to take care of that kind of thing, Yami wandered down the aisle to his left looking at all the items for sale. The first thing that caught the former pharaoh's eye was the book section. Now if there was one thing that Yami loved it was reading. Often books gave him something to do all day while Seto was at work and his friends were at school. Hell he practically taught himself the Japanese language by reading all of Eiri Yuki's books. He hoped he could find himself an American author that good to help him with his English.
Unfortunately nothing caught his eye so Yami moved onto the next aisle. There he found a lot of red, pink and white items. Confused, Yami walked over to a shelf full of large teddy bears and picked up red one that matched his eyes. In the bear's paws was a large red heart. Finding the bear cute, Yami clutched it to his chest before continuing down the strange aisle until another item caught his eye.
Shifting the bear to one arm, Yami picked up the much smaller white and pink lion in one hand. Using his bad English, Yami could make out the words 'press' on the lion's left paw. Being ever so curious, Yami pressed the paw.
Do you love me? (Do you love me)
Now, do you love me? (Do you love me)
Now, do you love me? (Do you love me)
Now that I can dance (dance)
Watch me now, oh (work, work)
Ah, shake it up, shake it (work, work)
Ah, shake 'em, shake 'em down (work, work)
Ah, little bit of soul now (work)
In surprise, Yami dropped the lion to the floor and watched as it continued to sing and bob it's head. When the colorful lion finally stopped, Yami nudged it with his foot to make sure it was dead.
'Americans are so weird,' Yami thought to himself while watching pick up said lion to buy for his poor unsuspecting girlfriend. Yami really did not understand why it mattered if someone could dance or not if you loved a person.
Clutching his bear tightly in his arms, Yami continued on his way. The next section he came to that was of to interest to him was the toys section. Yami quickly glanced at the huge display of toy Duel Disks and scoffed at the time. He was insulted by the fact that someone would by a toy when they could buy the real thing. Mentally Yami made a note to bring up the topic with Seto to get rid of the toys.
Moving along Yami's eyes brightened when the saw the electronics section of the store. Music was another thing that Yami found himself loving in the modern world. Sure it was way different to the music he was use to his in time but he still found himself being able to relate to this modern music. Plus it was something that he understood unlike television.
Yami eagerly looked over the CDs. He knew the lead singer of his favorite group had released some English albums during the bands minor three years break up and he really hoped he could find all those CDs before he leaving America for Japan in a few months.
Unfortunately the store had nothing that Yami was interested in. And to make matters worst a couple of kids in the section started to stare at him for they recognized him as the duel champion. Therefore Yami moved along as he looked at the other items but did not get far before a musical techno pop rock song called 'The Rage Beat' began playing in his pocket as his cell phone went off.
Pulling out his cell phone, Yami flipped it open and answered the call knowing that it could only be one person. "Seto!"
"What are you up to Baby?"
"I'm at some store," Yami replied as he continued to stroll through the various aisles. "It's called Wall Market." That was the problem with being a 3000-year-old spirit who had only gained his own body six months ago and had to learn two new languages since the language Yami had known was long dead. Yami often got the names of things wrong but fortunately Seto had lots of practice in being able to figure out what his little lover always meant. He was a genius after all.
"That's Wal-Mart Baby."
"Oh."
"Don't worry about it. I just called to tell you that I'll be home early tonight for Valentine's Day."
"Valentine's Day? What's that?" Yami asked with a puzzled look on his face. Thinking back he remembered that the strange, pink, red and white aisle had the words Valentine's Day was written all over the place.
"I'll tell you when I get home. Just remember to pay this time if you buy something. Don't try to walk out the door. Don't try to haggle for a better price. This isn't Domino so I don't have the power to automatically get you out of trouble like at home."
"Yeah, yeah, I learned my lesson," Yami replied while pouting and rolling his eyes though Seto could not see him. He only did that three times and that was months ago. But Seto for some reason never let him lived it down.
"Good. I'll be home in an hour and a half."
"I'll see you then." With a smile on his face, Yami ended the call and began his search for the front of the store so he could buy the bear he had found. Twenty minutes later he had finally found the cashiers.
Looking at the long line of cashiers Yami wondered which one would give him the best deal on the bear. But then Seto's words came haunting back to him about bargaining for a better price. Therefore Yami decided to use the electronic check out yourself system and he wouldn't have to deal with any human contact. Big mistake.
Yami walked up to the machine and looked at the display. He didn't completely understand the English but the pictures on the display were more then enough for Yami to figure out how it worked. Smiling happily to himself scanned the barcode on the tag of the bear but frowned when nothing happened. Repeating the process, Yami's frown grew as he got the same results. Five times in a row and Yami was ready to use his dark magic on the device.
"Need some help sir?" a voice asked and Yami looked over to find a woman wearing a blue vest. Fortunately Yami knew enough English to knew what she was saying as he reluctantly handed over the bear.
With a smile the employee scanned the bear and it rang through on her first try and placed it in a bag for Yami, while the former Pharaoh used Seto's credit card to pay for it. Grabbing his bag, Yami stormed out of the store while cursing modern technology in Egyptian.
Recklessly driving at breakneck speeds, Yami reached the mansion that Seto had rented for them while they were in the US in a matter of minutes. Walking inside the huge mansion, Yami flopped down onto a couch to a wait for Seto when he realized he still had an hour to go.
Growling in frustration, Yami picked up the remote for the large wide screen plasma TV and began flipping through the channels. Although he hated TV he figured by the time he flipped through all the channels Seto would be home.
Flip. TV show where gay guys makeover a straight guy. Yami pondered doing that to Jounouchi once he got back to Domino since his friend needed some help in that department. Flip. Cartoon about Duel Monsters. Yami made a mental note to ask Pegasus if he had lost his mind for allowing garbage like that on the air. Flip. A Judy Winchester movie. The only reason Yami knew who she was because both Yugi and Jounouchi had a crush on the famous American actress. Flip. Flip. Flip.
In disgust, Yami turned off the TV and threw the remote to the floor. He then pulled out the latest Yuki novel he had been reading and soon became engrossed in tail of heartbreak that the young lovers were going through. Becoming lost in the novel Yami was taken by surprised when the book was suddenly ripped from his hands.
"I thought you were going to stop reading that trash?" Seto said with an amused expression on his face as he looked at the cover before throwing it on the ground next to the remote for the TV.
"Hey don't throw my things like that!"
"And you don't throw my remotes around," Seto replied with a knowing smirk on his face as he bent over Yami and captured his lips in a quick kiss. Yami wrapped his arms around Seto's neck trying to pull the tall CEO down on top of him but Seto had other plans and stood back up.
"Quit playing around and get down here!" Yami demanded. He then pouted when Seto began laughing at him.
"So predictable Yami."
"What's that supposed to me?"
Instead of replying Seto bent down and grabbed Yami's hand helping the former Pharaoh to his feet. He then began leading Yami through the mansion towards the backyard as he began to explain things.
"I lied when I called you this afternoon. I was already home."
"What?"
Opening the sliding door to the back yard, Seto began leading towards where a red tent had been set up. The moon and stairs had replaced the bright sun that had been out earlier but Seto had been prepared and lined the walkway with small lights on the ground. "I've been busy but I wanted you close by. I knew after you got home, you'd go somewhere and read without ever knowing I was out back here."
"You sneak," Yami grumbled as Seto led him inside the tent. Yami's breath was taken away when he saw the inside. Pillows of different shades of red scattered the ground most of them surrounding a small table on the ground that had covered plates and a bottle of champagne on it. Red and white roses also decorated the tent and Yami's smile grew as he saw the red bear he had bought that afternoon sitting on the table.
"I found that annoying thing in the hallway when I came to find you," Seto grumbled as Yami walked over and grabbed the bear, hugging it before sitting down on a pillow. "Figures you would buy something like that."
"Thank you but what is this all for?" Yami asked while Seto took a seat next to him.
"I told you on the phone, Baby. It's Valentine's Day."
"But what is that!"
"It's a day for couples," Seto explained as he took the covers off their plates of food. The food that had been specially prepared and everything looked delicious including the bowl full of strawberries that Seto had also uncovered. "And I wanted to do something nice for you. To show you how much I love you."
"But I know you love me," Yami replied as he leaned over and gave Seto a sweet kiss. "And I love you so much," he murmured against Seto's lips. The pair continued to kiss until finally Seto reluctantly pulled away.
"Not yet Baby, we have the whole night ahead of us."
Nodding his head, Yami placed the bear aside while Seto poured champagne for both of them. "Too us," he toasted and Yami smiled brightly at him.
"To us," Yami echoed before turning his attention to the food. The pair ate in silence but looks and small touches were exchanged all throughout the meal. When they were finished Yami crawled over and sat down in Seto's lap and attempted to kiss him again but the brunet stopped him.
"Wait. There's more."
Yami silently looked at Seto in confusion as his lover pulled out a portable stereo from under one of the pillows. That only caused Yami's confusion to increase because Seto never before had been interested in music.
"I found this song on one of your CDs," he explained. "And remembered you liked watching the video of the Tokyo Bay Music Festival where this song was performed." Yami was further confused wondering what song Seto was referring too as the Tokyo Bay Festival happened every year and Yami had painstakingly collected all of the videos available.
Seto pressed play and Yami cocked his head as he began to faintly hear the music of a ballad starting up. Yami could easily make out the keyboard and guitar he knew so well. "In the Moonlight," he happily murmured as the vocals began.
The orange covered moon
Has come into the night
I'm thinking of you
Every word was set in place
Like someone's steps
Seto picked up one of the strawberries from the bowl and dipped it into his champagne before placing it against Yami's lips. Yami sucked the berry into this mouth as his tongue shot forwards and licked at Seto's fingers.
Suddenly looking up at the silhouette
Your profile was shining
In the faint light, even now
The strawberry was that had been in Yami's mouth had been swallowed but he continued to suck on Seto's fingers.
What am I waiting for?
You're not in the room
Time is only like a bad sound
I can't sleep, my chest hurts
Seto's fingers slid out of Yami mouth and he wrapped his arms around Yami's waste pulling them closer together. Yami meanwhile rested his head on the CEO's shoulder as he relaxed.
Now I'm waiting
Waiting alone
We saw together that day's moon
Somewhere you're seeing it
As the song continued to play, Yami wrapped his arms around Seto's neck. He then began to delicately kiss the CEO's lips.
"I'm really liking this Valentine's Day thing," Yami whispered to Seto before lightly kissing his lips once again.
"Me too," Seto murmured as they broke their kiss. "I use to hate the stupid day."
"You hate a lot of things," Yami replied with a gentle laugh before growing serious. "But you love me and that is the only thing that is important."
"And I love you very much."
The two lovers then quieted down as they laid together. At the moment though they were content just to be next to each other not needing words to know what the other was feeling. Their love had lasted 3000 years and it would last much longer then that.
A/N-So did Gravi fans catch all the references:p
Gravi references:
1. The title of this is In the Moonlight which is a Bad Luck song. The song is also used later in the story.
2. Yuki is Yami's favourite author. (Yami has good taste apparently)
3. It was Ryu-chan's english album that Yami was looking for making Nittle Gasper his favourite band.
4. The Rage Beat which is another Bad Luck song is Yami's ring tone.
5. Yami comes across a Judy Winchester movie on TV who is K's wife.
6. The Tokyo Bay Music Festival is the big concert from the OVA where Nittle Gasper performs Shining Collection, which Yuki wrote (depressing Shuichi in the process since it was his dream to have Yuki write a song for Bad Luck). Bad Luck does indeed perform In the Moonlight during that concert and it's a very sweet moment.
More Author's Notes: That damn lion that Yami found in Wal-Mart is real. I was playing with it at Wal-Mart when this story idea came to me. The bear is also real. Yami's problem with the self-checkout thing is based off of real events, lol. Namely me and my aunt as we tried buying a carrying case for the portable DVD player I got for Christmas this year. Except I started cracking up when it wouldn't scan. Normally I have no problem with that type of thing although our WalMarts up here don't have those suckers (other stores do though) but because I was laughing so hard this old lady (it was Florida they have a lot of old people around) who worked there had to help.