Yugi stood in the mirror, combing gently through his wet hair with his hands. The blond locks at the front of his hair drooped down over his eyes as he leant over, picking up a towel and bringing it to his head. The familiar sensation of someone looking over his shoulder crept up on him as he rubbed at his hair vigorously.
"Aibou."
"Hello, other me." He replied, squeezing most of the water from his hair.
"You're dressing up?" The Pharaoh moved around to the boy's front. "You didn't have to do that, you know."
"I want to look good tonight, it's not that much trouble anyway. I like getting fancy." He strolled away from the mirror and sorted through his wardrobe, flicking clothes hangers out of the way one by one.
"That's really kind of you, Aibou. When do I get to take over?"
Yugi paused mid flick, turning his head to his partner. "What do you mean, Pharaoh? I'm going on a date tonight, with Judai."
The Pharaoh froze in place. His face broke into a smile, and a laugh graced his lips. "Ah, yes, I see where you messed up, Aibou. I'm going out with Yusei tonight, remember?" He slapped a hand to his Aibou's back, the sensation unfelt by Yugi.
Yugi grew pale, pacing over to the calendar on his wall with a concerned look. "Other me... It's Sunday night. The 23rd. Tonight was my night. We talked about this..."
"I thought you said... I thought... Sunday was..." He ran a hand through his front locks. "Oh no."
"Oh no."
"What do we do, Aibou?" Pharaoh swung around to Yugi's front, taking hold of his shoulders through his semi transparent form.
"I... I'll have to call Judai."
Atem frowned.
"It's fine. We can go out another night."
"No, Aibou, it's my fault. You told me you were organising something this weekend." He insisted, almost forcefully.
"You asked Yusei before I did, I remember you telling me about it. We just forgot to double check the dates, that's all."
"Aibou."
"Atem."
The two stood still, staring down each other with intensity. Finally, Atem relented and took to pacing around the room. "It's too late to cancel completely."
"Double date?" Yugi suggested, following the Pharaoh's footsteps.
"What do you mean? Isn't that... it's when you go on a date with four people, like a mixer, but-"
"We have four people."
"Aibou, we're still in the same body."
"So we'll play a bit of switcheroo. No big deal, other me."
Atem stood still again, his eyes looking toward the sky as if looking for an objection stored within the ceiling. He sighed and his eyes trailed toward the ground. "Fine. We'll try it."
Yugi grinned with an air of success, rubbing his hands together. "Good, I knew you'd come around."
Atem put his head in his hands. "Only for you, Aibou."
Yugi skipped back to his wardrobe, swinging open the door and pushing his face inside. "Now, about what we're going to wear..."
A sight to behold, Yugi stood just outside his front door, leaning upon it. He was clad in a dark pallete of formal wear, accented by chains. A suit jacket and black jeans clung tightly to his figure, black dress shoes with glimmering buckles on his feet and his signature collar around his neck. He nervously pressed his hands into the door behind him, rubbing the wood to ease some of the tension in his muscles. He had completely zoned out, until a voice brought him back to his senses.
"Aibou." It rang out, beside his ear. The result was Yugi jumping forward so quickly he almost tripped. His heart drummed against his chest and his limbs shook with a slight nervous feeling he couldn't place the origin of. He took a few steps forward before spinning around to look at Atem.
"Other me, you surprised me." He admitted, though the fact was obvious for any onlooker to see.
"I don't usually catch you off guard, Aibou. Are you nervous?"
Yugi brought a hand to his head and gently massaged his own temple. "No." He lied. Atem narrowed his eyes at him.
"Aibou. You can't hide such obvious emotions from me." He warned in a low, coy voice.
Yugi met his gaze with a slightly displeased version of his own. Their conversation was interrupted when a hand met with Yugi's shoulder, making him flinch and spin around. There, he was face to face with Yusei, the proximity tempoarily throwing him off guard.
"Yugi?" Yusei inquired gently, recognising the face as not having Atem in control. Yugi nodded before pointing behind him, where Atem was standing behind in his transluscent form.
Yusei glanced between the two, waiting for Atem to switch over so he could greet him properly. After a few seconds, Yugi caught his attention with a slight guilty cough. "Yusei, you see... We're bringing along someone else tonight with us, so we're going to have to share the time between us."
Yusei cocked his head to the side, leaving a few moments of open space before asking, "who?". His eyes quickly widened in realisation as he followed with, "Oh, it's Judai isn't it?" with disappointment very aparrent in his voice.
Atem felt a wave of guilt from his partner and quickly took control of his body, pushing Yugi back so he could talk to Yusei face to face. Yusei recognised the look of the two changing places and met Atem with a warm, but disappointed smile.
Atem leapt forward, wrapping his arms around Yusei and meeting him with a kiss on the lips. He stayed like that for a few moments before pulling back. Yugi, looking on from behind was about to raise his voice to object when Atem's gaze met the ground.
"I'm sorry, Yusei. It's my fault. I know you wanted this to be the two of us, but we'll manage."
Yusei couldn't stay mad. "We'll make it fun." He corrected, clasping a hand to his partner's shoulder.
Familiar footsteps approached, their owner listening in on the conversation intently. "What's going on?" Judai asked, eyes glancing over the scene with concern. "Why's Yusei here?"
Yugi took the opportunity to push back to the front of the body, leaping over to Judai and giving him the same style kiss Atem had performed just before. "Hello, Judai! We're going on a double date tonight."
Judai raised an eyebrow, glancing around to the three, including Atem who had his armed crossed, thrown off by the sensation of being pushed back so suddenly. Judai gave Yusei a look that he returned, a mixture of disappointment and something that would suggest they had guessed just as much was going to occur anyway. Judai strolled over to Yusei and took his hands in his. "We've got a very odd pair of boyfriends, Yusei."
Yusei nodded, eyes closed. "We do."
The four of them had been in an odd relationship for a while. While Yusei and Judai were dating Atem and Yugi respectively, Yusei and Judai were very close, closer than friends. It was the same with Yugi and Atem, while their hearts were set on the other boys, they couldn't help but feel affection that felt like more than friendship for each other. As a result, all four of them were flirtacious to a degree, especially Judai, who seemed to enjoy the nature of a four pronged relationship than any other. He often cuddled up to or gave kisses to Yusei, (though he stayed away from Yusei's lips, he didn't want to be scolded again) and would even do the same when Atem was around, which wasn't often when he was near the two, as Yugi almost always wanted as much of Judai's time as he could manage.
Atem tapped his Aibou's shoulder, the sensation on Yugi's skin being almost like a ghostly touch rather than a tangible presence. He turned, his attention still caught, to Atem.
"I'll be waiting for when we get to... wherever we're going, Aibou." He winked before his form promptly dissipated. Keeping up a constant presence required a lot of energy, so it was better that he waited for them to switch places instead. Secretly, Atem was waiting for Yugi to grow tired enough for him to take over for longer than usual later in the night.
"I'm not sure where we're going to go..." Yugi mumbled, rubbing his thumb against his opposite palm as he mused aloud. "I could probably pull some strings at the place Judai and I booked, they'd have room for one more on our table. It's not a busy place."
Judai grinned upon hearing this and bounced up and down on his toes. "I love that place! With the... it's a French name, isn't it? I can't pronounce it."
Yugi giggled sweetly at the sight of his love so excited. "It is." His attention turned to Yusei who seemed quite out of the loop. "You'll like it, Yusei." Yugi offered as a simple explanation.
Yusei nodded slowly, gesturing to the road. "We'll have to actually get moving, I have work tomorrow."
Yugi frowned at his demeanor and skipped forward, planting a kiss on his cheek, before pulling back and looking at him with scrutiny. "He'll be out later, don't worry. I'll let him hog you all to himself for a while when we get there."
Yusei grinned at that, albeit subtly, nodding and following the other two as they deparated from the front of Yugi's house.
The night air was brisk, but not so cold as to cause any special discomfort. Yugi engaged in small talk with Yusei and Judai, though as they walked Yugi seemed to gravitate closer to Judai. Judai noticed this, and when he teased him about it, Yugi claimed he was cold.
The quiet, empty streets soon morphed into a busier nightlife, the three boys sticking close together to avoid the crowds of people walking past. They turned, making their way down a vast flight of steps, seemingly reaching into the depths of the Earth itself. Yugi walked close to the railing, one hand gliding over it. Yusei was in front, almost protectively. Judai hopped along inbetween the two, skipping multiple steps at a time and challenging himself to jump further. Yugi briefly shivered as a cold wind cast down the steps, creeping down the back of his neck. Atem took note of this and offered to take over.
"Just until we're somewhere warmer." He assured him. Yugi shook his head.
"I can walk in the cold, other me." He said, not wanting to leave his partner in the cold. Despite his words, he shivered again slightly. Atem grew more insistent.
"You didn't seem so confident when you were cuddling up to Judai." He teased, Yugi frowned. "Aibou." He warned.
"Other me." He shot back.
The two had stopped moving, Yugi perched on one of the stairs, giving Atem a defiant look. Atem didn't waver.
Yusei turned, and Judai skipped down a few more steps before he noticed he'd passed Yusei, jumping up a few steps to look back at the scene.
Atem finally took over when Yugi shivered once more, forcefully taking over without another word. Yugi, now ghosting over his shoulder groaned in annoyance.
"Don't do that so quickly..." He mumbled, slightly dizzied.
"Don't be difficult and I won't." Atem stated simply, crossing his arms. Yugi admitted defeat at that and disappeared.
Yusei and Judai used to be thrown off by the sight of them arguing and changing over, but after a few months of being together, they'd grown used to it. They laughed between themselves about it, causing Atem to give them both a look that could sour milk. Yusei walked closer and gently pinched his cheek, his laughter increasing as Atem grew flustered in a mixture of playful anger and surprise.
Judai looked at his wrist, observing the watch's face upon it. He grew panicked, eyes widening and beginning to jog on the spot. "Uh, lovers, we're going to miss the next train."
The other two pulled away from each other and began to sprint down the stairs. Yugi ghosted over Atem's shoulder, unable to properly articulate his objection to Atem carelessly sprinting down the stairs. He simply hissed "careful!" before disappearing once more.
Yusei spotted the train they were to catch on the right side of the platform they found themselves on at the bottom of the stairs. The whistle blew as visual contact was made, causing him to push off the ground even harder, reaching his hand out as he leapt onto the train. Judai and Atem followed suit after them, Atem's foot just short of getting clipped by the door closing. The station attendant outside yelled something unrecognisable from inside the closed doors, but the sharp, violent tone carried through the metal barrier. Judai eased off the momentum by jogging across to the other side of the train car, before falling in a cross legged heap on the other side of the car. Yusei was similar, having stopped himself on a pole in the middle of the carriage. The three chuckled gently through their heavy panting.
"The train system in this town is such a pain..." Atem mumbled, finding a place on the floor to sit. "If we had missed this one, it would have been a while until the next."
Judai's attention turned to Atem. "Why is it so bad here? Everywhere else has trains in fifteen minute intervals."
Yusei and Atem shrugged. "It's quicker where I'm from, too." Yusei sighed.
"You learn to manage. Other countries are all like this, we're actually really lucky." Atem corrected, standing up from the floor since catching his breath and glancing around for a spare seat. No such luck. He took to leaning against the pole Yusei was on.
Tell them I'm sorry. Yugi's voice echoed in Atem's head. He frowned. "I'm not going to be relaying messages all night." The other two turned to watch him at this point, keen to try and work out the other half of the conversation.
Other me, you wanted to be in control. Tell them I'm sorry we were late, it's because we were arguing.
Atem crossed his arms. "He says he-" Atem paused as he felt a mental slap from his partner. "He says we're sorry we nearly missed the train."
"It's fine." Yusei and Judai agreed almost simultaneously.
"See, Aibou? They're fine with it, no need to worry so much." Atem closed his eyes and chose to listen to the train tracks clacking underneath to relax for a bit.
After a few short moments of this, the voice of his partner returned. Other me. Other me!
Atem supressed an annoyed sigh and asked internally what is it, Aibou?
Tell Judai I'm giving him a kiss.
Aibou.
Please?
Aibou, I'm not going to do this. Silence followed, a pang of guilt striking Atem's heart. Fine.
"Judai." Atem addressed the boy, sighing with slight displeasure. "Yugi sends kisses."
Judai blushed happily and made kissing noises back. Atem's displeasure dissipated as the happy emotions from his partner were made aparrent. Just once, don't let this turn int-
Other me, one more thing?
...Aibou, I said-
Tell him I like his hair tonight.
Atem sighed heavily, before releasing control and letting Yugi take over.
Judai noticed the change almost immediately and greeted Yugi with a smile. "Still cold?" He asked with a coy grin.
Yugi scowled childishly at that, turning around to Yusei and giving him a sweet "Hello, Yusei~" in order to tease Judai. It worked.
"H-Hey! That's harsh." He stumbled out before standing up and attempting to hug him. Yugi side stepped.
"I guess I'm being a little cold towards you."
Judai groaned in frustration as he leapt forward for another attempt at a hug. Yugi let him this time, rubbing his hair. "Meanie." Judai mumbled, head in shoulder.
"Atem must be rubbing off on me." Yugi giggled sweetly.
"Oh, I hope not!" Judai quipped. Yusei gave him a warning glance before his expression softened.
"I can hardly deal with one of them, we don't need two Atems running around..."
"Yusei!" Yugi attempted to scold, but ended up laughing. Atem rumbled a low growl from the back of Yugi's mind. "He growled at you."
"Kinky." Judai laughed.
Yusei's face grew red. "J-Judai! God..." Yusei took to leaning on the wall on the far side, sulking.
The train ride went on like that for a while, idle chitchat going back and forth. Soon, the train let out an alert that they were near their station, and the boys gathered around the door. The train was stacked full of people by this stage, so they stuck close together in order to not lose each other. Atem had taken the body and had his arms wrapped around Yusei's waist. Judai stood in front of Yusei, almost pressed up against the door and the other boys. Judai leant back into Yusei to stop the doors from opening or shutting on him, meaning the three were pushed up extremely close.
Atem let his wandering hands fall on the front of Yusei's thigh, where he rested his right hand and spoke directly into Yusei's ear. He sang his name into his ear, causing Yusei to turn his head to look at him. "What are you doing?" he hissed. Atem's hand fell closer to the inside of Yusei's thigh, and with a devious grin, he-
Atem!
Atem paused in place. Aibou?
I know what you're up to.
Whatever do you mean, Aibou? He gave Yusei's ribs a light dig with his left hand, making Yusei jump in surprise and glance back with a foul expression.
Atem, behave. Yugi pushed Atem back out of control and took over, moving his hands back up to Yusei's waist. He still didn't want to lose him, after all. Yugi enivisioned Atem's scowl, which made him feel a little bad, but he still cemented his position at the front.
The doors to their stop opened up and the crowd pushed at their backs. Judai almost fell out of the train, having to jog out the door to avoid getting crushed by the crowd. Yusei and Yugi followed afterward, largely in the same situation. The doors snapped shut a few seconds later and the boys regrouped together, Yugi leading the way out of the underground station. The night air soon caught up with them and without a word, Atem took over again. The fatigue on both of the boy's faces was already clear from all the constant switching. Judai led the rest of the way while Atem lagged behind, Yusei caught inbetween them, not wanting to get lost, but also trying to keep pace with Atem.
Eventually, a cute, slightly broken bar front came into view. It was modest, with recycled boxes or other materials for tables and assorted chairs. There was a sign above the door, lit up in dull neon lights. It read "The Tip". Judai beamed as he turned to watch the reactions of Yusei and Atem, but their confusion was lost on him. He bounced through the beer garden, a few people sitting around were sipping on drinks, some even nodded to Judai. He slowed as he entered through the open double doors and found his way to the front counter. A man sat behind it in his seat, leafing through a newspaper in his hands. He seemed to perk up at the familiar sound of Judai's gait, glancing up in surprise. He met Judai with a keen grin and stood, launching his front half over the counter to shake his hand.
"Ah! Judai, Judai, paisano! We have missed you!" He landed a kiss on Judai's cheek and ruffled his hair.
Judai returned the warm greetings, his voice lapsing into a slight italian accent. "Amico mio!" He gave the man at the counter, quite possibly twice Judai's size and age, a hug.
Yusei and Atem stood motionless as they watched, unsure of what to make of this situation. Atem took care to watch for strong emotions coming from his partner, but his confusion deepend as no such feelings seemed to arise.
Yusei glanced at Atem, their faces very much a mirror of each other. Contorted in confusion, though struggling to hide it.
Atem watched as the two men by the counter excitedly spoke back and forth about their day, before stepping forward and loudly clearing his throat. Judai noticed and turned, one arm still over the shoulder of the man at the counter.
"Care to..." He paused, searching for the correct words. "To, introduce us?"
Judai's eyes lit up, as if he had just remembered something very important. He quickly dipped his head and apologised before stepping away from the counter, to a spot where he was immediately between Atem and the man at the counter.
"This is my good friend Arturo, or capo." He nodded towards Arturo. "You can just call him Arturo."
Atem nodded, followed by Yusei.
"Capo, this is Atem, Yugi isn't out right now, I don't think you've met, and our tall friend here is Yusei."
Arturo met the both of them with a smile, just as he had with Judai. He walked around the side of the counter and took both of the boys into a firm, almost rough, handshake. "Any friend of Judai is a friend of capo. I'm not used to seeing someone other than Yugi in an outfit like that, though!" He laughed heartily, slapping Atem on the back. Although inadvertent, the force on Atem's back hit him like a ton of bricks, he took a few steps forward to balance himself.
Atem bristled, delving into the mind to confer with Yugi. Yugi took notice of his mood and tuned into the conversation.
Oh, it's capo! He's really nice. A bit rough. Don't let him get close enough to pat you on the back.
Inwardly, Atem groaned. Too late. I think I'm going to bruise.
Oh, he's not that rough. Be nice. Tell him I said hello.
Atem looked back up at Arturo, who had taken a liking to Yusei's hair. He was chattering about his cousin, a hairdresser, who would love to learn how he styled it. Yusei seemed slightly offput by the proximity, but answered his questions anyway. Arturo had just started running his fingers through his hair when Atem stepped forward to divert his attention.
"Aibou says hello." He almost shouted, one hand on Arturo's shoulder. The older man nodded to himself.
"Orsini-kun, hello in there! He must come more often, the two of you are so skinny. But do not be worrying, I will get you a wonderful meal tonight. You are eating for two, Atem! You have to eat enough."
Atem raised his arm slightly and glanced at it. "I'm too skinny?" He mumbled to himself.
Arturo and Judai conferred for a few moments about seating, before the older man began to giggle, tapping on his nose.
Atem looked notably despondent.
Judai received one last kiss on the cheek from the barman before he went back behind the counter. Judai grabbed the hands of Atem and Yusei, pulling the boys with him as he led them across the room. Watching their feet carefully to determine where to avoid obstacles, they followed Judai closely through the half full bar to a booth towards the back of the room. While it wasn't the most private place in the world, it was the most private place in the bar. The boys couldn't help but be impressed.
Judai slid in on one side, while Atem and Yusei took the other. Judai's fingers drummed on the table as he gave off a coy grin.
"sooo...?" he prompted, leaning forward.
"He's very friendly." Yusei said.
"My back hurts." Atem whined.
Judai giggled at that and sat back, leaning on the booth seat behind him. He crossed his legs on the comfortable cushioning and kept his gaze across the table to his companions. "Capo is a really great guy."
"Why do you call him capo, and what were the other things you were saying?"
"Ohh..." Judai mumbled. "Sorry, did we get carried away? You learn a few things when you know capo for a few years." He explained, even subtly mirroring Arturo's habit of moving his hands around as he spoke. Yusei determined this was a subconcious action on Judai's part. "It's some basic Italian. I don't know much, but I can say a few things. For example, capo means boss. One of his interns used to call him that, so it caught on. He calls me paisono, because I called him bro once. It's about the same thing."
"And what was Amio Mico?" Atem asked, curious to learn more about a topic he had know previous knowledge in.
"Amico mio." Judai corrected. "It means, ' my friend'."
"And Orsini-kun?"
"That's a joke of his. Because when they met, Yugi insisted he use honorifics. He calls him Orsini-kun now because Arturo's name means bear. He's calling Yugi little bear."
"Oh, is it because he looks like a baby panda?" Yusei asked with a slight smile to match Judai.
Why does everyone keep saying that?!
"Aibou doesn't understand the baby panda association." Atem voiced his partner's words.
"Really?" Judai asked.
Really.
Atem nodded.
"Really?" Yusei asked.
Yugi's voice came in more insistent this time. Really.
"He's pretty sure."
Judai shrugged. "Whatever you say."
Atem heard Yugi growl and mutter something. His facial expression made it obvious to Judai what he had said.
"Love you, babe." Judai blew a kiss in their direction.
"He sounds grumpy."
I am.
Judai leaned back into his seat, reaching into the pocket of his jeans. "You lovers have fun, I have to check on something." He brought a phone like object to the front of his vision. There was a soft beeping noise as it switched on its display. Judai frowned, eyeing the message counter in the corner of the screen. "Oh no..."
Atem took one last glance before shuffling in his seat, almost pivoting to meet the gaze of Yusei. He leaned forward and landed a kiss on Yusei's cheek. Yusei replied by bringing him in for a proper kiss. After a moment they pulled back but Yusei kept his arm around Atem.
"So, what have you been up to lately, Yusei?"
Yusei looked to the ceiling, considering the question carefully. "Well... I've started working again, and this time it looks promising."
Atem leant in closer, his expression instantly brightening. His eyes grew wider and his mouth formed a hopeful smile. "That's great!"
"Mmhmm." Yusei agreed, planting another kiss on Atem's forehead. "It's going to be long hours, though. I start tomorrow, so I won't be around very much."
"That's fine, as long as you are well." Atem assured him.
Atem snuggled further into Yusei, while Yusei's eyes wandered around the establishment. Particularly towards the front, where he had the pleasure of seeing a line of motorcycles parked outside. He was already thinking about how he would go about fine tuning them when Atem's hand began tracing circles on Yusei's chest, which brought him back to attention.
He looked back over at the smaller boy, curiously regarding his movements. He was used to Atem getting flirty, so this was nothing. He relaxed his shoulders, taking a deep breath in, then out, and let himself melt into the seat.
Atem's hand drew lower, over his stomach, causing Yusei to flinch a bit. His cheeks grew red at the invoulantary reaction. He could have sworn he heard Atem giggle triamphantly.
He closed his eyes and began to relax again when Atem's hand dipped even lower, brushing just underneath the line of his pants. His eyes flew open, glancing down at Atem. His face was flushed red and he barely managed to hiss out "what are you doing?!" before nervously glancing up to look over to Judai. Judai was clicking away on his data assistant, oblivious to the world. Glancing back down at Atem, Yusei figured Atem was fully aware of that too.
Atem, taking extra care to make very gentle contact with his clothing to tickle his skin, trailed his hand down Yusei's hips to-
Atem.
Atem paused in place. His eyes wide as saucers, mouth slightly agape in surprise. Oh. Um. Hello, aibou.
He heard Yugi growl, muttering something under his breath before switching out with Atem. Yusei watched as Yugi noticed the awkward proximity to Yusei's crotch, immediately pulling up from his position leaning over Yusei's abdomen.
He glowed a brilliant shade of red all the way up to his ears, quivering slightly at being caught off guard like that. He scrambled to find something to say.
Come on Aibou, not like you haven't been down there before.
Atem's idea of revenge was not helping.
"You don't need to be so embarrassed, Yugi." Yusei assured him, leaning over and pulling him into a one arm hug.
Yugi sighed a breath of relief and relaxed.
"I mean, it's not like you haven't been down there before."
Yugi instantly grew an even brighter shade of red, before standing up in his place. Unfortunately, he didn't account for the huge, hard table in front of him and hit the wooden surface with both of his legs at once. Ignoring the sudden pain, he hopped out of Yusei's side of the booth and joined Judai, wrapping his arms around him and sulking into his shoulder. Judai took a few moments to put down his data assistant, a few of those moments dedicated to saving his work and sending it off, before turning his head to look at Yugi.
"They're being mean to me." He mumbled.
Judai vaguely tuned in to the outside world, turning in his seat, while tucking Yugi under his arm. "There there..." he mewled.
Almost instantly, Judai tuned out again. Yugi watched his eyes grow hazy in a relaxed daze. He pushed himself into a slightly higher sitting position to watch him.
He gave it a few moments, watching him stare off into space before nudging him with his hand. "Judai?"
A few seconds later, the focus returned to Judai's eyes and he turned back to Yugi. He smiled sweetly and gave Yugi's cheek a gentle stroke, noticing the strain on Yugi's features. Yugi had his brow furrowed, eyes glinting with concern. He narrowed his eyes slightly for a few moments.
"...What?" Judai raised an eyebrow and sat back slightly. He crossed one arm in front of him.
"You're doing that thing again." Yugi mumbled.
"You do it all the time." Judai insisted, before turning away and tapping on his data assistant.
"I have a reason to. Atem is always talking at the back of my head." No reply. "Judai." He shuffled closer to him and took the phone out of his hands.
"Yugi." Judai mimicked, taking back the phone in a gentle manner.
"You can tell me if something wrong, you know that, don't you?" Yugi chided, crossing his arms.
"I... can." He agreed, although hesitantly. "I definitely can, because I love you."
The back half of that sentence was considerably more sincere than the first. Yugi frowned, snuggling back into Judai's arm.
Judai returned to clicking on his phone idly, occasionally closing his eyes. Yugi watched him browse away, sending off messages to various people and discussing business with others. The silence made him a little sad.
Judai eventually closed his phone, his head perking up and eyes searching around. Yugi looked intently along with Yusei who's attention had been drawn.
"Do you hear that?"
Yugi strained his ears. There was a bit of heated discussion outside. He couldn't place the voices or understand what they were saying, though.
Judai lept up from his seat, launching himself over the table to avoid awkwardly shuffling around Yugi. Yugi joined him quickly, followed by Yusei. They sprinted out to the doors at the front of the restaurant and looked around. In the beer garden, two men were shouting angrily at each other, their volume significantly rising with each passing stab.
"I swear to God, if you come near me or my bike again..."
"I didn't do anything, idiot! Why the fuck would I want to screw with that hunk of junk?!"
"Don't make me floor you!"
A man alongside them, with a jacket that matched the other two looked distressed. "Guys, guys, please, what are you doing? Don't do this here. You're going to get all of us in trouble. Please."
"This is personal!"
"Not club business!"
Judai frowned. He briefly considered walking inside to get Arturo, but was hesitant to leave the scene in case he had to act.
To his surprise, one of his companions stepped forward. With a calm demeanor, Yusei made his way towards the men, moving himself inbetween them. Wordlessly, he managed to silence the two men, shifting his attention between the two of them with a silent, hard look.
He waited, allowing them to calm down, before crossing his arms. He spoke, glancing between the two between words. "Now, what is wrong with your bike?"
The first man, a rather fit looking guy, greying in the beard with a bandanna around his head and a helmet under his arm, began. "I caught this one sniffing around my bike. And then! Bam! I'm suddenly having issues with my engine!"
The other male started up, slightly smaller than the first. He had multiple sets of keys hanging off his belt that jingled as he spoke moving his entire body. "I was sniffing around?! Why would I even go near it?!"
Yusei brought up a hand, silencing them both once more. He gave another pause time to take effect before speaking. "Which bike is yours?"
Bandanna pointed to one of the bikes in the line up, all arranged on the side of the road. "That one."
Yusei nodded to himself, strolling over to the bike in question. He glanced at it briefly all over once, before crouching down to take a closer look. Bandanna watched curiously from a distance, while keys crossed his arms and avoided looking.
It didn't take Yusei long to start poking around in the insides of the bike, moving parts in order to see better. Judai and Yugi were left utterly in the cold, confused as to how to act or what to do.
"Can I borrow this?" Yusei asked, having taken off the seat of the bike to discover an emergency toolkit inside. Bandanna simply nodded, shifting on his feet, as if he wanted to stop Yusei from getting personal with his bike, but either didn't have the courage or the composure. Yusei hadn't even waited for his reply before he started tinkering.
A few minutes later, he slid the toolbox back into place, returned the seat to its original position and stood up. He took one last glance over the entire bike before nodding his head in approval, strolling over to the two men.
"Your bike needs to go in for a full servicing." He said to Bandanna, whose face dropped into a frown.
"So, you mean that-"
"He didn't touch your bike." Yusei ended the sentence for him. He crossed his arms and leant on one leg slightly, giving him a harsh look. "I don't think anyone has for a long time."
Bandanna pushed past him and over to his bike. Swinging his leg over the seat with one smooth movement, he reclined into the bike, taking the handlebars with more force in his grip than necessary.
Keys unfolded his arms. He spun dramatically, turning back to Bandanna, then crossed his arms again for emphasis. "I didn't touch it, see?"
Bandanna ignored him and used the kickstart on the side to bring the engine to life. The sound, unmuffled by the normal muffler that should be on the back of any bike traveling through the city, reverberated throughout the empty street. Bandanna leant back and sighed heavily.
"It definitely sounds like it's fixed."
Yusei simply nodded in agreement.
Keys took the opportunity to storm off onto his bike, kicking up the engine – which spluttered upon ignition – and taking off into the night.
Yusei busied himself looking through the pockets of his jacket, his fingers seizing a rectangular piece of cardboard inside. He pulled it out and passed it to Bandanna, with a helpful smile. "Come and see me tomorrow. I'll do the rest."
Bandanna took the card, which had Yusei's place of work inscribed upon it as well as a festive, colorful logo and rode away, waving as he went.
Yusei turned around to meet the intense looks of both Judai and Yugi, who were stunned at the current situation.
"I wish I could have handled that as well as you did." Yugi said, Judai nodding furiously in agreement.
"O-Oh? That was nothing, I know those two anyway." Yusei rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "The guy who was trying to break them up is a regular."
Suddenly, the familiarity made sense. No wonder they saw Yusei as an authorative figure. He was friends with their head honcho, and probably scarier when in a bad mood to boot.
"You growl at them once or twice and they behave. They're quite respectable guys when they're not arguing."
"I can't believe it." Judai mumbled. "You're pretty amazing, Yusei!" he piped up.
"Amazing?" Yusei stumbled over the word as it came out. "I don't – that's not really amazing, it's just-"
"Oh shush." Judai chided.
Yusei glanced towards the ground, shifting the weight on his feet once. "Thanks."
Yugi could sense an eagerness playing at the back of his mind, so he switched out with Atem. Atem leapt forward and wrapped his arms around Yusei, giving him a passionate kiss. Some of the bikies at the surrounding tables paused to look. Some seemed mildly impressed, others didn't notice and a few looked like they'd already seen this scene enough times before.
After a drawn out kiss, Atem pulled back and took Yusei's hands. "You are amazing, Yusei."
Yusei's face tinted pink at that. Wordlessly, his eyes glowed with happiness.
Judai hopped around behind Yusei and leant into his back. "Come on, lovers. It's cold outside."
Atem was all too pleased to comply, tugging Yusei along with him. "Alright, alright, out of the cold."
Judai led the trio back to their booth at the back of the room, where they were all seated once more. Yusei sat on the inside with Atem on the outside, Judai was opposite both of them and tapping along on his data assistant.
"You're very absorbed." Yusei leant his forearms onto the table.
"Mmhm." Judai mumbled back.
"And very quiet."
"Yeah."
Yusei leant back into his seat and tapped his fingers lightly on the table.
"You're not going to socialise?"
"Yeah, yeah."
Atem huffed, eyes closed and raised his voice. "Look Judai, a fusion monster is on the floor over there!"
"Where?!" He squeaked, eyes tearing away from the device in his hands.
"Right here." Atem beckoned. Judai turned around, only to be met face to face with Atem. Atem quickly extended his hand and flicked Judai on the forehead. "See?"
Judai leapt back into his chair, pulling up his legs so he sat cross legged. He crossed his arms and avoided the gaze of the other two in a huff. "That was rude!"
"You were ignoring us again." Yusei explained.
"And it annoyed me." Atem mirrored Judai in pose.
"I was just giving you some privacy."
"We're on a double date, we could do with everyone getting involved."
Judai sat quietly after that, head slightly turned down. His eyes searched across the room for something to talk about, or move the topic to. His saviour arrived in the form of capo.
"Capo!"
"Judai! I brought your favorite thing! Food!"
Yusei and Atem glanced over, the former cocking his head slightly to the side in confusion. "But, we didn't order anything."
Arturo tapped his nose with a cunning grin. "No worries, Capo knows all about you. Judai tells me many things."
The two looked uncomfortable at that notion.
Arturo leant forward, large tray still in hand, whispering just loud enough for the act of whispering to be totally irrelevant. "Do not worry, Atem. Your secret is safe with me."
Atem's eyes widened and his mouth gaped. "W-Wha-?" He quickly glared at Judai who was avoiding eye contact.
Arturo grinned, despite Atem's discomfort, or perhaps because of it, and slammed down the platter on to the table. It fell with a mighty clack, the top was swept off in one smooth movement and a mixture of delectable aromas filled the air.
"I made you the house special! Spaghetti and meatballs with a side of ravioli!"
Judai swept up one bowl from the tray and dug in immediately. Yusei followed suit, noticing the distracting underlying hunger that had been subtly haunting him all evening.
"This is, very..." Atem began, taking a long time to articulate. "It's, well..." He sighed. "It's, quite stereotypical, isn't it?"
Arturo took a step backward and pondered the question. He glanced over to Judai with a concerned look.
"You don't know what that word is, do you?"
"No, no, no, don't get me wrong, Judai." Arturo interjected. "I know the word, but isn't it usually negative? Do they not like it?" He explained.
Judai gestured to the two across the table. "He's been living here for so many years, but he still mainly speaks in his mother tongue." He drummed his fingers on the bowl in his hand. "But, capo, I don't think they dislike it. It's just considered a staple of Italian food."
"Ah – was it ordinary?"
"That's close."
"Ah, yes, okay. I understand. Well, Atem, sir, if you do not like this, I could perhaps find you something else, or..."
"No, that's fine. This smells really good!" Atem was quick to remedy the situation.
Capo smiled and leapt forward, bringing Atem into a rough tackle/hug. Atem whined lowly but Arturo either ignored him or didn't hear him. "Good, good! I am so glad."
Arturo hummed to himself and wandered off, drumming his finger tips against each other cheerily. The three boys sat in near silence as they ate.
The group made short work of their plates, exchanging idle chat as they devoured each of their portions. Afterwards they laid back into the comfort of the cushioning behind them, sighing contentedly.
Yusei searched his pockets for his phone lazily, drawing it out and holding it in his view. He clicked a button on the side, lighting up the screen. Upon reading the numbers on the interface, he swore.
Atem perked up and cocked his head to the side. "Is something wrong, Yusei?"
"It's really late. I have early shift – damn, I'm sorry-"
Atem interrupted him with a quick kiss on the cheek. "I understand." He rubbed Yusei's hair affectionately. "You have to go. I'll see you soon."
Yusei frowned. "You spoil me..." He mumbled, before sliding around Atem and out of the seat. He stood next to Atem, face uneasy. He rubbed his hands together, as if searching for something to say.
"Go." Atem insisted, tone light. "I cannot – I will not – have you falling asleep tomorrow." Atem gave him a playful shove and a wink.
Yusei seemed to relax a bit at that and after giving him one more kiss sprinted out of the establishment.
Judai watched as Atem's face fell from his polite, understanding demeanor to disappointment.
"You're really nice." Judai said. He leaned across the table and gave Atem a kiss on the forehead. "Yusei and Yugi are both really lucky."
Atem nodded. "Thanks." He paused before yawning quite loudly. "I'm going to go to sleep. You can hang out with Aibou." He waved, and before Judai could say anything he was looking at Yugi, who seemed surprised himself.
Yugi glanced over to Judai, unsure of how to spark up a conversation. He yawned, filling the silence. "Oops, sorry. I think the body itself is tired."
Judai nodded. "You guys have been switching a lot, it makes sense." He stood up from his seat and pulled Yugi up out of his. "We'll go back to your place, alright?"
Yugi rubbed his eyes. "You don't need to do that..."
Judai simply glared at him, shaking his head. He took Yugi by the arm and pulled him over to the counter at the front of the establishment.
"Capo, we're heading out. Thankyou for the food!"
Arturo spun around in his chair, pulling his head out from a huge newspaper. "Ah! Yes, okay! When will I see you again?"
"Well..." he drummed his fingers. "I have a lot to do lately... but I'll be back in here at some point for a drink or two."
Arturo seemed satisfied as he nodded. "Wonderful!"
Judai forked over the money to pay for dinner, finding out that Yusei had already paid about half on his way out, before leading Yugi out by the hand. The cold air hit Yugi immediately and he shivered, leaning onto Judai's shoulder.
"Gosh." Judai sighed. "You can hardly walk. How hard did you two push yourself, anyway?"
Yugi nuzzled into Judai's neck and left a few kisses as a reply.
"You're hopeless."
"And you're cute." Yugi mumbled back.
"Atem is rubbing off on you."
Yugi laughed sweetly just below Judai's ear.
The two walked all the way back to the train station and even onto the train in relative silence. Once inside, Yugi left Judai's side and sat down on one of the seats inside the car, where he fell asleep almost immediately.
"Jeeze..."
Having made it back to his own home by the power of miracles and Judai's incredible patience and perseverance, Yugi sprawled out on the couch in his loungeroom. Judai sat next to him, watching his tired eyes flutter shut.
"You can't just fall asleep on the lounge, you'll catch a cold."
"Shhhhh..."
"Go to your bed, Yugi."
"That's..." he mumbled, "lewd... leeeewwwwd. Lewd lewd lewd..."
Judai sighed. He left Yugi's side but returned almost immediately with blankets, which he threw over Yugi's curled up form. He leant down and kissed Yugi's cheek gently as he could, but Yugi was already sound asleep.
He tiptoed outside, locking the front door behind him with the spare key as he left. Once outside, Judai glanced up at the night sky and began to plan what route he'd take home.