Title: Holiday Earworms
Series: These Days We Celebrate
Summary: Yuugi is supposed to be studying for a test, not sharing silly Christmas songs with his other.
Rating: G for General Audience.
Author: Phoebe Delos
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! DM
Spoilers: Pretty much nothing- This is circa post-Duelist Kingdom, pre-Dungeon Dice Monsters.
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! isn't mine.
Notes: Here, have an extremely late holiday one-shot, because someone was talking about mutual earworms on the puzzleshipping tumblr tag and I couldn't resist. (And hey, nothing angsty from me for once!)
EDIT: This series has been expanded from a one-shot to a series- See the next chapter's notes for details.
:: Dec. 20 - 'Christmas' ::
You can't let that wait until morning? asked the ever-there voice in his head – completely without warning and yet perfectly expected – the concerned frown clear as day even when the spirit did not solidify into view. You still have Sunday to finish the readings.
"Yeah, but Mama says that I have to help Grandpa in the shop tomorrow, so I might not have time," Yuugi replied, reluctance to be right weighing down every syllable as his other self offered no further protest and he opened his history book to a bookmarked page, already rubbing at his eyes. "And I promised I would do this tonight if I went to Anzu's show."
And it certainly hadn't been bad. Anzu had been in a couple tap numbers and a chorus with some other girls at the school's winter program – apparently that sort of thing was a 'great resume fluffer' – and she had asked the guys to come and enjoy the show, since she had been driving them all batty with the English Christmas songs she had on repeat all month for practice. It was a night lost that could have been spent on this awesome new game Yuugi had spotted in the shop's shipment this week- But no real loss. He had been with his friends, cheered Anzu on, went to an actual party for once…
His only real regret was staring him in the face now.
He grimaced hard as he saw the tiny type of the page, but quickly shook the reluctance back with a determined vengeance. The faster he got this done, the more time he'd have with that game! …until Mama came to check if his homework was done and chased him to bed.
But that determination was little match for the monotony of 17th century trade practices, and the words were blurring before his eyes within minutes. All of those names and dates, who was supposed to remember all of that or try and memorize it without their mind numbing out?!
Worse, going to the show didn't erase all of those darn songs from Yuugi's head, and one slowly edged into the front of his consciousness, unbidden, until he was quietly humming the only half-understood words to himself.
'Silent night… Holy night…'
He couldn't remember the third line – the words were insanely hard to pronounce, much less understand – but the beauty and pain of the mind was Yuugi could smooth right over them with merely the tune and simply round unexpectedly back to the beginning, again… And again… And again…
I think it was something about a virgin.
Yuugi's elbow slipped clear off of his desk as he started, blinking dizzy and baffled at the spirit that was suddenly there, lounging upright on his bed with an arm resting on one bent knee. "-what?" Yuugi mumbled, meeting his other's even, expectant gaze until logic caught up to the teen and his face burnt a crimson to match his other's eyes for his meaning- as much as the words. "Wait, you could hear me?"
Of course, he replied, his lips catching in amusement where Yuugi would have expected irritation. He would certainly be annoyed to have somebody singing one fraction of a catchy song in his ear over and over!
But- He just hadn't thought about anyone hearing him… As used to some things as Yuugi was by then. The spirit speaking up randomly in his mind only to fall silent again with no warning could be distracting, but Yuugi found the input nice most of the time- The same with the little 'nudges' the spirit would give him when Yuugi was upset or angry about something, as if to say 'just checking if you need me' without any words. Even the realization that he was, for all intents and purposes, constantly being watched and allowed no secure privacy had come surprisingly easy to the boy- Perhaps in part because he knew by now that the spirit respected what boundaries he could, and didn't take advantage save in the case of danger or peril.
But, for all of that, even after a couple months of active, proper interaction with the spirit? Yuugi hadn't adjust to all of the quirks of having a roommate in his own heart.
"Sorry, I'll try to stop," he promised, but his other simply shook his head with an untroubled smile.
It's fine, do what you need to do to focus… Though I'm not sure that was helping you.
"Like anything could," Yuugi snorted, but the spirit's answering widening grin stymied most of his own exasperation, and he shook his head and turned back to his book.
The song was still in his head, but he did his best to push it back, certain that his other was simply being kind by not complaining. It was still there, though, in its broken glory, the words sliding through the edges of his senses as he tried and failed to take in the name of some merchant-
…sleep in heavenly peace…
Yuugi blinked, not even sure if he had 'heard' that right, before finally lifting his chin from his palm to look quizzically at his other. The spirit stared back at him with a matching look until his face contorting into that owlish expression he always made when he was taken aback or - Yuugi suspected - embarrassed.
-sorry, aibou. I guess I have it stuck in my head, too.
"No, it's fine," Yuugi assured, baffled himself how true it was. "Likely my fault in the first place." And it was weird, but, kind of nice, hearing the song from the spirit's end. It wasn't like he was singing exactly – even when none of his other's words were vocal in his spirit form, there was still a difference between what he spoke and what he thought after all – but when the spirit 'thought' the lyrics, it was strange… Like, Yuugi heard the song as it had been when the school chorus sang it, but heard something of his other in the song, as well-
Considering it just made his head ache, like staring at something so long and hard it blurred and split in two, so he shrugged off the phenomenon with a light "Go on if you like, I don't mind."
The spirit didn't answer at first, simply stared until Yuugi went back to his book- And ironically enough the boy found it oddly easier to read when he was filling the silence until the spirit decided to stifle his own 'thoughts' from their link or not- Being much more capable of the feat than Yuugi himself.
…Silent night… Holy night…
Yuugi hid his smile in his palm, knowing the other would see his eyes crinkling ifhe looked, but striving not to discourage him.
That went on for quite a while, repeated over and over in the same way as before, but in the spirit's 'voice' it was somehow not as aggravating- More lulling than anything. That didn't help his readings either, but at least it was a far more pleasant way to drag the minutes-
-Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock-
Yuugi's chin slipped from his hand as he burst out laughing. "-mou hitori no boku!" he cried, would-be scorn completely lost when he looked over and saw the spirit grinning in a warm, shyly smug sort of way. "You did that on purpose!"
You liked it, he countered, as if that were the best and most undeniable argument in the world.
"Yeah well, be careful- That is not a nice one to put back in my head, and now I'll have to sing something worse to get it out again," Yuugi argued, grinning at his own 'threat' as the spirit cocked an eyebrow at him.
Oh? Like what?
Yuugi blinked, uncertain for a breath, before the concert came back into his mind and he remembered something of the spirit's own feelings on the songs sliding through their connection… An evil grin slowly materializing on his face.
'Rocking around, the Christmas Tree-'
-well, that was a first. He was pretty sure he had never seen his other roll his eyes or groan like that before! Yuugi laughed at the sight before 'singing' even 'louder'.
'Mistletoe hung where you can see~ Every couple-'
-tries to stop, the spirit practically grumped, but the slide of another's 'voice' over Yuugi's own made him stop and blink in surprise, the two of them left staring at one another as they realized they had, for all intents and purposes, just sung together. It was… weird. Yuugi had no other word for it, especially when he settled into the fact that he had liked it-
He still would have shaken his head or laughed off the moment if his other hadn't had him pinned with his searching, uncertain red eyes… And finally, slowly, checkingly began to sing-
…I'm dreaming, of a White Christmas-
'-just like the ones I used to know,' Yuugi finished timidly, his tiny grin cracking wide when he saw his other beaming, relief and warmth shining on his face. Yuugi couldn't look at that expression long – it made his stomach flutter restlessly with what had to be nerves – but he still traded lines back and forth with his ever more confident other as he turned his flushed smile on his history book.
They went on like that, going through as much of a song as each could remember before the other would rush into starting another- As if afraid even a moment's silence would break the spell. But they really only got more and more into it, Yuugi's self-consciousness falling away as he thought of another particularly annoying tune and tossed it his other's way with a grin, or the spirit cut prematurely into a song with a different tune, as if making Yuugi laugh as much as possible was a challenge as serious to him as any penalty game.
In time Yuugi lost complete track of himself- Forgot his homework, forgot the time, forgot even to keep his singing inside his head. Maybe it was five minutes, maybe it was thirty, but at some point he had gotten up and started moving with the music in their heads, not dancing but moving nonetheless, spinning on a lazy heel or bouncing on his feet or bobbing his head as his other remained where he was, apparently perfectly satisfied just watching his every move as they sang- As Yuugi belted out the end of another song into the top of his highlighter-turned-microphone and-
"If Daddy had only seen, Mommy kissing Sant-"
"Kissing who?!"
Yuugi dropped the highlighter and tripped back over his own feet, falling hard on his bum, his and his other's mutual shock screeching through his head as he blinked up at his mother's askance figure in the doorway.
Oh, right… Mama knew English, didn't she?
"It's uh, just a song-"
"And why are you singing it now? Are you trying to wake the neighbors?" she plowed on, glowering towards his abandoned desk. "Have you even finished your readings?!"
This might be a good time to work on your poker face, aibou, the spirit suggested from... When did he disappear back into the Puzzle?!
"Oh, shush," Yuugi grumbled, knowing full well the spirit was teasing for all of his genuine sympathy- Only to balk as his mother screeched.
"Excuse me, young man?!"
Yuugi grimaced.
He really needed to stop talking to his other self out loud.