Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters.
Summary: When they have to make a forced landing due to problems with the helicopter, Amelda and Raphael find themselves in the middle of nowhere and have to spend the entire night on their own. Hidden feelings are confessed and entail unexpected consequences...
A/N: I have been fired up for writing this story, and I'm glad I finally get to publish it
The seal had taken the poor bastards soul and they had headed for home. Since then both of them had remained quiet. And Raphael intended to keep it that way. It would distract Amelda from flying the helicopter and he also didn't feel like talking. There was nothing to tell about ripping a soul out of someone and leave his lifeless body in the dust.
After remaining quiet for about twenty minutes, Amelda broke the silence.
"We're out of fuel."
Raphael, who had been gazing out of the window the entire time, looked up.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I said 'we're out of fuel'. We need to land. I just thought you'd like to know that."
The blonde stared at him for a moment, processing the information.
"…and you only noticed that just now."
"Something must be wrong with the engine. I checked the fuel gage before we took off and everything was fine." Amelda explained.
Raphael sighed "Great."
The good thing was, no one of them got injured during the landing; the bad thing was, they were now in the middle of nowhere. That was the downside of this country, if there were deserts they didn't seem to end.
While Amelda was checking on the engine, Raphael tried to contact the headquarters, but there was no response.
"The line's gone dead." Raphael announced, as he walked over to Amelda, who flapped down the shutter to the engine.
Amelda sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Any idea what we're going to do now?"
"There should be a highway about a two-hour walk away." Raphael looked at the sky "But it will get dark soon, I think we should wait for tomorrow." He looked at Amelda. "If you're okay with that."
Amelda just nodded. "Sure. I have no intention of walking in the desert at night anyway."
Raphael tried to survey the situation they had to face now. "It probably will get cold as well; maybe we should set up a fire…"
Amelda, now standing next to him, looked up to his friend "Nice conclusion, but instead of making a fire we could just turn on the heater inside the helicopter. "
"I thought we were out of fuel?"
"We are, but the heater runs with a battery, and if I'm not mistaken it should last for two days." Amelda explained.
"That's more than enough."
Amelda climbed back inside the helicopter, leaving Raphael outside.
He sighed. Of course this had to happen to him, but secretly he was glad that he was stranded here with Amelda, and not with Valon. It wasn't that he didn't like the youngest member. Quite the contrary, the boy was like a brother to him. But Valon couldn't keep anything to himself – he never stopped talking - and loved to bug people with questions which sometimes hit a raw nerve.
Raphael didn't like to talk about things from the past, and neither did Amelda, so it was guaranteed there would be no uncomfortable questions to answer tonight. That was one of the reasons he preferred to go on missions with the other man; the other reason was, he really enjoyed Amelda's company, after all he was one of the few people he would call a friend.
The man meant a lot to him, now that he thought about it. But he quickly shook off the thought that clearly didn't belong here.
"I shouldn't be thinking something like that…" he muttered under his breath.
It had been about three hours after the sun had set, leaving their surroundings in complete darkness. The only light source was the light of the helicopter, but to save energy Amelda had dimmed it.
If he would overlook the fact that there was no food and the helicopter was everything but comfortable, Raphael had almost called it cosy.
Both of them, sitting next to each other, had remained silent for most of the time, when suddenly Amelda began to speak.
"Raphael, I have a question for you."
"What's the matter?"
Amelda made a pause, then he asked "How would you feel if I'd lose my soul…?"
The question struck Raphael out of nowhere. He looked at Amelda, eyes white open, trying to speak. Then he leaned back and tilted his head back.
"I'd be afflicted of course. You're my friend after all."
The look Amelda carried on his face told Raphael that he wasn't satisfied with the answer yet.
Raphael looked down, examining his boots. He would need a new pair soon, judging by the way the leather was worn out. As much as he tried to delay the answer, he could feel the other man's piercing gaze.
He sighed "Well…I don't know what to say. I'd be sad, I suppose…"
Amelda's look softened and he turned his head, now facing the door.
"I'd miss you." He muttered.
Raphael could almost feel his face turning red, so he quickly looked away. He couldn't tell if the silence that followed was either awkward of comfortable. But he felt somewhat more certain concerning his feelings.
"I'd miss you, too." He replied slowly.
What followed next was intended to be a quiet thought, but he could hear himself say "I wouldn't know what to do, if you were gone…"
The moment he realized what he just said and what he couldn't take back anymore, he froze, eyes wide open and covered his mouth.
'Oh dear god.' he thought, as he waited for Amelda's reaction.
Much to his surprise the younger man looked at him apparently caught off guard completely, blushing uncontrollably.
'What did I just confess to him?' Raphael felt like slapping himself in the face. He had no idea what he had gotten himself into, lesser how to make this right.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"he tried to apologize, before things got worse, but was cut off by Amelda.
"No!" he lowered his head. "I mean, you don't have to be sorry" he almost whispered.
Raphael swore he saw a vague smile on the other man's face, but that was probably due to the lighting conditions.
The younger man raised his head and looked him straight in the eyes, lips parted slightly. He closed his eyes and placed a small kiss on his cheek.
None of them said anything the following moment, both facing different directions, processing what just had happened.
Raphael bit his lip. God, did he feel uncomfortable. He really wanted to know how this whole thing would turn out. But he wasn't sure if he was supposed to go one step further. Things would never be the same again, there was no turning back.
He slowly reached out for Amelda's hand, but stopped as soon as he felt his fingers brush over the other's skin. There was a short break, before Amelda intertwined his fingers with Raphael's. He turned his head, facing him directly now, his cheeks covered in deep shades of red.
He leaned over and kissed him gently.
Raphael was taken by surprise and couldn't react at first, but then gave in to the kiss.
That was the first chapter, both of the bikers being awkward dorks. But the next chapter won't be that innocent, I can tell you that~
Don't forget to leave a review!