i couldnt sleep either bc puzzleshipping wouldnt leaVE ME ALONE


Dull red eyes stared at the ceiling and Yami lost track of how many sheep he had counted - again. Maybe he'd take Yugi's advice about drinking warm milk.

He wondered bitterly why sleep had to be so picky with who it let fall under its clutches.

Exhaling, he started to count again, and then paused when the boy next to him shifted in his sleep. Yami glanced at him and forgot about counting sheep or drinking milk or anything else that wasn't inherently Yugi.

Perhaps unconsciously, his features softened at the sight of his partner, curled under the blankets next to him. There wasn't much space on the bed for the both of them, but Yugi had no qualms about sharing, so neither did Yami.

The younger boy shifted again, curling his hand into the sheets and sighing. Yami watched with an indiscernible look on his face.

He counted each slow breath the other took.

He drifted when he was in the thousands.

xx

When he focused his eyes again after what must have been an hour or two, it was to tired violet eyes on a face soft with sleep.

"Yami."

The man said nothing for a long while. His mind was foggy from exhausted sleeplessness.

"Yes?"

Yugi eyes yielded and his lips curled at the sound of his voice. "Why are you still awake?" When Yami didn't answer, the younger drew his own conclusions. "You can't sleep?"

Yami didn't answer, but he didn't have to.

Humming softly, Yugi inched closer to his side and reached up to tangle his hands in Yami's hair.

The older blinked in confusion, though he doubted Yugi saw it in the dark.

"Close your eyes," he mumbled and Yami listened (and he listened because he trusted him perpetually).

With their knees bumping and nearly chest to chest, Yami relaxed into the other boy, his partner and his friend and his light.

Yugi smiled again and started rubbing circles into his hair, tiny little motions that put his mind at ease. Fingers drew around to his temples and smoothed over them, and Yugi's own eyes fell slightly shut.

Edging closer still, the younger boy fitted himself into the curves of Yami's curled body, removing his hands just to slip them around Yami's back before returning them to their ministrations.

Yami absently tightened his arms around the boy, warm and trusting and exhausted. He leaned his head forward to bump their noses together and they both smiled in the darkness.

"Is this-" Yugi cut off, but he didn't need to finish anyway. He pressed closer still and let his fingers fall motionless.

Violet eyes slid shut, and together they slipped under the reaching claws of sleep.

Yami still smiled.