This has been cross-posted to ao3 and also tumblr. Takes place in post-canon au where Atem/Yami has his own body and all his memories

When Seto Kaiba first heard that the pharaoh formerly known as Yugi's other half had somehow, against all odds, been pulled back into the world of the living and given a genuine flesh-and-blood body once more, his first reaction was a kind of creeping horror.

It had been almost a year. He'd finally gotten rid of the stubborn thoughts - a whip-crack voice calling out attack names, hands deft and sure drawing cards, the heady rush of facing an opponent who could counter anything thrown at him - he'd gotten past that. He'd finally gotten some respite, as well, from the mental exhaustion of constantly telling himself that he was not thinking the aforementioned thoughts, that they were not affecting him, at all, in any capacity. He'd been relieved, honestly, to put all those messy feelings behind him and focus on the important things in life, like running a corporation.

But now - well. There was the potential for all that to come back. He did not want it to come back.

His disgruntled introspection was interrupted by Mokuba. "Hey," said his brother, climbing over the couch. "You know what Jounouchi said?"

"Have you been associating with that delinquent?"

Mokuba stuck out his tongue. "Anyway, you want to know what Jounouchi said Yugi did when he saw that pharaoh guy come back?"

Seto did not want to know.

"He kissed him," said Mokuba, in a tone of horrified fascination. "On the mouth."

"He what."

"And the pharaoh guy kissed back. Jounouchi said it was like in a movie." He took a moment to consider the mental image. Then in reverent tones, as if relating the size of the world's biggest cockroach, he added, "I bet it was disgusting."

.

They all went out for ice cream to celebrate. Unfortunately for Seto, "they" included him.

He still wasn't sure how he'd been roped into it, and now he stood off to the side watching the gaggle of overly excited friends peering at the list of flavors. Atem, it seemed, was unable to go five seconds without receiving a congratulatory hug or pat on the back. Even Mokuba had sidled over, poked his arm once or twice, and declared, "Wow, you're actually solid. I guess you're real then," in rather impressed tones.

Everyone was so goddamn excited. The sheer friendship of the whole business was thick in the atmosphere.

Seto glowered. He didn't need all this sentimentality. He managed perfectly well without friendship and all its supposed virtues that Yugi and his entourage were always going on about. He bought his own ice cream.

Anzu insisted.

All right, fine, he didn't buy his own ice cream, but that was only to be expected. He would have been a fool not to profit off of the misguided generosity of others.

The group walked out of the ice cream shop, carrying their various cones, and Seto trailed behind, studying Atem. (Because the man had been almost wholesale resurrected, which Seto still did not quite want to believe was possible. That was why he was staring at him. There was no other reason.) He was wearing what were probably spare clothes from Yugi's wardrobe; he was several centimeters taller and several shades darker than his partner. He looked, on the whole, real enough.

He was also sharing a cone with Yugi. They'd only ordered one, and now they passed it back and forth between them as the group walked down the streets of Domino, all speaking enthusiastically over each other to fill Atem in on what goings-on he'd missed in the past year. Yugi's fingers were tucked into the curve of Atem's waist, their shoulders and hips bumping together with each stride.

Public displays of affection. Tedious and sickening.

"Hey," said Jounouchi, suddenly, and the wink-wink-nudge-nudge of his tone set off immediate alarm bells in Seto's head. "You two. Are you a thing now?"

"I think we all want to know that," added Honda. "I mean, if you're dating now, tell us. It's confusing me."

Yugi released Atem's waist, a little self-consciously it seemed, and he and Atem looked at each other. "Well..." said Yugi, "I'm not really sure. It was kind of on impulse when I..." He didn't finish the sentence, but his hand wandered up to his mouth.

"By 'a thing', do you mean romantically?" asked Atem. "Maybe. I mean we were always... a thing... in some sense of the word."

"I guess we'll just have to wait and see," said Yugi, and Atem nodded - but the way their gazes met and their hands found each other left little doubt as to what the final outcome would be.

"Gross," said Mokuba, and whatever spell had descended over the group was broken. Yugi laughed a little self-consciously, and some of the others joined in. Honda actually ruffled Mokuba's hair - not that it needed any more messing up - and Jounouchi was doing a good deal of eyebrow-wiggling at the nascent couple..

Seto watched all this with a sense of vague disgust, but also a certain degree of relief. His rival and the brat were going to enter a loving and committed romantic relationship, they would probably get couple-matching accessories and slow-dance at parties, and, for want of a better word, Atem would be conclusively off the market. Seto could rest easy; the nagging fantasies would fall away now that there was no hope of their ever coming to fruition.

That was how it should be. But instead, Seto felt something else beneath the relief; something small but persistent that grew steadily as he watched Yugi and Atem share ice cream and personal space. It was joined by a feeling of dawning horror as he realized what it was.

Jealousy.

He was jealous.

Quite suddenly, Seto felt a migraine coming on that had nothing to do with the ice cream.

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