A/N: Hello all! This is my first attempt at a Puzzleshipping fic which I began for my dear friend Nicole, known around these parts as Mermaids). She is writing a Tendershipping fic for me in return! It's called In the Blackest of Rooms. Please check it out! She is a fantastic writer.
And here the story begins, so strap in!
/Yami./
Yugi screamed silently into the stillness. The stillness responded with a silence that gave the waif of a boy the slightest of chills. He breathed heavily into the darkness, his darkness, waiting for him to present himself. Padded footsteps grew in a steady crescendo. They ceased abruptly as a rusty doorknob creaked comfortingly, revealing an exquisitely disheveled creature with a visage sharp enough to whet a Swiss army knife. The marvel ran a slender hand through his untamed hair, yawning as he gazed lazily upon the smaller boy.
\Yes, hikari mine.\
/You left me, Yami./
\I'm sorry.\
/Why did you leave?/
\I just needed a drink of water. To quench this parched Egyptian tongue of mine.\
/Mmm. I had a nightmare./
\There's no need for those. You know I'll be here always.\
/I know./
\Always.\
/Mmm./
Yugi rubbed sleep from his eyes. He was scorchingly gorgeous, achingly beautiful, wrapped in those swaddling insecurities of his, Yami gushed endlessly.
His violet eyes were pleading, his parted lips inviting. Yami couldn't help but melt.
The taller boy floated to their shared bed and nuzzled close to his Light. Yugi radiated heat, likely from his woozy sweaty nightmare.
\Be mine.\
/I am./
\Always.\
Their legs tangled in the sheets for what felt like the first time. Always the first time. How long had they been doing this? It must have been since the beginning, before anything else. There was never a time when they were anything but this. Yugi was convinced they never would be as he flushed infinitely, with an all-encompassing heat and undeniable pleasure, with the promise of an everlasting bond.
The all-too-familiar rush of tender longing washed over the darker half. Sometimes it felt like a pesky itch that could never be scratched, a craving that could never be fully satisfied. But now, now it was a rolling wave of unbroken affection, an unspoken promise. It whispered, I swear to belong to you and you alone, every day until the end of it all, when the sky goes black, when the world holds its breath for the last time, when Time itself falls through the center of the earth. In a word, forever.
What was your nightmare about, Yami mumbled into his hikari's neck.
Yugi turned onto his back and gazed at the ceiling. Yami could make out his delicately youthful features in the dim moonlight.
I can't remember since you came back. He closed his eyes and smiled gently.
He reached for his yami's hand, searching sweetly in the dark, at last lacing their fingers together. They fell asleep this way, thinking about time and movement and always and together and infinity.
Yugi awoke with a start, his lids heavy with the memory of a sensation of restlessness. His eyes slowly adjusted to the steady beam of sunlight streaming through the window, which danced graciously on his yami's face. Yugi found himself mesmerized by the rise and fall of his other half's well-defined chest.
Time passed immeasurably. Eventually the other shifted in his sleep, sending a ripple of unabashed pleasure down Yugi's spine, resounding fully within the chambers of his soul. He reached unconsciously towards the sleeping boy's face and stroked it gently with his thumb.
The darkness opened his eyes slowly. A rare smile graced his normally solemn face. He clasped his Light's soft, soft hand in his larger ones, tracing circles on paper skin with his own thumb.
\Good morning, beautiful.\
/I missed you./
\I always miss you.\
They shared another few tactile pieces of infinity as the sunlight continued its waltz on the sheets, the skin, the silence. Yugi felt a sudden surge of energy that propelled him to jump out of bed, leaving Yami amusedly puzzled. He ambled to the chest of drawers in the corner of the room, withdrawing his worn leather pants and black top. His signature outfit. From the closet he swiftly grabbed a chunky belt, the one with all the buckles, Yami's favorite, he noted with an impish smile.
As Yugi changed, he felt dusky eyes, hungry, hypnotic, heavy. There was no need to turn around. He knew, every time he knew. His heart dropped to the pit of his stomach for the first or last time, it was never clear. The darkness burned a steady lust into his very self, deeper and deeper with each fragile movement. This is how it always was. It didn't make him uncomfortable, although it used to, back when he was caught up in trifling technicalities and notions of unattainable perfection. He kept his back to the strong desire, lest it overtake him and force him into a moment of weakness.
The deep amethyst so naturally inhibited Yugi's ability to do. To see. To be anything but what must be destiny. Although it wasn't that he minded necessarily. Breathe in. It was just that maintaining focus on whatever task at hand always became more difficult than usual. What with the burning hunger wafting through the impenetrably thick air. Breathe out. Slowly. Yugi was an easily distracted fellow as it was, a bit absentminded, so being eyed like a piece of meat while easing his nightshirt over his bedhead was not exactly conducive to any form of productivity, really.
After what may have well be an eternity, Yugi was fully dressed and ready to tackle the day. He gave himself a pat on the back for keeping his mind on the mundane task of dressing. Finally he gave into the thirst and turned to face Yami. The bedroom eyes and familiar guise.
/\Where are you going?\
/To ride my bike around town. I'll be back later./
Yami sat up abruptly, looking haphazardly beautiful within the confines of the tiny space of the twin mattress. A rare flash of insecurity registered on the boy's face, only for the briefest of instants, although not unnoticed by Yugi, who knelt by his side, slowly brushed a lock of hair from his face, and kissed darkness on the cheek.
/I'll be back, I just need some fresh air. You'll behave while I'm gone, won't you?/
A mischievous glint shone in the purple depths, a gaze the two latched onto for several infinite moments. Yugi grinned sheepishly as he twisted the doorknob open. The doorknob was the thing that shut them out from the rest of the world, and the act of moving past it seemed, to Yugi, the most dangerous thing he ever had to do. More so than the menacing monsters of endless duels that would haunt him in his sleep, or the realization that one day he would grow up.
The all-too-familiar pang of consuming need nearly crushed the boy the moment the door shut behind him. He needed his Darkness, silently, unconditionally, irrevocably. Sometimes it was barely fathomable that Yugi managed to engage in solitary activities at all. But this need subsided rather satisfyingly as the youth mounted his ever-faithful bicycle, pedaling steadily in the direction of the luminous horizon.