"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same." Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights
He tilted his head back on the cool brick. Man this place was dismal. If he had to recreate it he would do it in the style reminiscent of Loui Jover. He would use long elegant sad strokes to create the height of the walls, and small angry gashes to create the texture of the bricks. Cool colors would be warranted, dark deep blues and grays would suffice. It would be of the wall, a simple figure chained to the wall waiting for salvation. It would be a sight to behold something simplistic but heavy. He was unseen by those who guarded the soulless body of Seto Kaiba. He rolled his gray eyes. Lucky for him the guards didn't want to see a boy sitting next to their prisoner. It was almost too easy to just slip through the bars and sit. It was cold down in the dungeon and he really just wanted a cigarette. Somewhere in the midst of this crazy day he had forgotten to schedule a smoke break.
"You know I truly hate you sometimes," he spoke breaking the awkward silence between them. He didn't know what to do with himself. Normally he was a witty ball of sunshine, but today he just seemed to be at a loss. He twiddled his thumbs. He sat against the dungeon wall literally twiddling his thumbs waiting for something. One hundred times forward and one hundred times back. It wasn't like the body could give him a groan let alone an answer, but he could feel it. There was small part of Seto that hung on to his body. It was like trying to rip a kid away from his mom on the first day of school. He wasn't going to go with gentle prodding. It was in there somewhere lying dormant. That piece of his soul was a small flame in an empty pit. Wherever it was it could probably hear him, it couldn't answer but hey one is better than none.
"I told you not to do this," he continued his rant, "now look at you." He shook his head bringing his knees to his chest. Ray had always hated silence. There was always sound around him. He needed something to fill the void spaces. In this moment there was too much silence, too much space. As much as he'd hate to admit it he'd give anything to hear Seto's voice. He had warned him not to go through with this duel, but of course he didn't listen. Now they were here. The ever bright Ray sitting alone in the dark creepy dungeon talking to a shell.
"You're a prideful shit, you know that? Even after I told you that you were going to lose you still insisted on trying to be the savior," he spoke with an irrefutable sadness in his voice now. Oh joy the tears were making a comeback. He had shed them right after Seto lost. Tears came down his cheeks providing some warmth on his face. He loved him there was no denying it. Anyone who had been around them long enough could see it. He has always loved him. It tore him apart to see him this way empty and useless. It hurt almost as bad as watching the duel that put him in this state. He had felt every blow dealt by those toon monsters. As cute as they were they were mighty and packed a rather big punch. His chest ached, and boy if his nerves weren't singing for some nicotine.
"I-you broke your promise Seto. You said I wouldn't be alone and now here we are." Fuck these useless tears. They weren't doing anything productive. He caved and began searching his pockets for his cigarettes. Of course today of all days his pack would be smashed. Whatever. Plucking one from the pack he brought it to his mouth and began to fumble for a lighter. Little shits, he was always losing them. For every rare card Seto owned Ray had at least ten lighters to go with them.
"Where is my damned lighter?" He growled now emptying the pockets of the leather jacket. He had gum, a pen, a snot covered handkerchief, his cigarettes, but no lighter. He had packed one; he swore he did. Out of the corner of his eye he could've swore he saw the hand nearest to Seto's thigh twitch. Just one dexterous finger close to his pocket gave a simple flick. It hit him like a ton of bricks. Of course why hadn't he looked there first? He leaned over and reached into the coat pocket finding of all things a lighter, his favorite lighter. He smirked leaning back against the wall.
"You know for all your shitty qualities," he said lighting the cigarette finally," you always seem to have a spare lighter." He took a drag finally feeling some sort of calm. His tears had stopped somewhere in his search, but the residue was still left upon his tanned cheeks. He stared at the hand that had twitched. He placed the fingers of his free hand through Seto's. He was cold, inhumanly cold. He snorted. On a normal occasion Seto burned hot, but then again having your soul sucked from your body wasn't a normal day by any means.
"You know I don't think I could hate you," he said around a mouth full of smoke. He exhaled and hoped Yugi had a plan to fix this. Pegasus wouldn't go down easily. He fights for what he believes to be a valiant cause, and with cause comes determination. In the end though it wouldn't matter, everything would find its balance again and that meant Yugi would win. It would be tough, but Yugi would prevail.
"That kid is gonna win you know. He'll save you like I said he would," Ray spoke quietly," I don't understand why you have a problem with him and his friends. They are actually really nice people." He had to hope though. He hadn't been wrong so far. Of course this could very well be the one thing he is wrong about- No he couldn't afford to think that way. He had to be positive, like Yugi's little friends.
"They asked if we were friends. Of course I was slightly offended. The nerve, the audacity, of those fiends Seto Kaiba has friends. Don't let it be said that I didn't valiantly try and defend your honor love." He had given a rather simple answer of yes before having a verbal spat with the Wheeler kid. He took another drag ashing away from his legs. He gave the cold limp hand in his a squeeze. It had been an interesting turn of events when the herd of children had approached him. He was already a blubbering mess at the time and didn't really want any company. It hadn't gone the way he had though, if anything he walked away with some new allies.
"That one woman though, Mai, I think her name is," he said, "she saw right through it. She's a smart one that girl. She said 'I saw it in your eyes when he dueled.' Imagine that me being emotional while you dueled for Mokuba's soul. I've been by your side and you just play with your life like there are no other parties involved. A relationship means two you cunt. Maybe you'll learn it eventually. Now though I'm going to go watch Yugi save your soul. See you on the flip side darling." He finished the last few puffs of his cigarette before getting up and dusting himself off. He turned once more to the shell chained to the wall. Yugi would fix this. He had to. Slipping through the bars once more he made his way back upstairs.