Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor its characters. I also do not profit from this work of fiction.
A/N: Here you go, you godless heathens. Have a Valentine's Day fic. (It's still V-day somewhere, right?)
Written for coloredbus (on twitter) for their twitter prompt!
Summary: Yuugi has only a vague idea of what he's doing, but he has to be quick before his roommates catch him and tease him to death. Fortunately for him, one roommate is happy to lend a hand.
Warning: None
Surprisingly Chocolate Valentine
In the middle of the kitchen, Yuugi stood before the table, looking down at his supplies. He frowned to himself, pointing at each one and double-checking the instructions one more time before he set it down. Picking up the brick of white chocolate, he gazed at it, uncertain.
"Here goes nothing," he mumbled dubiously.
"What are you doing?"
With a startled yelp, Yuugi dropped the block of chocolate onto the table and turned to see his roommate, Atemu, standing in the doorway. He eyed Yuugi curiously, shifting on his feet. Atemu was in sweats and a ribbed, white muscle shirt. His red hair was in disarray and his golden bangs stuck up in odd places.
Blinking slowly at Yuugi, it was obvious Atemu had just woken from his post-workout nap.
"Um," Yuugi faltered as he shuffled over to hide the objects on the table with his body. "You're … here. I thought you went out with Katsuya."
Stepping into the kitchen, Yuugi's heart thumped in his chest as Atemu peered around him with raised eyebrows. His eyes widened.
"This isn't what it looks like," Yuugi blundered, stretching his arms out in panic and waving them. But before he could even begin to fib, Atemu quickly left the kitchen. Standing alone, Yuugi reached up both hands and threaded his fingers into his hair, tugging on his blonde bangs. Turning back to his supplies, he winced. "I'm never gonna live this down," he said. "He's going to tell Katsuya and they're gonna be relentless." Letting go of his hair, Yuugi covered his face and groaned.
"Why didn't I check if my roommates were home?" he whined.
Rapid footsteps interrupted his dramatics, and Yuugi listened as they made their way down the hall towards him. Dropping his hands, Yuugi turned his head. In a flash, Atemu zoomed into the room, a bulging pillowcase in hand. Out came a double-boiler, falling onto its side and spilling from within four blocks of colored and regular chocolate. Atemu straightened the pot and pulled out the rest of the stuff inside. Out came silicone molds of hearts, flowers, and bows and decorating tubes of what looked like colored icing.
Gazing at the almost identical supplies, Yuugi lifted his attention to Atemu who smiled sheepishly at him, patting nervously at his biceps as he hugged himself.
"I've been hiding this, waiting until I was home alone," Atemu said with a chuckle. He reached up a hand and rubbed at the back of his head. "I'm sort of relieved I'm not the only one doing this."
"You're doing valentine chocolates?" Yuugi breathed, astounded.
In Yuugi's opinion, Atemu was a far cry from sensitive. In all the time Yuugi had lived with him, he had never seen Atemu do anything remotely related to softheartedness. Valentine chocolates were so out of character for his buff, rugged roommate who did not have a lick of sensitivity about him. Atemu was competitive, moody, and dramatic. He ate nasty protein shakes for breakfast and focused all the time not spent at work or school on perfecting his muscle tone at the gym.
Yuugi liked Atemu as he was, though if he were completely honest, Yuugi more than liked Atemu as he was. This new piece of information about him was yet another nail in the coffin for Yuugi's hopeless crush.
"Oh, my god," he said softly, and Atemu blushed.
"Yeah, I know," Atemu said self-consciously. He lowered his arms, moving them across his chest, withdrawing into himself. "It's ridiculous, but if you can keep my secret, I'll let you have the last slice of pizza for the next three months."
Atemu would not meet his eyes.
"You already do that," Yuugi commented, bewildered at this new side of Atemu, and slowly turning into a puddle of goo.
"Oh," Atemu said. He scratched at his head. "Then I'll let you have priority on the bathroom."
Yuugi tried hard to stifle a chuckle.
"You do that too," Yuugi said, and Atemu frowned.
Looking at Yuugi, he wracked his brain, looking around the kitchen as though he could pull his next idea from one of the cupboards.
"You can get whatever you want from my food," he said.
"I thought you said it was okay to do that around a month after you moved in," Yuugi replied, confused, and Atemu cursed.
He searched the walls in vain before looking to Yuugi and standing firm.
"What do you want then?" he asked.
"Just keep my secret too," Yuugi answered, and Atemu deflated in relief.
"Deal," he said, and turned to the table. "Let's do this before Katsuya gets home and calls us a couple of saps."
"It's two against one," Yuugi said. "I think our odds are pretty good."
Grinning, Atemu nodded.
"You make a good point," he said.
"Alright," Yuugi said, turning to the table, "let's do this." He grabbed his phone and looked at the instructions once more. "Okay, it says we melt the chocolate first."
"You've never done this before?" Atemu questioned, and his eyebrows rose when Yuugi shook his head.
"Well," Atemu said, and he cracked his knuckles. "Let an old pro show you how it's done." He winked, and Yuugi was completely confident that his insides had just turned to jelly.
He watched as Atemu sauntered up to the sink with the pot in hand. He washed it and filled the bottom with water before placing it on the stove and setting the other pot within it.
"Would you like to make your hearts first or watch me make mine?" he asked, and Yuugi's heart fluttered in his chest.
"Either sounds good," he said.
"Watch me first then," Atemu said with a grin and he showed Yuugi how to carefully melt the chocolate so it would not burn. He then showed Yuugi how to pour the chocolate into the silicone molds.
"How do we glue the bow to the heart?" Yuugi asked upon learning that the smaller bows and flowers could be used to decorate the large hearts. "Do we like use an edible glue or —"
"Edible glue?" Atemu echoed with a rumbling chuckle. "Just melt the back of them with a warm spoon and fix them on," he said as he helped Yuugi melt his own chocolate.
When they had cooled and popped out all the hardened chocolates, Atemu and Yuugi repeated the process a few more times before sitting at the table around their chocolate shapes.
"Yikes," Yuugi said as he lifted a thin heart. "I think I didn't fill this one enough."
Looking up from where he was placing a bow on the top left side of a heart, Atemu smiled.
"It's still good," he said. "You did really well, Yuugi."
Yuugi blushed.
"Thanks," he mumbled.
He took a flower and hummed as he glanced at the heart.
"How exactly am I supposed to do this?" he asked, and Atemu shuffled his chair over, taking the glass of warm water and spoon he was using. He took Yuugi's chocolates and placed them on the paper plate before dipping the spoon in the water and swirling it. Pulling it out, he tapped the drops off on the edge of the glass and handed it to Yuugi who took it hesitantly.
"Here's what you do," Atemu said gently and he took Yuugi's hand into his own, maneuvering it so that Yuugi slowly and carefully rubbed the back of the flower. "You see how it's just starting to melt?" he murmured into Yuugi's ear and Yuugi nodded quickly, a flush creeping up the back of his neck. "You melt it just a little bit, and you take the flower." He waited for Yuugi to pick it up. "Then you place it on the heart wherever you like." Yuugi did as he was told, placing the flower at the center of the heart. "Press very lightly so it's really on there," Atemu continued and Yuugi did, his hand trembling. "And you're done."
"Great," Yuugi said, and his voice cracked on the word. He felt his face heat and he hunched his shoulders as he ducked his head.
Beside him, Atemu said nothing as he moved back to his own hearts.
They carried on in silence, Yuugi watching Atemu work the decorative tubes before attempting them on his own. They did not come out perfect as Atemu's had, but they were good enough, and Yuugi was proud of his work.
"I hope my friends like them," he said, and Atemu hummed as he patted Yuugi on the back.
"Of course they will," he said. "If they don't, just point them out to me and we can have a little chat." He winked and Yuugi smiled, comforted by Atemu's words.
"You know," Yuugi said as he stuffed the chocolates into their respective baggies and tied them off with ribbon that he never knew they owned. He looked at Atemu who was curling ribbon with a pair of scissors, mesmerized by his easy skill. "I never would have thought you were the type to make chocolate hearts for your friends," he said, and Atemu paused, looking up from his work in surprise.
For a moment, he stared at Yuugi before he shook his head and laughed.
"It's my bro attitude, isn't it?" he asked with a grin, and Yuugi sheepishly nodded.
Atemu shrugged.
"I like working out and hanging with my friends," he said, "but I have more interests than that." He motioned to the chocolates. "My mom taught me tons of stuff. You should try my cooking sometime." He smiled proudly at Yuugi. "I don't cook much here because if I do, I'll definitely gain a ton of weight." He poked at his stomach, at the hard abs there that Yuugi could already imagine in his mind's eye from the countless times he had seen Atemu shirtless. He especially treasured the hot days when Atemu merely wore short shorts to work out. Yuugi yanked himself out of the daydream just in time to see Atemu grimace. "That's why I stick to simple foods," he said. "Anyway, there's more to me than my good looks." He waggled his eyebrows, but instead of melting into a pile of goo, Yuugi felt embarrassed.
"What is it?" Atemu asked, pausing in his ribbon curling endeavor. He had undoubtedly noticed the cringe Yuugi bore. "You okay, Yuugi?"
"I'm sorry," Yuugi said, and Atemu raised his eyebrows.
"For what?" he asked.
"For not bothering to get to know you better," Yuugi said uncomfortably. "I wrote you up as this bro stereotype and didn't think you had any deeper levels other than your passionate love of physical fitness and gaming."
"Ouch," Atemu said. "Um," he reached up and scratched at the back of his head. "I won't lie, that's a bit harsh." He cleared his throat. "But we only met half a year ago," he said with a renewed smile. "We're still getting to know each other, Yuugi. And to be fair, we've been pretty busy with work and school. It's really not a big deal." He waved a hand. "See, now you know more about me. You know I can cook and I'm pro at arts and crafts." He raised the perfectly curled ribbon. "See?"
"True," Yuugi said, feeling slightly better.
"Also, again, to be fair, I am kind of a fitness freak," Atemu said with a grin.
"True," Yuugi repeated, regaining his easy smile. "I can hear you when you wake up at five in the morning to head out for your morning jog." He laughed. "Why do you wake up so early when you so clearly hate it? I can hear you grumbling all the way to my room!"
Atemu snorted.
"That's my dad's fault," Atemu said with a sigh. "He's an early bird type, and he always got me up at the ass-crack of dawn to start the day. I sorta just keep the ritual because it reminds me of my family. Also, it keeps me from sleeping too late and ruining my scheduled routine." He flexed an arm as if to show the results of said routine.
Yuugi watched him happily, enjoying the bulge of muscle in Atemu's arm.
"Sounds about right because I can totally hear your snores all the way to my room by nine," Yuugi said, smothering his laugh with the back of his hand.
This time, it was Atemu who blushed.
He shrugged awkwardly.
"Sorry," Atemu said. "Hope it's not too bad."
"Nah," Yuugi said. "My grandpa snores louder than you and Katsuya put together."
"Yikes," Atemu said. "I've heard Katsuya snore, and with me added to the mix — that's awful."
Yuugi nodded, humming his agreement.
"That's not all I noticed," Yuugi said. "You're a really honorable person, even when Katsuya's using cheap tricks." At Atemu's raised eyebrow, Yuugi continued. "When I said you were passionate, I mentioned gaming and working out, but really, you're passionate at everything you do. It's kind of awesome watching you throw your shake together. It's like you're making ambrosia and not that baby vomit."
"It's not baby vomit," Atemu protested, and Yuugi laughed.
"No, but it both looks and tastes like it," Yuugi said firmly, and Atemu shrugged.
"Alright, it's not the best," he agreed. "But it's really healthy for you. You should have some of it for breakfast instead of those pop-tarts you're always eating." He shook his head in amusement, dragging the ribbon across the blade.
"So what about me?" Yuugi asked, and Atemu snipped off another length of red ribbon.
"What about you?" he asked curiously.
"Well, I thought you were a health nut," Yuugi said.
"Which I am," Atemu input with a snap of his fingers and a single finger gun in Yuugi's direction.
"What do you think about me?" Yuugi asked. He tried his best not to let his nerves show. His stomach was vibrating with fluttering butterflies and his heart was about ready to shoot out of his chest.
Atemu paused, thumb holding the ribbon to the edge of the blade. He looked at Yuugi, violet-red eyes wide before he shifted in his chair and looked away.
"Uh," he said, "well, my first impression of you was that you were a pushover."
"Not exactly false," Yuugi mumbled as he tucked another heart into a bag. "I'm definitely a pushover."
"Not really," Atemu said, and Yuugi looked at him, noting that Atemu would not meet his eyes.
"What do you mean?" he asked, and Atemu curled his ribbon.
"It's not so much that you're a pushover," Atemu said, brow furrowed in consideration, "but you see that whatever you're letting slide makes your friends happy." He coughed uncomfortably. "You always put everyone else before yourself," Atemu said slowly. "It's sort of admirable. I'd say you didn't have a single selfish bone in your body, except you do."
"Huh?" Yuugi said, and Atemu glanced at him before looking to the ribbon.
"You're incredibly selfish," Atemu said, and Yuugi put down the bag in his hands. "You're really selfish when it comes to your friends. You want all their happiness to come from you. You strain yourself into making them happy as if it's this competition. Only, I'm not exactly sure who you're competing with."
"I don't —" Yuugi began to deny, when he paused, frowning. "Do I really do that?"
"Last week, you were upset because you missed some guy's birthday," Atemu said.
"Well, it was his birthday!" Yuugi protested.
"You were inconsolable for two hours," Atemu said with raised eyebrows, and Yuugi flushed a bright pink. "It was such a mess, that the dude who's birthday it was had to wait an hour to go home just so you could go buy them a birthday cake."
"Okay," Yuugi said, mortified, "I never noticed before, but thanks for telling me."
"You're welcome," Atemu said with a slight smile. "It's pretty nice that you try so hard. I just want you to know that you don't have to do that. People will still like you even if you forget their birthdays once in a while."
"You're making me sound like I'm desperate or something," Yuugi mumbled, and he sighed. "But okay."
"You're not desperate," Atemu said wryly. "You just need to work on how to channel your gratitude for people's friendships in ways that don't make them feel bad."
"Cheese, I'm the worst," Yuugi said, burying his face into his hands. "Prepare the tub," came his muffled voice, "I'm going to drown myself."
Atemu laughed. There was a grating sound of chair dragging across the floor and soon, Yuugi felt the heat of Atemu's body next to his own and an arm wrapped around his shoulders in comfort.
"I'm sorry," Atemu said, but there was still laughter in his voice. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad. I think it's pretty sweet of you to care so much about your friends." He cleared his throat. "You do know it's okay to put yourself first sometimes, right?"
"Oh, shut up," Yuugi said, raising his head and shoving playfully at Atemu. He did not so much as budge him, and his hands remained on Atemu's strong chest for a moment too long. Ripping them away, he stared at the table, his face burning.
"Okay, I'm sorry," Atemu said soberly. "I was teasing." The arm tightened around him, and Yuugi let himself be pulled closer into Atemu's camaraderious hug. Close as he was, Yuugi could smell deodorant and something that was uniquely Atemu. He shivered and froze when Atemu faltered.
"Are you cold?" Atemu asked.
"N-no, I'm fine," Yuugi said, and he pulled from Atemu's embrace, sitting stiffly in his chair.
"Alright," Atemu said uncertainly, but he continued to smile as he went back to curling ribbon.
He did not move back to his original place.
They finished their valentine chocolates in silence with Atemu washing the double-boiler and putting it to dry on the rack. They both went to their rooms with their chocolates, calling short goodnights to each other before they retreated. Yuugi waited until he heard Atemu's snores to get out of bed and peek out his door, a zipped plastic bag in hand.
In the living room, he could hear Katsuya arguing with another player, demanding backup. Yuugi knew his roommate well enough to be absolutely certain that he would not move from his seat until Atemu got up for his morning jog. Leaving his room, Yuugi crept to the kitchen, peering into the living room for a brief second to see Katsuya sitting in his beanbag chair and waving a fist at the screen where it showed him a replay of his death. Rolling his eyes, he quietly went into the kitchen, guided by the light of the hallway, and grabbed Atemu's double-boiler, setting it up exactly how he had seen Atemu do it.
Turning the dial on the stove, Yuugi put the heat on medium and went to his plastic bag, pulling out the leftover chocolate. He took out the plastic mold and studied the flimsy thing, dubious of its sturdiness. He searched the drying rack, put out when he remembered that Atemu had taken his silicone molds with him so Katsuya would not find them and ask questions.
In the dark kitchen, he set up his supplies, quiet as possible. When he heard the water boiling, Yuugi grabbed what was left of his chocolate and opened the plastic. He dropped it into the pot and frowned. He could not see very well. The kitchen was far too dark. However, he did not want to alert Katsuya, so he continued on, hoping he was not about to burn anything. He was pouring warm chocolate into the plastic mold when he heard footsteps.
Freezing in place, he turned his head to the doorway and watched with wide eyes as Katsuya walked straight past. He held his breath, feeling that, at any moment, Katsuya would back up and look in at him. However, the seconds passed, and Yuugi heard the bathroom door open and close. He breathed a sigh of relief and poured out the chocolate as fast as he could. By the time he had placed the tray into the refrigerator, he heard a flush and then running water as Katsuya washed his hands.
He melded himself to the darkest corner, watching anxiously as Katsuya passed again. He did not pause, nor did he look into the kitchen. He went back to the living room without fail and donned his headset once more.
"Alright, you fuckers," Yuugi heard him say. "I'm back, so get your shit together."
Breathing shakily, Yuugi sat at the table and waited quietly, staring at the digital clock on the stove. The minutes passed achingly slow, but eventually, his waiting was done and he took the tray from the fridge, testing the chocolates with his fingertip.
He smiled.
They were perfect.
Moving back to the table, Yuugi grabbed a spoon and the water he had used to melt the chocolate. He was grateful to find it still warm.
Carefully, Yuugi decorated the heart he had made with a single bow and two leaves. He smiled to himself and hoped it looked as great in good lighting as it did in the poor lighting he was working with. With little effort, he unearthed Atemu's colored frostings and lined the heart in red, the bow in purple, and the leaves in green. At the center, in orange, he wrote Atemu's name.
"Yuugi?"
Squeaking in surprise, Yuugi jumped and whipped his head around to see Atemu's familiar wide shoulders in the doorway. He dropped the tube and his eyes widened as Atemu crept in on tiptoe.
"What are you doing?" he whispered, and Yuugi was quick to stand and place himself between the heart and Atemu.
"Nothing!" Yuugi whispered back, his heart racing. "Weren't you asleep?"
"Uh," Atemu said, and he ducked his head. "Um, I was thirsty."
"Oh," Yuugi said, and that was when he noticed the pillowcase at his side. He pointed at it. "So what's with that?" he asked.
"Uh," Atemu hesitated and he belatedly moved the makeshift sack behind him. "Nothing."
"You're lying," Yuugi accused, and Atemu reached up to scratch at his head, a familiar nervous tick. Yuugi's eyes narrowed. "What are you really doing here?" he asked.
"Um," Atemu said and he pointed beside Yuugi. "Is that my double-boiler?"
Turning, Yuugi felt his cheeks sting with embarrassment.
"Are you making chocolates?" Atemu asked, and Yuugi cleared his throat uncomfortably, avidly aware of Katsuya's war cries coming from the living room.
"Maybe," he mumbled, and Atemu sighed before he chuckled softly.
"You read my mind," Atemu admitted and he held up his pillowcase. "I was going to do the same."
"I thought you finished," Yuugi said, confused, and Atemu grumbled something that Yuugi did not quite catch.
"I could say the same thing," he muttered.
"Uh, well," Yuugi said. "I just wanted to make an extra."
"Uh, same," Atemu said.
"Oh, okay," Yuugi said, and he fidgeted. "So, I'll just grab my chocolate and get going then. I'm done anyway." He turned, quickly and carefully tucking the chocolate into a plastic baggy. Tying it shut with a plastic twist-tie, he held it behind himself as he turned to Atemu. "I grabbed your color tube things," he said and stepped past Atemu, hoping to dart down the hall, into his room, and never come out again.
However, before he could make a run for it, Atemu grabbed his arm, stilling him.
"It's for you," Atemu confessed, and Yuugi froze. "I wanted to make a chocolate for you."
Turning his head, Yuugi's eyes were wide as he looked into Atemu's shadowed face. He could not breathe and his heart was pounding. The skin beneath Atemu's fingers was hot and tingling, goosebumps erupting across his skin.
"What?" he said, though he had heard perfectly well. Yuugi did not know what to do. "For me?"
"Yeah," Atemu said, and he let go of Yuugi's arm, stepping back. "That was actually the whole point. But then you were here and I, for some reason, thought it was a great idea to make chocolates together, so when it finally came down to it, I chickened out and couldn't write your name on any of them because you were right there." He sighed. "I'm really glad I can't see your face right now because I feel really stupid saying this out loud."
A beat passed, and Yuugi could only stare at Atemu's dimly lit figure. He chewed the inside of his cheek, his insides flopping with delight.
"Actually, no, I'm not glad," Atemu said. "I feel totally in the dark here. Can you like say something? So I know more or less what's going on in your head? Do I back off or do I —"
"It's for you," Yuugi said, brandishing the chocolate. "The chocolate's for you."
"…For me?" Atemu said, and he took the chocolate, peering down at it. "I can't really see it, but it looks great." He paused, lifting his gaze. "Wait, do you like me?"
"Uh – I, uh, yeah," Yuugi said lamely. "I like you. Kind of like a lot."
A soft laugh left Atemu, and suddenly he was pulling Yuugi's head toward him and pressing their lips together. Atemu was kissing him tenderly, then firmly, then ardently, his arms wrapping around Yuugi and tugging him close.
Startled, but not at all disagreeing, Yuugi inhaled sharply and grabbed at Atemu's cheeks, pressing firmly against him and kissing him back. Instantly, Atemu's fingers slipped through his hair, dragging across his scalp in a mind-numbing caress.
Yuugi moaned.
The light switched on, blinding them, and they pulled away. Both turned their wide eyes to the doorway to see a peeved Katsuya standing there, hand on the light switch.
"No sex in the kitchen," he said crossly. "I eat here." He moved into the room, going to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water from within. He turned, about to leave, when he spotted the chocolate heart dangling from Atemu's hand.
Pausing, Katsuya watched his roommates stiffen before he snorted, shaking his head as he left the room.
"You guys are so lame."
.
The End
A/N: I am fully aware that "camaraderious" isn't an "official" word, but I have zero (0) fucks left to give!
Hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading & I will greatly appreciate any comments and faves thrown my way! (Aim well & throw hard. Just annihilate me pls.)
I am bilingual and anyone who would prefer to comment in Spanish is welcome to.