Challenge Name and Number: #95: Pillar - YGO Drabble LJ Community Challenge
Drabble Title: Apathy
Word Count: 600
Warnings: N/A
Pairings: Fragileshipping (Yami Yuugi x Ryou Bakura)
Summary: He couldn't imagine that, once their goal was completed, they would leave any traces behind them.
He frowned just a little, watching as Ryou slept beside him. Together they were buried underneath a thick comforter, but it made no difference. Ryou's skin was still lukewarm to the touch.
The body next to him tossed and twisted. Nightmares, he was sure. A small caress was typically enough to calm the fits, but peace never lasted for long. Another few minutes and there would be more. It seemed that Ryou would never be spared them, until the end.
Each night that they spent together was the same; a temporary fix.
"You have to promise me that you'll beat this darkness," Ryou would tell him.
He promised every time. Because no matter what, the outcome would be identical. He would win, and he would leave. Then Ryou would be alone again. This was a truth that he could feel when he touched the Puzzle, retreated into it. The Gods had interfered with this world enough to settle the score. He couldn't imagine that, once their goal was completed, they would leave any traces behind them.
Though Yuugi and his friends didn't want to admit it, he was darkness too. A shadow of the Puzzle, a weapon meant for only one purpose. He was a part of the interference. As much as he would have liked to hold Ryou with his own hands, his own body... that was wishful thinking and they both knew it.
But there would be true loneliness, when he left, and that was a much better gift from the Gods than the Ring. In the glory of being significant was the pain of the cost. Even in dreams, Ryou could not be by himself. There would finally be reprieve.
It was a thing that he pondered often. Whether or not things could turn out differently. It was kind to be allowed to borrow time, but that was all it could ever be.
Ryou shivered next to him, the cover slipping away from pale shoulders. Face pressed into the pillows, arms holding himself even in slumber. It would have been nothing to just - just reach over, take that pale neck in his hands... Only seconds to end his suffering. No more host. No more vessel.
Would Ryou forgive him if he said "I love you," when he did it?
There was rustling beside him, and the body tossed again, head shaking. His first thought was to touch, comfort. But he waited. He needed to be sure.
Barely visible in the dark, the silhouette stretched languidly. His frown stretched deeper. Ryou did not move like that; hips wriggling back against the blanket, back arched deeply as though to crack the bones. When the form rolled over to the edge of the bed, sitting up straight, he retreated to the opposite edge.
"I'm so tired of seeing you, Pharaoh." The voice was gravelly, the edge seething with annoyance. "Stop coming here. He doesn't want you."
He didn't bother to respond, instead taking Bakura's presence as the sign it was. Time to go.
"I should just murder you right here on his bed. That'd be a sight for him to wake up to, don't you think?"
It hurt to have their similarities vocalized. The shock of it was so acute that whatever quip he would have made died on his tongue. There was no need to speak of revenge, or justice. Both were aware of their respective positions. In the end, it wouldn't matter; they would both vanish.
They both dressed in silence, the tension between them unwavering. Bakura finished first, grabbed Ryou's jacket and left without another word.
These drabbles always put me in weird positions mentally. I'm not sure exactly what led to this one, either, or why so far all of my drabbles tend to have names beginning with 'A'. But I have to say that I like this one. I don't ship these two together faithfully or anything, but I do like the idea of them together. It presents some interesting conflicts as well as opportunities for compare and contrast. I might write more for them in the future.