"It'll never last," was what Yugi was explaining to Tristan as he handed his friend a mug full of piping hot, honey-flavored tea. Tristan leaned against the island counter in Yugi's kitchen. He couldn't help but notice how Yugi was only maybe half of a foot taller than the counter itself, and once he'd noticed he couldn't help but smirk. Yugi's lips curved into a querulous pout. "Don't say anything," he warned Tristan. "I know I'm short, you don't have to point it out all hours of the day."
"And night," Tristan added. "Even during lunchtime!" The corners of Yugi's mouth curved downwards into an even more eristic frown, as if to say that if Tristan could spare precious moments of his lunchtime to remind Yugi of his vertical challenge, that just made it all the more offensive. "Whatever." Tristan picked up a roll from a basket and proceeded to hold it above his head. He tilted his head back, opened his mouth wide, and tried to shove the whole roll in his mouth.
"Oh, that's gross," Yugi muttered.
"So you were saying?" Tristan prompted him muffledly, his mouth full of fibrous food.
Yugi rolled his eyes. "I was saying that it could never work. Y'know, Ryou and Joey's newfound 'relationship.' They don't like any of the same things. Ryou's really into horror movies and all sorts of morbid things, and Joey nearly pisses his pants every time he sets foot into one of those cheesy haunted houses run by the middle schoolers at the Halloween Festival." Yugi paused, taking a sip from his tea. "Plus, Joey's really energetic, and Ryou's not. He's going to have a lot of trouble getting Ryou to participate in the kinds of activities Joey likes."
"You've really thought this out," Tristan observed, peering down his glass with one large eye, squinting the other shut. "Where did all of my tea go?"
"You drank it already," Yugi reminded. "I can pour you some more."
"Are you sure?" Tristan scratched the back of his head. "I wouldn't want to impose."
"It's fine," Yugi insisted, and he reached over the counter and gently took the cup from Tristan's hand—or, attempted to. Tristan pulled it slightly out of the shorter boy's reach. "Tristan!" He frowned.
"Sorry, sorry. It wasn't funny, I know." The brunette handed his friend the cup, and Yugi refilled it while Tristan went on to say, "I just thought it was really weird how they got together. Nobody could even really tell that they liked each other until last week when Joey just kind of bursts in saying, 'We're going out!' The psycho."
Yugi raised a single blonde brow. "You couldn't tell? Joey only squirmed every time Ryou was around, but actually I just thought that it was because he was scared of him or something."
"Scared of Ryou?" Tristan sounded incredulously.
"Well, you know, scared of his other self." Yugi handed Tristan his cup. "As for Ryou… well, Ryou acted kind of anxious to hang around Joey, but I just thought it was because we really hadn't been spending as much time with him as we should've been. I mean, we were still calling him by his last name, for goodness sakes." Yugi sloppily refilled his own glass of tea. The glass was actually brown plastic that was sort of see gossamer, and there were paintings of stained glass windows painted on the sides of them. Very ugly, in Yugi's opinion.
"I'm glad he's letting us call him by his first name," Tristan admitted.
Yugi clucked. "How do we know he wouldn't have let us before? We never asked."
"That's true. So, you think they won't last long, then?" Tristan gazed into Yugi's eyes with interest, wondering just how the shorter boy thought everything was going to play out.
"Not a chance. If Ryou's Fan Club at school even caught the slightest wind of it, there would be chaos. And if any of the people on the street…" Yugi paused, and murmured that phrase again to himself. Tristan didn't blame him. It sounded weird coming out of someone who encouraged pacifism all the time, like Yugi did, to use such slang as to say "on the street."
Yugi tried again: "If some of Joey's enemies caught wind about it—Hirutani, mostly, I guess that's who I'm worried about—they would totally play it to his advantage. Not to mention Joey's reputation would be totally blown for now and ever until the rest of his life has ended."
Tristan was mildly amused. "So you think life's going to be Hell for them now because they're gay."
Yugi shook his head; his large blonde bands shook in what seemed to be a strictly horizontal way. "They can't be gay," he enunciated. "I mean, think of all the movies we've borrowed from Joey, for goodness sake!"
"I buy my own."
"Then think of all the movies I've borrowed!"
"Which titles have you seen?" Tristan asked, interest piqued, when he heard a knock on the back door. Yugi took a few brisk steps towards it and pulled it open. Outside were Joey and Ryou, wearing warm clothes for the chilly weather.
"Yug'!" Joey shoved his way inside. "…Oh, sorry Yug', I just kind of invited myself in, but guess what?" Joey made a grand gesture. "Da weatherman says it might snow! Isn't that awesome?"
"Yeah!" Yugi agreed fervently, a grin immediately plastered to his face. "Ryou, are you cold?"
"I'm fine," Ryou replied, although he was rubbing his arms. "…Is that tea?" he inquired cautiously.
Yugi beamed. "Yes! Would you like some?"
"I wouldn't want to impose…"
"Nonsense; I'll make you some." Yugi set about getting another one of the rather ugly cups from the cabinet.
"You sound like your mother when you say things like that, Yugi," Tristan pointed out. Yugi stuck his tongue out at the brunette.
"If that's a joke, it's the unfunniest I've ever heard."
"Is unfunniest a word?" Tristan boggled. Ryou shook his head. "Oh."
"Shut up, Tristan," Yugi growled. "You know I don't study my vocabulary."
For about fifteen minutes afterward the four of them stood around talking about school, Kaiba's new plans for the DuelDisk, and a small tournament Yugi and Joey were thinking of entering in March.
"You should come, too, Ryou," Joey said. Ryou looked slightly distressed at this invitation. "You're a good duelist."
"Oh, no, Joey, I couldn't possibly…"
"Why not?"
"I just have things to do…"
"Like what?"
"Like…" Ryou opened and closed his mouth several times. "I, uhm…" He blushed, and murmured an 'oh dear.'
"Hey Joey, isn't that movie you wanted to go see at four o' clock?" Ryou changed the subject rather quickly. Joey shot him an annoyed look.
"It's a movie you want to go see, and yes, it is at four." Yugi gave Tristan a knowing wink that their two friends didn't see.
Ryou pointed out shyly, "Well, it's 3:45…"
"Oh, geez, that's right!" Joey grabbed Ryou's wrist and starting dragging him out the door. "Bye you guys!"
"Thanks for tea, Yugi," Ryou thanked politely. Yugi told him no problem.
"You can keep the cup!" Yugi cried after them. Ryou shook his head and left it on a small table in the living room as Joey pulled him past it. "I'll never get rid of those things."
Once the two were out of the house and Joey was racing down the street, Ryou in tow, Yugi turned to Tristan and let out a chuckle.
"Did I mention that their accents make them sound like they come from different planets?" he wondered. Tristan smiled.
"No, you didn't."
"They couldn't possibly last," Yugi said, giving both him and his boyfriend refills of tea. "Not like us."
Tristan took his glass, and Yugi and he knocked them together in a cheers ceremony. "No," he said after taking a swig. "Not like us."