Disclaimer: I do not own YGO.

Soundtrack: "Guys My Age" by Hey Violet

...

Yugi picked up immediately.

"Hello?" His voice sounded groggy and thick with sleep and maybe just a little bit of NyQuil. "Anzu? What's up?"

Shit shit shit shit.

It was three in the morning in Domino. Yugi probably thought something was terribly wrong. Knowing him, he was probably planning a couple of rescue plans and thinking of exit strategies for whatever tough spot he thinks she just got into.

"Hey! Yugi." She tried to aim for a balanced everything-is-totally-cool voice. "Sorry to call you at a weird hour. I was just thinking about you, y'know?"

There was silence on the other end. Yugi was probably digesting the news, trying to figure out if she was pretending to be OK or just really OK. He must have decided on OK-really-OK-and-not-pretending-to-be-OK because his demeanor brightened noticeably. "What's up Anzu?"

"Just life. I was really missing you, that's all. Did I scare you by calling so early? I'm sorry about that."

Yugi giggled. For a moment he sounded like a little kindergartener who stole her blocks and Legos to build Duel Monster forts. "It's cool, Anzu. I've missed you too. I was just thinking about you because we have a new shipment of Magician of Faith cards, and I know that's your favorite card..."

Anzu let the conversation roll on, nodding and agreeing at the appropriate intervals. She did miss Yugi. A little more than she missed Joey and Tristan, actually, because those knuckleheads always wanted to hear about the so-called seedy underbelly of New York, as if there wasn't one in every city. Mai and Serenity were good to talk to, too, especially during the nights when she needed to cry it out over some dancing or life mishap. Talking to Yugi was really comforting, though, because he was a familiar presence, and his voice always took her back to easier, more pleasant days of milk cartons and juice boxes instead of expired condensed milk and boxed wine.

"Anzu?"

"Huh?" Shit. She had spaced out. "Sorry, what was that, Yugi?"

"I was just asking you if you were really OK, or if there was something you wanted to talk about?"

She hesitated. Nah. Now wasn't the time to dump her problems on Yugi. It was three a.m., after all. Besides, she couldn't come at this conversation fed on cigarettes and tap water alone. There was a serious deficiency in the way she was handling life (going hungry probably wasn't a good start), and it wasn't Yugi's problem that she needed to sort that out first. Still nice of him to ask, though. Maybe she could start with just a small sampler of the bigger pie.

"I'm just feeling one of those days, y'know? Like I'm a little lost. The company director is having one of his moods and just chewed me out. Feels like that whole Marik situation all over again. Except this time I feel like I'm actually maybe crazy, haha."

Yugi laughed a little. It sounded forced. "I know how you feel, Anzu. How are you dealing with it? Are you resting and eating well? You know Grandpa will have a fit if you're not taking care of yourself first."

"Thanks, Yugi. I'm trying my best. We're gonna make it, right? How are you?"

For another long second Yugi was silent. "It's going just OK, Anzu. I miss you a lot. Sometimes I feel like all I'm doing is floating from day to day and trying not to drown. I'm still OK though. Just tired."

She sighed. That feeling was all too familiar. New York, at least the vision of it she had in her mind, lasted all of three or four days before reality set in. The city was filled with people with dreams and not a whole lot of time and compassion for others. There was a void in terms of real friendship and support. Everyone seemed "busy" with work or life or social media; she's not even sure how they even have time to be presenting a happy, curated image of themselves when all she wanted to do at night was watch cat videos and motivational speeches. Who in the world documents waiting five hours for exorbitantly expensive macaroons anyways? Checking Kaiba's DuelBook was like arguing with someone who knew all of your insecurities and didn't hesitate to drag them out at the earliest possible opportunity. Are you afraid you're not living well? Well, don't check on what your best friend from second grade is doing, because she's jet-setting in Aruba or somewhere with this hot European boyfriend with 8-pack abs. DuelBook was a land of happy people pretending to be happier by curating a picture-perfect existence. If dancing at the company was like running a hamster wheel, DuelBook just made the wheel available to the public, open to all sorts of congratulatory commentary as well as self-imposed sadness once everyone else had their moment.

What did she have to share? Her page looked pretty and glitzy to Yugi and everyone else. There were pictures of new, shiny pointe shoes balanced against the tops of skyscrapers. Yummy, shiner-than-life apples that cost a small fortune at the Farmer's Market. The occasional croissant or two, when the company felt generous enough to invite dancers to donor luncheons. There were even a couple blurry shots of her and Mai, blonde hair against brunette buns posing in front of the obligatory Times Square and Statute of Liberty landmarks. All in all her life looked just as beautiful land shiny, but, sometimes, inside she just cold and empty, too, like the blank screen of her laptop when she turned all the lights off to crawl under the one blanket she can afford near the radiator.

But all of that wasn't Yugi's problem. "I'm glad you're OK. You should take care of yourself, too. That's what we should both do." Feeling a little disingenuous, she tried to sound chipper and joyful. "I was just worried about you, that was all. Thanks so much for taking the time. Let's do this again, yeah?"

He agreed and she hung up the phone.

It wasn't the best beginning, but it was a beginning rather than an ending. They were still feeling each other out, getting to know each other again after a long couple months of not really speaking on any sort of meaningful topics. They had both grown up and grown apart.

That was life, though. They had a lot to catch up on, and plenty of time to do it.