There was something spectacularly haunting about a chessboard. The one Atem had in his use was pristine, though he'd had it for a few years. Standard size, standard colors, standard everything; when he sat down to play a game, it was anything but. It had its own table in the center of his game room, one of his most prized places in his own new home and heart. The positioning was just perfect that sunlight and moonlight alike would stream in and illuminate what was usually an ongoing war zone. The boxes on both sides, over days, would fill up from costly mistakes, traps walked into purposely, or seizing new opportunities. No game was ever the same.
The realization of that was more than enough to keep him coming back and sitting down. The games, however, were played with a shadow opponent. In essence, himself. Chess wasn't a game many knew how to play with skill, and even he had to admit to himself that he knew less of the rules than he should have when the board had first been purchased. Skilled tactician that he was, though, sitting down for his first few games brought back vivid imagery of blazing hot sands and even hotter blood staining his clothes. War was war, and while it wasn't a game, it was easily recalled through his fingers, as if he were standing above a cracked table in some underground zone, talking things over with his Court.
Kaiba had taken little interest in Atem's plays by himself, mostly because by the time he'd seen the board after days of Atem gone missing, the game was already over. The connection was easy to make, and Atem would have never forced his rival into any sort of game, much less one that held so much significance- not that Kaiba would ever talk about it. He realized sometimes that he didn't want him to, anyway. Whether that made him a terrible person or not, he wasn't sure yet. But the overwhelming urge to frown or offer a kind touch in the middle of a bruised and battered story of a child who looked much the same was too much. And Kaiba was cruel and unaccepting of those. So it was better left not explored.
It was unfortunately the way that chess became boring. Eventually playing against yourself, strategies were too often played and memorized. 'You' couldn't be your own opponent in a game of war, and if you could, Atem hardly needed to walk down that alley again. He'd rather not get the label of obsessed, so he moved on, and the chess board and its striking pieces were left untouched for quite a while. He spent more time in the office again listening to Kaiba scoff before quieting down. Things were the semblance of normal, and it was alright, trading puzzle books and sudoku for the soft taps of pieces being put in just the right space.
A few months into that, a new force came into his life like it owned his very soul- sad to say, that it wasn't Kaiba, and Kaiba was no more fond of it than it was of him. Atem would come into the office late some days (as if they really had a set schedule for unscheduled visits), dragging in with him the telltale marks. Long white strands of fur that had attached themselves to his black pants stuck out awfully, and even worse when he sat on the couch and transferred them over. Like the cat had been allowed in the office all along. Kaiba growled about it often enough that grooming himself before showing up had become a new ritual. Atem was fond of the stray, and left his windows open for it to come in and out when he pleased, despite Kaiba's scoffing about disease and a pathetic attachment to something as stupid as a tiny, white, flea-filled furbag.
Not that Atem would have ever given credence to Kaiba's whining, but all of the insults had become dull in one fantastic moment. His new feline friend jumped in through the window of his game room as he was putting something away on a shelf in the far corner and sat down on the chair in front of the chess board table. There was nothing unusual about it, cats went where they wanted, and so Atem paid no attention to it- that was, until the soft slide of felt against polished wood caught his attention. A delicate paw had reached out, pushing the second to last pawn on the black side forward two spaces.
Two.
And in such a careful manner. The pawn sat in the box, as it had every right to do.
Atem's eyebrow raised, intrigued and so unbelievably listless that he was willing to give in. Stranger things had happened, right? So he sat, chair creaking slightly underneath him, gauging those brilliant blue eyes in front of him, watching him back. He barely dropped them back down to the board, not willing to give up the advantage of closeness and staring down his opponent-
How absurd. A cat? His chess playing opponent? If he ever disclosed this with Kaiba he was sure he'd be red in the face after how the man would laugh at him. It was utter nonsense. But the intensity of how to play a game right, how to watch your opposite, was too ingrained in him to stop. So still watching, he left his fingers down to the board to move a knight up over his pawns and neatly into position. And the cat looked own at the board. He held his breath. This was all very stupid, he realized, really he did…
But the cat stretched out, snaking that long delicate white paw out to push a pawn on her opposite side over only one space this time. Atem held his breath. Could this be real? Where on earth would someone have had the patience to teach a cat chess? How could a cat even learn the rules of such a game? It was so fantastically stupid that it made his head whirl. The real cause of his heated light headedness was the case of a brand new opponent, not what package it came wrapped up in. So his moves became more calculated and careful, nothing like how he played wildly with himself in earlier months. He needed to drag this out, and soon he settled in for the evening as the sun dipped and the moon appeared. Nothing else mattered- save for this new discovery of not only a friend in a tiny furry package, but also a player of a wonderfully terrible game.
Nothing mattered, that was, until the door of his game room swung open on its hinges, hitting back against the wall so hard that it definitely made a dent as the sound would suggest. A livid looking Kaiba Seto then standing in the doorway- livid for all of three seconds before disbelief took up his features. Atem was almost a little torn in looking at him and away from the board. Did cats cheat at chess?
"This." Kaiba sounded off, folding his arms, narrowing his eyes. "This is what you decided was more important this evening."
It didn't really hit Atem until he actually took full stock of him. He wasn't in his usual office clothing- though to the common man unused to dealing with Kaiba, the difference might not be enough. The suit was beautiful, and as usual beautifully tailored to his form. He was showing off, as he always was. But it was whom he was showing off for, or not for that matter, that made Atem's heart sink.
"Seto-" His tone was regretful, as was the look in his eyes as he stood from his chair.
As if he was repulsed by the very idea of Atem coming closer, he stood firmer, staring him down. "You will explain your idiocy in full, then I am going back to work." He closed off his words like one would forcefully shut off a valve, inwardly very happy with the way they struck Atem. The man was already wilting.
"I got caught up." He tried desperately, his mind already jumping three spaces ahead of his words. "You won't believe this- really- but she knows how to play-" It all sounded terribly stupid and he felt as much for saying it. Especially the way Kaiba's head turned up, looking down at him through his nose.
They stood like that for a few moments, Kaiba hoping to let everything soak into Atem's head, before menacingly prowling forward. "You choose your opponents as poorly as you always have. If you wanted a game you could have just said so." It was obvious how utterly offended he was at the idea of Atem wasting an evening away with a dumb animal than with him. Especially when they had plans.
Kaiba closed in further, reaching a hand out to poke Atem in the chest, to get him to move back all the way into the wall. He wanted to watch him cower. It was something he had been after for a long while. Unfortunately the way Atem was looking at him, full of sorrow, was not even remotely close. It only enticed him into anger that much easier. "You waste my time with this." The last word spat out, as if he was seconds away from ending what had no definition to begin with.
It woke Atem up, finally, but he didn't want to get angry, if only because he was in the wrong. He leveled a look at Kaiba, lips pressed firmly together once before speaking. "I got caught up." He repeated. And then, hard as it was for him, "I'm sorry." It wouldn't be enough, he knew, but admitting his wrongs wasn't as hard as it was for Kaiba.
"You're going to be." The defense was automatic. Taking time out of his schedule was unheard of, as Atem full well knew. He'd only heard about it every five seconds. Not only that, but he'd gotten dressed for the occasion. And here Atem was, sitting in the same leather and chains he always was in, and had completely forgotten him. Their night. Unacceptable.
His control frayed in that moment and he pushed back, red eyes narrowing. "Are you threatening me?" Breathed out like he couldn't believe it. The hand that went to Kaiba's chest was grabbed in an iron grip, something he'd calculated for but had no way out of. It served to get Kaiba down closer, though, so he could really stare right into those cold blue eyes. "How many times have you done this to me and I've granted you amnesty?" Too many. He was sure Kaiba didn't even know the number.
He'd be wrong, but he was sure. "My faults do not equal yours. I work. You play games with animals." Which was fitting, really. Wasn't that all Atem did with his life when he wasn't spending time with Kaiba Seto? The thought threatened to weaken his position with an amused smirk. What he got across was something colder, but still a curve of his lips.
The meaning wasn't lost on Atem and he struggled to be released. "Let go." Sharp and commanding. He wanted no part of what was happening anymore. He wasn't going to be crucified for a good game, regardless of who it was with. Instead he found himself shoved harder, back again with Kaiba lurking so close over him he felt like prey to predator. He refused to relent, though.
"I'm through taking orders. What if I do? You'll forget too soon enough, isn't that right?" Kaiba was edging into dangerously hurtful territory. Somewhere he knew. He knew that if he continued that thought up with something about how that was Atem's motive, that he'd been chasing memories for quite some time, the evening would end much angrier than it needed to be. And he was surprised, because he knew Atem knew him well enough by now to know he was heading there. Instead of speaking, challenging the thought away, Atem was letting him go there. At least he would have, if Kaiba wasn't so good at self evaluating. Instead he pressed in harder, pleased with Atem's wince. "Sit down. Now. I will forcibly remind you what a good opponent looks like."
Out of everything he'd been expecting, Kaiba summoning him to play chess was low on the list. And though he was angry, with only little right to be, the thrill of a game was too much to say no to. "Move away and I will." He just had to lay one last command in there. Of course, doing so made the encounter last longer than it needed to, and for a weak few seconds he was tempted to lean in and kiss him hard. That would have been much simpler than drawing out swords and war on a chess board. Much too easy. Nothing they ever did was easy.
Part of him was glad.
Just as part of him was always left perpetually tired.
Did Kaiba feel that way, too?