I'm back! Aren't you _happy_ to see me? No? *sniffle* ;_; Nobody likes
me.... Anyhow the lyrics here are from "Let's Get Together" in the movie
"Parent Trap". Also, this story, as of now, has
_4_ chapters, not 5. Thr weird number is due to an accident when I was
uploading a little while ago, and I just recently noticed it. Not much else
to say, except.... R&R! This fic comes down with a virus without feedback!
*Feeds it chicken soup*
~*~*~*~
"Day 3: The experiment is moving along rapidly, now. Duke and Yugi are now solidly a couple, and doing things together in their free time, which I suspect will grow considerably smaller soon, as they're devoting more time to each other. Soon enough, it's likely that whatever time they don't devote to school and studies will be spent with each other.
Interestingly enough, I seem to be observing a romantic relationship developing between Yugi and Joseph Wheeler. As I did not include Joey in the experiment, and Yugi seems to be progressing well with Duke, that leads me to question his involvement. Were the two previously attached or attracted? I'd seen no signs of it earlier. I was unable to hear any words passed between the two, due to the noise level of the establishment we were at, but I did observe a kiss. Joey's response seemed to be disparaging at best, however, leading one to believe that they had not been involved with each other in any before. Odd, to say the least. I'll have to look in on that matter further.
On another note, my observations now stand the chance of becoming more detailed, in-depth approximations of progress. I've successfully planted the surveillance cameras in the areas of both shops that the boys would frequent most. With this new, remote method of observation, I should be able to find out much more than was possible with simple observation whenever the opportunity presented itself. It's also much less risky than the former method. I'm quite optimistic about this new development."
~*~*~*~
It was late next afternoon now, and the pair had just finished completing Duke's new deck. "So, what do you want to do now?"
"I don't know." Yugi shrugged, nestled against Duke's side. "It's still pretty early; how about we go do something in Domino?"
"Good idea." Duke's smile widened as he thought of what they could do. "Let's go clubbing!"
"Clubbing?" Yugi's eyes widened. "I don't think we're old enough to do that...."
Duke wrapped an arm around Yugi's waist reassuringly. "Hey, it's okay, as long as we don't order alcohol at the bars. Just soda, and nothing'll happen." He winked.
"Okay." Yugi beamed. "Maybe Joey can come, too; he loves places like these."
"Good idea. Why don't you phone him up?" Duke asked, only slightly disappointed. He'd sort of been hoping it could be a little romantic, but... well, three didn't _have_ to be a crowd, did it? They could have fun all the same. "We can meet up there in a half hour." He suggested.
"Hang on, I'll go see if he's coming." Yugi picked up the phone, dialing.
In his soul room, Yami cheered quietly. He didn't know what it was to 'go clubbing', but if Joey was coming, then it couldn't be too bad.
~*~*~*~
Not too long after the boys had left, the Gameshop door's bell jingled, indicating that a new customer had arrived. Solomon hurried to the counter. "May I help you, sir?" He looked up, surprised to see that it was Seto who had come in.
"Do you have a Tri-Horned Dragon?" Seto inquired, seeming bored.
Solomon was a bit surprised by the request; it was an exceedingly rare card, after all. "Let me check the store room. I'll be right with you." The grey-haired shopkeeper walked off.
:Of course." Seto smirked, waiting until he'd disappeared before moving away from the counter, exiting the store portion and making his way to the personal part of the building. He removed several pinhole cameras from his trenchcoat pockets, and put them up in several discreet locations around the living room area, putting a few in Yugi's bedroom as well. They ought to make surveillance of the couple much easier.
He returned to the counter barely a half minute before Solomon came back, and was drumming his fingers, looking impatient. "I'm sorry; we don't have any singles of the Tri-Horned Dragon. I could special order it for you, if you'd like."
"Don't bother." Seto left without another word, and headed down the block to go to Duke's store, and with the same request. It was a good alibi, after all; who would think anything of a master dragon duelist trying to find such a rare card? And since he doubted that either store would have it, it gave him ample time to set up his cameras while they searched.
Now, all that remained was to set it up so he could view them from home, then follow them to the club he'd seen them head off to. So far, so good....
~*~*~*~
The three friends lounged together at a table, drinking sodas, when the stage lit up. "Hey, kareoke!" Duke exclaimed. "Yugi, you wanna go sing?" He grinned.
"I.... I don't know, Duke...." Yugi looked down into his cup uncomfortably.
"What's wrong?" Duke put a hand on Yugi's shoulder in concern. "I'll be with you; it'll be fun, I promise." "I know." Yugi looked up with a small smile, and snuggled against Duke-- earning an audible gag from Joey, who didn't really like "mushy show-off couple stuff", as he thought of it, more commonly known as Public Displays of Affection. "It's just that.... I'm not very comfortable on stage, and...."
"Ohh." Duke nodded knowingly. "So you're just nervous, is that it?" He recieved a nod, and nodded back, grinning. "I thought so. We'll cure you of that in no time; just leave it to Dr. Devlin!" He ruffled Yugi's hair affectionately, and greatly enjoyed how silky it was, laughing as the stuff sprang into place when he moved his hand. It was really as if Yugi had put springs or wire in there to keep it in place....
"Hey!" Yugi was laughing too now, and tried to look indigant, which was a little hard when he had a spike of hair covering one eye, and Duke's hand still resting patronizingly on his head. "Quit it...."
Duke tousled Yugi's hair again, chuckling. "You know that you're cute when you're angry?"
Joey rolled his eyes. "Geez, guys, get a room...." He shook his head at the indignities of accompanying a couple.
Duke smirked. "Don't worry Joey, we will. This entire room will do pretty well, I think."
"Huh?" Joey and Yugi tilted their heads, wearing identical expressions of confusion.
"We're gonna steal the room! C'mon, Yugi!" Duke grabbed Yugi's arm, hopping off his chair and heading towards the stage.
"If you say so...." Yugi couldn't hold back a giggle, and hurried after his ponytailed love, who helped pull him up onto the stage. "So, what're we going to sing?"
"Hang on...." Duke was already talking with the person who made the lists, looking over the clipboard before signing their names down, whispering something to him. A minute or two later, the current song had finished, and Duke handed Yugi a microphone. "We're doing a duet." He told him, looking quite pleased. "I hope you like old-fashioned music."
Yugi tried again, holding his microphone. "But what song is it?"
Duke had no time to answer, though; at that moment, the music started. The taller teen took Yugi's hand, and flipped on his microphone. "Let's get together, yeah-yeah- yeah! Why don't you and I combi-ine?" Each "yeah" was punctuated by swinging their clasped hands, and Duke started getting into it, adding choreography. He urged Yugi to join in with a squeeze of his hand.
Yugi did so hesitantly, his confidence bolstered as he was backed up by Duke's strong, confident voice. "Let's get together, what do you say? We can have a swinging ti-ime...."
The teen's singing nearly turned into a squeal, as Duke wrapped an arm around his waist, and lifted him up, swinging him a bit. "We'd be a crazy team! Why don't we make a scene? Together!" With that, he tossed Yugi into the air, and the shorter boy really did squeal, laughing as Duke caught him.
After that, Yugi's enthusiasm grew with each line, and Duke matched him every step of the way, providing a solid backing, encouragement, and spontaneous choreography. "And you can always count on me! A gruesome twosome, we will be! Together! Yeah-yeah-yeah!" Duke ended their song by lifting Yugi into the air and twirling with him before setting him back down, dizzy and breathless, but grinning from ear to ear. Yugi had turned his mike off, but Duke stepped to the edge of the stage, bowing dramatically. "Thank you, thank you! We accept congratulations in floral, monetary, and verbal form!" He waved cheerily to the audience, turned the microphone off and tossed it to the DJ, then leapt off the stage, holding his arms up to help Yugi down.
~*~*~*~
Yami stood outside of his soul room uncertainly, looking out at the world through Yugi's eyes, and seeing what he saw. He was immensely happy that Yugi had found someone, but that fact made him all the more painfully aware of that empty spot beside him. Yugi had Duke to fill it, but what about himself? He wanted Joey next to him....
And why not? Didn't he, the Pharaoh, deserve to be happy too? They had left Joey out at the table; why not go to him?
.....Because he felt guilty robbing Yugi of his happiness, just to pursue his own. He was Yugi's guardian, after all, and it was his job to keep his charge happy, healthy, safe, and sound. And that part about happiness was the kicker. It meant that he couldn't be.
Well.... maybe they could seperate? Just for a tiny bit? It wasn't a very well understood phenomenon to either of them, but they _could_ manifest themselves into two seperate bodies. There was a catch, though. Several, in fact. He could easily take an ethereal form, invisible and insubstantial to all except for Yugi, with no side effects. To have an actual, corporeal body was harder, though. The seperation left both parties nauseous and disoriented, with a headache (probably from not sharing a mind like usual), and weaker than normal, with their strength fading faster the longer and farther apart they were.Yami could only keep it up as long as he could concentrate hard enough to strain the limits of the magic that bound him to the Puzzle.
He was willing to take that chance, but only when they were closer. So he waited impatiently for several minutes longer until he deemed them close enough. ~Yugi, I'm going to see Joey. I'll be back in just a minute.~ He hated to not know where his other half was; Yugi must feel the same way. Yami projected himself out into his customary ethereal form, and closed his eyes to concentrate, the third eye appearing on his forehead and glowing softly as he channeled energy and willpower through himself. The spirit focused powerfully on himself, his body, and _willed_ it to have form and substance. With a draining burst of effort, Yami could suddenly feel his own body heat, and the floor beneath him, feel sweat trickling down the back of his neck. That was it, just like some strange, powerful meditative exercise. No flashy lights, just a modest stumble as he felt a significant chunk of energy stolen from him.
Sighing to himself at the unfairness of it all, Yami pushed his way through the crowd, back towards the tables. He was still smiling, though; who could be sad when you were going to claim Joey? It would be an easy conquest; after all, Joey liked him, right? They'd gotten along famously at the movie yesterday. The spirit in the flesh slid onto a seat next to the object of his affections, who was sipping at his drink and watching the stage, as the next song came on. "Hey, Yugi; how was it?" He asked, hardly looking up.
How had it been? Yami had easily been able to feel Yugi's elation. But still, it would be nothing compared to this.... Yami wraped one arm around Joey's waist, used the other to cup the blond's jaw, and kissed him soundly, crimson-hued eyes closing blissfully.
Joey's eyes, on the other hand, widened considerably, and he would have nearly fallen off of his chair in surprise, were it not for Yami's strong grip. He choked with his shock, but regained his composure after several moments, shoving Yami away from him and gasping for breath. "Y-Yugi, what the HELL was that about? I thought you were with.... Duke...." He stared up at Yami, only now able to notice the differences, now that the spirit was in bright light, and he was paying attention. "You're not Yugi!"
Yami's eyes shot open as their mouths were torn apart, and he looked anything but pleased. What was up with Joey? He'd only been kissing him, and the guy just... pushed him away! He hadn't done anything wrong! "I know. I'm Yami, the spirit of the Puzzle." Yami tapped the artifact he wore around his neck.
"The.... spirit. Right." Joey's jaw dropped, and he raised an eyebrow, a mix of skepticism and incfredulousness. "Who's been dead for thousands of years."
"Yes, that's right." Yami nodded, uncomfortable with Joey's expression. He reached out to take Joey's hand. "But I'm in the here and now, too."
Joey snatched his hand back. He'd been kissed.... by a guy..... who very logically should've been DUST by now. Instead, he was a ghost. More importantly, a ghost who was HITTING ON HIM. Him, Joey Wheeler! If it weren't so creepy, disturbing, and utterly, utterly strange, he might think it was funny. "I can see that."
"I know this was sudden...." Yami began, hoping to get off on a better foot. "But I can change that. I don't have to move fast, if you don't want to."
Oh, great, he was being hit on again. By the incarnation of his best friend, which made it even worse, even though he barely know the guy. And he wanted to know how fast to take their relationship? WHAT relationship?! "I do want you to move fast...." Joey managed, wondering how crazy he sounded. "Especially if it's in the other direction."
"What are you saying?" Yami looked confused, and a little upset.
"Can't you take a hint?!" Joey demanded, starting to get upset as well.
"Why can't you just tell me what you want to say?" Yami demanded.
He's been saying it as plain as day! Yami was playing dumb, hoping to take advantage of him or something. Well, no chance of THAT, pal. Joey Wheeler was NOT one to be taken advantage of! He'd prove it, too! "I'm telling you NO!" His hand whipped out to prove his point. Joey felt a strange sense of role reversal; usually, it was Tea who slapped HIM for being a pervert....
"Hey!" Yami lifted a hand to touch his sore, reddening cheek. It'd been a while since he'd felt actual, physical pain-- not the mental sort, the way you got in the Shadow Realm. It felt strange, and quite unpleasant. Didn't compare to the emotional pain that came with it, though. How _dare_ Joey reject him? They'd barely had a chance to be together! "Why can't you just give me a chance?! Is that so much to ask?" He reached out towards Joey again, at once both demanding and supplicating, though still with the regal air of one who was used to being obeyed. He _was_ the Pharaoh, after all, and what he wanted, he got.
The gesture invaded the private space of a very irate, very weirded out Joey, who was not afraid to say so. "Get AWAY from me, you perverted freak!"
Yami looked even more upset, now. Scratch that: he looked somewhere between crushed and incensed. "But...." One look at Joey's fiery amber eyes showed that he would not be forgiven tonight. "Fine. I understand." The spirit looked away, stung bitterly by the defeat, and relaxed his concentration, thinking instead of his soul room. He disappeared from the seat, and found himself sitting on his soul room bed. The side effects faded, except for how tired he was from using the energy, but the effects of the refusal lasted. What had he done wrong tonight? Yugi and Duke seemed to like kissing; that was how they "officially" became a couple, after all. So why hadn't it worked for him? It wasn't fair! The pharaoh just couldn't understand what had happened. Maybe he'd ask Yugi about it....
~*~*~*~
"Day 3: The experiment is moving along rapidly, now. Duke and Yugi are now solidly a couple, and doing things together in their free time, which I suspect will grow considerably smaller soon, as they're devoting more time to each other. Soon enough, it's likely that whatever time they don't devote to school and studies will be spent with each other.
Interestingly enough, I seem to be observing a romantic relationship developing between Yugi and Joseph Wheeler. As I did not include Joey in the experiment, and Yugi seems to be progressing well with Duke, that leads me to question his involvement. Were the two previously attached or attracted? I'd seen no signs of it earlier. I was unable to hear any words passed between the two, due to the noise level of the establishment we were at, but I did observe a kiss. Joey's response seemed to be disparaging at best, however, leading one to believe that they had not been involved with each other in any before. Odd, to say the least. I'll have to look in on that matter further.
On another note, my observations now stand the chance of becoming more detailed, in-depth approximations of progress. I've successfully planted the surveillance cameras in the areas of both shops that the boys would frequent most. With this new, remote method of observation, I should be able to find out much more than was possible with simple observation whenever the opportunity presented itself. It's also much less risky than the former method. I'm quite optimistic about this new development."
~*~*~*~
It was late next afternoon now, and the pair had just finished completing Duke's new deck. "So, what do you want to do now?"
"I don't know." Yugi shrugged, nestled against Duke's side. "It's still pretty early; how about we go do something in Domino?"
"Good idea." Duke's smile widened as he thought of what they could do. "Let's go clubbing!"
"Clubbing?" Yugi's eyes widened. "I don't think we're old enough to do that...."
Duke wrapped an arm around Yugi's waist reassuringly. "Hey, it's okay, as long as we don't order alcohol at the bars. Just soda, and nothing'll happen." He winked.
"Okay." Yugi beamed. "Maybe Joey can come, too; he loves places like these."
"Good idea. Why don't you phone him up?" Duke asked, only slightly disappointed. He'd sort of been hoping it could be a little romantic, but... well, three didn't _have_ to be a crowd, did it? They could have fun all the same. "We can meet up there in a half hour." He suggested.
"Hang on, I'll go see if he's coming." Yugi picked up the phone, dialing.
In his soul room, Yami cheered quietly. He didn't know what it was to 'go clubbing', but if Joey was coming, then it couldn't be too bad.
~*~*~*~
Not too long after the boys had left, the Gameshop door's bell jingled, indicating that a new customer had arrived. Solomon hurried to the counter. "May I help you, sir?" He looked up, surprised to see that it was Seto who had come in.
"Do you have a Tri-Horned Dragon?" Seto inquired, seeming bored.
Solomon was a bit surprised by the request; it was an exceedingly rare card, after all. "Let me check the store room. I'll be right with you." The grey-haired shopkeeper walked off.
:Of course." Seto smirked, waiting until he'd disappeared before moving away from the counter, exiting the store portion and making his way to the personal part of the building. He removed several pinhole cameras from his trenchcoat pockets, and put them up in several discreet locations around the living room area, putting a few in Yugi's bedroom as well. They ought to make surveillance of the couple much easier.
He returned to the counter barely a half minute before Solomon came back, and was drumming his fingers, looking impatient. "I'm sorry; we don't have any singles of the Tri-Horned Dragon. I could special order it for you, if you'd like."
"Don't bother." Seto left without another word, and headed down the block to go to Duke's store, and with the same request. It was a good alibi, after all; who would think anything of a master dragon duelist trying to find such a rare card? And since he doubted that either store would have it, it gave him ample time to set up his cameras while they searched.
Now, all that remained was to set it up so he could view them from home, then follow them to the club he'd seen them head off to. So far, so good....
~*~*~*~
The three friends lounged together at a table, drinking sodas, when the stage lit up. "Hey, kareoke!" Duke exclaimed. "Yugi, you wanna go sing?" He grinned.
"I.... I don't know, Duke...." Yugi looked down into his cup uncomfortably.
"What's wrong?" Duke put a hand on Yugi's shoulder in concern. "I'll be with you; it'll be fun, I promise." "I know." Yugi looked up with a small smile, and snuggled against Duke-- earning an audible gag from Joey, who didn't really like "mushy show-off couple stuff", as he thought of it, more commonly known as Public Displays of Affection. "It's just that.... I'm not very comfortable on stage, and...."
"Ohh." Duke nodded knowingly. "So you're just nervous, is that it?" He recieved a nod, and nodded back, grinning. "I thought so. We'll cure you of that in no time; just leave it to Dr. Devlin!" He ruffled Yugi's hair affectionately, and greatly enjoyed how silky it was, laughing as the stuff sprang into place when he moved his hand. It was really as if Yugi had put springs or wire in there to keep it in place....
"Hey!" Yugi was laughing too now, and tried to look indigant, which was a little hard when he had a spike of hair covering one eye, and Duke's hand still resting patronizingly on his head. "Quit it...."
Duke tousled Yugi's hair again, chuckling. "You know that you're cute when you're angry?"
Joey rolled his eyes. "Geez, guys, get a room...." He shook his head at the indignities of accompanying a couple.
Duke smirked. "Don't worry Joey, we will. This entire room will do pretty well, I think."
"Huh?" Joey and Yugi tilted their heads, wearing identical expressions of confusion.
"We're gonna steal the room! C'mon, Yugi!" Duke grabbed Yugi's arm, hopping off his chair and heading towards the stage.
"If you say so...." Yugi couldn't hold back a giggle, and hurried after his ponytailed love, who helped pull him up onto the stage. "So, what're we going to sing?"
"Hang on...." Duke was already talking with the person who made the lists, looking over the clipboard before signing their names down, whispering something to him. A minute or two later, the current song had finished, and Duke handed Yugi a microphone. "We're doing a duet." He told him, looking quite pleased. "I hope you like old-fashioned music."
Yugi tried again, holding his microphone. "But what song is it?"
Duke had no time to answer, though; at that moment, the music started. The taller teen took Yugi's hand, and flipped on his microphone. "Let's get together, yeah-yeah- yeah! Why don't you and I combi-ine?" Each "yeah" was punctuated by swinging their clasped hands, and Duke started getting into it, adding choreography. He urged Yugi to join in with a squeeze of his hand.
Yugi did so hesitantly, his confidence bolstered as he was backed up by Duke's strong, confident voice. "Let's get together, what do you say? We can have a swinging ti-ime...."
The teen's singing nearly turned into a squeal, as Duke wrapped an arm around his waist, and lifted him up, swinging him a bit. "We'd be a crazy team! Why don't we make a scene? Together!" With that, he tossed Yugi into the air, and the shorter boy really did squeal, laughing as Duke caught him.
After that, Yugi's enthusiasm grew with each line, and Duke matched him every step of the way, providing a solid backing, encouragement, and spontaneous choreography. "And you can always count on me! A gruesome twosome, we will be! Together! Yeah-yeah-yeah!" Duke ended their song by lifting Yugi into the air and twirling with him before setting him back down, dizzy and breathless, but grinning from ear to ear. Yugi had turned his mike off, but Duke stepped to the edge of the stage, bowing dramatically. "Thank you, thank you! We accept congratulations in floral, monetary, and verbal form!" He waved cheerily to the audience, turned the microphone off and tossed it to the DJ, then leapt off the stage, holding his arms up to help Yugi down.
~*~*~*~
Yami stood outside of his soul room uncertainly, looking out at the world through Yugi's eyes, and seeing what he saw. He was immensely happy that Yugi had found someone, but that fact made him all the more painfully aware of that empty spot beside him. Yugi had Duke to fill it, but what about himself? He wanted Joey next to him....
And why not? Didn't he, the Pharaoh, deserve to be happy too? They had left Joey out at the table; why not go to him?
.....Because he felt guilty robbing Yugi of his happiness, just to pursue his own. He was Yugi's guardian, after all, and it was his job to keep his charge happy, healthy, safe, and sound. And that part about happiness was the kicker. It meant that he couldn't be.
Well.... maybe they could seperate? Just for a tiny bit? It wasn't a very well understood phenomenon to either of them, but they _could_ manifest themselves into two seperate bodies. There was a catch, though. Several, in fact. He could easily take an ethereal form, invisible and insubstantial to all except for Yugi, with no side effects. To have an actual, corporeal body was harder, though. The seperation left both parties nauseous and disoriented, with a headache (probably from not sharing a mind like usual), and weaker than normal, with their strength fading faster the longer and farther apart they were.Yami could only keep it up as long as he could concentrate hard enough to strain the limits of the magic that bound him to the Puzzle.
He was willing to take that chance, but only when they were closer. So he waited impatiently for several minutes longer until he deemed them close enough. ~Yugi, I'm going to see Joey. I'll be back in just a minute.~ He hated to not know where his other half was; Yugi must feel the same way. Yami projected himself out into his customary ethereal form, and closed his eyes to concentrate, the third eye appearing on his forehead and glowing softly as he channeled energy and willpower through himself. The spirit focused powerfully on himself, his body, and _willed_ it to have form and substance. With a draining burst of effort, Yami could suddenly feel his own body heat, and the floor beneath him, feel sweat trickling down the back of his neck. That was it, just like some strange, powerful meditative exercise. No flashy lights, just a modest stumble as he felt a significant chunk of energy stolen from him.
Sighing to himself at the unfairness of it all, Yami pushed his way through the crowd, back towards the tables. He was still smiling, though; who could be sad when you were going to claim Joey? It would be an easy conquest; after all, Joey liked him, right? They'd gotten along famously at the movie yesterday. The spirit in the flesh slid onto a seat next to the object of his affections, who was sipping at his drink and watching the stage, as the next song came on. "Hey, Yugi; how was it?" He asked, hardly looking up.
How had it been? Yami had easily been able to feel Yugi's elation. But still, it would be nothing compared to this.... Yami wraped one arm around Joey's waist, used the other to cup the blond's jaw, and kissed him soundly, crimson-hued eyes closing blissfully.
Joey's eyes, on the other hand, widened considerably, and he would have nearly fallen off of his chair in surprise, were it not for Yami's strong grip. He choked with his shock, but regained his composure after several moments, shoving Yami away from him and gasping for breath. "Y-Yugi, what the HELL was that about? I thought you were with.... Duke...." He stared up at Yami, only now able to notice the differences, now that the spirit was in bright light, and he was paying attention. "You're not Yugi!"
Yami's eyes shot open as their mouths were torn apart, and he looked anything but pleased. What was up with Joey? He'd only been kissing him, and the guy just... pushed him away! He hadn't done anything wrong! "I know. I'm Yami, the spirit of the Puzzle." Yami tapped the artifact he wore around his neck.
"The.... spirit. Right." Joey's jaw dropped, and he raised an eyebrow, a mix of skepticism and incfredulousness. "Who's been dead for thousands of years."
"Yes, that's right." Yami nodded, uncomfortable with Joey's expression. He reached out to take Joey's hand. "But I'm in the here and now, too."
Joey snatched his hand back. He'd been kissed.... by a guy..... who very logically should've been DUST by now. Instead, he was a ghost. More importantly, a ghost who was HITTING ON HIM. Him, Joey Wheeler! If it weren't so creepy, disturbing, and utterly, utterly strange, he might think it was funny. "I can see that."
"I know this was sudden...." Yami began, hoping to get off on a better foot. "But I can change that. I don't have to move fast, if you don't want to."
Oh, great, he was being hit on again. By the incarnation of his best friend, which made it even worse, even though he barely know the guy. And he wanted to know how fast to take their relationship? WHAT relationship?! "I do want you to move fast...." Joey managed, wondering how crazy he sounded. "Especially if it's in the other direction."
"What are you saying?" Yami looked confused, and a little upset.
"Can't you take a hint?!" Joey demanded, starting to get upset as well.
"Why can't you just tell me what you want to say?" Yami demanded.
He's been saying it as plain as day! Yami was playing dumb, hoping to take advantage of him or something. Well, no chance of THAT, pal. Joey Wheeler was NOT one to be taken advantage of! He'd prove it, too! "I'm telling you NO!" His hand whipped out to prove his point. Joey felt a strange sense of role reversal; usually, it was Tea who slapped HIM for being a pervert....
"Hey!" Yami lifted a hand to touch his sore, reddening cheek. It'd been a while since he'd felt actual, physical pain-- not the mental sort, the way you got in the Shadow Realm. It felt strange, and quite unpleasant. Didn't compare to the emotional pain that came with it, though. How _dare_ Joey reject him? They'd barely had a chance to be together! "Why can't you just give me a chance?! Is that so much to ask?" He reached out towards Joey again, at once both demanding and supplicating, though still with the regal air of one who was used to being obeyed. He _was_ the Pharaoh, after all, and what he wanted, he got.
The gesture invaded the private space of a very irate, very weirded out Joey, who was not afraid to say so. "Get AWAY from me, you perverted freak!"
Yami looked even more upset, now. Scratch that: he looked somewhere between crushed and incensed. "But...." One look at Joey's fiery amber eyes showed that he would not be forgiven tonight. "Fine. I understand." The spirit looked away, stung bitterly by the defeat, and relaxed his concentration, thinking instead of his soul room. He disappeared from the seat, and found himself sitting on his soul room bed. The side effects faded, except for how tired he was from using the energy, but the effects of the refusal lasted. What had he done wrong tonight? Yugi and Duke seemed to like kissing; that was how they "officially" became a couple, after all. So why hadn't it worked for him? It wasn't fair! The pharaoh just couldn't understand what had happened. Maybe he'd ask Yugi about it....