"And here we have...Sennen." Yugi commented as he walked into the exam room, eyes locked on the file he held in his hands. "Seems here that you're a new patient; that's always fun. So, how did you hear about—" He stopped abruptly when he looked up and saw Atem sitting in the exam chair. The other offered a roguish grin.
"There's not a lot of orthodontist with your last name." He explained.
"You can thank my father for that one." Yugi crossed his arms in front of his chest, cheeks growing hot. "Miho, could you give us a minute, please?" The assistant nodded, looking between them curiously.
"So I think I may need braces, but I'm no professional." Atem said, giving Yugi his best smile as Miho stepped out. "What do you think?"
"Look - you can't do this, okay?" Yugi said, bristling. "This is my work - you can't just—!"
"Hey, wait - I'm sorry!" Atem quickly sat up, looking apologetic. "I didn't mean to freak you out or anything. I just really want - I think we should hang out."
"I...You what?" Anger gone in the wake of his astonishment, Yugi's posture relaxed. "Hang out?"
"Yeah. You seem like a lot of fun, and I just thought maybe we could...spend time together?"
Yugi sat down in a chair.
"Um - Atem..."
"I know coming here was really stupid, but I wanted to see you again." He sighed. "I mean, we met in the lamest way. I want to fix that."
"It's not that I don't like you, it's just..."
"You have issues with my Counter, right?" Atem guessed, and Yugi immediately looked up.
"Well, yes." He admitted.
"You probably think I'm cheating on someone I've never met."
"Good lord, no!" Yugi shook his head and Atem peered up at him. "I just think that if you have a count down, there's not really any point in starting something like a relationship. Especially when you're zeroing out. Why start something when you know will only end in heartbreak? Because when you meet your fated one, he'll be all that matters to you from then on. I think that...if you're lucky enough to know your path, you should take it."
"That's what is so stupid about the Counter." Atem said, exasperated. "It says you can only have one path and that you can't have detours - but life is about the detours."
"You seem like an incredibly great guy, and I enjoy being around you."
"I can already hear the 'but' in that sentence."
"Yes. But... I'm looking for the one, and obviously you're not them."
Atem looked like he wanted to say something, but he looked down at his hands instead.
"All right, I get it. I know rejection when I hear it. I'll leave."
"I'm sorry." Yugi mumbled, watching Atem exit the room. A deep feeling of regret rolled in his stomach.
"With big rough hands the color of an English afternoon tea, Nothim circled her tiny waist." The narrator said, her voice streaming from the car speakers. Jou, Yugi, and their mother were on the way downtown to grocery shop; Jou was covering his mouth, trying not to laugh at his mother's horrible audio romance novel, and Yugi scrunched his face up in distaste as the narrator continued: "...Her inhibitions melted. 'Oh, Nothim,' She whispered. 'Missionary work is so much harder than I had imagined...' She quickly discovered that missions weren't all that was hard—"
"Oops! Dirty bits!" Their mom said, muting the radio quickly. Jou's barely contained laughter escaped in a short snort, and his mom ignored it. "So, Yugi. Looking forward to your date tonight?"
"Uh." Yugi gave a noncommittal shrug. "I suppose?"
"Well, it's worth a try with him." She replied, turning the car into the next lane to weave around a truck. "Leave no stone unturned, honey."
Yugi rolled his eyes.
"Yes, mom."
"Guys, you don't realize how lucky you are. Your generation has been spared the emotional carnage of divorce and the soul-crushing pain of unrequited love. Saved from the humiliation of reckless one-night stands! Before the Counter, it was all a mess." She adjusted her rear view mirror. "Isn't our family great?"
"Yes." Yugi and Jou droned.
"Don't you guys feel as if you were meant to be brothers?"
"Yes." They said again, except with more enthusiasm now.
"And it's all thanks to the Counter." She finished. From his spot in the front seat, Yugi looked over his shoulder at Jou and they both shared a wince.
By 8:30 that night, Yugi found himself walking through the doors of The Place - a generic bar near the outskirts of the city where Jou bartended at nights. The so-called "date" his mom had sent him on was a total bust - not even worth attempting to continue. They had absolutely nothing in common; their entire dinner was spent eating in silence. So, yeah...it was definitely a night to sit in loud music and be distracted by people surrounding him. He made his way through the crowd, weaving over to where he saw his brother.
"Was it as magical as you hoped?" Jou asked, already pouring Yugi a drink.
Yugi fell into one of the stools and shoved his face in his hands. "Things don't have to be perfect from the start." Yugi tried to be optimistic, though he had no intention of ever seeing the man again. "Things can build over time."
"Yeah, specks are fleeting. You definitely want to be with someone boring so you can talk about nothing for the rest of your life." Jou slid the drink over.
"You are so wise." Yugi said, tipping it to his brother before shooting the alcohol it down.
"I'll make you another when I get back." Jou said, and Yugi shot him a grateful grin.
"Hey, hey - all right!" The singer of the current live band yelled. "Shut up for a minute, guys! We wanna thank you all for coming out to see us! This is going to be our last song for the night!"
Yugi turned in his seat, watching as the singer placed the microphone back on it's stand and started strumming his guitar. Yugi sipped his drink, watching the men on stage bang out their final song - a good one, too. He watched the three members as they played, looking perfectly at home on the stage, as if they were born to be there. The drummer in particular had a certain flair that was... oddly familiar.
Yugi nearly inhaled his drink when he recognized that it was Atem sitting in the back behind the drum set. Hacking, he set his glass down and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He stared at Atem in disbelief, unable to trust what he was seeing. If a definition of coincidence was ever needed, this would be it.
Atem glanced over at his band mate with a loose, easy grin, and then back to his drums. Along the way of the glance, though, his eyes caught Yugi's, and there was a stutter in the beat - to slight for anyone but his fellow players to notice. As they glanced at him suspiciously, Atem blinked, jaw hanging open, eyes locked on Yugi's. Eventually, he focused back on his drums, but he quickly looked up again. Yugi waggled his fingers slightly at the other, unable to stop the smile that was overtaking his face. Atem started to smile too, putting more gusto into his drumming.
Yugi toyed with his lips, remembering how they had almost kissed. As soon as he thought it, the urge to walk over and climb onto the stage with Atem became nearly unbearable. There was no way he could refuse forbidden fruit for a second time.
"Fuck it." Yugi said to himself, throwing the rest of his drink down.
Atem fumbled with the door knob behind him for a moment before he finally twisted it open. Engaged in a lip-locked battle, he and Yugi stumbled into the room. Their legs tangled, causing them both to stumble. Atem pressed his body against Yugi's, trapping him against the wall. His hand curled over Yugi's hips, brushing the soft skin just above the waistline of his pants. He slipped his hands higher still, wondering how far he would get before Yugi once again put on the brakes. But the shorter never did.
When he had spotted Yugi at the bar earlier, he hadn't been able to believe his eyes... There was no way - no possible, conceivable way - that the object of his fascination was sitting across from him after saying, just that morning, how they could never be together. He had been thinking about Yugi since the moment the man had ducked away from Atem's kiss the previous night - fantasizing what it would be like to hold Yugi close to him - before that. Yugi had been on Atem's mind since the moment he told Yugi the dumbest joke in history.
And after the failure of the morning, when Atem had tried to be spontaneous and surprise Yugi, to at least try to be friends... Atem tried to force himself to give it up and write Yugi off as a loss. After all, if Atem was after some ass, there was plenty of it to be found. Though no one had ever caught his eye like this before.
But then at The Place, while he performed with his band...there Yugi was, as well - wide eyed and slack jawed. Just as every bit surprised to see Atem as he was to see Yugi. At first, it was so unreal, Atem had guessed that he was seeing a mirage, or at least having a stroke. After all, when his eyes connected with Yugi's, his heart sputtered so erratically that it certainly did feel stroke-like. And when Atem glanced back up - just to check - Yugi was still there, waggling his fingers with a wicked gleam in those violet eyes.
It was just too good to be true.
"Shut the door." Yugi muttered, their mouths still attatched.
"Huh?"
"The door." Yugi repeated, fingers fumbling with Atem's belt. "Shut it."
"Oh, right." Atem forced himself away from Yugi and shoved the door shut, quickly coming back. "The other guys should still be at the bar, so—"
"Uh-huh." Yugi hummed, not caring. He grabbed Atem's hand and yanked him over, connecting their mouths again. Before, Atem had thought Yugi was like a glowing warmth, but now he was an all consuming fire. He was melting just from the touch.
"God." Atem groaned, lifting Yugi up off the ground. Yugi hiked his legs up, wrapping them around his hips, allowing him to nestle between his legs. Atem held Yugi's thighs tight as he made his way to the bed, his mouth never leaving the petal-like lips. Once at the edge, Atem let go, making Yugi land back on top of the gray sheets. He climbed up over him, one hand on either side of Yugi's head to support his weight. To his delight, Yugi was not the type to stay still. The shorter pushed against Atem's chest, rolling them over so he was straddling his waist. With one yank, Yugi pulled apart Atem's shirt, broken buttons littering the bed and floor. He lay his palms flat against Atem's chest, staring at the contrast in their skin before he moved his hands down lower. Atem watched, fascinated, as he explored.
"Hm..." Yugi suddenly frowned. "I shouldn't have done that. Now I owe you a shirt."
"I have others." Atem said quickly, running his hands over the tops of Yugi's thighs. "Actually, I want to see you do that to another shirt. It was exciting."
"Bet you didn't think I had it in me, huh?" Yugi asked, and the tone he asked it in shot a surge straight to Atem's groin.
"Oh, no." Atem smirked. "I was actually betting you did." He grabbed Yugi's shirt and pulled if off over his head. "You don't realize the look you have in your eyes, do you?" He asked. Before Yugi could finish whatever smart-ass comment he'd opened his mouth to say, Atem grabbed Yugi's hips and rolled them over once more. He didn't quite know what it was about Yugi that made him want him so much, but Atem also didn't really care. He ached to have Yugi any way - every way. And Yugi was there on his bed and oh-so willing to give Atem what he craved. His mouth found Yugi's prominent collarbone, and he followed the bone all the way up to Yugi's shoulder, over to his neck, across his jaw, until their mouths caught again.
Suddenly, there was banging and yelling from the living room, and they both ripped apart - the warmth from before turning to ice.
"God damn it." Atem groaned, letting his head drop down next to Yugi's so he was stuffing his face in his mattress. "Can't a guy catch a break?" Yugi giggled nervously, breathing hard. "Don't you dare leave." Atem said, pressing a kiss to Yugi's temple. "I'll be right back." He leapt off of the bed and stormed from his room, not bothering to put his shirt back on.
"—did exceptionally well tonight." Marik was saying to Bakura when Atem came into the living space.
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" He yelled. Bakura and Marik blinked at him, stunned.
"Okay, guys." Atem took a deep breath. "Seriously. This is so big for me. I have a guy back on my bed waiting for me - he's so out of my league, I have no idea how the hell I got him back here, but I did. Okay? He's actually staying."
"Pussy." Bakura muttered, rolling his eyes.
"If I'm a pussy, I'm about to have the first, greatest hetero sex of my entire life." Atem proclaimed, and he swore he could hear Yugi snort with laughter from his room. "Do not fuck this up for me, guys. Do not." He glared at his roommates as he clicked the power button on the stereo and turned it up to drown out the two band-members. After one more dangerous look at them, he headed back into his room. He slammed the door shut behind him and when he saw Yugi still laying there on top of his bed, the breath flew right from his lungs. The annoyance at his roommates left him, and all that was left was a strange, warm bubble in his chest.
"Hi." Yugi eventually, his stare holding Atem in place.
"Hi."
"So...I'm out of your league?"
"Completely."
"Well..at least we agree about something." Yugi replied, that wicked look back in his eyes. Atem came back to the bed and crawled over to Yugi, watching as the shorter bit his lower lip. Atem brushed his thumb over the lip gently, knowing he'd never survive if Yugi kept doing that. Then he bent down and kissed him softly.
For a long time they just kissed, indulging in the sensation of each other. Maybe it was his imagination, but Atem could feel Yugi's pulse fluttering in his lips. As hurried as they had been before, Atem now had a wish to prolong the moment for as much as he could. He wanted to show Yugi the best pleasure he'd ever experienced. Something that only Atem could cause. Something Yugi would not be able to forget.
Atem had always been possessive over the things that were his, even as a child. But he had never felt like that toward another human being before. He drew back a bit, marveling at the man under him, trying to figure out why he wanted to be with Yugi as much as he did. And once he'd seen his fill, he dropped his head back down, engaging Yugi in another long kiss.
He made an oath at that moment: that this, whatever was happening between them, would not simply be a one-night deal. He would get Yugi to stay.
