It's time for another episode of Light and Dark! It's been a while, so have an extra big chapter. Thanks for the reviews and favorites! My first draft was way more angsty than this, I guess I just don't enjoy writing it for too long. Next update will be for Heart of Magic!
Yugi's POV, with a very brief section for Anzu. It could be taken as anti-Peachshipping so if you ship that, sorry! There's also NSFW content at the end, which is the first I've really ever written so be gentle...
Unbeta'd, please remind my mistakes of the phone bill.
In a bid to delay his return to Ryou's as long as possible, Yugi checks out some books at the library. He has a few casual duels with wide eyed kids who he makes a point of reminding that they really should be in school. He texts Rishid and Isis that Malik's hanging around Ryou's place again. He goes back to his dorm room with some takeout and after that he stumbles around the internet for a while before taking a deep breath and grabbing his phone.
Considering the confusing babble that erupts from Yugi the second she picks up, he's surprised Anzu doesn't hang up on him then and there. It takes her a few moments to decipher it.
"Let me get this straight: Malik has feelings for Bakura."
"Yeah." Kinda. He's certainly developed something for Ryou. Something separate from what he feels for the Ring spirit, not enough similarities to make the gap he'd have to jump across worth the effort. Who knows, maybe when he gets back, Malik will have magically decided that Ryou's just not close enough to what he's looking for.
Or they'll both be kissing on the couch when he walks through the front door. But they shouldn't be, because that would mean Ryou was cheating on him. Yugi also should be horrified at the thought, both of catching them and at how easily the thought that Ryou could ever do that to him comes to mind.
But he isn't.
"And you have feelings for Malik."
"Not really? I have feelings about Malik having feelings for Ryou. Good ones."
Really good feelings. Ones he can't convey to Anzu. It's that sense of peace, the same as when he wakes up in the middle of the night and realizes he's holding Ryou's hand as they sleep, or whenever he cleans the tiny shrine he's made for Atem and remembers how Ryou spent all night helping him research ancient Egyptian incense the first time he proposed the idea.
He can't blame her for not getting it the first time around - he's just as confused as she is.
He doesn't have feelings for Malik. He's vaguely attracted, but that's it. Of course, his mind's already turned traitor just at the suggestion and wonders if it would be nice to call Malik his boyfriend too. If he'd ever wake up holding Malik's hand or if Malik would ever let Ryou drag him out to find the best frankincense in town. What it'd be like being introduced to Rishid and Isis as more than just friends.
Or waking up with both of them.
Which implies the three of them share a bed, which implies they'd all move in together.
No.
What would the other-
What would Atem think?
"That doesn't make any sense."
"I know. I'm sorry. "
Anzu sighs on the other end of the phone and he accepts the wordless demand to stop apologizing. He's still glad he called her though and not Jounouchi or Honda. Honda's been in that awkward 'I need to prove how accepting I am or they'll think I hate them!' stage ever since he started dating Ryou, rather than just treating them like a couple, and Yugi's not exactly in the mood to deal with it.
He might've called Jounouchi, but he's got two exams today and Yugi knows Jounouchi would absolutely skip them to try and help him out in person and he's not sure he'd be able to maintain his composure. Jounouchi really needs to think about his own future, for once.
Anzu, stuck lounging around in her apartment in Tokyo and assuring him that she's not got to be at practice for another hour, is by far the safest and least scary option. Most people probably wouldn't say the same about an ex-girlfriend. Most people don't know Anzu and she was his friend before, during and after they broke up.
"Like, do you think Bakura would be better off being with Malik instead of you? Because that's all I'm getting from this."
There's something in her tone that's familiar. The tone she used against Kaiba all the way back in Duelist Kingdom when he bargained his life on Yugi. No nonsense, no talking back with anything less than the truth. It reminds him of Mai, or maybe Kaiba whenever he's in business mode.
Thinking Ryou and Malik would be good together is an issue, though not in the way Anzu is thinking. Thinking they'd be good together specifically without him has never come to mind until now and it sends sharp chills down his back. Like how he's always assumed he should feel at the thought of Malik and Ryou together.
"Yugi, answer me."
It's a little scary how naturally he assumes that he'd take part, but if Malik and Ryou were to get together, that would exclude him by default right? But if Ryou didn't want to be with Yugi he wouldn't have kissed Yugi back all that time ago. He's never shown any signs of not wanting Yugi anymore, despite all his flaws.
As for Malik, evidently there's already a layer of subconscious attraction on his part going on or surely Yugi would've never entertained the thought in the first place. He still remembers how Malik looked when they sat eating toast together that morning, and the weight on his shoulder as they slept. He doesn't know how Malik feels about him - if he still sees Atem when he looks at him - or if he's just not Malik's type, but he seems to tolerate Yugi's company enough.
This could work. He could make it work or at least give it his best shot. It's like a game; turn 'Yugi and Ryou, and Malik' into 'Yugi and Ryou and Malik'. He can't stop grinning at the thought.
Unfortunately, Anzu isn't standing in front of him to see it, nor can she read his mind. She's been sat listening to Yugi's silence and concluding, as most people would, that Yugi really doesn't think he's good enough for Bakura anymore.
Which is bullshit, in her opinion. Yugi deserves someone who will never let him forget how amazing he is, who'll never let him go back to thinking he needs him in order to feel special. In a different way to how Jounouchi and Honda and Anzu already do.
Anzu knew, even when they first started dating, that she couldn't do that. She did love Yugi, but not the same way she knew he liked her. She wanted to try, to see if something would blossom and for a while she thought it had. Their first kiss was something she still kept in her heart and so far none of the partners she'd had had been able to match up to it, despite or maybe even because of how inevitably terrible two teenagers kissing for the first time could be. It was the most honest the two had ever been when it came to their relationship; just the two of them, blushing like crazy and nothing on her mind beyond not knowing what to do with his teeth or her hands or...
Aside from that kiss, she hasn't been able stop herself from thinking of him, even now. Even though she knows he'd never thought about her like that. Even though he'd been gone for years now, been dead for thousands prior.
That was why they broke up, really. She knew she couldn't lie to herself, or to him anymore. Perhaps the only thing that did hurt wasn't ending their relationship, it was how he looked like he'd expected it the day she asked to meet with him to end things. How easily things went back to how they were before. Maybe Yugi had been lying to himself too, just a little.
Maybe Yugi's lying to himself again right now. And Bakura's got some explaining to do if he is.
"Screw practice, I'm coming back to Domino -"
"A-Anzu, wait!"
He can hear her feet stomp around her apartment, the jangle of keys being shoved into a pocket. Why do his friends always drop everything to help him? He wouldn't change it for the world, but still!
As if you wouldn't do it for them, he can almost hear Atem say.
"And I'm kicking Bakura's ass for letting you feel this low!"
Hours upon hours of intense dance practice have left her with a stealthily powerful physique - with how angry she sounds, Yugi's not willing to take the chance that she only means it metaphorically.
"It's not his fault Anzu, he hasn't done anything wrong! He doesn't know about any of this. Look, I didn't ring you for that, I just... Anzu, what should I do?"
Maybe it's just how plaintive he sounds, but he can hear her settle down again. How exactly do you broach the subject of adding another person to your relationship anyway? Especially when you aren't sure if that person likes you, or if the other person you're already with likes them?
"What do you want?"
Ryou smiling at Malik in the mornings the same way he smiles at Yugi.
Malik curling up under the blankets with Ryou on a cold day and watch scary movies.
The three of them wandering around Domino together, or playing cards against his grandpa, or distracting each other from studying.
He wants them, and he wants Malik to want him, and he wants Ryou to want Malik.
"I don't want to lose both of them."
"Both of them?"
The surprise in her voice suggests that maybe now she's finally starting to get it. He can't blame her for not getting it earlier, considering he didn't get it earlier either.
"... Yeah."
Anzu's voice starts out cautious, but then becomes sly, like she's jumping on hot gossip. "This is starting to sound like a threesome thing. You're gonna make Honda's brain explode, y'know."
"It... It's not a definite thing. I don't know what's going to happen - I don't think Malik thinks of me that way and I'm not sure how Ryou feels about him."
(Yet.)
Anzu's way more okay with it than he assumed she would be. That's a good thing though; at least one of his friends isn't completely against the idea of Yugi and Malik getting closer, or the three of them in general. He's not sure how Honda will react - it couldn't be any less annoying than his reaction at just finding out about him and Ryou - but he's worried about Jounouchi. He's his best friend, but he went through so much more than Anzu did at his hands...
Then again, they seemed pretty chummy back in Egypt. When the truck broke down, it was Jounouchi who turned on his cell phone to max brightness until they could find a torch. Jounouchi didn't hesitate to shake his hand, or stand near him or anything.
"Sounds like now's the time to talk to Bakura, not me."
"Yeah. Thanks, Anzu."
He's getting ahead of himself. He probably should've talked to Ryou about all this before calling Anzu, but in his defense none of it made sense to him before calling her.
He can hear her sigh in relief. "I'm not sure how I helped, but I'm glad you're feeling better."
"You were always good at pep talks."
"I barely said anything!"
"Yes you did, you said you'd beat up my boyfriend for making me sad."
There's a strangled groan. "Okay, you got me there. Don't tell Bakura, he's my friend too. And I'd beat you up if you made him sad, just so you know."
"I know. I'd want you to if I did."
He almost starts saying his goodbyes, but then he remembers the other thing about Malik. He probably shouldn't have asked him to come without checking with Anzu first...
"Is it okay if I bring Malik, Rishid and Isis to the concert with us? If they want to come I mean."
Anzu seems happy at the change of subject. "Sure. Make sure you let Jounouchi know too though - I'm not sure if he's got in touch with Mai about the concert yet, but if he has we might have to keep an eye on them. Then again, she might not be able to come anyway..."
"Is she still busy in China?"
"Last I heard, she's part of a tag team with a girl from Chongqing... Man, time flies. I need to get going or I'll miss my bus. Sorry Yugi!"
"I think we were done anyway. Thanks again, have fun at practice!"
He almost hangs up, but then Anzu speaks again. "Speaking of the concert, I have one last IMPORTANT thing, Yugi."
"Go ahead."
She clears her throat, putting on her best authoritative voice. There's a slight accent to it, like she's imitating her agent from Okinawa.
"Unless you can get Seto Kaiba himself to come to the concert wearing one, under no circumstances can you or anyone else show up with those godawful Mazaki Monster shirts, got it?"
"'Kay."
"And the hoodies."
"Yeah."
"The onesies, the capes, the baseball caps..."
"Anzu. I got it. No merch unless Kaiba's wearing it too. Consider your challenge accepted!"
"Wait a minute! That's not what I meant!"
"Good luck at the concert, we'll see you there!"
"YUGI I SWEAR TO GOD-"
"Bye!"
Malik isn't there when he gets back, though he knew that would be the case - on the walk back, Rishid texted to say the three of them were out for dinner that evening. Ryou's still around however, squirreled away in one of the side rooms with a wet towel around his shoulders. He's got headphones on as he sketches out a design for what looks like a zombie elephant and Yugi can just about make out the beat for one of Anzu's favorite songs from the idol group. How sugary pop helps Ryou come up with such a gruesome looking creature, he'll never know, but he doesn't want to disturb Ryou when he's so clearly in the creativity zone so he lets him be.
He's managed to spend the entire day out of the house, by some miracle, and it's dark enough out that he can justify climbing into bed after pulling off everything but his boxers. Half an hour later, he's almost fallen asleep when Ryou slides in behind him. Ryou kisses his bare shoulder blade but doesn't try to instigate anything else.
Yugi rolls over, letting his hand slide over Ryou's bony hips to pull them closer together and Ryou responds in kind. He lets himself listen to Ryou's heartbeat for a while, snuggling his face against Ryou's heavily worn striped shirt. It's no longer fit to wear in public but it makes for a nice pajama top.
He looks up and whispers, "Hey, Ryou? Hate to wake you but I didn't get the chance to ask something earlier."
A sleepy murmur is his answer, followed by one of his eyes sliding open just enough to see Yugi - Ryou's one of those disgustingly lucky people who can fall asleep the second they decide to, and wake up the same way. "Sure."
"How'd it go with Malik today?"
Ryou rolls to lie on his back, their combined grip dragging Yugi along until he's laying atop Ryou, chest to chest, hips to hips and Yugi struggles to resist the urge to tease a thrust. He can't let himself be distracted but Ryou's just so warm beneath him and his hair's still a little damp from the shower and he smells amazing...
"Better than I thought it would. We worked out some stuff; I think we're good."
"Good as in 'introducing each other as besties' or 'might send a birthday card next year'?"
He wonders if Ryou would laugh at the suggestion, but instead, he looks contemplative, at least as much as he can see of him in the darkness. "A little more like the former, I think? He's a very complicated person, it's hard to tell what he's thinking. I'm curious about him - we never got the chance to really get to know him before."
"I know the feeling."
"There's something about him, like he's... lost. I don't think he really knows what to do with himself. Once we were done talking about the important things, he couldn't stop talking about anything. I swear, he went through every single one of my Monster World figurines, my deck... Even if there was nothing to say he'd find something! He couldn't stand silence for a second."
He keeps rambling about Malik and Yugi lets him, absorbing everything he can and watching Ryou's face intently too. He's vegetarian, he's got his own secret apartment back in Luxor that Rishid and Isis don't know about, he's never been in a relationship - not even a one-night stand (and the fact that Malik even brought it up at all has Yugi wondering if it was a very unsubtle flirt), there's still a decent chunk of ex-Ghouls that are devoted to him even without the Rod...
Yugi interrupts him after a while, once Ryou seems to be unaware of just how much time he's spent talking about Malik.
"Looks good in glasses?"
"I guess."
Ryou suddenly tenses, though not in the way Yugi expects. "What are you up to?"
Well, crap. He didn't think Ryou would catch on so quickly! "Uh..."
Ryou suddenly rolls over, trapping Yugi underneath him. "You've got that 'You just activated my trap card' face on. Spill."
Yugi grins awkwardly, unable to keep the facade up now he's busted. "It's that obvious?"
Ryou hums, his cool hands idly tracing Yugi's sides and sending tingles scattering across his skin. "Very - never play poker. What's up?"
"You know Malik."
Yugi mentally whacks himself over the head at the ridiculous question. Ryou blinks, then he lowers his head with a quiet chuckle and starts leaving a trail of kisses along Yugi's jawline.
"I'm familiar with the name, yes."
"Y-you don't not like him."
Yugi knows he'd be more coherent if Ryou would stop kissing his neck like that, but like hell can he bring himself to say so.
"True."
"And I don't... I don't not like him either."
"That's good."
Ryou's reached his chest now. It's colder than he thinks outside of the covers and the touches of Ryou's lips are like little bursts of lightning trailing all the way down to the top of his boxers and the only sound in the room is his breath hitching at each one.
Then it stops. Ryou's looking up at him from between his thighs and after a few moments Yugi realizes he's not going to do anything else until Yugi does.
"I was thinking it could be nice i-if..."
"If?"
Ryou's finger idly plays with the loose string on his boxers and Yugi grabs hold of the rising courage within himself. So far he's managed to keep a straight face rather well, in his opinion. Even with Ryou being such a tempting distraction.
"If we got to know each other. Like..."
"You mean know in the Biblical sense?"
"Uh..."
"As in fuck him?"
It would be so much easier if it was just that.
"N-not just that, I mean... A little more. A lot more."
Then he finally feels his face burn, his neck and pretty much everywhere that it's physically possible to blush. He's distracted from that soon enough when he realizes Ryou isn't outraged at Yugi thinking about someone else when it comes to relationships, about Malik, that he isn't storming around the room demanding an explanation.
"Only you would get this embarrassed about asking someone on a date, but not about fucking them."
That soft white hair of his tickles a sensitive spot on the side of Yugi's thigh as he tilts his head to rest against it.
"That's your fault, you're the one getting all touchy..."
Ryou's fingers hook the waistband of Yugi's boxers and gently pull them down. Yugi finally gives in and lets out a frustrated whine as the colder air hits his cock. It's so close to Ryou's mouth, so close to just touching his skin but he's just a little bit too far away and the jerk knows it.
"This sounds like a threesome thing. Only more permanent."
"Yeah."
"Sure, I'm in."
"No way."
Ryou blinks. "Hm?"
"No way did you just agree that easily-!"
Yugi forgets what he was just about to say as Ryou's lips close around the head of his cock. Two of his fingers form a V just below them and they gently slides Yugi's foreskin up and down. Yugi's tortured for a few seconds that feel like forever until Ryou pulls back, licking the tip before sitting upright. He leans on Yugi's propped up trembling knee, though his fingers keep going in their near painfully slow rhythm.
"What can I say? You can be pretty convincing."
"But I didn't... I didn't even..."
Whatever words he was trying to scrabble together get caught in his throat as he grips the sheets. He can't stop moving his hips, trying to go just a bit faster. Ryou shows a little mercy, holding his fingers still while Yugi thrusts between them at his own pace, his other hand slipping his thumb across the tip every so often. Everything's tightening, that pressure, that rush of electricity from all around his body building up...
Then Ryou lets go completely, pinning Yugi's hips flat with his hands and Yugi could actually cry as his cock twitches. He's so close that he can barely hear what Ryou's saying but judging by the light chuckle in Ryou's voice as he manages to stutter out a 'what', he's hoping for that exact reaction.
"I said, you and Malik need to go on a date."
Yugi can feel his face light up again and Ryou's snicker certainly doesn't do a thing to stop it, though it does help knock a few brain cells back into coherence. "Where should we go?"
"Somewhere busy, but not too much. Definitely not the museum and maybe not somewhere we know our friends go, or they might get the wrong idea before we can explain it... You and him need to get to know each other - in the normal sense, at least. We can't let him believe this is just a passing fancy. It's the real thing."
"It's the real thing," Yugi repeats, his voice matching the seriousness in Ryou's. If they screw this up, it'll hurt them, but it will hurt Malik so much more. Ryou moves up his body and kisses his cheek, and this time he's the one whose face is red.
With those damn hands gone, Yugi's free to move again and he swiftly wraps both his legs around one of Ryou's, pressing his cock perfectly against Ryou's thigh and he can't stop himself from sucking in a breath at the renewed contact. Ryou's hard too, he can feel it pressing against his stomach, grinding in time with his movements. One of Ryou's hands reaches for the top drawer of the bedside cabinet and it comes back slick with lube, enough for himself and Yugi and then some. It's cold at first but then warms as they start sliding against each other in all the right places and Ryou's panting in his shoulder and Yugi realizes that he was torturing himself just as much as he was torturing Yugi and just a little bit faster, a little bit more...
Ryou's neck is right there when Yugi comes, right within reach, so close to his own mouth but he turns his head and bites what he can get of the pillow instead as his release pulses through him. When it's nearly over he pushes Ryou up and grabs his cock, jerking it as fast as he can while Ryou writhes and comes with a strangled cry.
Ryou pouts at the sticky mark on his shirt once he regathers his wits, then laughs once he's done changing it and Yugi blinks back the haze of pleasure that threatens to send him to sleep. "I just realized, we're both just assuming he'll say yes to this whole arrangement, or that he'll want it to be more than a one-nighter. I guess we should stay positive, but I don't want to pressure him..."
Yugi's thought of that, of course he's thought of that, but the thought still dampens the mood a bit. Ryou snuggles up beside him and Yugi wraps his arms around him, accepting his little apology cuddle without hesitation and kissing his forehead. "At least he'll know the option's there, I guess. Are you free tomorrow?"
"Only the morning; I'm helping Dad out with some inventory work after lunch and that could take hours."
"Wanna help me find the perfect spot for my third first date over breakfast?"
"He mentioned a few places in town he liked the look of, actually..."