S/N:I've noticed two mistakes in previous chapters: One, in chapter eight Eli's name should be Ellie. The second, in chapter seven, the asterisk should read "In canon, Kaiba was adopted, so his last name was different at birth.
D/N: wow soo there is good catch
"Atem?" Anzu cuddled closer.
"Hmm?"
"Should we be animals?"
He settled farther onto the bed. The mattress was so comfortable! He might "sleep" here more often.
Then his mind backtracked.
"What?"
She was right. They were animals. She was cuddled against his chest fur, one eye open, questioning.
"I-I don't know."
He was remembering all those times he'd walked into his parents rooms to find them animals. A hawk and a doberman look cute cuddled together.
But this is disturbing.
He rolled over and she hissed in annoyance.
"Hold still! You're my heater!"
Lying on his back, with a cat on his stomach, this was awkward, but cute.
"Tea."
"Yes?"
"We have to get up at some point darlin'."
"Did you just call me darling?"
"Yes."
"Stop it."
"Aww."
"I don't like it. And if you want to be my sex slave more often, you're going to agree to what I say."
He rolled over again, standing over the poor kitty. Then he switched forms. Getting out of bed, he began to dress, trying to resist the urge to glance back at the now human sitting on the bed.
"You have bite-marks on your shoulder." She pointed out.
He did. One, nearly on his neck, had bled at some point, as evidenced by the forming scabs.
"Oh. Yeah."
"S'not your fault. You didn't know it would hurt me."
"Do now. And regretting it."
"Oh come on. Only hurts once. Now leave. I wanna get dressed."
"Yeesh. So bossy all of a sudden." He mumbled. But left anyway. Facing the wrath of an angry woman's bad enough. Angry naked woman is worse.
He walked into the kitchen, started some coffee, and began the act of cooking. Because, despite the stereotype, Atem could cook well, and his mother had discovered how to burn water. He was also convinced his dad should work at a gourmet restaurant.
"What's this?" Téa entered. "You cook?"
"Yep! Just not breakfast food."
She smiled, that one smile that he would conquer worlds to see. "Thanks."
He grabbed a package of pasta. Macaroni and cheese...
"It's noon anyway." Téa commented. Noting the cheese, she began to slice it. "So this is ok."
He drained the pot, put it back, and tossed the cheese on it, stomach not in the mood to wait for fancy.
"So what now? Go bug people?"
"Try not to think about how we've only been dating two months?"
Yami looked at the ceiling. "Card games on motorcycles?"
"That's stupid and insane."
They ate in relative silence. "It's weird to think it's August already. Just think. Soon, we will we will be back in school."
Téa groaned. "Just great."
Atem shrugged. "It's the last year. Then after that, we have our entire lives ahead of us. Our entire lives of you, me, New York and anywhere Broadway sends us."
Téa smiled, getting herself a plate.
Together, they sat down to eat. Being magical beings tends to increase appetite.
"I wonder... Will I get a sister or brother?"
"First day math homework on girl."
"Alright then. I'll raise you an afternoon of cuddles."
"That's a win situation. One of us will have to do math, but then we get cuddles." He hugged her, breathing in her scent.
She smiled, looking outside.
"It's a perfect day. Let's go visiting."
*.*
Yami was feeling really, really antsy.
Which, considering it was a greyhound, might have been explained.
But his mind was starting to feel rather animal-like. The urge to go and hunt something kept peeking in his mind, but he wasn't hungry.
To distract himself, he glanced around.
The bus had several other people, which together contributed the feeling of empty, desolate, pain. The sky outside was gray, the bus inside was grayer, like the boat to the underworld.
The world outside was a city. Concrete and metal, a veritable forest, with people for animals. And everyone was both prey and predator, both sides ready and waiting to show.
He dug his nails into his backpack. Dammit, he needed to run!
The bus-driver pulled over, parking.
"Two hours run around time. If you're not back then, I'm going without you."
Some passengers departed.
The bus driver looked at him. Yami had been sitting nearby.
"Go on, kid," he whispered, glancing at his ticket. "Stretch your animal. We don't get to Domino for another day. You ain't gonna make it."
He blinked at the bus driver, surprised.
The day, having some identity problem or another, decided today was sunny.
If his eyes were half-closed, there was a tiny shimmer to the air.
Nodding his thanks, he exited. Glancing back after the doors closed, a mouse was crouched under a pedal.
Slipping into a shaded alleyway, he let his lion side stretch gloriously. It felt so great! Rolling his neck, rearing, just standing. He curved his back in, stretching his neck back to meet his tail.
That done, he walked around the block once as a person, bought a small thing at a corner store, then slid into the bus.
The driver was a person again. Sitting down to eat the box of jelly beans, he whispered a question. "Why did you do that?"
"Shifters take this too sometimes. I try to make sure that they make the trip. And you...You have the most hope of anyone I've seen on these buses in a long time. Some people cry on these buses, some just stare at nothing, and all are heading on a long trip to nowhere. I figured that you deserve a little help to hold that hope."
"..Thanks."
The driver nodded at the windshield.
A while later, the bus lurched onward. Yami looked outside, his outlook a little brighter. 'There's something for me in Domino, I can feel it. And I can't wait to find it.'
The sun shone outside, and just for a second, pierced the gloom inside.
S/N: The story gets darker, yet lighter. The threads of character tangle, never to unravel...
The summary (Since it obviously doesn't quite fit anymore) might get changed. A warning, for those who find this fic by it.
D/N: Yep
