Yami just squeezed his light's hand as he hesitantly pulled away from the embrace. Averting his gaze from the hikari's, the pharaoh gently dragged the boy towards the open bathroom door. He didn't want to look. He didn't need to look. He simply wouldn't look at his light's face. He refused.
He'd been thinking about the colors his light possessed merely a couple of hours ago, and yet, that seemed so distant. But, even though it seemed so very long ago, it was too close. The darkness didn't want to remember the emotions that correlated to the happy colors associated with his aibou, because then, he'd start seeing the negatives of the colors. He knew he would.
Red: the blood of Yugi, splattered and smeared on the tiled floor with a coruscating knife glinting brightly in the pool.
Blue: tears slipping down Yugi's scarred face, gathering on the tip of his nose and chin.
No. He didn't need to think of that.
But then, his mind kept running through lists of thoughts, wouldn't obey or abide by Yami's commands as the pharaoh continued to Yugi's bedroom with said boy leaning heavily on him for support.
Black: the darkness starting to eat up his aibou's sense of goodness, gnawing on his innocence and draining away all the light the boy contained.
Gray: no diversity or light or dark left inside of Yugi; just a hollowness and emptiness, stuck in neutral.
A shiver raced down Yami's spine as he pressed the hikari's bedroom door forward, hinges sounding softly. The darkness guided Yugi to his bed, sitting the petite teenager down on the soft white sheets. And then, he wasn't sure how to continue. How was one to continue now? Yugi, staring at the pharaoh from his position on the bed, merely sifted as the yami tapped his fingers.
"Err, Mou Hitori no Boku?" Yugi's voice echoed delicately, like the sound of a flower's petals blooming and unfurling in spring. Yami glanced up at the boy from his distant gaze out of the bedroom window, then his eyes sifted down, then back up.
"Yes, Yugi?" the darkness asked gingerly in response, crimson eyes boring into the boy sitting cross-legged across from his position by the, still open, door. Nearly blinding light peeked through the sliver of open doorway, falling over Yugi's usually pristine features, providing Yami with the ability to see his light, since he hadn't flipped the bedroom light switch on. A hopeful expression adorned the hikari's cherubic face, the hope also pooled in the amethyst eyes, of which Yami swore were glistening the most he'd seen in the amount of time since the incident. The boy's hands were folded primly in his lap, as if trying to make a good impression, a question abruptly erupting from Yugi's chapped lips. They started bleeding again as he spoke.
"Would you, ah...hypothetically...stay here if I wanted you to?" still ever the shy teenager questioned inquisitively, expression looking as if he were slowly piling a wall of bricks smeared with mortar, preparing for an emotional, maybe even physical, onslaught. Yami didn't like that; he didn't want his light thinking he would hurt him. That just wouldn't do. But, then again, what would do? And, if he even knew what would do, how would he make what would do work?
But then, a smile tugged at Yami's lips as he actually contemplated the question. This question wasn't hypothetical; Yugi was making a request. Not a would you stay, but a will you stay.
"Of course I'll stay with you, aibou. Like I already said, we need each other. I'll never leave you, except if that's what you wish," the darkness replied as he sauntered to Yugi's bedside, taking a seat on the boy's left. He silently rose his hand, long and high enough for Yugi to move if he pleased, and, seeing Yugi didn't care to move, clasped the boy's knee reassuringly and gently. Not even a quiver passed through Yugi's body at the contact, and Yami hated that he was surprised.
Slowly, a relieved, small smile overtook the hikari's face as he stared the pharaoh straight in the eye, huffing a relaxed sigh. "Thank you," the tri-color haired boy uttered as a slight pink crept up his slightly clammy looking cheeks. "I'm glad you'll stay...I don't know if I could sleep without you," Yugi confessed, initiating contact as he tentatively grasped his yami's hand. And, once again, Yami was left confounded and disbelieving. First Yugi accepted his touch, than the boy touched him?
/I won't leave you alone/, Yami mentally whispered.
Yugi continued to smile, yet larger, as he rose from the rumpled bed sheets with the intention of walking to the other, right, side of the bed. But, before he could maneuver around the first bed corner, Yami's hand grasped the hikari's wrist, a little roughly, but still not eliciting any negative reaction.
"You trust me, don't you?" Yami asked, sounding unsure and insecure as he silently begged for Yugi to turn to face him. Yugi did just that.
"More than anyone," the boy replied simply, squeezing his yami's hand, smiling even brighter.
An almost deadly silence dangled over the two teenager's spiked heads as the pharaoh contemplated his aibou's response and his chest warmed at the revelation. But, the warmth cooled as another revelation was divulged within his mind, gears turning and processing the information.
"As much as I loathe to admit it," Yami started, tearing his gaze away from the window he found himself gazing out of, once again, forcing himself to look at Yugi," I don't possess the words to make you feel better." Yami spied Yugi's expression, seeing a slight dimness overtake the vaguely flamboyant amethyst orbs. He looked crestfallen, if the pharaoh had to describe the look in one word. He swore he saw the boy's shoulders slouch forward, just a bit, and a tautness settle in his jaw, the biting of his teeth further bloodying his lip.
"But," the yami countered, squeezing the boy's wrist, of which he was still gripping," I'll always have the arms available to hug you, always own ears to listen to whatever you need to say, and a heart, waiting one day for that smile that I cherish, so very much, to return." The hikari seemed astonished for a moment before returning to himself, leaving his racing thoughts behind.
Yami heaved himself off the mattress with his free hand, walking ever closer to Yugi's side. He drew his free hand to Yugi's face, slightly stroking the hikari's cheeks. But, the pharaoh quickly tried pulling his hand away as a shiver crawled through the light's body, yet Yugi merely grabbed the yami's hand and replaced it on his face. He gestured for the darkness to continue his motions as he drew in a long, deep breath, smiling gratefully.
"You don't realize how much that actually means to me..."
/I don't know how I ever lived without you.../