Yugi left their minds and immediately felt heavy on his feet, needing the support of his chair to keep from falling over. His chest was tight as his heart struggled to beat comfortably and his stomach churned angrily… He was starving but also feeling the effects of over exertion… his body was aching for sleep… He hated this feeling but this was unavoidable. He would sleep once the artifacts were delivered. Just a few more hours to go.
"Are you okay?" Atem asked him. "Do you need me to take over?"
"No.. it's okay. I'm okay." Yugi told him breathlessly as the world stabilised itself. While being inside their minds his body was a lot lighter and the effects of fatigue was considerably lessened… coming back to reality he could feel how strong gravity seduced him and how much his body was straining to stay awake… but he had to push on.
"Okay.. what do I need to do?" Yugi asked himself before he squinted at his watch to figure out the time.
"Joey or Tea may be able to rent a trailer for me, I can fix em up when they get here. If they can do that then all I need to do is pack the artifacts while they get here."
"And breakfast?" Atem asked.
"Um… I might nibble on something once my stomach's settled a bit." Yugi said.
He was able to get in contact with Joey this morning who agreed to pick up Tristan and rent a trailer for him. Grandpa was already up making tea and last nights curry for breakfast when Yugi came out to see him. He made himself a coffee to keep him going, letting him know what the game plan was for today. Grandpa offered a hand in packing the artifacts and set to it while Yugi took a moment to sip at his drink.
After several minutes though he went to check on him and found he was placing name stickers on the wrapping of each artifact coresponding with the paperwork he'd written up.
"Thats a good idea." Yugi said, impressed. He was embarrassed he hadn't thought of it; it was a good way to keep them all together.
"Thank you. This way they shouldn't get mixed up or lost. Now those are ready to be brought down. I'll finish these ones." Grandpa said, referring to 3 of them in a row on one of Yugi's piles of books.
Once they were all packed up, 6 in each crate and all paperwork together safely in plastic sleeves and original paperwork signed off and included, they set to nailing the crate back closed until Joey and Tristan arrived with their shiny new borrowed trailer.
"J & T delivery service! You pack em we drive em!" Joey called out happily.
"Hey guys." Yugi waved to them as they approached happily.
"Hey dude. Atem buddy! Good ta see ya." Tristan said happily.
Atem blinked in confusion before looking to Yugi for answers.
"I forgot to mention I took a small break yesterday to get Tristan his own crystal. I tried getting your attention but you were… busy." Yugi explained.
Atem blushed slightly in embarrasment and smiled.
"I see. Good morning Tristan. I'm sorry I didn't come out yesterday. I'm glad this is working."
"Me too. So this is what you guys see! Yug this whole time you've been seeing the Pharoah like this for years?"
"Well back in the day yeah. More or less." Yugi shrugged.
"Dude you getting enough sleep?" Joey asked him.
"He's not. He's been awake for 2 days straight getting this work done." Atem dobbed him in quickly, earning himself a look of daggers from his smaller counterpart.
"Damn man, one of those?" Joey said empathetically.
"It's cool. I'll sleep once this is done. Everything's ready, it's just gotta be hoisted on and tied down. How much do I owe you for the trailer?" Yugi asked.
"It was $50 but it's cool dude." Joey said happily.
"No I've got that." Yugi said, waving him off and pushing the money into his chest for him to take.
"Okay… we've got a ramp, does it come with any rope or a harness or something?" Yugi asked.
"Uh it came with one but for those crates you may want another 2." Tristan.
"Alright, we've got those. Tristan do you wanna secure the ramp while we move the crates onto this?" Yugi asked.
Atem and Grandpa stayed out of their work as they moved the crates onto rope and pulled them up gently. Tristan and Joey did most of the heavy lifting while Yugi helped where he could but even they didn't want him helping too much with his injuries still. But they did allow him to tie the crates down and secure them properly. His training as an archaeologist came in handy here; knowing how to tie ropes correctly was more important than one would think.
Atem was impressed with Yugi's leadership skills and knowledge… he didn't have a lot of opportunities to show these skills off since he's been here. He was already impressed with his research abilities and historic intellect, but seeing it in practice was like watching his idol work. Even seeing him help pull the crates up despite his injuries was something he took note of… though for differing reasons; it was rather attractive to see him use his muscles and strength alongside Joey and Tristan. He'd grown into a man before his eyes and it was now he was seeing this.
"Alright… all done?" Joey asked.
Yugi tested the ropes, the clamps and suspensions one last time before hopping off the trailer so they could close the back of it and smiled.
"Yep. Let me get my things and we can go. Do you guys want a drink?" Yugi asked them.
"Nah we good." They waved him off.
"Yugi while you're there, pick me up a program for the exhibit. I'd like to see what you've been working on." Grandpa called to him as he went back inside.
They pulled into the museum staff and delivery entrance where they could reverse in and get assistance unloading the trailer. Joey and Tristan stayed by the car, helping them undo the restraints while Yugi went inside with delivery papers. Atem enjoyed floating around while he did this. He got to see Yugi walk around with confidence and knowledge of exactly what was going on and where. He greeted people he knew and collected papers from who bumped into him. Getting the delivery papers signed meant he got to use his ID card and listening to them refer to him as 'Dr. Moto' was thrilling. Yugi was used to it by now but Atem was so enthralled by it he was simply beaming with pride for him. Yugi had such authority here… he'd sensed his strength and growth at home as well as his confidence but it shined so brightly here. He was a senior archaeologist under the employ of the domino museum… he was practically a supervisor here of well renown.
Once the crates were successfully unloaded and the paperwork had been signed for he told Joey and Tristan to give him a few while he went to go find Mr. Owoi. Yugi explained to Atem that this man was the director of the Museum, his boss, and he needed to find him to personally let him know the artifacts had been delivered and waiting for display.
"Do you mind if you show me your office? While we're here?" Atem asked him shyly.
Yugi couldn't help but smile and blush at the humble request as they rode the elevator.
"Of course. After I see Mr. Owoi." Yugi told him sweetly.
They arrived on the 3rd floor and as Yugi took Atem down several halls they finally came to the directors office.
"Come in?" They heard from inside and Yugi entered. "Ah Dr. Moto. I didn't expect to see you so early."
"The artifacts have been delivered sir, the paperwork is with them safely. They've all been examined and prepped for display and I took the liberty of including some worthwhile information on them too. The hardcopies are with them and the digital copies are here." Yugi said as he placed a USB drive on his desk. "I also included a simulation for a staff headpiece thats worth looking at and incorporating into the exhibit. It's what it would have looked like back in the day had more of it survived. Its actually fascinating how skilled these artisans were. I believe it should boost interest in the era and prove to net in a bit more funding for future findings in the area."
"That so?"
"Sir the mosaic craftsman ship on that orb is unlike anything I've seen come out of that culture from that era. The person who worked on it must have been a master of masters and there's no doubt there would be more created by this man, it's just got to be found. You don't get to that level of skill out of nowhere and only create one thing."
"I'll take a look at it, gladly. You look dreadful Moto, you didn't stay up all night finishing this did you?" Owoi said.
"...I… um… did sir." Yugi said bashfully. He tsked but nodded all the same.
"Go home Moto. Get some sleep. You did exceedingly well. I'm very pleased. I see a nice bonus in the near future and I'm sure Handson is thanking you too. Well done." Owoi said kindly.
"Thank you sir. Have a good day." Yugi bowed his head respectfully and left, closing the door gently behind him.
"He's nice." Atem said in approval.
"He's a great director. A good man. I thought you'd like him." Yugi told him.
They went down to the bottom floor but instead of turning to the left to get to the loading dock they took a right and then another until they came to a room in the middle of a corridor with his name on a bronze plaque.
"This is your office?" Atem asked.
"Yep. I've been given a different one upstairs but I have this one set up the way I like it so I've stayed here." Yugi said as he used his keycard to unlock the door.
Turning the lights on Atem was greeted by 'organised chaos' as Yugi put it. Towers of boxes and books lined the walls, posters and charts, maps hung around, covering the blank spaces of the walls. Bookcases collecting dust were filled with textbooks, journals, scrolls and ornaments. His desk was clean but there was already a small stack of papers which Yugi collected up. Piles of books made a small obstacle course between the desk and the door and various statues and pillars decorated the place as well; one was used as a coat stand though. There were so many things to look at in here it was more like a storage room than an office; a place one puts things that don't have a place to belong… but Yugi seemed to know where everything was. There were no windows, just a ceiling fan and air vent, though neither were on and the place had become musty and dusty and the air had grown stale… still… this was his office.
"You work here?"
"More than the study at home. It's not usually this stale though but it has been a week since I occupied this space for more than 5 minutes… You're probably going to be seeing a lot more of this room soon."
"I am?"
"Well if we go through with my idea then yes I'm going to need to dig up a few things."
"I see. How do you know where everything is?"
"It's organised in it's own way. If I moved office like Owoi suggested I'd have no idea where anything would be… though it would be bigger… Perhaps I'll think about it some more. Gramps would appreciate me taking some of the stuff I have at home and bringing it here." Yugi shrugged.
Atem giggled… for how organised and independent and mature he had become this room represented the boy he was at heart. He loved him so much.
"Seen enough?" Yugi asked.
"Yes I think so. Thank you for showing me this. I'd like to be able to clean this up for you but if you see order in this then I'm very happy for you. I enjoy seeing this aspect of your life."
"Is that a polite way of saying I'm messy?" Yugi giggled.
"Perhaps… but isn't it "organised chaos'?" Atem asked playfully.
"Yes. and dont you forget that."
Finally finished Yugi rested in the back seat of the car while Joey dropped off the trailer and Tristan off to work. He'd fallen asleep very quickly and by the time Joey was nudging him awake they'd already arrived back at the Game shop.
He thanked him again for all his help and after being pushed inside agreed to trudge upstairs to flop onto his bed. He barely had his clothes off when he felt sleep dragging him away.
As Yugi slept peacefully and solidly Atem drifted off into his mind confirming for himself that the door to his demon was still locked while he slept. He left in a hurry as well, not liking the cold that came from within, oozing out like some malicious aura. He knew Yugi was strong for chaining him up and the way he talked about him suggested that Yugi was confident he'd be able to do it again… but he felt how much strength his demon was hiding and he had seen how convincing he could be … the sight of Yugi at such a critical state back then sent ice throughout his body … he hoped that as long as his demon remained chained up he would never see that side of Yugi… ever.
Moving onto happier topics he visited the room he had created. It no longer had Yugi inside it; he didn't need a fake Yugi to keep him company anymore, but it did still take on the shape of his bedroom. He knew why… Yugi slept soundly in his bed and more than anything right now all he wished was to be beside him… but even if he remained in his presence it wasn't enough right now… he wanted to be with him, to feel his body breathing beside him and the warmth of his skin.
Sighing left the room again. He'd have to wait until Yugi visited him in his room again before he could touch the boy. Though as thought of that a blush crept upon him as he remembered Yugi's lips on his own and the way he moved his body against his. Immediately he could feel his spectral body reacting and he double checked the door to his soul room was closed… the last thing he wanted was to wake Yugi from his slumber because he couldn't control his urges. He wondered if he should explore his fantasies while he slept but thought to cool off instead… it'd be more fun with him here to inflame his desires and experience it with him… if he wished that was. He still didn't know what to make of their relationship. Yugi had kissed him and he told him he had known of how he felt for a while and yet it didn't seem to bother him. They promised to one another they'd keep no more secrets but almost as quickly as their confessions came Yugi was whisked away with responsibilities… he could only hope that once he had slept he'd be able to spend some time with him… until then Atem would need to be patient.