Yuugi woke with a gasp, glancing around wildly, only to sink back with a sigh. It's okay. I'm alright. I'm-

His thoughts cut off abruptly, replaced by stunned white noise as he stared up at the transparent, dark-skinned teen who was suddenly straddling his waist. Pharaoh stared back, leaning over and trapping his partner's face between bronze arm. There was a frantic look in his eyes as he asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm-" Yuugi began, only to stop at the sound of a sleepy mumble. They both glanced at the floor where Jounouchi and Honda were curled up on futons. Luckily, the duo appeared to still be sound asleep.

The puzzle-bearers returned their gazes to each other and Yuugi gave Pharaoh a somewhat forced smile. "I'm okay. It was just a nightmare."

"Are you certain? You do not look as if you are 'okay' and your fear is still resonating across our link."

Guilt flashed in amethyst eyes. "You can feel that? I'm so sorry! I didn't-"

"Do not apologize," Pharaoh interrupted with a stern look. "I am glad to share these things with you."

"You're happy that I woke you up at," Yuugi paused and glanced at the clock, "three in the morning?"

Pharaoh leaned back so that he was sitting on Yuugi's lap, no longer framing the other teen's face between his arms. Then he crossed those arms and glared at his partner. "First of all, you did not awaken me. This form of mine does not sleep in the traditional sense. Secondly, I do not care what time of night or day it is. If you are in distress, then I want to know! How else am I to keep you safe from attacks?"

Yuugi stared up at the glaring figure and then sighed. "Okay, that's fair, but I'm still gonna say sorry when this happens."

"If you must," Pharaoh accepted with a reluctant nod. Then he took a moment to study Yuugi's body. The trembling hands. The eyes that still spoke of silent dread. The cold sweat soaking tri-colored hair. "Do you wish to talk about your nightmare?"

"Not really. I'd normally get up and do something to distract myself, but I don't wanna risk waking the others up."

They both glanced over at the teens in question. Then Pharaoh carefully offered, "If it is distraction that you seek, you could always come into the puzzle? I believe that you owe me a chance to defeat your fluffy subjects."

Yuugi smiled, heart calming as he asked, "Are you admitting that I'm the sheep king?"

"If I am, it is only so that I might dethrone you."

That earned a quiet laugh which Yuugi quickly cut off, throwing his hand over his mouth to stifle the noise in order to avoid waking his sleeping friends. "Right. Puzzle. Good idea. I'll meet you there in a sec."

Pharaoh nodded and disappeared. A moment later, Yuugi closed his eyes and followed.

Yuugi opened his eyes and found himself standing in the room that both was and wasn't his bedroom. Pharaoh was already there, standing beside their game, watching Yuugi with worried eyes.

The smaller teen gave his partner a soft smile. "You look almost as shaken up as I feel."

"As I said, it was unpleasant to feel your fear. This distraction is as much for me as it is for you."

Yuugi nodded, an odd look on his face.

"Is something the matter?"

"Do you-" Yuugi began, then he stopped, curling in on himself as he took a deep breath and then asked, "Do you want a hug?"

Pharaoh blinked, surprised. Then his rigid posture softened. A smile flashed across his face. "I would not be opposed to one."

"Good," Yuugi said, stepping into Pharaoh's space and wrapping his arms around the taller teen. "Because I feel like we could both use one right now."

The only reply he got was bronze arms returning the embrace, pulling him close.

Hugging his partner was still a strange experience for Yuugi. The only physical element to it was a light pressure where their bodies touched. A pressure that never seemed to change, no matter how tightly pressed together they were.

The emotions, on the other hand, were an entirely different story.

As they curled around each other, Yuugi felt comfort and peace flood through him, bringing a smile to his lips. It was as if the warmth and security that usually came from physical touch expressed itself as pure emotions instead. He welcomed those feelings, closing his eyes and resting his head against Pharaoh's shoulder, letting himself relax and forget about the lingering fear.

They eventually parted with soft smiles and took their places on either side of the game board.

Once he was comfortably seated, Yuugi picked up the dice and held them out. "It was your turn, right?"

Pharaoh nodded and took the numbered cubes, rolling them across the ground. For a while, they played in relative silence, the only sounds quiet discussions related to the game itself. Then, Pharaoh looked at Yuugi and said, "Might I ask a personal question?"

Yuugi took a moment to process the sudden change in topic and then shrugged. "Sure, I don't mind."

"I took some time to examine the games and puzzles that populate your shelves. While the majority appear to be designed for solo play, I found several that were like this one, requiring multiple players."

Yuugi glanced behind him, taking in the games and studying their titles. Then he turned back to face Pharaoh, saying, "Yeah, I see a few like that. Why? What's up? Did you wanna play something else?"

"Not in this moment, no, though I hope that we may sample many of them in the days to come," Pharaoh replied with a smile. Then he frowned, looking uncertain as he continued, "What I wanted to ask is this: how is it that you have so many beloved games requiring companions, yet you experience such trepidation when playing duel monsters?"

There was a moment of silence and then Yuugi let out a long sigh, leaning back. He stared up at the ceiling, considering how to answer. After a minute or so, he looked at his partner and said, "Well, that's a little complicated, but I can try to explain?"

Pharaoh nodded, patiently waiting for Yuugi to go on, which he did. "First of all, I play most of these with my grandfather and I've been doing that since before I can remember. He tries to never sell a game that he hasn't personally vetted and - not to brag or anything - but I'm his favorite playtester."

This earned a light chuckle and Yuugi winked at his partner before continuing, "I'm not sure if that means that it's an exposure thing or a trust thing, but either way, I never feel anxious playing games with him. I've even dueled him a few times, though never with my own deck. It's always some pre-built one that he's going to sell in the shop. Those tend to be a good starting point, but always need some improvements and he wants to be able to give advice on what those might be.

"It's more than that, though, because I've dragged Anzu along to test games that require three-or-more players and I don't have a problem then. Plus I'm fine playing with you..." He trailed off, considering all the pieces to the puzzle, then said, "I think it's just that games with limited variety in their playstyles naturally come with pretty minimal stress.

"Take this one, for example. The only major choice that I can really make is what starting places to pick. After that, it all comes down to chance-based dice roles. There's really only, like, seven options for what to do in a given turn and they never change. The only thing that changes is if I have the resources to do them.

"Duel monsters isn't like that.

"There are hundreds of cards that can be made into thousands of decks. Every game has the potential to be wildly different from the last and there are lots of choices to make both before the game and during it. That's lots of chances to mess up." Yuugi's gaze fell to the game board, a frown tugging at his lips. "It's not the risk of losing that worries me. Most of the time, I don't care if I win. My anxiety comes from a fear of making a fool of myself or having a deck that I put my heart and soul into get made fun of."

A bronze hand reached out, coming to rest on Yuugi's pale one, drawing the teen's focus upwards to piercing, purple eyes. "I understand. Thank you for explaining."

"No problem," Yuugi whispered, embarrassment rushing through him. Then he realized something. "Wait, can I not blush when we're like this?"

"No," Pharaoh replied, removing his hand so that he could shrug. "As I have said before, mine is an existence devoid of the physical. I cannot blush or cry or anything of that nature. I imagine that the same rules apply to you when you are like this or in our transparent state."

Well that has some potential advantages, Yuugi thought, mind wandering.

It snapped back to attention when Pharaoh began to speak once more, saying, "May I ask another question?"

"Sure?" Yuugi replied, tensing slightly. Hopefully this one would be a little less soul-searching.

"You said that you play games with your grandfather and Anzu. Why not Jou or Honda?"

Yuugi relaxed. "Oh, that's an easy one! I'm not opposed to playing a game with them or anything like that. It's just never come up outside of Jou wanting to duel me. We haven't exactly been friends all that long."

Pharaoh tilted his head, looking puzzled. "You appear to be close with both of them, Jou especially."

"Well, you're not wrong, but it's mostly because I did something really stupid and they called it brave," Yuugi admitted with an embarrassed laugh.

This earned a curious look, making Yuugi sigh.

"Yeah, I figured you'd wanna know the whole story," he muttered. Then he gave Pharaoh a pointed look. "No judging me for this, okay? Like I said, I already know it was a dumb move. And don't tell grandpa!"

Pharaoh nodded, raising his hands in a gesture of peace. Then he motioned for Yuugi to continue.

"Alright, so, Jou has a bit of a... rough past and it catches up with him from time to time. A few months ago, it caught up in the form of a fight. I happened to be walking by and I normally avoid that kind of stuff like the plague, but, well, the other guy had a knife! Jou was completely unarmed and I knew that, if I didn't do something, it was gonna end poorly. So I kind of... jumped on the guy's back," Yuugi finished in a rush, closing his eyes. Then he waited, expecting Pharaoh to start lecturing him, but all he heard was silence. After a bit, he looked up and found his partner watching him with an amused smile.

"Are you going to finish your tale?"

"S-sure?" Yuugi stuttered. "It's pretty much done, anyway. My jumping on the guy gave Jou the opening he needed to knock the knife away. After that, he won the fight with ease. The next day, Jou bought me lunch and proclaimed himself my new best friend. After that, he and Honda started hanging out with me and eating with me most days. It's been... nice."

Pharaoh nodded and then said, "That does not sound stupid to me. It sounds quite brave, but then you are a brave person."

"Me?" Yuugi cried, looking stunned. "I'm not brave! If anything, I'm a coward!"

"You are not a coward," Pharaoh replied calmly. "You just seem unwilling to defend yourself with the same ferocity that you defend others."

"What?"

"Though I have only known you for a short while, I have seen you rush to the aid of others many times. The day we met, you faced what seemed to be your greatest fear in order to help a loved one. In the time since, you have accepted me, knowing full well that I could be a potential threat. You have also given up much of your own privacy so that I might have hope once more. You have even defended me from those who would destroy me. These are all the actions of a brave and kind soul. If you defended yourself with even half of the ferocity with which you defend others, you would be quite the warrior."

Yuugi didn't say a word. He just stared at Pharaoh with wide eyes.

Pharaoh didn't acknowledge his partner's shocked state. Instead, he took up the dice once more and rolled them, beginning his turn as he finished, "But, if you still consider your actions that day stupid, I shall not fight you on the matter. After all, should such a situation ever arise while I am present, then I shall simply summon a large dragon and have it take care of the problem."

It was this that finally brought Yuugi back to earth. He let out an amused snort and then said, "You know that you can't use duel monsters to solve all your problems, right?"

"Of course not," Pharaoh agreed, holding out the dice. "Only the physical ones. It is your turn, by the way."

Yuugi took the dice, giving his partner an annoyed look. Then he shook his head and rolled the cubes while he quietly admitted, "I don't like violence. That's why I don't like that story. I feel like there should have been another way."

"I may not share your complete distaste for it, but do not think that I enjoy harming others. It is simply a necessary evil," Pharaoh replied. "Consider our encounter with Pegasus yesterday. We had no choice but to retaliate or be injured ourselves. And, in your tale, would you rather Jou have been gravely injured?

"I promise you that I will search for ways to avoid fighting, but sometimes, it is the only choice that we can make should we wish to live."

Yuugi sighed and gave Pharaoh a small smile. "Stop using logic against me, that's my thing!"

His partner laughed. "Well, now it's our thing."

"Yeah," Yuugi said, sounding surprisingly pleased. "I suppose it is."

Then he looked down at the game board and grinned, "Hey, I rolled an eight! That means I win."

"WHAT?" Pharaoh cried, calm composure gone as he leaned forward, studying the game.

Yuugi quickly pointed out all of the items that got him points, listing out their values as he did. When he was done, he finished, "That's 10 points, which means I win."

Pharaoh frowned, looking deeply displeased.

"Hey, you got eight points and it was your first time playing. That's really good! Now that you know the rules and all, I'm sure that you'll-"

"Again," Pharaoh interrupted, fixing his partner with a piercing gaze.

"What?"

"Reset the board. We shall play again."

Yuugi took a moment to process the demand and then found himself biting back a laugh. Looks like someone has a competitive side.

He didn't say that, though. Instead, he smiled and said, "Normally, I'd be all for it, but it's late and I think that I can fall back asleep now. I don't wanna get completely off schedule."

Pharaoh considered this and then crossed his arms over his chest, looking displeased, but nodding all the same.

Yuugi bit back another laugh. Oh gods, he's actually pouting. That's adorable.

"We can try to play tomorrow, if you want, though I was hoping that we could go out for a bit first."

Pharaoh's posture relaxed, gaze turning curious.

"Go out?"

"Yeah! It all depends on how everyone's feeling about the whole Pegasus thing, but if we decide to give it the all clear, then I thought we might go into the city. Domino has a pretty great library system, so we could get some books on Egypt and see if there's anything in there about the items or the tomb my grandpa mentioned. We might even have time to go out and do a bit of exploring, if you want. Maybe go shopping for an outfit for you."

"That is the second time that you have mentioned this idea. Does my borrowing of your clothing bother you?"

"No!" Yuugi cried, looking mildly horrified. "I'm fine if you wanna keep borrowing my look! You're welcome to anything in my closet! It's just, well, you don't seem to have anything of your own. I wanted to give you a chance to change that."

It was Pharaoh's turn to look stunned. Then he smiled, eyes bright. "Thank you, Yuugi. I think that I would like that very much. Once it has been agreed that it is safe, I would be quite willing to go on this outing with you."