A story from D's point of view, exploring her feelings about her life, Writer, and rival Muse, Yugi.
My Own Worst Enemy
by XMAN0123
---------------------------
I think I have a great life, and a pretty good job to match. All I have to do is inspire every now and then, and what do I get in return? Just about everything I want, really. A nice house (okay, apartment, but still roomy) to live in, a Writer who's almost always happy to see me, and an endless supply of frozen burritos. Okay, that sounded weird, but a Muse has to have some kind of fuel to run on. I have my burritos, and SHE has her strawberries.
Anyway, most Muses I know of live in Subreality, and maybe that's okay for them. Me, I prefer my Writer's apartment. He even gave me my own room, though I don't know why. I only stay there so I can be close to him and keep him warm on the cold nights. Okay, ALL the nights. And it would be a perfect world if it wasn't for HER.
Every morning, I wake up in my Writer's arms, thinking that all my dreams have come true. Then that annoying head of blond hair pops up on the other side of him, and I'm reminded that I have to share him with HER. Just because she's his Muse, too, she gets to stay with us.
The way Nate (my Writer) explained it to me, "Yugi is just as important to me as you are, D, so I wish you two would try and get along." Well, I did try a few times. But she just glared at me and refused to speak. Nate says that Yugi's jealous of me because she was his first, and for a long time, only Muse.
I think I understand how she feels, a little. We both have this unexplainable need to be around Nate pretty much all the time. It's not quite romance, since Nate sees us as little girls that just happen to live with him. Then again, he loves being inspired, so it's not unusual for him to reward us with hugs, forehead and/or cheek kisses, and if we're really lucky, a night of nonstop Sega Dreamcast wars. Nate only lets us play with it when we've been really good, since we have a bad habit of getting really competitive. Yugi nearly blew up one of his games (I happened to be winning at the time), and ever since then, we have to be under Nate's supervision while playing.
Anyway, Yugi and I don't get along so well. If we're not fighting over Nate, it's who the best Muse is, who he needs more, or who's cuter. Okay, so she's got a slight advantage thanks to those baggy overalls, but I swear she never washes them. I've never seen her do it, at least.
Naturally, even I need a break from all that insulting and arguing. That's usually when I go to see Mom. You'd know her as Death, but I prefer Mom. I think she does, too. Mom seems to understand me perfectly, but maybe that's because she made me. She alone knows how much I hate Yugi, but she never encourages it. In fact, she's always telling me that the only way to be a great Muse is to accept that Nate & Yugi are a package deal. If I want to remain his Muse, I have to learn how to work with Yugi, eventually. I'm just glad she didn't give me a time limit.
The only other person I can really talk to is Sandman or Dream, Mom's younger brother. I guess he's my uncle, so I call him Unkie Dreamboat. He HATES that, but he can never stay made at me for more than five seconds. It's a gift, I suppose. He says that whenever I get tired of the real world, there's always a place for me in the Dreaming. I'm almost there as much as Nate is, maybe more. I'm curious as to what he dreams about, but Unkie says that he won't break a loyal Writer's trust in him, even for his favorite niece. I've tried pointing out that I'm his only niece, but it never works.
My dreams consist of the usual three fantasies: Nate falling madly in love with me, Yugi dying in some quick but VERY painful way, and me winning a lifetime supply of frozen burritos. I'm not a hard Muse to please. I never even knew that what I wished for so often might one day come true.
* * * * *
I dropped by Nate's apartment late one night, planning to surprise him in bed. But to my surprise, he wasn't home, and neither was Yugi, which was even more startling. Yugi usually stayed behind in case I did show up, so she could stop me from going through Nate's more personal items. I can't help myself, the guy practically smells like one of my burritos, which sounds weird, but it's magic to me.
I waited for a while, then decided to heat up a burrito or two. I'd just polished off the first one when I found a note taped to the microwave.
"Gone to Subreality. Talk to your Mom for the details."
Nate's messages usually had a much more friendly tone to them, which told me instantly that something was really wrong. The fact that he hadn't been very precise told me that it had something to do with my least favorite subject: Yugi. Still, I was curious, as Nate didn't visit Subreality that often; most of his characters came to see him whether they were invited or not.
Mom wasn't at home, so I went to the Dreaming next. As usual, Unkie Dreamboat was able to help, though I almost wished he hadn't. He said that Nate was sick, and that it was serious. He told me to go find Deadpool, some friend of Mom's, who would take me to Nate, if I asked him nicely.
He didn't mention that Deadpool was a total pervert, or that I'd have to pull him out of a bar fight first. But the jerk did come through, and I was soon running down a sickly white hall, hoping that my Writer was okay.
I rounded the corner only to slam into a leg the size of a tree trunk. I realized that it belong to Cell, one of Nate's fictives. With him were Vegeta and Garlic Jr. But I soon realized it wasn't just them. There was a long line of anime villains and heroes, stretching farther than I could see. It suddenly dawned on me that they were all here for the same reason. The same reason that I was here. They were worried about Nate, even if he hadn't created them. He was a Writer, and that was all that mattered.
It didn't take me long to find Nate's room. There was a Sentinel standing guard outside, and Nate's online name, XMAN0123, was printed on the door. Once he recognized me as a Muse, he allowed me to enter.
Nate looked nowhere half as bad as I expected. In fact, he seemed perfectly fine, save for the fact that he couldn't seem to stop crying. I pulled aside the first doctor I found. "What's wrong with him?"
"We're still not sure. He won't tell us anything, but we think he was in some kind of accident. There was a Muse with him when the DBZ guys brought them in, but she's in much worse shape. We had to take her to Emergency."
I knew without a doubt that he meant Yugi. Not that it helped much. I still didn't know what happened, but I planned to find out.
I walked over to Nate's bed and climbed up. He stopped crying long enough to recognize me, but once he did, he nearly smothered me in a desperate hug and started crying all over again.
"Nate, what is it?" I finally asked, stroking his head.
He sniffled and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He tried again, this time making a sobbing sound. Finally, he swallowed and whispered hoarsely, "It's all my fault, D. I should've done something."
"What do you mean?"
He took a deep breath. "I knew I hadn't written any anime stories in a while. I thought if I came to Subreality with Yugi, I'd get some inspiration. But when we made the trip, something happened and I blacked out. When I came to, I was here, and they won't let me see her."
A felt a tinge of jealousy, but it faded when I saw the pained look in his eyes. Forcing myself not to grimace, I slowly said the dreaded words. "I could check on her for you."
To my surprise, Nate shook his head. "No, D. I don't want you to see her like this."
"Like what?" I asked.
Nate turned away from me. "I have Writer's Block, D. I don't know how I got it, but I just have it. Yugi...it did something to her, and Cell's telling me she won't wake up. It might be contagious, and I don't want you going near her."
"But I thought you had it?"
Nate blinked. "I do, but from what the doctors told me, you could get it next, just because you're my Muse. The risk goes up if you're near Yugi, since she's already infected. Writer's Block doesn't harm Writers, it just shuts them down at the source. I've gotten it before, but that was before I had a Muse. I never knew it could do this..."
I could see that Nate was really worried about Yugi, and me, as well. But I could also see that not knowing her condition was driving him crazy. He was no good to either of us if he couldn't think straight. From what he was telling me, there might not be two of us for much longer. So I did the only thing I could do.
I leaped off the bed and ran out of the room, heading for the Emergency sector. As I passed the various characters in the hall, I knew instantly that they weren't here for Nate. They were all friends of Yugi's, but they hadn't been allowed into Emergency. Being close to her Writer was as close as they could get to Yugi now.
I only had to get by three guards to enter the Emergency sector. Luckily, I had borrowed some of Unkie's magic powder (okay, I took it when he wasn't looking), so they were asleep within seconds.
When I finally found Yugi, I really wished I hadn't. She was wearing one of those light blue hospital robes, but that's not what made her so frightening. Her skin was nearly as pale as mine, and she looked very thin. There were two tiny tubes stuck up her nose, supposedly helping her breathe. I guess what really got me was her eyes. I'd gotten use to that blue fire in her eyes when we'd fight, and I almost enjoyed it, knowing that I had a rival that would always be a worthy opponent. But now her eyes were glassy and gray, like she was really old all of a sudden. I knew then that Yugi was dying.
I'm not sure why, but I felt a need to touch her. I hesitantly placed my hand on her forehead, which was cold and damp. I whispered her name until the eyes blinked and turned to me.
"You win," she said, a smile on her face. "You get Nate all to yourself."
I shook my head. "I didn't want to win like this."
Yugi closed her eyes. "Doesn't matter. They told me that you'll get what I've got. I figure you've got three more months with Nate. Better make the best of them. You can still get some good stories out before it's your turn."
The words flew out of my mouth before I realized I had said them. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" she asked.
"Fighting and...everything."
"Don't be. I'm not." Yugi slowly opened her eyes. "Just between us, you're not so bad, D. Kinda like a sister I never wanted."
"Yeah, I hate you, too," I replied, though my heart wasn't in it.
"I know. But I'm glad Nate has you. He'll need someone when I'm gone." She slowly reached up and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. "You better take good care of him, or I'll come back and haunt you."
"I will, Yugi," I promised.
Her eyes seemed to lose some of the little light they had left. "Good." She didn't let go of me, though. "One more thing."
"What?" I asked.
"I know we never got along or anything, but I just wanna say...it's been fun, these past couple of months. I think I'm a better Muse because of you. I've never worked as hard to prove I was the best at what I do. That's what Nate says, anyway." She paused and let go of my arm, then gripped my hand in her own. "So. Thanks."
For a long time, I could only stare at that frail, little hand that had once been strong enough to beat me in thumb wrestling. Only once, though. Now I doubted if it could open a milk carton. And for the first time in my life, I found it impossible to hate Yugi. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I almost...liked her?
"Hey, you're not crying, are you?" she asked suspiciously.
I quickly wiped away the evidence. "No. Allergies. But...you're welcome."
"Okay. Thought you were getting soft on me." She let go of my hand and sighed. "Go back to Nate. He needs you."
A thought came to me. If I walked out of the room, it might be the last time I ever saw Yugi. No more name-calling, no more thumb wrestling, no more Dreamcast wars, and no more fights. In short, no more fun. Sure, Nate was a great guy, but Yugi was the one that made being a Muse fun. Without her, it would never be the same, and neither would Nate.
"You going or what?" she asked.
"No," I answered. "I'm staying with you. For a while, anyway."
"Suit yourself." Yugi closed her eyes again. "If you tell anyone else what I said, I'll deny it all."
"I know." An idea suddenly came to me. I reached up and fingered the golden ankh around my neck, staring at it for a moment. "Here. Take this."
Yugi seemed surprised as I took it off and held it out to her. "I can't take that. It's yours," she said.
"I want you to have it," I insisted, pressing it into her hand. She tried to argue, but I closed her fingers around it and squeezed her hand gently. "For your health," I said, smiling at her.
"Thanks," she whispered, staring up at me. Then her eyes widened. "Your arm!"
As expected, my right arm was going soft, returning to its original cotton state. "It's okay. I'll be fine."
"But...why'd you do this?" Yugi asked.
"I had to," was all I could think to say before my lips sealed together. Then the darkness came.
* * * * *
The darkness faded, and I was alive again. But I wasn't in the hospital. I was in Nate's apartment. More specifically, I was in Yugi's room, trying to figure out how I'd gotten here. Then I saw Yugi.
She was back to normal, wearing a pair of red overalls and socks. And she was smiling at me for a change.
A scary thought occurred to me. "Is my hair messed up?"
"No more than usual," she replied.
"Then why are you smiling?"
"Because I can." She came closer and touched my cheek. "I guess it worked."
"What worked?"
"The ankh. I was afraid it wouldn't bring you back, but it did."
I stared at her. "You...missed me?"
"Not at first," she said quickly. "Nate did. But you should've told me that you needed that thing to live."
"What, so you could take it?"
"Okay, good point. But I won't do that ever." Yugi smiled again. "Thanks for giving it to me. How'd you know it would make me better?"
"Just a hunch. It's the source of my power, so I figured what's good for one Muse is good for another." I would've said more, but my stomach growled loudly.
"I guess dolls don't get to eat," Yugi said. "Nate bought a big case of burritos yesterday. C'mon, I'll show you where he hid them."
I followed her into the kitchen, but I felt strange. Yugi was actually being nice to me. It was weird, but it felt right.
"You want medium or hot?" she asked.
"Doesn't matter," I replied, watching her reach to the back of the freezer.
Yugi pulled out two burritos the size of her hand and put them in the microwave. "How long do you nuke these for?"
"Three minutes on medium," I said, still watching her.
Yugi hit a few buttons, and the microwave gave a loud beep as it began to cook. She turned back to me. "Y'know, you're kinda quiet. What's the deal?"
"I have to do something. Just don't blast me or anything, okay?"
Yugi gave me a curious look. "Okay."
I stepped towards her, took a deep breath, and then gave her a big hug. It was nice, and she didn't even scream or anything like that. Instead, she actually hugged me back.
"Hey, D?" she asked after a while.
"Yeah?"
"Does this mean I can't hate you anymore?"
"I think so, yes."
"So we're going to be pals?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Okay. So can I have one of those burritos?"
"Sure. But we're eating strawberries for dessert."
"Deal," she agreed. "Can we let go now?"
"I think it's been long enough." We released each other just as the microwave's timer went off.
"So where's Nate?" I asked as we started to eat.
Yugi bit into her burrito. "He said he was going to visit your Mom."
"Did he say why?"
"Something about needing to be inspired."
"So...why didn't he just come to me?"
Yugi stopped eating. "Okay, okay. To be honest, I wasn't supposed to bring you back without Nate being here. But he was taking too long, and...I missed you."
I smiled at her. "I missed you, too. So how long have I been...gone?"
"About two weeks. Nate wanted to wait until he was sure I was better, but I feel fine now. Anyway, he hasn't been writing much, and I think it's time we forced him to pump out a story."
"He's probably just worried about you, Yugi. You DID almost die."
She snorted. "That was then, and this is later. We're Muses, and we can't let our Writer get lazy. I'm not ending up in some hospital again, and neither are you!"
"Okay. We can start after we eat."
Yugi smiled confidently. "No need. I've already got an idea for a story."
"Really? About who?" I asked.
"Us!" she replied.
"You wanna add anything else to that?"
"Nope. We're much more interesting than some overused fictives. Besides, the readers should know what we've been through. And it'll keep Nate busy for one night, at least. We can play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 while he's working."
"No way! I wanna play now!"
Yugi tilted her head slightly. "We could get in trouble."
"So? Nate can't be mad at me; I gave up my life for yours. I'm a hero around here for at least a year."
"But he'll be mad at me for letting you do it."
"Say I bribed you with a burrito."
Yugi considered that. "True enough. But then he'll get really frustrated, and his face will get big and red." Then she smiled. "I can hardly wait!"
"You get the game ready, and I'll get the strawberries!"
Yugi nodded and ran into Nate's room, while I gathered the fruit. I was filled with a sense of wonder shortly afterwards. It was just like Mom had said. I couldn't really be Nate's Muse unless I accepted that Yugi was, too.
Nate couldn't believe that Yugi and I were friends now. He kept thinking that we were playing a joke on him, and that when he woke up in the morning, the apartment would be in ruins from our fight. Of course, there were no ruins. Unless, of course, you counted the strawberry tops all over Nate's room. And the burrito bags we left on the kitchen table. And that whipped cream stain that won't come out of the rug.
But no ruins.
-------------------
Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. Subreality is owned by Kielle.
My Own Worst Enemy
by XMAN0123
---------------------------
I think I have a great life, and a pretty good job to match. All I have to do is inspire every now and then, and what do I get in return? Just about everything I want, really. A nice house (okay, apartment, but still roomy) to live in, a Writer who's almost always happy to see me, and an endless supply of frozen burritos. Okay, that sounded weird, but a Muse has to have some kind of fuel to run on. I have my burritos, and SHE has her strawberries.
Anyway, most Muses I know of live in Subreality, and maybe that's okay for them. Me, I prefer my Writer's apartment. He even gave me my own room, though I don't know why. I only stay there so I can be close to him and keep him warm on the cold nights. Okay, ALL the nights. And it would be a perfect world if it wasn't for HER.
Every morning, I wake up in my Writer's arms, thinking that all my dreams have come true. Then that annoying head of blond hair pops up on the other side of him, and I'm reminded that I have to share him with HER. Just because she's his Muse, too, she gets to stay with us.
The way Nate (my Writer) explained it to me, "Yugi is just as important to me as you are, D, so I wish you two would try and get along." Well, I did try a few times. But she just glared at me and refused to speak. Nate says that Yugi's jealous of me because she was his first, and for a long time, only Muse.
I think I understand how she feels, a little. We both have this unexplainable need to be around Nate pretty much all the time. It's not quite romance, since Nate sees us as little girls that just happen to live with him. Then again, he loves being inspired, so it's not unusual for him to reward us with hugs, forehead and/or cheek kisses, and if we're really lucky, a night of nonstop Sega Dreamcast wars. Nate only lets us play with it when we've been really good, since we have a bad habit of getting really competitive. Yugi nearly blew up one of his games (I happened to be winning at the time), and ever since then, we have to be under Nate's supervision while playing.
Anyway, Yugi and I don't get along so well. If we're not fighting over Nate, it's who the best Muse is, who he needs more, or who's cuter. Okay, so she's got a slight advantage thanks to those baggy overalls, but I swear she never washes them. I've never seen her do it, at least.
Naturally, even I need a break from all that insulting and arguing. That's usually when I go to see Mom. You'd know her as Death, but I prefer Mom. I think she does, too. Mom seems to understand me perfectly, but maybe that's because she made me. She alone knows how much I hate Yugi, but she never encourages it. In fact, she's always telling me that the only way to be a great Muse is to accept that Nate & Yugi are a package deal. If I want to remain his Muse, I have to learn how to work with Yugi, eventually. I'm just glad she didn't give me a time limit.
The only other person I can really talk to is Sandman or Dream, Mom's younger brother. I guess he's my uncle, so I call him Unkie Dreamboat. He HATES that, but he can never stay made at me for more than five seconds. It's a gift, I suppose. He says that whenever I get tired of the real world, there's always a place for me in the Dreaming. I'm almost there as much as Nate is, maybe more. I'm curious as to what he dreams about, but Unkie says that he won't break a loyal Writer's trust in him, even for his favorite niece. I've tried pointing out that I'm his only niece, but it never works.
My dreams consist of the usual three fantasies: Nate falling madly in love with me, Yugi dying in some quick but VERY painful way, and me winning a lifetime supply of frozen burritos. I'm not a hard Muse to please. I never even knew that what I wished for so often might one day come true.
* * * * *
I dropped by Nate's apartment late one night, planning to surprise him in bed. But to my surprise, he wasn't home, and neither was Yugi, which was even more startling. Yugi usually stayed behind in case I did show up, so she could stop me from going through Nate's more personal items. I can't help myself, the guy practically smells like one of my burritos, which sounds weird, but it's magic to me.
I waited for a while, then decided to heat up a burrito or two. I'd just polished off the first one when I found a note taped to the microwave.
"Gone to Subreality. Talk to your Mom for the details."
Nate's messages usually had a much more friendly tone to them, which told me instantly that something was really wrong. The fact that he hadn't been very precise told me that it had something to do with my least favorite subject: Yugi. Still, I was curious, as Nate didn't visit Subreality that often; most of his characters came to see him whether they were invited or not.
Mom wasn't at home, so I went to the Dreaming next. As usual, Unkie Dreamboat was able to help, though I almost wished he hadn't. He said that Nate was sick, and that it was serious. He told me to go find Deadpool, some friend of Mom's, who would take me to Nate, if I asked him nicely.
He didn't mention that Deadpool was a total pervert, or that I'd have to pull him out of a bar fight first. But the jerk did come through, and I was soon running down a sickly white hall, hoping that my Writer was okay.
I rounded the corner only to slam into a leg the size of a tree trunk. I realized that it belong to Cell, one of Nate's fictives. With him were Vegeta and Garlic Jr. But I soon realized it wasn't just them. There was a long line of anime villains and heroes, stretching farther than I could see. It suddenly dawned on me that they were all here for the same reason. The same reason that I was here. They were worried about Nate, even if he hadn't created them. He was a Writer, and that was all that mattered.
It didn't take me long to find Nate's room. There was a Sentinel standing guard outside, and Nate's online name, XMAN0123, was printed on the door. Once he recognized me as a Muse, he allowed me to enter.
Nate looked nowhere half as bad as I expected. In fact, he seemed perfectly fine, save for the fact that he couldn't seem to stop crying. I pulled aside the first doctor I found. "What's wrong with him?"
"We're still not sure. He won't tell us anything, but we think he was in some kind of accident. There was a Muse with him when the DBZ guys brought them in, but she's in much worse shape. We had to take her to Emergency."
I knew without a doubt that he meant Yugi. Not that it helped much. I still didn't know what happened, but I planned to find out.
I walked over to Nate's bed and climbed up. He stopped crying long enough to recognize me, but once he did, he nearly smothered me in a desperate hug and started crying all over again.
"Nate, what is it?" I finally asked, stroking his head.
He sniffled and opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He tried again, this time making a sobbing sound. Finally, he swallowed and whispered hoarsely, "It's all my fault, D. I should've done something."
"What do you mean?"
He took a deep breath. "I knew I hadn't written any anime stories in a while. I thought if I came to Subreality with Yugi, I'd get some inspiration. But when we made the trip, something happened and I blacked out. When I came to, I was here, and they won't let me see her."
A felt a tinge of jealousy, but it faded when I saw the pained look in his eyes. Forcing myself not to grimace, I slowly said the dreaded words. "I could check on her for you."
To my surprise, Nate shook his head. "No, D. I don't want you to see her like this."
"Like what?" I asked.
Nate turned away from me. "I have Writer's Block, D. I don't know how I got it, but I just have it. Yugi...it did something to her, and Cell's telling me she won't wake up. It might be contagious, and I don't want you going near her."
"But I thought you had it?"
Nate blinked. "I do, but from what the doctors told me, you could get it next, just because you're my Muse. The risk goes up if you're near Yugi, since she's already infected. Writer's Block doesn't harm Writers, it just shuts them down at the source. I've gotten it before, but that was before I had a Muse. I never knew it could do this..."
I could see that Nate was really worried about Yugi, and me, as well. But I could also see that not knowing her condition was driving him crazy. He was no good to either of us if he couldn't think straight. From what he was telling me, there might not be two of us for much longer. So I did the only thing I could do.
I leaped off the bed and ran out of the room, heading for the Emergency sector. As I passed the various characters in the hall, I knew instantly that they weren't here for Nate. They were all friends of Yugi's, but they hadn't been allowed into Emergency. Being close to her Writer was as close as they could get to Yugi now.
I only had to get by three guards to enter the Emergency sector. Luckily, I had borrowed some of Unkie's magic powder (okay, I took it when he wasn't looking), so they were asleep within seconds.
When I finally found Yugi, I really wished I hadn't. She was wearing one of those light blue hospital robes, but that's not what made her so frightening. Her skin was nearly as pale as mine, and she looked very thin. There were two tiny tubes stuck up her nose, supposedly helping her breathe. I guess what really got me was her eyes. I'd gotten use to that blue fire in her eyes when we'd fight, and I almost enjoyed it, knowing that I had a rival that would always be a worthy opponent. But now her eyes were glassy and gray, like she was really old all of a sudden. I knew then that Yugi was dying.
I'm not sure why, but I felt a need to touch her. I hesitantly placed my hand on her forehead, which was cold and damp. I whispered her name until the eyes blinked and turned to me.
"You win," she said, a smile on her face. "You get Nate all to yourself."
I shook my head. "I didn't want to win like this."
Yugi closed her eyes. "Doesn't matter. They told me that you'll get what I've got. I figure you've got three more months with Nate. Better make the best of them. You can still get some good stories out before it's your turn."
The words flew out of my mouth before I realized I had said them. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" she asked.
"Fighting and...everything."
"Don't be. I'm not." Yugi slowly opened her eyes. "Just between us, you're not so bad, D. Kinda like a sister I never wanted."
"Yeah, I hate you, too," I replied, though my heart wasn't in it.
"I know. But I'm glad Nate has you. He'll need someone when I'm gone." She slowly reached up and grabbed my arm, pulling me closer. "You better take good care of him, or I'll come back and haunt you."
"I will, Yugi," I promised.
Her eyes seemed to lose some of the little light they had left. "Good." She didn't let go of me, though. "One more thing."
"What?" I asked.
"I know we never got along or anything, but I just wanna say...it's been fun, these past couple of months. I think I'm a better Muse because of you. I've never worked as hard to prove I was the best at what I do. That's what Nate says, anyway." She paused and let go of my arm, then gripped my hand in her own. "So. Thanks."
For a long time, I could only stare at that frail, little hand that had once been strong enough to beat me in thumb wrestling. Only once, though. Now I doubted if it could open a milk carton. And for the first time in my life, I found it impossible to hate Yugi. In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I almost...liked her?
"Hey, you're not crying, are you?" she asked suspiciously.
I quickly wiped away the evidence. "No. Allergies. But...you're welcome."
"Okay. Thought you were getting soft on me." She let go of my hand and sighed. "Go back to Nate. He needs you."
A thought came to me. If I walked out of the room, it might be the last time I ever saw Yugi. No more name-calling, no more thumb wrestling, no more Dreamcast wars, and no more fights. In short, no more fun. Sure, Nate was a great guy, but Yugi was the one that made being a Muse fun. Without her, it would never be the same, and neither would Nate.
"You going or what?" she asked.
"No," I answered. "I'm staying with you. For a while, anyway."
"Suit yourself." Yugi closed her eyes again. "If you tell anyone else what I said, I'll deny it all."
"I know." An idea suddenly came to me. I reached up and fingered the golden ankh around my neck, staring at it for a moment. "Here. Take this."
Yugi seemed surprised as I took it off and held it out to her. "I can't take that. It's yours," she said.
"I want you to have it," I insisted, pressing it into her hand. She tried to argue, but I closed her fingers around it and squeezed her hand gently. "For your health," I said, smiling at her.
"Thanks," she whispered, staring up at me. Then her eyes widened. "Your arm!"
As expected, my right arm was going soft, returning to its original cotton state. "It's okay. I'll be fine."
"But...why'd you do this?" Yugi asked.
"I had to," was all I could think to say before my lips sealed together. Then the darkness came.
* * * * *
The darkness faded, and I was alive again. But I wasn't in the hospital. I was in Nate's apartment. More specifically, I was in Yugi's room, trying to figure out how I'd gotten here. Then I saw Yugi.
She was back to normal, wearing a pair of red overalls and socks. And she was smiling at me for a change.
A scary thought occurred to me. "Is my hair messed up?"
"No more than usual," she replied.
"Then why are you smiling?"
"Because I can." She came closer and touched my cheek. "I guess it worked."
"What worked?"
"The ankh. I was afraid it wouldn't bring you back, but it did."
I stared at her. "You...missed me?"
"Not at first," she said quickly. "Nate did. But you should've told me that you needed that thing to live."
"What, so you could take it?"
"Okay, good point. But I won't do that ever." Yugi smiled again. "Thanks for giving it to me. How'd you know it would make me better?"
"Just a hunch. It's the source of my power, so I figured what's good for one Muse is good for another." I would've said more, but my stomach growled loudly.
"I guess dolls don't get to eat," Yugi said. "Nate bought a big case of burritos yesterday. C'mon, I'll show you where he hid them."
I followed her into the kitchen, but I felt strange. Yugi was actually being nice to me. It was weird, but it felt right.
"You want medium or hot?" she asked.
"Doesn't matter," I replied, watching her reach to the back of the freezer.
Yugi pulled out two burritos the size of her hand and put them in the microwave. "How long do you nuke these for?"
"Three minutes on medium," I said, still watching her.
Yugi hit a few buttons, and the microwave gave a loud beep as it began to cook. She turned back to me. "Y'know, you're kinda quiet. What's the deal?"
"I have to do something. Just don't blast me or anything, okay?"
Yugi gave me a curious look. "Okay."
I stepped towards her, took a deep breath, and then gave her a big hug. It was nice, and she didn't even scream or anything like that. Instead, she actually hugged me back.
"Hey, D?" she asked after a while.
"Yeah?"
"Does this mean I can't hate you anymore?"
"I think so, yes."
"So we're going to be pals?"
"Yes," I confirmed.
"Okay. So can I have one of those burritos?"
"Sure. But we're eating strawberries for dessert."
"Deal," she agreed. "Can we let go now?"
"I think it's been long enough." We released each other just as the microwave's timer went off.
"So where's Nate?" I asked as we started to eat.
Yugi bit into her burrito. "He said he was going to visit your Mom."
"Did he say why?"
"Something about needing to be inspired."
"So...why didn't he just come to me?"
Yugi stopped eating. "Okay, okay. To be honest, I wasn't supposed to bring you back without Nate being here. But he was taking too long, and...I missed you."
I smiled at her. "I missed you, too. So how long have I been...gone?"
"About two weeks. Nate wanted to wait until he was sure I was better, but I feel fine now. Anyway, he hasn't been writing much, and I think it's time we forced him to pump out a story."
"He's probably just worried about you, Yugi. You DID almost die."
She snorted. "That was then, and this is later. We're Muses, and we can't let our Writer get lazy. I'm not ending up in some hospital again, and neither are you!"
"Okay. We can start after we eat."
Yugi smiled confidently. "No need. I've already got an idea for a story."
"Really? About who?" I asked.
"Us!" she replied.
"You wanna add anything else to that?"
"Nope. We're much more interesting than some overused fictives. Besides, the readers should know what we've been through. And it'll keep Nate busy for one night, at least. We can play Marvel vs. Capcom 2 while he's working."
"No way! I wanna play now!"
Yugi tilted her head slightly. "We could get in trouble."
"So? Nate can't be mad at me; I gave up my life for yours. I'm a hero around here for at least a year."
"But he'll be mad at me for letting you do it."
"Say I bribed you with a burrito."
Yugi considered that. "True enough. But then he'll get really frustrated, and his face will get big and red." Then she smiled. "I can hardly wait!"
"You get the game ready, and I'll get the strawberries!"
Yugi nodded and ran into Nate's room, while I gathered the fruit. I was filled with a sense of wonder shortly afterwards. It was just like Mom had said. I couldn't really be Nate's Muse unless I accepted that Yugi was, too.
Nate couldn't believe that Yugi and I were friends now. He kept thinking that we were playing a joke on him, and that when he woke up in the morning, the apartment would be in ruins from our fight. Of course, there were no ruins. Unless, of course, you counted the strawberry tops all over Nate's room. And the burrito bags we left on the kitchen table. And that whipped cream stain that won't come out of the rug.
But no ruins.
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Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. Subreality is owned by Kielle.
