La Jinn
Kaiba scaled the rock first, graceful fingers easily attaching to indents, giving him enough leverage to pull himself up. Yuugi, on the other hand, stared at it dubiously. "Ne, Seto? Are you sure...?" He trailed off uncertainly, not out of fear that his koi would think him a wimp, but of genuine inability to express his fear in words.
"Don't worry, Yuugi. Last time won't happen again, I promise. I'll help you up, come on!"
Sighing, but trusting Kaiba unconditionally, Yuugi first put one foot into a narrow crevice, and began struggling to do the same with his other leg. Unable to get purchase, Yuugi slid about a hair's length before strong arms caught his. Together, they managed to get Yuugi up.
"Not so bad, was it?"
Yuugi nodded. "I feel better already." He glanced around slowly, the color returning to his cheeks as his eyes took in the familiar scenery. The rock was warm from the sun, but Kaiba was warmer, so Yuugi scooted over. "I can't believe I haven't been up here since my injury. It looks like everything's still the same."
"We can pretend that everything is the same." Seto brushed his lips against Yuugi's cheek. "Time has no meaning up here."
"So poetic," Yuugi said, laughing. "What else has changed while I was in the hospital?"
"Not much. Somehow, I feel a bit foolish taking my dueling deck out."
Yuugi looked rather disappointed, and uttered a small "oh."
Quickly catching on, Seto shook his head. "I didn't mean that I've grown tired of the Game. I've just grown out of being used to it."
Yuugi smiled and nodded, relief evident on his face. Their Game had been invented as a spur of the moment thing, born from Yuugi's desperation when the two had stumbled into each other quite some time ago. Even now, after the two had "hooked up", the Game was still kind of symbolic of their love, and if either tired of it, neither mentioned, for fear that the other would take it as an offense to their relationship.
They both retrieved their dueling decks, and Yuugi picked out a card at random, making a show of humming and closing his eyes. Meditation, he had called it once, waiting for the guidance of the Heart of the Cards. Though Kaiba hadn't laughed then, he laughed now, glad that his earlier words had been true-on this rock, everything was preserved, ready for them to go back at any moment.
"The Mystical Elf?" Yuugi pursed his lips a little. In all the innumerous times that he'd played the Game with Kaiba, he'd never drawn this particular card before. "...Is offense always better than defense?" Having finally come up with a question, Yuugi looked for Kaiba's response.
"Sure. The best defense is offense, yes?" Seeing Yuugi's nod, Kaiba drew. "Ogre of the Black Shadow. An ogre possessed by the powers of the dark," he read aloud. "Few can withstand its rapid charge." Kaiba took a few seconds to consider, then asked, "Are you guilty of a sin you committed while possessed?"
"Possessed? Like the Millennium Rod? Since you can't control it, I don't think so."
"That's true, but blood doesn't come off of your hands easily. Even if you weren't controlling yourself, it was still your body that did the evil deed."
With a slightly perplexed look, Yuugi shook his head. "Iie, you're not guilty of what your body does, only what you do."
"So if I sleepwalk and run over an old lady, it's not my fault?"
"You don't sleepwalk." Yuugi shoved Kaiba playfully. "But you do snore."
"Oh really? I thought that was you."
"I do not snore!"
"You should hear yourself! Sounds like you're sawing logs..."
~~
The two continued chatting, topics varying from serious to silly and back again, talking about random topics that could only matter to two as drunk as each other as Yuugi and Seto were.
After announcing that no, he did not, had never, and never wanted to own any pets, Kaiba drew. "La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp." He blinked at it a few times, wondering how it had gotten there, as he remembered putting it on his nightstand. 'Doesn't it just figure that out of forty cards, I drew this one?' His consideration lasted a few seconds, and, without missing a beat, Kaiba posed his question: "If you had one wish, what would you wish for?"
"One wish? Aren't genies supposed to give three?"
Kaiba shrugged. "One. And be selfish. No world peace."
"Well," Yuugi thought aloud, "I would wish to love you forever, but if you didn't love me... And it's the same visa versa, isn't it? I would wish for success, but it wasn't doing you too much good, was it? Good health is useless if I'm not happy... in fact, that's the whole point of life, isn't it? To be happy, to make those around you happy?" Nodding in conclusion, and quite pleased with himself at having figured this out, Yuugi finally answered the question. "If I had one wish, and I were to wish for something completely selfish, I would wish to be happy forever."
~~
The room was empty, as Kaiba had left it, but for a bed, a nightstand, and the items resting on the nightstand. He never spent much time in his bedroom, opting to do all work in a separate room as to not be tempted by the inviting idea of slumber. He took a few long strides towards his nightstand and turned on the lamp above it, noting the lack of a certain duel monsters card.
He thumbed through his deck again, stopping abruptly when he caught sight of green. De-spell. Cursing himself for being so edgy and trying to calm his nerves, he continued looking through, trying not to jump every time he thought he saw La Jinn. He lost restraint when he did find said card, and nearly dropped it.
Catching his breath and regaining his calm, Kaiba sighed and sat on his bed. "Well?" He demanded after a while, scowling at the card for its uncanny ability to scare him. It hadn't scared him on the rock, though. Perhaps it was because Yuugi was around. If... the thing... happened while Yuugi was around, at least it would prove that Kaiba wasn't crazy. Speaking of which, the card suddenly began glowing, and Kaiba instantly wished that Yuugi were there to see this.
A deep, booming chuckle filled Kaiba's ears, deepening his scowl. "Have you decided yet, human?"
Kaiba nodded, pleased that he managed to retain his composure.
"Very well. What is your wish?"
"I wish that..." He paused, blanking out momentarily. It wasn't every day that he saw a real, live duel monster in his room. "I wish that Yuugi could forever be happy."
The genie bowed. "Your wish is my command," he announced, and disappeared, stereotypically as possible, in a puff of smoke.
Kaiba scaled the rock first, graceful fingers easily attaching to indents, giving him enough leverage to pull himself up. Yuugi, on the other hand, stared at it dubiously. "Ne, Seto? Are you sure...?" He trailed off uncertainly, not out of fear that his koi would think him a wimp, but of genuine inability to express his fear in words.
"Don't worry, Yuugi. Last time won't happen again, I promise. I'll help you up, come on!"
Sighing, but trusting Kaiba unconditionally, Yuugi first put one foot into a narrow crevice, and began struggling to do the same with his other leg. Unable to get purchase, Yuugi slid about a hair's length before strong arms caught his. Together, they managed to get Yuugi up.
"Not so bad, was it?"
Yuugi nodded. "I feel better already." He glanced around slowly, the color returning to his cheeks as his eyes took in the familiar scenery. The rock was warm from the sun, but Kaiba was warmer, so Yuugi scooted over. "I can't believe I haven't been up here since my injury. It looks like everything's still the same."
"We can pretend that everything is the same." Seto brushed his lips against Yuugi's cheek. "Time has no meaning up here."
"So poetic," Yuugi said, laughing. "What else has changed while I was in the hospital?"
"Not much. Somehow, I feel a bit foolish taking my dueling deck out."
Yuugi looked rather disappointed, and uttered a small "oh."
Quickly catching on, Seto shook his head. "I didn't mean that I've grown tired of the Game. I've just grown out of being used to it."
Yuugi smiled and nodded, relief evident on his face. Their Game had been invented as a spur of the moment thing, born from Yuugi's desperation when the two had stumbled into each other quite some time ago. Even now, after the two had "hooked up", the Game was still kind of symbolic of their love, and if either tired of it, neither mentioned, for fear that the other would take it as an offense to their relationship.
They both retrieved their dueling decks, and Yuugi picked out a card at random, making a show of humming and closing his eyes. Meditation, he had called it once, waiting for the guidance of the Heart of the Cards. Though Kaiba hadn't laughed then, he laughed now, glad that his earlier words had been true-on this rock, everything was preserved, ready for them to go back at any moment.
"The Mystical Elf?" Yuugi pursed his lips a little. In all the innumerous times that he'd played the Game with Kaiba, he'd never drawn this particular card before. "...Is offense always better than defense?" Having finally come up with a question, Yuugi looked for Kaiba's response.
"Sure. The best defense is offense, yes?" Seeing Yuugi's nod, Kaiba drew. "Ogre of the Black Shadow. An ogre possessed by the powers of the dark," he read aloud. "Few can withstand its rapid charge." Kaiba took a few seconds to consider, then asked, "Are you guilty of a sin you committed while possessed?"
"Possessed? Like the Millennium Rod? Since you can't control it, I don't think so."
"That's true, but blood doesn't come off of your hands easily. Even if you weren't controlling yourself, it was still your body that did the evil deed."
With a slightly perplexed look, Yuugi shook his head. "Iie, you're not guilty of what your body does, only what you do."
"So if I sleepwalk and run over an old lady, it's not my fault?"
"You don't sleepwalk." Yuugi shoved Kaiba playfully. "But you do snore."
"Oh really? I thought that was you."
"I do not snore!"
"You should hear yourself! Sounds like you're sawing logs..."
~~
The two continued chatting, topics varying from serious to silly and back again, talking about random topics that could only matter to two as drunk as each other as Yuugi and Seto were.
After announcing that no, he did not, had never, and never wanted to own any pets, Kaiba drew. "La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp." He blinked at it a few times, wondering how it had gotten there, as he remembered putting it on his nightstand. 'Doesn't it just figure that out of forty cards, I drew this one?' His consideration lasted a few seconds, and, without missing a beat, Kaiba posed his question: "If you had one wish, what would you wish for?"
"One wish? Aren't genies supposed to give three?"
Kaiba shrugged. "One. And be selfish. No world peace."
"Well," Yuugi thought aloud, "I would wish to love you forever, but if you didn't love me... And it's the same visa versa, isn't it? I would wish for success, but it wasn't doing you too much good, was it? Good health is useless if I'm not happy... in fact, that's the whole point of life, isn't it? To be happy, to make those around you happy?" Nodding in conclusion, and quite pleased with himself at having figured this out, Yuugi finally answered the question. "If I had one wish, and I were to wish for something completely selfish, I would wish to be happy forever."
~~
The room was empty, as Kaiba had left it, but for a bed, a nightstand, and the items resting on the nightstand. He never spent much time in his bedroom, opting to do all work in a separate room as to not be tempted by the inviting idea of slumber. He took a few long strides towards his nightstand and turned on the lamp above it, noting the lack of a certain duel monsters card.
He thumbed through his deck again, stopping abruptly when he caught sight of green. De-spell. Cursing himself for being so edgy and trying to calm his nerves, he continued looking through, trying not to jump every time he thought he saw La Jinn. He lost restraint when he did find said card, and nearly dropped it.
Catching his breath and regaining his calm, Kaiba sighed and sat on his bed. "Well?" He demanded after a while, scowling at the card for its uncanny ability to scare him. It hadn't scared him on the rock, though. Perhaps it was because Yuugi was around. If... the thing... happened while Yuugi was around, at least it would prove that Kaiba wasn't crazy. Speaking of which, the card suddenly began glowing, and Kaiba instantly wished that Yuugi were there to see this.
A deep, booming chuckle filled Kaiba's ears, deepening his scowl. "Have you decided yet, human?"
Kaiba nodded, pleased that he managed to retain his composure.
"Very well. What is your wish?"
"I wish that..." He paused, blanking out momentarily. It wasn't every day that he saw a real, live duel monster in his room. "I wish that Yuugi could forever be happy."
The genie bowed. "Your wish is my command," he announced, and disappeared, stereotypically as possible, in a puff of smoke.
