Hahahaha! Chapter seven by the end of the weekend as promised! Granted, I skipped out on some math homework, but I got it finished!
//Yami to Yuugi//
/Yugi to Yami/
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Fears of the Stone
Chapter Seven: Meant To Live
Fumbling his confidence and wondering
why the world has passed him by.
Hoping that he's bent for more
than arguments and failed attempts to fly.
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside.
Somewhere we live inside.
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside.
Yuugi hurried up the stairs and into the bedroom. Somewhere in the course of the events that had just transpired, the young man realized he had failed to finish getting dressed, and was doing just that when Yami joined him upstairs. Yami was considerably disappointed to see his hikari fully dressed, as his previous state of shirtless-ness had not been lost on the pharaoh. It was also quite apparent that he was not going to be able to continue his newly found activities with his hikari, at least for the moment. Well, that certainly never stopped him from getting what he wanted before.
Draping one arm lightly around Yuugi's shoulders, Yami reached into the closet past him to pull out some of his own clothes for this seemingly arbitrary trip. //You would look much better in this aibou.// He suppressed a grin at the blush that spread across his hikari's face in light of the black leather shirt Yami pulled from the closet. It was more for himself than Yuugi, but it produced the desired reaction anyway.
Patience had failed him. Honesty had failed him. Detachment had failed him. Finally though, it appeared that seduction was the only thing Yami had tried that was not failing him. It seemed a rash decision to act on his impulses towards Yuugi, but at this point Yami was willing to go to any length to gain the younger man's trust.
"You are going to keep calling me that no matter what I say aren't you Yami?" Yuugi sighed squirming out from under his yami's arm to find his suitcase. Shock did not begin to cover his reaction to all of this unforeseen attention, not that he had any problem with it. On the contrary, Yuugi was quite pleased with the turn of events.
//Yes.// Yami continued to pull clothes out of the closet, leather mostly. It always helped to have the tendency to wear leather anyway if it was to be used to one's advantage later on. With his back to Yuugi, Yami did not bother to restrain his smirk. //Why is it exactly we are in such a hurry to leave?//
"We are in a hurry because Jii-chan is already on his way here." Yuugi caught the faintest hint of amusement trickling down their link. Something had changed. It was strange how much one could transform overnight, and Yami had done just that…transformed. The young man willed himself not to think about the kisses the pharaoh had stolen from him downstairs as he pulled a suitcase out from under the bed. That affection had been more than he was seeking from his yami. Not unwelcome, just unexpected.
'That wasn't really a kiss anyway.' he tried to assure himself to no avail as he flushed a deeper shade of scarlet.
Setting the luggage atop the bed, Yuugi reached around behind Yami to grab the clothes that were strewn across the bed as well. Taking them in his arms, he dropped the pile unceremoniously into the suitcase and zipped it closed. Yuugi glanced at the clock as he quickened his pace towards the bathroom across the hall. However, Yami stopped his progress, grabbing his hand slyly and pulling him backwards, toppling the younger man off balance. Catching him deftly, Yami righted his hikari, taking the opportunity to make use of their close proximity.
"Aibou." He whispered to Yuugi, making the hikari tremble involuntarily at Yami's heated breath against his ear. "You really ought to be more careful." Yuugi flushed a deep red once more, knowing his tumble was intentional. He was toying with him, and the pharaoh was far too good at his new game.
/Yami! I need to finish packing./ whined the hikari through their linked minds. Yielding to the piteous gripe of the young man, Yami let him continue his frantic packing, more than content to sit by and watch Yuugi, fluid and graceful even in his scrambling confusion. Just when Yuugi thought the intense focus of crimson eyes upon him would drive all sanity from his mind, a familiar voice floated down the hallway to him.
"Yuugi, are you up there?" Sugoroku poked his head into the bedroom where Yuugi had finished filling the suitcase. "I hope you're ready, the car's still running and we have a flight to make."
"Jii-chan!" Yuugi pulled his grandfather into a warm embrace. "I just finished packing." He was delighted to see Sugoroku again; it felt like years since the last time he was home. In all reality, it had only been two weeks since Sugoroku had left for Egypt for the new site dig, but between the nightmares and the tension building with Yami, it felt far longer than a mere two weeks. "Let's get out of here."
Yami, in the meantime, had joined the two at the bedroom door, suitcase in hand and a hint of fatigue suddenly etched across his sharp features that Yuugi was unaware of previously. //Why again are we going to Egypt? Don't you think we've had enough of the place?// the pharaoh sent his offhand questions down the link with slight exasperation. He decided that staying in one place for more than fifteen minutes at a time was necessary to finish his game, as it was progressing quite favorably. Besides, he was still quite exhausted from the lack of sleep of the previous night.
"Jii-chan, why again are we going to Egypt?" Yuugi echoed his yami's thoughts audibly as the trio made their way down the stairs once more. Yuugi couldn't help but notice the weariness in Yami's stance as they reached the bottom of the stairs. It was uncharacteristic of Yami to show such exhaustion in times of peace among quarreling spirits. A pang of concern was filtered to Yami as Yuugi attempted to hold a conversation with Sugoroku and his darkness. /Are you all right?/
//A bit tired if all truth be told aibou, but it's nothing to worry yourself over.// Yami took his hikari's hand furtively in his own, squeezing it reassuringly in response to the young man's incredulous glance. //Really aibou, I'm fine.// The spirit's crimson eyes flashed briefly with the emotion that, once again, Yuugi was unable to place.
/You confuse me sometimes mou hitori no boku [1]./ Making it clear that their conversation was finished, Yuugi turned his full attention back to his grandfather who had just asked something along the lines of 'Are you listening Yuugi?' Sighing softly as Yami surrendered to the end of the conversation and dropped his hand, Yuugi tried to regain his place in the conversation with Sugoroku.
"Sorry Jii-chan, I was a bit distracted. What was it you said?" he turned apologetically to his grandfather as he opened the front door. He had been so distracted, in fact, that he could not recall walking through the house and into the game shop, but here they were.
"I said that I was not going to tell you why we were going to Egypt. It's a surprise, and then I wanted to know if you were listening to me. Now, let's hear about what you have been up to since I left." Sugoroku smiled sympathetically at his grandson. The young man was clearly tired, as he and Yami could generally carry on a conversation without Yuugi being distracted from his surroundings. Yami, he noted, appeared to be worse off if that was at all possible. Sugoroku locked up the game shop as Yuugi and his yami headed toward the car. The shop was closed today anyway, a few extra days without a Mutou around to run it would not be the end of the world.
Yami climbed into the back seat of the car as Yuugi and Sugoroku settled themselves in front, chatting pleasantly about this and that and other trivialities Sugoroku wanted to hear about. 'Ra, he's such a child sometimes.' Yami sighed inwardly as he watched his hikari talk to Sugoroku. It seemed impossible for him to be so innocent and childlike at his age, eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas over something as simple as recalling the events of an uneventful two weeks.
Laying his head against the window, Yami found himself unable to stifle a yawn and his crimson eyes fluttered heavily with sleep. Sleep. He had not had enough lately and it was taking its toll. He had to protect Yuugi. Yuugi, who had called him mou hitori no boku. That was something new. The pharaoh's thoughts turned increasingly incoherent as he surrendered to the beckoning of sleep, head still resting gently against the window.
Yuugi felt the link dulling as his yami drifted off to sleep. Pulling down the mirror on the backside of the car visor, with the pretense of fixing his hair, he gazed at the sleeping pharaoh. "Beautiful…" he breathed almost inaudibly, heat rising to his face. The pharaoh's usually harsh expression had melted into a mask of tranquility. Lips parted. Slow steady breathing. Gold falling across sleep sealed eyes. Caught somewhere between longing and concern, Yuugi closed the mirror and visor back against the roof of the car; Yami was perceptive, and Yuugi feared he might awaken to the sensation of being stared at with such intensity. Twenty minutes would be unlikely to remedy his fatigue, but Yami needed it nonetheless.
Dreaming about providence and
whether mice and men have second tries.
Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open,
maybe we're bent and broken.
Said twenty minutes passed by rather uneventfully, Yuugi telling Sugoroku every useless detail of his two weeks, and Yami sleeping rather contentedly in the back seat of the car. Contentedly that is, until Yuugi woke him. Carefully opening the back door, Yuugi shook his yami gently. /Yami. We're here. Yami, get up./ He mentally berated himself for not trying to wake his dark spirit sooner, knowing that he was difficult to wake unless danger was imminent. Eyes, the color of red wine, peered out at the young man from under half closed lids.
"Nqdd…[2]" the pharaoh murmured as he closed his eyes once more, the sweet intoxication of sleep more commanding than his gentle hikari. Recognition of his weakness urged Yuugi to action. He leaned over into the car, sliding his arm around Yami's slender waist, and began pulling the unwilling spirit from his makeshift bed into the biting December air. A peal of thunder rather near to them rumbled through the air. //Hn…Let me sleep aibou.// The spirit grumbled still half asleep.
"Yami! We are going to miss our flight." Finally wrenching the groggy pharaoh from the car, Yuugi supported most of the taller man's weight to walk while Sugoroku removed the suitcase. "You are going to have to move faster if we want to make the plane in time."
//Who said we wanted to make the flight. I was perfectly content sleeping in the car.// Heat crept into Yuugi's cheeks again. Drowsily whispered words floated through the hikari's mind as Yami took on some of his own weight again, nuzzling Yuugi's neck affectionately. There was something comfortable in his touch, warm, promising, and intimate; there was nothing suggestive in it as before, only what seemed a commonplace warmth between the two.
Sugoroku smiled sorrowfully as he turned to view the pair behind him. 'It would seem that my grandson has found something worth living for, but I pray Yami can protect Yuugi from himself.' He had missed much in the time he spent out of the country. His beloved grandson, the only family he had remaining, had grown up and moved on, reigning in Yami to fill the void that he could not satisfy.
"Yuugi. Yami. Please hurry. If you dawdle any longer you will not find seats together." Sugoroku called over his shoulder. Yami disentangled the hikari's arm from around his waist, taking the young man's hand in his own once more without the intention of letting go. He quickened his lethargic stride at the warning of the old man.
Yuugi flushed a deeper shade of red, as he seemed predisposed to do when his yami was near, obliging the spirit's tender grip. 'Perhaps it is time I gave in to this emotion, this fear of mine. I need him more than I realized before.' His mind made up, Yuugi resituated his hand within the spirit's, intertwining their fingers and matching his pace. It was time for changes. Yami smiled to himself watching the young man out of the corner of his ruby eyes.
Rain had begun to fall as the storm reached the Domino City Airport, though not strong enough to delay the flight. As Sugoroku warned the three were unable to find spaces together despite their first class seating; fortunately, there were two empty seats at the back of the cabin in a row by themselves. A third chair had been present at one point but was no longer. Sugoroku found a window seat at the front of the plane leaving the men to themselves at the rear.
Yami settled down in his seat laying his head on Yuugi's shoulder with the purpose of regaining his hold on sleep, or sleep's hold on him, when his hikari pushed through his clouded mind. The younger man tilted his head to rest on Yami's own, closing his eyes as he spoke to the spirit. /Yami, tell me what happened earlier, before Jii-chan called./
//That? That was a mistake aibou.// A sigh escaped Yami's lips as he responded to the man's request.
/Then perhaps why would be a better question./
//It happened because I am impatient. You are always so unsure of what you want, so I did what I wanted for a change. That was the mistake, and you were not prepared to deal with something like that so suddenly.// Ruby met amethyst as Yami turned to regard his lighter half. There was an inquiring look behind the swirl of mixed emotions. Yami rested his head back into Yuugi's shoulder, closing his eyes once more. Taking Yuugi's hand in his own, Yami placed it over his heart, pinning it there momentarily as he began again.
//Do you feel that? Do you know why it beats aibou? It beats for you; I live for you not because of you.// Yuugi's hand dropped as Yami released his grasp. There was silence between and within their minds as Yuugi contemplated the words. Yami felt nothing from his hikari, only the unnerving silence echoing through his mind; even the shadows were silent.
A sudden warmth against his chest brought his eyes open to face Yuugi again. To face himself again. /I'm scared Yami. I'm afraid that this is all a dream…that I will wake up suddenly and you will have disappeared. How could I possibly go on like that? Without you./
//I am going nowhere aibou, and this is no dream. I could never leave you alone.// Tears of glass spilled down the hikari's ivory skin, now flushed with fear and sentiments. Strong arms embraced him, and words of truth flooded his mind. Pulling away from the embrace, slender fingers traced the curve of his face, wiping away the tears that continued to fall silently down it.
//Would you be terribly angry with me if I kissed you again?// Crimson and needy and desperate and sincere and his head was spinning with Yami's heated breath against his lips. Taking hold of the face of darkness in his inexperienced hands, Yuugi pressed his lips against the pharaoh's own.
/No. I don't think I would be./
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside.
Somewhere we live inside.
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside.
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than the wars of out fathers
And everything inside screams for second life.
We were meant to live.
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Translations:
[1] mou hitori no boku: the other me or my other self
[2] nqdd: sleep in ancient Egyptian
***
Well, that's it for now! *^^ And it's longer than the last one too as promised! It would have been even longer, but I changed part of it around to make the story more interesting, But fear not! I have the next few chapters already worked out! Major plot progression in the next chapter. Promise this time.
Thankies to all the reviewers! I am almost at 40 reviews for this story! *cries* Next chapter I'll be sure to thank all of you individually. Until then please review this new chappie! Mata ne!
