Chapter Two: Promises Made
Kaiba0302: Okay, this chapter is NOT, I repeat, NOT yaoi/ shounen ai!!! Just sweet! Got it?! SWEET!!!!! *sadistic look...oh wait, I always look like that. Heh, silly me^^.*
****
Warm fog from the hot shower misted the mirror, turning the pile of leather clothing on the counter into a twisted black and silver mass. The shower curtain was fully closed, trapping most of the intoxicatingly close heat within. Yugi Moto basked within it. The moist air was so warm it felt as if he wasn't breathing. Water ran the length of his neck and over his shoulders, traveling down flaring hips to long, straight thighs; soothing away another exhausting day's worth of anxiety. Water beaded on the upper of his slightly parted lips as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, allowing his hair to dampen. Several soap suds, lost on their journey to the shower floor, were stranded on the firm satin flesh of his stomach, but he set them on their way with a splash of water from his hand.
A close, warm presence that was not the water's heat came to him, and he smiled, allowing it to engulf him. Somehow, though he was extremely modest about his body, he did not mind this feeling of someone else being in the shower with him; in fact, he rather enjoyed the silent company of his Yami at the moment. He reluctantly admitted to himself that Yami was the only one who would ever see him this way, until the day that his soulmate made herself known. Yugi ran a long-fingered hand up and down the soft moonlight flesh of his throat, clearing the soap suds away. He could feel his Yami's aura sorrounding him, sense his restfulness, and it calmed him; though in the deepest recesses of his mind, he knew that his Yami did not even feel the heat of the water.
Yugi, reaching consumation, shut off the water, and as it slowed to a trickle, grabbed a towel from the rack. He swiftly cocooned himself within it, wrapping it around his back and under each slender arm. He pulled the curtain back and stepped neatly out of the shower, taking special precautions to not slide on the wet tile. He opened the door to the bathroom and turned off the light, being sure to grab his clothes on the way out. Clutching his clothes under one arm, he strode quickly down the hall to his bedroom, fumbling with the knob slightly before opening the door and letting himself in, before shutting it swiftly behind himself. It just didn't feel right walking around the game shop in a bath towel. Once the door was firmly closed, he shed the towel as if it were no more than an old coat. It slithered down his slender, shapely body and settled in a pool around his ankles. Stepping out of his towel, he walked almost daintily to the closet, hips swinging fluidly with each step. A sharp flavor of amusement flickered across the mental link he shared with Yami.
// "Not very modest are we, little one?"//
/ "Oh, shut up, Yami..."/
He smiled as Yami's deep, rich laugh filled his mind. He grabbed a white T-shirt and a pair of black boxers and unceremoniously put them on.
/ "There, is that better, Mr. Modest?" /
Yami's voice came to him, carrying a mischievious tone. //"Well, yes, actually, it is, though I DO fancy a nice breeze around--" //
Yugi interrupted swiftly. / "I see, Yami. Is THAT why you wore skirts back in your time?" /
Yugi laughed at Yami's moody silence and sidled over to the mirror. He grabbed a comb and began to gently pull snarls out of the spun gold that framed his face. Suddenly he felt cold, as if his very core had frozen. His Yami's aura was gone.
/ "Yami?" /
Yugi put the comb down, confused. He turned his head this way and that, trying to sense his Yami, to lock on. Suddenly it dawned on him. 'Of course; the soul room,' he thought. He moved to the bed and sat down for a moment, before his eyes glazed and his head hung low as he entered the winding corridors of his mind.
****
Yugi opened his eyes slowly. He was in his soul room, sprawled out on the bed. He swung his legs off and stood quickly. Making his way around piles of toys and unfinished puzzles, he reached the door to his soul room, and with a slight tug, pulled it open. He stepped out into the hallway, which were strangly misty. It was hard to tell the exact color, as it appeared to be changing every couple of seconds. Directly across the hall was Yami's soul room. The walls surrounding the door did not change color, instead they remained a dark blackish-green. Almost ancient looking. Yugi mustered his courage and approached the door to the spirit's soul room. He had never before entered his other's soul room, and wasn't sure how he would take it. He gazed up at the dark door, and the Eye of Horus looked back. Heart pounding against his ribs, Yugi gripped the intricately carved handle of the door and pulled hard; and the door to a new world opened with it.
****
Yami glanced up at the sound of his soul room door creaking open. He tensed, but forced himself to relax; after all, it was only Yugi. He had known that Yugi would come to him, but all the same, he was shocked when it happened.
Yugi peeked into the room, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the murky darkness. He saw the vague outline of his Yami, standing in the middle of the empty room, but wasn't able to tell whether he was facing him or not. He took several deliberate steps towards Yami, then stopped, judging him. Yami hadn't moved. Yugi resumed walking. When he reached Yami, he wrapped his arms around the spirit's waist and buried his face in what turned out to be the small of his back. Slowly Yami turned to face him, and Yugi rested his cheek against the dark one's flat stomach. "What's wrong, Yami?" Yugi asked him gently, running his fingers in soothing circular patterns on his back.
"Nothing is wrong, little one," Yami's voice answered him from somewhere overhead. There was a long pause before the spirit spoke again. "Do you have any idea what I would give for what you have?"
The question took Yugi by surprise. "What?" he asked, removing his cheek from his other's stomach and looking up into the shadowed face. "What do you mean?"
Yami's voice was wistful. "The one thing that I want more than anything else is something so priceless, no amount of money can pay for it, no amount of sacrifice..." The spirit's voice trailed off.
"Love?" Yugi guessed helplessly. This conversation was totally beyond him.
He sensed the spirit's eyes upon him. "Life," came the reply.
Yugi gazed up at his other, eyebrows furrowed. "I...I don't understand you, Yami. Stop speaking in riddles!"
Yami looked at the smaller version of himself again. "Would you have my plain answer?"
"I would."
Yami sighed. "Then I say to you, Yugi, that the one thing I desire more than anything else, but cannot obtain, is life. Yes, it is true that through you I can have what some might consider "life", but in theory life is not life until it is lived."
Yugi sighed. "Speak plainer, Yami." He suddenly felt the spirit pull away from him and take several steps, before stopping and turning to face him.
"Some of the simplest things in life are what make it sweet," Yami said. "A soft autumn morning, with dew drops still wet in the grass, before the birds have started to tell the world the latest gossip and what the sun has seen on her travels? A simple breeze, or maybe just getting caught in the rain, those are the little things that make life worth living." Yami paused. "Or maybe even, just watching the moon rise and all the stars flickering in greeting, old friends who know the ritual by heart; sometimes it is the simple that makes life such a wonderful gift."
Yugi felt tears come to his eyes, though he knew not why. "Yami...." He started, "I'm sorry, Yami..." And he moved again to his Yami, bringing his arms up to touch his face. Yami leaned into the touch slightly. Yugi's eyes widened and he moved his other hand to his Yami's cheek. "Yami, you're so cold..." Yami's flesh was frozen; almost like marble.
Yami smiled, but it was distant. "It is all a part of my fate. Life is what I desire, but it is something I cannot have. I will never again, in all eternity, stand with my face in the wind, or so much as enjoy a simple mysterious glimpse of a full moon, so I must content myself with helping you grow and learn..." Yami touched Yugi's cheek gently, "I do not wish you to be resigned the same fate as I. Enjoy the little things in life, my little Yugi, for they may actually be the honey caught in the sieve."
Yugi wrapped his arms around his other once more. He raised his head and looked into the spirit's eyes. "Would you like to sleep outside the Puzzle tonight?"
Yami paused before nodding. "Darkness is my fate little one. But for even just one night like this, away from the dark, away from the cold...LIVING for just a little while...yes, little one. I would like that.
Yugi smiled, blinking away tears. "Okay, Yami."
****
All at once Yugi was back on his bed in his room. He got up and turned the light off, before making his way back to the bed. He pulled the covers down before crawling into the soft recesses slowly, pulling the blankets up around himself as he did so. He felt his Yami's presence all around him, and he embraced it with all the brotherly love and friendship he could. He felt the spirit return it, with so much force it made him gasp for breath.
// "I promise that as long as I am resigned to this fate, I will never let anything hurt you again, little one." //
/ "And I promise that you will live again, Yami. Maybe not physically..... but sometimes it isn't physicality that makes us people."/
Yami's presence became warm. He was surprised by Yugi's insight. // "Thank you, little one..."//
Yugi smiled and turned his head, and was met by the sight of a full moon rising over Domino City. 'All the stars flickering in greeting...' he thought drowsily. He turned his attention back to the aura of his Yami. "Yami, even if it is only for a moment...come. Look at the moon, with all of her friends, and live for a moment. Just be a person."
*****
Kaiba0302: Uh....right, then, that was...fun. Please R&R! If you flame me, though, I will just look at the flames and think about how sweet they make life...in some sick, twisted sort of sense^^.
Kaiba0302: Okay, this chapter is NOT, I repeat, NOT yaoi/ shounen ai!!! Just sweet! Got it?! SWEET!!!!! *sadistic look...oh wait, I always look like that. Heh, silly me^^.*
****
Warm fog from the hot shower misted the mirror, turning the pile of leather clothing on the counter into a twisted black and silver mass. The shower curtain was fully closed, trapping most of the intoxicatingly close heat within. Yugi Moto basked within it. The moist air was so warm it felt as if he wasn't breathing. Water ran the length of his neck and over his shoulders, traveling down flaring hips to long, straight thighs; soothing away another exhausting day's worth of anxiety. Water beaded on the upper of his slightly parted lips as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, allowing his hair to dampen. Several soap suds, lost on their journey to the shower floor, were stranded on the firm satin flesh of his stomach, but he set them on their way with a splash of water from his hand.
A close, warm presence that was not the water's heat came to him, and he smiled, allowing it to engulf him. Somehow, though he was extremely modest about his body, he did not mind this feeling of someone else being in the shower with him; in fact, he rather enjoyed the silent company of his Yami at the moment. He reluctantly admitted to himself that Yami was the only one who would ever see him this way, until the day that his soulmate made herself known. Yugi ran a long-fingered hand up and down the soft moonlight flesh of his throat, clearing the soap suds away. He could feel his Yami's aura sorrounding him, sense his restfulness, and it calmed him; though in the deepest recesses of his mind, he knew that his Yami did not even feel the heat of the water.
Yugi, reaching consumation, shut off the water, and as it slowed to a trickle, grabbed a towel from the rack. He swiftly cocooned himself within it, wrapping it around his back and under each slender arm. He pulled the curtain back and stepped neatly out of the shower, taking special precautions to not slide on the wet tile. He opened the door to the bathroom and turned off the light, being sure to grab his clothes on the way out. Clutching his clothes under one arm, he strode quickly down the hall to his bedroom, fumbling with the knob slightly before opening the door and letting himself in, before shutting it swiftly behind himself. It just didn't feel right walking around the game shop in a bath towel. Once the door was firmly closed, he shed the towel as if it were no more than an old coat. It slithered down his slender, shapely body and settled in a pool around his ankles. Stepping out of his towel, he walked almost daintily to the closet, hips swinging fluidly with each step. A sharp flavor of amusement flickered across the mental link he shared with Yami.
// "Not very modest are we, little one?"//
/ "Oh, shut up, Yami..."/
He smiled as Yami's deep, rich laugh filled his mind. He grabbed a white T-shirt and a pair of black boxers and unceremoniously put them on.
/ "There, is that better, Mr. Modest?" /
Yami's voice came to him, carrying a mischievious tone. //"Well, yes, actually, it is, though I DO fancy a nice breeze around--" //
Yugi interrupted swiftly. / "I see, Yami. Is THAT why you wore skirts back in your time?" /
Yugi laughed at Yami's moody silence and sidled over to the mirror. He grabbed a comb and began to gently pull snarls out of the spun gold that framed his face. Suddenly he felt cold, as if his very core had frozen. His Yami's aura was gone.
/ "Yami?" /
Yugi put the comb down, confused. He turned his head this way and that, trying to sense his Yami, to lock on. Suddenly it dawned on him. 'Of course; the soul room,' he thought. He moved to the bed and sat down for a moment, before his eyes glazed and his head hung low as he entered the winding corridors of his mind.
****
Yugi opened his eyes slowly. He was in his soul room, sprawled out on the bed. He swung his legs off and stood quickly. Making his way around piles of toys and unfinished puzzles, he reached the door to his soul room, and with a slight tug, pulled it open. He stepped out into the hallway, which were strangly misty. It was hard to tell the exact color, as it appeared to be changing every couple of seconds. Directly across the hall was Yami's soul room. The walls surrounding the door did not change color, instead they remained a dark blackish-green. Almost ancient looking. Yugi mustered his courage and approached the door to the spirit's soul room. He had never before entered his other's soul room, and wasn't sure how he would take it. He gazed up at the dark door, and the Eye of Horus looked back. Heart pounding against his ribs, Yugi gripped the intricately carved handle of the door and pulled hard; and the door to a new world opened with it.
****
Yami glanced up at the sound of his soul room door creaking open. He tensed, but forced himself to relax; after all, it was only Yugi. He had known that Yugi would come to him, but all the same, he was shocked when it happened.
Yugi peeked into the room, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the murky darkness. He saw the vague outline of his Yami, standing in the middle of the empty room, but wasn't able to tell whether he was facing him or not. He took several deliberate steps towards Yami, then stopped, judging him. Yami hadn't moved. Yugi resumed walking. When he reached Yami, he wrapped his arms around the spirit's waist and buried his face in what turned out to be the small of his back. Slowly Yami turned to face him, and Yugi rested his cheek against the dark one's flat stomach. "What's wrong, Yami?" Yugi asked him gently, running his fingers in soothing circular patterns on his back.
"Nothing is wrong, little one," Yami's voice answered him from somewhere overhead. There was a long pause before the spirit spoke again. "Do you have any idea what I would give for what you have?"
The question took Yugi by surprise. "What?" he asked, removing his cheek from his other's stomach and looking up into the shadowed face. "What do you mean?"
Yami's voice was wistful. "The one thing that I want more than anything else is something so priceless, no amount of money can pay for it, no amount of sacrifice..." The spirit's voice trailed off.
"Love?" Yugi guessed helplessly. This conversation was totally beyond him.
He sensed the spirit's eyes upon him. "Life," came the reply.
Yugi gazed up at his other, eyebrows furrowed. "I...I don't understand you, Yami. Stop speaking in riddles!"
Yami looked at the smaller version of himself again. "Would you have my plain answer?"
"I would."
Yami sighed. "Then I say to you, Yugi, that the one thing I desire more than anything else, but cannot obtain, is life. Yes, it is true that through you I can have what some might consider "life", but in theory life is not life until it is lived."
Yugi sighed. "Speak plainer, Yami." He suddenly felt the spirit pull away from him and take several steps, before stopping and turning to face him.
"Some of the simplest things in life are what make it sweet," Yami said. "A soft autumn morning, with dew drops still wet in the grass, before the birds have started to tell the world the latest gossip and what the sun has seen on her travels? A simple breeze, or maybe just getting caught in the rain, those are the little things that make life worth living." Yami paused. "Or maybe even, just watching the moon rise and all the stars flickering in greeting, old friends who know the ritual by heart; sometimes it is the simple that makes life such a wonderful gift."
Yugi felt tears come to his eyes, though he knew not why. "Yami...." He started, "I'm sorry, Yami..." And he moved again to his Yami, bringing his arms up to touch his face. Yami leaned into the touch slightly. Yugi's eyes widened and he moved his other hand to his Yami's cheek. "Yami, you're so cold..." Yami's flesh was frozen; almost like marble.
Yami smiled, but it was distant. "It is all a part of my fate. Life is what I desire, but it is something I cannot have. I will never again, in all eternity, stand with my face in the wind, or so much as enjoy a simple mysterious glimpse of a full moon, so I must content myself with helping you grow and learn..." Yami touched Yugi's cheek gently, "I do not wish you to be resigned the same fate as I. Enjoy the little things in life, my little Yugi, for they may actually be the honey caught in the sieve."
Yugi wrapped his arms around his other once more. He raised his head and looked into the spirit's eyes. "Would you like to sleep outside the Puzzle tonight?"
Yami paused before nodding. "Darkness is my fate little one. But for even just one night like this, away from the dark, away from the cold...LIVING for just a little while...yes, little one. I would like that.
Yugi smiled, blinking away tears. "Okay, Yami."
****
All at once Yugi was back on his bed in his room. He got up and turned the light off, before making his way back to the bed. He pulled the covers down before crawling into the soft recesses slowly, pulling the blankets up around himself as he did so. He felt his Yami's presence all around him, and he embraced it with all the brotherly love and friendship he could. He felt the spirit return it, with so much force it made him gasp for breath.
// "I promise that as long as I am resigned to this fate, I will never let anything hurt you again, little one." //
/ "And I promise that you will live again, Yami. Maybe not physically..... but sometimes it isn't physicality that makes us people."/
Yami's presence became warm. He was surprised by Yugi's insight. // "Thank you, little one..."//
Yugi smiled and turned his head, and was met by the sight of a full moon rising over Domino City. 'All the stars flickering in greeting...' he thought drowsily. He turned his attention back to the aura of his Yami. "Yami, even if it is only for a moment...come. Look at the moon, with all of her friends, and live for a moment. Just be a person."
*****
Kaiba0302: Uh....right, then, that was...fun. Please R&R! If you flame me, though, I will just look at the flames and think about how sweet they make life...in some sick, twisted sort of sense^^.