I don't own Yu Gi Oh™…just lettin' you know…heh heh…
*Changes*
The next morning came rather early, most likely due to the fact that Yami did not fall asleep until really late.
" Yami, its time to wake up." Called a familiar voice.
He just moaned and rolled over, slamming the pillow over top of his head.
" Why do I have do get up so early?" He groaned from under the pillow.
" Because you have a job to do. Now get up or you won't get your breakfast." She snapped jokingly as she ripped the sheets off of Yami causing him to shiver from the contact of early morning air to his skin. Throwing the pillow off his head, he slowly opened his eyes to find Bener standing by his bed with a trey full of fruit.
" Bener," he said as he slowly sat up, " Did you take care of those three girls last night?"
" Yes, and before they left they told me to thank you."
" What, they left?" 'Well, they disobeyed a direct order.' He thought as he scowled.
" Yes, early this morning. Here's your breakfast." She said as she handed him the trey of food. All of his favorite fruits were placed on the trey in small portions. Bener knew him well; she was a plump woman, about sixty of age. She had been the closest thing to a mother that Yami ever had.
His own mother died right after he was born, he liked Bener. She was about the only person in Egypt that he both respected and feared. He could always go to her with his problems. She was the only person in Egypt that saw past all his defenses, and saw the true young man he was.
"I thought they said they had nowhere to go." He said, sounding slightly disappointed.
"They said this morning that they didn't want to be a burden for you, so I helped them find a place to stay." She said as she started making the bed " Oh and Yami, you have a visitor." She added, sounding unusually happy.
" Not again. I thought I already told the Nubians that we would trade with them." He said, not sharing Bener's enthusiasm. He quickly began to eat his food so that he could get dressed. To him, the Nubians were some of the most difficult people to compromise with. He would spend nearly all day trying to make a deal with them. On the other hand, he didn't like to keep their king waiting, he was a testy man, whom Yami thought would kill you as soon as look at you.
" I afraid it's not a political visitor Yami." At this point she could barely control hey joy. "He arrived here about fifteen minutes ago and insisted that I wake you immediately."
Yami's eyes went wide as he stood up and dropped the trey of food to the floor with a loud crash that made Bener jump. Could it be who he thought it was? Surely not, because he was dead.
" Bener…" He began. But it seemed she knew what he was thinking and she just nodded. As fast as he could Yami ran around his room trying to get dressed. Bener had to help him though because he was in such a rush that he didn't realize he was trying to put his shirt on over his legs.
Finally, when he was ready he all but ran out of the room and stormed down the long passageway to the royal throne room. Along the way he almost ran over three servants, not even stopping to say sorry. But they understood, for they knew who arrived at the palace. He was a life long friend of Yami's.
When Yami arrived at the throne room he stopped at the door. His nerves were running sky high. He hadn't seen his best friend in nearly nine years. For the longest time he had assumed that his friend was dead, until he heard that some of the families of the high priests of Amun had escaped to other countries.
His best friend's dad was the former high priest of Amun, and he was brutally murdered by Yami's family. Something Yami never forgave himself of.
Slowly, Yami opened the throne room doors, unprepared for the greeting that awaited him.
" Yami!" Yelled the man as he ran over to Yami and wrapped his arms around him, almost making Yami fall over.
" Malik, it certainly has been a long time!" He said as he embraced his old friend.
Malik was the same age as Yami; he had pale blonde hair, almost white. His skin was dark, and his eyes were so striking, they were a beautiful amethyst. Yami almost forgot the feeling warmth that he got every time he stared into his best friend's eyes.
" Forgive me my friend." Yami said quietly.
Pulling out of the hug, Malik stared into Yami's misty eyes, and his own began to water.
" Yami, you don't think I blamed you, do you? I cannot hold you accountable for the actions of your family. I could never be mad at you, you are closer then a brother to me. Besides, I knew…even though you weren't there…that you had nothing to do with it." He said with a smile as he wrapped his arms around Yami again. To Yami it was like a great burden had been lifted off his shoulders, for years, the thought of his best friend hating him hit at his heart like a thousand daggers. Yami closed his eyes and some tears fell down his cheek, as he enjoyed the warmth of the friendship that he so missed. He didn't care that he was showing emotion. Malik was his best friend, and he was so relieved to hear those words coming from his mouth.
A noise behind him made him jump slightly; he turned around to find another person in the room. Yami had never seen this man before. His hair was white, and his skin wasn't very dark. But his eyes were the darkest that Yami had ever seen they were a dark chocolate brown, so dark they were almost black.
" Oh, sorry Yami I forgot to introduce you two." Said Malik. "This is Bakura."
" I'm very honored to be meeting you Pharaoh." Said Bakura as he bowed low. Yami just looked at him as he rolled his eyes. For some reason he hated being called Pharaoh; it was like all he was to people was a title, not a human being.
" Its nice to meet you too, Bakura." But Yami was truly puzzled, who was this Bakura? How did Malik know him? Sensing Yami's confusion Malik proceeded to fill him in.
" We met in Greece after we fled Egypt, we figured that it would be best if we stuck together until we could one day return to this land. He lived in a village that was burned down. Both of his parents were killed, he was one of the lucky ones. The survivors of his village banned together and decided to leave Egypt. My mother and I also decided to leave after father was killed, but…she didn't arrive safely." Malik paused for a moment and took in a deep breath. It was hard for him to talk about his parents. "She came down with malaria and died on the ship before we arrived in Athens. Then, I was alone," He gave Yami a half hearted smile as he chuckled weakly, "And scared out of my wits. But when I arrived in Greece, I met Bakura and some of the people from his village. Together we set up shop in Athens; it seemed as though the people there would take anything Egyptian that they could get their hands on. Our business was quite profitable I must say, but still, we could not wait to return to Egypt. Word came around about two weeks ago that there was a new Pharaoh in Egypt. I knew it had to be you, so we packed our bags and left Athens for Thebes right away. But enough about that, how's it feel being Pharaoh?"
" Like hell." Yami laughed.
" That bad huh?" Smiled Malik. "Well how about we show Bakura around the palace?" He added seeing how uncomfortable Bakura looked.
Bakura just smiled lightly as he looked around the throne room. Unlike Malik, Bakura had never been inside the palace before. Bakura's father was just a priest of Amun, not a high priest so he wasn't allowed inside the palace. Yami walked up to Bakura and placed a hand on his shoulder. Bakura looked scared to death.
" Ease up Bakura." Yami teased. Bakura took that as an order, not a request and forced a small smile on his face.
They walked around the palace nearly all day, talking about their childhood memories. Bakura listened, and he truly began to lighten up as he laughed at the childhood antics that Yami and Malik were telling him.
* * *
" Yami, I am so glad to be back in Egypt." Malik sighed as he leaned over the balcony in the throne room that overlooked the city.
" Me too. Athens was a wonderful city, but it was nothing compared to the beauty that is Egypt." Bakura added as he too looked at Thebes. The sun was setting and the lights from the city were beginning to glow, sending a warmth into the three boys as they looked out upon the city.
"There was one thing I didn't mention today," Yami suddenly said. Malik and Bakura both turned their attention from the city and rested their eyes on the tricolor haired boy.
" Malik, look over there." Said Yami as he pointed out at the city. Malik turned and looked to where Yami was pointing. Something caught his eye as he scanned the city, something he missed when he was looking at the city before.
Both he and Bakura gasped; high atop a hill they could see hundreds, no thousands of people gathered around the old abandoned temple to the Aten, which was being torn down right before their eyes.
" Yami what…?" Malik started as he snapped his head back around at Yami.
" They are rebuilding the great temple to Amun, I told Seth yesterday to recruit workers to rebuild it."
" That man waists no time!" Said Malik sounding impressed.
"Yes, I know. But, I think it's mostly the determination of the people to get rid of the Aten that's going to rise that temple up so quickly. Anyway, Malik what I've been meaning to ask you is… well I have some open spots in that temple for some priests, even a priests apprentice. Are you interested?"
" Thanks Yami, but, no thanks. I learned a lot from my father about being a priest. And everything I learned I shared with Bakura. We got to know each other in the nine years that we spent in Athens. He always expressed to me his passion for one day being a priest. So I taught him everything that my father taught me." Malik slowly turned his head toward Bakura, as he secretly winked at him. Bakura just smiled. "He is just as ready as I'll ever be, so I was thinking; if you didn't mind of course; that maybe if you had a space open, you could give it to Bakura." Yami just looked at Malik, unsure what to make of all this. He was only supposed to appoint men that had been trained and were fully ready to take on the job of priesthood. Then again, he thought to himself, when had Malik ever steered him wrong? Slowly Yami walked over to the edge of the balcony and sat on the railing. He just stared out at Thebes. By now the sun had completely set, and the air was becoming cool, he rubbed his arms to get rid of the chill.
" Malik, I think I'll take you up on that offer, and I have the perfect position for him." Yami said as he turned to Bakura. "You can be the new apprentace. Are you willing to take the job?" He asked Bakura.
" Oh, I think I can handle it." He said with a smile.
" Good," Yami smiled," His name is Seto, he's a really nice guy, what would you say to an outing tomorrow? So that you can get to know him."
" Sounds good." Bakura replied.
" I know a great tavern down in Thebes, it's a good place to meet people." Said Yami.
" Yea and get drunk…" Malik snorted to Bakura under his breath.
" I heard that." Yami retorted. With that the three boys made their way back into the throne room, it was getting a little to cold for comfort out on the balcony.
" Well Yami, it's been a long day for us, I'm kinda tired, I think I'm gunna turn in for the night." Malik said as he yawned. Yami had noticed that the usually comical, wise guy attitude that Malik had, had been a bit toned down tonight.
" I noticed." Yami said jokingly. "Well you guys can just pick a room, there's hundreds of them."
" Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow." Said Malik as he walked out of the throne room and around the corner out of sight.
" Pharaoh…" Bakura started.
" You can call me Yami."
Bakura didn't know what to make of this. He had always thought that only close friends and family members could call the Pharaoh by his first name. 'Oh well' he thought as he shrugged it off.
" Ok… Yami, I have a little problem."
" Yea?"
" I've never been in this palace before, and I have no idea where to find a room." He said as he looked at Yami.
" Oh yea, sorry I forgot. Just go down the corridor that Malik went down. When you get to the end make a right, and just pick a guest room." Yami laughed at himself for being so stupid.
" Thanks." Bakura said with a smile as he too walked out of the throne room and disappeared around the corner. After Bakura left Yami went back out onto the balcony and leaned over the railing. He smiled as he watched his people working on the new temple. They truly were doing a great job.
The old temple was already half way torn down, and he was sure that the new temple would be up and running in a month or two. As he was beginning to become lost in his thoughts he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to see Seto.
" Good evening Yami." Seto said as he too looked out at the temple. " What a sight."
" It must be hard for you to wait for the temple to be constructed." Yami smiled softly at him. Even he couldn't wait for it to be finished, and Seto was the high priest.
" Yea, but right now I'm still looking for an apprentice."
" Not having any luck?" Yami questioned with a grin on his face.
" Nope," Seto said, " What do you look so happy about?" He added seeing the smile on Yami's face.
" Oh, nothing…" He said teasingly.
" What is it?"
" Well, it took me a long time," he lied, " But I think I've found you the perfect apprentice."
" Really Yami? Thank you so much, you didn't have to do that. Seth was going to find me one."
" I'm just kidding, my best friend came back today and he brought a boy named Bakura along with him. He's all trained up and ready to go, just as soon as the temple is built. If you would like tomorrow, I thought we'd all go down to the tavern in Thebes so that you guys could get to know each other."
" Sounds good." Seto smiled, " So that's who that man was. I ran into a light blonde haired boy today, I was wondering who he was, I've never seen him before."
" Oh that's Malik." Said Yami with a more serious look on his face, as he turned away from Seto. Even though Malik didn't blame him, Yami was still deeply hurt by the events of the past. Seto, sensing Yami's change in attitude walked over to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
" What's wrong?" He asked.
" Nothing." Yami replied quietly.
" You can't fool me Yami, something's up. Who is that Malik guy?"
" He's my best friend." Yami answered. He turned to Seto, who had a puzzled look on his face. If Malik was Yami's best friend, he wondered, then why didn't he didn't seem all that happy to talk about him?
" Is there something you're not telling me?" Seto asked calmly as his icy eyes scanned over the hurt expression on Yami's face. Yami didn't know what to do, he could tell Seto, but that would make him seem like a whimpering child.
No he couldn't tell Seto, he couldn't tell anyone. The only person that knew his true feelings was Malik, and he intended to keep it that way.
" Look, Yami, there's something bugging you, and I'm not leaving this spot until you tell me."
" Then you'll just have to freeze." Yami said angrily as he brushed past a bewildered looking Seto and walked right out the throne room doors towards his chambers.
He couldn't believe what he had almost done. He had almost told another human being his true feelings. He was angrier with himself then Seto. But as he reached his chamber doors he heard the sound of running footsteps.
' No not now' he thought 'please leave me alone.' Just as he was about to open his doors a strong hand grabbed his arm with an impenetrable grip. Seto spun him around and roughly slammed him against the wall.
" Seto what is the meaning of this?" Yami said, his crimson eyes ablaze.
" Look, I don't know who you think your fooling Yami, one way or another your going to tell me your problem. You can't keep it bottled up for ever." Seto spat as he stared into Yami's eyes, tightening his grip on the Pharaoh's arm.
" I've done it so far. Now let go of me at once! That's an order Seto!"
He had no choice but to release the Pharaoh from his impending grip. He could not disobey an order. Yami rubbed the spot on his arm where Seto had clutched on. He was sure that there would be a bruise there tomorrow.
" Yami, I…I don't know what came over me. Forgive me." Seto said quietly as he avoided the Pharaohs piercing gaze. Yami thought to himself, anyone willing to go that far just to find out his problems must have cared deeply. He…couldn't refuse any longer.
" Seto come here." He said as he motioned for Seto to come into his room. Seto followed silently.
" Sit." He simply said as he pointed to a chair by his bed. Seto listened, and he sat down quickly. Yami walked over to the window, and sat on the ledge, making sure that he could not see Seto's face.
" Contrary to popular belief, my father was not always an evil heartless man." He began. "He was the only person whom I ever loved. My mother Kiya died right after I was born, so my father took care of me all by himself, with the help of Bener. Those were the best years of my life. When I was about three or so, I met Malik. With his father and my father being close friends, he was always running around the palace. His father was the high priest of Amun. Life was good, until I turned six. My father met this woman; she was a beautiful woman, with an ugly soul. Her name was Nefrititi. My father fell in love with her the moment he saw her and I hated her from the moment I saw her. From that day forward things changed. I was young at the time, but I remember leaving Thebes and traveling to a new city in the desert. It was called Amarna. A whole new city was there, it was a nice place, but I was so sad because we left Malik behind and pretty much everyone else that had to do with the religion of Amun. That woman had her own ideas about what the religion of Egypt should be. So she persuaded my father to tear down all the temples of Amun and the other Gods, and construct new temples to one god. He was hesitant, what was he going to do with all the priests, his best friend? ' Kill them' she said. But he would have nothing to do with the murder of thousands of priests. That night, against his wishes, she ordered the entire Egyptian army to go with and destroy the temples and kill any and all of the priests and in some cases, even their families. She even killed some of them herself. The next morning when my father woke up and found out what happened, he was heart broken, for he knew that his best friend did not survive the brutal murders. Nefrititi had succeeded in accomplishing what she came to do; she had corrupted my father. His heart turned as cold as hers was, and he slowly began to join in the bloodshed, following her every command. As for me, I thought for sure that Malik had not made it out alive." By this point Yami closed his eyes, he didn't know it would be this hard to tell someone what happened. Seto just stared, open mouthed at Yami. He had no idea…
" Beauty, and love have a tendency to corrupt people Seto," He said still gazing out the window, " Don't let it corrupt you. I promised my self that from the day I became Pharaoh. I wouldn't let love do to me what it did to my father."
"What ever happened to that woman?" Seto asked.
" Nefrititi? That bitch fled the country as soon as I became Pharaoh. She was scared of what I would do to her if I ever got my hands on her." Yami said coldly.
" Yami, I… I'm so sorry."
" Its nothing Seto. My heart has grown cold over the years as well. I have no feelings anymore." He lied to Seto, and himself." Now if you'll excuse me, I would like to try and get some sleep."
" Right. Well I'll see you tomorrow then." Said Seto as he stood up from the chair and quietly walked out of the room.
Yami was left sitting on the windowsill, with his old wounds reopened. He was dying right before his eyes. He had never told anyone what he just told Seto, and now he wished that he didn't tell him. What was Seto going to think of him now? Was he going to tell anyone? Yami couldn't bear the thought of anyone knowing his true feelings. He inwardly cursed at himself for telling Seto.
Sluggishly he got up from the windowsill and made his way over to the bed. He wasn't really all that tired; he just didn't want Seto to see him at his lowest point. He slowly lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. At this rate he didn't think he'd ever get a decent nights sleep as Pharaoh, to him that was funny because he probably had the most comfortable bed in all of Egypt. Again he found his thoughts resting on that beautiful girl, 'Athena.' And that was it. He was lulled to sleep thinking of her beautiful face.
* * *
" This bed is so comfortable Yami." Someone said.
" I know." He moaned, his eyes still closed, he wasn't ready to get up yet. All of a sudden, he felt someone's warm breath upon his face. He smiled lightly; the sensation was fairly pleasant.
Slowly he opened his eyes, completely unprepared for the sight that awaited him.
" Malik! What the hell?!" Yami yelled as he shoved his hands against Malik's shoulders. Unable to grab on to anything, Malik fell off the bed, landing on the ground rather ungracefully in a fit of laughter, taking the sheets with him.
" I was just having some fun Yami, don't be so uptight." Malik said as he rubbed his head, he fell on it rather hard. "Anyway, its time to…" But he was abruptly cut off as he was hit smack in the face with a pillow. " Oh no you don't!" Malik yelled as he reached for another pillow on Yami's bed. Too late, Yami snatched it up before Malik could get to it.
" Ha ha." Yami teased, " Now your in for it!"
He was ruthless. Taking both the pillows, he smashed Malik's head in between them.
" Yami…"
BAM! Yami cracked Malik on top of his head.
" Ouch! That really hurt!"
" Oh no, I'm sorry Malik." Yami said sarcastically seeing as how his friend was extremely out of breath, his long blonde hair was a mess." Here I'll make it fair." He said, throwing Malik a pillow.
" You'll regret that Yami!" Malik sprang onto the bed, taking Yami by surprise, as his pillow made harsh contact with Yami's back. Yami fell over onto the bed, completely venerable. " Ha ha, now you're in for it!"
" Shit."
" Shit's right!" Malik said as he prepared to strike Yami again, all of a sudden Malik's legs gave out from under him. Yami had tripped him.
" Nobody hits me and gets away with it." Yami smirked as he quickly sprang up. Malik noticed that Yami didn't have a pillow in his hand.
" Uh oh…" Malik looked terrified.
" Yup, you know what's coming." With that Yami latched his hands around the blonde's waist and began to tickle him relentlessly.
" Ahh! No!" Malik shrieked. " Stop! That tickles!"
" Not gunna stop 'til you say it!" Yami laughed as he continued to tickle his helpless friend, he knew all Malik's weak spots.
" Ok, ok." Malik could barely breath." I am a dung beetle."
" What was that? I didn't hear you!" Yami was laughing hard at Malik because the poor boy was turning red.
" I am a dung beetle! I am a dung beetle! Now get off me!"
" Ok." Yami simply stated. He turned around and flopped back down on his bed, with his back facing Malik. Seizing this perfect opportunity Malik quietly picked up the pillow, he had it lifted over his head about to give Yami the beating of a lifetime when…
" Malik, put that pillow down if you know what's good for you." Yami's back was still facing Malik.
" How did…?"
" Don't ask questions, just put it down, unless you want to get tickled until you turn blue."
Malik put the pillow down and jumped off the bed, which by now was a horrible mess, pillows thrown everywhere and the sheets were on the floor.
" Good times." Malik sighed as he sat in the chair next to Yami's bed, desperately trying to fix his messy hair.
" I always win." Smiled Yami as he turned over in his bed to face Malik.
" No you don't, you just had home field advantage this time." Malik scoured. " That's alright, I'll get you next time." He thretened, narrowing his powder azure eyes.
" By Ra what happened in here!" Both Yami and Malik jumped. It was Bener.
" Hey Bener how's it goin'?" Malik asked as he jumped to his feet.
" It was good until I came in to see this mess!" She replied, as she placed 2 treys of food down on the ground and walked over to the bed, picking up a pillow and launching it full force at Yami's face. He ducked out of the way just in time.
" Its ok Bener. Malik and I were just catching up on old times. Right buddy?" He turned to Malik and winked at him as he jumped out of bed. " We'll clean this up."
" You'd better!" She said with a smile. " I thought you'd be in here Malik so I brought you your food too."
" Thanks Bener." He said as she handed him the trey.
" So what do you boys have planed for today?" She inquired.
" Not much, I figured we'd all go down to the tavern so that Seto and Bakura could get to know each other." Said Yami as he walked over to get his food from the floor. He sat back down on the bed and began to eat.
" Yami, I don't want you boys coming back flat out drunk like you did the last time!"
" Don't worry Bener, it's just a couple of drinks!" He sniggered.
" Uh huh." She said as she rolled her eyes." Well have a good time then. Malik, it's so great having you back. I haven't seen Yami this happy in Ra knows how long." She walked out of the room, Yami blushed slightly.
" Awl, ya missed me that much?" Malik teased him.
" Shut up Malik." Yami growled. He put his trey of food and made his way over to the bathing chamber. He splashed some cool, refreshing Nile water over his face and chest, it smelled amazing. With luxurious imported oils mixed in the water, it made him feel soft, and smell wonderful. He grabbed a silk towel from off the wall and began to dry off. Coming out of the room he found Malik still sitting in the chair, trying to fix his hair.
" You know, you can get cleaned up too." Yami said as he motioned back towards the bathing chamber.
" Thanks, I think I will." He walked over to the room and went behind the wall. Yami began to get dressed, when all of a sudden he heard an enormous splash. He ran over to the room and looked down. Malik's clothes were on the floor and Malik had jumped into the bathing pool.
" Malik. I said you could get cleaned up, not take a swim!" He yelled, laughing hysterically.
" My hair wouldn't fix!" He yelled back from across the room, " I had to get it wet!" He swam back over to where Yami was standing." Turn around so I can get out." Yami turned around, and he heard Malik's wet body climb out of the bathing pool.
" Can you hand me a towel?" He asked. Yami reached over to the wall, grabbed a silk towel and handed it to Malik. "Thanks."
" You done yet?"
" Yea."
Yami turned back around to see Malik dripping like a wet dog, his whitish blonde hair plastered to his head, as he held the towel around his waist.
" I'm gunna go back into my room so you can get dressed."
" Ok."
He walked back into his room and made his way over to the window. He squinted his eyes because of the harsh sun as he looked out at the new temple that was being constructed. Evidently, the people had worked over night because where the old temple stood there was nothing but rubble. It was completely torn down. 'Amazing' he thought to himself. Slowly he closed his eyes as he basked in the warmth of the Egyptian sun. The heat felt good on his skin. His mind began to wander, and of course it wandered right to Athena. He wondered if he'd ever see her again. 'No. It doesn't matter if I ever see her again.' But no matter how much he told himself this, deep down it did.
" Are you going to sit there all day?" Malik asked when he saw Yami sitting on the windowsill with his eyes closed. Yami snapped his eyes open, he was beginning to dose off.
" No." He simply stated as he got up from the windowsill and finished getting dressed.
* * *
" What took you guys so long? We've been waiting here for over an hour!" Bakura questioned as the 2 boys walked into the throne room.
" Just catching up on old times Bakura, nothing to have a fit about." Malik teased as he approached Bakura. Yami however didn't say anything. He felt rather uncomfortable around Seto, as he looked at him out of the corner of his eye. ' Damn it, why did I tell him?'
" Yami!" Malik shouted as he snapped his fingers in front of Yami's face.
" Oh, sorry. Malik this is Seto, my new high priest. Seto, this is my best friend Malik." They shook hands as Seto offered Malik a weak smile. Malik didn't return it however; there was something about Seto that he just didn't quite like. 'Oh well' he shrugged it off.
" How's it going Seto?" He asked putting a smile on his face. It wasn't fair for him to judge the man before he got to know him.
" Good. And you?" Seto replied, but his attention kept on running over to Yami. It truly was an uncomfortable moment. But he shrugged it off as well, he planned to get down right smashed today at the tavern so he could forget all his cares, at least for tonight.
" And I believe you've already met your apprentice Bakura, am I correct?" Yami questioned, still feeling a bit tense.
" Yes," Seto replied, avoiding Yami's eyes." We talked a little before you guys came."
Bakura looked away, he didn't know how this was going to work. He felt so out of place standing next to three very important men. He too had plans of getting extremely drunk, so maybe he could ease up a bit. He usually wasn't this quiet.
Yami hated feeling this uncomfortable around Seto. His initial feelings about him began to change. Despite what he had told Bener, Yami also planed to drink quite heavily today, in hopes of releasing some of this tension.
" Ok, well now that we've said our hellos, how 'bout we make our way down to the tavern?" Malik asked. He wanted to get down to that tavern, because he just flat out wanted to get drunk.
The 4 boys made their way out of the palace and down the city road. Yami was taking it all in. It had been a long time since he'd been outside; the hot sun was beating harshly on his tanned back. He loved it. The people of the city stopped what they were doing, and stared at Yami as he passed them on the street. Never did they see a Pharaoh just come out of the palace and walk the city streets, it was a first for them. Some were frightened half to death, others looked on with admiration.
" There it is." Malik said as he pointed to a 2 story building on the right side of the road. It was a quaint little building with a table out in front where 2 men were sitting, having a drink and playing senet, a popular Egyptian game. As Yami walked past them and into the building they choked on the beer that they had just swallowed, and stared opened mouthed at what they just saw, hardly able to believe their own eyes.
" Boy, Yami people seem surprised to see you." Malik stated as he too stepped into the tavern followed by Seto and Bakura.
" Nice place." Said Seto as he looked around the interior of the room. The tavern was fairly dark, but cozy, with a pleasant smell to it, a mixture of the stronger alcohol's, with a faintly sweet tinge of fruits. And, he noticed it was rather empty for being mid day. Each of the boys walked up to the bar and took a seat on a stool.
" What can I get you?" Asked the bartender as he turned around. He quickly swallowed his words. " Pha… Pharaoh Yami!" He squeaked. "Forgive me I didn't know it was you!"
" Its ok." Yami said.
Malik sniggered under his breath, and Yami kicked him hard under the table.
" Ouch!"
" Just bring us some nice cold beer." Yami told him as he reached for a pouch of gold from his cloak.
" Right away Pharaoh." And he walked away.
" Right away Pharaoh." Malik said sardonically. Yami kicked him again, harder this time.
" Ouch, Yami why did you do that?" Malik asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
" Funny Malik." Yami snapped. Malik just stuck his tongue out at him, which made all 4 boys laugh.
" The beer's here." Malik said as he saw the bartender make his way over to where they were sitting.
" Here's your beer Pharaoh," the bartender said as he nervously put down the pitcher of beer and 4 glasses onto the table. "Enjoy." He said as he walked away.
" We will alright…" Said Malik as he quickly grabbed a glass and helped himself to some beer. " Mmm." He said as he licked his lips, where he could still taste trace amounts of the heavenly liquid.
" How 'bout you share that with the rest of us Malik?" Bakura demanded as he snatched the pitcher away from him, and poured himself a glass.
" Top me off, Bakura." Yami said, holding his empty glass up.
" Me too." Seto said.
Several hours and many booze later, the whole mood of the group began to change. Each one of them was becoming slightly intoxicated. Malik being the drunkest began rambling on about what he would do if he were Pharaoh.
" If it were me," he said with slightly slurred speech, "I'd build myself a big ol' pyramid. Bigger then Khufus'!" He turned his head to Bakura, who by this point had tears in his chocolate eyes. "And then ya know what I'd do?" He asked, " I'd slide down it!" He said as he lifted his glass in the air, spilling some of its contents onto the table. The boys roared with laughter, and Bakura almost fell off his stool. Quickly regaining his composure he took another sip from his glass.
" That's my Malik, a drunkard till the end!" Yami laughed.
" I whooped your ass this morning Yami!" Malik shouted. Both Seto and Bakura turned and looked at Yami with an 'is this true' look on their faces.
" No you didn't Malik, I slammed you with that pillow so many times, when I was done with you it looked like you had just gotten into a fist fight with Ra!" Yami snapped back, he being the least intoxicated of the group.
" Ha ha Malik! You got whooped!" Seto teased him. As Malik, Bakura and Seto continued to argue, Yami noticed someone coming down from upstairs. It was her. His heart jumped from his chest into his throat. ' By Ra,' he thought as he looked at her, he didn't remember her looking that beautiful. His eyes followed her to a table, where she sat down alone. He slowly got up from the table and began to walk over to where she was sitting.
" Yami where you going?" Bakura asked.
"…"
" Whatever" he simply said as he turned back around to continue his argument with Malik and Seto.
" Athena?" He said quietly as he approached her table. She looked up at him. ' Oh no.'
" Pharaoh Yami, what are you doing here?" She found herself asking.
" Uuh, I came to have a drink." Was the obvious answer, as he motioned behind him to a table across the tavern, where his three intoxicated friends were sitting, being obnoxiously loud.
" Oh," She giggled. " Well, have a seat Pharaoh."
" Call me Yami." He said as he gazed into her brilliant jade eyes. He had that feeling again; it was like he had just fallen from the clouds. 'Stop it'
"Ok… Yami." She said, giggling.
" What's so funny?" He asked her. She just looked behind him, he turned around to find all three of his drunken buddies staring at him, whistling and hollering from across the room. He felt his face flush. Hoping she wouldn't notice he turned back around and sat down, avoiding her gaze.
" So. Why did you leave?" He suddenly asked.
" Well, we didn't want to cause you any trouble. So we came here, we've got a nice little room upstairs." She told him.
" You wouldn't have caused me any trouble. In fact, your presence would have been quite a refreshing change." 'No, why did I say that!' She blushed, her cheeks turned as red as Yami's crimson eyes. "If you guys want to come back, their will always be a place open for you." 'Shut you mouth you idiot, before you say something you'll regret.' He told himself, it seemed that he had a little too much to drink tonight, and it was clouding his judgement.
" Hold on a sec." She said as she got up from the table and ran upstairs, leaving Yami sitting there, inwardly cursing at himself. 'You fool, she's messing you up.' " I know." He said aloud. And for that one moment, he didn't care.
No sooner did she leave that he found himself surrounded by his comrades.
" Way to go Yami!" Bakura said as he slapped Yami on the back.
" She's beautiful." Seto told him. At that Yami looked puzzled. Seto should know who she was; he tried to give her as a gift to him. But then again Yami realized just how drunk Seto was. He probably wouldn't know his own reflection if he saw it.
" Yami's got a girlfriend, Yami's got a girlfriend!" Malik said teasingly.
" Be quiet Malik." Yami said maliciously, the look he shot Malik. If looks could kill… But Malik was completely unfazed by the angry looks that Yami gave him.
" Oh, oh here she comes! Quick lets go back to out table." Bakura said. And as quickly as they came, they left. Athena didn't notice them leaving her table as she walked over and sat back down.
" What was that all about?" He asked her.
" Oh…nothing. I was just thinking about taking you up on your offer."
" My offer?"
" Yea, you know, to come stay back at the palace?" She gave him an unsure look.
" Oh."
" Are you ok Yami?" She asked him, sounding concerned.
" Yea I'm fine." He lied. He wasn't fine. 'By Ra.' He thought as he looked at her, he was as far from fine as he possibly could be. He was at war with himself. He kept on telling himself that she meant nothing to him, 'she's just a girl' he thought 'a…very beautiful girl…'
"So anyway, I went up to talk to my friends, to see if they wanted to come. They said no."
"Ok." 'Noo! If they don't come she won't come!'
" But…" She said
'Ok there's a but…' He thought. 'Wait a minuet, no, I…don't want her to come…' "But?"
" They insisted that if I wanted to go that I should go."
" Like I said before, you are more then welcome to stay." 'No she's not!' Try as he might, the young Pharaoh was loosing the battle with himself.
"Ok, thanks Yami, I think I will." She said.
" Would… you like a drink?" He asked her.
"Absolutely, I haven't had a drink in a long time."
" Excuse me for a second." Yami got up from the table and walked over to the mess that was his friends. He took the pitcher of beer from them and began to walk away.
" Hey Yami! What do you think your doing?" Malik yelled at him.
" You three have had enough alcohol to kill a god! I think its time that you should head home." Yami yelled back.
" Oh, I see, we're not wanted anymore." Malik said, trying his best to sound sad. " Fine then… Seto! Bakura!" He yelled at them, trying to get their attention. " I think its time to go."
Both men were completely and utterly wasted, which was precisely why they came.
" Ok Malik." Seto grumbled.
It literally took all their willpower to stand up from the table and walk away from their drinks. They were loud and rowdy, and Yami could hear them all the way down the street. Yami just rolled his ruby eyes, as he walked back to Athena's table.
" You have some unusual friends Yami." She said as he sat down.
" Oh, that's nothing, you haven't seen them sober." He joked. Athena just smiled as she poured Yami and herself some beer. Yami was as nervous as a sheep in a lion's den. How was he going to get himself out of this mess? He should have never walked over to her when he saw her come down. But… 'She's so perfect' he thought as he watched her take a drink. The yearning he had to tell her how he felt was almost unbearable. He took a drink of his beer; maybe he should get just as wasted as his friends. Then it wouldn't matter what happened.
" You're a real nice guy, you know that?" She told him as her amazing pale green eyes stared into his own crimson ones. He about melted, every time he looked into those eyes.
" What do you mean?" He choked up. For some reason he was having trouble talking.
" Well, first you let us go," She paused, "Then you gave us a place to stay. And now you've invited us, well me, back." Yami felt his face flush pink.
" I did what anybody would have done." He took another drink from his glass. Still intending to become heavily intoxicated.
As the night wore on, both began to loosen up. Amusing each other with stories about their best friends. Athena found Malik to be a very funny guy as Yami told her about what Malik did to him this morning. They talked late into the night, until finally the bartender came to their table and told them that he was closing.
" Ok, ok. We're going." Yami said to him, as he stood up from the table, kind of shaky. "You coming?" He asked Athena.
"If I can get up!" She laughed, she had became far more drunk then she has intended on becoming. Not Yami though, he was extremely satisfied with how drunk he had become. Now he didn't have a care in the world. In fact, his biggest issue at the moment was how they were going to make it back up to the palace. He could hardly see straight, and Athena could barely stand up.
It took everything in them to simply stay silent as they crept there way up to the palace. Yami and Athena were so drunk; they kept falling over each other, and anything else that happened to be in their way, as they would fall back, still laughing like lunatics. They stumbled over things blindly, unable to quell the giggles as they entered the palace doors.
By the time they had reached Yami's room, it looked like a tornado had followed them home. He pushed open the doors and they scuffed into the room, both feeling rather dizzy, they collapsed onto Yami's bed, to tiered to even move, they just fell asleep where they lay, but not before Yami put his hand around her as she snuggled closer, welcoming the embrace. This was going to be the best night of sleep that Yami got in a long time. He didn't have to fall asleep thinking of her beautiful face, she was right there next to him. He watched her sleeping, until his eyes became heavy and he too closed his eyes, resting his chin on her soft black hair.
Yea, that was kinda long, but don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from!! Muwaaa hahahahaha!!!
Again, I want to thank Tamika, seriously, that was the best poster I've ever seen. *wink wink*