The Twelve Days if Christmas
Yuugi peeled his eyes open in the deary haze of sunlight, squinting at the clock on the nightstand to see what time it was. Surprisingly enough, the clock was still on and running, even though it, along with the dresser it was on, was strewn carelessly about the floor. He winced as he remembered running into that. There was a bruise on his lower back from the incident, blending in painfully with every other strenuous activity it had endured the night before.
Struggling to get his bleary eyes to focus, he was barely able to make out the numbers 11:30.
11:30 AM. Lovely.
A certain Aldar was still sound asleep on top of him, oblivious of the rest of the world.
Would Yami remember any of what happened the night before? He didn't seem too terribly aware of much else than the other body in the room. Which was, of course, none other than Yuugi.
Yuugi lifted a shaky hand, pushing on Yami's shoulder to rouse him. "Wake up," he muttered. "Come on, it's way past morning."
Yami didn't move. For a brief moment Yuugi was afraid that he might have died anyway. He moved his hand up to the Lieutenant's neck and felt for a pulse.
He let out a sigh of relief when he felt the blood pumping strong.
Yami's head moved slightly, an arm coming up to wrap around Yuugi's neck.
And he stayed there.
Yuugi growled, feeling his stomach eating a hole inside itself. He needed food, damn it! "Yami, wake up!" He shook his shoulders again, only to have the Aldar start nuzzling his neck.
Yuugi tried to sit up, pushing against the carpet and the weight on top of him with all his might.
A jolt of pain in his spine stopped him in his tracks. "Damn it!" he cursed. "Jou!" He needed help up. Yami wasn't moving, and he was currently immobilized due to bruises and gods knew what else. "Jou! Get up here!!" he bellowed.
Yami still wasn't moving, but Yuugi swore that he saw a grin on that handsome face. Yuugi struggled to get up again, but couldn't when Yami grabbed his left hand again and placed it on his neck, holding it there firmly.
"Jou!"
Yuugi heard the door slide open. "What's going on," he heard the Elsarian question.
"I can't get up, and Yami isn't moving. Where's Malik? Maybe he can tell us what's going on."
It was silent for a moment.
"Damn it, Jou! Stop gaping and get him!"
"Oh, uh, sorry pal. Be back in a minute."
Yuugi listened as the feet padded away, shortly afterwards returning with another pair.
"Lieutenant?"
"Malik," Yuugi stated. "Yami is not getting up, preferring to nuzzle me instead of moving. I can't even get up with how much pain I'm in. Not to mention the strange fact that he keeps putting my hand on his neck and holding it there. Mind explaining?"
Yuugi swore that he heard Malik frown.
"What's going on," another voice questioned gruffly. Yuugi sighed, recognizing it as Captain Ishtar who had now joined their little party.
"You should probably hear this too," Malik started gravely. "I was afraid that this might happen. I realized last night just before I went to bed that it might occur. But I still couldn't be sure, so I stayed silent. You see, when Aldars do actually take a partner, it is for life. It is rather strange in many different races, and quite unique to our species. When we do bond for life, it is a very deep bond that can never be broken. One will die without the other. Yami might have been prematurely thrown into his mating period because he has, as it seems, bonded with Lieutenant Motou. We used to hold magic and divine destiny to bonding, but we now know that it is a simple matter of bodily chemicals of both parties matching up perfectly. Yami being around your Lieutenant, captain, is probably what triggered all of this. And although bonding can be rare amongst us, it is not uncommon. But I never dreamed that a bond could occur outside of the species. It has never happened before."
Yuugi felt his stomach drop to his knees.
"And how can you be sure that Yami bonded with him," Ishtar asked.
"The neck on an Aldar is an extremely sensitive spot, reserved for only the touch of a life-bonded partner. As you can see, that is exactly where Yami is holding Yuugi's hand at the moment. And one other symptom…"
"Which is," Jou asked.
"Do I really want to know," Yuugi questioned helplessly.
"Yami is doing nothing but nuzzling you."
Yuugi blinked. Ishtar blinked. Jou blinked. "Meaning…"
Yuugi blanched as he realized that Seto had been listening in all along. Now everyone was looking at him, on the floor, naked, with a naked Aldar on top of him who was apparently 'life-bonded' to him. Grand.
"When an Aldar does bond, they go through twelve stages of acceptance. It is usually in one-day increments. The first stage is called 'entaleh istialeh,' or in simpler terms, nuzzling. Yami will be…how to do you humans put it?"
"Glued to the hip," Ishtar supplied.
"Yes, exactly! Glued to the hip!"
Yuugi groaned. "Is there any way that this can be stopped?"
"Only if you ignore everything that Yami does over the next twelve days. And if you do, there is a ninety-eight percent chance that he will go mad."
The earthen Lieutenant felt his heart sink. He couldn't do that.
"I will understand if you feel the need to do as such," Malik stated sadly. "This was never meant to happen."
The Lieutenant drew in a shaky breath, feeling Yami's hair tickle at his shoulder. "No, Captain Malik. I wouldn't do that." The room was deathly silent for a moment, people seeming to shift uncomfortably. "Someone want to help me up," Yuugi asked, "I'm hungry and could really use a shower."
~ * ~
Yuugi stood grumpily at the kitchen counter, attempting to butter his piece of toast with half an arm. Lieutenant Tiyaku was, indeed, practically suction-cupped to his hip. The Aldar had his arms wrapped tightly around Lieutenant Motou, constantly rubbing his nose into Yuugi's neck.
Yuugi normally wasn't much of a touch kind of person, wanting if anything a good physical relationship in the bedroom and mental and emotional support in everyday living. And in most cases he could put up with someone who was hanging on him if that is what they truly needed, but honestly. This was ridiculous. He could barely get cleaned in the shower, Yami had been holding on to him so tightly.
The only way he could get himself and Yami dressed was by way of help from Jou. And walking was another matter entirely.
Putting the butter knife down, Yuugi went to put the piece of strawberry-jam-slathered toast in his mouth-
Only to find his hand devoid of any such thing.
A loud crunching noise greeted his ears when Yami took a bite of his breakfast. "Hey, that's mine!" Yuugi snarled.
"Melaseh," Yami purred, taking another bite of toast.
Growling, Yuugi put another piece of bread in the toaster. "Try to take another one and you're going to pull back a bloody stump for a hand." He felt Yami smile into his shoulder, rubbing against him affectionately.
Yuugi felt a nerve twitch above his eye. Twelve days…only twelve days…
"Good morning, Lieutenant! Beautiful day, is it not?"
Yuugi felt that little nerve twitch again when he heard Malik enter the kitchen. Oh, yes, simply gorgeous…
"So tell me, Malik…what's the second stage to all of this? Or do I want to know?"
He looked over at Malik standing before the refrigerator, a smile crossing the Aldar captain's face. "Oh, I could not ruin the surprise for you! After all, this is one of my favorite stages. There are some others that might not be quite so pleasant for you, but some of them are truly a joy to experience."
Yuugi 'hmmed' to himself. Sounds ominous…"I take it you've watched this kind of thing before?"
"Oh yes, many times. Both of my brothers and sisters mated with other people, and I had the pleasure to watch them and their mates go through the acceptance stages. It was truly exciting!"
Yuugi winced. Why did he have to sound so damned happy all of the time!?
"Say, what does 'melaseh' mean?"
Malik stood upright from grabbing the container of orange juice. "It is a form of Aldarian dialect, called 'Estukenteh.' There are very few of us that actually speak it. Its meaning is 'mine.' Why do you ask?"
"Yami said it when I told him that the toast he stole from me is mine." The toaster popped, and his bead came out hot and ready for jam.
"Ah, yes. That does explain it. Lieutenant Tiyaku is from a very remote part of our world. It is no wonder he spoke it. You should feel very privileged, Lieutenant. There are even less that are allowed to hear the language, much less learn its meaning."
"Trust me, Malik. I'm ecstatic."
~ * ~
Yuugi sat in the living room, munching on some chocolate covered popcorn. Jou had been kind enough to make some for him, being that he was still slightly immobilized at the moment.
In all actuality, though, the rest of the day had been rather boring. Sure, Bakura had screamed when he looked at the bedroom upstairs, but Ishtar stated that he would get a reward in aiding the life-saving measures taken to help a newly met species.
After Bakura had recuperated from the loss of his prized lamp that had shattered, he glumly agreed.
Yami had Yuugi pulled into his lap, still firmly latched onto the Lieutenant as if the world were going to end that night. He hadn't spoken much all day long, choosing to spend all of his time on smiling and glowing with affection. Yuugi just hoped that all of the stages would be that easy to get through. If there was an ugly one, he didn't want to know about it yet.
"Getting through the night, bud?"
Yuugi looked up as Jou walked in, sitting down with a bowl of ice cream. "I suppose. I'm curious as to what tomorrow is going to be. Maybe I'll be able to walk around and do some things. I've never been the type to sit around and do nothing."
"True," Jou concurred, nodding his head. "But it's not like you could have done much today anyway. Your back is still killing you, isn't it?"
Yuugi's face fell. "True. And my legs. And my abdomen. And my ribs. Who would have thought he could squeeze so hard." Probably shouldn't have tried to give him a hickey, either. I'll bet that sent him off the deep end.
"So, ah…what do you think you're going to do with this relationship of yours after the vacation?"
The Lieutenant frowned. "I've been giving that some thought, and I'm not sure. Ishtar would never let his tactical weapons master off his ship. How many people can not only fix, but make and shoot what they make with a deadly accuracy? We haven't lost in combat since I've been on board. They might let Yami stay on our ship. Get the Aldar race more acquainted to our methods in space." He looked up at Jou. "What do you think?"
"Something we're going to have to take up with the Head of Directors. Not to mention whatever it is that runs the Aldar space program, too."
Yuugi rubbed his forehead. "Personally, I think it hurts to think about at the moment. After I'm done with this popcorn I'm going to bed."
"Might want to use your bedroom," a voice behind him spoke.
Yuugi twitched again as Seto spoke to him. "Damn it, Ensign, quite sneaking up on me like that!"
Ensign Kaiba walked out in front of him…grinning?
"Since when do Vulcans smile?" Yuugi asked indignantly.
Seto shrugged. "No reason. Lieutenant Tiyaku's room, however, I hear is still in shambles." And with that he walked off outside…to his igloo.
"I think we've had a bad influence on him," Jou stated. "He's as crazy as we are."
"He thinks my predicament is amusing," Yuugi ground out. "He is not going to be happy when I get back at him for his smugness. Oh, no. He's going to qualify for our loony bins by the time I'm done with him."
"Petiacue istahleh," Yami purred.
Jou raised an eyebrow. Yuugi shook his head. "Never mind. I have no idea what it means either."
Jou stood, stretched, then turned to Yuugi with a yawn. "I'm going to bed. See you tomorrow?"
"If I'm still alive," Yuugi stated. And if I can get up the stairs all right. "Good night."
Suddenly and without warning, Yami picked Yuugi up and headed towards the stairs himself, humming on his way.
Well, guess he wasn't going to have to worry about walking.
~ * ~
Petiacue istahleh- Pretty beloved
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