Coffee and Cigarettes

A series of unconnected vignettes, starring the Yu Gi Oh cast and revolving around the eponymous items. Obviously, I don't own Yu Gi Oh, and I don't own Jim Jarmusch's wonderful film Coffee and Cigarettes... but it's a fabulous movie, so I do recommend it to you.

Scene Four: Yami, Ryou, Absolutely Nothing

Ryou sat calmly sipping his iced tea in the café. It was late at night and the place was deserted. Even the waiter had gone out back somewhere, and Ryou was pleased that he'd ordered a cup of coffee for Yami before that. Yami was late, but it didn't really matter. The place was playing a pleasant jazz soundtrack from somewhere, and the walls were adorned with paintings of riverboats and plantations.

The door clanged open, a bell jangling harshly as the king of games stalked in. He surveyed the place wildly, and then rushed over to Ryou's table.

"Hi, Yami," Ryou said softly.

Yami's violet eyes stared down at him for a second, his imposing presence making Ryou feel slightly cowed in his chair. Then Yami peeled off his long black coat - revealing, of course, the puzzle, as well a pair of leather pants... and some kind of long-sleeved, purple mesh-top-thing- flung it over the back of his chair, and sat down.

"Hi Ryou, how are you?" Yami asked, conversationally.

"Oh, I'm good." Ryou smiled, quietly attempting not to, well, giggle at Yami's clothing. "I took the liberty of ordering an espresso for you, I hope you don't mind. The waiter sort of... Disappeared..." He looked around.

"That's fine... Fine," Yami said, and took a sip of the black drink as if to prove it. "And what are you drinking?"

Ryou blinked his brown eyes. "Oh. I'm drinking iced tea. ...I don't like coffee."

Yami nodded.

They sat quietly for a moment, the soft plucking strings of a jazz bass filling the air.

Yami cleared his throat as Ryou smiled politely. "So... Ryou. Was there anything you wanted to tell me?"

Ryou blinked again. He shook out his white hair and took a sip of his tea. The cool liquid was crisp and refreshing, with a slight lemon tang. "Er... No, not really."

Yami sat back and crossed his arms. He leaned forward again. Then he fished for his coat pockets over the chair, and pulled out a packet of cigarettes and a box of matches. "...You don't mind, do you?"

Ryou shook his head, and watched as Yami struck the match. It flared briefly, as Yami took a long drag of the cigarette, coaxing it to ignite. Yami then waved the now useless matchstick, putting out the flame.

"...Nothing you wanted to talk about?"

"No, nothing like that." Ryou was genial. "I just thought it might be nice to get together."

Yami leaned his elbows on the table, trying to avoid puffing his smoke in Ryou's face. He took another sip of his coffee, and Ryou watched a gold bracelet on his wrist jangle as he lifted and set down the small cup.

"...That's all?" Yami pressed.

"Why - yes," Ryou said, wondering what Yami was getting at.

"So... You're not in any kind of trouble?"

"Trouble? Heavens no!" Ryou laughed, leaning back comfortably. "I just thought that since we never spend much time together, it would be nice to have a conversation."

"A conversation." Yami seemed dubious. He picked up the sugar shaker and tipped a little into his cup, careful not to get too much.

"Yes, a conversation."

"Because, you know, it's just that you called and said 'Hey, Yami, I think we should meet somewhere tonight', and I thought you might be in trouble over something.' ...But it's nothing like that?"

"No, nothing like that." Ryou smiled again, though he was getting a little grumpy.

"You can tell me if you're in trouble, you know." Yami smiled reassuringly, though he didn't do a very good job of it, what with his naturally eerie eyes and his provocative attire. He fiddled with the puzzle around his neck for a moment.

"No, Yami, I just thought that it had been a while since we saw each other last. And that we ought to catch up."

"I see." Yami took another sip of his coffee. "...This place has good music."

Ryou nodded, and they listened for a long moment.

"So... How are things?" Ryou broke the reasonably amiable silence.

"Oh, things are good." Yami nodded. "Yes, things are quite good. How are your... Things?"

Ryou smiled again. "Oh, they're good, too, I've been busy working part-time not far from here, I just finished a shift actually, that's why I wanted to meet now."

"So everything's good."

"Yes, Yami, everything is fine."

"Look, if you're in trouble, Ryou, I can help. I'm the King of Games, afterall. I could challenge - "

"Yami, everything's fine, really. I just wanted to catch up." Ryou said, his teeth clenched now.

" - really, it's NO trouble at all - " Yami went on.

"Everything is good. It's great. GREAT," Ryou tried to tell him.

" - I'd be happy to - "

"Shit, Yami, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IS WRONG!" Ryou shouted. The iced tea he was holding sloshed dangerously in the direction of Yami's leather pants as Ryou leapt to a standing position.

Yami's eyes widened in surprise. For a moment he resembled his hikari, which was no mean feat. He sat quietly, then gulped down the rest of his espresso. Jazz notes squealed, oblivious and playful in the background.

"...I was just saying," he said, finally.

"Yes, Yami; thank you." Ryou sat down again. "I just wanted to see you and say hello." He had regained some of his calm in the short interval.

"Oh. Well. That's... Nice." Yami seemed at a loss for words. "Well... Hello."

Ryou smiled bravely and finished off his own drink. "Yes."

A few more moments passed. Yami suddenly remembered his cigarette, and saw that most of it had burnt down on its own during their conversation. He tapped the long line of ash into the black tray provided, and then snuffed the end out.

"So..." Yami said.

Ryou looked at him, curiously.

"I guess I'll be going then."

Ryou raised an eyebrow as Yami stood and shrugged back into his coat.

"You know... Unless..."

Ryou frowned.

"...Unless you need me for something?" Yami added hopefully.

Ryou forced a polite smile onto his face. He wondered why he had ever thought this was a good, nice, friendly idea. He stood, too. "No, no - everything's just fine, Yami. Better than fine. It's great." He extended a hand.

Yami looked down at it for a moment, a tad bewildered, then accepted the hand. Ryou shook it, and watched as Yami bowed, then headed out the front door. It clanged as he opened and shut it. To Ryou, the sound seemed just a little angrier this time around.

He needed more tea. Cool, crisp, refreshing tea.

Author's Note: Ha, I love this chapter. It draws heavily on one from the movie. I thought these two characters were more than perfect for it. Anyway, I hope you were amused... And coming up in Scene Five, Honda and Otogi run into each other on the way to Shizuka's.

It's 2am so I'm a little tired for comments, but thanks heaps to ThePianoFiend, Freak09, Sir Mocha, Ratica, Setine (yay), the indomitable Black Breeze (hehe, as you can see, no triangles around here) and KaibasShadowGirl.

The Silent Reaper... Wha? Well. Your sister could be almost anybody. Heh. I'll refrain from guessing in order to keep from embarrassing myself. ;) Last lines are loads of fun.

Till next exciting episode, cowboys.