Title: The Dream of Daylight

Part: 1?

Author: Callow

Warnings: AU, fluff, possible citrus-y content

Genre: Romance, fantasy

Pairings: Yami no YuugixYuugi

Constructive Criticism: Yes

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, I don't make money from fanfiction

Description: There's a place where daylight's just a dream and the nightmares won't go away. Yugi follows Yami into dreamland, and if he's lucky, they'll both wake up.

Chapter One

'I feel like a cross-dresser,' complained Yugi, squirming uncomfortably in his seat. He was sure he heard a soft chuckle from the living room.

His childhood friend and one-time crush, Anzu, straightened and delivered a gentle open-handed slap to the top of his head, careful to avoid disarraying his hair.

'Shut up,' she said lightly. 'You look beautiful.'

Yugi raised an eyebrow, glanced down at his clothes -- a pair of neatly pressed black dress pants- fingerless, lace gloves under a short jacket and varnished nails - heavy boots and a couple of belts - and finally a corset, hand made from black and purple satin, a pattern of silver cobwebs printed on the center panel.

He was thankful that the only other person in the house - Yami, a student a year or so above he and Anzu who'd come over to tutor Anzu in maths and had ended up staying for dinner - was in the living room, looking over Anzu's homework.

'I look,' he repeated, enunciating clearly as though speaking to a small and particularly dense child, 'like a cross-dresser.'

Anzu hit him over the head again, more forcefully this time.

'Stop moving,' she ordered, 'or your face won't look any good.'

For the past forty-five minutes, Anzu had been carefully arranging Yugi's hair into artful waves. Now she'd begun on his make-up, much to his horror. She said it was for an art class project. Yugi suspected it was because Anzu didn't have a little sister, or a Barbie doll.

Maybe it was his build. Too narrow in the shoulders, or something.

'Who, exactly, is in your art class?' he asked.

'Don't move your lips so much,' she said. 'You could end with a lip brush up your nose.'

'Who's in your art class?' he repeated, dutifully keeping his lips as still as possible. Who's going to see me in drag?

'Er... a few of the girls, some boys from the athletics team... I don't remember all their names.' She picked up a kohl pencil, regarded it thoughtfully, and sharpened it. She held it up in front of her eyes, frowning.

'You know, I never was any good with these things,' she said, waving the pencil. 'I always end up poking myself in the eye.'

'Wonderful.'

'Shh!' Another good-natured slap, on his upper arm this time. Anzu continued gazing at the pencil.

'Maybe you could just... leave me as I am?' Yugi suggested hopefully.

'No,' Anzu waved a hand. 'It wouldn't look right.' She snapped her fingers. 'Yami! He's good at this; his eyes always look fantastic!'

'What?'

'I'll go and get him!'

'Anzu!'

Yugi could've sworn he'd seen a wicked grin on Anzu's face as she sprinted into the living room. Not for the first time, he wondered why he'd ever agreed to this. Friendship could be a bitch like that.

'-- so I thought maybe you could do it,' Anzu was saying brightly as she lead Yami into the kitchen. She flashed a dazzling smile. 'I'm sure Yugi won't mind.'

'Anz--!'

'It's fine,' Yami said, casting a smile at Yugi (who was sure that his stomach had just evaporated) before turning back to Anzu. 'I looked over your homework. You're getting better.'

'But I still keep forgetting to carry the two,' Anzu said. 'I'll leave you to it, then.' She smiled. 'I have an essay I want to finish up. Call when you're done!' She vanished. Yugi could just hear her feet clattering on the stairs.

'So,' Yami crossed the kitchen in a few strides. He pulled a chair up next to Yugi and sat down, straddling it, then picked up the abandoned kohl pencil. 'You're over here every time I come to help Anzu, but we've never really spoken much, have we?'

'Um, no... You were always busy and... well... you're always busy.'

'Mmm, that's true.' Yami twirled the pencil gracefully between the fingertips of his left hand. He tilted Yugi's head back a little. 'Look at me, and try not to blink.'

'You're not going to poke me in the eye, are you?'

Yami grinned. 'Don't you trust me?'

'You have a sharpened pencil next to my eyeball.'

'I have very steady hands,' Yami said. His right hand cupped the side of Yugi's face and he began to apply the kohl in long, steady strokes. Yugi tried not to blink. The sensation of the pencil against his skin was unlike anything he'd experienced; too firm to tickle, gentle enough not to hurt. Almost …sensuous.

'You know,' Yami said, still drawing, 'Anzu never told me how much of this she wants on you. Do you know?'

'No,' for some reason, Yugi felt the need to keep his lips still as well as his eyes. His throat was inexplicably dry. 'All she told me was what to wear.'

'I wonder why she...' Yami lifted the pencil long enough to shake his head, with another of those smiles. 'Anyway. I think we should try to emphasise your eyes more, don't you?'

Yugi made a noncommittal noise in his throat, somewhere between a grunt and a squeak, as a blush began to rise in his cheeks.

'Won't be much longer,' Yami said.

'Does it look okay?'

'What? You doubt my abilities?' Yami said, feigning hurt. He grinned widely. 'You're beautiful.'

Yugi was saved from having to respond by Anzu. She stuck her head around the door.

'Are you ready? I have my camera set up and everything.'

Yami drew a last stroke of eyeliner with a flourish.

'Done,' he said. He looked at Anzu over his shoulder. 'Can I stay and watch?'

Yugi leant around Yami and fixed Anzu with a pleading stare. Haven't I been embarrassed enough for one night?

'Are you sure? It might be boring,' she said, completely ignoring Yugi. She smiled brightly. 'But you're welcome to stay. I don't mind at all.'

'What about you, Yugi?' Yami asked, turning back around. Yugi quickly straightened in his seat.

'I… no, it's fine.' He saw Anzu flash an uncharacteristically wicked grin behind Yami's back.

'Thanks!' He reached out a hand to Yugi, pulled him to his feet. They walked side-by-side as they followed Anzu into the back yard.

Earlier in the day, before tutoring, Anzu had enlisted Yami and Yugi's help to set up a small area of the garden to act as a backdrop for the series of photos she'd planned. The air was chilly.

'How long will this take?' Yugi asked. His teeth were beginning to chatter already.

'Not too long,' Anzu fiddled with the camera. 'I'm sorry it's so cold. I'll make you a Milo when we're done, okay?'

Posing for Anzu's photos seemed to take hours. Yugi was chilled to the bone and found himself trying to sneak looks at Yami's wristwatch. He couldn't believe it had only been twenty minutes when Anzu turned the camera off.

'All done!' she said happily.

She smiled to herself when Yami wrapped his jacket around Yugi's shoulders.

'What the hell were you doing?' Yugi asked in a hissing whisper. He sat on a chair in Anzu's kitchen, clutching a steaming mug of Milo. Yami's jacket was still draped around his shoulders.

'What?' Anzu asked innocently. She glanced at the doorway, through which she could see Yami packing his books into his bag. 'Do you think I've spent the last couple of months with my fingers in my ears?' She rested her elbows against the table, her chin resting on one hand. 'You're always over here when Yami's tutoring me. I know your maths isn't that bad. And don't think I haven't noticed the way he looks at you, too.'

Yugi put his face in his hands and shook his head. 'Why?' he asked weakly.

'Why not?' She shrugged. 'A little action isn't going to hurt you.'

He groaned. 'You've been hanging around with the boys too long. What ever happened to that sweet little girl I used to know?'

'What ever happened to that cute little boy who used to borrow straight porn from his friends?'

'…I thought we'd agreed never to mention that.'

'Mention what?' Yami walked into the kitchen and sat down beside Yugi, his bag on his knees.

'Nothing,' Yugi said, blushing.

'We've agreed never to mention it,' Anzu said. 'Do you want anything, while I'm up?'

Yami shook his head. 'I should be going soon. They lock the doors at ten,' he grimaced, 'and I don't really like the idea of sleeping in the park again.'

'…What do you mean "again"?' Yugi asked. 'Where exactly do you live?'

Yami just shook his head, smiling crookedly. 'I'm not that far from your place, actually. That's what I'd meant to ask you; would you like me to walk you home?'

'Umm… if it's not out of your way, or anything,' he glanced at Anzu. She was fiddling with the camera straps, looking as though she were biting her tongue.

'I'd like to,' Yami smiled. Yugi felt his jaw slacken.

'…okay.'

'So you'll be going now?' Anzu said.

'Wh- what about the garden…?' Yugi asked.

Anzu waved a hand dismissively. 'I'll fix that in the morning. I want to play with these photos!' She patted her camera lovingly.

'Alright,' Yami rose and swung his bag onto his back. 'See you next week.' Yugi followed him with a soft ''Bye Anzu,' of his own.

''Bye,' Anzu waved. She sat at the table in silence, until she heard the front door clicked closed. After a few more moments of silence, she allowed herself to let out a fangirl squeal.

'Do you really get locked out of your house at ten?'

'It's not really a house,' Yami explained. 'More like… a hostel, I suppose. Rent's cheap, the roof leaks and Sister Bernadette's – that's the woman who runs the place, she's some kind of foreign nun – idea of security is to lock the doors at ten o'clock and not open them unless the building's on fire.'

'Sounds… um…'

'Crap?' Yami grinned. 'I know. It's not that bad, actually. Sister Bernadette's alright. She's got a good bullshit radar, so most of the other residents aren't too bad either.'

'And the leaky roof?' Yugi asked.

'It wouldn't be leaky if I'd get out and fix it like I keep saying I will.'

Yugi was about to ask why Yami's parents didn't hire a repair man… then thought better of it.

'This is your street, isn't it?' Yami asked. Yugi looked around. He hadn't even noticed just how far they'd come.

'Y-yes… um, that's my place there,' he pointed vaguely.

A set of cool fingers brushed the palm of his right hand, and suddenly a firm hand was holding his gently. Heat flared across his cheeks, but he didn't pull his hand away.

'So… can I meet you after school tomorrow?' Yami was smiling again. Somewhere in the depths of his mind (which, admittedly, was rather foggy at that moment), Yugi caught himself wondering if Yami knew just how sexy that smile was.

'S-sure… I'll… be around. My place, meet me at my place.' He blinked. They were standing right in front of his home. How'd we get here?

'I'll be here,' Yami promised. He leant forward and brushed his lips gently against Yugi's. 'It's a date.'

And then he disappeared down the darkened street, leaving Yugi alone, pressing his fingers to his still-tingling lips.