Note: I had this chapter written/polished and decided to go ahead and post it early. Thanks to Tex-chan for the beta and feedback. (The next chapter may be delayed due to Real Life wtf-ery. See my forum for details.)

This chapter contains a love scene between two consenting adult males (Atem/Yugi). It isn't graphic, but it is a bit more "citrusy" than in my other stories. If this sort of thing bothers you for any reason, please stop reading after the first "Alakazam". It's safe to resume reading after the scene break.

Chapter 15

No sooner had the door closed behind Seto than Atem had Yugi's aching hand in both of his, gentle lips caressing Yugi's swollen knuckles. Golden warmth spread from his hand, up through his arm, and down into his torso and legs, easing sore muscles Yugi hadn't even realized that he had strained.

"You didn't have to do that," Atem said, his voice soft.

"Oh, I really did." Anger still percolated in Yugi's stomach. How dare Seto say those horrible things about- His thoughts screeched into a U-turn that left skid marks on his brain. "Oh my god. He knows."

"What?"

"Seto! He knows." Yugi turned so that he could grab double-handfuls of Atem's shirt, only vaguely noticing that the action didn't hurt. "Somehow, he's figured out that you're a genie! Oh god, what are we going to do?"

"Calming down would be a good place to start." Steering Yugi over to the sofa, Atem forced him to sit. "Knowing what I am won't do him any good. It's not as if he can take me away from you."

Sucking in a deep breath, Yugi let it out slowly. He let Atem pry his clenched fingers free of Atem's shirt. "He can't?"

"Not until you've made your final wish. If he could get his hands on the puzzle after that, he could try to solve it. But, despite how it may seem, since you managed it so swiftly, the puzzle isn't usually so simple to complete."

This did not have the calming effect Atem clearly intended. Yugi shot to his feet. "We have to go get the puzzle!"

"Yugi-"

"I'm not taking any chances! Not with your safety." Latching on to the genie's arm, Yugi towed him toward the door. "Come on, we have to get to Crawford Hall and find the puzzle before he can get his hands on it."

"Seriously, Yugi, the puzzle won't do him any good until after you've made all your wishes."

"And what about after that? Huh? What about then? You said that if he could solve the puzzle... If he solved the puzzle, he'd be your master, right?"

Atem nodded.

"Since he's apparently lost his mind, I don't intend to let that happen!"

Atem's expression went soft, sending a spike of warmth through Yugi's chest in spite of his panic. When Atem cupped Yugi's face with his palm, Yugi instinctively leaned into the touch. "I cannot tell you how much your care means to me. But, however much you may want to, you can't protect me from those who will come after you."

"I could hide the puzzle-"

But the genie was shaking his head. "When you make your third wish, the puzzle will shatter and vanish. I suppose it's a precaution, to prevent a single master from monopolizing my services."

Of course. The damned magic would make certain that Atem suffered as much as possible, at the hands of many different masters. It probably drew the most unpleasant people it could find to the puzzle. No doubt Yugi finding the thing had been a glitch in the curse's 'program', and it would make certain Atem's next master was a sadist to make up for it. Yugi cursed - long, loud, and heart-felt. Eyes closed, body tensed, he let Atem wrap his arms around him and tuck him against Atem's chest. He again curled his fingers into the genie's shirt. "There has to be a way..."

The genie's only answer was to tilt Yugi's face up to receive his kiss. It started out tender and almost chaste, just a fleeting brush of soft lips, but it went straight to his groin. A needy moan escaped Yugi's throat. He clung tighter, using his grip on Atem's shirt to lift himself higher, closer. If only he could hold onto Atem forever, never let him go back to that dark place - held in storage when he wasn't granting wishes for selfish masters whose only thoughts were for their own gain. Suddenly, he couldn't get close enough. He wanted to wrap himself around Atem, keep him safe from the magic, from Seto, from all those potential masters who would only use him.

"Let me... Let me..." Yugi managed to pant between the desperate kisses he was pressing to Atem's neck and jaw and lips, wherever he could reach. "Please, let me."

An equally urgent kiss silenced his pleas. Then Atem pulled him impossibly closer, murmured, "Alakazam" against Yugi's lips, and they were sinking into the soft mattress on Yugi's bed.

Gazing down at the man lying beneath him, Yugi felt his breath catch in his throat. If there had ever been any sight more beautiful, more breathtaking, he didn't know what it was. Atem's dark hair spread across the pillow, the pale linen contrasting with his golden skin and making him almost seem to glow in the soft moonlight from the window. His eyes were heavy-lidded with passion, lips parted in invitation. Unable to resist, Yugi leaned down to capture that tantalizing mouth in another kiss, fierce and filled with yearning. He drew back slowly, drawing out their separation, nipping at Atem's full lower lip before releasing it.

He nipped his way down the column of Atem's throat, soothing each love-bite with a tender kiss and the lap of his tongue. Beneath him, Atem whispered encouragement, arching into his touch. With hands and lips, Yugi mapped his lover's body, exploring Atem's broad chest, following its taper as it narrowed to a trim waist and slender hips. He teased Atem's navel, dipping his tongue inside, then followed the faint trail of hair downward to where Atem's arousal waited for him.

Reverently, his fingers caressed the velvety soft skin, gently at first, then adding pressure when Atem moaned his approval. Sliding down, Yugi closed his mouth over the tip and stroked roughly with his tongue. Atem arched off the bed, one hand making an abortive gesture toward Yugi before curling into the sheet as if that grip were the only thing anchoring him to earth.

"Is this all right?" Yugi asked, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer.

"Oh god..." After a moment, Atem raised his head far enough to meet Yugi's gaze. His eyes were dark with need. "It has been thousands of years, beloved. This is more than all right."

The endearment made Yugi's heart stutter and leap into his throat. If only it could mean what he wanted it to mean... He stroked Atem again, watching the way the genie's eyes closed in pleasure. "You'll let me?"

"Of course." A smile curled the corners of Atem's mouth. "I'll let you do whatever you want."

"Even-" Yugi let his free hand drift lower on his lover's body. "-this?"

"Ah!" The surprise, and what sounded like delight, in that single exclamation made Yugi smile. "Oh, yes."

God, how he loved this man. Even though he couldn't say it aloud, Yugi bent enthusiastically to the task of showing Atem exactly how he felt about him.

-o0o-

Yugi awoke in stages, gradually becoming aware of his surroundings. He was warm and mostly comfortable. A few stiff muscles protested, unaccustomed to the work-out he'd given them the night before, but somehow that only added to his contentment. Soft sheets, of a thread-count he knew he didn't have in his linen closet, covered him. The fragrance of frankincense greeted him when he drew a deep breath, and he realized his nose was pressed against the side of Atem's neck. In fact, he was using Atem as a living body pillow, every inch of Yugi plastered against every inch of Atem that he could reach. As if, even in sleep, he had sought to anchor the genie to the real world - and to him.

After a moment, he began to take note of the changes Atem had wrought to the bedroom. Delicate, translucent panels of fine white linen hung from a gilded wooden frame that surrounded the bed like a canopy. The gauzy fabric softened Yugi's view of the rest of the room, but even so, he could see the effects of Atem's redecorating. Gone were the shabby, outdated dresser and chest of drawers. In their place sat woven reed baskets and sturdy wooden chests. Before them rested light, gilded wooden chairs carved with lotus buds and blossoms, and clawed feet like those of a leopard. The wood was dark and carved reliefs had been picked out in gold and silver. Between the chairs sat a small, three-legged table, its top brightly painted with a floral motif. On the table, a long wooden box doubled as a game board, with alternating ivory and ebony squares inlaid along its top. Open drawers on each end of the box held cone- and spool-shaped game pieces, ready for play. On the floor was a linen rug woven to resemble a lily pool, with flowering plants all along the border and darting fish at its center.

Sensing Atem's gaze, Yugi turned his head to find his lover watching him, lips curved in a faint, indulgent smile. Yugi pretended to frown. "Is this a comment on my lack of mad interior decorating skills?"

A lazy shift of Atem's gaze took in the changed bedroom. "Not really. I just..." He shrugged, refusing to meet Yugi's eyes again. "It's comforting. Familiar surroundings... I can change it back, if it bothers you."

"Don't be stupid." Yugi poked him gently in the ribs. "If it makes you feel better, I'm all for it." It wasn't as if he had to worry about anyone barging unannounced into the bedroom and getting an eyeful. So, where was the harm? "Leave it like this for as long as you like."

"Really?" Atem finally looked at him, if only to give him a skeptical frown. "I know you don't like ancient Egypt..."

"I've developed a new appreciation for it, actually." Yugi snuggled back down into his genie's embrace. "Was this your bedroom when you were a prince?"

"One of them." One of Atem's hands began to lightly stroke along the bare curve of Yugi's spine. He gave a little shiver of appreciation. "This was in my apartment at my father's palace at Waset."

"It looks comfortable." And luxurious, although that was hardly surprising for the bed chamber of a royal son. The room was larger than the room it replaced, with soothing, blue-painted plaster walls and small, high windows to keep out the heat of the day while still allowing in light and fresh air. The furniture was exquisite, obviously the work of master craftsmen, and the sheer amount of wood on display was staggering to an archaeologist like Yugi, who knew how rare hard woods were in ancient Egypt. Atem had clearly been a favored son.

Thinking that made Yugi curious about something else. "Did you have a big family?"

"I had many siblings. Sisters, as well as brothers."

An only child, Yugi had always rather envied those with large families. Becoming an orphan had only increased his wish for siblings. In some ways, Joey, Tristan, and Téa filled that role to the bursting, but there were times when he still longed for the ties of blood to bind him to someone. "Tell me about them?"

"Very well." Atem shifted, gently rearranging Yugi so that he fit more snugly against Atem's side. "You already know about Bakura. My father was Pharaoh and, as such, he had many wives and concubines, mostly as the result of political alliances. He had thirty children by the time I was born."

"Were all your siblings older than you?"

"No, my sister Amunet was younger." Yugi could hear the smile in his voice. "We called her 'Mana'. She was always hiding from her nurse..." Atem shook himself and continued. "I was the only child of my mother, the Great Royal Wife. She was my father's favorite. But she was of delicate health and died when I was a young child. I have no real memory of her."

"I'm so sorry-"

"My nurse told me wonderful stories about my mother, so I almost feel as if I knew her. Of course, my father chose a new Great Royal Wife, as was required, but he never forgot his fondness for my mother. I didn't realize it at the time, but I think his love for her carried over into his open affection for me. I was indisputably his favorite and some of my siblings resented it."

Atem spoke the last in a dry tone that Yugi had no difficulty interpreting.

"You mean Bakura."

"Yes." Atem gave a harsh laugh. "I never knew just how much he resented it until he tried to kill me."

"Why did he do it? I mean, I guess he didn't like you much, but what did he hope to gain from your death?" Yugi wrapped his arm around Atem's body and hung on, quailing at the thought of any harm coming to his lover.

"He coveted my position as Pharaoh's heir. I was 'Falcon in the Nest' and I would become the Living Horus when my father went West. Bakura believed that title should be his and was jealous of me, of the regard Pharaoh showed me. He never meant for this-" A twisting gesture of one hand indicated his forced descent into genie-dom. "-to happen. He wanted, quite literally, to take my place."

"Huh? How could he do that?"

"Bakura's mother was a Hittite princess who was also a powerful sorceress. She used her foul magic in an attempt to murder Pharaoh, intending to take the Double Crown for her son. Her evil schemes were discovered and she was executed. Bakura would have lost his life as well, but I, naive fool that I was, pleaded for his life. My father spared him because I begged it, which only increased Bakura's resentment."

Yugi rubbed his cheek against Atem's shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, I don't mind telling you." Atem pressed a kiss to Yugi's temple. "Talking about it like this, with you... It has lessened the burden of carrying the tale, untold and festering, all these years."

"Then I'm happy to listen, if it helps you."

"It does."

Atem continued his story, telling Yugi about the ambush, Mahaad's betrayal (an event that seemed to confuse Atem as much as it saddened him), and the seven amulets of power that Bakura had planned to use to steal Atem's body and condemn his soul to wander, unjustified, in the desert.

"Would his plan have worked, do you think? Could he have used your body, pretended to be you, and murdered your father?"

"I don't know. My father had no reason to question my loyalty. In my body, Bakura would have been welcomed without reservation into Pharaoh's presence. He would have had every opportunity to carry out his plan."

"So, what do you think went wrong?"

Atem's shrug lifted Yugi's head where it rested against the genie's shoulder. "The spell was working. It was tearing me apart, ripping my soul from my body. The pain... I have never felt anything else like it. It was excruciating. And there was a suffocating darkness all around me..."

"The shadow realm?" Yugi's voice was hushed.

"Perhaps. At the time, all I knew was that I felt as if I were dying. Bakura said he would bind his magic to my body so that he could use it after he had replaced my spirit with his own. His mother probably taught him her vile spells, but something went wrong with the transfer. Instead of expelling my soul, the spell bound it, Bakura's power, my body, and the pyramid amulet together."

Yugi thought about this. It sounded fantastic, but the living proof that it was real lay in his arms. "Could something have interfered with the spell?"

"I don't know. Such things are outside the boundaries of my knowledge. The magic I learned a boy was nothing like it, and the magic now refuses to tell me. All I have are suppositions. Perhaps Mahaad would have known. He was a powerful magician in his own right and something of a scholar. He studied not only our Egyptian magic, but the ways of other peoples, as well." Atem exhaled a tiny laugh. "He could expound on the subject for hours if he could find a willing ear - or a victim who could not run away fast enough."

The fond amusement in Atem's voice was at odds with what he had told Yugi of Mahaad's betrayal at the end. Recalling their earlier conversation, from the night they'd gone to the movie theater, Yugi asked, "You were close, weren't you? Before?"

"We grew up together. Mahaad was the son of one of the regional governors. It was the custom at the time for royal children to be raised with those who would serve as their closest advisors once they reached maturity. If I had lived to become Pharaoh, he would have served in such a position, possibly even become a vizier."

"Yeah, but the way you talk about him, it sounds like he meant more to you than that."

"We were friends." Atem shook his head, as if second-guessing his conviction. "At least, I always thought that we were. Of course, I also thought that my brother returned the filial affections I held for him. I've come to realize that I was, perhaps, not such a good judge of character in my younger days."

"I know the feeling." Yugi snorted, though not without sympathy. At Atem's questioning eyebrow, Yugi explained, "Seto."

Despite the recent ups and downs (mostly downs) in their relationship, Yugi still considered Seto his friend. The strangeness was starting not just to worry him, but also to frighten him. He wanted to help Seto, but how could he when he didn't know what was going on? A possible solution occurred to him.

"If I wished for it, could you tell me what's bothering him?"

"How would that be of direct benefit to you?"

"Well, it would ease my mind."

"Sorry, but I don't think the magic will accept that as a benefit." Atem's brow furrowed as he continued to think about Yugi's request. "However, I might be able to use my own magic to give you a clue."

"You could do that?"

"I could try." Cupping Yugi's cheek, Atem cautioned, "It might not work."

"Now?"

"If that's what you-" The growling of Atem's stomach interrupted him. He frowned at it.

Craning his neck, Yugi kissed Atem's chin. "After breakfast, then. Come on. I'll make you pancakes. Which would you prefer, chocolate chip or blueberry?"

He started to rise, but Atem's grip on him pulled him back down. The genie smiled at him. "Your needs come first, my darling master."

"Well, then, I need to make you pancakes." Yugi dropped a kiss onto Atem's lips, then another to the tip of his nose, which wrinkled when Atem laughed. "Go shower and shave, and I'll get the coffee started."

For some reason, that made both of Atem's eyebrows decide to flirt with his hairline. Yugi cocked his head, his own brows furrowing. "What?"

"I need to shave again?" Reaching up, Atem ran his fingers along his jaw, feeling the stubble there. His brows lowered, forming a thoughtful frown. "My beard is growing. I feel hunger and need to sleep..."

Yugi's eyes widened as the implications lined up in his head. "You said you've never experienced any of this before, right? What if... what if you're becoming more-" There was no other way to say it. "-human the longer you remain outside of the shadow realm?"

Atem gaped at him.

"Is it..." Yugi faltered beneath that intense, dark gaze. "Do you think it might be possible?"

"I don't know." Slipping from the bed, Atem conjured a full-length mirror and began to examine his reflection with narrowed eyes. (He forgot to say "Alakazam", but Yugi figured he could let it slide, just this once.) "I have no frame of reference for this. Perhaps it is normal, a consequence, as you suggest, of spending so much time in this reality."

"If you stay here for long enough, do you think you might... Will you become fully human again?"

Atem froze. His back was to Yugi, but Yugi could still see his expression in the mirror. Atem looked like a man torn between desperation and despair. Yugi looked into the genie's bleak eyes and wondered how long ago Atem had lost the ability to hope for his freedom from the curse.

"It can't be that simple." There was a finality in Atem's voice that cut through Yugi's optimism like a machete. There was anger there, too, a cold fury he could hear just beneath the surface. "Fate has a cruel sense of humor if such is the case. If I could have been free centuries - millennia - ago if I had only found a way to linger in the world!"

Atem punctuated this exclamation by slamming his fist into the mirror. Yugi cried out as the glass shattered (Atem must have instinctively put his magic into the blow), and blood began flowing down Atem's arm.

"Oh, my god! Atem!" Yugi flung himself out of the bed - or, at least, tried. Instead, he became tangled in the sheets, flailing when his weak leg failed to support him, and would have tumbled head-first into the carpet if the genie's strong arms hadn't caught him.

Atem set him back on the bed and settled beside him. "Be careful!"

"Me? You're the one who's bleeding!" Yugi grabbed Atem's wrist, frantic to examine his injured hand. Before his astonished eyes, the gashes on Atem's knuckles glowed with a faint golden light and sealed themselves, leaving nothing but unmarked skin behind. Yugi gulped and ran his fingertips over the smooth back of Atem's hand. "You can heal yourself?"

"The magic heals me. It's involuntary." Atem scowled at his hand and flexed his fingers. "After all, it wouldn't do for me to escape the curse by dying."

Or by killing himself. Yugi shuddered as his mind filled in the unspoken addendum. He shifted his grip so that their fingers entwined. "I thought you couldn't cure... But I guess that only applies to other people, not yourself."

"Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Well, you couldn't cure Professor Hawkins."

"Because that would not have benefited you directly, not because the magic cannot heal. After you, um, defended my honor-" He gave Yugi's hand a gentle squeeze. "-I healed your hand. And remind me to teach you how to land a punch without injuring yourself too badly. You broke your fingers last night."

"I hate fighting," Yugi said absently. He flexed his hand. It wasn't even bruised, and he vaguely recalled the warmth that had gone through him the night before, when Atem had kissed his knuckles. "So, your magic could heal my hand, but not the Professor?"

"Your hand was a very minor injury, requiring only minor magic. Professor Hawkins' illness is different. I wanted to heal him for you, but my own magic is not strong enough and your wish did not meet the requirements of the 'greater magic' of the curse." After a moment of silence, Atem knelt, his free hand sliding down Yugi's leg to cup his calf. "You could wish for your leg to be healed."

"What?"

"Healing your body would be a direct benefit to you. If you wish for it, the magic will allow me to grant it." Atem arched his eyebrows. "You really never considered it?"

"I thought... I mean, with the professor... I never even thought it was possible."

It wasn't something he'd even dared dream, not since he was a little kid. He'd learned all too young that there wasn't anything his family (or the doctors, or even Santa Claus) could do to "make it all better." Funny how, years later, it hadn't even occurred to him that a genie could do what no one else in his life had ever been able to do.

The room appeared to be shaking. It took Yugi a second to realize that was because he was trembling. His chest felt tight and he could barely draw breath to ask, "You can really do that?"

"Forgive me, Yugi. If I had realized, I would have explained sooner." Atem's fingers continued their gentle massage of Yugi's calf muscles as he looked up at Yugi. "Will you wish it?"

Wish it? Wish to be healed, to be normal? To go days at a time with no pain. To walk, to run without pain or mobility aids... Yugi was almost giddy with the possibilities. "I can? I really can?"

"Of course, my darling master." Atem rose and wrapped his arms around Yugi. "Let me do this for you. Let me heal you. All you have to do is wish it."