Scandalshipping (Set x Atem)
Set had always been...something of a mystery to Atem. Sure, he had a blunt personality, as Atem had often run across whenever he played pranks. He was irritable, strict, stern, a killjoy, had no time for games of any sort, and definitely had a superiority complex.
But there was something in those strange blue eyes of his that intrigued Atem. Even when they were flashing with irritation or even downright anger, there was a measure of maturity in his eyes. It was the look of someone who had had to grow up way too fast – after all, Set was only a year or two older than Atem himself. Once or twice, Atem caught the tall boy alone, staring off at something that only he could see, with his eyes as empty as the Underworld. Those moments hurt Atem. He knew nothing of the pain that Set had experienced. Nothing. He had been pampered since the day he was born. Sometimes, although feeling guilty at the thought, he wished that he had experienced some of that pain. Then, maybe, it would take some of the sting away from those looks he would catch.
"Prince Atem," Set said, his eyes glimmering with barely concealed irritation. "You have an economics lesson in ten minutes. You remember, don't you?"
"Yes," Atem lied quickly. "I was on my way there now."
Set obviously did not believe him, but he held his tongue. Instead, he fell into step beside Atem, crushing Atem's hopes of slipping away for an hour or so. Silence grew between them, broken only by the shuffle of their feet and the whoosh of their canvas clothing.
Atem chanced a glance across or rather, up, at Set. It was sometimes annoying how much taller Set was.
Set's eyes had emptied again. Atem's heart caught, and he looked quickly away. There was such...depth...in that look. It was like an ocean had grown in Set's blue eyes, and Atem was afraid of drowning in it. He trained his eyes in front of him, but the reflection of the empty eyes kept flashing through his head.
Slowly, Atem came to a hesitant stop. Set paused, glancing back at him.
"Is everything all right?"
"Where do...where do you go?" Atem asked.
Set blinked.
"What?"
Atem tried again.
"Where do you go? When your eyes empty...what do you see?"
Silence enveloped the pair, facing each other, red eyes to blue. Finally, Set's eyes closed slowly, and opened again. He smiled wryly.
"With all due respect, Prince Atem..." he said. "I don't think you want to know."
"I do," Atem said, stubborn now. "I – I don't know what pain is. How can I be a pharaoh if I don't understand that?"
At that statement, Set's eyes softened. In fact, his whole body seemed to let go of something heavy. In just a brief moment, Set had transformed from the tall, forbidding man Atem knew, to a small, broken boy with too much hurt in his soul.
Atem refused to look away. It hurt him so much to see Set like this, but he would not look away from it.
"I see my mother," Set said finally. "And...my village. In flames."
Set closed his eyes.
"I don't want to burden you with this, Prince Atem."
Atem took a step forward.
"I am going to be a pharaoh someday. Then I will have to shoulder the burden of thousands. This will be...good practice for me."
Set opened his eyes, and Atem half-smiled. Set let out a single, quiet laugh.
"I suppose it will be," he said. "All right. I think of the village, like I said before. But most often, I think about how I never saw my mother before everything burned. But I did see...I did see the men that did it. And I saw them burn up in the breath of a dragon – it was...not a pretty sight."
Set's shoulders stiffened imperceptibly. Atem reached forward tentatively, and touched his shoulders. They relaxed, and he looked Atem in the eye again.
"So, my mind runs away with me..." he said. "And I imagine my mother burning up in the same way as those men."
Atem tightened his hand on Set's shoulder. Although he had not seen it, had never seen anyone burn to death, for a single, terrible moment, he could see what Set saw – as clear as day, as bright as fire, the image seared through him so badly that he nearly collapsed.
But he kept a hand on Set's shoulder, steadying them both. Set put his own hand on top of Atem's.
They stood silently for a long moment, as the words and the image sank into the emptiness around them.
Then, suddenly, a door slid open a ways down the hallway, and Isis appeared. Her deep brown eyes swept the hallway, and came to a rest on the two boys. The hint of a smile twitched across her lips.
"My apologies," she said. "I didn't mean to...interrupt anything."
For some reason, the way she said it made both Atem and Set blush terribly.
"I-Isis, wait, that's not what was happening –" Atem said.
Isis just smiled mischievously and swept back through the doorway. As the silence regained its hold on the hallway, Atem and Set decided, rather pointedly, not to look at each other as they continued down the hallway.
A/N: Way to interrupt the mood, Isis. XD I can definitely see her doing that. While this is cute, I can't ship this cause they're cousins, and that's weird, even if they do live in ancient Egypt where kings married their sisters and even *shudder* their daughters. Next is Scarshipping (Rishid x Thief King Bakura).
