Prompt XVII: Rules
Yami yawned and stretched his arms over his head. His eyes shot briefly toward Yugi who was still fast asleep next to him. The other boy hadn't moved from his side all night. He had been glued there since their discussion of Sugoroku's apparent betrayal. Yugi had taken the news of his distrust toward Yami that much worse after another night of interactions with Atem. He hadn't spoken to Yami, but rather Yugi instead. And whatever he'd said that second night had left Yugi irritable and exhausted. He'd dragged Yami to the house with him, laid on the mattress and pulled Yami down with him to grab him into what Yami could only describe as the tightest little spoon position ever.
He hadn't objected because Yugi was super warm and soft and covered him like a blanket. But he couldn't move away from him in the slightest due to his grip on him. He'd had to wake him at one point to pee and only when he got back did Yugi whisper apologies and snuggle into his side as he would normally.
A hand abruptly stretched out and grabbed the hem of his shirt, tugging gently. Yami looked over again, raising a brow. Yugi hadn't opened his eyes but he could see him trying not to snicker. His lips kept twitching and tugging as if he might break into a grin, but he was trying his hardest not to show it. Yami knew he was trying to keep a straight face for the fact that if he pretended to be asleep it was more likely Yami would lay back down with him.
He didn't like waking him up. He hated when he got dressed or did anything that made Yugi roll over and wake up. He hated being the reason he woke from a peaceful rest. He just wanted Yugi to relax and sleep as long as possible.
"You're not allowed to leave."
"I'm not allowed?" Yami had the urge to peel his fingers off and see if he protested again. "At all? I'm not allowed to leave at all?"
"Nope!" Yugi cracked an eye open and looked up at him. The moment their eyes locked, he wound up grinning and exhaling a chuckle. "Stop looking at me! I'm trying to be serious!"
Yami snorted. "About me not being able to leave."
"Yes. You're required, as my future beta, to lay here with me until I give you permission to leave. Which you're never allowed to do, so…" Yugi tried not to grin again and his efforts made his face scrunch up like a rabbit. Yami snickered before he could stop himself, shaking his head and turning away. "You're just stuck here, with me, forever."
Yami rolled his eyes and looked over again. "Gladly, but only if you tell me what Atem said to you."
Yugi blinked, peering up at him, and then slowly shifted his weight and pushed himself to sit up. His face had the imprint of the pillowcase wrinkles on one side and his hair was messed up and tangled slightly there as well. Yami snickered and Yugi stretched until a bone popped. The smallest hint of heat rose from the action and Yami had to swallow because his mouth was suddenly watering.
"He said Bakura was really lucky you were there with him because he'd planned to kill him for wandering into the territory like that. He said if you hadn't rushed up to defend him like that, he really would have but since you did, he decided to wait and see if my grandfather or parents or I would come to see what the problem was and help you. He said if we hadn't, he still would have called the fight off, but he wanted to see if…" Yugi was quiet for a long moment, then shook his head. "He said he wanted to see if we were really, uh, mated and I'd come running to help you. That was…it, mostly."
Yami reached down to touch his hand and undo the fingers still clinging to his shirt. "Mostly?" he prompted, tracing the inside of Yugi's palm with his fingers before twining them together tightly.
Yugi was quiet for a long handful of minutes. Then he closed his eyes. His other hand worked its way slowly to Yami's, twining the fingers there as well. He squeezed once, opening his eyes halfway and looking up at him through his lashes.
"He told me that he loves you and he needs me to take good care of you after everything happens." Yugi hesitated. "He said he's been keeping tally of the hunters in the city and in a couple of months he's going to go through and finish them off. I wasn't actually supposed to tell you. But he…he doesn't think any of them are actually going to make it."
Yami blinked, processing the words for a long minute. Then he nodded slowly and blinked again. "Well, that's not good." He looked away from Yugi's critically studious expression. A heartbeat passed. Yami blinked again. "But… I've…been without him for the last two years. I don't see that this changes much of anything. He…always wanted me to be independent anyways. I guess this just kind of…solidifies it, right?"
Yugi stared at him for a long moment, then leaned forward to hug him tightly. "You don't have to pretend you're okay, Yami. I know this isn't easy to deal with and… He wanted to spend a day with you before he did it. I told him that was up to you if you went or not."
"You wouldn't be coming with us."
He surprised himself with how flat his voice sounded and how wounded he felt at the moment. Yugi was telling him he could go and spend time with Atem, but he wasn't even offering to come? He—
"I thought you'd want alone time with him. I…I don't want to be what gets in the way of you two having fun and getting to know each other again. I just…" Yugi was quiet for a long minute. "Look, if you want me to come, I will. But if you're upset and thinking about not going, please don't. Just… This is going to likely be the last chance the two of you have to patch up your relationship and I don't want you to regret it if you don't."
