**Author's note at end
Terry stared at the broad back that was in front of her, once in a while looking at their joined hands as she kept a step behind to let him lead the way. She was unable to ignore the fact that his hand was larger than her own, easily encasing hers with such warmth. His finger tips were a little callous but the rest it was smooth. It was the opposite of her hands which were pretty callous from her active lifestyle prior to her life here. She wondered if he found it odd that her hands were so rough. She never thought about such things before coming to live an average life, Minami and Rei's hands much softer and slender than hers.
Does that sort of thing matter? She wondered, looking at their joined hands once again. When did she begin to wonder about such things? Why was she thinking so much about it? She really had no answers, but she knew she liked that comfort his hand brought her. That's all that really matters. She gave his hand a small squeeze as she took a large step to stand next to him. Up until this point she had actually be very nervous. She never dealt with a mother before. She had no mother of her own after all. The fact she was meeting his was even more nerve wracking than she originally thought.
She, Terry Sheriff, was anxious over meeting a mother. She had braved murderous bandits, tomb raiders, death traps, wild animals, all sorts of diseases, and a variety of scenarios that promised unimaginable bodily harm. She looked danger in the eye and grinned with confidence. She laughed at the thought of letting a chance to explore slide by, and yet here she was shaky legged like a fawn taking its first steps. She felt silly about it, but this was something very daunting to her. Her feet began to slow as she rattled her mind with how to handle the situation until she was almost an arm's length behind him and grabbed his attention.
Atem turned to see what was wrong, stopping mid step as he saw the uncertainty in her eyes. She bit at her lip as her eyes never left the same spot on the sidewalk but he knew he mind was somewhere else. A small frown curled on his lips as he walked back to her and lightly knocked on her head.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He wondered if she was second guessing her trip to his home and that made him a little uneasy. The little demon that always nagged at him with negativity tried to speak up but he quickly focused his thoughts on Terry. He knew she would not lie about wanting to come over. There was definitely something else. She was more than excited earlier and even went so far as to grab the baked goods as a gift. He silently watched as her head quickly jerked up as she looked at him.
"Oh, I'm sorry…I just got a little lost in my own thoughts." She forced a smile on her face and he felt his eyebrow twitch at the sight of it. There was a smile, but that was it. Her eyes held such nervous fear that it was a terrible front for someone like him who paid so much attention to her.
Why are you trying to be so strong when you have me? It's just us…with me, at least with me, don't hide. He wanted to say but the words never came out. Instead he pinched at her cheek with his free hand and tugged as he scowled outwardly at her. "That smiles wrong," he bluntly stated. "I told you…you're foolish grin suits you best. You really are vapid if you think I wouldn't see the difference." He scoffed, her eyes widening a bit at his words. She knew he was contrarian, especially when he lacked the words or courage to speak what was in his heart; so his words never hurt her. A genuine smile slowly grew from the forced one, quickly taking over her face as the light of it filled her eyes. "That's better, now how about you tell me what's got you so troubled?"
"I," she started to speak up but suddenly stopped for a moment. She considered her words as she looked down at their joined hands as the one pinching her cheek released her only to cup the now red skin. "I…don't know how to face your mother." She finally spoke up. Atem stared at her, unsure if he had actually heard her right. Her fear was all centered around his mother? The girl who faced demons of unimaginable proportions was now demure at the thought of a simple single mother like his? It was unbelievable to him.
"I…have never really dealt with a mother before unless necessary and even then it was my dad who spoke with them." She explained to him. "I've not once seen my mother since the day she left. I know why she left, it's no secret. She didn't like me and I wasn't the ideal child for her. Nothing I did ever pleased her and she left us. I…I've never thought about her. In fact, I avoid thinking about her as much as possible. She's just…a negative part of my life that I've come to accept as just that. I don't...I don't want to offend you mother and I don't want her to hate me as well. I don't know how to really speak to her or how to interact with her." Her voice slowly grew softer as she spoke, fumbling with her words a bit. Atem leaned closer to hear her, resting his forehead on top of her now bowed head.
"Did you think I was going to laugh at you for something like this?" He whispered, running his thumb against her cheek. "Terry, you can tell me these sort of things…I don't mind. I want to help you just like you help me." He whispered, wanting to first ease her discomfort in her telling him. "And you don't need to worry about her hating you. I can tell you right off the bat she loves you. She excited to meet you and can't wait to get to know you." He assured her, moving his head to make her look up at him. "You've got nothing to worry about when it comes to my mother and as for your own…she's a bitch who's the one that lost something amazing. You're an amazing person and not having a mother isn't a bad thing. I won't lie, I was pretty thrown by your dad with the lack of my own in the picture but after talking to him I got to know how great he is. You'll realize the same with my mom." He pressed his lips to the cheek he had pinched without thinking, hoping he could give her some courage.
She smiled at the small kiss, the tops of her cheeks dusting a soft pink. Giving a silent nod and a soft 'yeah', they were on their way once again with them hold hands a little tighter. Atem's ears burned as he realized what he had done but her lack of talking made it easier on him to handle the internal freak out that was raging in him. It was not long until they stopped at the front of the game shop. He peeked at her through the corner of his eye as she took in store front with a slightly raised brow.
"Did you need to buy something?" She asked, turning to him finally since he made no motion to go in or move on.
"No," he shook his head though he was amused at the confusion that grew on her face. He was nervous though. He was not exactly the most sociable person and here his family owned a geeky thing like a game shop. It was cool growing up but now it was something of embarrassment more or less. He stopped inviting people over foe this reason at first before cutting off most of his ties until it was Anzu and Kyohei alone. Those two he especially never really invited over at first but they pushed and until he did and it was hardly a fun time for him though they had their laughs. A normal person would judge me…maybe because it's her I'm not that worried about that being true? Though…what if this is that one thing she's just like everyone else in?
No? Then why would we be standing here? Oh, wait…maybe his house is in the back of the shop? Or on top? She looked up at the building once more to get a better look at it. Definitely on top, huh I never thought that his family owned a game store. Then again…he does know a lot about all sorts of games. She recalled the conversations he had with the other guys. "So you live here…above the shop right?" She pointed to the second floor. He nodded in response. "That's pretty cool. Marik lived above a store front too in Egypt. Though that was a restaurant and the food always smelled amazing!" She grinned at the memories, a hand naturally coming to her stomach and rubbing a little as she recalled the many smells of the delicious food.
"You think this is cool?" He raised a brow at this as she nodded in response.
"Definitely, you get see all sorts of new games that come on the market and see what's the coolest and latest thing in the gaming world. They're a way we socially interact and if anything, society puts a whole lot of stock in physical games or better known as sports. Now tabletop and video games are pretty big too. If I'm correct, Duel Monsters is a huge hit and Kaiba Corp invests in enriching the gaming experience which is fascinating to me." She explained, her eyes alight with wonder as she observed and took in her surroundings. The same look of observation to figure out and learn that always used to irritate him was now no longer that irritating.
"You're such a weirdo." He scoffed, rolling his eyes as he led her into the store. The bell chimed overhead as the door opened and closed. There were some customers that were there but none of them seemed to be all that interested in the merchandise. One even started to put something down and was about to leave when Terry noted the game.
"Oh, that's a really fun game!" She exclaimed and walked over to the customer. "I'm sorry, I just realized what you were holding and it's honestly a really fun game to play with a group of friends. Essentially you have to get away with whatever your dare card says without the others in the group realizing what you're doing. If you do, the next round you claim success and win a point or the card. If someone catches you they call out the games title and you lose the card instead. Whoever calls it out first is the winner of your card." She explained. "The box is a little confusing but once you play it it's a riot! One time I had to pretend to be a fish for a whole round while playing the game, it was a mess!"
"A fish? No way, how'd you do that?!" The customer gaped as she dove into the tale of how she casually laid on her side and pretended to stretch or pull of some weird exercise whenever she was asked what she was doing though it really was just flopping around. "No one guessed it?!" She laughed and shook her head. Atem watched in awe as she seamlessly made her way into a conversation with the customer and even got them to reconsider the game from the looks of it.
"Not a single one! You definitely should consider this game if you're planning on buying one. There are expansion packs too so you can always keep a variety and never memorize one. It keeps you pretty engaged in the overall card game though the main game are these secret cards. To win you need to successfully execute your dares and win the card game as well." She grinned, the customer picking up the box once more and contemplating it.
"I'm not a big card gamer though…."
"This isn't the card game type you're worrying about. This is a party game when you just have a group of friends over. It's good for family events too when you have your cousins over and you want a simple night in." She assured the customer. After a moment of more thought, the customer grinned and nodded before thanking Terry before taking the game to the register to purchase. Another customer who had overheard the conversation came over to look it over with the friend with them and picked up a copy as well.
"Do you work here?" A guy spoke up from behind her and she turned to see a fellow high school goer though his uniform was different.
"Me? No, I don't." She scratched the back of her head as she gave an apologetic smile. "But maybe I can be of assistance?"
"Oh, I'm sorry! You just sounded so sure about the game I thought maybe you did!" He quickly apologized as well. "Uhm…if you don't mind? Do you know about Duel Monsters?"
"I do," she nodded her head.
"Oh great, I was thinking of joining the next competition…however I don't know which rare card I should get." He frowned, looking at the display case that showed quite a few rare cards. "I'm torn between these two," he pointed them out.
"Well…what's the focus of your deck?" She asked after reading the details of the two cards.
"Excuse me…?"
"Your deck, what's the theme of it? Is it mostly magic or traps or normal monster types? Are there more dragon types or maybe dark magic types?" She asked. "Do you have your deck on you?" The guy nodded as he quickly fished out his deck box and handed it over to her. She briefly skimmed through the options there, smiling a little to herself as she thought over the history of the game. The smile faltered a bit here and there as she noted some issues in the deck. "It's a pretty good deck…but you're a little too offensive heavy and not enough defense. Most of your monsters have heavy attack but terrible defense. They'd be easily knocked off the field if ever in defense. You don't need to toss the fighters you have…but maybe consider more magic triggers? I believe that's the term they use for them."
"Trap cards," Atem spoke up from behind her as he took the deck out of her hand and scoped the details of it. "You need more trap cards to help balance you out. Rare cards are cool and all but you need a deck they can work in not a deck that works for them. Try these booster packs. They've got a solid variety," he suggested as he pulled a few different ones off the shelf of the nearby wall. "If you really want to buy a rare card as well, then that one would be your best bet." Atem pointed to the second one. "You need to find a focus and stick to it."
"Oh…ok! Thanks a lot, I'll definitely think this over then. I'll buy these for now though and I'll work on my deck!" He grinned and thanked the two of them before heading to the line at the register. Sugoroku stepped back out from the back door to see the line at the register and found himself a bit surprised. He had thought they all would have left empty handed as usual. Grinning from ear to ear he quick rang them up and thanked them for their patronage when he finally noticed Atem and Terry.
"Well, well, well! What do we have here? My grandson and a lovely young lady! Haven't we met before? Have you come to accept the offer of keeping me company?" He asked, eyeing her a bit as he leaned in a little too close for comfort. Terry, once again, found herself torn on how to handle him since he was Atem and Yugi's relative.
"I was invited over for dinner." She nervously laughed as she took a step back only for him to step even closer. Atem quickly came between the two, making his grandfather crash into his chest. He saw the trick planned to fall on Terry and get a free feel. Grandfather or not, Atem was not about to let anyone touch her.
"I invited her over for dinner gramps, keep it in your pants." He sighed, shaking his head. "You need to stay out here for customers until the shop closes. I'm taking her back to see mom and Yugi." He scolded his grandfather who scowled and rubbed his nose from hitting the chiseled chest of his grandson over the soft plush chest of his feminine companion.
"It was nice meeting you again." Terry quickly spoke as Atem grabbed her hand and dragged her behind the counter and through a door that was off to the side. He kicked off his shoes and placed them on the rack to the right and she quickly copied his actions. She watched as he looked for something but frowned at he seemed a little frustrated by the lack of whatever it was.
"Ah fuck it, here just use my slippers. Be careful, they're a bit big for you." He placed a pair in front of her and grabbed his father's pair for himself. He stared at them for a long minute as while Terry carefully stepped into the ones he offered her and waited for him.
"Thank you for the slippers," her voice snapped him out of his daze and he shoved his feet into the slippers. They fit him perfectly now and it was a bittersweet moment for him but he quickly hid that from her.
"Just don't go falling in them. You're a magnet for danger so stick close." He flicked her nose playfully and she scowled at the attention.
"That was uncalled for and you know it! Plus, any trouble is usually revolved around you mister!" She rubbed her nose and he laughed.
"Is that so?" He laughed off and led the way to the kitchen. "Hey mom, I brought Terry." He called out as he stepped in ahead of her before stepping aside so his mother could see her. Terry quickly tensed up and bowed to his mother properly as she had learned to do with anyone before moving to Japan with her father.
"Good evening Mrs. Muto it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Terry, I'm a friend of Atem's from school and a friend of Yugi's as well." She calmly spoke though her insides were a jumbled mess of nerves. Her palms were a little sweaty as she gripped her school bag a little too tight.
"Oh no need to be so formal with me, thank you for coming! It's a pleasure to finally meet you!" A sweet voice spoke up as a gentle hand was placed on Terry's shoulder to insist she stand up again. Terry followed the insistence and stuck out the bag of backed goods to her.
"A small token of gratitude for hosting me tonight." Atem noted how nervous she was from how she quickly jumped to the next practiced sentence in her mind. It was cute and he had to bite back his laughter as he secretly locked his pinky with her hand that held her bag to help calm her down a little.
"Oh how thoughtful of you! We actually really love this bakery! I was going to buy something from there for you but I got so busy with preparations I completely forgot! Thank you so much." She smiled warmly as she took the bag and set it on the counter top carefully before looking at the clock. "I've still got some more cooking to do, I'm sorry you'll have to wait a little longer."
"Please don't apologize, I'm more than happy to wait!" Terry firmly assured, nodding her head. "I'll just spend the time with Atem and Yugi."
"Yugi is asleep at the moment, he was so excited for you coming he ran himself tired. He'll be up any time though." She smiled at the thought of her younger son.
"OK, just let him know we're in my room then. We'll see you at dinner mom." Atem grabbed Terry's elbow and pulled her back down the hall and up the stairs they had passed where they left their shoes. She was only able to give a quick 'see you later' to his mother before being dragged off and upstairs. He unceremoniously led her straight to his room, opening the door and letting her step in first.
"You could've been a little more gentle you know." She grumbled at him as she took her first step into the room but quickly took in the details. It was a typical guys room. Posters were up on the walls, games were in one corner by the television and computer desk with his laptop on it. High quality headphones were on the table, his bed was made and there were only a few stray clothes hung on the back of his chair which he picked up while she looked around. There was a full bookshelf but she noted there was a lot of music books among them and she looked to see a sheet over something in the corner by the foot of his bed and the closet. The way the point was shaped instantly made her realize it was his guitar, possibly two from the looks. There was a mini amp chord peeking out from the bottom.
"Your room is very you." She finally spoke up, turning to look at him. "It's nice." She complimented, placing her bag on the floor by the door as he made his way over to the bed and plopped down on to it.
"Thanks, I think?" He chuckled at her words. "Don't just stand there all day, come have a seat." He motioned around the room and she made her way over to the bed as well, plopping down on it as well. She smiled a little to herself as she looked around the room from how he would see it every morning, wondering what he thought about when he first woke up. Whether or not he bumped into anything while heading to the bathroom and the simple minor details of his daily life. "What are you grinning at?" He scowled, pinching her cheek again.
"Nothing," she laughed as she pulled away before his fingers could clamp on too tight. "Just seeing the room from your eyes." She looked around again only to stop at the covered guitars.
"So what do you wanna do?" He asked, not realizing where she was looking as he opened his drawer to see what movies he had to watch but also wanting to make sure anything hidden was still well hidden away.
"Will you play for me?" She suddenly asked and he looked up to see she was looking at his guitars. He tensed a little, preparing to snap at her but the anger never came. The irritation that usually quickly boiled and overflowed inside him was no where to be found. Confused, he stared at the back of her head before looking over at the covered instruments.
"I'm not that great honestly…I haven't played in a long time."
"That's fine, I'm not pro myself. If anything, I can't play a single conventional instrument. I know how to only do specific drum patterns for rituals." She turned back to him, grinning with pride at this oddly specific 'talent' of hers. He could not help but laugh at the fact that this was something she would say and be proud of.
You're always such a weirdo…but maybe I'll be nice just this once. He sighed as he stood up from his bed after kicking the drawer shut. He walked over to the dusty sheet and carefully pulled it off to reveal an acoustic and an electric guitar. His fingers hesitantly grazed the chords on the neck of one, the cool feel giving him a slight shiver. Chewing at the inside of his lip, he debated if he should be doing this. His body acted on its own, grabbing the acoustic one before he even realized he was back on the bed with the strap around him and the instrument properly set on his lap. He looked up to see Terry sitting there patiently and silently, eager to hear him but no sign of rushing him or judging him. The warmth of her smile encouraged him as he took a deep breath and started to fuss with the settings, testing the sounds and fine tuning it to his liking.
**Thank your for your patience. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. There will definitely be more to come. I've just been a little busy with life and was only able to update this chapter a lot slower than usual.