Chapter Twenty-two
Horus Airlines Flight #23
Somewhere over the Arabian Peninsula
Yugi went to smother a yawn with his hand and, before he realized what he was doing, nearly poked his eye out with the forgotten puzzle piece clutched in his fingers. He muffled his instinctive yelp, dropped the offending piece into the golden box in his lap, and glanced around sheepishly to see if his antics had attracted the attention of his fellow passengers. To his relief, no one seemed to have noticed.
No one, that is, except his grandfather, who spoke without looking up from his crossword puzzle. "Maybe you should put that thing away and take a nap."
Flushed with embarrassment, Yugi fiddled with the partial pyramid resting in his lap. He had made a lot of progress, fitting in a few new pieces at the beginning of the flight from the Ra's al Khaymah spaceport where their shuttle had landed, but the puzzle was still incomplete. He picked up another piece and turned it slowly over in his fingers, studying the way the cabin lights glinted off the golden metal. After those first few successes, no matter which way he turned the pieces, or how many times he tried to make them fit, he had made no further headway.
Yugi glanced at his grandfather. He had to admit, a nap sounded tempting. "How much longer 'til we're at the Luxor airport?"
"Long enough for you to catch forty winks," Solomon said, with a wink of his own. "We'll only be stopping at the hotel long enough to drop off our luggage. Someone from the expedition will be there to take us to the site, and I'll finally get to see these tomb paintings that have Arthur so excited."
As he listened to his grandpa, Yugi carefully took the puzzle apart and tucked the pieces back into their box, before returning the box to his carry-on bag. His mind wandered to another puzzle: what to do about his budding ...friendship with Yami. They were still in that awkward "getting to know you" phase, and now they weren't even on the same planet. He really hoped this trip, and the unanticipated separation, wasn't going to mess things up between them.
His fingers twisting around themselves in his lap, Yugi peered up through his bangs, canting a sideways glance at his grandpa. "Grandpa?"
"Yes?"
"How long is this trip going to last, anyway?"
"About a week, maybe a little longer. I can't really afford to leave the shop for too much longer than that." Solomon set the crossword magazine aside and turned in his seat so that he was facing Yugi. "Is there a problem? Last night, you seemed excited about this trip. Aren't you still looking forward to seeing the tomb?"
"Of course I am! I just..." Yugi huffed a sigh and stared at his hands for a few seconds before continuing. "You remember my friend Yami, right? The guy I went to get hamburgers with last night?"
"...Yes," Solomon said slowly. "Yugi-- Are you saying that this person is more than a 'friend'?"
Yugi felt his face heat up. "Maybe." He ducked his head a bit further. "I... I think I'd like for him to be... more. Someday."
"I see." Solomon nodded gravely. Then he reached over and gave Yugi a reassuring pat on the knee. "Don't worry about it, m'boy. If he's as special as you think he is, I'm sure he'll understand. It's only a week, after all."
"I guess so..."
"Tell you what..." Solomon gave him another wink. "After we get settled, I'll let you make a -- very short! -- 'gate-sat phone call to Mars, so that your friend will know you didn't run out on him on purpose. Okay?"
"Thanks, Grandpa!" Interplanetary calls routed through the jump-gate satellite relay system were expensive, but they allowed the participants to communicate in real-time. Yugi would have to look up Yami's number, or call his office if the number was unlisted, but that was the least of his worries at the moment. He would have given his grandfather a huge hug, but the armrests got in the way, so he settled for beaming happily, instead. "I won't talk long, I promise."
"Now that that's taken care of, why don't you try to take that nap," Solomon said, retrieving his crossword and picking up his pen. "I'll wake you before we land."
Yugi nodded and arranged himself more comfortably in his seat. He really was kind of tired; they had been on the go since four a.m., Mars time, and planet lag was beginning to catch up with him. He closed his eyes and thought of Yami, a dreamy smile curving his lips.
He was asleep before the plane was over the Red Sea.