Hello :D

This will be a collection of the short stories I'll write for Pridecember. The chapters will be titled after the prompt of the day and if everything goes according to keikaku, I plan to update a new chapter/prompt every day. I have my fingers crossed that I stay as hyped and motivated (and creative?) as I am right now :D

So... When I checked my notes on the prompts a few days ago, I wondered about day 1 and why on earth there was a prompt named draw. I was like… why should they draw something, what is this about draw, did I miss them drawing in the show? And then it hit me and I swear I almost fell out of my chair. I felt so dumb, I laughed and cried for a good 10 minutes and briefly considered to leave the Yugioh fandom altogether, when I can't even understand that. But yeah… I decided against it and just stood by my original idea. So here you have a short story about Atem and Seto drawing and despite its (probable) distance from the original meaning of the prompt, I really hope you like it anyway ^_^

Enjoy! 3

Draw

"No, not like that."

"It's exactly the same."

"It's not! Look at them."

"They look exactly the same!"

"They don't."

Seto groaned and rubbed his temple. Why had he agreed on Atem teaching him some hieroglyphs again? He could already read them anyway he didn't need to know how to draw them, too.

But Atem's smile was so bright and his eyes so radiant, when Seto agreed to learn some of the ancient characters, he didn't find the strength to deny him.

He really had to learn to control the effects Atem had on him and his decision-making, or else he would end up in much worse situations than this one.

"They do!" He shoved the paper in Atem's direction, but as he took a closer look at Seto's drawing, he just flinched a little and Seto only rolled his eyes. "What?"

"If I had given my scrolls to the teacher like that, he would have sent me to bed with no supper."

Seto only snorted. "Because yours were so much better the first time, you drew them."

"Well, I don't really remember the first time I drew them, but I was the prince, so…"

"So no one would have said something against your skills anyway." Seto raised an eyebrow at him, while Atem only shrugged.

"Probably not. But still my hieroglyphs never looked like this." He turned to look at Seto, a mocking gleam in his eyes. "Maybe you're just a bad student."

"Maybe you're just a bad teacher."

"Well, I don't know." Atem returned Seto's indignant look with a mischievous smirk. "But you could start to call me sensei."

Seto just barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping. "Really? Sensei?"

"Why not?" Atem shrugged again. "It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? Atem-sensei."

"Atem-sensei." Seto repeated and noticed how Atem tried to hide the little shudder that runs through him and he raised an eyebrow, smirking mischievously at him. "You like it? When I call you that?"

"Like I said, it has a nice ring to it." Even though Atem cleared his throat softly before he said that, Seto could still hear the little squeak in his voice and his smirk widened.

"You like it."

"Well, yeah, you are called Seto-sama all the time. I was called by a name that wasn't even my own, so…"

Now Seto was the one who had to hide a small shudder. "Don't call me Seto-sama."

"Seto-chan?"

Now Seto didn't manage to keep his jaw from dropping and he stared open-mouthed at Atem. The former pharaoh just laughed uncontrollably at his reaction, while Seto watched him in hostile silence and thought about ways to punish him.

"Oh wait, I have an idea!" Atem stopped laughing suddenly and Seto looked threateningly at him as he stood up, made his way over to him and stood behind him.

And just like that, his boiling blood turned cold and he turned his head instinctively, making sure the one standing behind him like that was indeed Atem. He fought hard to get rid of the memory, the picture of that particular someone else that had once stood behind him like that, while he learned and studied and fought against his fatigue and fear and anger. He tensed slightly when Atem leaned forward and pressed his chest against Seto's back, but unlike the person of his childhood, Atem was warm. The touch of his hand, when he put it over Seto's was a gentle one and the voice so close at his ear was not harsh and vicious, but pleasant and soothing. "Now it should work."

Seto swallowed the memory down and instead concentrated on the way Atem's chin rested ever so softly on his shoulder, the way their cheeks brushed. He looked at his hand again, when Atem moved them together to draw a line and he groaned. "Seriously?"

Atem's chuckle was so close at his ear that Seto had to suppress a shudder. "It's easier that way."

"This is ridiculous. I'm not a stupid child."

Atem put his other hand on Seto's shoulder and moved their hands to draw another line. "You're not."

"Then why are you treating me like one?"

"I don't."

"How else would you call this?"

"Helping you."

"By treating me like a child?"

"By lending you a hand. Literally."

"I don't need your helping hand. Literally."

He felt Atem's grin at his ear and his hand wandered gently down his arm to rest at his elbow, as if he wanted to ease the tension in Seto's body. "You could just shake me off, you know."

Seto opened his mouth to respond when he realized that yes he could have done that right away. But why didn't he? What was wrong with him?

There was a weird feeling in him that made his head heavy and dizzy. It wasn't the first time Atem was so close to him or touched him, they had been closer and Atem had touched him at other places, too. But somehow this time it was different. He didn't know what it was or why it was there so suddenly or where it came from. But he couldn't concentrate on anything else than this sensual feeling Atem's proximity brought over him.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Atem smiling and when he tore his eyes away from his face again and looked at their still moving hands, he realized that he had already drawn another three characters.

"Are you writing a novel?" His words came out less intimidating and more pressed than he intended, but Atem either didn't notice or didn't say anything.

"Just one more." The chuckle was at his ear again and this time it reverberated through his whole body. He closed his eyes to preserve it and swore to replace this moment with the memory that haunted him before. He only opened them again when Atem let go of his hand. "Done."

Taking a look at the result, it took him a moment before the characters revealed their meaning to his eyes. „That…" He looked at the short text a little longer, confirming his translation. "… is cheesy. "

Atem laughed at that and let go of him, what Seto regretted a little but he made sure to keep his straight, slightly irritated face, when he turned to look at Atem.

"Probably." Atem looked him directly in the eyes now and Seto didn't dare look away from the intensity of his gaze. "But it's the truth, Seto." The words were spoken so softly and confident that Seto had no doubt Atem really meant it.

He glanced back at the paper, the warmth of Atem's touch still lingered on his hand, back and shoulder and he caught himself tracing the characters they had drawn together with his fingertips.

Together.

Seto shook his head about that again. He was perfectly able to draw them on his own he didn't need Atem's help like that.

But on the other hand… Wasn't that just as it should be? Them doing things together? In a way it was just like their relationship. It was humble and kinda disastrous when they had first started – or dared – to reveal their feelings for each other. But they had arrived at the same point almost simultaneously and as opposed as Seto was at the beginning he now knew of the benefits of their mutual feelings, of them sharing and working together like that and slowly but surely adjusted to it. They both weren't exactly talented when it came to establishing and keeping a relationship like that but what could possibly destroy a combination of both of them? This was just another road they were walking down side by side, together. And that was just as it should be.

He turned to the paper again and a small smile tugged at his lips.

"Seto, beloved by Atem, huh." He read quietly, realizing that it came out as a statement, not as a mocking question and his expression softened a little more. It was cheesy though and something he thought would never exist in his vocabulary except for Mokuba, but it was also the truth, just as Atem had said. He wondered if he'd be able to look him in the eyes one day and say it to his face. He knew that he didn't need to say it out loud since they both knew it anyway, but… he wanted to. And he always got what he wanted.

He grinned and once again turned back to look at Atem. "Since you are so keen on teaching me to draw hieroglyphs, Atem-sensei, I'm gonna return the favor and teach you some Kanji."

A moment of silence went by in which Atem just blinked confused at him, but when understanding dawned on him, his eyes lit up and he smiled at him. "That would be great."