Again this didn't turn out like I intended at the beginning. I should stop to involve Dark Magician in these stories. He always kinda takes over…

Virtual

Every time Atem walked into Kaiba Corp's showroom he couldn't help but marvel at the things he saw there. All of this fascinated him immensely and he often wondered if science was just another, a modern word for magic.

He made his way over to where he had spotted Seto, not without stopping here and there to look at the things on display – Seto had forbade him to touch anything and after a certain incident that involved an explosion and a whole week of trying to calm Seto down again, he kept with it – and chuckled softly because Seto was so absorbed in his work that he hadn't even noticed his presence. It was already dark and Seto was alone and Atem's first instinct was to spook him but he decided against it when he was closer. He loved to see Seto so concentrated and so completely gone in his work and the way his eyes were so sharp but shone with devotion at the same time had Atem staring at him whenever he saw him like that.

"How long will you continue to stare at me like that?" He jerked when Seto spoke and felt an embarrassing heat rising in his cheeks. "I know you have a habit of doing that and I won't blame you, but it's still unnerving sometimes."

"If you stop looking like that I will stop staring." That had Seto laughing and he stood up, beckoning Atem closer with a gesture of his hand. He held out a necklace to him and Atem raised an eyebrow as he took it. "That's not really my style in jewelry."

Seto simply ignored his comment. "It's a surprise. The device on it is a very small version of the Duel Disk System. It's the receiver for this" – he held out another small device – "remote control." Atem nodded along to Seto's explanations and watched as he tabbed on the remote for a while before looking back at him expectantly. "When you're ready I'll turn the lights off. There is a sensor in the device around your neck. As soon as it's dark enough for it to notice it starts working."

Atem nodded knowing that he wouldn't get more information out of Seto since this was a surprise and when Seto tabbed on the remote once more the lights slowly started to dim in the room. A blue light blinked on the device around Atem's neck as it got darker and then another, violet light started to glow between Seto and Atem. It took him a while but then Atem recognized the Dark Magician, standing tall and proud like always in the middle of the room, his light giving off a warm welcoming glow that chased the frightening darkness away.

"I thought you'd like to see the Magician first."

"Is this…"

"A nightlight, yes." Seto finished and pointed to the device around Atem's neck. "It wasn't hard to develop. I just had to change a few patterns of the original Duel Disk program. You can choose every monster you want to be your personal guide in the night."

"That's just wonderful." Atem said as he took a closer look at the Dark Magician and couldn't help but chuckle softly at his stern gaze. He looked so real, so alive as if he was breathing and Atem fought the urge to touch him and instead directed his attention back to Seto. "Why did you make them?"

"Why not? Children are scared of the dark, they have nightmares." His shrug seemed indifferent but Atem knew better. Like everything Seto did with so much fervor and devotion it was something that rooted deep within him, it was his way of expressing his feelings and dealing with them. "They'll like it."

Atem smiled at the Magician next to Seto. "Not only them."

As if on cue the Magician stepped forward until he was just mere inches away from Atem then smiled a little and bent down on one knee right in front of him. Atem gasped in surprise and stared down at the hologram perplexed. He didn't know what was going on, but couldn't tear his eyes away from him either. "Did you program him to do that?"

"Not exactly." Seto sounded just as confused as Atem felt and that only increased his uneasiness. "I programmed them to react to their surroundings in a certain way but this is not what I intended." He chuckled a little as he looked the Dark Magician up and down as if searching for a programming error but then he looked at Atem. "Then again, it's the Dark Magician so why are you so surprised?"

Atem nodded absentmindedly and just stared at the Dark Magician as images of a friend flashed through his mind. A friend he'd lost a very long time ago but was still present in his life and loyal like no one else. He just couldn't hold back anymore and reached his hand out to touch him but of course he couldn't get a hold of him and he jerked away, only now realizing that he was indeed just a hologram.

"This is so weird." He whispered softly, look mesmerized between his hand and the hologram. "He'd always done that and even now as hologram he hasn't changed one bit. But he was real once. He was my friend and now… he's just a card." He swallowed and tore his eyes away from his… no, this hologram of the Dark Magician. "They're all just cards now."

There were two small gasps audible in the in the room and Atem had to remind himself again that Seto had programmed the Magician to react a certain way, but it still didn't feel like it. It was so hard to look into the holograms hurt eyes and not feel guilty.

But it was Seto's grunt that brought him out of his thoughts. "I never would have expected you of all people to say this."

Atem had to admit that he too wouldn't have thought of saying such a thing too and he didn't know where to look at. Neither Seto nor the Magician seemed to be a good choice so he just fixated his gaze on the darkness behind them. "I'm trying… I want to set them apart from the people I got to know in Memory World."

"From the persons who meant so much to you that your bond with them outlasted time and still exists now? Why?"

"It's just…" Atem sighed and looked at the Magician again. "It's just that they were real. I knew them as persons, as friends and sometimes… it's hard to accept that they're all just cards now."

Closing the distance between them, Seto took his face into his hand and tilted his head up to force him to look into his eyes. "I know it's hard for you to accept after meeting them again but they'll still be waiting for you when you come back the next time. So stop saying something like this. You know that's not true. You know they aren't just cards. The cards are their legacies and their souls live on in them." He blinked astonished at Seto's words and was a little relieved when he chuckled softly as if he couldn't believe himself that he said this. "I've decided to let this be the only non-scientific thought I allow myself, so you better don't question its truth."

For a moment Atem just stared into his eyes, amazed that Seto really came to this conclusion after all they went through. He smiles at him, leans up and kisses him on the cheek. "You're right."

"Is that all?" Seto asked and Atem was confused for a second on what Seto might want to hear besides that, but then he saw that particular smirk on Seto's face and he realized this wasn't about words but something far more satisfying.

He leaned up once more and this time kissed Seto on the lips. His arms wound themselves around Seto's hips to pull him closer as they deepened their kiss in that all too familiar yet so beautiful way.

But suddenly there was a sound behind them and the next second Dark Magician hit Seto over the head with his rod.

Atem was somewhat sad that they broke their kiss because of that but he still laughed at Dark Magician's smug grin and Seto's dumbfounded expression. If he got to see this face more often it would definitely come in handy to have a nightlight like this and he decided he liked the hologram a lot for its autonomy and the sheer boldness it displayed.

Just like that friend he had once and that never really stopped watching over him.

The light was reflected in Atem's dark eyes, giving them an almost unreal shine and the way it played around in them was so mesmerizing that Seto was unable to tear his eyes away from him. He was so beautiful and Seto needed all his strength to stop himself from grabbing him and holding him tight to reassure himself that he was real, that he wasn't just a hologram, just a virtual image like the Magician that knelt before him.