This could also be labeled with Dream but oh well… It became heavier than I intended at the start too ^^'

Night

There he is.

Sitting on his throne, the puzzle around his neck, an approving, almost impressed smirk on his face as he stands up slowly.

"Atem."

The pharaoh of Egypt, king of games and the sole personification of his desire.

He realizes this in the very moment the pharaoh appears before him, close enough to touch and feel the warmth radiating from him and for a moment he's amazed by the sheer nervousness that runs through him. He longs to touch him, he needs to and he stretches his hand out to grab his small wrist and pull him against him. He's sure this strange ache in his chest will stop once he does.

He stops abruptly when Atem stops too and looks at him, eyes suddenly cold and hard and denying and a shudder runs through him at the change. He watches numbly as he turns around and starts to walk back to his throne as if he wasn't who he wanted to see here.

"Wait."

He hears his own voice as if it's coming from somewhere else, from above him or beneath him he doesn't know but it's everywhere, like it's hunting him. He's trying and running and chasing after him but he can't reach him, no matter how fast he runs, how loud he screams he's always too far, always just that little bit out of reach.

"No."

He's not close enough to touch anymore suddenly and Seto steps closer again, repeating the gesture but again he's too far away. He takes two steps closer to him this time and reaches out both hands to take his face into his hands. He gasps when his hands go through Atem's body as if it was just mist, not solid and not real.

Seto jerked up suddenly and it took a few deep breaths and a shake of his head to come back to reality. The reality of his bedroom in the night, dark and silent except for his own breathing and...

"Seto? What happened?"

He's here.

Slowly and preparing himself he turns his head around and a breath leaves him when he looks into Atem's violet eyes that weren't cold but full of warmth and concern.

"Just a dream." He brought out, astonished by how hoarse his voice actually sounds and he pulled the cover over his slightly sweaty body. "Go back to sleep."

"You called my name."

"What?"

"You said my name just now in your sleep." Atem's gaze on him suddenly didn't feel so nice anymore but like he was digging holes in his skull. "Did you dream of me?"

"Isn't it obvious when I called your name?" Seto only needed a short moment to react but it was enough to assure Atem and when leaned up on his elbow a little Seto just shook his head at him. "Don't."

He saw Atem swallowing before he laid down on his side again, gaze still fixed on his face and Seto knew this was far from over.

"I actually envy you a little that you still dream."

Seto snorted and kept his eyes firmly fixed on the ceiling. "You wouldn't if you knew my dreams."

"I stopped dreaming when I was a child." Atem took a deep as if reading himself for a longer speech and Seto looks at him out of the corner of his eyes. "As a child I always dreamt... about my late mother. She died in childbed so I never met her in person. But I dreamt of her, talked to her and spent time with her, imagining her as a beautiful, strong and confident queen. I dreamt of us together, along with my father and the siblings I never had but always wanted, spending our time at the Nile, having a picnic, playing games, away from the palace and our duties as royal family. Those dreams became my addictive shelter..." He paused slightly and Seto turned his head slightly to him. "I never realized that I sleepwalked, too. Until one night we were attacked in my dream. I don't know from what, I didn't see anything. But I ran from something dangerous and not only in my dream but in reality as well. I tried not looking back when I was running because I was so scared but I still did and... well the protective arms of my mother I ran into in my dream was actually a stone pillar in the throne room." He chuckled softly and shook his head a little. "I lay there unconscious until a guard found me and brought me to the doctors. I had a laceration on my forehead, a partially fractured nose, a huge bump at the back of my head from hitting the ground and a concussion... and my tutors wanted to tie me to the bed for the next three years. But overall I was fine." His expression turned empty and Seto realized how entranced he was by his narration. "I never dreamt of my mother again though... or anything else. I didn't want to either. I understood that had to let her go and concentrate on real life and that even in my dreams things didn't go as I wanted them to. That I had to make the best of reality." He shrugged and raised his eyebrows a little "And not run into a pillar again..."

If the situation and the person had another Seto would have laughed and teased him for these confessions of stupidity of a little boy. But he didn't and couldn't even because he understood and he knew how it felt to wake up into a reality that had turned you into a hardened man. He swallowed hard before slowly putting an arm under Atem's head, the other one across his body and pulled him close to his chest, snuggling him against his body.

His whole body was tense and not because he wasn't used to snuggling like that but because holding Atem in his arms like that slowly but surely convinced him that he was indeed here and real.

"I've always dreamt a lot…" He started in a low voice as if he wasn't sure if he really wanted to tell Atem that. But he had told him about his dreams too and he didn't want to stay behind him like that. "Those dreamt were mostly nightmares though, reined by just a few persons and memories… You appeared only after you had left without telling me. I was so angry that you didn't even bothered and wanted to leave you behind just like I always did with the past. But you were there, again and again and after some time you were the only one I dreamt about. The more time went by the weirder these dreams became. It was worse while I was working on finding you. You were there… and yet you weren't. I chased you and was always close enough to touch you but was never able to reach you." He paused and pulled Atem just a little more closer to him. "I saw you in my dreams every night, just to lose you again every morning."

He felt Atem's breath against his chest when he sighed and loosened his arms around him when he leaned up and kissed him rather softly on the lips.

"See?" Freeing one of his hands from between them and touching it to Seto's cheeks he kissed him once more. "I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere anymore."

"I know." Seto said simply, confused how this affectionate treatment calmed his agitated nerves and he began to feel tired again.

Atem put his hand back after a moment and snuggled up to him again. "Can we stay like this a little longer?"

He snorted softly. Sure, give Atem an inch and he took the whole mile. But this time Seto didn't care about it at all. "Only if you don't tell Mokuba or Yugi about it."

"If that's your only object…" Atem chuckled, finally putting his arm over Seto waist. "Good night, Seto."

"Good Night."