Woohoo! Look at me go!
So glad everyone likes the Yami/Joey-ness. I've been thinking of some ideas for a new fanfic involving the two. Maybe I'll get on that later this week if I have time, so…keep your eyes peeled for that one.
Anyway, on with the fic!
(I think I'm in the mood for an extra-long chapter…)
Kings Are Blind
Yugi lay awake in bed, still worried about Yami. He was beginning to regret the negative thoughts that were passing through his head earlier in the day.
Every once in while, he would hear a creaking noise. Thinking it was Yami, he would shoot up out of bed and open his door to glance out into the hall, only to find Yami's room empty. Where could he have possibly gotten to? What if something happened to him?
Those thoughts plagued Yugi's mind until he eventually drifted off to sleep.
XXX
At Joey's apartment, Yami also lay awake in bed. Not only was he feeling guilty about avoiding Yugi, he was feeling guilty about the reasons he was avoiding the boy in the first place.
He rolled over onto his other side, seeing Joey sleeping soundly on the floor. He owed the blonde a huge thank you for taking him in on such short notice. However, he knew that Yugi was probably overwhelmed with worry.
Yami turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He refused to go to sleep.
XXX
Morning came rather quickly for Yugi, being that the boy went to bed awfully late. He stomped down the stairs tiredly where grandpa had a plate of waffles waiting for him.
"I'm not that hungry, grandpa." He said, slouching down on the table.
Grandpa sat down next to him. "I checked Yami's room several times last night. I wonder where he got off to?"
"I don't know!" Yugi cried "I'm so worried! He just ran off from me and Joey! He didn't say where he was going or anything. What if something happened? What if somebody kidnapped him and they're holding him hostage for ransom somewhere?!"
Grandpa forced a smile. "Yugi, don't always assume something bad has happened. Maybe he just went to a motel or something."
"He doesn't have any money, grandpa." Yugi said.
"Do you think we should report him missing to the police?" Grandpa asked.
"Not yet," Yugi said. "I'm going to head back down to the beach. Maybe he went back down that way somewhere. If I don't find him there, I'll come back and we can call the police."
XXX
Joey sat up and yawned. That was surprisingly one of the best nights of sleep he'd ever had.
"Hmm," He said. "Maybe I should sleep on the floor more often…"
He stood up, rolling his sleeping bag back up and kicking it towards the closet, not really bothering to put it away.
He turned towards his bed, where Yami was still sleeping. The shirt he had leant him had ridden up, making half of his back, as well as the top of his boxers, exposed. The covers were hanging off the bed.
Joey snatched the sheets up off of the floor and laid them back over the king before moving his hands under them and gently tugging his shirt back down.
Yami stirred slightly, so Joey quickly drew his hands away, knowing that he had not gotten a very good night of sleep and didn't want to disturb him.
He decided to head out to the kitchen to make breakfast, only to remember that there wasn't any food. He rummaged through the cabinets, happily finding a box of pancake mix.
Remembering the previous experience the king had with pancakes, he decided to make this one better. He moved up to the top right cabinet and caught a bag of chocolate chips.
Joey dumped the mix into a large bowl, making it puff up like dust and causing him to cough.
Just in case he was making too much noise, the blonde tip-toed his way over to his room and slowly pulled the door shut. He moved back to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk, and the lonely two eggs that were sitting in the section labeled 'dairy'.
Not bothering to read any directions, Joey dumped in his own amount of milk, cracked in the two eggs and poured in nearly the entire bag of chocolate chips, saving a miniscule amount that he and Yami could snack on later.
After searching all over creation for the mixer, Joey plugged it into the outlet and prepared to mix his lovely pancake batter.
He turned the mixer on full blast, making small amounts of batter fly up into his face. The blonde licked them away and turned the mixer on the lowest setting, gently stirring it around.
Pulling out a pan, (and making sure to grease it first), Joey turned on the stove and prepared his pancake masterpieces, only burning the first two.
He set the table all neat and orderly, setting the stack of cakes in the middle and two place settings for himself and Yami. Now all he had to do was wait for Yami to wake up.
XXX
Yugi skipped down the stairs and pulled on his jacket, quickly waving goodbye to his grandpa and rushing out the door, running in the direction of the beach.
XXX
Yami groaned. His head hurt. He looked at the clock, it only read 9:30. He looked down onto the floor only to find that Joey's things had been removed, meaning that he was already up.
Yami walked zombie-like out of bed and out into the kitchen.
"Hey," Joey said. "Good morning."
Yami nodded in response. He wasn't really a morning person.
"You sleep okay?" Joey asked, getting up off the couch where he had been waiting.
Yami sighed. "I guess."
"Still feeling bad, huh?" Joey said, stuffing his hands in his pajama pockets.
Yami nodded again.
Joey smiled. "I made us some breakfast!"
Yami cocked his head. "Really? That's very nice of you, Joey. Thank you."
"No problem," Joey pulled Yami's chair out for him, motioning for him to sit down.
Yami stared at the pile in the center of the table. "These are pancakes, right?"
Joey smiled proudly. "Not just any pancakes! These are Joey's 'awesomely delicious chocolate chip pancakes of awesomeness'!"
"Chocolate chip?" Yami questioned. "You put something in them?"
Joey grabbed his fork and picked up two cakes, placing them on Yami's plate. "Yeah, try them."
Yami cut off a piece and tasted them. His eyes lit up and he smiled. "Oh, they're wonderful."
"Thanks." Joey replied, digging in to his own serving.
After eating and cleaning up breakfast, the two boys sat on the couch in Joey's living room in silence; Yami looking slightly depressed.
"What's the matter?" Joey asked quietly.
"Nothing."
Joey shifted. "It's not nothing. What's wrong?"
Yami hid his face behind his hand as his body shook, tears beginning to fall down his face.
Joey sighed, swells of concern washing over him as he watched the king cry.
"You know you can talk to me." Joey reassured.
"I know," Yami said, he voice cracking through his tears. "I just…I don't know what to do anymore."
"What do you mean?" Joey asked, moving closer to him.
"If I try explaining this mess to Yugi, he'll think I'm crazy. It'll be like I'm telling him, 'I want to see you, but I also want you out of my life'."
Joey rubbed his back. "Is that how you see it?"
Yami nodded. "Yes. That's why I was hoping that I would never see Yugi again. Because this would happen, and I would be stuck in a situation where I would have to explain to Yugi why I lied about having no memory. I'm confusing myself! I'm so lost, and I don't know what to do!"
Joey pulled Yami into him. "You know, I see it like this. You wanted to live peacefully in Egypt without Yugi, right? So you just stick to the memories of Yugi that you had, and hoped that he would do the same. Then when Yugi came to Egypt, you realized how much you missed him, and that you wanted to spend more time with him. So you pretended to be an amnesiac so you could get that time you didn't realize you were wanting."
Yami shuddered. "Exactly."
Yami sat up to face Joey as he continued to cry. The blonde looked back into his eyes and smiled.
Yami collapsed into Joey's chest as sobs rained out of him. Joey rubbed his back and rested his chin on his shoulder, fighting back his own tears.
XXX
Yugi strolled down the boardwalk, looking every which-way for his spiky haired counterpart.
After about an hour of searching, he sat down on the same bench as yesterday when he was with Joey.
Come to think of it, Yugi hadn't heard from Joey, either…
Thoughts grazed his mind. Yugi then finally decided to stop thinking about Yami and just go for a walk. He stood up and headed down towards the end of the pier.
XXX
Joey held Yami's bangs out of his face as the king vomited into the toilet. Joey rubbed circles onto his back, trying to close his ears from the sickening noise as another violent gag ripped from Yami's throat.
Joey knew he had to get Yami and Yugi together somehow, because the crying and constant stress was obviously weighing down a little more on the king then he thought.
Yami groaned, as Joey moved his hands up and down his back.
"It's okay, buddy." Joey soothed. "It's alright."
Yami shuddered and moaned, the awful taste lingering in his mouth as he hurled once again into the toilet.
After a couple of minutes, Yami sat up. He breathed heavily and sighed.
"Okay." He whispered.
"You done?" Joey asked. Yami nodded. "Alright."
Joey reached for a Kleenex and handed it to Yami, waiting for him to clean his face before taking it from him and tossing it into the garbage. He flushed the toilet and moved back, taking Yami's arm and helping him stand up.
Joey washed his own hands in the sink before taking a rag and soaking it in cold water. He handed the rag to Yami, who proceeded to run it over his pale face.
Yami looked back at Joey through the mirror with his bloodshot eyes.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I know that's not exactly pleasant."
Joey continued to rub his back. "No, no. Don't worry about it."
"You wanna sit down?" Joey asked, watching as Yami ran the rag over his face one last time before setting it down and nodding.
Yami sat down on the couch as Joey handed him a glass of ice water, giving him a quiet thank you.
Joey laughed slightly. "Well, there go 'Joey's awesomely delicious chocolate chip pancakes of awesomeness'…"
Yami set the glass down on the table. "I'm sorry, Joey. You went through all that trouble making them, and then I just bring them right back up."
Joey waved his hand. "Don't worry about it. I'm more worried about you, anyway."
Yami glanced at him. "Really?"
Joey nodded. "Yeah."
Yami couldn't help but smile at that.
"Seriously, Yam." Joey said. "I've heard the expression 'making yourself sick', but I've never seen anyone actually do it. You scared me when you just ran into the bathroom and started pukin' your guts out like that."
Joey noticed how Yami's hand was shaking; and even though he seemed replenished, his face was still pale and his eyes were still red.
"Are you okay?" Joey asked.
Yami closed his eyes and nodded.
Joey wasn't so sure. "Would you like to take a shower or somethin'?"
Yami nodded again. "Yes."
XXX
Joey sat on the couch, placing a pillow over his head as he listened to the noise of the shower running. It was actually quite relaxing.
Yami let the hot water wash over him, making him feel clean and refreshed.
That is, until his stomach flipped upside down and his vision blurred. Stumbling back against the wall, he did the first thing his brain told him to do.
"JOEY!" He yelled, as tears began to plague the frightened king.
Joey shot up off the couch, tossing the pillow sideways and sprinting towards the bathroom.
Tearing open the door, he found Yami slumped against the shower wall, sobbing.
Ignoring Yami's nakedness, Joey grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the shower, then felt as Yami dragged Joey and himself over to the toilet.
Joey helped him kneel down as Yami drew his head back and vomited violently into the toilet. Joey glanced over Yami's shoulder and what he saw in the water terrified him.
Blood.
Joey's eyes widened bigger than ever before, as he kneeled down to Yami's level where the king continued to spit the crimson liquid into the bowl.
Yami was sobbing and clinging to Joey. The blonde knew he had to remain calm and stood up to get the phone, feeling Yami pull him back down.
"No! Joey! Don't leave!" Yami choked, more blood shooting from the back of his throat.
Joey could tell Yami was struggling to breath by his harsh, ragged pants. Yami was choking out pained sobs as he dug his nails into the blonde's arm.
"Yami! Listen! I need to call 911, okay? Give me one second!"
Yami nodded fiercely, sobs continuing to pour out of him.
Joey sprinted to the phone, nearly tripping over every little thing.
He quickly dialed the number as a sweet and calm lady answered.
"911, what's your emergency?"
Joey's breathing sped up. "I need an ambulance! My friend is throwing up blood and he's having trouble breathing…"
"May I have your address, sir?"
Joey rubbed his sweaty forehead and breathed his address into the phone.
"Okay, sir. Remain calm and an ambulance will be there shortly."
"Thank you so much." Joey slammed down the phone and moved to unlock the door before sprinting back to the bathroom.
"Yami?! I'm here, okay?"
Yami nodded, holding his stomach and sobbing.
Joey then remembered the shower, still hearing the water running in the back of his head. He moved to quickly turn off the shower, then glanced down at Yami, who was still sitting nude on the floor.
Joey ran to his room and tore the blanket from his bed, running back to the bathroom and wrapping it around the naked, trembling king.
Yami cried out, causing Joey to immediately wrap his shaking arms around the latent king.
He could hear someone bustling down the hall as the door to the apartment swung open.
Yes! Lots of delightful drama!
Don't worry, our sweet little Yami will live! This is just a part of my plot plan!
YAHOO!
R&R!
GK09