Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. Ryou's last name is owned by Bleach, but everything else is mine!

AN: Just some editing of this chapter. Some reviews were amazing at pointing out flaws in my writing and were kind enough to correct me. Thank you so much!

Title: An Artisans Craft
Chapter:8

Ch 8: Sketches and Dreams

Crimson eyes twinkled with amusement as the younger man in front of him fidgeted in his chair. Shifting in his own seat, he adjusted his grip on his pencil and got a better grasp on his leather sketchbook. "Stop moving," he ordered softly.

These words seemed to penetrate Yuugi's mind and he automatically straightened his shoulders and froze – whether it was in shock or embarrassment, no one was sure. Hearing a wicked sounding chuckle, he blushed a becoming shade of red before burying his face in his hands.

"Yami! Why do I have to do this again?" he whined plaintively.

Seeing the pout on the amethyst eyed mans lips, Yami grinned wolfishly before busying himself with his book – pretending not to hear Yuugi's pleas.

Catching the wicked grin, the shorter man grimaced and blushed even harder. "Yami!"

Still ignoring the little one, Yami quickly sketched in as many facial features as possible: his beautiful big eyes; pouty lips; the tiny frown that marred his otherwise smooth forehead; his silky hair... 'The perfect muse,' he thought fondly. 'I'll need all the paper in the world to catch every little bit of this angel.' Inwardly shaking away his wandering thoughts, he tilted his head and contemplated his drawings. He had only drawn rough outlines of many sides of Yuugi; smiling, pouting, scowling, etc. Flipping to a new page, Yami tilted his head as he studied his subject anew. Tossing his pencil back into the case, he plucked out a piece of charcoal, readying himself for some serious sketching.

Yuugi huffed in irritation, knowing that the crimson eyed man was purposely ignoring him, and busied himself with some paperwork. Sitting behind the glass counter top he propped his head in his hand as he read over a new order form. Tapping his chin thoughtfully, he put it in the 'Start-Next-Month' pile, before grabbing another to peruse. Letting the comfortable silence calm him, he studiously ignored the feeling of being watched and relaxed. Humming lightly to himself, he worked calmly over the forms and other bills.

Letting his eyes flit between Yuugi and his sketchbook, Yami smiled in adoration as his angel relaxed. Smudging a bit of charcoal by accident, he huffed. There was a streak of black right in the middle of Yuugi's forehead, like a headband. 'Damnit!' the crimson-eyes man cursed, then paused. 'Wait...' He stopped hearing everything around him as his world focused on the drawing. There was something familiar about it... Unconsciously, Yami's hand rose and put the charcoal to paper. Sketching with bold strokes the picture under him changed gradually from Yuugi sitting innocently at his counter, to... Something else...

Beautiful eyes...

'...nesu-i...'

Soft lips...

'...meru-i...'

A glimmering gold diadem...

'...sedjem wi...'

A gold cuff in his right ear...

'...nesu...'

Wild hair...

'...netjer khered...'

A gauzy white tunic...

'...meru...'

A silver moon...

"Yami!"

Snapping his head up, Yami grimaced and flinched in pain. He had definitely pulled a muscle in his neck whipping his head up like that. Ruefully rubbing at the soreness, he glanced up with curiosity at Yuugi. "Huh?"

The amethyst-eyed man sighed. "I kept calling you. Are you hungry? It's already 2 pm."

"What?!" the taller man yelped. He took a quick look at his watch and frowned. He had been sketching for a good 2 hours. Where had the time gone? Voicing his hunger to his companion, he placed the charcoal piece back into it's box and glanced at his drawing, ready to pack up. What he saw made him blink. Gone was the softly smiling face of Yuugi Mutou sitting at his counter in Artisans. Instead, he had unconsciously drawn a desert dune blowing sand into the night sky with a beautiful wild haired man staring at a crescent moon. His white linen tunic blew in an imaginary breeze, while his bright smile rivaled the moon in brilliance. A delicate looking diadem rested on his forehead, while his feet were covered in simple straw sandals.

'...nesu-i...'

Yami shook his head. What was that? Did he head a voice just now? He rubbed his eyes and looked at the picture again. He drew that? Hearing a muffled chuckle, he looked up and met Yuugi's eyes.

"You have charcoal on your cheeks now Yami," the smaller man said affectionately. Cocking his head to the side, he stepped forward to look at the drawing. "Wow..." he whispered reverently. Reaching forward with cautious fingers, he stroked the sketch of the sand dune blowing sand into the sky. "That's beautiful Yami," Yuugi said, then blushed. "But why Egypt? And from the looks of the clothing, Ancient Egypt?"

Chuckling ruefully, Yami rubbed his blackened hands together nervously. "I have no idea myself. It just turned out like this." Heading towards the bathroom in the back room, the taller man addressed Yuugi over his shoulder. "Let's get some food. I'll just go wash my hands."

Humming in agreement, Yuugi's eyes never left the drawing. He was puzzled. This scene seemed really familiar. Like the puzzle that Yami wanted him to make. Shrugging, he noticed his blackened finger and chuckled to himself. Taking one more look at the drawing, he also headed to the bathroom to wash his hands. He felt like eating a burger.

Yuugi stretched his arms up into the air and sighed gustily. He was sitting at his work table in the back room making measurements and sketches of Yami's pendant. He had the style, shape, and design down in real form. Now he had to make it into a puzzle. This was the hardest part, as all the pieces had to be a perfect fit, but not fall apart or be loose. It also had to be stable enough to be able to wear as a necklace for long periods of time. Rolling his neck to relieve the stiffness, he saw a flash of red at the corner of his eye.

Glancing over, he smiled. Yami was sitting there in all his leather and sexy glory, still sketching in his book. They had come back to the store after lunch and moved to the back room so Yuugi could work on his pieces. Yami was nice enough – and bored enough apparently – to stay and greet the customers and help them while Yuugi worked. Now the store was closed for the day and it was almost time for dinner.

Nibbling on his lower lip, the taller man looked extremely handsome, stretched out on his couch; long legs crossed comfortably; confident hands holding the sketchbook still and a pencil firmly; and crimson eyes staring intently at his drawing. Shaking his head, Yuugi turned back to his own art. Picking up the gold pyramid, he turned it this way and that, mentally making adjustments and ideas. Picking up his pencil and a calculator, he buckled down and started working. 'This has to be perfect,' he thought to himself. After all, it was his crushes order.

He could feel a cool breeze brushing his cheeks and lifting sand into the air. The air smelled like jasmine and papyrus reeds as the wind carried the scents from the small town behind him. The bright moon glowed down at him, and he smiled. The gods were blessing the ritual this night. Perfect.

'...metjen Thoth... Wi iAs-tjen...'

The moon shone down at him with her white light.

'...metjen-en nefrew-ek, meru-ek...'

The moonlight seemed almost warm.

'...redi pen Hem-Netjer iretey-ek er hab ka-i en nesu-i...'

He could only see her beauty, her light, and her presence in the night sky.

'...em a-nen en pen hesi, wi henek ka-i pen dje-ep...'

His body felt miles away, as his mind reached out towards the sky.

'...HesiDjehuty... seshay-i...'

There was a bright flash, as the sky seemed to explode. Then... A different voice – deeper, masculine, and confident – sounded in his ears.

'Hem-Netjer-i. Wi sedjem-ek. Shemi.'

He smiled. '...per-a'a-i...'

"...per-a'a-i..." he mumbled. Amethyst eyes cracked open and blinked sleepily. His surroundings were still blurry. Was he still at the store? Yuugi sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was at home at least. There were times when he woke up still clutching a pencil at his worktable at Artisans. Shaking his head, he looked at the time. It was already 10 am. Yawning, he tried to remember what woke him up. Shrugging, he tried to remember how he got home. He had been working as usual on Yami's piece... Yami was sketching... They had gotten too into their work and it became extremely late into the night... He was feeling really sleepy, but didn't want to stop working because he was in the middle of a calculation... Yami had gently stopped him when his head started drooping and picked him up... Yuugi blushed brightly. Now he remembered. He was so tired that Yami had carried him home from the store and passed him off to his grandpa once they got to the game shop. Smacking his forehead, Yuugi sighed and started getting ready for the day. Although it was Sunday and the store was closed, might as well continue working on the puzzle.

Once he was showered and dressed, the 18 year old stepped into the kitchen. It was surprisingly empty. His grandpa liked to take Sundays off too and relax at the table with his tea and a book till noon. Cocking his head in confusion, Yuugi noticed a note written on their white board. Stepping over to it, he read the neat handwriting of his grandpa.

'Yuugi, I hope you got enough sleep last night. It seemed as if your new boyfriend was courteous enough to 'walk' you home last night instead of leaving you on your work table.'

Yuugi blushed. Damnit. His grandpa will never let him live it down.

'Yami was a very nice man. I heartily approve.'

This time he smiled. 'Yes!'

'I am off to visit Arthur. He wants me to help him with a dig in Egypt again. I'll be gone for at least 2 weeks. I'll have my cell phone, but you know the drill by now. Take care. Love Grandpa.'

Yuugi sighed. Alone for 2 weeks. That wasn't too bad. Now if the dig didn't go on for too long, it would be good. Then his grandpa would actually be back in that time. If not, then he could be gone for a month or more. He rubbed his hair and sighed again. Oh well. Breakfast, then hard thinking. He was still too sleepy to think.

Tbc...
AN: Here is the long awaited chapter! Sorry it took so freaking long. I wasn't sure how some of these scenes were going to go... It was also hard to look up these words. If no one noticed (And I would be surprised if you knew what they said), the gibberish that was used in 2 of the scenes was Ancient Egyptian. I got this link from Ocean! It's great! Below are the translations for all the words I used.

AN2: Okay, I've fixed all of the Ancient Egyptian words since the last time I updated this (which was yesterday... sweatdrop) They are now translated from the Egyptian transliterations to English pronunciations using an awesome site, which I will put up on my bio. Thanks to lucidscreamer for all of their help! Couldn't do it without them!

Please review!

Sketch:

nesu-i – my king

meru-i – my love

sedjem wi – hear me

nesu - king

netjer khered – gods child

meru - love

Dream:

metjen Thoth – behold God of Magic and Wisdom

Wi iAs-tjen – I call you

metjen-en nefrew-ek – we behold your beauty

meru-ek – your love

redi pen Hem-Netjer iretey-ek er hab ka-i en nesu-i – give this priest your eyes to send my spirit to my king

em a'nen en pen hesi – in return for this praise

wi henek ka-i en pen dje-ep – I offer my spirit to this eternal sky

hesi Djehuty – praise the God of the Moon

seshay-i– I pray

Hem-Netjer-i – my priest

wi sedjem-ek – I hear you

Shemi - report

per-a'a-i – my pharoah