Theme: 13 Feelings
Title: Corruption
Word Count: 2144
Summary: He is excited. He is terrified.
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The hotel room is dark. It's sparsely decorated, with beige walls and threadbare carpet and truly hideous curtains. The bed is soft and clean and large, though, and Yuugi flops backwards onto it with a sigh.
He can just see Yami sitting near his head, visible by the faint moonlight and the glowing green Seal of Orichalcos on his forehead. The evil glow makes Yami's eyes look green, and creepy, and Yuugi suppresses the instinctive shudder.
His other self won't stop staring at him.
Before there had been distractions—the wrench in his chest as the second soul within him gained physical form, the swirl of dark energy on the other side of their bond, the way Raphael had screamed when he was Sealed…
How can his other self do such horrible things? And why does he keep staring at Yuugi that way…as if he wants to devour him alive…
He freezes as Yami reaches out and smooths his mussed hair, pushing his bangs out of his face. The motion is unexpectedly tender, coming from someone who'd watched another man lose his soul so easily. It isn't his fau[lt—Raphael and the rest of DOMA set them up—but it is, too. Yuugi's always seen his other self as the strong one.
Now he wonders how Yami could have slipped so easily into the darkness. Is their partnership a lie? Are the warm feelings that bind them together a lie?
Still, Yami's hand remains there for a few moments too long, entangled in his hair.
"You're warm."
His voice is the same; low and gentle, and Yuugi cannot help but be comforted. This is the sound that lingers in his dreams; Yami is always there, after all, guiding him and listening to him and trying to help him.
"I am?"
"You are." Yami sighs with pleasure. "It's been so long since I've touched anything…"
"But you use my body all the time." Yuugi protests, and then he flushes. "Er…"
"All we ever do is duel. And I can't touch you." Yami says. He lies down on his stomach, and Yuugi can see his face, upside down, above his—that smile. The same smile Yuugi always gets from him. "I was all alone, Yuugi. Without sight or sound or skin…just a void, and my own insanity…"
"Other me." Yuugi breathes. He can't imagine anything more horrible than Yami's fate, and once again he wonders about the spirit's past. Why was he trapped in the Puzzle?
"But you saved me."
"I just…" Yuugi lets it go. He still doesn't think he's done enough. "I'm glad."
"Are you? You seem afraid, Yuugi. I frighten you now…" His expression clouds. "I would never hurt you."
"You'd hurt them." Yuugi doesn't know who he's referring to. Their enemies? Their friends? He only knows that this new Yami is ruthless the way he used to be, before they met and could help each other.
"But not you—so don't be so scared." Something seems to amuse him. Yuugi opens his mouth to speak, and then stops; he doesn't know exactly what to say to that. No one has ever said that to him. "I'm surprised."
"By what?"
"If I make you this nervous, why did you offer to share a room with me? The others wouldn't have minded."
"Because…" Because he'd wanted to keep an eye on him, because he didn't want to be away from him, because if he was honest, it hadn't occurred to him that he could be away from Yami. "We're partners, right?"
"Of course."
Yuugi freezes as Yami's lips brush across his forehead. "Yami?"
"I wouldn't have wanted to be with anyone else but you, anyways." Yuugi freezes. Somehow, he knows they aren't talking about sharing a room anymore.
He doesn't want to hear this—not now, when he can't quite trust his other self's intentions.
"Other me, if you'd lost that duel, you would have had to go back into a void like that. You'd have been taken by the Orichalcos. So why?"
"How else could I win?"
"So what if you'd lost? Professor Hopkins was already gone! We'd have been safe."
"Would we? Raphael did say it was a death match."
That catches him short.
"Even so." Yuugi whispers. "You were wrong." The words sound wrong, coming out of his mouth, but Yami doesn't look insulted or even bothered.
"If you say so, partner." Yami says.
Yuugi scowls. He has the impression he's being made fun of. "I don't think Raphael would have killed us. He let Professor Hopkins go, didn't he?" When Yami doesn't answer, he starts to sit up; his other self moves backwards to give him room. Yuugi turns around. "He wanted you to play that card—"
"I know." Yami snaps. "Next time—"
"There's not going to be a next time." Yuugi says. He can feel his heart racing. Before Yami can move, he jumps off the bed and snatches up the deck lying on the bedside table. He flips through—the Orichalcos card is easy to find. Yami reaches for him, and he bats his hand away.
He pockets it carefully—after all, it holds a soul.
"I think…that it would be better if I held onto this. Until…"
"Until what?"
"Until you get better! You're not yourself like this." Yuugi hesitates. "This card is evil. After you played it, you disrespected our deck, you…you…"
He's staring at the floor—he can't meet Yami's eyes, and he jumps when he feels a hand on his shoulder. He can't quite believe he's doing this, even as he knows he's really the only one who can, or will.
Before he can say anything, Yami draws him into an embrace. Isn't he angry?
"Fine, then. Keep it." Yami mutters into his ear. "Don't cry." Yuugi relaxes as Yami holds him, and he hugs him back. Yami kisses his forehead again, fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt.
"You're warm." He says again, and there's an undertone there that makes Yuugi suddenly, acutely aware of every point of contact between their bodies, of how closely they're pressed together.
"I'm not crying." Yuugi says, but he can feel the wetness on his face. How pathetic, he thinks. He can't even stand up to Yami without feeling like he's the one in the wrong. "I am not."
"Liar." There's no rebuke behind the words, though. "You are. I'm sorry."
"About making me cry, but not about sealing Raphael's soul?"
"You don't understand!" Yuugi winces; he's loud. "Why would I care about him?"
How can he respond to that? "Why do you care about me?"
"Because…" For one horrible second Yuugi is certain he's going to say that Yuugi is as irrelevant to him as Raphael is. "I need you."
Yami needs him. This person—this version of his friend and partner, tainted by the Seal, still needs him?
"I'm here." The words sound inadequate, but they must be enough; Yami smiles. The Seal sparks.
It's horrible to see. Yuugi stiffens, and then regrets it at the look on Yami's face; he grabs onto him before he can pull away.
"Should I just leave?"
"No!" He blurts out. Yuugi sighs. "Why don't we get some sleep?" Maybe things will be better in the morning. Of course, now that he thinks about it, he doesn't know if suddenly gaining a body will even give Yami the power to sleep.
"Fine. You look tired."
They move apart, and Yuugi pulls back the comforter to get into bed. Yami doesn't have anything to wear besides the clothes on his back, and he's refused Yugo's offer to lend him something; Yuugi is pulling up the blanket when he looks up and sees Yami stripping off his shirt.
He piles his accessories up on the bedside table—Yuugi wonders again where his other self got his overly dramatic sense of style—and then drags back his side of the blanket. His other self climbs in beside him and the mattress shifts under the added weight.
"Good night." His other self says.
The silence is long and pregnant; Yuugi makes a pretense of sleeping, but he is wide awake, listening to his other self's breathing. Time seems to crawl by.
The numbers on the clock proceed forward and Yuugi aches from the day's exertions. Still sleep does not come, and he doesn't dare roll over to see if Yami is still awake. He stares at the back of his eyelids, seeing nothing.
"My partner…" The whisper nearly makes him jump. "I know you're not asleep."
"Ah." He blushes, and turns over. Yami is sitting upright, back against the wall. He raises an eyebrow when he sees Yugo's expression. "You're not tired?"
"No. Aren't you?"
"I'm too wound up to sleep." Yuugi sits up, and pushes off the blanket. He's too warm, and it feels cramped and stifling in the hotel room. He pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "I wish there was something I could do, instead of waiting. The Orichalcos is still out there."
"They'll come to us."
"I know. That's what scares me…that we'll have to play on their terms." Yuugi looks around the room. "I wish I had my suitcase. I wanted to reorganize my deck."
"Otogi said something about bringing in the bags. Look out in the hallway." Yami suggests. Yuugi gets out of bed and pads to the door; to his delight, there is a small brown bag lying in front of the door. Otogi must have found their luggage and retrieved it from Pegasus's tower. He drags the bag in and throws it open.
His card box is in the middle, wrapped securely in clothes. "What kind of cards do I need to fight the Orichalcos?"
"Some way to keep the card out of his hand, to start with."
"And some way to force a draw, if they get it on the field. Since it can't be displaced once it's there." Yuugi spreads out his—their—deck on the floor. "You should make up a deck, too."
"The Orichalcos gives the user too many advantages. So an offensive strategy would be better…"
"I might have another copy of Diffusion Wave Motion." Yuugi mutters.
Things are more comfortable once they begin talking about their decks. Yuugi turns on a light and it makes the glow of the Seal less noticeable; when Yami is immersed in his new deck, he's not nearly as alien. Then he frowns and Yuugi has to fight the way his stomach drops; it's like a yo yo, the way he keeps changing his mind, and he wishes Yami would just—
"Partner?"
"Yeah?"
"You dropped this." His other self offers him a card, face down; Yuugi takes it and flips it over. It's the Orichalcos card he took earlier.
"Oh." He doesn't want to hurl accusations, but the fear lingers. "Thank you."
They go back to looking through their cards. Yuugi is uncomfortably aware of the face that his deck isn't as impressive as his other self's. It's more like the deck he used before he got the Puzzle, a throwback to old times, and he finds himself second-guessing every choice.
"I'm done." Yami has five rows of cards laid out in front of him. He's counting. Yuugi notes a couple of direct-damage cards he hasn't seen since the duel with Jounouchi in Battle City; he doesn't like to use them, but he supposes they make sense against the Orichalcos. "It'll do."
"Do you have Exchange in that deck?"
"No."
"I was just…"
"Here, see for yourself." Yuugi takes the stack of cards being offered to him. He flips through slowly, carefully. "Well?"
"It's really good." And there's nothing that would allow his other self to get his hands on an Orichalcos card. He takes the Exchange card for his deck and begins counting.
"You could just ask."
"Hmm?"
"If you're so worried about me…succumbing…"
"I can't just tell you what to do."
"I'll do whatever you want." Yami says. He sounds almost bored, though what he's saying is shocking and confusing to Yuugi. "You're so tense, partner. Relax. I won't deny you." He picks up his finished deck. "And you'll be no good to anyone tomorrow if you haven't slept."
"Are you mad at me?" Yuugi doesn't understand at all, and he's tired of trying to decipher his other self's cryptic behavior. Is this some sort of sick punishment for stopping him?
"Hardly." His other self takes his free hand. "What do you want?"
"I just wish I knew what you were thinking right now. You're so different."
"I want you to love me."
There is a dull flutter as Yuugi's card slips from between his fingers, falling onto the carpet. He can't look away from his other self's eyes.
"But I'll take what I can get." The other him says, reaching for him, and Yuugi is frozen, like the frightened face on the Orichalcos card. He is excited. He is terrified.
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