A.N. – Sorry about the long hiatus. Life happened and then my muse left me, in that order. But there really is no excuse for a gap this long.

Chapter 18 (Eurythmics – Here Comes the Rain Again)

Atemu was bending over the dressing table when Yugi entered, holding his head in his hands. His golden jewelry was piled around him carelessly. The light, which appeared so bright in the dark, torch-lit corridor, was actually quite dim, making even the billowy curtains appear tired and faded.

'It seems my pharaoh had a hard day in court,' Yugi thought. 'Well, my training my finally be of some use.'

He stepped into the room without making a sound, making a lap around the small tables to blow out candles until the light was decreased by half. Then he ducked into the bathroom and found the scented oils which Heqet had told him would be there. He carefully selected one and re-entered the pharaoh's bedroom.

Atemu still hadn't moved. Yugi sighed in sympathy and moved forward.

"My pharaoh," he said.

Atemu raised his head and smiled, though it was strained. "Gem, I didn't hear you come in."

Yugi set the jar down on the table and traced one hand up the pharaoh's arm to his shoulder. "Let me help you."

Atemu leaned back into Yugi's touch. "In what way?"

Yugi set to work on the pharaoh's shoulders. "You've had a long day. Let me help you relax."

Atemu's eyes shot open. "No. You're still recovering; we can't do anything that could hurt you."

Yugi laughed. "I was talking about a massage, my pharaoh, but if you had something else in mind I'd be more than willing-"

"Please," Atemu had to stop that line of thought before something got out of control, "stop talking. But…" He placed his hand over Yugi's on his shoulder.

Yugi smiled and somehow managed to look understanding and sneaky all at once. He took the pharaoh's hand and helped him to his feet, then directed him towards the bed. Picking up the jar, he followed.

Atemu settled on his stomach on the bed and Yugi moved to straddle his hips. Normally the pharaoh's servant would kneel next to him, but since Yugi was so small and the bed was so soft that would be impossible. Since the pharaoh had given his permission, Yugi thought that he could forgive this lapse in respect.

Atemu didn't mind at all. 'What could I have done to deserve him?' he thought. Yugi had barely begun and he already felt much better. 'He's everything I could want and more than I ever dared to hope for.' Yugi's hands moved down from his shoulders. "Gem, ohhhhh…"

Yugi smiled and let his eyelids fall. He could do this for hours, and probably in his sleep if he had to. Atemu's skin was so soft, but underneath he was so strong. He pulled back for a moment when he heard Atemu's moan. 'And I haven't really started yet.' Yugi poured some of the oil and went to work with more force.

Atemu was drifting in bliss. He wasn't sure if he had fallen asleep or not, but he couldn't care less. Every thought faded away, leaving only his angel.

Yugi was floating on his own, completely focused on the skin under his fingertips. Everything since this morning was a dream, one that might never end. Unable to resist that caramel skin any longer, he leaned forward and placed a light kiss between Atemu's shoulders, below his neck.

"Yugi?"

Yugi's only response was to place two fingers on Atemu's neck and trace them down his spine. Atemu arched and shivered in pleasure, but persisted.

"Yugi, why don't you answer?"

"You told me to stop talking, didn't you?" Yugi was grinning in drowsy delight. He wrapped his hands around Atemu's hips and lightly traced them up his sides.

Atemu's body vibrated under Yugi as he laughed gently. "Gem you have to stop, we're both too tired."

"Yes, my pharaoh," Yugi answered with a smile in his voice. He slid off Atemu and the bed and went to put the oil back.

Atemu managed to roll over and prop himself up on the pillows. He gazed at the curtains even after Yugi had disappeared behind them. When Yugi reappeared he paused at that intense red gaze then moved to kneel by the bed.

"Gem." Atemu's voice froze him before he could kneel.

"Yes, my pharaoh?"

A look of worry crossed Atemu's face. 'If I ask him to stay he will, but does he want to? How far does that willingness extend?'

'Would he allow me to stay? It's unheard of, even for the other concubines, but he did let me sleep here before. Maybe just this once,' Yugi thought hopefully.

"Would you – I mean, do you want to stay with me tonight?" Atemu asked.

Yugi couldn't stop the smile that captured his lips at those words. He nodded and climbed back onto the bed, looking at the pharaoh for further direction.

Atemu was frozen. He didn't want to command Yugi to do anything, lest Yugi obey unwilling. He looked on with silent hope, watching closely.

Yugi was struck by the silent plea in those red eyes. 'Why doesn't he order me?' Yugi was still perplexed by the pharaoh's odd behavior towards him. He moved towards the pharaoh, wanting nothing more than to fall into his arms.

Before Yugi could fully register strong warmth he was asleep, with caramel arms wrapped around him as crimson eyes fluttered shut.

Seto was up late again, rummaging around his study. The pharaoh wouldn't be pleased, but in Seto's opinion he should have thought about that before he decided to hold a Pharaoh's Kiss ceremony before the entire court.

'Besides,' Seto thought, 'it was he who ordered me to sleep most of the day. There is no way on Ra's earth that I'm sleeping now. Where is that damned scroll!'

The sound of footsteps in the corridor outside drew him from his aggravated searching. 'Who else under Apep's chariot is up at this time of night?' Keeping one hand on a dagger concealed in his belt, Seto moved to his doorway.

Captain Joseph was moving up the corridor on his way back to the guard's quarters. Utterly without his permission, Seto's heart missed a beat at the sight of the captain, with his usual blue-and-white cape sweeping behind him.

'Well, far be it from me to pass up Ra's late gift.' "Joseph, would you come here for a moment?"

Joseph stopped short at the priest's voice, moving obediently towards the doorway. He started to drop into a bow before he remembered Seto's words from last night. "Can I help you, Priest Seto?"

"I'm having some trouble locating a scroll in this mess, would you assist me?"

Joseph nodded and followed Seto inside the study. On looking around, he found that mess wasn't really the word. The priest was as obsessively in control here as he was in every other aspect of court life. It was just that there was too much to really control. The walls were completely lined with shelves separated into square boxes, and each one was completely full of scrolls. Large pots in the corners held larger scrolls, and smaller pots on the desks held even more scrolls. Even the desks themselves were completely covered with unrolled papyrus weighted down with rounded stones. It was just a complete case of too much scroll and not enough space.

Seto beckoned Joseph over to one of the shelves. "Here, check behind me as I go. The one we're looking for will have a marking like a shallow bowl followed by one like a kneeling man and one like a kneeling woman."

"Every-person? We are looking for an every person scroll?"

Seto looked surprised. "Yes, it's the charter for the royal palace, with all of the important nobles and their essential records." He paused in his searching. "How do you know hieroglyphs?"

Joseph gave a grim smile. "Everyone assumes that warriors are stupid, but how else are we supposed to keep information? Or to decode information we find on the enemy? I can read, although slowly, in four languages."

Seto took on a gentler tone. "I never said you were stupid, Joseph."

"I know you didn't."

Actually, that was what was perplexing Joseph about the whole encounter. 'Why doesn't he think I'm stupid? For all of his power and influence he doesn't act like any of the other nobles around this place. And why did he call me to help him, I'm sure he would have found-"

"Found it!" Seto announced triumphantly, but then he sighed. "Between these annoying ambassadors and the upcoming Kiss, I don't know when I find time to breathe."

As the priest moved over to a desk and began to unroll the papyrus, Joseph wandered if he should leave. The priest hadn't dismissed him yet.

"Of course, I'm sure the guards have their own troubles with all of these foreigners." Seto looked up from his hieroglyphs and gave an encouraging smile.

"Yes," Joseph began hesitantly. "This afternoon they insisted on going swimming in the Nile. We had to make sure they couldn't swim to the pharaoh's chambers, so we brought in rafts to post a line of archers on that side of the palace. And when the ambassadors finally do get into the water we find out that most of them can't even swim!"

Seto broke into a laugh at this. "I've got one even worse than that." Joseph stepped up to the desk to listen. "When they first arrived in the city their whole convoy decided to make a detour to the temple of Ra without telling anyone. When the ambassadors got there they demanded to see the High Priest. Imagine their surprise when the caretakers there told them I lived in the palace. By the time I got the message one of them had thrown a tantrum and then thrown his lunch onto the statue of Osiris. The ritual purifications took me hours!"

Joseph was torn between laughter and shock at the highly inappropriate behavior. Eventually laughter won out. "Okay, you win."

Seto could almost feel the warmth coming from the golden captain right now. 'He glows, somehow,' he thought, 'If he would just act like this more often.'

"Here," Seto held out two stones to Joseph, "Could you put these on the other end of the scroll?"

"Sure."

As the time passed Seto watched Joseph closely when he wasn't looking. The captain began to speak and move much more easily as they traded stories about the ridiculous diplomats. At one point, as Seto was writing furiously, Joseph reached across him to take the empty ink palette and replace it with a new one. The warmth, so close to him, was almost more than Seto could stand. Finally, two hours later, Seto's work was finished. He laid out the new papyrus to dry and stood.

"I'm sorry, Joseph. I didn't mean to detain you so long." 'But I wouldn't trade the time for anything,' he mentally added.

Joseph smiled and shrugged bare shoulders. At some point in the night he had removed his billowing cloak. Seto was rather more surprised than he should have been to find it draped over the back of his chair. He picked it up as he escorted Joseph to the door.

"Thank you," Seto said, handing it over.

Joseph swung the cloak over his shoulders. "No harm done. It was actually…nice."

As Joseph left Seto couldn't help but give a satisfied smile before he turned out the light.

On the way back to his quarters it dawned on Joseph just what he had spent two hours doing. 'I've been talking with the high priest. I've been laughing with the High Priest. I've been-' Horror dawned as an ink palette rose into memory. 'I. Am. So. Dead.'

It wasn't that Joseph though Seto would punish him for his actions. Two hours of constant company had changed his perception of the aloof priest quite a bit. But Joseph had a bigger problem to worry about.

'After that how can I ever behave correctly around him again! If I let my guard down I'll slip. I'll slip and then he'll know-' Joseph could barely even force himself to think the words.

'He'll know how I feel about him.'