Title: It Had to Be You
Theme: 16 – Absurd
Summary: "Partner, forget about everyone else for a moment. I want to know what you say. To me. Right here. Right now."
Rating: K
Genre: Romance
Notes: Pointless, pointless fluff. You can never have too much.
There was a certain sense of… synergy, between him and the pharaoh. Which was ridiculous. Yeah, sure, they were connected by their souls through the Millennium Puzzle or whatever, but really, this sort of thing was…
"It's what, partner?"
He wanted to say wrong. He wanted to say it was… bad.
"I do not see what is so wrong about love."
Love. Now there was a strange word. What, exactly, did this – did this – kind of love entail?
"Whatever you would like it to. I will not act without your consent."
And what would happen when it ended? The pharaoh couldn't stay in the Puzzle forever. Both of them knew that, even if they did not know how he would escape its confinement; and the younger knew that once the other was gone, he wasn't coming back.
"I will not leave you, partner."
Well, he'd say that, and then…
"Do you not trust me to keep my word?"
It wasn't about trust. He already trusted the spirit.
"Then what is it about?"
It was about… well. He wasn't so sure. Wasn't there a rulebook for this sort of thing?
"I was unaware that there are rules for 'this sort of thing.'"
But that was what Joey was always saying…
"I admire Joey for his friendship and loyalty, but I do not believe that we need to follow his advice, however helpfully intended it may be."
'We' was already making its appearance in dialogue? The concept was strange.
"It does not have to be."
But he had never…
"I do not judge you for it."
And what about Téa?
"…What about Téa?"
Well, she… she was… she would –
"Partner, forget about everyone else for a moment. Forget about what they would think, what they would say. I want to know what you say."
To what?
"To me."
Right there, right then?
"Right here. Right now."
He would say… he would say yes. Absolutely yes. If it were just a decision between the two of them, their compatibility and none of the rest of the world's interference… yes.
"'The rest of the world's interference'?"
He was in a puzzle. He didn't exist in the real world. To everyone else except for his partner, he wasn't there.
"But I am here."
He knew that. He'd known that all along.
"Partner, I do not offer myself to others very often. But I had a feeling, and still do… that we both need this."
Was that it, then? Was it he that he needed all along?
"I am tired of pretending that I was wrong. If you'll have me, I am yours."
It was madness. Absolutely absurd. But somehow, totally understood.
And wanted.
Yugi only stared up at him, releasing a soft breath of air, with wonderment and fascination in his gaze. "It had to be you…"
The pharaoh smiled and leaned in for a kiss.
Words: 481