Dream Prince

Chapter 15

Within the Mind

Even after Akefia had departed from the tent, Ryou was left feeling shaken up. He had been scared that he might have been not exactly raped, but persistently coaxed into sex. But Akefia had done nothing of the sort. The taller white haired male had only held him and laid gentle and slow kisses all over his face, as well as caressed his back and arms soothingly. The touches had been intimate but not once had they been in any way sexual.

Ryou was not completely ignorant or naïve when it came to sex. The young healer had heard, and a couple of times even seen, what the older healers got up to with their young female, and sometimes male, assistants. Ryou had even been accosted a couple of times by some of his seniors when he had still been studying to become a healer. He had quickly ran off to the head healer, an old and virtuous man, and that had put a quick stop to all advances directed at Ryou by any members of the healers' guild. Of course, that had not stopped the palace guards from hitting on him and Ryou had quickly learned how to take advantage of the key points of the human body for purposes other than healing achy muscles.

It was not a talent he wished to use often, the way he could make the human body cease to function temporarily. But when a man a lot stronger and bigger than him got into his personal space and did not understand the meaning of 'no', Ryou was forced to defend himself. Ever since he had been small it had been Ryou's dream to become a powerful healer, so he was rather ashamed of how good he was at hurting others. He preferred to act like he did not have the talent in order to preserve his own mental peace, and so far there had been no need for disabling of any kind at the camp. Not even Akefia, who Ryou had been afraid would have to be held back by extreme measures.

Truth be told, Akefia was quickly proving Ryou that he was very different from the first impression Ryou had received from the albino. At first Ryou had been frightened of the aura of danger that surrounded the taller male and he had been simply terrified when the other had started showing interest in him. Ryou had thought Akefia to be a brute and lacking in such basic human skills as mercy and empathy but now the healer could see that the other had the ability for both, he was only selective about it. Akefia did not give a damn about strangers or people he found a nuisance but once he grew fond of someone, he showed his affection in the most unorthodox of ways. Akefia ridiculed and put down his two companions, Jono and Rasui, for seemingly no reason at all. But Ryou had come to the conclusion that Akefia did not know any other way to have fun with his friends.

Within a short amount of time Ryou had learned many things about Akefia, but that was mostly because Akefia was so much in his company and spent so much time with him, let it be because of injuries or for no apparent reason. And the flirtations Ryou constantly found directed at himself told him quickly why he kept running into Akefia in suspicious chains of events. Akefia was clearly infatuated with him and up until that day the healer had thought that it was nothing more than a simple infatuation or even an interest in their similar physical features, most likely caused by a curiosity in how they both had white hair. Ryou certainly would not have memorised Akefia's name as quickly as he had if the other did not have that peculiar hair colour.

But now it was becoming more and more apparent that Akefia was actually fond of him in addition to being infatuated with him. And now Ryou did not know how he felt about that. When he had been in Akefia's arms and the other had been showering him with affection, he had felt very taken in by the other but there was a chance that Ryou would like anyone who worshipped him in such a sweet and personal manner.

There was of course a physical attraction. Otherwise Ryou would never have initiated that first kiss, his first kiss. But, Ryou had found men attractive before and he had not felt any urge to kiss them. Well, he did not really have any reason to want to kiss Odji or Seto, even though they were both gorgeous men. But he also found Atemu attractive and had never felt any urge to kiss him or treat him any differently from how he would treat any friend or his future king.

Hoping that there would not be any patients that evening, Ryou made his way to his cot and laid down. He knew that he would not be able to get any sleep, though. He had finally come to the conclusion that there was something special about Akefia, and that would keep him squirming anxiously and uncomfortably the whole night.

1.

That night Yugi decided to try and go see Atemu again. He had just survived a mentally very taxing day and was in the need of seeing his beloved's face smiling at the sight of him. Because of these feelings Yugi focused his mind on the objective of meeting with Atemu before he fell asleep. It had called for a lot of effort, since Yugi had been very exhausted from the day's jog. Still, Yugi knew he had succeeded when he found himself standing in a familiar marble hall moments after he had fallen asleep.

Yugi immediately headed towards the door he remembered to lead to Atemu's mind, only to find that the door refused to budge. Knowing from Atemu's previous confession that his former fiancée would never lock him out of his dreams, Yugi came to the conclusion that the prince was still awake and wondered about how he should spend his time while he waited. In the end Yugi started trying the other doors in the hall, wanting to see if any of the minds he had been unable to access during his previous visit were now open.

The boy found a door that was willing to open on his first try. The door in question revealed a wide valley, surrounded by a wall of mountains in the distance. Beautiful plant life filled the valley and a wide river ran across the land a short distance away. Wind was sweeping through the trees, shaking their braches, but it was nothing close to a storm.

Unable to hold himself back Yugi stepped inside, his bare feet sinking into the cool, pale green grass. Yugi lifted his face heavenward to enjoy the cloudless day in the valley, when his eyes fell on a strange-looking bird.

There were many birds sweeping across the sky, or that was what Yugi thought them to be until he realized just how far up the birds were flying. And that was when one of them flew lower and Yugi saw shimmering white scales covering a winged reptilian body. In the next instant the magnificent creature swooped itself back up and joined its hundreds companions in the clear blue sky.

The sky was filled with dragons, Yugi realized then. He was standing in a dragon valley while hundreds of dragons, shining in all the colours the most creative of imaginations could provide, flew, played and fought almost too high up for Yugi to see. Yugi wondered whose mind could create such a beautiful dream.

The young prince could not help but think about Priest Seto. He had grown up with the gruff brunet as much as with Atemu, and knew some basic things about the other's nature. Yugi happened to know for a fact that Seto's possibly greatest dream had always been to become a dragon summoner, for the brunet had always admired the creatures often deemed as the most powerful of all Shadow Monsters. It was not a too farfetched idea to think that Seto would dream of the creatures he so wished to touch, even when the vibrant colours did not seem to suit the brunet's tastes.

That was when Yugi came to realize the true danger in what he was doing at the moment. He was invading the dream and mind of no other than Priest Seto, who would immediately know that something was up the moment he saw Yugi in his dream. Seto was smart enough and knew enough about Yugi's people's abilities to guess what was going on. Bakura had said that Seto had told even Ryou to keep an eye on them, that Seto was extremely suspicious of them. If Seto was suspicious of them without anything out of the ordinary going on, something as strange as meeting Yugi within his own mind would place Yugi's entire mission in jeopardy. It was obvious that if Seto found out about Yugi's real identity, he would immediately tell Atemu. And if Atemu found out about Yugi being one of his soldiers, it would be all over and Yugi would never gain the respect of the man he loved.

Deciding that he was not about to let that happen, Yugi quickly turned around and hastily left the dream through the same door he had used to enter. Then he slid the door shut as quickly as he could without actually slamming it closed.

Releasing a soft but relieved sigh, Yugi could not help but think about how easily the situation had been defused, considering how close he had been to being revealed or how close he would have been if Seto had actually been present in his own dream. Perhaps the brunet had been one of the dragons. His grandfather had often told him that the human subconscious was known for doing weirder things than that.

After he had gotten his nerves under control again, Yugi became aware of just how unnatural the hall he was in truly was. The hall was silent as death with a non-existent wind's humming being the only sound the young prince could hear. And it was cold as well, so cold that Yugi could feel his spiritual form shivering from the temperature. During Yugi's first visit the place had not seemed so dangerous as it now did. Not knowing why, Yugi suddenly felt that he needed to get out of that hall, out of the open. Yugi quickly made his way to Atemu's door and hoped it would open this time.

The door ended up sliding open without any problems this time and Yugi hurried inside the safety of his former fiancée's mind. The door fell shut behind him and Yugi looked around for the Egyptian prince that the room belonged to.

Yugi located Atemu soon enough; the prince was once again lying on a bed of pillows, much like during the time Yugi had previously dropped by. There was one thing different this time, however: this time Atemu was not alone.

It was an unnerving situation to Yugi, especially since the boy had lived such a sheltered life and was extremely shy. Because of this Yugi did not know how he should react upon finding out that he had walked right into one of Atemu's dirty dreams, one that starred him himself as the Egyptian's partner. Because who else could the look-alike lying half-naked beneath Atemu be? Releasing a startled shriek Yugi brought his hands to his face, trying to shield himself from the sight. Because, even though Atemu's partner was essentially him, Yugi did not want to see his beloved engaging in such obscene activities with anyone. Even when Yugi reminded himself that it was all imagined, he would not dare take a peek, because he had never seen Atemu naked before.

"Yugi?" Atemu's voice questioned from right in front of the boy and suddenly Yugi became aware of how long he must have spent retreating into his own thoughts. He took a peek at Atemu from between his fingers and saw that the Egyptian looked much more presentable now, like all of his flustered emotions had vanished with his dream. But, Yugi supposed that was what made dreams so great: they could change in an instant taking all of their emotions with them. Yugi sometimes wished that the same could be done with real life as well.

"Hello, Atemu," Yugi murmured embarrassedly before lowering his hands and his gaze with them. He did not know how he should react to Atemu now; he had just witnessed a part of the other's wet dream that involved the other doing unmentionable things with him. On one hand he was extremely embarrassed about barging in on the other's mind unannounced and on the other hand, he was very happy to know that he had such an effect on Atemu. He was also curious to know if Atemu had these sorts of dreams often, because that would make their possible future wedding night memorable if the other had enough imagination to keep the dreams entertaining. Although, Yugi would never, ever, dare to ask Atemu about it.

"I'm so happy to see you again," Atemu said as a bright smile spread on his lips. The Egyptian then leaned forward to plant a kiss on Yugi's forehead, an action that immediately had Yugi blushing. "I was worried I wouldn't hear from you again."

"I'm sorry for departing so abruptly last time," Yugi answered as he met Atemu's red gaze once more. "Something came up." Indeed, something had gone up: Yugi's temper. But he was not going to tell Atemu that, because doing so would be the same as telling the Egyptian that he was planning on doing something that Atemu would not approve of. Perhaps that was the reason Yugi was such a bad liar: whenever he was hiding something, he constantly thought about it.

"Will you stay this time?" Atemu asked, not masking the hopeful tone in his voice and Yugi suddenly felt like he was kicking a cute furry animal when he spoke apologetically: "You know I can't stay, Atemu. I have to go back to my body." He tried to smile reassuringly. "We'll be able to stay together for good after everything is over."

"I'm not good at waiting," Atemu spoke and Yugi glowered at the spoiled brat, who noticed and laughed before saying. "Oh, Yugi, don't give me that look. I was kidding. I've grown up; I'm not a kid anymore." The Egyptian smiled at Yugi tenderly. "I meant to say that even though I won't enjoy waiting, I'm certain it will be all worth it in the end."

"Thanks," Yugi replied and wondered if Atemu would be displaying this patience if he knew that Yugi was actually very close by instead of a great distance away. Considering the pushy nature Yugi had learned to associate with Egyptians, this particular Egyptian prince especially, he could not be too sure. If growing up with Atemu had taught Yugi one thing, it was that the prince of Egypt had always been given what he wanted. The only exception to that rule had been the way Atemu had been forced into the engagement with Yugi. Yugi supposed that made him the one and only exception in Atemu's life. Yugi was grateful for that, because that meant that even when Atemu had not yet loved him at least Yugi had left an impression on him. Speaking of which, Yugi had to wonder about that…

"Atemu?" Yugi questioned. "May I ask you something?"

"Naturally, Yugi. Go ahead," Atemu replied and Yugi spoke out: "When did you fall in love with me?"

The Egyptian released a laugh before saying: "Where did this come from all of a sudden?"

"I was just wondering," Yugi muttered, a tad bit embarrassedly. "I mean, the last time we met in person you weren't like this, so what happened?"

A smile stretched on Atemu's lips, followed by the Egyptian answering: "Love doesn't happen in a single event, not unless it's love at first sight or something along those lines."

"I see," Yugi murmured thoughtfully as he tried to remember if he had fallen for Atemu at first sight, or if it had happened gradually like the Egyptian claimed. He had always wanted to be with Atemu, but Yugi did not think it had been because he had loved the other at first. That had come later, after Yugi had grown used to the way Atemu tried to keep him at a distance during most of their courtship.

"What are you thinking about?" Atemu asked and Yugi looked up at the taller male before saying: "I'm thinking that you have a point. I wasn't very fond of you at first, even when I really wanted to be with you."

"Well, I didn't make liking me easy for you, did I?" Atemu conceded and rubbed the back of his head. "I guess I should apologise for that."

"You fixed the problem, that's enough," Yugi replied easily before frowning to himself as he realized just how long he had been wandering around dream walking already. He focused on Atemu again. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. The time I spend here is taken right out of my night sleep you know."

"Ah, okay," Atemu murmured in a disappointed manner. "When will you be back?"

"In a couple of nights, I think," Yugi answered. "As soon as I'm able to." He took a step back. "Bye Atemu."

"Bye, Yugi," Atemu answered softly before Yugi turned around and wondered how he as supposed to get out of his dream walk and into natural sleep. Last time it had been on accident, when he had lost his temper. How was he going to go about doing it this time while meaning to do so?

The door to Atemu's mind slid shut behind Yugi and the boy made his way to the middle of the hall, where he had started his walk from. It was then that Yugi noticed the circle carved around the spot. Getting an idea that it looked very much like a portal, Yugi made sure that he was standing in the middle of the circle and closed his eyes.

When Yugi opened his eyes again a few moment later, he was lying down in his tent. He blinked dazedly at the cloth hanging above him and became aware of how exhausted he was, clear proof of the downside of dream walking. The young prince closed his eyes and allowed real sleep to claim him and restore him for the new day.

To be continued…

Ending Notes: Sorry about not updating in ages. I got sick a few weeks ago and it took away all of inspiration. Not to mention I had a lot of studies to catch up to afterwards, which didn't leave me with any time to come up with any new ideas.