Atem woke to a hand lightly shaking his shoulder. He opened his groggy eyes and pulled his heavy head off the hard car window, gently rubbing the spot that had been resting against the glass.
"We've arrived." Atem turned to where the voice had come from to see Seto sitting on the opposite side of the same car seat, and nodded that he understood. He tried to see out the tinted window but all was black, so he opened the door instead.
As Seto and Atem stepped out of the back of the limo, motion-detecting lights illuminated a walkway leading to a large two-storied log cabin in the middle of a large group of trees. Atem took one look at the building and turned to Seto.
"This doesn't seem like your kind of place."
"Keep your comments to yourself until you see the rest of it." As Seto spoke he was already making his way to the door, briefcase in hand. The long black trench he wore, embellished with gunmetal studs that shone in the dim light, flowing freely behind him. Atem followed behind him unsure of what else to do. He didn't feel he cared for his situation but he could recall from past experience that at least Seto's company wouldn't bore him.
Maybe spending the weekend here isn't such a terrible thing, Atem considered. Yugi doesn't know where I am. When Kaiba takes me back to Domino, I can continue where I left off. Or perhaps I'll come up with something to improvise…
When the men reached the front door, Seto dug his keys out of his pocket, fingering each key in the dim light until he found the right one. A small sparkle of silver light caught Atem's eyes and he glanced down at the keys in Seto's hand. The silver glint had come from a small metallic-looking figurine of a Blue Eyes White Dragon, wings tucked in and hanging from the key ring by its teeth. Atem couldn't help but let out a heavy chuckle as Seto finally turned the knob and slipped the key ring, dragon and all, back into his pocket. Before entering the dark house, Seto turned around to shoot Atem a confused look, eyebrow raised in question.
"You actually have a Blue Eyes keychain?" Atem laughed a little louder at how much sillier the concept seemed now that it had been said aloud.
"Yes. I do," he announced proudly, then added, picking up his briefcase and entering the house, "And I happen to like it. Mokuba commissioned it to be made for me."
"It is pretty cute." Atem smirked. He still remembered how to push Seto's buttons.
Seto stopped and glared at him while he fumbled for the light switch. "Blue Eyes isn't cute. If you noticed how much detail had been put into its design, it looks rather ferocious. Now tell me you wouldn't sport a Dark Magician keychain if you had one."
Atem stopped to think about that for a moment as he examined the now-illuminated interior of his former rival's vacation home. He agreed that the inside was certainly nothing to scoff at.
"Perhaps I would." Atem admitted. He gazed around at the modern appliances and stylish furniture and décor. It certainly wasn't rustic looking like he had half-expected upon seeing the exterior. "It seems you've made me eat my words. This is actually a rather nice place, Kaiba."
Seto grunted his acknowledgment. "I consider it burglar deterrent. This is a low-security residence, therefore I wanted the outside to be designed to look like a basic cabin to make the building appear inconspicuous to anyone that might happen upon it. Not that they should be wandering around in my woods, anyway…" He trailed off and stepped aside so the chauffeur could bring his bags inside.
"That's certainly an interesting strategy," Atem remarked, clearly with little interest in the subject. "Kaiba." he sighed after a pause. "How long do you intend for me to stay here?"
"I'm not holding you prisoner. You can leave any time you want."
Atem narrowed his eyes and scoffed at the taller man. "Then why didn't you just let me go when we were still in Domino?"
"After we have a little duel, that is," Seto clarified. "I'm not about to let you escape me into the afterlife again without one."
"Kaiba, I'm not dueling you." He stated defiantly. "I don't even have a deck anymore."
"What a pity," he said sarcastically. "Lucky for you, I brought plenty of cards of my own. You can build a new deck with those. I do happen to have a copy of your favorite card with me."
"Wait a moment. You've retired. Why would you bother bringing along your cards?"
"I've retired from tournament duels. I still play occasionally, to keep my skills sharp. I haven't, however, retired from hosting tournaments and I find it important to keep myself up-to-date with the newest strategies and play styles," Seto explained flawlessly.
"What is the point of all this, then? Why must you be so obsessed with defeating me?"
Seto smirked. Hadn't he been asking himself that for years? Did he even understand that, himself? He chose to ignore the questions and answer Atem's previous inquiry instead.
"I intend to leave for Domino Sunday night. You may stay as long as you wish until then, but if you choose to leave, I expect a duel before I call you a ride."
Atem let out an exasperated sigh. No amount of excuses was going to please this stubborn man, it seemed. He would have to either give in or wait it out, unless he came up with a way out of the situation before the weekend ended. He decided the best thing would be to drop the subject, at least for the night. He was tired, and he was beginning to feel his hunger growing. He put a hand to his stomach to calm the growls he felt would soon be audible.
This action did not go unnoticed by the CEO. After rolling his eyes at the young pharaoh yet again, he flung off his black trench coat and he turned on his heel in the direction of the kitchen. His coat landed gracefully sprawled across the nearest armchair.
Atem, though admittedly impressed with the man's flair, followed behind reluctantly. He was not used to this situation, and wasn't entirely certain how he felt about spending several days in close quarters with a man he didn't very often get along with. And where is the housekeeping staff? he wondered. Seto owned a mansion - didn't he usually have a plethora of employees to do every miniscule task around the house for him? Yet even the man that brought in Seto's bags had left, driving off with the limo.
When he entered the kitchen, Seto was rifling through the refrigerator. He was speaking, but with his head buried in the fridge, all Atem could hear were mumbles. When he pulled away, one hand filled with various food items, he could see that the other hand held a cell phone to his ear.
He set the items on the nearby counter, turned around and leaned against it while he finished his conversation and said his farewells to who Atem determined must have been Mokuba. He returned the phone to his pocket and focused his attention on the food he had pulled out of the fridge. Without turning to face Atem, he spoke.
"As you've probably noticed, there is no staff here. I am not intending to pay anyone to cook this weekend, but the refrigerator is fully stocked. There ought to be enough food to last both of us through the weekend, even if you choose stay until Sunday."
"And what am I to do about clothing? I haven't brought anything with me. You didn't give me the chance."
"If I'd given you the opportunity to pack, what's to say you would have gotten back in the car with me?"
Atem crossed his arms defensively, but couldn't quite bring himself to look Seto in the eyes.
"That's what I thought. If you don't mind me asking - or even if you do, I don't really care - what exactly is it that's got you so worked up you're set on trying to kill yourself?"
Atem's eyes narrowed again but he continued to hold his stance, staring at the wall beside Seto's head. He stayed silent for a few moments, trying to decide if he should speak, or leave. His instinct told him to leave; run out into the woods and hope he could find a car along the road willing to take him far away from anyone asking these questions, or trying to stop him. Though, Atem doubted he would even make it to the front door before Seto stopped him. He had made it clear to Atem earlier, after all, that Seto was the stronger of the two.
Seto's impatience broke the silence. "Allow me to rephrase that. I've never known you to be a quitter. You're more the 'fight until the last card' type. Given that, what exactly is so bad now that you have to give up? Giving up is a sign of weakness."
"Is that all it ever comes down to with you; who is the stronger individual?"
"I wasn't bringing myself into the equation at all."
Atem growled. "Let it go." He lowered his voice and turned around, no longer bothering to even look at the other man while he spoke. "I'm not hungry. Just show me where I'll be sleeping."
"You seemed hungry two minutes ago." Seto said at his back, eyeing him before walking off toward the hallway leading upstairs to the bedrooms. He didn't turn to see if Atem was following; he couldn't hear the smaller man's footsteps on the plush carpeted floor, but he could feel his presence. He stopped in front of the first door at the top of the stairs.
"You can sleep in this room. There's a full washroom at the end of the hall. There's only one shower, but if you need to use it, there should be unopened bottles of bath soaps and whatever else you might need. There's a half-bath downstairs as well, but I'm sure you're capable of finding it yourself should you need to." Atem put his hand on the doorknob and pushed it open but Seto stopped him before he could enter. "Come with me for a moment." Seto led the Egyptian further down the hall, one door shy of where he had noted the bathroom to be and he stepped into the room himself. Atem stopped at the doorway, but Seto gestured him to the closet he stood in front of. "You said you need clothes. I will make one last demand on my staff this weekend and request that my driver returns in the morning with a few changes of attire in your size. In the meantime, you'll probably want something to sleep in besides the leather pants you have on. I've not worn any of these, and they ought to serve you well enough for one night. Pick whatever you need." He started to walk out and leave Atem to work, but stopped in the doorway, facing out.
"Oh, and one more thing." He flashed Atem a cold smirk. "Don't kill yourself in my house. I'm on vacation. I don't want to have to clean up any messes you leave behind." Seto thought about telling him to do so outside if he had to. It was in his nature to piss the smaller man off, but at the same time, he felt reluctant about giving him any ideas.
Seto returned to the kitchen where he had left vegetables and chicken on the counter and went on to prepare himself a meal. Opening each of the packages, he determined he would double the portions in case Atem came back down hungry later. He reached behind himself and turned on one burner of the stove while he prepared the vegetables. He diced the celery and some onion and pressed garlic, adding them all to the heated pan on the stove. Moving onto the raw chicken breast, he began to get lost in his thoughts. Damn, he swore to himself while taking to slicing the meat. That might not have been the wisest thing to say to a man gone suicidal. It's probably just going to make this worse. It's not as though we've been terrific friends from the get-go. I suppose that antagonizing him isn't likely to help me deal with this situation.
Seto was beginning to get wrapped up in his thoughts instead of watching his hands, and didn't notice when his index finger slipped a little too close to the large knife.
"Fuck." Seto muttered, immediately wrapping his hand around his fingertip to slow the blood flow while he used his elbow to flip on the faucet of the sink behind him. Soft footsteps padded from somewhere behind him, but Seto paid little attention. He did, however, notice enough to reach back to the cutting board and take the knife he had been using and pull it into the sink and out of reach. It needed to be cleaned now anyway.
"Kaiba. I came to see if you wanted any h- are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Seto ran his finger under the water but was bleeding more than he had anticipated. Not wanting to bleed on his clothes or the floor, he searched for a towel or dishcloth to wrap his hand with. He found them all out of reach. Sighing, he turned toward Atem and gestured for one of the clean, white towels hanging on the oven handle. The former king did as was requested and handed Seto the towel, spotting the blood in the sink and on the knife as he did so. Seto took t he cloth and immediately wrapped his finger.
"What happened?"
"My finger slipped while I was cutting the meat. It's no big deal." He walked briskly out of the room in the direction of what Atem soon saw was the downstairs half-bath Seto had mentioned. He used his free hand to dig through the medicine cabinet for bandages. He unwrapped the towel from his hand, running cold water over the wound again to wash off the extra blood that had gathered. He squeezed the tip of his finger to slow the circulation and help stop the bleeding while water continued to clean his wound. The men stood quietly together in the small room while this happened until Seto broke the silence, having noticed the man was wearing his own light blue silken pajamas. He had to admit, though slightly large on him, they suited the smaller man well.
"What did you come back down for? I didn't quite catch what you said."
"I wanted to ask if you needed any help with the meal." He hesitated before continuing. "I guess I'm not actually as tired as I thought I was."
"Mhm," was all Seto skeptically replied with before finally slapping a bandage on his finger and exiting the room. He hurriedly returned to the stovetop where the vegetables were only just starting to smoke. He lifted the pan and began to stir until the smoking died down, adding a little extra oil. Salvageable, he determined. Not burned. He lowered the heat and returned the pan before turning his attention back to the chicken.
"Do you want me to pick up where you left off?" Atem gestured to his injured hand.
"Oh, please. It's little more than a paper cut. It's not that it hurts so much I can't finish what I started. I just didn't want to bleed all over the food." Speaking of… He discarded any unusable pieces of chicken and grabbed a new knife. "If you're just looking for something to do, you can start by cooking rice. The rice cooker is on the counter behind me and there should be a bag of rice in one of the cabinets directly above it." Atem didn't move immediately, which caused Seto to stop slicing the meat and look up at him.
"You do know how to cook rice, don't you? If not there are directions right on-"
"I know how to cook, Kaiba." He moved to the cabinet Seto had pointed him to and found the large bag of rice. "I just thought it was interesting to see that you do something other than duel and work."
"Hey," Seto snapped defensively. "I happen to enjoy cooking, and I would do it more often if I had the time."
"Well, I do have to admit, it smells good already."
"That's just the vegetables so far. I haven't even started yet," Seto bragged. Atem set the rice to cook. Seto turned to scrape the chicken from the cutting board into a heated pan next to the vegetables when he stopped to glance at Atem from the corner of his eye.
"Hey…" He started quietly, unsure of how to word what he wanted - no, felt he needed - to say.
"Yes?" Atem insisted, almost uncertain he had heard the man.
"…I'm sorry." Seto hesitated a moment longer before scraping the chicken into the pan and continuing his thought, still not looking directly at him. "About what I said earlier. That was… unfair. I don't want you to kill yourself."
"Not until you get your rematch." Atem said flatly.
"It isn't about that." He sighed deeply, stirring the chicken to keep his hands from fidgeting. He really was no good at these emotional things. "I've admired your strength. I've seen you fight incredible battles with high stakes without faltering. It bothers me to see you feeling so weak. I don't want to watch you give up on yourself."
"Kaiba… I don't know what to say."
"Just tell my why."
Atem didn't say anything right away, but stared down at the dish Seto was still stirring.
"You would not be able to understand, even if I were to tell you."
Seto watched him a moment more before saying sternly, "Try me." Atem said nothing in response. A sudden thought occurred to Seto and he changed the subject.
"Does Yugi know you're here? I figured you would have called him by now. Do you even have a cell phone?"
Atem crossed his arms and looked away from Seto. "I have nothing," he said simply before walking out of the kitchen, leaving Seto blinking, trying to decipher what the man meant.
Atem did not go back up to his room but instead into the living room. The man found himself sitting in a chair across from where Seto had tossed his coat earlier.
Seto finished cooking the meal, adding some spices and quickly whipping up a sauce. He dished the stir fry over two bowls of the rice Atem had cooked and set them on opposite sides on the marble countertop of the island in the middle of the kitchen. He pulled two crystal wine glasses down from a cupboard and set a chilled bottle of chenin blanc white wine between the two bowls. Seto glanced in the direction of the living room where Atem had gone, but shook his head and sat down to pour himself a glass of wine.
Seto began eating the meal he'd prepared in silence, but Atem didn't come to join him on his own.
"The meal is finished. I've dished two servings, " Seto called out when he'd finished nearly half his portion. "I can't imagine it tastes as good cold." The room remained silent for a short while but Seto could eventually make out the sounds of feet shuffling from the adjacent room.
Atem stopped in the doorway, seeing the promised second bowl of food set out across from Seto and the unexpected bottle of wine.
Seto looked up at his guest. "Have a seat. You can lie to me all you want, but I'm sure you must be hungry by now." Atem did as he had been told.
"Wine?" Atem asked, confused, though Seto seemed to take it as a request and pushed the bottle closer to the former pharaoh.
"I hadn't poured you a glass because I wasn't certain you would want any."
"Actually Kaiba, what I meant was 'why?'."
"Then you should have asked. White wine goes well with poultry. Chenin Blanc. I'm more partial to a dry wine but this particular blend is more on the sweet side to better coordinate with the meal." Atem examined the bottle. "I have other beverages in the refrigerator if you would prefer something else." He examined Atem's quizzical look before smirking and responding, "I'm not trying to get you drunk, if that's what you're getting at."
Atem chuckled and poured his glass three-quarters full of white wine and took a sip. The meal went on mostly in silence, Atem having quietly complimented Seto's cooking and thanked him for preparing a serving for him as well. Seto's eyes calculated the scant amount of wine remaining in Atem's cup, and chose the moment while the smaller man swallowed the last sip to speak again.
"Of course, had I been trying to get you drunk, it seems it would have only been too easy."
Atem growled at his host's remark, and returned his empty glass to the countertop with a 'clink'. Seto, while holding back his bemused smirk, picked up his dishes and proceeded to clean up after his dinner.
A/N: Ending with a lighter tone.
I apologize for the delay since the first chapter went up. I wasn't really intending to go nearly two weeks before posting the second chapter.
Anyway, I'm happy to see some familiar faces return for another story. As always I appreciate the support from everyone taking the time to read!
While watching the anime, I'd gotten this vibe of... shall we say, eagerness, from Atem when the ceremonial duel with Yugi had ended. Dude didn't even stop to wave goodbye before trying to go all afterlife on his friends. I took that a few steps further and came out with this.
Heartless Lotus, Yami E, Deck Divination, D17-pharoahfox, xHowlingWolfx, thank you for reviewing! I'm excited to see such positive response. I intend for the next segment to come out a little sooner this time, but I'm currently pouring a lot of my free time into another piece (non-romantic action/adventure – having a lot of fun with it. We'll see how that one goes.), so I'm not gonna make any promises.
Til next time, happy reading!