Atem was beyond irritated as he stood up to leave the meeting room. Every single time he had to sit in on a diplomatic meeting of any sort (though he hadn't had to sit in on many as pharaoh just yet, admittedly), he found himself leaving with a pounding headache and a mixture of frustration and exhaustion—not only were language barriers an issue, meaning that they needed to rely on translators that sometimes didn't do their job in an honest manner (which of course would cause plenty of misunderstandings that could endanger the relationships between Egypt and the diplomat's country), but there was also the simple fact that none of the men he'd dealt with had taken anything he had to say seriously merely because of his age and stature.

It was difficult to act like a powerful leader when you were constantly being talked down to, after all, and if it weren't for Siamun, Atem was sure that he wouldn't ever be able to get them to take his suggestions and his terms for agreements seriously. So when Atem walked out of the room already feeling irritated, only to see Joey blushing and surrounded by beautiful young women—one of which was kissing his cheek as if it were the most natural thing—something in him snapped.

"Ladies. I certainly hope that my servant hasn't been distracting you from your duties too much." The pharaoh's calm smile belied the curtness of his tone (as well as belying the shadows on the ground, which seemed to be shifting in response to Atem's irritation). Without another word, the servant girls hastily gave the pharaoh a deep bow, quickly apologizing before scurrying off to resume their duties. Atem briefly glanced over at Joey before turning on his heel and beginning to walk, the only indication that he wanted Joey to follow being the clipped command, "Come."

Joey could feel how irritated Atem was. He didn't think he'd done anything against the law, not this time anyway, so why was he so angry? He wanted to ask Atem why he looked like he was about to kill someone, but he didn't since he didn't want that anger thrown at him. So the blond kept quiet, nervous about what the pharaoh was going to do, and followed the short boy to where ever it was that he was leading him.

Atem's irritation gradually ebbed away into guilt as he realized that Joey—who hadn't once remained quiet or followed orders since the moment the pharaoh met him—was nervously and silently trailing after him. He knew his reaction had been unfair, and he wasn't even sure why he'd reacted in such a way at the sight of those women hanging off of Joey to begin with (or perhaps he did know—after all, consciously or not, he'd made sure to put emphasis on the fact that Joey was his when he'd not-so-covertly reprimanded the servants), but he realized that the servants' actions hadn't been Joey's fault, and so it wasn't right to make Joey feel as if he were going to be punished.

With a quiet sigh, Atem spoke, keeping his gaze ahead as he continued to walk. "... My apologies. I am not angry with you, if that is your concern—my meeting with the diplomat did not go very well, and to walk out of the room and see the palace servants... hanging off of you instead of doing their work as they should did not help my irritation any. I realize this is not your fault, but should they not do their job because they were with you, it will come back to me for being the one to allow you to freely roam the palace to begin with; do you understand?"

A thought occurred to him, and he added, "Of course, you're free to speak with whomever you wish, servant or not—just do not keep them distracted from their work for too long, that's all I ask; and if you wish for... a lady's company, you may visit the harem instead of distracting the female servants." He had to force the last part out reluctantly, wanting to be one hundred-percent clear that he wasn't trying to hold Joey back or keep him prisoner in any way (even if he wasn't too happy with the idea of Joey frequenting the harem instead of spending time with him).

It took a while for this all to sink in for Joey. "Wait, you're encouraging me to go to the harem?" That was the part that stuck out for him. He wasn't sure he really wanted to; he had no experience with women and didn't even know what he should do, as was obvious by how he had reacted just a few minutes before to all those servant girls hanging off of him.

Atem frowned, looking slightly uncomfortable as he kept his gaze straight ahead and away from Joey. "Well I'm not encouraging it so much as I'm not discouraging it-I just meant, well... if you enjoyed those sorts of things, I don't want to seem as if I'm stopping you from doing... what you want, or anything like that."

Joey noticed that Atem wasn't looking at him, was he still mad at him, even though he said he wasn't? "Hey man, if you're still mad at me, just say it." Joey reached out to grab one of Atem's shoulders, stopping his headlong march to wherever the hell they were going.

Atem flushed lightly as Joey grabbed him by the shoulder and forced the two of them to a stop, reluctantly turning his gaze up to meet the blond's eyes. "I wasn't angry at you to begin with," Atem insisted, glancing away in embarrassment as he added, "I was just... ashamed of my behavior earlier, and talk of relations with women makes me... fairly uncomfortable, that's all."

"So you've never kissed a girl or anything?" Joey found it surprising with Atem's position as pharaoh; he could get anything he wanted. "Though," he added, blushing, "Neither have I..."

Atem looked back up at Joey in a mixture of surprise and relief. "You haven't either? With the way those women were gathered around you, I assumed..." His embarrassed blush darkened slightly as he realized that the odd feeling that he'd felt (which had most definitely not been jealousy) had been due to nothing more than a misunderstanding. "My apologies, I shouldn't have been so forward as to jump to conclusions."

Joey put his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Hey, they came up to me while I was exploring, I had nothing to do with it. They said they wanted to show me around, but I think they had other ideas..." He rubbed the back of his head, nervous at the thought of what they might have been planning.

Atem chuckled. "I see... then I suppose it was just as well that I intervened." He turned and resumed walking, his expression much more relaxed as he gestured for Joey to follow him. "A tour of the entire palace would be a bit difficult to manage in one day, but I can at least show you a few places of interest to keep yourself occupied while I attend to my duties."

Joey relaxed as well as he saw that Atem wasn't angry with him; he didn't want his only friend in this place to hate him. "What is there around here? Is there a pool? Sports of some kind?" He continued to follow closely behind the shorter boy. Something dashed around an upcoming corner that Joey just barely caught sight of before it disappeared. "What was that?" he wondered aloud, thinking it might just be another cat or something.

"There is an outdoor pool that is only for my use, and one that is for the nobles and priests of the palace-but of course, as with anything else, I extend whatever privileges I have to you, so you are more than welcome to make use of my pool if you wish. There are also the training grounds, where you may spar against the training dummies-or against the palace guards if you would like a challenge."

Atem was about to say something else when he spotted a familiar figure dashing around the corner, and he couldn't help but smile in amusement. "I believe that was another source of entertainment, if you happen to run into her," the pharaoh responded with a quiet chuckle, picking up his pace a bit to go after the girl. Years of knowing the energetic (and mischievous) girl made it all too easy to spot her even as she swiftly slipped into one of her usual hiding spots, and with obvious amusement in his expression, he made his way over to one of the vases and looked inside with a raised eyebrow. "Should I even ask who you're hiding from this time, Mana?"

"Eep!" Mana flailed within the large vase, nearly tipping the ceramic item over were it not for Atem gripping the sides to steady it. "Oh, it's just you, Prince. Don't scare me like that; I thought you were a guard!" She poked her head out, looking around warily. "They didn't follow me, did they?"

Atem rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "No, no one came after you, so I think you're in the clear," he responded with a quiet laugh, helping his childhood friend out of the vase. "So what did you do to them this time?"

Mana pouted at the accusation. "I didn't do anything! ... That bad," she amended, sheepishly smiling and sticking her tongue out a bit. "It wasn't my fault that one of them interrupted my training! And at least this time I didn't do any permanent damage! ... I think."

"That's what you said the last time, and it took Mahaad almost a week to figure out how to get those servants' hair to grow back."

"That was one time! " Mana pouted. "You're so mean, Prince... you and Teacher both never let anything go, do you?" She turned slightly, blinking in surprise as she belatedly became aware of the blond's presence. "Ohh! Oh, are you the one Teacher mentioned! The one from the fu-mmph!" Mana pried Atem's hand off of her mouth, her expression turning sheepish. "Whoops, right, not supposed to let other people know about that-but you're the one, right?" She waved her wand around enthusiastically as she spoke, her eyes and smile both bright as she looked up at the blond. "That's so incredible! I can practically see the magic floating all around you! What's your name? I'm Mana, by the way!"

"Yeah, that's me," the blond replied. This girl did seem to be quite the character, like everyone had been saying. He looked closer and realized that she looked like the Dark Magician Girl. So everyone here did look like someone, or some duel monster, that he knew. "Nice to meet you, I'm Joey." He reached out a hand to shake.

Mana's smile widened, and she took Joey's hand, giving it an enthusiastic shake. "Nice to meet you! So, what's it like in the future? Oh, wait, you're probably not allowed to answer that huh-okay, so how about how's it feel to be living in the past? It must be so cool, getting to experience living in a totally different time and place!"

When Mana finally let go of Joey's hand he could still feel it shaking up and down a little. "Um, well, it's different. Definitely the way you dress." He chuckled slightly, still not used to wearing a "dress."

"Ooh, so you dress differently in the future?" Mana smiled before pouting in frustration. "There's so much I want to ask about the future! Teacher is so mean, not letting you say anything..."

"Well, it would be bad to tell you about the future, it might change the past after all," Joey explained.

"I know, I know," Mana responded sulkily before brightening up. "Oh, but maybe you can ask us questions! I'm sure you have tons of questions about this time if it's so different from yours, right?"

"Um, uh," Joey's mind went blank. "I can't really think of anything right now..." He was sure he'd have some, but being put on the spot like this he couldn't think of anything.

Mana's friendly smile remained as she waved him off. "Don't worry about it! If you ever have any questions, you can come to me though!" Remembering Atem's presence, she turned to him and asked, "So Prince, what were you and Joey doing?"

Atem couldn't help but smile-other girls around Joey had bothered him, but this was Mana, and all he could see as he watched the two of them interact was his childhood friend and his new friend getting along. "Ah. I was just going to show him a few places where he could go to pass some time while I do my duties."

Mana grinned. "Great, then I'll come with you!" The energetic girl took one of Joey's hands and one of Atem's, tugging them both along. "Where to first? The gardens? The training grounds? Ooh, we can show him some of our secret spots too!"

Joey followed along with Mana holding his hand. Even though she was a girl he didn't feel awkward like with the servant girls. There was something about her, more like she was his little sister. "It's getting kind of hot out, I think you mentioned a pool earlier? Or what that just me hoping?" Joey laughed a little.

Mana brightened up. "Oh, you mean Prince's pool? You like to swim too?" She started leading the way towards where Atem's private pool was. "I think I use Prince's pool more than he does," she added with a laugh.

"Sure, sounds like fun, but doesn't Atem need to go somewhere?" Joey glanced over at the other boy that was attached to Mana's other hand.

Atem chuckled. "I have no further duties to attend to today, so it's fine."

"Great! Then we should all go swimming!" Mana suggested with an excited grin. She led the two boys outside and through a path off to the side, walking along it until a large, crystal-clear pond came into sight. "Isn't it great? And it's all for us!"

"It's awesome," Joey smiled, "But do we have bathing suits?" He was getting the sneaking suspicion that they didn't have those back in this time.

Mana tilted her head slightly in confusion. "'Bathing suits'? Are those some future thing?" She pulled off her dress and tossed it aside along with her wand, leaving her in nothing but two separate pieces of cloth covering her, and she jumped into the water. Swimming up to the surface, she laughed and waved to the two boys. "Hurry up you slowpokes!"

"Yes, they are special clothes for swimming," Joey said, looking away as Mana took her dress off. Even so, he took his tunic off and jumped in after her. The water was very refreshing after the hot sun.

Atem watched the two of them with a smile but did not join in, instead rolling his tunic up to his knees and slipping out of his shoes before sitting down at the water's edge to put his feet in.

Mana pouted. "Princeeee! Don't be so boring, come in with us!"

Atem chuckled. "Mana, you know that I must be prepared to return to my duties at once if I'm needed; I can't do that if I'm soaking wet."

Joey didn't hear any of this as he was underwater. He slowly snuck up, still underwater, and grabbed Atem's ankles, pulling the unsuspecting boy into the water.

Atem yelped, instinctively closing his eyes as he was suddenly pulled into the water. He quickly moved up to the surface, sputtering and coughing to clear the water that he'd accidentally inhaled before yelling out an indignant, "Joey!"

Mana had to clutch the water's edge for support as she started laughing, her laughter only growing as Atem rose to the surface. "Prince... Prince your hair... I...!" She doubled over with laughter once more—Atem's hair was amusing enough when it was in its normal style, but when it was wet... well between the multicolors and the odd cut lengths (and the fact that it was covering practically his entire face), it was a hilarious sight to behold, especially when coupled with his indignant and embarrassed expression.

Joey had to hold onto his middle because he was laughing so hard. "Ahahhaa, nice hair! Pfftt!" The blond fell over backwards, sending a wave of water to hit the other two. He then floated lazily on his back, treading the water every now and then.

Atem blushed heavily, pushing his hair out of his face and glaring at the two of them sulkily. "There is nothing wrong with my hair!" he protested, yelping as he was hit with a wave of water that further soaked him. "... Well now that I am completely drenched, I'll be getting out," he grumbled, trying to pull himself up out of the water.

Mana giggled and shielded herself with her arms as a wave of water hit her, rolling her eyes at Atem's reaction. "Lighten up, Prince! We're just playing around!" She hugged Atem from behind, pulling him back into the water. "Just stay for a little longer, c'mon!"

Atem huffed. "... At least let me take off my tunic to let it dry." When Mana let go of him, he slipped out of his tunic and hefted the soaked clothing out of the water with some difficulty, waiting until Joey's eyes were closed as he floated on his back before wringing the water out over his head with a smirk. "Payback," was his one-word explanation as he casually made his way back to the water's edge, setting his clothing down to dry in the sun.

Joey sputtered as Atem rung the tunic out over his head. "Hey!" he shouted, straightening up and quickly swimming over to the pharaoh. Wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's waist, he dragged him underwater.

Atem's amusement was short-lived as Joey suddenly wrapped his arms around him and pulled him underwater, Atem just barely having the time to close his eyes and take a breath before he was fully submerged. He struggled, but the blond's grip was too strong, so he was unable to break free-but he was surprised to find that he wasn't worried about Joey trying to drown him; rather, he was merely indignant about being manhandled in such a fashion. (He was also far more embarrassed than he could say, with Joey's muscular chest pressed up against his back and his well-toned arms wrapped around him... he was torn between wanting Joey to remain oblivious of their position and wanting him to become aware and let him go so Atem could attempt to salvage what little dignity he had left.)

Joey finally came back up, still holding Atem up around his waist, the pharaoh's legs dangling in the air, making him look like a child being held up by his parent. "You're a tiny little thing, you need to eat more," Joey commented on how small the younger boy was before unceremoniously dropping him face first back into the water.

Atem's blush darkened heavily as he was lifted out of the water with ease, Joey's hands gripping him by the waist. "I am not tiny! Now put me down this instant!" He was immediately made to regret this command as he was suddenly dropped face-first back into the water, and he quickly resurfaced, coughing and wiping the water out of his eyes so he could shoot Joey a glare in a poor attempt at covering up his embarrassment.

Mana laughed as she watched Joey tease Atem, inwardly pleased to see her best friend so relaxed (because though it might not be obvious to most people, to her it was clear as day that the young prince-turned-pharaoh was having a good time and being surprisingly open). While Atem was distracted with glaring at Joey, Mana took that opportunity to tackle-hug him from behind with a grin on her face, sending the two of them falling into the water. Even as Atem shot a glare over his shoulder once they resurfaced, she continued to laugh, her arms draped over Atem's shoulders from behind. "So, having fun yet, Prince?"

"If by 'having fun' you mean being forced underwater every few seconds, then yes, I am 'having fun,'" he responded dryly, though his tone was belied by the amused smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. "But I really should be getting out soon, before someone comes looking for me..."

Joey came up behind the two friends, draping his arms around both their shoulders. "Aww, leaving us so soon? We were just getting started." He laughed and ruffled Atem's wet hair, as best someone could ruffle wet hair that is.

Atem flushed as Joey joined in on the impromptu hug, his embarrassment made worse by the fingers that ruffled his wet hair (and not just because the action made his hair look completely ridiculous as it stuck up in random directions). "Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of spending all day playing around," he responded wryly, though his tone and expression both held a tone of regret as well-he wanted to be able to relax and have fun with Joey and Mana for the rest of the evening, but he knew that he was lucky enough as it was to have gotten even just this much time to spend having fun with the two of them, and he didn't want to push his luck and have his priests and guards looking high and low for him; that would just result in more of a headache than it was worth.

"Ok," Joey relented, looking a little disappointed. "If you really have to go..." He turned to Mana, "Well, I really don't know you all that well, but I guess I'm with you until Atem comes back," he smiled a toothy grin and flipped his wet hair over his shoulder.

Atem pulled himself out of the water, wringing out his hair and taking a seat on the ground under the sun to dry off. "Well I didn't say I had to leave right away, " he said with a quiet laugh. "Just that I had to get out of the water so I could dry off and redress in case someone comes looking for me."

Honestly, he probably should return inside and see what other work needed to be done, but... well, the country wouldn't fall apart if he stayed outside for a few more minutes, right? ... Or so he thought, until he heard a shout of "Pharaoh! My lord, come quickly!" from just outside the pathway to his private swimming area.

With a sigh, Atem rose to his feet, pulling his tunic back on and fixing his appearance as best as he could before responding. "What has happened?" he asked, frowning as he was told that a criminal was brought in and the priests needed him to watch over the Ka removal ritual. There seems to be more and more evil Ka appearing recently... Atem glanced over at Joey with a brief smile. "Do you wish to come?" He didn't want to force Joey to come with him if he was having fun staying in the water, but he remembered that Joey had shown interest in Ka and he wanted to give the boy the option of what to do.

Joey got out of the water, shaking his head like a dog to get the water out of his hair. "Sure, I'll come with you." While staying and playing with Mana in the water would be fun, he had grown attached to Atem and liked to stay with him.

Atem had the foresight to step aside as Joey began getting out of the water, watching in amusement from a safe distance away as Joey shook his head dry. Inwardly, he was pleased that Joey had chosen to come with him (though he wasn't too pleased about the reason they had to leave in the first place), but outwardly he merely nodded in acknowledgement.

"Alright. I suppose we'll see you later, Mana," he added, shooting his childhood friend a brief smile and receiving a bright smile and a wave goodbye in response. Once Joey finished pulling his tunic and shoes back on, Atem led the way back to the palace, meeting up with the guard that had called for him and waving him off, allowing him to return to his post. "Joey, I want you to promise me one thing," he began seriously, glancing back at the blond. "You are to watch, but you cannot get involved no matter what—sit next to my throne and do not so much as rise to your feet, and if you must speak, keep your voice down so as not to distract my priests. Is that understood?"

Joey nodded in agreement. How bad could it be? He'd seen a lot of unpleasant things in his life. "Aye, aye, Captain!" he said, giving a mock salute and marching behind the younger boy.

Atem couldn't help but smile at Joey's silly display, muffling quiet laughter behind his hand. "Good, as long as you understand," he replied, his spirits lifted slightly by the blond's childlike behavior. He led the way into the throne room, the tension in the open area immediately wiping all traces of amusement off of his face as his expression returned to being serious, and he made his way over to the throne, taking a seat and wordlessly gesturing for Joey to do the same on the ground by the side of his throne.

He nodded to his priests to signal the beginning of the trial (as well as sending a warning look to Seth when he saw the annoyed expression on his face as he glanced at Joey), and the priests then signaled to the guards to bring the prisoner in. The young pharaoh had seen far too many of these Ka removal rituals in his young lifetime, but it never made it easier to hear the criminal begging and pleading their innocence; to hear Priest Karim weigh the sins of their past with the Millennium Scale and Priestess Isis to weigh the potential sins of their future with the Millennium Tauk; to watch Priest Aknadin peer into their soul with the Millennium Eye and Priest Shada open the gate to their soul with the Millennium Ankh, forcefully and painfully drawing forth the malicious Ka that caused them to sin... Atem could only look forward to the moment when Seth stepped up, pointing his Millennium Rod at the monster once it took form and sealing it away in a stone tablet, which was then carried out by a group of servants, signaling the end of the ceremony.

Joey impatiently shuffled around on the floor, getting the feeling something bad was about to happen. "Hey, they aren't actually going to kill someone, are they?" he whispered to the pharaoh.

Atem cracked a brief smile at Joey's concern. "The ceremony does not kill them, no; it is very painful, however." Atem winced as, as if on cue, the prisoner began to let out pained cries, dark shadows surrounding him as Shada stood before him with the Millennium Ankh against his chest. The shadows swirled around and gradually took form, and a group of servants quickly pulled a large stone tablet into the room as Seth stepped forward with his Millennium Rod in hand. "It's almost over; all that's left now is for Seth to seal the Ka away in that stone tablet, and since the prisoner was indeed being controlled by an evil Ka, he will be pardoned from his wrongdoings."

Joey stared in horrified fascination as the man writhed in pain. A huge monster that looked like the Great Moth Duel Monster came out of the man. The blond almost stood up, but didn't get very far after he remembered that Atem had said he shouldn't stand up. He sat back down and watched as the monster was sealed away in the stone tablet. "Is that like a giant Duel Monsters card? Seems really hard to move around...how can you duel with a deck of giant rocks?" Joey mused aloud to himself.

Atem glanced over at the blond, listening to his musings in a mixture of confusion, curiosity, and amusement. "Well, I can't answer the question of whether or not the stone tablet is like a 'giant Duel Monsters card' since I don't know what a 'Duel Monsters card' looks like, but if I'm understanding your second question correctly, then the answer is that you don't move the stone tablets—you summon the spirits to your side with your Ba and the use of a DiaDhank." He gestured to the gold bangle around his left wrist, pressing a small switch on it to open the disk for Joey to see before pressing it again to re-close it.

"Wow, it's like an ancient Egyptian Duel Disk. Kaiba totally stole his idea from Egypt too." Joey was, of course, referring to how Maximillion Pegasus, the creator of Duel Monsters, had taken the idea for the cards from Ancient Egyptian artifacts. He never would have imagined that they had sometime like that this far back in time.

"'Duel Disk'?" Atem echoed in curiosity, before shaking his head. "Never mind, it's probably for the best if you don't explain—though if I recall correctly, this 'Kaiba' was the one you mistook Seth for, so perhaps it's possible that if there was a connection between the two of them, he might have come up with the idea for this 'Duel Disk' from a memory of this time."

With a frown, he added, "I can't say for sure what the connection between this time and yours is, but there seems to be a lot of parallels and similarities from what you've told me... so even though it seems far-fetched, there might be a connection between them, as there might be between myself and this 'Yugi' that you mentioned, or Mahaad and 'Dark Magician' and Mana and 'Dark Magician Girl'."

He was about to say something else when Mahaad discreetly approached them, and he rose from his throne in response, taking note of the serious expression on the priest's face. "You bear news of...?" He trailed off, glancing meaningfully at Joey before turning his attention back to Mahaad.

Mahaad offered the pharaoh a bow as he approached the throne, nodding in response to his question and speaking quietly. "I have discovered a way to return him to his time," he replied, though his expression remained grim despite the good news. "However, there's something that you should know..."

Atem frowned worriedly. "Something we should know?" He echoed warily, unsure of what Mahaad was going to say but knowing just from his expression that it wouldn't be pleasant news.

Mahaad let out a quiet sigh. "The spell required to transcend time... it is feasible to cast, but only under very specific circumstances," he began. "I will require the aid of all of the priests, as well as you, my pharaoh—the millennium items may be the only objects with enough magic to perform the spell successfully."

"Consider it done," Atem replied without hesitation before adding, "But there's more, isn't there?"

"It doesn't involve human sacrifice, does it? Because I am not cool with that," Joey butting in when he probably should've stayed quiet.

Mahaad cracked a brief, amused smile. "No, no human sacrifices are required," he replied wryly, before his expression returned to being serious. "The spell can only be performed at a very specific time: on the night where the sow swallows the moon. If we miss this opportunity... he will be forced to remain in our time for two to three more years, until the next opportunity arises."

"So how does a pig swallow the moon?" Joey asked, very confused.

Atem chuckled. "That is the name for the time once every few years when the moon becomes entirely engulfed in shadows," he explained, before frowning and turning his attention back to Mahaad. "If that's the case, then begin the preparations immediately—we have three weeks, and we are not going to miss this opportunity."

Mahaad nodded in understanding. "As you wish, I will begin the preparations immediately—on the night of the shadowed moon, I will have the circle prepared in the courtyards where he first appeared; we will perform the ritual there to send him home." With a frown, he added, "Please keep in mind that this is time-sensitive, so do not go wandering off, or you will miss this opportunity."

"What am I gonna do for three weeks?" Joey wondered aloud, thinking he was going to get very bored just followed Atem around and watching his boring pharaoh duties the whole time. He wanted some action! "I wonder if time is still going on at the same rate as here? Does everyone not know where I am?" He shook his head, "And I'm missing school! I'm gonna flunk all my classes!" he said in despair.

"Well, I didn't get to finish showing you the places where you can entertain yourself in the palace," Atem responded. "There are plenty of things you can do, so long as you don't get yourself in any trouble."

"As for the matter of time," Mahaad added, "It's difficult to say, but I am fairly certain that time is not passing at the same rate here as it is in your time—however, I cannot say whether it's passing slower or faster in your time than it is here, so you will only be able to find out just how much—or how little—time passed once you return home."

"So it's possible that not much time has gone by?" Joey relaxed a little. This was good, if he'd only been gone for a short time it wouldn't be a problem. The blond boy rubbed his hands together. "Looks like I have some time to kill now." He turned to Atem, "What's next? More swimming? Maybe a hike?" His stomach growled for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Lunch?"

Atem chuckled. "We can have lunch in my room, and then I will show you around the palace some more-and later tonight if you want, we can go swimming again." He nodded to Mahaad, who gave them both a bow before excusing himself, and once he was gone the pharaoh gestured for Joey to follow him as he walked out of the throne room. "What sort of activities do you usually perform to keep yourself entertained throughout the day?"

Joey followed Atem, eager for more food. "Well, I hang out with Yugi and the gang, playing games and watching TV and stuff."

Atem stopped to ask a servant to have a meal prepared and brought to his room before turning his attention back to Joey, continuing to walk down the hallway as he spoke. "Well I don't know what this 'TV' is that you watch, but there are plenty of games that we could play." It was difficult to keep the excitement out of his voice as he spoke, but he did his best—after all, it would be embarrassing for the pharaoh to get excited over the idea of playing games, no matter how much he loved them (and no matter how much he bemoaned not having very many people to play them with).

"Really, what kind of games do you have to play?" Joey was interested. He had heard that lots of games originated in Egypt and he wanted to see them. Admittedly, he had a sneaking suspicion that if Atem was anything like the Yugi he knew, he would wipe the floor with him with games. Joey didn't really mind though, he just wanted something fun to do while he waited to be brought back to his time. Also, he didn't want to admit it, but he still did need to rest and recover from the injuries retained while he was locked in the dungeon with that bastard Seth torturing him.

"Plenty of different kinds!" he responded brightly. "There's Mehen, and Senet, and Aseb, and Hounds and Jackals... all different types of board games," he elaborated when he realized that Joey wouldn't recognize the games' names. "I have them in my room; I can show them to you once we finish eating if you'd like. They're fairly simple once you know the basic rules."

He opened the door to his bedroom (or their bedroom, rather, since Joey would be staying with him for the next three weeks according to Mahaad) and went inside. "Of course, there's also outdoor games, but I believe we should wait until your body is in better shape before playing any of those." With a frown, he added, "Speaking of which... we should probably change your bandages since you went in the water with them before."

Atem was right that Joey hadn't heard of any of the games he was talking about. "Alright, I'll give them a try," he smiled; remember how happy Yugi looked when he talked about games. Atem got the same look (it helped that he had practically the same face too). "And yeah, I think my bandages do need to be changed." He glanced down and noticed with a bit of surprise that one of the wounds on his arm was bleeding again. With the swimming and everything that had already happened that day he had completely forgotten about his injuries. "Yeah, looks like it, definitely." He winced a little as he finally felt the pain now that he had stopped moving.

Atem frowned worriedly as he noticed that one of the wounds on Joey's arms had reopened. "Come, let's do that now before the food arrives." He led Joey into the bathroom, sitting him down before going and getting fresh bandages and antiseptics. "Alright, now take off your tunic and I'll clean and re-bandage all of your wounds."

"More stripping, eh? I'm beginning to get the idea that you LIKE to see me naked," Joey chuckled. He was joking, but something at the back of his mind tried to tell him that maybe, just maybe, Atem did. The blond shook his head to clear the thought away. That really couldn't be the case, right? After all, in his time Yugi liked Téa, right? Though he had yet to see anyone in this time that looked like her.

Atem blushed heavily at the teasing statement. "You know as well as I do that it's just to change your bandages—I can't change the ones under your clothing without you taking it off," he argued weakly, busying himself with carefully taking off Joey's bandages so he didn't have to look the blond in the eye. Admitting to himself that such a thing might be true was one thing, but there was no way that he could possibly admit such a thing aloud, let alone to the object of his... interests of all people (and how could he not be interested in someone with as well-toned of a body and as interesting of a personality as Joey?)

Joey let out a hearty laugh at Atem's embarrassment. "Dude, I'm joking. I know you have to take my clothes off to get to the bandages, I'm not stupid." The blond slipped his tunic off over his head, glad that he could at least keep the underwear on so he wasn't completely naked.

Atem's blush darkened as Joey laughed. "I knew you were joking, and I know you're not stupid," he mumbled, continuing to keep his eyes on Joey's wounds and his hands busy with the bandages to avoid looking at the blond. He jerked in a mixture of surprise and embarrassment when his hand accidentally brushed against Joey's bare skin, and he quickly muttered an apology, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious—it was difficult to tell whether the blond had seriously noticed anything, or if he was just uncannily on the mark with his jokes without even realizing it, but the harder Atem tried to repress his thoughts and feelings, the more they began to swim around his head and fluster him.

Joey managed to behave and sit still long enough for Atem to finished changing his bandages. "So I'm really stuck here for a three whole weeks, eh? Hopefully you can put up with me for that long," the blond said jokingly. He put his tunic back on and stood up, towering over the short boy who was still sitting on the floor.

Atem was grateful that Joey remained oblivious to his flustered state, the lack of additional commentary helping him calm down enough to will his blush away as he finished cleaning and re-bandaging Joey's wounds. When the blond finally spoke, a frown tugged at the corners of the pharaoh's lips. "It isn't a matter of 'putting up with you,' Joey—in fact, I should be the one telling you that." With a wry smile, he added, "After all, you've seemed very bored for the majority of the time that you've spent here, so I hope I won't continue to bore you for the entirety of your stay." He glanced up as Joey pulled his tunic back on and stood up, briefly marveling over the boy's height (and well-toned legs) before rising to his feet as well. "The food should be arriving soon, so let's return to the dining area."

Joey followed Atem. It was still a little weird sharing a room with the younger boy. He was beginning to notice Atem sneaking glances at him out of the corner of his eye when he thought Joey wasn't looking. Could he actually have a thing for him? The blond found himself staring long and hard at the Pharaoh. Was it possible? Come to think of it he hadn't shown any interest in any female they had seen so far, and he had said that he didn't have a girlfriend...could he...like guys? Could he like HIM? Joey wasn't quite sure how he felt about this. He'd never had a girl he really liked, but he'd also never had any interest in boys either. He'd never really given it much thought, he'd been too busy just trying to survive.

Atem came to a stop in his (their) bedroom, flushing as he glanced over at Joey only to find the blond staring at him. "Um... is something the matter?" He asked weakly, wondering what could have prompted such an intense stare from the boy. There was a knock at the door and, relieved, Atem took advantage of the distraction as he immediately rushed over to the door to open it, letting the servants in so they could bring in their food.

Joey stared even more intently at Atem. "Do you...like me? And I don't mean as a friend." With Joey's personality he couldn't help but just point blank ask what he was thinking.

Atem blinked, taken aback by the sudden, blunt question. Had he been able to think coherently (or at all) at the moment, he would have been relieved that the servants had already left the room before Joey asked that question—but as it was, it took all that he had to even so much as stammer out a, "Why would you ask something like that?" Turning his attention to making himself a plate of food in an attempt to hide his blush, he added in as steady of a tone as he could muster under the circumstances, "We're both men and we met just a few days ago... unless this is some sort of roundabout confession on your part?" Turning the question around on Joey was much easier than trying to outright answer the question himself.

Joey blushed, his mind reeling at the thought of him being in love with Atem. He was right; they were both men and had only known each other for a few days. "But you didn't answer my question," Joey insisted. "Do you like me?" he repeated.

Atem took a small bit of satisfaction in the way Joey blushed at his question, as well as in the fact that he didn't exactly deny the claim. "And you didn't answer my question, so I believe we're at an impasse. Now come, let's put this talk aside and eat."

"No, you keep avoiding the question. I see the way you look at me, like Yugi looks at Téa when he thinks nobody's looking." This had been bothering Joey for long enough that he needed an answer. "If you do, just spit it out already!" he said, much more loudly and harshly than he had intended. He didn't really want this to turn into a fight, but his stubbornness wouldn't let him back down.

Atem hardly had the chance to question who this 'Téa' was (or defend himself against the claim of looking at Joey, which caused him to blush heavily—he hadn't realized that the other boy had noticed his not-so-occasional glances) before Joey suddenly started raising his voice, and he nervously glanced at the door, letting out a relieved sigh when no one burst in to see if anything was wrong.

"Please lower your voice, unless you want my guards coming in here and mistaking you for a threat," Atem said, before asking, "Why does it matter so much whether I do or don't... like you? Regardless of my answer, it shouldn't matter since you have no feelings beyond friendship towards me."

Joey stared, that was just one step short of Atem admitting he liked him as more than a friend. "I need to think about this..." He quickly left the room, forgetting all about lunch.

"... I think that was all the answer you needed to give," Atem murmured as Joey rushed out of the room, smiling humorlessly as he started cleaning up the food—he didn't exactly have much of an appetite anymore. His heart clenched as he glanced over at where his games sat collecting dust, sighing as he figured that they would remain that way; there was no way Joey would want to even be around him anymore, let alone play games with him. It's my fault, though; I should have just lied and outright told him no. I was a fool for thinking that perhaps he might... Shaking his head, Atem sullenly left the room, for once willingly going to seek out work that needed to be done in order to distract himself.