Joey wandered around the palace, not paying any attention to where he was going. He just needed to get away, to clear his head. This was a lot to process all at once. So Atem really did like him, he hadn't outright said it, but he might as well have. Joey didn't know how to respond to it at all. He'd never had anyone tell them they loved him as more than a friend. He was surprised to find that he wasn't entirely repulsed by the idea. He'd never imagined himself with a guy, let alone someone who looked so much like his best friend, but he wasn't really against the idea. He just hadn't considering it before. Would it even work? After all, in a few weeks he'd go back to his own time and never see Atem again, right? The blond let out a loud sigh, his head hurt and he was very, very confused and really wished he hadn't been so brash back there. Atem probably hated him now.
Atem wasn't sure how much time had passed between when he left the bedroom and when he had thrown himself into his work, but as he found himself squinting from lack of light as he attempted to read through the parchment in front of him, he realized that it had to have been a good few hours at least. He debated lighting a candle and continuing to work through the night in an attempt to avoid returning to his bedroom (and potentially facing Joey) before deciding against it—while he was often scolded for not taking his duties seriously enough, he had a feeling that his priests (or Mahaad and Siamun, at least) would scold him if they found out that he'd worked for the entire night.
With that in mind, Atem sighed and rose to his feet, slipping out of the room and heading out to the courtyard, walking along the private path that led to his swimming area. A nice, quiet swim will help me clear my thoughts... Knowing that no one would see him here, Atem stripped, setting every last article of clothing and jewelry aside before smoothly diving into the water, immediately feeling much calmer in the cool water and under the dim moonlight.
Joey decided that going to the pond that he'd swam in with Atem and Mana that morning would be a good way to clear his head and let him sort out this mess. It was dark now so he didn't see Atem's discarded clothes and jewelry on the bank. He stripped off all of his clothes just as Atem had done a few minutes before and slipped into the water, completely naked and unaware that the pharaoh was just under the water.
Atem only became aware of someone else's presence as he felt the water shift, and he quickly rose to the surface, looking around warily—after all, the only people who had permission to enter this place were Mana, Mahaad, and... Those are Joey's clothes—that means...! Atem's face turned bright red, and he quickly turned around as soon as that familiar head of blond hair broke the surface of the water.
"Joey, what— wh-when did you—?" Shaking his head, he forced his expression into one of indifference despite his blush as he politely turned his gaze away; not wanting to make Joey feel any more uncomfortable than he already did today. "My apologies, I didn't realize you were planning on coming here. I'll... leave, sorry."
"No, that's not what I want at all." Even though he was still embarrassed and blushing, Joey couldn't help sneaking a peek behind him to catch a glimpse of Atem. He got a good view of his behind, his rather nice looking little behind...He quickly looked away before Atem saw him looking. Maybe he did like Atem as more than a friend. "I-I," he started, his face still bright red, "I might like you too. I don't know, I'm very confused." He wanted to bury his face in the water out of embarrassment.
Atem was relieved to hear that Joey still wanted to be around him, but he didn't dare to hope for anything more than that—not until Joey continued to speak, anyway. "A-ah, well... it's alright, you don't have to... come to any conclusions just yet, I suppose," he responded, his face burning and his heart lifting—Joey wasn't necessarily returning his feelings, but he definitely wasn't rejecting them either, and that was more than enough for Atem at the moment.
"I'm still... rather confused on the matter myself—I mean," he began, firmly keeping his gaze on the surrounding shrubbery out of embarrassment, "I know for sure that there's... attraction, but I have never felt anything beyond that towards anyone before, so... it's difficult to say just what my feelings are, especially since we only just met each other recently." With a slight smile, he added, "But I suppose we have a few weeks to figure things out, right?"
"Yeah, I've never felt this way either, I'm not really sure what to say besides just take it as it comes," Joey rubbed the back of his head, chuckling slightly at his own lameness. "Well, I guess we should hit the hay, it's getting late." The blond picked Atem up out of the water, thinking he'd help him out of the water since his feet didn't even reach the bottom he was so short.
Atem let out what could only be described as a startled squeak as he suddenly felt hands gripping his bare waist, lifting him out of the water with ease. "Wh— y-you— what are you doing?!" He hastily grabbed his clothes as soon as he could reach them, quickly covering himself up and trying in vain to will away the heavy blush that was heating up his face.
Joey let go of Atem, not really sure why he had suddenly grabbed him and only now realizing how awkward this all was. "Sorry, I thought I was helping." He continued to blush as much as Atem was and grabbed his clothes as well, quickly slipping them on. This would be so much less awkward once they were both clothed. Even so, he couldn't help looking at Atem. Admittedly, he'd always been attractive, but Joey didn't really pay much attention to it. Now that they had both basically admitted that they might like the other, he gave the boy a closer look. Atem was short and petite yes, but even so he had some lithe muscles to him. The most striking thing about him though, ignoring the crazy tri-colored hair, were those large, intense purple eyes. Joey found himself staring at them.
"Ah, n-no, it's fine... you didn't mean anything by it," Atem quickly responded, not wanting Joey to feel too guilty when he obviously had no ulterior motive beyond genuinely wanting to help. He was so focused on pulling his clothing back on (and pointedly not looking at Joey out of embarrassment) that he was completely oblivious to the blond's blatant staring until their eyes happened to meet, and Atem found his blush quickly returning full-force at the intensity of his stare. "Um... is something wrong...?"
Joey realized he had been staring and looked away. "Oh no, nothing. It's nothing." He was still blushing. Was his whole three week stay here going to be like this the entire time? He wasn't sure he'd like that at all. He started walking back to their room but stopped and turned around. "So I haven't actually eaten anything since breakfast, but I don't really want to bother anyone but...I'm hungry." He looked down at his feet, not wanted to keep asking for stuff.
Atem was more than willing to let the subject drop, a blush still lingering on his own face. He started walking as well, stopping when Joey did blinking in confusion before chuckling. "That's right, neither of us really had the chance to eat..." Secretly finding Joey's expression cute, he couldn't help but smile as he responded, "You're never a bother, Joey-I'll have a servant bring a fresh meal to our room so we can eat."
"But aren't they asleep? I don't want to bother them either." Joey was feeling like he was being a pain and causing everyone trouble at the moment.
"Servants sleep in shifts, so there's always someone awake at any time," Atem responded, hesitating before taking Joey's hand and giving it a light squeeze, a reassuring smile on his face. "I promise, you aren't being a bother to anyone. Now come, let's go inside."
Joey was a little surprised that Atem was holding his hand, but he didn't object to it, just obediently followed him, letting him hold his hand until they got back to the room. Even then he only gently pulled his hand away when the servants brought the food in. It was nice...a little weird and hard to get used to, but it was nice all the same.
Atem hadn't even realized that he was still holding on to Joey's hand until they returned to the room, his blush returning as he murmured an apology. He quickly turned his attention to the food being brought into the room, thanking the servants before taking a seat and helping himself to a small portion.
Joey, in contrast, wolfed down the rest of the food. Once he was full to bursting he pulled off his tunic and flopped down on the bed, arms and legs spread out wide. "I think I ate too much," he said, a dazed expression on his face. He then promptly fell asleep, still sprawled out all over the bed.
Atem still couldn't help but watch in awe as Joey ate a huge portion of food at an almost inhumanly fast rate, barely even remembering to touch his own meager portion. He watched in amusement as Joey threw himself onto the bed as soon as he took off his tunic, chuckling quietly and finishing his own meal before taking off his tunic and going to join Joey in bed. It took a bit of maneuvering, but Atem somehow managed to fit himself into the bed without waking the blond up, and though he was extremely embarrassed by their close proximity, there was something comfortable and right about having Joey this close to him. Before he knew it, the young pharaoh had drifted off into a pleasant, dreamless sleep.
...
Joey woke up to find that sometime during the night he had wrapped Atem up in a hug. He didn't move at first, his half asleep brain only partially processing what was happening. Then what had happened yesterday came back to him. Atem actually liked him, it was still a little weird for Joey but he could accept it more now. It was nice and warm with Atem's back pressed against his chest and Joey didn't want to move so he quietly lay there, waiting for the younger boy to wake up, curious to see how he'd react to the position they were in.
Atem gradually awakened the next morning to the feeling of warmth pressed against him and arms wrapped around him. He shifted in his half-asleep state, turning over in Joey's hold and burrowing against his chest without thinking before drifting back off to sleep with a smile.
Joey smiled at Atem; gently stroking his hair like a father would a small child. "You gonna wake up, sleepy head?" he teased, pulling Atem in for a tighter hug.
Atem let out a pleased sigh as he felt fingers gently running through his hair. "Mm... 's warm... five more minutes...," he mumbled, gradually beginning to wake up but finding himself unwilling to move. It was only when he woke up enough to properly process who was hugging him and whose chest he was resting against that his eyes shot open, his face flooding with color. "J-Joey? What— why— this is— I didn't— p-please release me before someone comes in here," he stammered, weakly attempting to pull away out of embarrassment.
Joey giggled, ruffling Atem's hair and messing it up further. "Aww, but you obviously like it. You're the pharaoh, you gotta get to do some things you like sometimes." Even so, he moved his arms from around Atem so he could get up.
Atem's blush darkened. "It's because I'm the pharaoh that I can't do what I want," he muttered, reluctantly pulling away and sitting up. Thankfully no one had come in and seen the two of them in such an... intimate position (or if anyone had, they'd been very quiet about it, and between his servants and his priests he could only think of perhaps one or two people who would keep quiet about such a thing were they to find out), but Atem wasn't willing to push his luck any further despite wanting to do nothing but lie in bed against Joey for the entirety of the day, especially now that he knew that Joey had accepted and was more-or-less returning his feelings.
"Being the pharaoh doesn't sound like much fun, to be honest." Joey got up from the bed, stretching and yawning loudly. He's actually rather enjoyed snuggling with Atem like that; he thought he wouldn't mind doing more things like that. He blushed a little at the thought, turning his head away so Atem wouldn't see.
Atem shrugged. "It's not exactly meant to be fun," he replied with a wry smile, completely missing the blush on Joey's face as he moved out of bed and got dressed. "Most people would think that it's an incredible honor, being someone so close to the gods, but I would honestly rather be treated like a normal person than like some divine being."
Joey leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the forehead before Atem put his crown on. "But you're really just a human being like the rest of us." The blond grinned widely down at the short boy. "You're not Superman."
Atem's eyes widened in shock at the sudden kiss to his forehead, his face heating up from his neck all the way to the tips of his ears and a startled squeak slipping out in place of any coherent words. The young pharaoh took a few seconds to try and force his brain to function once more before opening his mouth to speak, his voice quiet but sincere as his gaze shyly fell to the floor. "Thank you—I... have never had anyone say such a thing to me before."
"I bet it wasn't allowed," Joey said, his face darkening. "I really would hate being a pharaoh, too many rules and responsibilities."
Atem smiled humorlessly. "You're right—had someone heard you say that just now, it would have been automatic grounds for execution. That's why I appreciate it all the more; no one has ever had the courage nor the desire to ever say such things to me before." He chuckled quietly. "Unfortunately, I didn't have a choice in the matter of becoming pharaoh, and it isn't exactly a job that one can just quit."
"It's hereditary, like being a king, right?" Joey scratched his head thoughtfully. "But couldn't you go on a trip or something? Get away for a while? Is that sort of thing allowed? You gotta get a vacation sometime."
"The title of pharaoh is passed along from son to son, yes," Atem responded. "Unfortunately, a god gets no 'vacations,' and neither does a pharaoh—were I to leave the throne, there would be no one to keep order, and the country would fall to ruin."
"Seriously? You don't even get a day off? That sucks. You don't have any time to do what you want to do?" Being pharaoh seemed more like a punishment than anything else to Joey.
Atem laughed quietly. "Well I try and take some time for myself even if I shouldn't, but even then it's only a few hours at the most; I can't take a full day off, I have too many responsibilities to take care of."
"And what are your responsibilities for today?" Joey asked. He was so glad that their "fight" the day before hadn't lasted very long and they could still talk normally like this. It would have been agonizing if they awkwardly didn't talk to each other the rest of the time Joey was there.
Atem sighed. "Nothing interesting, I can assure you of that—you can do what you want for the day, unless you wish to join me once more in the throne room to listen to my people bicker and complain for hours on end." With a teasing smile, he added, "Though you did seem to enjoy sitting by my throne and having me play with your hair last time, so perhaps you'd like to join me once more after all?"
Joey found himself blushing at the mention of that, he had forgotten about Atem playing with his hair. Though, admittedly, he had enjoyed it. "Well, if you want me to come with you, I don't have anything better to do..."
Atem was pleased as his words prompted the desired result in the form of a(n adorable) blush on Joey's face, though he was surprised that Joey was actually willing to take him up on his half-joking offer. "Of course I would never say no to having your company, but are you sure you want to come? I'm not forcing you to if you'd rather not."
"Well, we saw what happens when I wander off by myself...And I really have no idea where Mana is. I think I'd rather just stick with you, even if it is boring," Joey chuckled. Still, he hoped that Atem would play with his hair again. Was it weird that he was thinking that? He was like a dog that liked to be petted.
Atem smiled. "Fair enough. Alright, then let's go." With that, Atem led the way out of the room and through the hallways leading up to a large set of ornate doors, which opened to reveal the throne room. With a quiet, resigned sigh, Atem took his seat on the throne, bracing himself for the next few hours of senseless bickering that he would have to endure.
Joey plopped down on the floor next to the throne, making sure his head was within reach of Atem's hand. As he had expected would happen, he started to doze off after about only ten minutes of the session.
Atem tried his best to repress a smile as he saw how Joey was purposely sitting within arm's reach of him, and he was more than happy to fulfill his unspoken request as he reached out and ran his fingers through his hair, trying not to laugh as he glanced over after a few minutes and already saw him starting to doze off.
Joey was very bored; the only thing making this bearable was Atem petting him. He tried to hold back a yawn but failed. Couldn't they go do something interesting now?
Atem winced slightly as Siamun shot him a glare in response to Joey yawning, though he couldn't blame the blond—if Atem didn't have Joey's hair to play with to keep him awake, he'd probably be dozing off himself right about now. He pat Joey's head, cracking a small smile and murmuring, "Just hold on for a bit longer, we're almost done here."
Once the session was over Joey stood up and yawned. "That really was boring. Do you have any horses around here? I've never seen a horse in person before."
Atem stood up and stretched a bit once the throne room cleared out, chuckling as Joey spoke. "Yes, it really was, but I did give you the option of not coming with me—and yes, of course there are horses. Come, I'll take you to the stable, and if you'd like you can try riding a horse as well."
Joey chuckled. "Yeah, but I would have been just as bored without you, and I'd rather be bored with you than without you." He perked up at the mention of the horses. "Cool, I'd like that."
Atem blushed lightly and smiled as Joey spoke. "And I would prefer to be bored with you than without you as well, so I thank you for your company." He led Joey out of the throne room and through the hallways leading outside to the stables, inside of which were plenty of different breeds of horses. "Pick whichever you like, and I can show you how to ride."
Joey looked the horses over, his eyes settling on a large bay stallion. He stepped up to the horse and reached out a hand slowly to pet him. "This one," he said, choosing the largest horse in the stable.
Atem watched as Joey looked the horses over, somehow not surprised when he came to a stop in front of the largest horse in the stable. "Alright." He led the horse out of the stable before turning to face Joey. "Have you ever had any experience riding horses back in your time?"
"Um, no, like I said, I've never even seen a horse in person before." Joey was a little nervous now looking up at the large animal. He gently stroked his nose, having second thoughts about actually riding now.
Atem chuckled. "Well you went straight for the largest one, so I couldn't help but wonder," he teased. "Though he seems to like you, so perhaps you won't have as difficult of a time as I expected you would. First, try lifting yourself up onto the horse's back."
"Is there a saddle or something?" Not having anything to hold onto was going to make this rather hard. Joey grabbed a hold of the horse's mane and tried to pull himself onto his back. He lost his grip and ended up landing on his behind on the ground.
"I have never heard of this 'saddle' that you speak of, so no, I'm afraid there isn't one," Atem responded, muffling a laugh behind his hand as he watched Joey try and fail to get himself onto the horse. "Perhaps you would like to start with a smaller one after all?"
Joey looked determinedly up at the horse. "No, I want this one." He stepped back from the horse, giving himself a running start, and leapt onto the horse, grabbing onto his mane to pull himself on. "Ahah! I did it!" the blond let out a victory cry. Unfortunately, the horse was not expecting this unfamiliar boy to suddenly jump on his back and start screaming, and was spooked. The horse set off at a gallop, taking poor Joey, who was clinging on for dear life, with him.
Atem barely had the chance to warn Joey that what he was about to attempt probably was not a good idea before the blond suddenly leaped onto the horse and pulled himself up with the horse's mane. He cursed under his breath as the horse suddenly took off with Joey on its back, and he quickly rushed back into the stable, getting onto his horse and taking off after the blond. The pharaoh pushed his horse as fast as it could go until he was riding alongside Joey, and he let go of the reins to lean over and try and calm Joey's horse, thinking only of Joey's safety and not of his own as he precariously balanced atop his own galloping horse.
Joey finally came to his senses and pulled on the reins of the horse, screaming "STOP" at the top of his lungs. The horse skidded to a halt, snorting and protesting at the harsh bit in his mouth. Joey shakily got down from the horse, barely being able to walk in a straight line after the ordeal. Only then did he notice that Atem was hanging half off his horse in a rather haphazard position. He ran over and stood in front of Atem's horse, which came to a standstill when it saw Joey in the way (it was definitely smarter than the horse Joey had been riding). Joey wrapped his arms around Atem and pulled him off the horse. "I think I'd better try a different horse," he said, a little sheepishly.
Atem nearly fell off his horse at the sudden shout and movement from Joey, biting his tongue to keep from cursing as he tried to pull himself back into a proper position so he could stop his own horse. Thankfully, his horse had the sense to stop without a command, and he blushed lightly as Joey lifted him off his horse and onto the ground. "Yes, I believe that would be a good idea," he responded wryly, inwardly relieved that Joey was unharmed. "Perhaps you should try riding my horse instead."
"That sounds like a good idea, yes," Joey agreed, looking Atem's white horse up and down. It was far smaller and more intelligent looking than the bay he had tried to ride. "Now, what is the proper way to get on without scaring the horse?"
"Well for starters, don't throw yourself onto the horse and start yelling," he responded wryly before giving Joey a smile. "Watch me, and then try and do as I do." Atem reached up to carefully but firmly grip the horse, lifting himself up and swinging a leg over the horse's side so he was properly seated before jumping off. "Alright, now you try."
It took Joey a few tries, but he did manage to get himself on the horse without scaring it. "Ok, now how do I make it go?" He was a little wary to try anything after the last horse.
Atem smiled proudly once Joey managed to get himself onto the horse. "Just hold the reins and give a light kick-here, let me show you." Without hesitation, Atem lifted himself onto the horse behind Joey, reaching around him to grip the reins and giving the horse a light kick to coax it into a slow trot.
Joey blushed at Atem's arms around his waist. "Ok, now how do I steer?" He didn't know anything at all about how to ride a horse. "Do I do something with the reins?" The blond boy tilted his head to the side in confusion, trying to look at Atem, but having a hard time because he was sitting directly behind him.
"Yes, you use the reins to guide the horse," Atem responded, letting Joey hold the reins and putting his hands on top of Joey's to help him get the feel for steering the horse.
Joey was glad that Atem couldn't see his face at the moment; he was blushing so hard at Atem touching him. "Alright, so like this." He was slowly starting to get the hang of guiding the horse. "So, do you want to go anywhere? Is there somewhere we can go besides the stable yard?" Joey wanted to go on an adventure, and what better way was there than going on the back of a horse like a hero in a fantasy story?
"Unfortunately, I cannot leave the palace without a proper escort-it's far too dangerous," Atem responded with a frown, comfortably resting his head against Joey's back. "And of course it goes without saying that it's far too dangerous for you to go out on your own, too. If we wanted to go anywhere, we would have to sneak out, which is far too difficult-trust me, I've tried," he added wryly. "With Mahaad in charge of security, there's nowhere that I could sneak out from that he wouldn't know about and have guards stationed at."
"Aw man, you never get to have any fun," Joey complained. "Isn't there somewhere inside the palace we could ride, or is that not allowed as well?"
"You're telling me," he muttered, also slightly annoyed by his lack of freedom, especially now that he had someone that he wanted to actually do fun things with (besides Mana of course). "Well unless you want to ride through the palace hallways, then no, there isn't anywhere inside that we could ride," he responded with a wry chuckle.
Joey sighed, dismounting the horse. "So what now?" he asked, already running out of ideas of things to do.
Atem dismounted as well, impulsively leaning up to give Joey a kiss on the cheek before taking the reins of his horse in his hand. "Now we bring the horses back to the stable, and after that, perhaps you'd like to visit the training grounds?"
Joey blushed at the kiss. "Um, uh, sure I'd like that." He went and caught his horse, which had been grazing on the sparse vegetation this whole time, and led him back to his stall.
Atem smiled, both pleased and amused by how flustered Joey was from the kiss. The two of them led the horses back to the stable, and once Atem made sure that they were properly away, he led Joey back inside and through the hallways to another section of the palace, leading out to a wide open area with walls filled with practice weaponry and training dummies lined up to practice against. "Do you have any experience with weaponry?"
"Um, unless yo-yos or RPG's count, no." Joey was interested to learn though. It would be really cool to use a sword or something.
"Well you would be the one to know if those counted since I'm not entirely sure what they even are," Atem responded with a quiet laugh, gesturing for the blond to follow him over to the wall filled with weaponry for training. "Pick whichever catches your eye—though I would hope that this time you'll not go straight for the biggest one you can find," he added teasingly, knowing that neither of them wanted a repeat of the horse situation.
"Pfft," Joey scoffed, "As if I'd make the same mistake twice." Even though he said that, the largest weapon in the collection did catch his eye first, but he quickly dismissed it since it would likely be too heavy for him to even lift. Instead, he picked a medium size sword with a nice feel to it.
Atem chuckled, following Joey's gaze as it immediately moved to the largest weapon available as he figured it would, though he had to give Joey credit as he reached for a sword that was a better size for him to handle. Atem himself took his wooden khopesh off of the wall, twirling it idly in his hand before pointing it at Joey, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "How about we play a game?"
"What kind of game?" Joey didn't think he'd be allowed to have a sword fight with the pharaoh, not even a mock one, without being dragged off by the guards.
Atem smirked slightly in amusement at Joey's expression. "If you're worried about doing anything physical, rest assured—the guards have been ordered by Mahaad not to lay a finger on you. Now then, as for the game..." He teasingly poked Joey in the chest with the sword. "Just a simple match, really: first one to land a strike wins—and because I don't want to beat you too quickly, we can make it two out of three. Winner gets to have the loser do whatever they want for the rest of the night; how does that sound?"
"Um, sure, I'm game." Joey hefted the sword experimentally, trying to get a feel for it. "I don't really wanna hurt you though..." He looked the smaller boy up and down; afraid he'd use too much strength and hurt him.
Atem raised an eyebrow. "Joey, just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm weak, you know—and besides, that's implying that you'll actually be able to hit me," he added teasingly, before getting into a stance. "Are you ready? Or should I make the first move?"
Joey brandished his sword, taking a light swing at Atem. He missed entirely and unbalanced himself enough that he almost fell over before catching himself. "This is harder than it looks."
Atem stepped out of the way, chuckling as Joey nearly fell over. "There is a reason why people train their whole lives to learn how to wield weaponry." Wasting no time, Atem smoothly stepped around Joey and swung out, keeping his swings light enough that Joey would be able to block and wouldn't get too hurt if they connected with him.
Joey swung his sword quickly and caught Atem on the arm; hitting one of his gold arm bands and making a loud "clang" ring out over the training field. "Ha! I got the first hit in!" Joey cried triumphantly.
Atem blinked in surprise when Joey's sword clipped him in the arm, hitting against his arm band, but he was unable to help smiling at the (adorable) victorious expression on Joey's face. "So you did, yes. I suppose this means I won't have to go easy on you, then," he responded with a smirk, swiftly swinging out and hitting Joey on his side before the blond could so much as lift his sword to block. "Now we each have one hit—better make the last one count."
Joey tried his best to get another hit in to win, but Atem kept dodging or blocking. He might be small, but he was quick. "Hey, you're a fast little guy!" he said, panting from his exertion.
Atem chuckled breathlessly. "I'm going to let the 'little' comment slide—but yes, I was trained in fighting using speed to make up for a lack of strength," he responded, inwardly noting that Joey seemed to have plenty to offer in that department: even though he couldn't keep up with Atem, every time their swords managed to clash, Atem was left feeling the sting of blocking his swings in his arms even after their swords pulled apart. Still, it seemed that Joey's lack of experience was working in Atem's favor as the blond began to tire, and the pharaoh took advantage of this opportunity to feint around to Joey's side and catch him on the arm. "And I believe that is game over. You lasted much longer than I expected, though; I'm impressed."
"Aw man, I've never done this before!" Joey complained. He wanted a chance to actually beat Atem. Even so, he put his sword back on the hook he had gotten it from. "What's next? You probably have duties or something you need to do, right?" He couldn't help a little pout from forming on his lips, he liked spending time with Atem and his duties would take him away.
"Then keep practicing here, and perhaps you'll be able to beat me next time," he replied, returning his sword to its spot amongst the other weaponry as well. He couldn't help but smile at the small pout on Joey's lips, pleased that Joey quite obviously wanted to spend more time with him, and (after making sure that they were sufficiently hidden from the view of any guards who might have been watching) he leaned up to press a quick kiss to Joey's cheek before speaking. "I believe I am done for the night—and I also believe that since I won, you have to do whatever I want for the rest of the night."
"Oh? What did you have in mind?" Joey said with a mischievous smirk on his face in reaction to the kiss on his cheek. He couldn't keep the look up long though and soon burst out laughing. "Ahaha, like you were actually planning on doing something to me, pfft." He stopped laughing and got a straight face when he saw how serious Atem looked. "Were you?" His eyes widened a bit. Could Atem actually be planning on doing something to him? They'd had so much fun together so far, but the sinking suspicion that Atem wasn't as he seemed and might be planning on causing Joey harm still lingered at the back of his mind.
Now it was Atem's turn to pout slightly as Joey laughed, his expression going from indignant to genuinely hurt at the look on Joey's face. "I never said I would do anything to you, nor did I say it would be anything bad; all I said was that you had to do what I wanted—but it's alright, forget it. If you still have... doubts about me, then I suppose there's no point in any of this." With that, Atem turned on his heel and began walking out of the training grounds.
Joey ran after him, aware that he had upset him, but a little confused as to why. "No, wait, I didn't mean it like that, I was joking. You won; you can do whatever you want with me for the rest of the night." He opened his arms wide, offering himself to the pharaoh.
Atem came to a stop when Joey ran up to him, a small frown still on his face—it hadn't looked like Joey was joking, but he supposed he would take his word for it for now to avoid an argument. At Joey's next statement, Atem's face heated up in a heavy blush, especially as he held his arms open wide. "... 'Whatever I want,' hm...," he murmured in response, his mind already running through quite a few ideas that would probably have his priests rushing to perform a cleansing ritual on him had they been able to hear his thoughts. With a slowly-spreading smirk, Atem leaned forward until their lips were mere inches apart, his eyes never once leaving Joey's as he spoke. "Are you certain you wish to give me that much power over you? I gave you the chance to put our bet aside, you know." Before Joey could respond, he pulled away and began walking away. "Come, let's retire to our room for the night—we don't want anyone interrupting our fun, after all."
Joey's eyes were as big as saucers as the meaning behind Atem's words hit him. His face turned bright red and he stared at Atem, having to run to keep up with his brisk pace. "You don't mean, THAT," he whispered, staring at their bed once they got back to the room.
Atem's smirk widened as he caught sight of Joey's blush out of the corner of his eye, chuckling at Joey's whispered statement once they entered the bedroom. "Perhaps I do, perhaps I don't—it all depends on what 'THAT' is," he responded teasingly. "So why don't you tell me what 'THAT' is, hm?"
"Have sex?" Joey responded, also rather quietly. He didn't have any experience with this kind of thing and it was making him a little nervous. What was Atem thinking? He blushed even more, his whole face bright red.
Atem chuckled, part of him surprised that Joey had actually straight-out said it instead of attempting to skirt around the subject. "I think it might be a bit too early for that, but I'm glad to know that you're thinking of having sex with me as a possibility," he teased, enjoying Joey's embarrassment perhaps a bit too much. "I was thinking more along the lines of something slightly less intimate than that."
"Like wh-at?" Joey's voice cracked a little, he wasn't sure how much more of this embarrassment he could take. He sat down on the edge of the bed; hoping sitting down would keep from falling over.
Atem smirked as he heard Joey's voice crack, his eyes following the blond's every movement as he watched him stumble over to the bed and sit down. "Like this," he responded, smoothly moving over to Joey and wrapping his arms around him as he leaned close, resting his forehead against the blond's as he spoke. "Kiss me."
Joey stared at Atem in confusion for a second, his brain taking a moment to process the command. Shakily, he took Atem's chin in his hand and slowly pressed their lips together. He wasn't even sure he was doing it right. It was his first kiss after all.
Atem blushed as Joey's fingers came into contact with his face, his eyes drifting shut despite his surprise and embarrassment as their lips connected. It wasn't perfect—it was tentative, clumsy, and all-around unskillful on both of their parts, yet at the same time it felt so right that Atem couldn't bring himself to care about anything but the feeling of Joey's lips against his and Joey's body so close to his. The two pulled apart for air after a moment, Atem tentatively opening his eyes before giving Joey an embarrassed yet pleased smile. "That was... better than expected, actually. Though I believe we're both going to need a lot more practice if we want to improve," he added with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I honestly don't think I can handle much more of this before I die from embarrassment," Joey admitted, flopping down on the bed. He was also getting an uncomfortable pulling in his undergarment that he was trying to ignore.
Atem chuckled. "Fair enough," he responded, deciding to let Joey off the hook for the rest of the night—he didn't want to push him too hard and end up accidentally pushing him away, after all. Instead, he laid down beside Joey on the bed, his elation far surpassing his embarrassment at the moment—being able to share his first kiss with Joey, and knowing that it was Joey's first kiss as well, made him feel like he was the happiest and luckiest guy in the world, and nothing short of a natural disaster could possibly ruin his mood right about now.
Joey would have turned around and wrapped Atem up in a hug, but he was quickly realizing that he had a boner and was trying to hide it from Atem. He didn't need anything else to egg the boy on. Although...he had to admit, he kind of wanted to, but Atem was right, it was far too early. But his "problem" was really starting to bug Joey, and he was considering running away to take care of it so Atem wouldn't see.
Atem glanced up at Joey with a worried frown when he felt how tense the other was. "Joey? Is something wrong?" His first thought was immediately that being with him like this was making the blond uncomfortable, but considering how he'd willingly kissed him (or, well, he commanded Joey to kiss him but Joey still could have refused) Atem hoped that that wasn't the case.
Joey was blushing so hard he felt like he might faint. "Well, um, I have a problem." He slowly flipped over to face Atem, revealing the bulge poking out from his tunic. He figured if Atem and he were actually going to have a relationship he should be perfectly honest, though this might be going a little too far.
Atem raised an eyebrow at the sight of Joey's blush, glancing down when he felt something poking his leg and smirking (more to play off his own embarrassed blush than anything else) in response. "You enjoyed our kiss that much? I'm flattered," he teased, pressing a kiss to Joey's cheek before giving him a more genuine smile.
"There's no need to be so embarrassed about your body having a natural reaction-after all, I, ah"-he coughed slightly, glancing away in embarrassment as he briefly lowered his gaze to his own less-noticeable bulge (not that he wasn't well-endowed or anything, of course; it was just that his tunic hid it better!). "You weren't the only one to have... gotten a 'problem'."
"So, um, are we going to do anything about our 'problems'?" Joey asked nervously, not looking at Atem. He really had no idea what he was doing.
"Well, we could take care of them ourselves...," Atem responded, his blush darkening as he slipped a hand down to lightly brush against Joey's bulge over his tunic. "Or we could take care of each other's-unless you think you really might die of embarrassment from doing anything more than kissing," he added with a quiet laugh, inwardly thanking all the years he was raised to learn how to outwardly appear calm and composed-without that, he was sure he'd be even more of a blushing mess than Joey was right now, though he had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to keep it together so easily if Joey so much as attempted to turn things around on him.
Joey couldn't stop a small moan coming from his lips at Atem's touch. "Can I?" he asked, reaching a hand to slip it inside Atem's tunic.
Atem's blush darkened at the sound of Joey's moan, and he nodded in response to Joey's question, groaning quietly as he felt Joey's fingers brushing against his erection. He slipped his own hand inside Joey's tunic to run his fingers along Joey's erection tentatively, leaning up to press a kiss to Joey's lips.
Joey returned the kiss; it lasted far longer and was more passionate than the first one. He then gently flipped Atem onto his back, hiking up his tunic and pulling off his underwear. Now that he had freed Atem's erection, he gripped it and slowly started to move his hand up and down, looking to Atem to see if he was doing this horribly wrong.
Atem's eyes drifted shut as Joey kissed him back, blushing heavily but not protesting as the blond flipped him onto his back and pulled off his underwear, leaving him completely exposed. He shivered as Joey's fingers wrapped around his erection, letting out a breathy moan at the feeling of Joey's hand moving along his length and giving him a reassuring (yet embarrassed) smile when he saw the uncertain expression on the blond's face.
Not wanting to be the only one being taken care of, Atem reached out and pulled off Joey's underwear as well, running his hand along Joey's erection and leaning up to press another kiss against his lips (if only to muffle any noises they were making—after all, the last thing Atem wanted was someone hearing the noise and coming in to check on him).
Joey didn't know how much longer he could keep from reaching his climax. He pulled back from Atem's kiss to breath, letting out a loud gasp as Atem's hand moved faster. He moved his own hand faster, enjoying the blush, but obvious pleasure, on the younger boys face.
Atem sped up his hand's movements, his breaths coming out in short pants as soon as Joey broke the kiss. His breath hitched as Joey's hand sped up in response, feeling himself drawing closer to his climax, and it wasn't too long before he arched into Joey's hand with a drawn-out moan, seeing stars as he hit his climax hard and just barely managing to keep his own hand moving to work the blond towards his release.
Joey released and let out a much louder moan than he intended to. He let go of Atem and collapsed on top of him, unable to move anymore. Somehow he didn't really feel embarrassed anymore, just satisfied and tired, but mostly satisfied. The blond looked down at Atem and smirked, giving him a quick kiss before rolling off of him to curl up beside him.
Atem blushed as Joey released into his hand with a loud moan, grimacing slightly and chuckling as the larger boy collapsed onto him. His blush darkened as Joey smirked down at him, and he returned the quick kiss before giving Joey a smile and turning to lay against him, closing his eyes with a content expression.
Joey grabbed the blanket and pulled it over the two of them, snuggling up to Atem and letting out a contented sigh before falling asleep.