Atem made sure his hood was completely covering his hair and obscuring his face, taking a moment to glance behind him in order to make sure that Joey's hood was in place as well. It had now been half a month since Joey first started staying with him in the palace, and the blond was obviously growing bored and restless from being confined to the palace grounds—and so after some persuasion from both him and Mana, he finally acquiesced and agreed to one quick visit into town, as long as Mana would help them slip past the guards (which she was more than happy to agree to, since it gave her another chance to practice her magic).
Atem chose to travel together with Joey on one horse to prevent the blond from getting separated from him, and he made sure to get hoods that would sufficiently disguise the two of them and (hopefully) make them blend in a bit more with the lower-class townspeople. "Now Joey, you remember what I told you, right?" he asked quietly, gripping the horse's reins tightly in his hands as he led the animal away from the palace. "Stay close to me at all times, and try not to make yourself stand out too much, for your own sake more than mine." Honestly, though Atem was probably the one who would be in more danger (since he was the pharaoh and all), he found himself worrying more about his blond friend than about himself—the last thing he wanted was for something bad to happen to Joey, especially not at the hands of his own people.
Joey nodded, and then remembered that he was behind Atem and he couldn't see him. "Yeah, I get it, we're incognito," the blond said, chuckling to himself. It felt great to finally get out of the palace and do some exploring. "What is there to see out there?" Joey was excited to do anything, as long as it was with Atem. He'd grown very attached to the boy and couldn't see himself without him. There was that nagging feeling in the back of his head though, he knew they'd have to part ways soon and he wasn't sure he wanted to.
Atem couldn't help but crack a small smile at the excitement in Joey's voice. "I'm not sure if it's going to be anything to your liking, but... well, there's plenty of shops, and lots of people—it's a town, after all. I have more than enough money on me in case anything catches your eye, but I'm afraid there's not much else to do but take in the sights and shop; I hope this will at least be a decent enough change of pace for you."
"Hey, as long as it's with you, I'm cool with doing anything," Joey was grinning from ear to ear. Shopping sounded like it could be fun. Maybe he could get some souvenirs for Yugi and the gang. He found himself wrapping his arms around Atem's waist, half to help himself stay on the horse, and half just to be closer to the pharaoh.
Atem's smile widened, his face flushing lightly as he responded with, "I feel the same way." He leaned back against Joey slightly when the blond's arms wrapped around his waist, enjoying being able to be this close to him—of course, there were still some limits to what they could do in public, but at the very least he wouldn't have to worry about anyone dragging his title into the mix even if anyone did happen to see them.
After a few minutes of riding, the outskirts of town began coming into view, and Atem was relieved to see that hardly anyone was paying them any mind save for a curious glance or two. They probably think we're travelers—which wouldn't be entirely incorrect, I suppose, he added wryly as he covertly looked around. It wasn't too often that he was able to travel out of the palace on his own (or, well, he was with Joey so he supposed he wasn't alone, but his point still stood), and he wanted to enjoy taking in the different sights as much as his friend.
"Are we gonna get to eat?" Joey asked excitedly. He had spotted some stalls selling different foods and his stomach was growling. Giving Atem's waist one last squeeze, he hopped down from the horse, eager to explore as much as he could in the short time he knew they had. "Hey look, I think Téa would like that. Hmm, or maybe Serenity. Not sure Téa's the type." He had spotted some pretty jewelry. Walking up to the stall, he examined the jewelry. He had no experience with it and didn't know what a girl would like. He turned back to his friend. "Hey, Atem, what would you get for Mana if you got something?"
Atem chuckled quietly. "Yes Joey, we can get food if you want," he replied, gently coaxing the horse to a stop and smiling in a mix of amusement and endearment as he watched Joey eagerly jump off the horse and rush towards the stalls. After making sure that the horse was tethered somewhere that Atem would be able to keep an eye on it (after all, one had to be wary of thieves when they went into town, or so he heard from Seth), he joined Joey, looking over the various pieces of jewelry on display. "Well, different people like different kinds of jewelry, so I'm not sure if the people you had in mind will like the same things that Mana might like, but..." He continued looking over the jewelry with a careful eye, being far more fashion-conscious and knowledgeable about jewelry than his friend, before picking up a necklace with a smile. "I believe I would go with this one, if I had to choose—it's simple, yet the pendant gives it a nice touch." Glancing at Joey, he added, "Would this be something that you think the person you had in mind would like?"
"Well, it's my sister I was thinking of, or one of my female friends, I'm really not sure what to buy for a girl..." The blond scratched his mop of hair. "What do girls like?" he mused aloud. The necklace was pretty, but he wasn't sure it matched either of the girls.
Atem laughed quietly. "If it's for your sister or for a friend, I'm sure they would both appreciate anything you got for them, but let's see what else might be nice..." He hummed in thought before picking up one of the bracelets from the stall. "How about this?"
Joey eyed the pretty bracelet. "That looks more like it, more simple. I think I'll get that for my sister." He looked away, his bangs flopping down in front of his face, a little embarrassed. "But I don't have any money."
Atem smiled. "As I told you before, I will pay for anything that catches your eye, so don't worry about it." He turned his attention to the merchant behind the stall, who seemed to brighten up as he realized that they were intending to buy something from him.
"You're interested in purchasing that bracelet? My, you have excellent taste!" the merchant complimented with a smile that seemed far too calculating for Atem's liking. "Normally such rare, exquisite piece would go for 200 gold coins, but I would be more than happy to lower the price to 100 gold coins just for you!"
... Ah, I see what he's trying to do, Atem thought to himself, immediately catching on to the merchant's game—and if there was one thing the young pharaoh loved, it was a good game. "Hmm, 100 gold pieces... my, that sounds like quite the bargain—though I recall seeing a bracelet almost identical to this one in the next town over, and if I remember correctly, the merchant there was selling it for 60 gold pieces...," Atem responded, keeping a conflicted expression on his face—one of the most important aspects of being a good gamer was being a good actor, after all, and Atem was nothing if not a good gamer and actor. "Perhaps I should take my business back there, instead... especially considering how their bracelet was real and not fake," he added in, wanting to make it clear that he knew that the bracelet wasn't made of real gold and that he wasn't going to pay a ridiculously high price for imitation jewelry (though it was still a quality piece of imitation jewelry, Atem had to admit).
The merchant's expression faltered for a moment before smiling with a bit more desperation. "I-is that so... well then, I can give it to you for 50 gold!"
"I believe the trip back to get the bracelet in the other town we passed through would be very much worth the extra 10 gold, considering how we'll be getting an authentic bracelet instead of an imitation," Atem responded flippantly, shrugging his shoulders and making a move to set the bracelet back down.
"Wait, 40 gold! I'll give it to you for 40 gold!"
Atem kept a thoughtful expression on his face for a moment, purposely dragging it out before shrugging and reaching into his satchel to take out the coins, setting 40 gold coins onto the stand with a smile. "Pleasure doing business with you, sir," he said cheerfully, smirking slightly as he walked away before laughing and speaking once they were out of earshot. "That was almost too easy~"
"Wow, I've never seen anyone haggle like that before. That was pretty impressive." Joey tucked away the bracelet, planning on giving it to his sister once he got back. He glanced over at Atem, his impression a little wistful; when he got back he wouldn't be able to see Atem again...
"Haggling is just like a game of the mind between the buyer and the seller," Atem responded with a smile. "And I never lose when it comes to games." He looked around at the different stalls curiously before glancing back at Joey, his smile fading into a worried expression as he noticed the look on Joey's face. "Are you okay? Is something wrong?"
"Ah, it's nothing, it's stupid." Joey saw how worried Atem looked and changed his mind. "Well, okay, the thing is, I'm not gonna be able to see you pretty soon, and I don't like that thought at all." He looked away, getting suddenly shy with sharing his feelings.
Atem's expression softened as Joey confessed what was on his mind. "Joey..." He took Joey's hand in his own, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I know, and I don't like it either, but isn't that all the more reason to try and enjoy the time we have left together?"
"True, but it's really hard to ignore." Joey leaned in and gave Atem a kiss. "So, we've done something I wanted to do, what do you want to do?" he asked, both because he wanted to change the subject and also because he thought Atem should get a chance to do what he wanted to do as well.
Atem kissed back quickly before pulling away, still nervous about physical displays of affection in public. It was obvious that Joey was trying to change the subject by asking him what he wanted to do, but Atem decided to go along with it regardless, humming in thought as he looked around. "Honestly I'm fine with doing whatever you want to do. Would you like to look around at some of the other stalls? Or do you want to get something to eat, maybe?"
"Food is always good," Joey replied. You couldn't go wrong with suggesting food to the blond. "But after that I want to see if I can find some stuff for my other friends too." He quietly took Atem's hand, tugging him towards a food stall with a delicious aroma coming from it.
"That sounds like a plan, then," Atem responded with a smile—Joey was predictable as ever, yet even that part of him was endearing in Atem's eyes. He entwined his fingers with the taller boy's, following alongside him as he made his way towards the food stall. "Order whatever you like, and however much as you like," he said as he looked over the different food for sale, keeping his voice low so as not to attract any attention (after all, it wouldn't be very wise to basically announce that he was carrying an abundance of gold on him at the moment to pay for whatever Joey wanted).
Joey picked out a large quantity of foods and looked around for a place to eat it. "Does over there look good?" he pointed to an empty place a few stalls down.
Atem chuckled, inwardly rolling his eyes. I should have figured he'd actually take me up on my offer and order as much as he wanted, he thought wryly, ordering a smaller portion of food for himself and handing the stunned merchant enough gold coins to cover both of their meals before turning his attention back to Joey. "Sure, over there looks fine." With an amused smile, he looked over the large amount of food that Joey was carrying and added, "Do you think you'll be able to manage carrying all of that food by yourself?"
"Sure I can," Joey said, almost dropping one plate just as he said it. "Um, on second thought, maybe I could use some help."
Atem laughed, taking some of the plates from Joey and carrying them along with his own plate. "I still don't know how you manage to eat this much and still remain so fit," he teased, leading the way over to the empty spot they'd chosen to eat at.
Joey shrugged. "I dunno," he mumbled between a mouthful of food. "Did you want to do anything here?" He asked again, after he had cleared one of the plates.
Atem sat down with his food, setting down the plates he was carrying for Joey before starting to eat. "I really just came here to give you a change of pace," he responded honestly after swallowing a bite of food, shrugging and glancing down at his plate in embarrassment as he added, "All I wanted was to spend the day with you, so I'm already doing what I wanted to do here." Atem was so focused on Joey and his food that he failed to notice the shadow lingering on the rooftop nearby, their gaze fixed on the disguised pharaoh as they aimed a poison-tipped arrow at his throat.
Joey stuffed the food in his mouth, probably far faster than he should have. He started to choke on it and held onto his stomach, trying to breath.
Atem didn't even have the chance to warn Joey about eating too quickly when the boy began to choke. Rolling his eyes, he moved to help Joey stop choking, letting out a relieved sigh once it was apparent that Joey was alright. "Please be more careful," he started as he rose to his feet, intending on moving back to his spot. "You should eat a bit more sl-!" There was a sudden, sharp pain in his back, and he stumbled, falling to the ground to reveal an arrow sticking out of his back-an arrow that would have pierced him right in the neck had he not unwittingly stood up at the right moment. The hooded figure scowled and quickly left, figuring that the poison in the arrow would do the rest of his job for him.
Joey leapt to his feet, his food completely forgotten. "Where the hell did that come from?! Are you ok?" He knelt down and grabbed hold of the arrow, debating if it would be a good or a bad idea to pull it out. He went with his first instinct and yanked the arrow out of Atem's back. Then he ripped a hole in the top half of the pharaoh's tunic to get to the wound. The blond tore the hem of his own tunic off into strips and quickly wrapped them around Atem's back and chest. "That should help stop the bleeding, but we need to get you to a doctor!" He frantically looked around for someone to help them.
Atem let out a pained cry as Joey yanked the arrow out of him without any warning, his body trembling, his face flushed with fever, and his breathing labored as the poison began draining him of his strength. "... Back... back to the palace...," he rasped out, gripping Joey and trying to rise to his feet only to immediately fall back down before he could even rise an inch off the ground. "Arrow was... poisoned... Mahaad... need to get... to Mahaad..."
Joey had no idea the arrow was poisoned, if he had known he probably wouldn't have been so hasty to pull it out of Atem's back. He picked Atem up and ran as fast as he could to where they had left their horse. He blinked a few times; this is where they had left it, right? But the horse was nowhere to be seen. "The horse is gone!" Joey cried, coming close to panic at this point. He had already done everything he could think of to help, but he didn't know anything about poison and was at a lost as to what to do.
Atem winced and weakly held on to Joey as he was picked up and carried him, putting all of his focus into staying conscious. "J-Joey... calm down...," he forced out weakly, moving a hand to cover his mouth as he coughed and grimacing as he pulled his hand away to reveal blood. "Water... We need to flush... the poison out... Need something to... help me throw up... get the poison out..."
Joey looked around for the nearest water source and spotted a skin of water at a nearby stall. Without asking, he grabbed it and shoved it to Atem's lips. After the pharaoh had drank some of it he put it down. "Sorry about this," Joey muttered before sticking his fingers down Atem's throat, trying to make him throw up.
Atem drank as much of the water as he physically could as soon as the water touched his lips, barely having a moment to mentally brace himself before Joey's fingers reached down his throat. He gagged, reflexively trying to pull away before feeling bile rising up his throat, his eyes tearing up as his throat began to burn. He pulled away and fell to the ground as he began to retch, blood and vomit staining the ground as the poison was released from his trembling body.
"Are you okay now? I'm guessing it's not all out of your system, right?" Joey was very worried and he helped Atem to his feet. "Who would do this? And more importantly at the moment, how are we going to get back to the palace without the horse?" He picked Atem up, not wanting him to hurt himself more by trying to walk.
Atem let out a shaky breath once his retching finally stopped, reaching for the water and using it to wash his mouth out with a grimace before responding. "I'll live," he replied wryly, fully aware that had they acted even a second too late, he may very well have died. "As for who would do this... I've had attempts on my life since I was a young child, so anyone who saw that the pharaoh was walking around unaccompanied by guards or high priests would probably be willing to take a shot at my life if they could get away with it." He flushed slightly as Joey picked him up, weakly gripping him and resting against his chest in exhaustion. "I still have my gold on me thankfully, so we should be able to buy another horse... but you're going to have to be the one to ride back. I'm in no shape to walk, let alone take charge of riding a horse."
"I think I can manage, as long as we don't get a wild raging stallion or something," Joey laughed at his own joke, but then his face became serious. "But you're still not out of danger, some of the poison may still be in you, and we need to know for sure if it's all out of your system."
Atem cracked a small, brief smile before his expression faded into a pained grimace. "Enough is out that I won't die for now, I think," he responded, closing his eyes for a moment as his vision swam and resting his head against Joey's chest. "The faster we get back to the palace, the faster I can get to a doctor. There should be someone selling horses nearby, so please hurry..."
Joey looked around for the nearest person selling horses and bought the first horse that looked sure-footed. It was a jet black horse with a shiny coat that looked intelligent. He vaulted onto the animal's back, trying his best not to jar Atem too much. "Ok, let's get you back to the palace as fast as we can." The blond kicked the horse in the flank and spend off to find the pharaoh help.
Atem let Joey pick their horse, trusting him enough to leave everything to him as he merely rested against Joey and tried to remain conscious. He grimaced as Joey vaulted onto the horses back and began to ride, weakly gripping onto the blond's shirt to keep from falling off as he tried to keep his breathing steady, feeling another wave of nausea coming on from the horse's motions but forcefully attempting to ignore it.
Joey was trying his hardest to keep from panicking. Atem could really die here, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. He urged the horse to go as fast as it could, hoping with everything he had that they wouldn't be too late. The palace came into sight after a few minutes, Joey thundered up to the gate, shouting at the guards, "Let us in! The Pharaoh is hurt, we need Mahaad immediately!"
Mahaad came running to the front gates at the sound of the commotion, letting out an uncharacteristic stream of curses as he heard what was going on. "Bring him inside!" he commanded, immediately taking charge and barking out orders before swiftly turning his furious gaze on the blond. "Tell me everything that happened-and I'll be having a lengthy discussion with you two about this once the Pharaoh is recovered. Consider yourself lucky, because this would be grounds for execution if it wasn't for your position."
"Just help him!" Joey practically screamed, handing the barely conscious boy over to the priest. He was getting very sick of hearing people threaten to execute him for every little thing he did. "Just save him, please," he added much more quietly, letting a note of fear enter his voice.
Mahaad's irritation simmered down as he both saw the fear in Joey's expression and heard it in his voice, and he let out a drawn-out sigh as he took the pharaoh into his arms before swiftly turning to walk inside, gesturing for Joey to follow him. "Tell me exactly what happened, from start to finish, so we can properly treat him."
Joey told Mahaad just what had happened on their trip into the market place. "Is he gonna be okay?" Joey absently stroked Atem's cheek, oblivious to the priest seeing his intimate action. "It's all my fault...if we hadn't have gone there this never would have happened."
Mahaad noticed the action but said nothing, instead focusing on the matter at hand. "If he got most of the poison out of his system, then he should be fine." He watched Joey for another moment before sighing and adding, "While you were at fault for leaving the palace, it wasn't entirely your fault—I suppose I'm to blame as well. I'm supposed to protect the pharaoh, and yet something like this still happened..." Mahaad shook his head slightly. "Unfortunately, this is not the first time someone has made an attempt on the pharaoh's life, and it won't be the last either, so there's no need to put all the blame on yourself."
Joey still felt rather responsible for this whole mess, but decided that arguing about the matter wouldn't do anyone any good. The blond tried to sit quietly while Mahaad took care of Atem, but he found himself shifting uncomfortably, unable to feel at ease with his friend still possibly in danger. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked, wanting to be at least of some use in this situation.
Mahaad pulled his attention away from the pharaoh when Joey spoke, remaining silent for a moment in thought before speaking. "Fetch the pharaoh some water for when he awakens—the poison will have dehydrated him, and he'll be looking for something to drink. Have one of the servants bring a light meal in as well, in case he feels hungry." There wasn't much else that Joey could do, since Mahaad and the doctors were already taking care of everything that needed to be done to remove the poison from Atem's body, but the high priest knew that Joey needed to do something to feel like he was helping—and though he was still a bit irritated, he couldn't help but feel bad for the blond, who looked to be even more distressed about Atem's condition than Mahaad himself was.
Joey went and got the water, and asked the servants to get the food. He thought it would help distract him, but it only took a short time, so he was soon back and sitting by Atem's side. He just sat there, nervously watching as he slept. Was he going to be okay? Mahaad had said that he would be, but Joey wouldn't really believe it until he saw it for himself. He was still beating himself up for it. It was all so stupid, he should have seen that sneaky bastard and stopped him before he had had the chance to hurt Atem. If he ever found the guy that did this...No, no, he shook his head, thoughts like that wouldn't help here. The assassin had been hidden, so there was no way to even find the guy unless he was stupid enough to declare "I poisoned the pharaoh" or something along those lines. Joey sighed, rubbing his forehead nervously. There was nothing he could do but wait. Wait and see what happened with this mess.
Atem's brows furrowed in his sleep, his face still flushed from his fever. He murmured something unintelligible before opening his eyes, his mind still muddled from the medicine given to him to help him recover. "Joey...?" he murmured, noting the worried expression on his face even in his half-awake state.
"Atem!" Joey cried out, grabbing the younger boy's hand. "Are you okay? I'm sorry about all this; I should have been able to stop this from happening." He was still blaming himself for this whole situation.
Atem gave Joey a small smile, weakly squeezing his hand. "Not your fault," he murmured, before wincing slightly at the raspiness of his voice and at the feeling of just how dry his throat was. "And I'm fine... just need something to drink and I'll be completely recovered." That, of course, was a lie, and he was sure that Joey knew that too-but he didn't have the luxury of being out of commission for long, so he had to at least try and convince himself that he was recovered and ready to get back to his duties.
Joey handed the water Mahaad had had him fetch earlier to Atem. "Why don't I believe you? You're still pretty hurt. You really should take it easy." He gently stoked Atem's face. "It's not like you have a country to run or anything." He chuckled slightly at his own joke, he himself not finding much humor in it, but he still used it to try to lighten the mood.
Atem smiled wryly, taking the water with a murmured thanks and drinking a few sips to soothe his throat. He leaned into the hand stroking his face, chuckling quietly at the joke. "If only that were the case," he replied, closing his eyes and leaning back against the pillow once he finished his water. "Though I guess getting a bit more rest wouldn't hurt..."
"Yes, rest," Joey said softly. He carefully lay down beside Atem, trying his best to not jar him. "I could use a nap myself after all this excitement." He pulled the blanket over the two of them and snuggled up against the young pharaoh.
Atem smiled as Joey lay down beside him, shifting as best as he could given his condition so he could snuggle closer to the blond in return. "Mmhmm...," he murmured, already half-asleep from a combination of exhaustion, the medicine, and the warmth and comfort of Joey's body against his own. Within minutes, his breathing evened out, and he fell back into a much more restful sleep.
Joey soon fell asleep as well, wrapping his arms protectively around Atem. He was so comfortable that it didn't even cross his mind what might happen if they were caught in so intimate a pose. All he cared about at the moment was being close to Atem.
Atem briefly woke up when he heard the door opening, cracking an eye open blearily before paling and stiffening as Mahaad came in and saw him lying in Joey's arms. To his surprise and relief, however, Mahaad said nor did anything save for shake his head slightly and give him a smile that was both knowing and slightly amused, and Atem relaxed in relief-while Mahaad was a high priest, he was also Atem's friend, and he seemed to be willing to turn a blind eye to what was going on between him and Joey and keep silent about what he saw. Mahaad checked his temperature, nodding to himself and using a cold cloth to wipe off Atem's forehead before silently leaving the room, allowing the pharaoh to drift back off to sleep.
Joey shifted in his sleep, unconsciously starting to nibble on Atem's ear. He then rolled over, sprawling all over the bed. "What's for dinner?" he muttered, still sound asleep.
Atem flushed in his sleep as he felt the teeth on his ear, shivering and letting out a quiet noise. He cracked an eye open as he felt something pressing down on him, blushing heavily as he realized it was Joey sprawled out on top of him. "J-Joey? Joey, you should really wake up...," he said, squirming from his position under the blond.
Joey muttered something else incoherent and slowly blinked his eyes open. "Huh, what is-?" He sat up, getting off of the smaller boy. "Oops, sorry," he rubbed his eyes sleepily and ran a hand through his unruly mop of blond hair. "Didn't mean to squish you."
"Ah, no, it's fine," Atem responded, his face still flushed as he looked up at Joey. Mahaad had locked the door to assure that they wouldn't be disturbed, so it wasn't as if he had to be worried about anyone walking in on them-it was just that after feeling Joey's teeth on his ear combined with him being on top of him, well... "You don't remember what you just did, do you?" he murmured, his blush darkening and his gaze quickly moving away from Joey out of embarrassment.
"Um, no," Joey looked down, a little scared about what he might have done while he was asleep. "What did I do?" He hoped he hadn't done something really stupid; he didn't want Atem to hate him now.
"You, um..." His blush darkened even more, his hand unconsciously drifting up to his ear as he forced himself to continue. "Y-you were, um... n-nibbling on my ear..." His voice gradually decreased in volume as he spoke, still unable to look at Joey out of embarrassment.
"Oh, um sorry," Joey apologized, even though he had no memory of doing this. "Would you rather I do this?" He leaned down and gave Atem a long passionate kiss, right on the lips.
Atem made a small, startled noise as he was suddenly kissed, his arms unconsciously drifting up to wrap around Joey as he returned the kiss with just as much passion. He was left dazed and breathless when they finally pulled apart, his face flushed as he looked up at Joey above him. "I'd take either," he said in response to Joey's question, his heart pounding hard enough that he was certain it would fly out of his chest at any moment.
"What about more than that?" Joey asked, fingering the tie on Atem's tunic. He could already feel that he had an erection, and his body was begging for more than just a kiss.
"... More than that...?" The young pharaoh blushed heavily at the indirect question, hesitating before giving the blond a nod. "If you want to do... more than that, then I do too."
Joey slowly tugged all of both of their clothes off, kissing Atem all over as he did so. "You sure? I've never done this before..." Joey was getting a little nervous, what if he did it entirely wrong? Even worst, what if he hurt Atem?
Atem shivered as he felt Joey's lips pressing along his bare skin, reaching up to help pull Joey's clothes off and only pausing when he heard the blond's question and saw his worried expression. With a smile, Atem leaned up and pressed a light kiss to Joey's lips before speaking. "I've never done this before either," he admitted. "And there's no one I'd rather experience my first time with than you-we'll figure out what to do together, don't worry."
Joey blinked, fumbling around for what to do next. He spotted the small jar of oil that was on the plate the servants had brought Atem earlier. "I guess that would work." He carefully flipped Atem around and started to rub the oil on his backside. "This is kinda weird," he said to himself, still not sure he was doing it right.
Atem blushed heavily as he was flipped around, shivering as he felt the cool oil against his warm skin. "I-I think you... need to, um... use it on yourself, and, well-you won't exactly... fit like that, so you need to, ah... stretch me out."
Joey blushed profusely. "Um, okay," he said. He put some more oil on his fingers and slowly stuck one inside of Atem's hole. He added more fingers once he thought Atem was more stretched out. The blond then rubbed more of the oil on his own erect penis and then took a deep breath. "I guess it's time to really do this." As gently as he could, which was a little difficult to do seeing as he was not small in size, he slid the head inside of the smaller boy, looking to see if he was hurting Atem. "Are you okay?"
Atem let out a barely-stifled noise as he suddenly felt Joey slip one finger into him, wincing slightly and clenching the bedsheets as Joey slipped another finger in to stretch him out. His breaths came out in short puffs, his face flushed as he used his pillow to muffle any noise that he made, both out of embarrassment and out of a desire to not draw attention to their room. Just as he'd adjusted to the feeling of Joey's fingers inside of him, they were suddenly gone, and he braced himself for what he knew would come next, letting out another quiet noise as he felt Joey begin to push into him. "I-I'm fine... keep going...," he urged, his body flushed and trembling from an odd mixture of unfamiliar pain and pleasure.
"Well, if you're sure..." Joey pushed all the way in, grunting a little at the effort of fitting into the tight hole. He then pulled out and adding some more oil to his erection before putting it back in, not being quite as gentle this time. The blond gripped Atem's thighs, thrusting in and out of him, at first slowly but then gradually getting faster.
Atem let out a drawn out moan as Joey pushed all the way into him, gripping the bedsheets and squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to adjust to the feeling of Joey's length inside of him. He shivered when Joey pulled out, his breathing labored as he waited in anticipation moments before Joey pushed back into him and began to thrust. "J-Joey...!" He tried and failed to keep quiet as the pleasure nearly overwhelmed him, already feeling close to climaxing as he moved his hips in time with Joey's thrusts.
Joey couldn't keep from moaning as well as he picked up speed. Suddenly he pulled out, repositioning them so that Atem was facing him on his lap. He then gripped either side of his ass and moved him up and down on top of his erection. This new position made it so he could look Atem in the face and he pulled him into a long, deep kiss.
Atem let out a startled cry when Joey suddenly pulled out and turned him over, groaning as he slid down onto Joey's erection and moving up and down along with the blond's movements. He wrapped his arms around Joey, holding on to him and eagerly kissing back as he continued moving against him.
Joey reached down and grabbed hold of Atem's erection, pumping his hand up and down with their movements. "I don't know how much longer I can hold back," he gashed, about to reach his limit.
"M-me either," Atem replied shakily, his breathing labored as noises of pleasure slipped out with every movement of Joey's erection inside of him and every movement of Joey's hand against his own erection. "I'm... c-close... ah!" He arched into Joey's hand as he hit his climax hard, releasing against him with a drawn out moan before collapsing against Joey's chest, his body flushed and trembling with lingering pleasure as he tried to catch his breath.
Joey came very soon after Atem did, gripping onto Atem's waist tightly as he released with a rather loud moan. He pulled out then flopped down on his back on the bed, Atem on top of his chest. "I'm exhausted, but that was amazing," he remarked, reaching down to stroke Atem's hair affectionately.
Atem shivered and moaned quietly as he felt Joey release inside of him before pulling out, and he let Joey pull him down to lay on his chest, nuzzling against him with a lazy smile as he felt the fingers running through his hair. "Mm... that really was amazing...," he murmured in response. "I don't think I've ever felt that good before..." His smile widened slightly as he trailed his lips along Joey's chest and all the way up to Joey's lips. "I'm glad we got to share our first time together."
Joey felt completely relaxed now, all his worries were gone and he was just quietly enjoying the moment, enjoying being close to the one he loved. "Yeah," the blond murmured. He saw how close Atem was to his lips and took the opportunity to give him a quick kiss. "Now you need to get some more rest," Joey said, ruffling the pharaoh's spiky tri-colored hair. "You're still not fully recovered from that poison, right?" He wrapped his arms around Atem, snuggling down to fall asleep with him again.
Atem closed his eyes with a pleased hum as their lips connected, smiling as Joey ruffled his hair and snuggling against him in return. "'m fine, don't worry," he mumbled, yawning and curling up in Joey's arms as he started dozing off. "Th' medicine took care've everything, 's all gone now... I think."
"That's good to hear," Joey said, continuing to stroke Atem's hair. He let out a yawn that was louder than the young pharaoh's was. "Time for some more sleep," he murmured before pulling the blanket over the two of them. Both of them had completely forgotten about the clothes they had left scattered all over the place.