Prompt II: Sunrise
Atem glanced around slowly, blinking the sleep from his eyes. He stretched, flexing his paws and wiggling his toes. His claws clicked against the sand for a moment as he considered. The Gandora was passed out beside him, snoring softly, and had stretched out to lay on his side. His underbelly was exposed if Atem only leaned forward and sank his claws in. Of course, he had no such desire, but every time Yugi lay like that, the thought skittered across his mind.
It would have been so easy.
Atem was almost amazed sometimes he did not hurt him in moments of panic when he woke and startled upon seeing him there. Yugi was usually awake, watching him, when the worst of his night terrors came about, but Atem had always remembered himself whether or not they stared at each other as he moved about the den restlessly for a new spot.
He got to his paws slowly, careful not to wake him, and moved to the entrance of the outcrop they'd decided to rest beneath. It took a moment to remember why they'd rested there, but he recalled easily enough. They'd been playing after dinner and when Atem had returned from caching the rest of their meal, Yugi had been settled under the outcrop, watching the stars as they began to peek out against the black expanse of night sky.
Atem hadn't been willing to tell him they needed to go rest in the den as he normally would have, so he'd settled next to him. Yugi had started telling him about the different stars, how some humans had named a few of them and would seek the constellations out when they were bored. He'd shown him the one they considered the north star, which was completely different from what the dragons used for guidance.
Atem didn't know why the humans thought the star they followed was the brightest. It made no sense. The one at the end of the cluster of silver marking Paradise was the brightest by far. The formation was always visible there in the dark, brilliant and glittering, in the shape of a dragon laying stretched out, wings tucked into its sides.
He remembered hearing humans had extremely weak eyes, however, so maybe it wasn't so hard to believe they saw the constellations wrong. Maybe it wasn't so hard to believe they saw one of the moderately strong stars as more than it was because they didn't see all the weaker ones. He wondered if they even saw Paradise or if it looked like a random cloud, a patch of fog, every night.
He padded as quietly away from Yugi's side as he could, taking a seat at the edge of the cliff, and wrapped his tail around his paws. The sky had begun to harbor streaks of orange and yellow, the softest splatters of purple and red. The stars were still brilliant overhead but the sky was no longer as black and had turned a deep, startling blue that looked like the bottom of a still pool.
A small cloud drifted across and Atem watched it take on a gorgeous golden hue that bounced and danced about. The sun was still too far below the horizon to make a bigger difference, and he watched the sky waver in color, brightening as the seconds passed.
He'd missed watching the sun rise. It hadn't been often he'd gotten the chance. He'd forced himself most times to rest from dusk to dawn in order to keep his energy maintained for courtship challenges. That hadn't truly changed, even if he'd decided to honor Yugi's victory when he'd tricked him and managed to pin him with a net days prior. That wouldn't change any time soon, he didn't think. The union was too new and he knew anyone to come by would fail to smell it without close proximity.
He'd need to take Yugi to mark the borders with him. The smell would definitely startle anyone looking to challenge him when they crossed into the territory, although spotting Yugi alone would be shocking. Gandoras were not known of outside the southern region, prospering in the desert and thriving through nocturnal habits. The fact they'd spot him in the day would be startling enough, even if someone overlooked Atem's territory was the opposite of what Yugi should have desired.
Atem jolted, bristling, when he heard something stir. His head snapped around immediately. Yugi had jumped to his paws, looking around himself frantically. For a split second he bristled and stared, and then he blinked and lifted his head.
The moment their eyes locked Yugi relaxed, taking a seat and yawning. He looked so relieved Atem felt his hearts constrict.
"I didn't go far," he murmured, turning briefly back to the sky and studying the fading ribbons of darkness. He turned back, shaking himself out, and moved toward him, hesitating a few steps back. "Sorry."
"Morning," Yugi said instead, and Atem smiled faintly when he saw how happy he looked. He'd been so worried about him? Atem couldn't understand why. "It was a pretty sunrise."
"You saw the very end of it."
"So? It's still nice!"
Atem hummed and took a seat again, letting Yugi rub against him before licking his forehead. "It was a nice sunrise," he said finally, closing his eyes as Yugi went about grooming him. The Gandora snuggled into his side after a moment, and Atem couldn't help the smallest bite of guilt at his insides when Yugi let out a soft breath that sounded suspiciously like a sigh of relief.
He hadn't meant to scare him. But he supposed he should have known. The first time they'd met, when he'd begun leading him to this cliff in particular, Yugi had panicked when he'd gotten ahead of him before realizing he was just standing behind him. When he'd turned around he'd looked as if he might tremble.
"I just didn't want to wake you."
Yugi licked his cheek and looked around. "What are we doing for the day?" he asked instead, voice soft with warmth. Atem studied him a moment, but Yugi wasn't upset. He wasn't letting him apologize because he didn't see a reason for him to, not because he was ignoring him.
He smiled faintly. "How about we mark the borders?"
