This prompt was a hard one. But it reminded me of something I never properly explained—why Yugi mounts Atem and not the other way around, despite the experience being painful for Atem.
The oviduct in female Sky Dragons is a lot deeper than other species due to their lighter weight and larger clutches (six to ten or more). Males developed hooks to hold them in place for fertilization. Because of Wind Dragon genetics, the males also knot around the hook to prevent early withdrawal. They will later perform an aerial dive to disengage, but on land without this stimuli, the process takes several hours for the hook and swelling to recede.
Prompt XI: Fertility
Atem shifted his weight and pulled slightly away from him. Yugi glanced over his shoulder, tilting his head and smiling faintly at his frustrated expression. The God Dragon huffed and shifted his weight again to draw slightly further apart from him. He had gotten untangled enough to lay beside him, though Yugi could still feel him and knew better than to think they'd separated. The Sky Dragon blinked slowly and looked over, flustered as he muttered, "Sorry. I didn't think this would happen."
Yugi laughed and shook his head. "Why are you upset?"
Atem shot him an annoyed look, though it quickly softened the longer they faced each other. His voice came out flustered rather than annoyed, as though the embarrassment were winning out. "I just… I wasn't expecting it to stay like this. I thought the swelling would stop by now, but it's still there, and the hook…"
Yugi snorted and licked his cheek. "Better than poison—or feeling like you've been caught on fire from the inside," he teased, relieved when Atem smirked faintly. The Gandora smiled and shifted his weight, wondering at what positions he could rest in with the inconvenient circumstances. Although he had to admit, he was pretty comfortable laying on his belly, so maybe that would be the best for the time being. He could try to roll over later, if Atem took a similar position, so that it wouldn't hurt him…
"I just… You're not even female!" Atem blurted, huffing and looking for a moment as if he wished he could leap to his paws indignantly. "I figured there was something that the hook and the swelling reacted to in females!"
Yugi burst out laughing again. "I think it's just something that happens, Atem."
"Okay, but this is…ridiculous. And what if it doesn't recede for a while? How long do you think it will take for this to…finish?"
He tilted his head, startled, and smiled. "It doesn't matter. I'm not upset."
"This is embarrassing."
"I think if this is the worst of embarrassments for us, we're doing extremely well," Yugi teased. He watched Atem look away and back, flustered before sighing softly. He licked his forehead and found himself smiling even more when Atem seemed to lose some of his frustration. "Look, it happened and it's fine. I'm not upset. You're just embarrassed. No one is hurt and everything is okay."
"Let's hope it doesn't last too much longer."
Yugi wanted to tease him that he didn't have to be so transparent about not wanting him so close, but it occurred to him the joke was probably in poor taste. Atem was stressed enough prior to this, and now the situation just made it tenfold for him.
But now he almost wondered why they hadn't considered this an option. There was a reason Sky Dragons mated in the air. They could disengage the hook by performing a sharp aerial dive. Atem had done that with him the first time they'd mounted, and the action had untangled them immediately.
But Yugi weighed so much more than Atem and the Sky Dragon couldn't hold him in the air for long periods of time. And it especially wasn't feasible at the moment. Atem hadn't gotten too badly hurt during the fight with Keith, but his front left paw was still sprained from where he'd attempted to launch himself out from beneath Yugi and the combined weight had sent them to the ground. The limb had threatened more than once to collapse so Yugi had refused outright to mount him but offered to lay for him instead. Atem had initially recoiled and gotten flustered by his Yugi's willingness, though he'd agreed after a while that it might be safest.
And, after Atem had rested a few hours after they'd eaten, they'd consummated.
And gotten tied together like this.
Yugi barely managed to smother his laughter. Atem was sulking, laying with his head down and his eyes glued to the den entrance. They were narrowed and his paws were splayed lazily out before him. His back legs were stretched out behind him, as if he were a frog, and his wings were drooping.
The Gandora grinned and turned away, fighting the urge to snicker. It wasn't a big deal. It was just genetics. Sky Dragons mated in the air and their lighter weight made it a thousand times easier for them to stay airborne and then dive later. Yugi didn't blame him, just as he knew Atem didn't him for the barbs or the agony he'd gone through when Yugi had finished. But Sky Dragons also had different placement for many of their organs, because of the fact they were capable of asexual reproduction and essentially duplicating themselves. Most attempts didn't make it without outside fertilization, but the ability to produce asexually and to change sexes to fit their mates' needs caused different organ alignment. It meant their hooks had to go deeper to attach into the flesh necessary to fertilize a female.
He glanced over at him sideways. Atem had huffed again, growling faintly with displeasure. Yugi snickered and leaned over to his lick his forehead. Embarrassment was a lot nicer than pain, though Yugi was unsure he'd be able to convince Atem of that.
"Well, at least it doesn't hurt."
Atem glanced at him and nodded slightly. "That's true. At least we have that," he muttered, though he huffed again.
Yugi snickered. "Look at my sulky God Dragon!"
"I'm not sulky," Atem protested. "I'm displeased."
"Call it what you'd like, but I'll call it what it is."
Atem growled softly, glanced at him sideways, and then leaned forward. Yugi was confused for a split second, wondering when Atem didn't immediately respond, but then his tongue ran over his beak to his crown and Yugi almost trembled with delight.
