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Sometimes Atem really fucking hated Duel Links.
At first it seemed the novelty of it would never wear off. The ability to duel anyone, anywhere, with any card, whenever he wanted, was thrilling. Especially when he was freshly returned from the dead and had nothing. Yugi had been kind enough to open his home and give him a job in the shop. Their friends welcomed him back with open arms. Kaiba stuck around just long enough to see him back, gave him VIP access to Duel Links, and then vanished into his ivory tower never to be seen again. At least not in person.
It had been a whole year and Atem was starting to get sick of Duel Links. He wanted to play with physical cards again, in the streets of Domino and face down Seto Kaiba like he had in the old days. Now all he had were cheap imitators who thought they had what it took to control a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. After demolishing yet another Kaiba Copycat, Atem tossed his phone across the counter and decided he was done with it for the day. He wished Kaiba had programmed his number when he gave him the phone. Atem was sure that if he issued the challenge, his rival would come running - he just had no idea how to reach him
Despite swearing off Duel Links, it only took ten minutes for Atem’s fingers to twitch towards his phone once more. It was a Wednesday, the shop was dead, he'd already sorted and inventoried the new shipment, restocked the shelves, organized the commons, swept and dusted twice, and it was barely halfway through his shift. He cursed Yugi for taking the day to take Téa to go see a show. With Grandpa out traveling in his retirement, there was no one to talk to and nothing to do. He couldn't even bring himself to pick up a pen and draw for a bit. He was uninspired and bored.
He was about to pick up the broom again when his phone chimed. He practically dove for it, hoping whatever it was would be entertaining, and unlocked it. There was a Duel Links notification. He huffed and almost tossed the phone aside when something in his gut told him to open it. So he did. There was a message waiting in his inbox from another player with the username dragonlord86 . Atem rolled his eyes but opened the message anyway.
Dragonlord86 14:22 pm
Nice stats.
Duel?
Not the most elegant way he'd ever been asked for a duel, but he was bored enough so he let it slide. He navigated to dragonlord86’s profile and took a peek for himself. This duelist had quite the impressive record, Atem had to admit. Highly ranked with a similar consecutive day streak to Atem. He clicked over to look at his deck and couldn't suppress the irritated groan that bubbled out of his throat. Another Kaiba deck.
Mahadisbae 14:27 pm
No thanks. I've curb stomped enough Kaiba clones to last me a lifetime.
Atem was about to block them, thumb hovering over the block button, when another message came in.
Dragonlord86 14:28 pm
Sounds like you're scared.
The barb shouldn't have gotten to him. Really, after a year on the internet, he'd learned to have a thicker skin. But staring at a Blue-Eyes and being called a coward ignited an anger Atem hadn't felt in some time. His answer was to send the duel challenge. He'd show this faker why it was a bad idea to mess with him.
~*~
The duel took an hour and a half, and Atem was grateful for the lack of customers since the match required his full, undivided attention. Which he needed because it was the most challenging duel he'd had on Duel Links yet. Whoever this dragonlord86 was, he knew what he was doing. It took all of Atem's skill and his opponent was still able to eek out a victory when they were both down to a handful of life points. It was thrilling. He was slamming the friend request button the second the duel was over.
Mahadisbae 16:03 pm
Rematch?
The message was out of his fingers before he knew what he was doing. He'd been so starved for a decent challenge that he needed to duel this person again and again.
Dragonlord86 16:04 pm
Can't. Gotta get back to work, I'm way over my lunch break.
Atem huffed and felt a tantrum coming on when another message came through.
Dragonlord86 16:05 pm
Later?
Mahadisbae 16:05 pm
I don't get off work until 22:00. Is that too late?
Dragonlord86 16:06 pm
22:00 it is.
Atem saw him go offline and couldn't help but giggle. It felt like a date. A date with a great duelist. Of course, it could have been that their duel was a fluke. Every duelist gets a god hand every once in a while. Everyone gets luck of the draw eventually. No, even Atem knew that was rubbish. That duelist had great skill and had beaten him with great skill.
One of these days, if he ever saw Kaiba again, he'd gloat that there was a duelist who managed to best him with his Blue-Eyes when Kaiba himself hadn't been able to in years.
~*~
The anticipation of the duel made the hours drag on in the empty shop. There were a grand total of six customers that day who came in only to buy singles and then leave. He was angry and frustrated that the golden age of Duel Monsters had likely come and gone with Battle City. Another tournament would be just what the game needed to revitalize it. Something flashy and gaudy, televised for the world to see and reignite passion for the game.
Like this duel was about to do for him.
The shop was cleaned and closed and at 22:00 on the dot, Atem was curled up on the couch with a bottle of beer, a blanket, and punk rock playing in the background. He was staring at the app waiting for the challenge to come through. After all, he sent the last one. It was only proper for dragonlord86 to send this one. So Atem waited patiently and sipped his beer (he was still getting used to modern beer, he found it quite disgusting but Tristan convinced him it was an acquired taste). Perhaps a tournament wasn't such a good idea. It wouldn't be proper to walk into an arena snuggled up in a hoodie that was four sizes too big with arms so long he could windmill them around like a child. He couldn't help it, Japan was cold compared to Egypt. Everywhere was cold compared to the sands of Egypt.
At 22:30, Atem was on his second bottle of beer when a message finally came in that made Atem jump for joy.
Dragonlord86 22:30 pm
Lost track of time. Ready?
Mahadisbae 22:30 pm
And here I thought you chickened out 😜
The challenge came through seconds later. Atem eagerly accepted and finished off his beer in four long gulps. His heart was thrumming wildly and fire coursed through his blood as the duel began. It was almost more than he could take.
~*~
It was almost 1 AM when Yugi finally returned home, dopey smile fixed firmly in place and walking on clouds. He was humming music from the show, almost dancing a jig, but stopped short in the living room. Atem was still up, fiercely concentrating on his phone and didn't acknowledge Yugi’s presence. He saw his partner had That Look on his face, the one reserved for particularly challenging duels, and decided to leave him be.
~*~
When Yugi came down the next morning, he found Atem still on the couch, fast asleep with his phone still grasped in his hand. Duel Links was still open and Yugi could see he'd fallen asleep in the middle of a duel. But so, it seemed, had his opponent, and right before a victor was to be decided. It looked like they both only had a handful of cards left in their decks and a few hundred life points each. Yugi gently took the phone from his hand and went into the kitchen to plug it in. And really, there was nothing else for it. A single card played ended the duel in Atem's victory and he closed the app.
He was worried about his partner. Atem seemed to be fading away the last few months. Nothing Yugi had tried had cheered him up. He spent every minute he wasn't working on Duel Links craving a proper challenge and hadn't gotten one. For a while Yugi pondered kicking in the door of Kaiba Corp and dragging that overstuffed CEO out of his office and forcing them to duel once again. But that could do more harm than good for both of them. No, better to let sleeping CEOs lie. Not that he thought Kaiba ever slept, per say.
Yugi went about fixing breakfast as his thoughts kept straying back to Kaiba. He just didn't understand him. What was the point of risking his life to drag Atem back into the world of the living if he wasn't going to talk to him? There had to be a way to get the whole group together to take the pressure off the meeting without seeming suspicious, right? Yugi pulled out his own phone and typed up a text to Kaiba.
Yugi 8:22 am
Are you free this Saturday morning? Just for a couple hours?
Kaiba 8:22 am
Why?
Yugi wasn't expecting Kaiba to answer immediately, but he supposed he should have. He was probably already in the office working.
Yugi 8:23 am
Because it's been ages since we've seen you and the gang assumes you're dead.
Joey is convinced the you we see on TV is an elaborate AI hologram or something. There's an entire subreddit about it.
Anyway, wanna join us for brunch Saturday morning?
Kaiba 8:25 am
I'm not a gossipy girl, Yugi.
Yugi tapped the phone against his chin in thought. There would likely be no way to convince Kaiba himself, but. . .
Yugi 8:27 am
Can you convince your brother to not be antisocial and join us for brunch on Saturday? The invitation extends to you too, of course. The whole gang will be there.
Mokuba 8:30 am
Cafe e Dolci, 10am?
Yugi 8:31 am
Sounds great!
Yugi was about to put his phone down when he got another text and barked out a laugh.
Kaiba 8:31 am
Going to my brother behind my back was a low blow.
See you Saturday.
~*~
Dragonlord86 8:22 am
Do you have discord?
That was the first thing Atem saw when he finally woke up and bee-lined for his phone. He panicked when he woke up without it and had to see what happened to the duel. They were both nodding off around four in the morning, almost done with their fifth match of the evening, and agreed whoever got up first would get the final move. But Atem hadn't woken up until almost 10 o'clock and clearly the duel was over.
Mahadisbae 10:15 am
Yes. Same username. Did you win? Sorry, my roommate took my phone while I was still sleeping.
Atem went about fixing himself a cup of coffee while he waited. He assumed he wouldn't hear from dragonlord86 until around 14:00 like he had the day before. Up before 8:30 and not taking lunch until then? Probably a boring salaryman in the city. A boring salary man who was an excellent duelist.
Dragonlord86 wants to send you a message.
Or not. Atem opened the message on Discord and frowned.
Dragonlord86 10:16 am
I guess it was your roommate that ended our duel then?
Mahadisbae 10:17 am
I guess so. Sorry about that. He doesn't like me playing Duel Links so much.
Dragonlord86 10:17 am
Then you need a new roommate who understands Duel Monsters.
Atem scoffed. There were few people in this world who knew Duel Monsters better than Yugi Muto.
Mahadisbae 10:17 am
He knows it pretty well.
Anyway, are you free for a duel where we're not both falling on our faces asleep?
Dragonlord86 10:18 am
No time. I'm going to walk into a meeting in ten minutes.
Mahadisbae 10:19 am
Fun times. What do you do for work?
Dragonlord86 10:20 am
I'm in IT. You?
Mahadisbae 10:20 am
I work at my roommate's game shop.
Dragonlord86 10:21 am
Oh really? Which one?
In that moment, Atem realized he might have said too much to this stranger on the internet. He had Domino City on his Duel Links profile and so did dragonlord86, if he said any more it would be too easy to find him. Besides, Yugi would probably kill him.
Mahadisbae 10:22 am
Just a tiny little hole in the wall that doesn't even show up on Google maps.
Anyway, what time do you take lunch? Rematch?
Dragonlord86 10:23 am
Whenever I remember to eat. I'll text you.
Mahadisbae 10:23 am
Hopefully that won't be too late. It's locals tonight and it can get busy.
Dragonlord86 10:24 am
Maybe I'll see you tonight then 😜
Provided I get out in time to attend locals. Maybe I'll find your shop.
Heading into my meeting. Ttyl
Atem chuckled at the idea of getting to meet this mysterious challenger. Not that he'd say anything even if the stranger revealed himself. Still, there was one last thing Atem wanted to do. . .
Mahadisbae 10:25 am
I'm Mahad, btw
He wasn't sure what possessed him to give a false name, perhaps an abundance of caution, and Yami didn't feel like it fit anymore. If he was going to give himself an alias, he was sure his best friend wouldn't mind.
Dragonlord86 10:25 am
No shit, for real? Like the card? Palladium Oracle Mahad? Is that what your username is about?
Mahadisbae 10:26 am
There's a reason he's my favorite 😘
Dragonlord86 10:27 am
Kai. Nice to meet you.
Despite himself, Atem found himself grinning like an idiot. And Yugi told him he was wasting all his time on Duel Links. He just made a new friend.
~*~
Running locals always sucked, in Atem's humble opinion. People always flooded the shop, hoping to challenge the King of Games to a duel. Every week they were disappointed. Yugi had long since put his deck down in order to focus on running the shop and no one knew or cared who Atem was. Just a bunch of loud, annoying dude bros who were too focused on getting OTKs to make themselves feel good about their miserable lives. No real duelists who had honor and integrity. Gods above, he missed the old days.
“Be with you in a minute,” Atem called out when he heard the bell above the door ring. His eyes were glued to the computer as he put in the information for another competitor. Barely a competitor, in Atem's opinion, he was an overweight asshole who spent way too long sneering at his opponent than actually playing. He showed up every Thursday and Atem had half a mind to throw him out. The dude bro left and a new person stepped up to the counter. Without looking up, Atem opened a new entry form and droned, “Duelist ID?”
“Eighty-six.”
Atem could have fallen over. He finally looked up when the person spoke and his eyes almost bugged out of his head. Seto Kaiba was standing in front of him with a shit eating grin and mischief in his eyes. He was dressed down in a navy blue jumper and brown slacks, the nylon strap of a messenger bag over his shoulder. Divested of his trench coats and buckles, he looked. . . Normal.
And no one seemed to recognize him.
“What are you doing here, Kaiba?” Atem sneered, glaring at his rival with all the intensity he could muster. Here he thought he'd be happy to see the CEO again. Instead he just felt righteous indignation. Kaiba vanished for a year and then just appeared at locals? He deserved all of Atem’s scorn.
“I came for locals but if this is the caliber of duelist we have these days, I'd rather play against my computer,” Kaiba scoffed as he looked around, wrinkling his nose at the odor. “What are you doing here? Yugi told me you went back to Egypt.”
“Yeah, in February and I came back,” Atem huffed, rolling his eyes. “I went in October too for the biannual sun festival. You know, a religious holiday? For that religion that I still fervently believe in but died out thousands of years ago? That one.”
To his credit, Kaiba actually looked a little ashamed. “Well. If I'd known you were back I would have challenged you to a duel sooner.”
“You assume I would have accepted,” Atem hummed as he typed in Kaiba's Duelist ID. He was sure at the time Kaiba had been assigned it, the numbers were still low. Even Yugi's was a low three-digit number. But now there were so many duelists that he had to add eight 0's to the front of Kaiba's number for it to register. “Your Duel Links system let me find some rather incredible opponents. One of them actually beat me.”
“What, like it's hard?” Kaiba chuckled. “I seem to recall a rather important duel where I beat you.”
Atem was about to make a witty retort but it died on his lips. Yes, Kaiba had won their duel in A'Aru and it's the reason he was back in the land of the living now. They made a bet that Atem had been so sure he would win, that if Kaiba won, Atem would return with him. But if Atem won, Kaiba would stay in A'Aru. The Heart of the Cards decided that Kaiba's desire to return to his little brother was stronger than his own and handed Kaiba a decisive victory.
“Yeah, well. . . Whatever,” Atem sniffed and turned back to the computer. “Are you playing or not?”
“Playing,” Kaiba confirmed as he pulled out his wallet and handed over a thousand yen note.
“I'm shocked you carry cash this low,” Atem laughed as he took the cash and started to make change. “Though I suppose I'm more shocked that you're not being mobbed right now.”
“No one expects Seto Kaiba to show up at a local shop in loafers and a sweater.” That mischievous smile was fixed back in place and it pulled a grin to Atem's face as well. He took his change and slipped it into his pocket. “Are you sure I can't tempt you into a duel?”
“Get bent, Kaiba.” To emphasize his point, Atem flipped him the middle finger and gave him a full tooth grin.
Kaiba rolled his eyes and went to find a table to sit at while more duelists arrived to register. That was when Yugi came bounding out of the back with a huge box in his hand and chattering aimlessly. He was setting out packs while Atem felt his phone buzz. Seeing the Discord icon sent a thrill down his spine.
Dragonlord86 19:10 pm
Please tell me you're not too busy to duel. I just got to locals and the competition is worse than the smell. I'll have more of a challenge if I'm trying to duel you at the same time as these losers.
Atem looked up, scanning the room and frowning at what he saw. He registered another duelist before he answered.
Mahadisbae 19:15 pm
No luck. We're packed tonight and my coworker has his head in the clouds. I think he was making out with his girlfriend in the stockroom 🤮🤮🤮
Dragonlord86 19:15 pm
What grosses you out? The girl or the making out?
Mahadisbae 19:16 pm
The girl is fine, I like her well enough. I'm just. . . Not attracted to women.
His phone buzzed again but he got distracted with another wave of duelists signing up. He was actually worried about what Kai's response was going to be. He'd learned swiftly that most people in Japan were not allies. He'd already gone out on a limb giving Kai an obviously foreign name. His skin color made people unkind to him, his sexuality made people hate him, and now he was opening up to a stranger who knew nothing about him other than a foreign name and he was gay. His mind was spiraling as he finished registration and posted the first round of match ups. Once he saw everyone settled with their opponents, he practically dove for his phone.
Dragonlord86 19:16 pm
Ha! Me either.
I assume that means you're a man like me?
Atem felt relief flood through him when he read Kai’s message. It felt good to know there was at least one other gay duelist in the world. With a moment to breathe, he finally replied.
Mahadisbae 19:42
I mean what is gender really?
Lol but yes, I am male.
“Who are you texting?” Yugi asked, trying to look over Atem's shoulder.
“A new friend,” Atem answered, ducking his phone down to hide it from Yugi. “I met him on Duel Links.”
“Just be careful, okay?” Yugi asked sincerely with a warm smile. “You don't know how easy it is to get catfished on the internet.”
“Don't worry, I know what I'm doing,” Atem chuckled.
He might not know a lot about the internet, but he knew how to follow his gut. And his gut was telling him Kai was a good man.
~*~
Jan 2, 20XX
Mahadisbae 23:06 pm
So how did you do at locals tonight?
Dragonlord86 23:06 pm
Not too bad. Honestly, my heart wasn't really in it. I was using a shits and giggles deck I just threw together earlier so it didn't run nearly as well as I would have liked.
Mahadisbae 23:07 pm
Did you have fun at least?
Dragonlord86 23:07 pm
Meh
I haven't had fun dueling in years.
Mahadisbae 23:07 pm
I know the feeling. I used to love it but it got so stressful that I don't really like it too much anymore.
The problem is I'm not really good at anything else! I wish I had time to learn a trade or even just work on my art, but alas.
Dragonlord86 23:08 pm
Same. I wish I had time to work on my passion projects, but work takes up so much of my time that I can't.
Mahadisbae 23:08 pm
What kind of passion projects?
Dragonlorn86 23:09 pm
I want to make fantasy video games. I started a couple a few years back, but I wasn't able to finish them. The coding just took too long and I had other responsibilities.
Mahadisbae 23:09 pm
That's incredible! You should make time to finish them. And let me beta test so I can say I played it before it became famous.
Dragonlord86 23:09 pm
Ha! It's a deal. If you play video games half as well as you duel, then you'd make a perfect beta tester.
Mahadisbae 23:09 pm
Excellent. Hey, I might even have an in for you if you wanted to market your game to KaibaCorp 😜
Dragonlord86 23:10 pm
I, too, have an “in” lol
But that's a long way off
Dragonlord86 23:15 pm
Where are you from, btw?
Mahadisbae 23:15 pm
Mit Rahina, Egypt. You?
Dragonlord86 23:15 pm
Osaka, born and raised. How did you get to Japan from Egypt?
Mahadisbae 23:16 pm
I just recently lost everything I had in Egypt. But the roommate I've told you about? He's my half-brother and when I reached out to him, he was willing to let me live with him while I figure out what I wanted to do with my life.
Dragonlord86 23:16 pm
I'm sorry for your loss.
Dragonlord86 23:17 pm
Sorry gtg. My little brother is shaming me into going to bed.
Mahadisbae 23:17 pm
Sweet dreams~
~*~
Jan 3, 20XX
Mahadisbae 12:26 pm
Ugh
UGH
Ugh!
Kai I'm bored.
The shop is slow.
Duel me.
Dragonlord86 12:26 pm
In a meeting.
Mahadisbae 12:26 pm
Multitask.
I built a new deck and I want to play it.
Dragonlord86 12:27 pm
Still in a meeting.
Mahadisbae 12:28 pm
Pleeeaaassseeee?
What kind of meetings does an IT guy need to be in all the time anyway?
Dragonlord86 12:27 pm
I'm in upper management.
Mahadisbae 12:28 pm
If you're replying to me this quickly then you can duel.
🤪
Gotcha
Dragonlord86 12:28 pm
You're an attention seeking little shit, you know that?
Mahadisbae 12:28 pm
So I've been told 😜
I'm sending the challenge now.
~*~
Dragonlord86 19:15 pm
Say
And you don't have to answer this if you don't want.
But you've mentioned friends and family and coworkers
Are you seeing anyone?
Mahadisbae 19:16 pm
Why? Do you wanna ask me out? 😘
Dragonlord86 19:16 pm
Just trying to make conversation!
I don't know how to talk to people.
You're easy to talk to.
Look if you don't want to answer then that's fine. Like I said, I was just trying to make conversation.
Mahadisbae 19:16 pm
Lmao calm down, I'm not offended.
No, I'm not seeing anyone. There's one guy I have a crush on, but I swear I don't think he knows I exist.
We've had one proper conversation in the last year.
Dragonlord86 19:17 pm
Rip. Yeah there's a guy I've had my eye on for ages but, same, I don't think he sees me.
It's hard to explain.
Mahadisbae 19:19 pm
No, I understand. I swear, everyone looks at me and they see my brother, even him. I thought at one point he might have liked me but then he ghosted me for ages because, well. I think it's because I'm not my brother.
I think he's disappointed.
Haha I just got a silly idea.
What if we started dating so we could tell our crushes that we're unavailable and make them jealous?
Dragonlord86 19:20 pm
Oh man, dating a stranger on the internet? My friends would never let me live it down 😂
I can already hear my little brother lecturing me.
Mahadisbae 19:20 pm
Lol I told you it was a silly idea.
My brother would ream me out from here to next year for being “unsafe on the internet.”
Dragonlord86 19:21 pm
Yeah
But
Is it bad that I kinda like the idea?
Silly as it is.
You can tell a lot by a person by how they duel and I can tell you're an honorable, intelligent, witty, and interesting person.
Sure we haven’t known each other all that long...
Mahadisbae 19:22 pm
But it feels like we've known each other a lifetime?
Dragonlorn86 19:22 pm
Kinda?
Idk, Mahad, you're interesting and I want to get to know you better.
Mahadisbae 19:22 pm
I’d really like to do that as internet boyfriends~ 😘
“What does ‘internet boyfriends’ mean?!”
Atem almost threw his phone across the counter, he was so scared when Yugi's voice was right in his ear. He whipped around to see his partner with his hands on his hips and a sour look on his face. Caught.
Damn.
“It means what it sounds like,” Atem answered, sticking his superior nose in the air. “Kai is my boyfriend.”
“You've never met him,” Yugi pointed out as if it was an obvious problem. “You don't know what he looks like. You probably don't even know his real name!”
“Well of course, we haven’t known each other that long,” Atem countered, rolling his eyes. “He doesn't know my real name either. And maybe when I trust him a bit more I'll send a photo or we'll make plans to meet in person. I've learned a lot about him when we dueled and I think he's a good, honest man.”
Yugi looked very much like he wanted to keep lecturing him and really, Atem would have let him. The whole thing sounded wacky. Dating a man he'd never met.
“I know you're worried,” Atem continued, softer this time as he let his guard down around his partner and best friend. “I can't say that I don't also have my reservations. But if this is a mistake then I'll learn my lesson. Please trust me, Yugi.”
“Alright. . .” Yugi conceded, but he didn't look convinced. “But if anything goes wrong, you tell me right away, promise?”
“I promise.”
“And maybe don't say anything at brunch tomorrow. If you were worried about my reaction, I don't think you'd want to hear Joey's or Tristan's. And you know Kaiba wouldn't let you hear the end of it.”
“Oh shit, I forgot about brunch. Fine. I won't say anything.”
Yugi still didn't look convinced, but he left Atem alone. Once Yugi had left the shop floor, Atem retrieved his phone and typed out his reply.
Mahadisbae 19:30 pm
Sorry about the delay, my brother read my texts over my shoulder and decided to lecture me.
So.
Does this make us boyfriends?
Officially?
When Kai didn’t answer right away, Atem was certain that he’d overstepped. He was lonely and pretty miserable, could he really be blamed for jumping at the first chance he saw to bring some happiness back into his life? How his overzealousness had potentially ruined what could have been a great friendship. Kicking himself, he was halfway through writing a retraction when Kai’s message came through.
Dragonlord86 19:45 pm
Yeah, let’s do it.
I’m not going to lie, I have some reservations.
I was dissociating for the last 20 mins in panic.
I’m not the relationship type but I want to try this.
With you.
Mahadisbae 19:46 pm
I’d really like that ❤️
Ugh, we don't close until midnight tonight because it's Friday.
Are you still at work? Wanna duel?
Dragonlord86 19:46 pm
I actually got home at a decent time tonight. Of course I want to duel. I need to give you a proper match and not one where I'm half distracted by a meeting.
And don't think that I'm going to hold back just because you now hold the title of my boyfriend.
Mahadisbae 19:47 pm
I would be insulted if you did, dear 😘
~*~
Atem was positively exhausted as Yugi dragged him to the Cafe Saturday morning. He'd stayed up most of the night dueling Kai and talking until they both fell asleep in the middle of a duel again. His heart hadn't felt so full in a very long time and he hadn't wanted to stop talking. Of course that meant he was awake long after he should have gone to bed and Yugi tossed him out of bed before he'd gotten any decent sleep.
All he knew was that Kaiba better be on his best behavior.
They had been planning on being first at the Cafe, but Mokuba was already waiting for them. We waved them upstairs and into a private side room where Kaiba was sitting with his laptop and a cup of coffee.
“I'm gonna go wait for the others,” Mokuba announced while giving his brother a look that screamed ‘be nice’ before bounding out and heading back down the stairs.
“Good to see you, Kaiba!” Yugi said cheerfully as he took a seat across from Kaiba, but not before practically shoving Atem into the seat next to the CEO. “I saw your alias on the locals match ups the other night, I'm sorry I missed you! I even looked, I didn't see you at all.”
“My disguise was flawless, then.” Kaiba grinned as he raised his coffee cup to his lips and closed his laptop.
“Where have you been for the last year?” Yugi asked, leaning back and trying to sound casual. But there was an undercurrent of worry in his voice that Atem caught easily.
“Working,” Kaiba said with a shrug. “I neglected a lot when I was building my canon and when I got back the company was almost falling apart so I've been cleaning up. Plus I want Mokuba to be able to leave for college soon so we've been trying to restructure for his absence and it's proving more difficult than we imagined. I'm busy.”
“I kinda understand, not on the same scale, of course!” Yugi chuckled, smiling brightly. “But I thought I knew everything about running the shop until Grandpa retired. Then I saw what he actually did on a day to day basis and I am so overwhelmed. If Atem wasn't here to handle the minutia then I think I would have drowned ages ago.”
“Grandpa wouldn't have retired if I hadn't been here,” Atem pointed out with a fond smile. “He told me he only felt comfortable leaving because he knew you had help.”
“Do you need more?” Kaiba asked casually.
“Wha?” Yugi asked, blinking dumbly.
Kaiba’s eye twitched, but he repeated, “Do you need help? Once I get my head on straight again, I have plans for your shop so I need it and you in top shape. I can’t work with an owner who’s going to buckle under the stress of being, say. . . official Kaiba Corp distributor and primary product debut location. So I’ll ask one final time: do you need help?”
“But–That’s–I– Kaiba, I don’t know what to say!” Yugi cried, tears welling up in his eyes at the generous offer. “I guess thank you! But. . . Why?”
Kaiba answered with another shrug. “Don’t read too much into it. I’m settling our debt, that’s all.”
“What are you, a Lannister?” Atem snorted, crossing his arms and sticking his nose in the air. “Talking about paying debts.”
“I also drink and I know things,” Kaiba answered, giving Atem a cheeky wink that sent his heart fluttering.
“Can't be too many things,” Atem countered, scratching his chin and turning away from Kaiba so he didn't have to look at that mischievous smile. “If you did, then maybe your company wouldn't be in the shitter.”
“Well I know more things than you and that's really all that matters,” Kaiba chuckled darkly.
Atem opened his mouth to snap back, but Mokuba walked back in with Joey and Tristan in tow and he shut his mouth. It would do no good to start a verbal sparring match with Kaiba when Joey was around to interrupt. Kaiba also looked like he was clamming up with the presence of more people. That was fine. Atem scooted over so Mokuba could sit between them and pulled out his phone. He wanted to text Kai and distract himself from the brunch, but he saw he had no wifi in the Cafe. Damn. That meant he couldn't even duel.
Téa and Mai arrived shortly after the guys and the conversation started in earnest. Everyone started chatting about relationships and life and it was just making Atem depressed. His friends all had such great dreams and goals. There he was, a clerk in a game shop with no prospects, no skills, no future, and an internet boyfriend all while the object of his true desire sat a few feet away from him, pointedly ignoring him. He'd always wondered why Kaiba continued to hold such disdain for him even after all they'd been through together while Atem’s affections had only grown.
He took the first opportunity he found to get some relief from his spiraling feelings. It came in the form of writing down everyone’s order so he could go downstairs and place it for them. He'd practically jumped from his seat and ran, grateful for a momentary escape. An escape that was going to be longer than he'd anticipated because the line was long when he got down there. Good. He looked around while he waited and found a sign with the wifi name and password on it and eagerly typed it in. Seeing he was connected, he immediately sent a message to Kai.
Jan 4, 20XX
Mahadisbae 10:25 am
😭😭😭
Dragonlord86 10:25 am
What happened? What's wrong?
Mahadisbae 10:25 am
I hate him so much. I hate him I hate him I hate him.
Dragonlord86 10:26 am
Your crush?
Should I be jealous that my boyfriend is thinking about another man? Lol
Mahadisbae 10:26 am
My whole friend group is hanging out and he's with us. He's kind to my brother but nasty to me and I hate him.
I wish you were here with us. I'd love to see what choice words you'd have for him.
Dragonlord86 10:26 am
If he's making you cry, I'd have more than words for him.
Mahadisbae 10:27 am
Would you throw hands for me?
Dragonlord86 10:27 am
I'd throw him. I didn't study judo for ten years for nothing.
There's nothing quite like using a celestial body to stop a fight before it starts.
Unless it's in Duel Monsters.
But that's a different kind of thrill.
Mahadisbae 10:28 am
😍😍😍
Nothing quite like a man promising bodily harm to someone who's wronged me to get me all hot and bothered.
How dare you. I'm in public, sir.
Dragonlord86 10:29 am
I am also in public currently so 😛
What do you look like, btw? I understand if you're too hesitant to send a picture considering we only just met.
Mahadisbae 10:29 am
Yeah, just a bit hesitant.
Atem hummed in thought as he got towards the front of the line. His look was pretty distinctive, all things considered, and he was a little nervous about telling this stranger exactly what he looked like. He could easily lie. It's not like Kai would know. In fact he was fully expecting Kai would lie to him as well. Resolved that some white lies were appropriate, he started typing out his answer.
Mahadisbae 10:30 am
Well, I'm short. Only 160 cm. I have black hair, blond bangs and brown eyes. You?
Dragonlord86 10:30 am
Ha, you are short! I'm 188 cm, brown hair, brown eyes.
Atem almost felt his heart stop at the first part of Kai's message. So he was also fuck off tall. It would be just Atem's luck that he'd fall for two tall people. The silver lining being that if he ever got to meet Kai in person, he'd be able to execute all his “climb him like a tree” fantasies. A devilish smile came to his lips as he typed out a reply.
Mahadisbae 10:31 am
Height doesn't mean anything when you're horizontal 😘🍆🍑
Someone clearing their throat caught his attention. It was the barista, looking bored and a little annoyed. He skipped up to the counter and rattled off the long order of the group. She kept asking him to repeat things since he was speaking so fast and was clearly getting more annoyed with him the more things he added to the order. Her attitude was starting to grate on him but he tried to remember that everyone had bad days every once in a while. Like he was having.
It got worse when it came time to pay and, before he could even get his wallet out, a tall figure came up behind him and stuck his own card in the card reader. Atem's fight or flight decided on fight and he whipped around to yell at whoever decided to be so rude when he saw it was Kaiba, scowl fixed firmly in place, slipping his card back in his wallet.
“What?” Kaiba sneered, glaring down his nose at Atem. “Mokuba told me to be nice. ”
“I don't care!” Atem snapped back rather loudly, making a few heads turn to look. He shoved the stunned Kaiba back to get him out of his bubble and planted his feet firmly on the ground. “You can't vanish for a year, ignore all of us, and then appear making grand gestures like it's going to make up for years of you being an asshole!”
“I haven't ignored anybody,” Kaiba sniffed as he regained his senses.
“You've ignored me! ” Atem cried. Now all the noise in the cafe stopped and everyone was eagerly watching the drama unfold. “What was the point of bringing me back here if you were just going to ignore my existence?!”
“Oh, so sorry I've been too busy saving my livelihood to indulge your selfishness and vanity!” Kaiba snapped right back, teeth grinding and a vein bulging in his forehead. “The world doesn't revolve around you!”
“And it doesn't stop for you!” Atem sneered. He couldn't help it now, all the anger he'd been ignoring for the last year was bubbling to the surface. “I waited for you in A'Aru because I just knew, in my soul, that you would come. But I'm not going to wait for you here forever!”
“What makes you think I want you to?”
Kaiba was looking at him with such disgust that all the fight went out of Atem in an instant. He wasn't sure what he'd been hoping for with that argument but it certainly wasn't that. It wasn’t a knife in his heart.
“Well,” he started, swallowing past the lump in his throat. “That's that then.”
He couldn't stay in this cafe for one moment longer. Forgetting his coat upstairs and ignoring all the intrigued faces of the cafe patrons, Atem left with his head held high. It was chilly in the January air but he could ignore it with the fury still coursing through his veins. Though at the same time he supposed he always knew this was coming. Kaiba just simply wasn't interested in him in that way. Only as a duelist, which Atem hadn't been for some time now.
His phone buzzed, distracting him from his anger at Kaiba.
Dragonlord86 10:40 am
Well my morning went south in a hurry. I hope yours turned around at least.
Mahadisbae 10:40 am
Nope. It got worse.
Duel in 10?
Dragonlord86 10:41 am
Yes please.
~*~
Well, if Yugi wasn’t worried before. . .
After the ill fated brunch, he watched Atem retreat into himself. He was always on his phone, talking to that strange internet boyfriend at all hours of the day and night. It didn’t matter that he saw a goofy smile on his face whenever they talked, or that Atem had hearts in his eyes whenever he would tell Yugi something “Kai” said. The only times a glimmer of his old self would appear would be when he was dueling on Duel Links, which he was doing far too often for Yugi’s liking. He just knew giving an ancient reborn pharaoh access to modern social media wasn’t going to end well.
~*~
Feb 7, 20XX
Mahadisbae 12:16 pm
Valentines Day is next week~
Dragonlord86 12:16 pm
So it is.
Mahadisbae 12:16 pm
Well?
Dragonlord86 12:17 pm
Well what?
If you want something you have to use your words.
Mahadisbae 12:17 pm
Fine.
I want to meet you on Valentine’s Day.
I want to hold you.
I want to kiss you.
I want to duel you in person and when we’re done I want to ride whatever high we’re on and take you to my bed.
I want you.
Dragonlord86 12:19 pm
Dear god.
Yes.
Please.
I want to see you so my dreams can be accurate.
And maybe make a few of those dreams a reality.
Be my Valentine, baby?
Mahadisbae 12:20 pm
Of course, love.
Gods above, is this weird? That I’ve fallen for you just over texts?
Dragonlord86 12:20 pm
Haha maybe. But we can be weirdos together, then, because I think I’ve fallen for you too.
Hard.
Mahadisbae 12:20 pm
Lmao what if we’re ugly to each other?
I’ll admit, I have rather high standards.
Dragonlord86 12:21 pm
I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. 😉
But I’ve always felt that physical beauty pales in comparison to a beautiful mind.
Which you have.
So I don’t think I’ll be disappointed either.
Mahadisbae 12:22 pm
Awwww, honey~
Btw, how do you feel about tattoos?
Because I have a few.
They’re religious.
I’m religious.
I hope that’s not a deal breaker.
Dragonlord86 12:22 pm
So long as it’s not a deal breaker that I’m not.
What religion do you practice?
Mahadisbae 12:23 pm
Don’t laugh.
Or judge.
I follow Kemetic Orthodoxy. It’s the religion of Ancient Egypt, but it’s what I was raised with.
And it’s the last bit of my home I have left.
Dragonlord86 12:24 pm
Why would I judge that?
I actually know quite a bit about it. It’s a beautiful religion to practice.
Mahadisbae 12:24 pm
😭
You’re the first Japanese person I’ve spoken to that’s said kind things about it.
Most people in this country are already intolerant that I’m a foreigner. Add a foreign religion in the mix and I’m. . .
What’s the phrase?
Persona non gratis or something
Dragonlord86 12:24 pm
Persona non grata. You were close
And I can’t stand the racism in this country. Or the world for that matter.
It divides people unnecessarily and halts human progress. I swear if we spent half the time we spend hating each other on actual noble pursuits, we would be traveling the stars by now.
I’ll get off my soapbox before my feet become glued to it.
Mahadisbae 12:26 pm
No, please, continue~ I can feel your passion through the screen.
Dragonlord86 12:26 pm
No, I can’t, I’ll go on for hours and I need to be preparing for a meeting.
Mahadisbae 12:27 pm
So many meetings. You’re so boring 🥱
Dragonlord86 12:27 pm
Management is boring. I am not.
Mahadisbae 12:28 pm
🥱🥱🥱
Dragonlord85 12:28 pm
🙄
I’m going into my boring meeting now.
Duel when I’m done?
Mahadisbae 12:29 pm
Of course~
~*~
Feb 8, 20XX
Dragonlord86 23:58 pm
6 days
Mahadisbae 23:58 pm
Hm?
Dragonlord86 23:59 pm
6 more days until we get to meet.
Mahadisbae 23:59 pm
You’re right!
Feb 9, 20XX
Mahadisbae 00:01 am
Well. 5 days now.
I can’t wait~
Dragonlord86 00:02 am
Neither can I.
WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT MOVE WAS THAT?!
Mahadisbae 00:02 am
A new one my brother showed me the other day~
Maybe if you learned some new strategies then I wouldn’t be so bored when we duel.
I had to do something to spice things up.
Draognlord86 00:03 am
Oh you want spice do you?
Alright fine, you want something different?
I was going to wait to unveil this until we were in person.
Accept the challenge. I have a new deck to play against you.
Mahadisbae 00:03 am
😍
Baby you shouldn’t have.
I’m so excited~
~*~
Feb 10, 20XX
Mahadisbae 15:36 pm
Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit
Dragodlord86 15:36 pm
What happened???
Mahadisbae 15:37 pm
I completely forgot.
I’m getting a new tattoo on the 12th.
It’s going to be a huge back piece.
I’ve had the appointment scheduled for months.
I didn’t think I’d have a date on Valentine’s Day when I booked it so I didn’t think!
Dragonlord86 15:39 pm
Didn’t think about what?
What’s the problem?
Mahadisbae 15:40 pm
Well
With a fresh back tattoo
I won’t be able to lay on my back for any length of time.
It’ll irritate the tattoo too much.
Dragonlord86 15:41 pm
Okay???
Mahadisbae 15:41 pm
😫😫😫
We won’t be able to have sex the way I want to have sex because I’m going to have a fresh tattoo.
Dragonlord86 15:41 pm
😳
You
You want us
To have sex
The first time we meet in person?
Mahadisbae 15:44 am
Well
I thought it might be a possibility.
I don’t care if it’s our first time meeting in person, I love you and I want to be with you!
Did I actually type that?
By the gods, my fingers were typing faster than I was thinking.
Don’t read into that.
I was babbling.
I’m sorry.
Dragonlord86 15:49 am
I love you too.
Mahadisbae 15:51 pm
You do?
Dragonlord86 15:52 pm
Yeah.
Yeah I love you.
Mahadisbae 15:52 pm
I love you too ❤️
Dragonlord86 15:53 pm
4 more days.
Mahadisbae 15:53 pm
I can’t wait~
~*~
Atem had considered changing the tattoo appointment. The last thing he’d wanted was something like an itchy, annoying tattoo to get in the way of his perfect first meeting on Valentine’s Day. However when he spoke to his artist, because he’d been booking his entire day for that one tattoo, Atem would be charged a cancellation fee and the next appointment he’d be able to get would be three months out. Unwilling to wait another three months for an appointment he already had to wait 2 and a half for, he kept the appointment.
It took a full eight hours in the chair, but in the end Atem walked out with a piece he loved. The great vulture Nekhbet was now inked across his shoulders with her wings stretching down the back of his arms to his elbows. It made him feel beautiful and powerful. Naturally, he took a million pictures the second he got home. He selected one he really loved, a mirror selfie with him looking over his shoulder just enough to show off the part of his profile that he liked and posted it on Instagram. Then, almost without thinking, he sent it to Kai as well.
Feb 12, 20XX
Mahadisbae 21:36 pm
*One image attached*
My new tattoo~
What do you think?
A glance at the time and Atem knew Kai wasn’t busy. This was their usual time to talk and focus on their duels since Kai was usually home from work and the shop was almost always cleaned up and ready to close. So when Atem didn’t receive an immediate reply, he got a little nervous. What could be keeping his boyfriend for so long?
When fifteen minutes passed without an answer, Atem sent another text.
Mahadisbae 21:51 pm
Kai?
Do you hate it?
Relief and anxiety flooded his system when his phone buzzed again almost immediately.
Dragonlord86 21:52 pm
That’s you?
Like a real picture of you?
That’s what you look like?
Atem blinked, unsure what he was talking about when he scrolled back to look at the picture. That’s when it hit him. That was the first real picture either of them had sent, and every distinguishing feature he had was prominently on display.
Mahadisbae 21:54 pm
Oh. Yeah, that’s me~
I know, I know, I fibbed a little bit about my appearance, I’m sorry.
But can you at least understand why I did?
Another ten minutes went by and Atem felt his heart sinking. He knew it. He’d made a huge mistake. But there was no unringing that bell now, so he had to try to make the best of it.
Mahadisbae 22:05 pm
I did say what if we were ugly to each other lol
And I did ask if tattoos were a deal breaker.
Kai, please say something.
Dragonlord86 22:06 pm
The tattoo looks good.
Atem almost wept with relief when he saw the message come through.
Mahadisbae 22:07 pm
I’m so glad you like it~
I’m sorry the picture was such a shock. I promise I’m prettier in person!
I’m not up for a duel tonight, I’m way too tired after getting tattooed all day.
I’m going straight to bed.
Goodnight, honey. I love you~
Two more days~
Dragonlord86 22:10 pm
Night.
Atem stared at that message for a good long while, dread settling all over his body. Try as he might, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d ruined this relationship with one, silly picture. Only time would tell, he supposed, and he set his phone on the charger and tried to get some sleep.
~*~
Feb 13, 20XX
Mahadisbae 7:46 am
Good morning my love~
Have a wonderful day at work today~
I can’t wait to meet you tomorrow~
Mahadisbae 10:30 am
Hey love, I know you’re probably busy in boring meetings, but I just realized we never solidified our plans for tomorrow!
I know you said you had a reservation somewhere, right? Do you want to meet there or somewhere else first?
Mahadisbae 12:00 pm
Are you mad at me for the photo yesterday?
How many more times or ways can I say that I’m sorry?
I’m positive you’ve told me some white lies to protect yourself from the stranger on the internet.
Mahadisbae 14:47 pm
Kai, please, just talk to me, will you?
At least tell me if we’re still meeting tomorrow.
Please, baby, can’t we talk in person?
I don’t care if I sound desperate or clingy either. You’ve been ignoring me all day.
At least I hope you’re ignoring me and you’re not laying in a hospital bed dying because you got into some horrible accident.
Please tell me you’re not dying in a hospital bed somewhere???
Kai, honey, please let me know you’re alright.
Mahadisbae 18:32 pm
Okay do you remember how you said you’d throw that one guy because he almost made me cry? Well I’ve been crying for the last couple hours thinking you’re dead somewhere and I’ll never know because I’m just the internet boyfriend and no one would ever think to let me know that you’re dead.
So go judo throw yourself for making me cry real tears.
If you’re still alive, that is.
Which I hope you are.
Mahadisbae 20:05 pm
How about this: I’ll be at the Domino Museum tomorrow around 17:00. I’ll sit on the edge of the fountain and wait for you.
Your favorite color is still blue, right? I’ll wear a blue rose on my hair so you know for a fact that it’s me.
Not that my hair isn’t a dead give away on its own
Still.
Mahadisbae 21:10 pm
I’m going to try and get some sleep now.
I’m frightened for you, honey.
I hope you show up tomorrow so I know you’re not dead.
That’s all I care about right now is that you aren’t dead.
Please don’t be dead.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
I love you so much.
~*~
Atem felt like an absolute moron.
There he was, sitting on the edge of the fountain outside the museum, a stupid blue rose pinned into his curls, knee bouncing while he frantically looked around for Kai, and constantly checking his watch. He’d arrived at the museum half an hour early, just in case Kai was waiting for him. Even though he wouldn’t really know who Kai was if he saw him. All he knew was his boyfriend was tall with brown hair and brown eyes, and that could all be a lie.
He was checking his watch every five minutes. He watched a myriad of couples meeting, some like they’d known each other for years, others that were likely meeting for the first time. He was getting good at figuring out which ones were long standing couples and which ones weren’t. It was all in the body language. The old couples were so relaxed with each other, or shared passionate kisses and couldn’t stop touching each other. The new couples were awkward, not knowing where to put their hands or how they should greet the other. A hug? A kiss on the cheek? A handshake? It was all new and nervous. He was sure that’s how his meeting with Kai would go.
If Kai ever showed up, that is.
As the clock ticked closer to 19:00, Atem realized that no one was coming. His heart felt like it had a dagger wedged into it and someone kept twisting it. Even after two hours, he kept finding reasons to stay five more minutes. Maybe Kai was stuck at work? Perhaps there was an emergency? Someone was sure to come and let him know something soon, right?
His thoughts were cut off when a car pulled up and parked on the street nearby. Once again, Atem’s heart was in his throat as he focused on the car. It was an expensive, fancy looking, light blue sports car and he saw only one shape in the driver’s seat. Something in his gut told Atem that this was Kai and he could feel his heart pounding. This was it. He saw the person in the car moving to get out. The door opened and–
Seto Kaiba stepped out of the car and Atem groaned, leaning back onto the fountain edge. Not him. Though he had to admit that Kaiba looked rather dapper this evening in a crisp black suit with a navy button up, sans tie and the first few buttons open. He seemed like he, too, was meeting someone there judging by the way he was looking around. Then his eyes landed on Atem at the fountain and he made his way over. Atem bit back his groan this time. At least arguing with Kaiba would kill time until Kai arrived.
“What are you doing here?” Atem asked, trying to sound amiable, but he was sure there was an edge of hostility to his words. “Meeting someone for Valentine’s Day, perhaps?”
“Yeah, actually,” Kaiba answered. His face had a strange expression on it, somewhere halfway between sad and nervous and it was odd to see. He pulled out his phone and navigated to something before turning his phone for Atem to see. “You.”
Atem was about to start laughing until his brain registered what it was seeing on Kaiba’s phone. It was his conversation with Kai, the entire conversation as Kaiba started scrolling back for Atem to see. He did laugh a little, a tiny, incredulous thing as he tried to understand what he was seeing.
“No,” he breathed. He tapped on Kaiba's phone to see his discord profile and, sure enough– “ You are dragonlord86?”
“And you are mahadisbae–I can't believe I just said that out loud,” Kaiba muttered in response. He cleared his throat and finally, finally, managed to look Atem in the eyes. That usually piercing blue gaze was softer now, still upset but strangely hopeful. “I think we can both acknowledge that we lied to each other about certain things for the exact same reason and because of those reasons I hope we can put the lies aside and focus on the bigger picture. That for the last month and a half we fell–”
“Stop,” Atem demanded, shooting his eyes to the ground, unable to hold his any longer. His fingers curled on his knees and he took in a shaky breath. There was no way this was happening. Just no way. “Just stop. I don’t want to hear any more.”
Kaiba let out an audible sigh. It was a quick, frustrated thing, and it set Atem on edge. “I know this isn’t what either of us pictured when we imagined this meeting but–”
“It was the picture, wasn’t it?” Atem asked through gritted teeth. “That’s how you figured it out. That’s why you were ignoring me for the last two days. You didn’t say anything and here I was thinking you were dead and all the while you were–Oh I don’t give a fuck what you were doing, only what you weren’t doing, which was talking to me and telling me the truth!”
“Would you have believed me?” Kaiba countered, flinging his arms out in annoyance. “If all of a sudden I told you who I was, would you have really believed me? If I snapped a selfie and sent it, would you believe it to be real? I wouldn’t, if I was in your shoes. I had to tell you in person because I knew it was the only way to ensure that the truth was fully and completely understood.”
“I told you so much,” Atem breathed, bile rising in his throat as he thought back on all their conversations. He could feel his face twisting into something terrible as he tried not to puke. “All my hopes and dreams and things that you have spat in my face about. I let you in. Not even Yugi knows some of the things I told you. How could I have been so stupid?”
“I told you a lot too,” Kaiba answered, and for the first time in a long time, Atem heard pain in that voice.
For some reason, that made Atem see red. There was no way that the kind, funny, compassionate man he'd come to know over the last few weeks was Seto Kaiba. He jolted to his feet, glaring at Kaiba with all the anger and resentment he could muster. A smug kind of satisfaction bloomed when he saw Kaiba shrink ever so slightly under that glare.
“You told me a lot of lies,” Atem spat as he took the rose from his hair and threw it on the ground. He made sure Kaiba’s eyes followed that rose before he stomped on it and ground it into the cobblestone. With his message abundantly clear, Atem turned sharply and began the walk home.
It wasn’t until he’d turned two corners and was sure Kaiba wasn’t following him that he allowed himself to start crying.
~*~
Feb 15, 20XX
Dragonlord86 6:36 am
Well I slept like shit.
Read: not at all.
I’m not going into the office today so if you want to talk, I’m free.
Or if you don’t want to talk, we can duel?
In person, if you want.
It’s a nice day for February and I’ve been wanting to show you the gardens before the winter plants die.
So just. Come over. You know where I live.
Dragonlord86 10:52 am
If you’re wondering, no, I didn’t forget that you’re not an early riser but I am.
And I figured, on the off chance you also did not sleep, that I would give you as much time as possible to think about my offer.
Dragonlord86 12:01 pm
Oh, okay, I get what this is. I didn’t answer you all day the other day so you’re paying me back with the silent treatment? That’s so you, Atem, seriously.
Dragonlord86 13:56 pm
Okay, yeah, this sucks and I get why you were upset.
Now you’ve got me thinking that you got mugged between the museum and the shop and I’m going to turn on the news and hear that you got murdered.
Thanks. I can’t get the image out of my head.
Dragonlord86 15:23 pm
Can’t we talk? We used to be able to talk like this.
Dragonlord86 18:45 pm
Last night you were angry that I didn’t talk to you. Now I’m talking and you’re not answering me?
Fuck you.
Fuck all this shit.
Dragonlord86 19:18 pm
I should have known, too! I know every game shop in Domino.
Every.
Single.
One.
None of them are holes in the walls that don’t show up on google.
And none of them are owned by a pair of brothers except for one.
You and Yugi aren’t even brothers!
And Mit Rahina?! That’s modern day Memphis! I found that out for your birth certificate! It should have been a dead give away!
Dragonlord86 22:06 pm
What do uoi want from me? An apology? For what? Being human and having a crasses when o find our that the new guy I fell in lov with is also the old guy I fell in lov with adn having a perfectly normal human reaction?
Tank fuckiung god for autocorrect its saving my life rn
I might have had a drink
Or two
Actually I lost cunt
Cunt
Jesus fucking crhsit
C O U N T
Dragonlord86 22:35 pm
I dont care if uoi hate me
HA how about taht?
Know why
Becaiae I assumed oui already did!
I hav already stteeled my heart to your hate
So there
You have no power over me anymore
Autocorrect, however, dies
And so dies whiskey
Dragonlord86 23:22 pm
Wht teh fuck am I tlkng aboit?
You’ll always hav powet over me
I lub uopi
I have for yers
I’ll leave upoi along now
~*~
When Atem turned his phone back on on the morning of the 16th, the bombardment of text messages was not what he was expecting. He had been expecting Kaiba to go back to ignoring his existence, not start drunk texting him in the middle of the night. Seeing the spelling getting worse and worse as the night went on, Atem was reminded of something Kai- Kaiba -told him about how he doesn’t drink ever and the smallest bit of alcohol can fuck him up. He also recalled being told that the only reason he even had alcohol in the house was for the few times he was forced to entertain “big corporate muckity-mucks”. That should have been a dead give away. What kind of IT management guy needs to entertain corporate muckity-mucks that would require things like a decanter of whiskey?
He’d spent the entire day of the 15th in bed, alternating between bouts of fitful sleep and crying. Yugi hadn’t returned home from his romantic evening with Téa until late that day, giving only enough time to shower and change before he had to open the shop. Apparently he hadn’t even thought Atem was home until he took lunch and heard his crying from the bedroom. He’d rushed up immediately to find out what happened, but Atem had been reluctant to say anything, only that the date had gone badly and he’d likely never speak to Kai again.
It would have taken an act of God for Atem to admit that Yugi was right.
But then there were the text messages. A few dozen (increasingly jumbled) messages where Kaiba put his heart on the table and waited for it to be smashed. Atem hadn’t put his down yet. He was still holding it in his chest, afraid to let go. In this, Kaiba was stronger than him. It almost wasn’t fair to leave him hanging like that. After all, Kaiba did show up to their date. It seemed the least Atem could do was to accept the invitation.
~*~
Two buses and a short cab ride later and Atem found himself at the front door of Kaiba Manor. They seemed to swing open of their own accord (maybe they did, he had no idea how smart this house may be) and he invited himself in. There was no staff about. Odd. He assumed a house of this size to be bustling with people to keep it running. At the very least, he expected Mokuba to be around, either to tell him where his brother was or tell him to fuck off. But there was no one.
Someone had let the cab in at the gate, however, so Atem set off in search of any living being in the house. It was rather easy to sweep the ground floor as it only consisted of a handful of rooms, all ornately large and luxurious. Aside from the foyer with it’s grand staircase to the second level, there was a library, a den, a drawing room, a great dining hall, an industrial kitchen, and–
Atem stopped short as he passed a large set of French double doors that led out to a back patio. Through the doors he could see bushes and trees and a myriad of white, pink, and red flowers. The garden, perhaps? Atem pulled his coat and scarf around tighter and headed outside. Kaiba said in his text that he wanted Atem to see the garden, but if Kaiba wasn’t going to play host then Atem was going to help himself.
The garden seemed to explode with life the moment Atem walked through the doors. Trees heavy with plum blossoms were the first thing to greet him, their branches so ladened that they wept over the camellia hedges and almost obscured the entrance. His winter boots landed heavy on the cobblestone path as he strode between the hedges that were nearly twice his height. The small red flowers had seemed to dominate Domino City’s horticulture around December, but no planting in the city was this thick. Atem could hardly see the green of the hedge through the sea of red flowers on either side of him.
Some distance ahead, he could see a swath of white and felt drawn to it as a moth is to flame. The hedges opened up to reveal a courtyard of narcissus, the flowers growing thick and tall all around him. The field was carved into a shape Atem recognized at once: the clockwise swirls of a meditation labyrinth. A few such gardens existed in Domino, mostly on the grounds of Christian churches, but there had been a similar, temporary garden installed in the city square the year before. Atem had wandered through the winding maze out of curiosity, and the effect it had on him was both baffling and entirely welcome.
He felt that strange feeling return as he began to walk this labyrinth so he could exit to the other side. After the first few turns, his mind cleared and racing thoughts quieted. All that existed for the few minutes he slowly traversed the winds and curves of the labyrinth was his breathing and his heartbeat, which slowed and relaxed as he walked. The oblivion was a welcome change of pace and he exited the labyrinth and back into the sea of camellias with a new steadiness to his heart.
The hedges forced him to take a few more turns before they opened once again to another field of narcissus. This time, however, there was a large gazebo in the middle with a rather familiar figure bent over his computer. Kaiba sat there, oblivious to the fact he was no longer alone, and Atem took a moment to study him. He looked terrible, with large bags under his eyes, his usually pristinely styled hair was ruffled, and he was wearing a hoodie that looked comfortable but the ends of the sleeves were all torn and frayed and the hood was missing its string. Seeing him so dressed down left Atem’s stomach churning uncomfortable. He was sure he didn’t look any better.
Seeing that they were at least equally exhausted, Atem felt bold enough to ask, “What were you doing the day you ignored me?”
There was a sick satisfaction to watching Seto Kaiba jump out of his skin. So violent was his shock that he even banged his knees hard enough on the bottom of the table to make Atem wince.
“I beg your pardon?” Kaiba asked, confused and annoying as he rubbed his sore knees.
“What were you doing the day you were ignoring me?” Atem asked again as he entered the gazebo.
He was expecting it to be cold, but he felt heat blow the moment he stepped through the threshold and it made him look up. Heaters rimmed the inside of the ceiling, making the gazebo nice and cozy to the outside world. Warm enough, even, that Atem found himself unbuttoning his coat and unwrapping his scarf as he sat on the bench across from Kaiba.
“This,” Kaiba answered, gesturing to his computer. “I muted Discord and threw myself into my work. I read a study years ago about how when you’re struggling with a puzzle or can’t figure out a particular task, it’s better to move on to something unrelated and let your unconscious brain work out the solution rather than continually bashing the conscious brain against the proverbial wall to force out the answer.”
Atem just hummed and crossed his legs and arms.
“What did you do yesterday?” Kaiba asked as he closed his laptop.
“The same, I suppose,” Atem sighed. He scratched his chin in thought. Part of him wanted to start a fight as he and Kaiba usually did. But he had to remember that this was the same man he’d been so open and vulnerable with. And, Atem supposed, he hadn’t gone there to start a fight. “I slept a lot. And cried. Finding out like that. . . I felt like I’d been betrayed.”
“Yeah,” Kaiba breathed. “I guess there were better ways to have gone about that.” When Atem arched an eyebrow at him, Kaiba sneered, “I never said my unconscious brain came up with good solutions. I’ve never been in a situation like that before and, like I said, I didn’t think you’d believe me if I did anything less than showing up in person.”
While he was loath to admit it, Atem sighed and said, “Yeah. I wouldn’t have believed you. But it might have given me a chance to prepare myself if it was true. You blindsided me when you showed up. You don’t do that to someone you claim to love!”
“Did you come here to berate me? What do you want?” Kaiba suddenly sneered, throwing his arms in the air in frustration.
Atem just snickered at that. “There he is.”
“There who is?”
“Seto Kaiba. You were being so sweet for a minute that I thought you’d been replaced.”
“I thought you liked it when I was being sweet over text.”
“I actually preferred it when you were being brash.”
“Hm.”
They both leaned back, staring at each other across the table. Atem had a million things he wanted to say, but when he opened his mouth to say them he just couldn’t find the words. He hadn’t actually figured out what he wanted this conversation to accomplish and now he had no way forward. He had to stop from fidgeting to pass the time. But then, as always, Kaiba swept the rug out from underneath him.
“I wronged you by not saying anything when I figured it out,” Kaiba started, leaning forward once more and placed his folded hands on the table. Atem imagined this was the same posture he took in business meetings. “I’m not good at relationships or people or emotions. That’s why it was so easy to text you. I didn’t have to say things and see that face you’re giving me right now. I’m not making excuses, I’m trying to explain. I–” He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up at a few odd angles. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t think you would be hurt because I hoped– I had flowers in the car for you. I had tiger nuts imported and made a mess in the kitchen trying to make tiger nut sweets because you said they were your favorite but you couldn’t find them in Japan, at least not authentic ones because they keep subbing tiger nuts for walnuts or pecans and you said you don’t like the texture of pecans and walnuts are too acidic for you. They look awful, actually they’re completely deformed because I kept messing up the consistency because a ‘splash of water’ is not a proper unit of measurement and there came a point where I just had to say fuck it and went with it because I figured something was better than nothing and the kitchen was a disaster. But they tasted pretty good and I tried to wrap the box but the paper kept ripping and Mokuba was laughing at me so I just slapped a bow on it and I might have squashed the bow when I did that. But I brought them and I fully expected you to laugh at the piss poor attempt to make your favorite treat and I was going to blame someone else if you hated them and only take credit for it if you liked it because I value what you think of me and–”
“Breathe, Kaiba, breathe!” Atem laughed, cutting him off only when his face started getting red from the exertion of his rant.
Kaiba looked embarrassed and annoyed at Atem’s reaction and it made his giggles worse. When Kaiba’s scowl deepened, Atem doubled over in laughter. He’d never heard Kaiba talk that much or with such fervor. It was so unexpected that he couldn’t help but assume he’d fallen into an alternate dimension and an alternate him would laugh at such an outburst, he decided.
Then a curious thing happened. A strange sound that Atem couldn’t identify at first. He wiped his eyes and looked up to see that Kaiba was laughing. Not the usual, psychotic laughter he heard across the dueling field, but something that was small and melodic and it made Atem’s heart swell. The smile on his face was so unburdened that Atem couldn’t help himself.
“I want to try them,” Atem announced through his giggles.
Kaiba’s laughter stopped abruptly and he stared at Atem, wide eyed and a little confused.
“The tiger nut treats you made, I want to try them. After all that effort, it sounds like a shame to let them go to waste.” Atem clarified with a smile. Then he looked Kaiba up and down and hid a chuckle behind his hand. “Though it doesn’t look like you’re up for hosting right now. How about this, I’ll come back tomorrow morning and try them then. Let’s say… Ten?”
Atem took his time putting his coat back on, even though he was struggling to force down his shit eating grin. He so rarely got Kaiba to gobsmacked that he wanted to enjoy it for as long as he could. With his coat closed up and scarf once more securely around his neck, Atem stood and winked at Kaiba who had yet to pick his jaw up off the floor.
“See you tomorrow, Kai, ” Atem purred before leaving the warmth of the gazebo and heading back into the garden.
~*~
More and more often lately, Mokuba found himself up in the middle of the night. Not for any particular reason, he just wasn’t tired. He was doing everything right, he turned off all screens an hour before bed, he kept his lights low, he tried reading to calm his mind, nothing worked. If he wasn’t asleep by midnight, his stomach would start rumbling and he’d make his way to the kitchen for a midnight snack. A warm glass of milk and a few Oreos and he was able to nod off into an easy sleep. Part of him was worried that his brother’s insomnia was genetic.
Mokuba stopped halfway through the door to the kitchen when his foot stepped in flour. He rubbed his eyes and took in the scene before him. Every surface was covered in a fine layer of flour, including Kaiba, who hunched over a mostly dismantled blender with a screwdriver in his hand and grumbling incoherently. There was a faint smell of burnt sugar in the air that Mokuba suspected was much stronger before the windows were opened. Casting his eyes to the stove, he saw something brown had exploded all over the tile backsplash, the stove, the countertop on either side, and, Mokuba suspected, all over the apron that was half hanging out of the garbage.
Deciding he wanted absolutely nothing to do with whatever madness had gripped his brother this time, Mokuba about faced and went back to bed.
~*~
Ten AM on the dot, Atem once again let himself into the manor, though this time he was significantly less confident. Yugi had, rightfully, flipped his gourd when he learned where Atem had gotten off to the day before, why, and what it all meant. It was all Yugi could do to not call Joey and Tristan and have them beat up Kaiba for catfishing his partner for so long. Atem had to physically hold Yugi back from marching out the door himself. It was bad enough that Atem felt like a moron, he didn’t need Yugi trying to defend his honor.
And, really, did Yugi think that locking him into his room was going to work? It was as if he’d completely forgotten that Joey had given him a lock picking set for Christmas that Atem had been playing with like it was a fidget toy.
Once again, Atem went looking around the ground floor for any sign of life. He found it almost immediately when he saw the doors to the kitchen were open and light was shining from within. Atem decided to approach slowly, tiptoeing down the hardwood floor until he could peek his eyes around the threshold.
When Kaiba told him that the kitchen was a disaster, he’d assumed he was speaking in hyperbole. He could see Kaiba have a conniption over the tiniest speck of dust or a fork out of place. Now he knew Kaiba had been understating the condition of the kitchen. It looked like a sand storm had swept through, or maybe it was just Kaiba throwing a fit. Every item was on its side, flour and cinnamon covered absolutely everything, the blender was in pieces and abandoned on the island, brown was covering most surfaces around the stove, and– Yes, that did look suspiciously like a pot lid embedded in the ceiling along the same trajectory as the rang hood that was bent in half.
But Kaiba was nowhere to be found. Still, this disaster had to have resulted in something so Atem walked in, careful not to brush against anything and get flour all over his black jacket or jeans. He sniffed the air and smelled the distinct odor of burnt honey. Had Kaiba been trying to make more tiger nut sweets? But how did it all go so terribly wrong? The sweets were cooked; so what happened to the stove and what caused the lid to shoot into the ceiling?
There were too many questions, no Kaiba to answer them, and the mess was starting to get on Atem’s nerves. Feeling partly responsible for this, Atem decided that helping to clean was the least he could do. The pantry was obvious and he went in to find paper towels and a chemical. He frowned when he found no such things, but something on one of the shelves caught his eye.
It was a simple white pastry box with a red ribbon in it. A ribbon that looked like it had been smashed. Remembering how Kaiba told him that he accidentally squashed the ribbon he put on the sweet’s box, he retreated back into the kitchen and flipped the box open.
“Deformed, my ass,” Atem snickered as he looked at the sweets.
They were almost perfect little balls. Or, at least, the top layer was. When he lifted one out of the box, he saw the bottom layer looked like they spread out and congealed together. Dusting off one of the stools at the island, Atem sat down and examined the sweet in his hand. It looked just like how he remembered, but how did they taste?
~*~
Getting out of the shower, Kaiba made a mental note to get a plumber in sooner rather than later. All the flour that got washed down the drain couldn’t be good for the pipes. Running a towel through his hair, he heaved a sigh and checked his phone. Automatically his fingers went to Discord before he realized that there would be no messages waiting for him. He tossed his phone onto the bed, followed by the towel.
What madness had possessed him to do this? For madness surely is what it had to be. Atem at least had ignorance on his side but Kaiba knew better. He knew what he was doing was stupid and potentially dangerous. But some part of him that he hadn’t realized existed had needed this. He’d been presented with a grand opportunity to strip away the titles and obligations and bravado and strain that had propped him up for so long and discover who he actually was. Again, Atem had reached into his soul and called out to the frightened, lonely child that resided there and coaxed him out into the light with a few simple messages. Messages that had now stopped. Was this going to be his life now? Always waiting for a text that wasn’t going to arrive from someone who probably wanted noth–
Kaiba scrambled for his phone to check the time. The clock was almost laughing at him when it revealed 10:15 AM.
“SHIT!” Kaiba cried as he threw down his phone once more.
He grabbed the first sweater he put his hands on, not bothering to look at it before he pulled it over his head while he forced his feet into slippers. He still wasn’t totally sure that Atem was going to show up, but if he had then Atem was downstairs doing god knows what while Kaiba sulked. Speed was a necessity and it wasn’t one of the days that staff was in the manor, so Kaiba decided that he didn’t care if he looked childish. Instead of running down three flights of stairs, he just slid down the bannister.
Dropping down on the main floor, Kaiba took a moment to center himself and smooth down his hair one more time before going off in search of Atem. He hoped that perhaps he’d run into Mokuba and they were in the den or living room or even the library. But with each empty room, the more Kaiba’s heart sank. Perhaps Atem had gone out into the garden again? It was worth a look. On his way out, he noticed the kitchen door was open and someone was moving around inside. Perhaps Mokuba had called the cleaners in already. He figured he better make sure they were set in their task before he went looking for Atem.
Imagine his shock when he saw Atem rooting through the first box of sweets like a man on a mission. He was going to jump in and stop him when Atem bit into one of the sweets and almost fell backwards off the stool. Kaiba was there in a second, wrapping an arm securely around Atem’s shoulders and making sure he stayed seated. Atem blinked, looking disoriented for a moment before his eyes refocused on Kaiba.
“Oh! I didn’t hear you come in, I was too busy being transported back to my childhood,” Atem chuckled, speaking around part of the sweet still in his mouth.
“You were–what?” Kaiba asked, squinting in confusion.
Atem swallowed, grinning like an idiot, and explained, “The sweets you made. They tasted exactly like the ones I had as a child. When I closed my eyes, it felt like I was back in the palace!”
“Oh. Um. Yeah. That’s. Uh. Yup.”
Atem chuckled again. He was enjoying rendering Kaiba speechless but he also knew how uncomfortable that was making him. He gestured vaguely to the kitchen and asked, “What happened?”
“I was trying to improve the recipe,” Kaiba admitted a little sheepishly as he, too, brushed off a stool and sat down. “I see that was an evening of effort wasted.”
“Not at all. You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t constantly trying to make something better,” Atem countered. He turned his bedroom eyes to Kaiba, who felt his breath stall in his throat. “And I really like you when you’re you. ”
When later asked to describe what was happening in this moment, the only accurate way Kaiba could describe it was in the terms of a game. It was a contested role where Atem rolled an 18 for charisma and Kaiba failed with a 5 total in wisdom (he already had a piss poor wisdom modifier, but he was going to blame the levels of exhaustion he’d gotten from several all nighters and stress). That’s why he felt he didn’t even think about it before he grabbed Atem’s face, leaned over, and kissed him.
They say first kisses are supposed to be small, hesitant little things, but Seto Kaiba was never one for following the crowd or holding back. When he kissed Atem, he did so with every ounce of bravado (and love, though he wasn’t about to admit that) that he had. Atem’s hands were instantly in his hair, dragging him forward until Kaiba was forced to get off his stool and settle between Atem’s legs. It was only a mildly uncomfortable bend down for him as the stool helped make up the height difference, but he didn’t let the twinge in his neck stop him. Kissing him was too exhilarating to stop.