Queer As Tachi – Chapter 55
“Aw, come on,” Yugi cajoled over the phone, leaning on the windowsill overlooking the street below his home. “They don’t have these all-night dance parties all the time, this is the first time it’s fallen on a full moon night in months!”
“I know, I know,” Duke Devlin sighed at him. “Dude, I’m the one who told you about them. I know Dream’s schedule as well as you do. I can’t help it – I have too much to do. Some of us don’t get the next day off,” he added sarcastically.
Yugi whined and pouted. “But I was hoping to go out with our friends that night. I thought for sure you’d be up for it, with or without Tristan.”
“On any other day, I promise you, Yugi,” Duke said tiredly, “I’d be there. No doubts about it. But I already have a round of employee evaluations scheduled for the next day and I don’t want to postpone them again. I’m already behind enough thanks to the store being shut down for repairs last month. I can’t afford to be out until three in the morning the night before.”
“I know,” Yugi grumbled. “Oh well. It was worth a try.”
“What’s wrong with just you two going out anyway?” Duke prodded.
“Well, that’s fine,” Yugi agreed with him, “I just like to include my friends. You know.”
“But if Yami actually asked you out this time…dancing, no less…” Duke chuckled. “He wants to spend time with you, just you. Go on, have a good time. Your friends aren’t going to think you’re ditching them just for one night.”
“I suppose,” Yugi sighed. “Maybe next time.”
“Yeah, totally. I want to go out to Dream sometime, drag Tristan along. Keep an eye on the schedule over the next couple of months, maybe we can work something out where Yami can be with us, too.”
Some days after White Day, with a week to go until the full moon, Yami had actively asked Yugi to go out with him, suggesting they look into going dancing. Yugi’s first thought was to call and invite his friends along, but Joey had term papers and homework and Duke his work excuses, so it looked like they would be going out alone. After Yugi finished chatting with Duke and let him go, he became aware of the pharaoh’s spirit hovering near his shoulder. “He has a point, you know,” his voice in Yugi’s mind purred sensuously. “I would like to spend time with you, without the others hanging around us. Just you and I, free to stay as long as we like and dance until we can’t stand up anymore…”
Yugi grinned to himself, hearing that. “That does sound like a rather nice idea…”
“Your friends all want you to go and have fun. So, let’s do that.” Yami’s presence faded, but he was still speaking internally. “The idea of having you all to myself is so tempting…”
Giggling, Yugi did his best not to blush as he went to put the phone back in its cradle and go on about his day, with his time in the shop coming up quickly. He had just enough time to go to the computer in his bedroom and check his email, in case Joey had sent him anything silly while at school or Téa had dropped him a note to say hello. What he found, curiously enough, was a short email from Bakura. “I just wanted to thank you for telling my father about the wireless duel disk,” it said. “I have one now, so if you want to say hello, my username is ChangeofHeart. It’s a fun little toy, though I haven’t dueled with it yet. I’ve just been chatting online with people, making friends. For what small part you had in it, thank you. I’m doing well, I’m feeling a lot better and have finally caught up on the classwork I missed while I was in the hospital.” At the very bottom, he had added, “Thank you for your friendship,” before signing off. Yugi beamed as he read it, glad to hear that Ryo was doing much better. He had checked up on him once or twice, but also allowed him the space to heal without nagging at him constantly about keeping his chin up. He figured Ryo didn’t need that, he would benefit best from a balance between friendly attentiveness and tactful privacy to live his life. Yugi pulled up the KaibaCorp network website, logged in, and immediately added “ChangeofHeart” to his watchlist of buddies – which was no longer than Bakura’s. Maybe one of these days I’ll actually duel on the network, he mused as he glanced at his profile and remembered how little he had used it. When I get a chance. I suppose I could look Marik up, or something. Ahh…later. He replied to the email with a quick, cheerful note and logged off so he could go downstairs and begin his afternoon shift in the game shop.
A week later, the ritual brought Yami forth from the Puzzle already fully aware of what he needed to be doing as soon as he opened his eyes and took his first breath. The date was his idea in the first place, and he had been lurking impatiently in the back of Yugi’s mind all day, eager for the chance to be free. He had overseen his young lover’s nap and made sure he was awake with just enough time to change into his dancing clothes before beginning the ritual at midnight. With it now complete, Yugi sat back on his floor panting for breath while he watched Yami go straight to the clothing laid out for him on the bed. “It’s okay,” Yugi assured at the first sign of concern in his partner’s eyes. “Just give me a minute, I’ll be okay. I’ll rest while you get dressed.”
“As long as you’re sure.” Yami picked up the slinky black pants and shook them out, admiring them before going to put them on. “After all, as much as I want to go out with you, your safety and well-being comes first.”
Yugi waved a hand dismissively, taking a deep breath to assure himself he had regained his wits. “I’m fine,” he insisted. “You let me have a super-long nap, so I’m ready to go. Ready to dance all night,” he added with a grin up at his lover.
Chuckling, Yami slipped on his shirt and socks and then reached for the ankh necklace that sat in a place of honor on Yugi’s dresser between full moon days. At that point, he felt hands snake around his waist from behind and clasp together resting on his abdomen, dangerously near sensitive parts. “Or are you eager to stay home and entertain ourselves other ways?” the pharaoh chided his partner.
“As long as we don’t wear ourselves out, I’m pretty sure that’s how the date’s going to end,” Yugi said insolently. “Come on. Are you ready?”
“Let’s go.”
Yugi always kept one eye on the local events magazines that carried the schedules for special concerts and unusual happenings around the city, not that there were often very many. The little club he called his favorite, Dream, occasionally had midnight-to-dawn “rave” parties for the eighteen-plus crowd, often on weekends when the high school kids didn’t have to be at class the next day, but one hadn’t fallen on a full moon in nearly a year. The timing was just right, tonight, and the spring weather was fine enough to walk down there without a jacket. Along the way, Yugi assured Yami that Grandpa Muto knew he was going out, so they weren’t sneaking out, though they had to make their way stealthily out the door without waking him up. The club was packed, but the youngest of patrons who had been there during normal hours and just wanted to stay past midnight were already starting to drop, eventually clearing the place for young adults to play the rest of the night. Yami smiled to himself to feel the familiar pulse of the music in his chest, and towed Yugi with him out to the middle of the dance floor to let go of everything for the sake of each other and the beat which drove them. He had his own private reasons for begging this date of Yugi; it had been a rough month, since his last visit, and he knew one of few things that could distract Yugi completely and cheer him up no matter how down he might be was going dancing. Yet, he couldn’t deny his shallow desire to go out alone with his beautiful sweetheart, to dance until it turned them on, and then race home to make love until they fell asleep in exhaustion. Yugi smiled shyly as the sultry pharaoh took him by the hands and encouraged him to begin moving to the beat, and before too long they were completely lost in each other in the middle of a crowd of bouncing bodies.
The longer the night wore on, the more fast and intense the music grew, until breaks for water and breath were becoming more and more frequent. As much as they wanted to spend all night abandoned to the pleasure of watching each other dance seductively under a hail of brilliant, flashing lights, there was a limit to physical energy. Yami could have gone on much longer, but he was concerned as always about Yugi’s stamina so soon after the ritual, and they agreed somewhere around three in the morning that they had gotten their fill and could walk home. Yami decided to conclude the night by trapping Yugi briefly against the railing overlooking the dance floor and kissing him deeply, enjoying the faint trace of sweat on his lips, the exotic play of lights and darkness across their bodies and in their eyes, and the throbbing music filling their senses down to their toes. Breathless and smiling, Yugi gathered Yami’s hand in his and tugged to get him to follow, to the door and home beyond and a warm bed waiting for them.
Yugi slinked up close to Yami and leaned his head on his partner’s shoulder as they slipped out of the club and started briskly up the sidewalk, the chill of the March night hitting their flushed bodies like a rude slap. “That was such a wonderful idea,” the younger one murmured happily. “I really needed that. I’m so worn out but I feel so good…”
“And you don’t mind that we didn’t have any of our friends along?” Yami teased him.
Yugi giggled. “I didn’t even notice!”
The two of them were so wrapped up in each other that they didn’t notice the shadowed figures following them down the sidewalk. They had been lurking outside the bar next to Dream, but Yugi had paid them no mind as he and Yami walked past, since they didn’t look to be anything other than a handful of men winding down their own night with a cigarette in the alley. No more than a block away from the club Yami finally heard the footsteps close behind them, and glanced back with some curiosity to find three men in winter coats striding as briskly as they. He turned forward again and just kept going, though his hand tightened in Yugi’s and his pace quickened slightly. If they wanted to pass by the two of them and go along their own way, why didn’t they? Then, one of them gave a harsh shout that made both Yugi and Yami cringe. “Hey! Why don’t you queers stay home locked in the closet where you ought to be?”
Yugi stiffened, but Yami tugged more urgently at him to keep him from freezing in place. “Just keep walking,” he murmured under his breath. “Ignore them. They’re probably drunk.”
The others started calling out jeers at them as well, focusing obviously on the relationship between the two young men. “What’s the matter?” one sneered. “Too scared to face us? Go on! Run home!”
They were perfectly fine with doing so, not wishing to give credence to the taunts by getting angry and standing up to fight, but one of the men lunged forward and shoved Yugi, making him stumble. Yami caught him and pulled him close, finally forced to stop and face the three strangers who had followed them from the club. He gathered Yugi into his arms and glared at them. “Leave us alone,” he demanded in a stern tone. “We’ve done nothing to warrant this.”
“I told you that club was a magnet for queers,” one of the men growled to his companions. “Always coming out of there late at night and going off to fuck each other. It’s disgusting.”
“Leave us alone,” Yugi whimpered, clutching his partner desperately. “We don’t even know you!”
“You filthy people,” the man spat. “Bringing that into our neighborhood. We don’t want you here.”
“Then let us go,” Yami said coolly, glaring at the three strangers who stood ringing them. “We’re on our way home anyway – ”
“So you can go fuck each other,” one of the others said belligerently. He was close enough that Yugi could smell the alcohol on his breath. “Of course. We don’t want any of that sick stuff around here, we ought to teach you the proper way to behave.”
Gritting his teeth, Yami grabbed a hold of Yugi’s hand and ran, towing his partner along with him. Yugi was terrified but not out of his mind, and kept up without needing to be dragged. The three drunks chased them, and being bigger than the two slender boys, overtook them and knocked them both down. Yugi threw out his hands to catch himself, scraping his palms on the sidewalk. The Puzzle rang as it bounced off the pavement. Yami pushed himself back up immediately, standing over Yugi to protect him as the three strangers faced off with him again. He spread his arms to shield Yugi from them, willing to take the brunt of their attack. “Why won’t you leave us alone?” he cried angrily, focusing a deadly glare on them. “We weren’t looking for a fight, we just want to go home!”
Behind him, Yugi scrambled to his feet and hid behind his partner, clutching at his arm and his back for support. The pharaoh’s anger automatically invoked the power contained within the Puzzle, now that he was physically connected to the source again, and the Eye of the Puzzle began to glow. The drunks didn’t notice it, they were so intent on shouting and making fists at Yami. “We’ll teach you freaks a lesson!” the first one declared, striking out.
Yami stood firm, eyes hard, facing down the fist coming at his head. The Puzzle around Yugi’s neck flared to life, and he glanced down in surprise at it. Without having to think, the pharaoh’s instincts called forth the shadow magic contained inside, and the man suddenly froze in mid-punch. None of them could see the silvery ritual circle bound around his middle, none except for Yami, who stared in surprise that he had cast Spellbinding Circle without realizing it. Then, he considered it – Yugi was holding on to him, his hands on the pharaoh’s back and arm. It formed a conduit through which he could tap into the powers still locked in the Puzzle. Filled with a new determination, Yami faced down the other two, who gave up trying to get their buddy to move and lunged to attack. He flung up a hand in their faces, calling out, “Negate Attack!” at which the two stopped short and fell backwards. That gave him and Yugi a fleeting moment of opportunity to escape, but as they turned to flee, Yami pushing his partner to wake him from his wide-eyed stare of wonder, one of the men swiped out with a hand and caught his foot. In a flash he was up and throttling Yami by the shirt collar, but before the pharaoh could reach for Yugi and connect to his power source again, flashing lights washed over all of them. A police car pulled up alongside the curb, and an officer got out, demanding to know what was going on. “They attacked us!” Yami cried out, trying to wrest himself out of the strange man’s fists. “Please, help us!”
The man let go of him with a shove, sending him stumbling backwards. Yugi caught him, and held him back from retaliating just in case. The officer stepped up on the sidewalk while his partner got out of the car behind him. “Is that so? What’s the problem, here?”
“Nothing,” the man said snippily, straightening out his coat. “Just a little disagreement…”
“These three jerks followed us home from the club and attacked us for no reason!” Yugi yelped. “We didn’t do anything, they just came after us and tried to start a fight with us!”
Whether because Yami had lost his connection to Yugi briefly, or simply a natural time limit, the Spellbinding Circle wore off and the first man stood there blinking in astonishment. The officer eyed him and then the others. “Really? Is this true?”
The drunks did not look him in the eye. “They were coming out of that club…” one tried to explain.
Yami straightened up and caught his breath, wiping the back of his hand across his mouth. “We didn’t provoke them, I promise you,” he said. “We were just leaving the club and walking home. I didn’t even notice they were outside.”
“Me neither,” Yugi concurred.
The officer looked them over. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” Yami replied politely. “I may have bumped my knee on the ground, but nothing worse. Yugi?” he asked with a concerned look to his partner.
Yugi held up his hands and then brushed them off. “Just a little scrape.”
The second officer had come up behind the men and inspected them, noticing that none of them were damaged and all of them reeked of alcohol. “You three,” he demanded, “let’s see some identification. It’s rather late to be out on the street drunk, isn’t it?”
The first officer looked pointedly at the boys. “You haven’t been drinking, have you?”
“No, not at all, sir!” Yugi said immediately. “I’m not of age yet. We were just at the dance club, we haven’t had anything besides water all night.”
“Okay.” The officer set his hands on his hips and sighed. “Well, these three seem to have had a lot more than just water. We’ll take them in, but unless you have something more than your word to go on, we might not be able to charge them with assault or anything.”
“That’s okay,” Yugi said timidly. “As long as we’re not hurt, and we can just go. It’s really late, I just want to go home.”
The officer nodded. “You can press charges if you’d like.”
“No, I think it’ll be okay. They just…” He made a pained face as he glanced at the three men cringing in the presence of the authorities who had them dead to rights. “They took offense over the fact that Yami and I were holding hands. That’s the only reason they attacked us. You came and stopped them before they could hurt us, so…there’s really no reason to drag this out.”
“Oh. I see.” The officer eyed him a little more warily, but his expression remained calm. “Yes, when they’re drunk, people tend to overreact. We’ll have to take them in for public intoxication anyway, but I don’t think we can make anything else stick.”
Yami lowered his eyes solemnly. “Even if we could, it wouldn’t change their attitudes,” he sighed.
“You kids go on home,” the officer said conclusively. “We’ll take it from here.”
“Thank you, sir,” Yugi said with a bow, and then pulled Yami away from the scene with him.
The two of them walked in silence the rest of the way, until they were a block from home and more than certain that they were completely alone with no more shadows following them. Yami then gave a long sigh. “Are you sure we did the right thing, letting them go?” he asked his partner.
“We’re just lucky the police didn’t ask to see our ID,” Yugi fretted. “You don’t have any.” He shook his head. “The cop was right. It was just our word against theirs, even if they were drunk. It’s so horrible…” He scowled at the ground as he walked with his arm linked in Yami’s. “All we had to do was let them beat us up a little and we’d have proof that they assaulted us. It’s either that, or save ourselves and have to walk away without them serving any time for what they did.”
“Given the choice, I’m much more glad that you and I are both safe,” Yami said gently, reaching with his other hand to caress Yugi’s. “Are you all right? You didn’t get hurt at all?”
Yugi shook his head tiredly. “I scraped my hands on the ground, but it’s not bad. I’m okay.” He then turned his head and looked up at his lover with wide, questioning eyes. “What happened with the Puzzle? All of a sudden, I saw it go bright, like it did that one time in front of Bakura…”
Yami took a deep breath and sighed it out before answering. “It was when you touched me,” he murmured. “Somehow, that allowed me to use the powers inside the Millennium Puzzle, and invoke shadow spells. It’s very strange…I don’t know how it works. But I’m not going to take it for granted.”
“Weird,” Yugi agreed. “I guess it’s like you said – there is a lot about the ritual and the Puzzle that we don’t know. Including how you can use your powers when you’re not wearing the Puzzle.”
“It’s you.” Yami gave him a fond smile and caressed the back of his hand. “You’re the key, the connection. I can’t do it without you.”
Smiling up at him, Yugi cuddled close as they crossed the street to their home and paused so he could unlock the door. “Well, that’s a good way to completely ruin the mood,” he complained. “I was all sweaty and sexy and ready to take you to bed with me, but now I just want to go to sleep.”
“Me too,” Yami said with a nod. “It’s all right. We’ll get some sleep and come morning, we’ll have forgotten all about this unpleasant turn. I’m sure it will be better when we’ve rested, anyway,” he added with a wink as they disappeared into the darkness of the house.
The unpredictable nature of spring weather turned a pleasant night into a gray, dreary morning, as the boys eventually woke up to find the room still dark and a light rain pattering on the skylight. It only made them want even more to stay in bed longer, and Yugi rolled over to put his arms around Yami and snuggle him close as he dozed off again. A short time later, though, the pharaoh found himself being awakened by the feathery touch of lips on his neck and cheek. He opened his eyes and smiled down at Yugi, seeing that he was being treated so sweetly by his eager young lover. Noticing that Yami was awake, Yugi smiled in return and stretched up to kiss his waiting lips. “I can still taste the sweat on your skin, from last night,” he murmured huskily.
Yami’s eyes lightened with amusement. “Perhaps a shower is in order, then.”
“In a bit.” Yugi shifted so that more of him was on top of his partner, shoving the Millennium Puzzle over his shoulder so he could stretch his arms out and wrap them around Yami’s neck without interference. Yami settled him into his arms, chuckling. “I don’t feel like getting out of bed yet.”
“I see that.” They kissed for a long while, slowly and gently working themselves first to alertness, and then to arousal in natural progression. Yami tangled his fingers in Yugi’s drooping bangs and kissed him deeply, amused and pleased to find the young one matching his pace and even pushing him a little. Yugi’s hand caressed down his partner’s neck, and then tugged at the collar of his pajama top, seeking to pull it aside and expose his skin. He broke off the endless kiss first, and lowered his head to press his lips to the pharaoh’s throat and chest. Yami heaved a long, content sigh. “My, you’re restless this morning.”
Yugi picked up his head and gave his lover a plaintive look. “Don’t you want to…?”
“Of course I do,” Yami purred, smiling to put him at ease. “I just meant, it’s nice to see you taking the initiative. I know you’re shy, but…I like to be seduced, too.”
The smile returned to Yugi’s face, and he gave Yami another kiss. “You always do such a good job with me, I thought I should return the favor. More than just giving you ‘the look,’ anyway,” he grinned.
“Ah, finding new ways to entice me into making love to you,” the pharaoh said wisely, still smirking. “That look always works, but if you want to test any other ideas out…” He lifted a hand and brushed it across Yugi’s cheek. “…consider me your willing partner.”
Emboldened, Yugi pushed himself up on his hands and squirmed under the blankets, sliding one leg over Yami’s hips and settling himself astride his lover’s stomach. Gravity sent the Puzzle swinging back down around his neck and bumping his chest, but he left it for now. Yami looked up eagerly at him, wondering what the young one had in mind. The blankets pooled around Yugi’s waist and legs, draping over both of them enough to keep them warm as they proceeded. Sitting comfortably on his new perch, Yugi reached to his collar and began to unbutton his pajama top one by one, taking his time, his eyes and a sensual little smile locked on Yami the whole time. Yami’s hands roamed up from his hips to his stomach and eventually across to his arms as he flung aside the top and sat there, bare-chested and innocent, basking in the attention. It was Yami’s turn, then, and he gladly laid there with his arms draped over the sheets while Yugi undid his shirt and worked it off his shoulders, at which point the pharaoh sat up just enough to get it out from under him and throw it on the floor. Yugi’s hand rested on his shoulder, warm and heavy, pushing him back down onto his back in the bed. Yami reclined languidly, feeling very much like a pharaoh being teased and pleased by an enthusiastic secret lover wanting to shower him with all the affection and none of the hard work in making love. Yugi sat astride him and leaned down to kiss him, supporting himself on his hands while he worked his way from lips to neck to chest until Yami was moaning softly in delight. Yugi arched his back as he leaned in and placed his lips right next to his partner’s ear. “Like this?” he murmured. “You like me to seduce you?”
A light gasp escaped Yami’s lips. “My beautiful Yugi,” he whispered back. “Such a tempting young sweetheart I’ve turned you into.”
“I think by now I’ve learned a few things.” Yugi pecked him on the cheek and sat up again, hovering over him with a heated look growing in his violet eyes. “You just lie there, for now, and I’ll show you what I’ve been dreaming of.”
Yami’s hands ran slowly up and down Yugi’s thighs on either side of his waist. “Does this mean you want to be on top, for once?”
Yugi gave a start, and his cheeks flushed bright red. “Uh…well,” he stammered with a sheepish smile, “maybe that’s a little too much for me all at once. Unless you…” He blinked curiously. “You want me to do that to you?”
Yami continued to caress him gently, smiling up at him. “Maybe. If you’re not ready right now, that’s all right. I just thought…” The smile grew soft and willing. “…I don’t always have to give. I’d like to try receiving, sometime. To know how it feels for you, to be taken.”
Yugi lowered his eyes in a bashful smile. “Okay,” he breathed. “I’ll keep that in mind. I want to give you anything you want, Yami. But…maybe not right now.” The shyness evaporated with a sultry, sexy look. “I had other things in mind today. There’s a way to…be on top…without…being on top…”
The pharaoh’s brow twitched with curiosity. “Then, by all means,” he encouraged in a low purr. “Do as you please, Yugi.”
Yugi’s tongue darted out to wet his lips, a teasing precursor to what would follow. He leaned over Yami and spent a good long while exploring his body with lips and tongue, trying every little trick he knew the pharaoh liked to use on him in order to get him stirred up and leave him gasping and whimpering. Yami was too stoic and calm to whimper, but his long, low groans and heavy sighs were just as enticing to hear. Yugi took his time to make sure they were both good and hard before reaching under the blankets and working his pajama pants and underwear off, after which he helped Yami out of his and then settled back onto his hips. His partner laid willingly beneath him, breathing hard, relaxing as best he could to be ready for anything Yugi wanted to do to him. Yugi sat on his stomach for a bit and reached around behind himself to find the erection bumping up against his ass, and stroked it affectionately before kneeling forward and stretching up to find the lubricant waiting on the headboard. Pressing his head back into the pillows, Yami took a deep breath and smiled, beginning to guess where this would go. He watched happily as Yugi fumbled with the tube, squeezed some onto his fingers, and reached around again to stroke his partner’s waiting erection. Making a fist, Yugi rested his weight on it while he took care of himself, then, lowing his head and giving his partner teasing kisses to distract him while he went about the mundane but essential step of preparing himself. When he was ready, he sat back and raised himself up on his knees, backing up enough to find the proper position and locate the cock standing at attention. Yami sucked in his breath, his eyes widening, as he watched Yugi gently, cautiously, rest his ass against his cock and sink down onto it. A shy, demure look remained in his downcast eyes as Yugi impaled himself on his lover’s erection, biting his lip just a little at the brief flash of discomfort that preceded the exquisite pleasure. His breath rushed out of his lungs in a huge sigh, making him throw his head back as he sank fully down onto Yami. The pharaoh also gasped, finding himself trapped beneath Yugi and unable to help, knowing that it was what Yugi wanted. He wanted to treat his lover, to take control, for just this little bit. Yami decided to let him, laying back and just running his hands encouragingly along Yugi’s thighs.
Yugi sat for a minute or two adjusting to the position, his shoulders heaving with each deep breath to calm himself. He closed his eyes as he began rocking, forward and up, lifting himself on his knees and sinking back down onto Yami at a slow pace. After the first few strokes, getting used to it, plucking up his courage enough not to blush, he heard Yami’s sighing moans and opened his eyes to look. Yami, flat on his back, was gazing up at him with an indescribable light in his eyes, almost reverent in the way he watched his young love push himself to pleasure him this way. Lips parted for breath, half-smiling, half-staring in wonder, it was an astonishing expression. Yugi smiled to see it, figuring that he was doing good and should keep going. The hands caressing his knees and moving to clutch his thighs agreed. It took time, doing it this way, but they had all the time in the world to spend on a good, long, slow fuck that would make up for the aborted mood the night before. The Puzzle swung in a lazy pendulum arc and beat gently on Yugi’s stomach as he pushed himself up and back down, his breath starting to come in shorter gasps with a little whimper or moan now and then. By the time they both grew near to climax, a light sheen of sweat glowed on Yugi’s naked shoulders, and both were keening softly with the effort and the pleasure. Though his body trembled, Yami pushed himself up on one hand and took hold of Yugi’s arm, getting him to pause for the briefest moment. It was a welcome break for Yugi, who was panting with the strain, a blush faintly coloring his cheeks as he felt his partner beneath him trying to sit up. He leaned back, finding himself caught up in Yami’s arms as the pharaoh sat fully up and reached to hold him, keeping him in place. He wrapped one arm around Yugi’s shoulders, while the other slid down around Yugi’s ass and caressed lovingly before getting a firm grip. Understanding, Yugi draped his arms around Yami’s shoulders and pulled himself closer, shifting to find his comfortable seat before starting all over again. This time, Yami could help, pulling his lover down onto him with a little force. They found a rhythm both could keep up with, and then made it faster, harder, driving them both to the edge and over. Yami held on to Yugi’s back and ass as he pulled the young one down to receive him, his arms tightening into a fierce embrace that allowed him to press his face to Yugi’s shoulder and cling to him as his body shook with release. Yugi’s head fell back as he cried out, his hands clenching in the pharaoh’s hair as they both wrapped themselves around each other and shared the heat and power of mutual orgasm.
Grandpa Muto glanced at the clock when he heard the thunder of feet coming down the steps from upstairs. “It’s a miracle,” he teased as soon as Yugi appeared in the doorway, sock-footed and with his hair still wet from a shower. “You’re up before noon.”
“Grandpa,” Yugi groaned. Yami came out right behind him, stepping a little more sedately down the stairs and giving Grandpa Muto a warm smile. “I just wanted to check, see if there was anything you needed me to do.”
“Hm, I don’t think so,” Grandpa mused. “You’re not going out with your friends today?”
Yugi made a pouty face. “Everybody’s busy. Duke’s doing employee evaluations all day, Joey has a paper to write, Bakura’s got his work-study thing after class, even Tristan’s working late.”
“Ah, too bad.” Grandpa leaned on the counter and thought about it. “Hmm, nope, come to think of it, I don’t have any errands for you to run. I guess you and Yami will just have to spend the day entertaining yourselves.”
Yugi tried unsuccessfully to stifle a huge grin. “Oh well,” he shrugged. “It’s raining anyway, it’s the sort of day you feel like just curling up inside under a blanket and doing nothing.” He turned to his partner, unable to stop himself from running his hand indulgently down Yami’s chest as he meant to push him back towards the stairs. “You want me to bring some lunch down, Grandpa?”
“That would be very kind of you, Yugi,” Grandpa Muto consented.
The lovers surreptitiously clasped hands as they started back up the stairs, Yugi going first and towing his partner along behind. They were now free to just be with each other, but after the long and fulfilling session in bed, neither felt like just tossing their clothes back off and going at it again. It would be hard to top their morning’s efforts. Yugi busied himself making some soup for lunch, since it was one of those gray days when soup seemed to be the only appropriate meal, and brought some down to his grandfather before sitting down with Yami to eat together and just talk or hold hands across the table. From there, Yugi figured he could take care of a few quick chores around the house, some spring cleaning he and Grandpa had been meaning to get around to, before he and Yami flopped down on the couch to sit together and do nothing more exciting than watch TV. Usually, full moon days were a whirlwind of activity, as Yugi liked to have something to do with Yami to make it worth being embodied, but as he fetched a snack from the kitchen and slumped down into the couch cushions, Yami put his arms around him and kissed him reassuringly. “This is fine,” he said innocently. “We don’t always have to be out, doing something, having a schedule. I like simply being with you.” He smiled down at Yugi’s plaintive look. “You never even asked me if I’d like to sit on the couch and watch television.”
Yugi blinked at him. “I thought you’d find it boring.”
“Hardly.” Yami kissed him on the forehead and settled down with him, cuddling him in his arms. “It’s something you like to do, and something you often do with your friends. Therefore, I am more than interested in joining you in such an activity.”
Yugi grinned shyly and squirmed happily in his partner’s embrace as he pulled open the foil top of the cup of yogurt he had brought in with him. “All right then,” he conceded. “Though there’s probably not a lot to watch right now. Later tonight though…there’s a couple of series I’m kind of following,” he admitted sheepishly, “so…”
“Then we’ll watch them,” Yami said concludingly.
Yugi handed him the remote before digging into his snack. “Here you go. You’re in charge. Find us something to watch.”
Amused, Yami flipped through the channels while Yugi ate, both of them falling into a comfortable silence in each others’ presence. Quickly convinced that modern society was brainless and annoying, the pharaoh settled on something animated just because he liked the color and movement. By the pleased noise Yugi made with a spoonful of yogurt in his mouth, he assumed he had guessed right. Yami glanced at him, smiling at how adorable he looked nibbling away at his snack, until Yugi became aware of the eyes on him and glanced back. Seeing his partner’s smile, he smirked in return, and deliberately licked the next spoonful of yogurt in a suggestive manner. The pharaoh’s elegant eyebrows arched. Yugi giggled under his breath, and decided to taunt him further by not only sensually closing his mouth around the spoon, but closing his eyes and purring over how delicious the strawberry yogurt tasted. Yami held him closer, pulling him back into his chest so he could rest his cheek against Yugi’s temple and snuggle him. Seeing as he had a captive audience, Yugi spooned up more yogurt and offered it to his partner, waggling the spoon temptingly. Not one to turn down food or seduction, Yami stretched forward and slowly sucked every last bit of yogurt from the spoon, to Yugi’s complete delight. The pharaoh sat and licked his lips, enjoying the sweetness, while he watched Yugi scrape out the last bit and once again tease it seductively off the spoon. All that was left was to run his finger around the rim of the cup to get the last dregs out, but this was the best part of all. Yugi turned slightly in his lover’s arms so he could watch, and stuck his yogurt-covered finger in his mouth, swirling it around and slowly drawing it out clean, with a last lick for effect. The deep purr in his lover’s chest prodded him to do it again, only this time, holding up his finger, he touched it to Yami’s lips instead. The pharaoh opened his mouth just enough to slide the waiting finger inside, and tickled it with his tongue as he sucked off the yogurt and then just lavished Yugi’s finger sensually. Pulling back, Yugi gave a small gasp of delight and immediately set the empty cup aside, surprising his partner by shifting and climbing up into his lap, facing him and sitting astride his hips. Yami settled him in his lap, looking up with a question in his eyes. “Yugi?”
“Don’t tell me you’re not completely turned on, too,” Yugi whispered, leaning in close to Yami’s cheek and ear even as his hand groped downward to find the edge of the pharaoh’s shirt and tug it up to allow him to touch bare skin beneath.
“Well…” The rest of Yami’s answer was cut off by Yugi’s lips, as he leaned in to kiss him hard, tasting of strawberries. Yami eagerly kissed back, sliding his hands down around Yugi’s waist and cupping his ass, pulling him a little closer in his lap. Yugi leaned on one hand, which rested on his partner’s hip, while the other groped under his shirt and caressed enticingly along the lines of his muscles. For a long time neither broke the kiss, hungry for contact even after so much satisfaction already. At last, Yugi moved to advance, his hand trailing down Yami’s stomach to his waist and hastily unbuckling his belt. The pharaoh could only moan against the lips savaging his, until Yugi’s hand on his cock stirred him to alertness. “Yugi!” he gasped, his eyes flying open. “What…? Not here!”
“Why not?” Yugi worked him out of his jeans and began to tease his fingers up and down the length. He wrapped his other arm around his partner’s shoulders and leaned in so he could trail his lips across his cheek and ear while he murmured, “I’m not patient enough to make it to the bedroom…”
“What if Grandpa comes in?” Yami hissed.
“He won’t.” Yugi kissed him wetly on the neck. “He’s busy minding the shop.”
“Yes…but…” Yami gave him a look of panic, despite the obvious evidence that he was, in fact, quite turned on by the circumstance.
Yugi giggled in his ear. “Fine, then we won’t go all the way,” he relented, his hand not stopping its exploration. “But I have to feel you…and I want you to touch me…”
His shoulders sagging with a sigh, Yami gave in, a smile returning to his face as he caressed his partner’s ass and then moved to undo his pants as well, tugging them down just enough to free him to be touched and stroked. Yugi gasped audibly, and tilted his hips slightly forward in encouragement. Each fingered the other testingly, kneading and brushing fingertips softly, and then gradually began to stroke harder, less delicately, all the while smiling and chuckling and sighing and moaning at each other. The animated show in the background went completely ignored, though the noise more than masked the lovers’ activity from being heard elsewhere. Faster, more intense, their gasps becoming heavier, their heads tilting to snatch kisses from each other in between each breath, tongues swirling around each other, they had no intention of stopping – and the thought of having someone walk in on them at any minute only made them hotter. Yugi ground his hips forward against his partner’s, almost thrusting into the hand working him. Breaking away from the relentless kiss, he lowered his head to gaze down at their actions hidden in the shadows between their bodies, and then got a singular inspiration. He inched forward on Yami’s lap until their cocks brushed against each other, and then grasped his hand around both of them at once, forcing them into contact with each other. The groan Yami let out sent a shiver up Yugi’s back. The pharaoh’s hand reached to close around his, and together they both stroked simultaneously, so that both their bodies received the same treatment and the friction rubbed their erections together. Very quickly they were both reduced to gasping, moaning, and trembling, and it wasn’t too long afterward that both came nearly at the same time, into each other’s hands. Yugi slumped forward against Yami, resting his head on his lover’s shoulder, and they sat together for a long while catching their breath and chuckling at their audacity. At last, Yami stirred, nuzzling Yugi to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep on him. “Well…” he noted.
Yugi lifted his head and kissed him gently. “Mm, thank you,” he purred. “That was worth it.”
“Remind me in one month to wear you out completely overnight,” the pharaoh murmured in amusement, “so that you don’t have the energy to keep pouncing on me throughout the day.”
That made Yugi laugh, though he remained slumped against Yami for a little while longer. He eventually had to force himself to take his sticky hand out from the warm confines of his partner’s pants. “Oh dear,” he lamented. “Let me go get a towel or something. We’ll clean it up and Grandpa will never know.”
Yami gave him a wary look. “He had better not.”
Having gotten that out of their systems, the boys behaved themselves the rest of the day, eventually having dinner with Grandpa and then sitting down to catch Yugi’s favorite new programs on TV. Grandpa Muto never questioned why there was laundry being done, he was merely glad that Yugi was doing chores as he ought to without needing to be nagged, and even on his day off with the pharaoh. As evening drew on and left them feeling sated and comfortable, the boys retired to Yugi’s room and goofed off a little, dueling each other once for giggles. Then, Yami got a thoughtful look and set his spare deck aside. “What about the wireless dueling network?” he wondered. “You haven’t used it very much since the tournament.”
“Well, I suppose that could be fun,” Yugi mused. “But do you really want to just sit there and watch me? You won’t be able to partner with me. Or even hear the person I’m talking to, for that matter.”
“Yet, I’m curious.” Yami blinked innocently at his young love. “Are you sure you wouldn’t want to play with it?”
Yugi snickered and climbed up into his lap again. “I can think of other things I’d like to play with.”
Yami laughed and wrestled him to the floor, pinning him down on his back and kissing him once. “Honestly, Yugi. Where has this inexhaustible supply of energy come from? Not that I mind, but…”
“I don’t know,” Yugi shrugged casually. “Maybe, like you said…now that I’m not dragging you out to do something with all our friends, and we’re just sitting around here at home…” He made a show of thinking about it, scrunching his nose up cutely. “Or maybe it’s just spring fever.”
“I’d be inclined to believe that.” Yami chuckled and kissed him again before letting him up. “It was just a thought. Perhaps you’re right…you and I can’t duel together as we usually do. Who knows? Perhaps someone will take this opportunity to defeat you.”
Yugi scowled. “Oh, you think so?” He regarded his partner’s impish smirk and made a face at him. “You’re just trying to get a rise out of me, and get me to agree to duel online.”
“Is it working?”
Yugi looked away, but after a second’s pause, sighed and got up to retrieve his duel disk. Yami threw his head back and laughed deeply. “But no complaining over only being able to hear half the conversation,” Yugi warned him. “You won’t even get to see the duel itself, just what I play.”
“That’s all right.” Yami sat back on the floor, resting his hands behind him. “I’m just curious what it looks like. And I’m sure you can more than hold your own without me,” he added kindly.
“Yeah, yeah.” Yugi had to turn his computer on, and then poked around for a bit to see if anyone he knew was online. It would be more fun to duel a friend than any random stranger who popped up and wanted to challenge the world champion. To his pleased surprise, Marik’s username on his watchlist was highlighted. Yami stood up and came to hang over his shoulder while Yugi clicked on the name and typed in a greeting.
Both partners smiled the same smile when the message window came back up. Yugi! It’s about time! What are you up to?
Yugi glanced over his shoulder at Yami before typing his response. Oh, not much. Yami wants to see me duel somebody with the wireless duel disk.
Oh, that’s right. It’s the full moon, Marik noted. Is he watching this right now?
Yeah, he’s right behind me.
Marik’s font grew twice as big just to type, Hello Pharaoh!
Yami laughed. Yugi told Marik that he said hello back. So what are you up to? he added.
Not much. Actually…I’m waiting around to chat with Bakura.
Both Yugi and Yami stared at the screen, and then each other. Bakura? Yugi typed quickly. Really?
Yes, surprisingly enough. He found out my username and messaged me a couple of weeks ago, and we’ve been chatting a lot ever since. There was a pause, but before Yugi could type anything, Marik added, He may be a while yet, so I have time if you want to duel. Sure.
Okay, Yugi agreed. We can talk more over the headset. He pushed back his chair, and gave his partner a smile before standing up and switching into the wireless duel disk. The screen before his eye noted that user “WingedDragonMarik” requested a duel with him, so he hit the button to accept it and was pleased to hear Marik’s distant voice in his ear. “There we go,” Yugi said happily, handing his deck to Yami to shuffle for him. “Cool! It’s good to hear from you again, Marik.”
“Yes, I know. It’s been a whole two months. Though, I suppose you have a busy life,” Marik said modestly.
Yugi laughed. “Not that busy. I just keep forgetting that I have this. I’ve only dueled online a couple of times, this is the first time I’ve done it without Yami being with me.” He gentled his tone to try to hide his intense curiosity as he accepted the shuffled deck and stuck it in the card tray. “So, you’re waiting online for Bakura?”
“Just to chat,” Marik said placidly. “We don’t duel. He’s good company. Ready?” he added. Yugi said he was, so Marik drew to begin the duel. “Yeah, we started hanging out while he was home sick a couple weeks ago, he needed to pass the time and I wasn’t doing anything anyway. We’ve talked quite a few times since then. Two cards face down, and Granadora in attack mode.”
Yugi stood in the middle of his bedroom with the duel disk raised, his mind snapping straight into game mode even with the nice, casual conversation overlaying all of it. Then, he felt arms come around him from behind, and glanced to see Yami holding him and looking over his shoulder at his hand. He may not have been bonded with his vessel, but he could still “help.” Yugi grinned and turned his attention to his cards. “Well, that’s cool,” he said. “I was going to give him your username as soon as I could talk to him about it, but it looks like he beat me to it.”
“Oh, so you really did have nothing to do with it?” Marik said in wonder. “He said he found me all by himself, but after what you and I talked about at the tournament…”
“No, he really did!” Yugi giggled. “Okay, this face down and Queen’s Knight in defense mode. Your move.”
The two friends dueled casually for just one round, not taking it too seriously even though Yugi muscled his way to a win regardless. They were more interested in chatting between plays, anyway, talking about all kinds of things not related to the duel. Yugi refrained from telling Marik why Bakura had been laid up those few days, figuring it was Bakura’s place alone to tell him when he was ready, but he did share the stories of unpleasant things that had happened to him and his friends over the last month. There were good things to report, too, and Marik was surprised and interested to hear about Duke and Tristan. In the end, they had a good chuckle over Yugi’s sloppy victory and shared a few pleasantries before Marik noted that Bakura had just signed on. Yugi glanced over at the computer still logged into his account – sure enough, ChangeofHeart was online now. “All right, I’ll let you go, then,” Yugi said. “Tell him I say hi and I’ll email him.”
“I will do that. My love to the pharaoh.”
Yugi snickered. “He’s hanging over my shoulder, he can hear everything coming out of my earpiece.”
Yami lifted his chin off Yugi’s shoulder and said, loud enough for the microphone to pick up, “Have a good evening, Marik. Or, afternoon, I suppose.”
Marik chuckled warmly. “Yes, it’s early afternoon here. You two only have a few hours left – make the most of them.”
“We shall,” Yami promised.
“Take it easy, Marik,” Yugi added before closing the connection. He took the headset off and turned to his lover. “Well? Are you satisfied now? I don’t feel like dueling anyone else.”
“That’s fine,” Yami smiled. “Whatever pleases you. Don’t force yourself to play on my account.”
“The only other people online are strangers…if I took myself out of invisible mode, they’d all be pounding down my virtual door,” Yugi groaned. “I learned that the hard way the first time I logged in. I bet most of them have my name on their watchlist even though they’ve never met me.” He took off his duel disk and set it by the computer, reaching to log it out of the KaibaCorp network and switch it off. At last, he turned with a sigh and leaned on the desk. “Man, I’m kinda tired, now. You know what you were saying earlier about that inexhaustible energy?” He closed his eyes. “I think it got exhausted.”
Chuckling, Yami came and took him into his arms, kissing him gently on the bridge of his nose. “So, it’s dueling rather than sex that wears you out. I shall have to keep that in mind.”
“Very funny.” Yugi cuddled into him and nuzzled his chest. “It is kind of late. I know we still have a couple hours left in your day, but…” He sighed regretfully. “I agreed to take the early shift tomorrow. And after last night, and not sleeping in as late as I thought I would…”
“We can go to bed,” Yami said understandingly. “You certainly don’t need to ask my permission.” He kissed his partner’s forehead. “You do look tired.”
“Yeah, I am.” Yugi rested his head on his lover’s chest and closed his eyes. “You’re so nice and warm. I just want to take you to bed and cuddle you all night.”
The pharaoh heaved a deep chuckle. “Then, let’s go to bed.”
The two of them moved silently about the bedroom, shucking off clothes and finding pajamas, taking off jewelry, making one last run to the bathroom before bed and saying goodnight to Grandpa Muto on the way. As Yugi snuggled down into the warm blankets that Yami pulled up around their shoulders, he sighed contentedly into his partner’s bare chest. Since Yami would disappear at midnight, he wore only sleep pants and nothing else so he wouldn’t leave too much behind in the sheets. “This is nice,” Yugi purred as he closed his eyes, stroking his fingers across Yami’s chest. “I could get used to this. I wish you could be with me every night like this.”
“Even so…” Yami curled his arms around Yugi and held him comfortably, glad to see the Puzzle had found its way naturally to one side so as not to jab them. “It comforts me to see that we’ve become so close that you don’t need to stay awake until midnight every time. Even though you know I’m going to disappear, you trust me enough to fall asleep in my arms and not worry about it.”
“Well, we have been doing it for a long time,” Yugi murmured. “I guess it’s about time we stopped trying to fill every minute of those twenty-four hours with ‘something.’” He breathed deeply and gave a little contented purr. “You know…today made me realize something.”
“What is that?”
“We’re comfortable with each other.” He opened his eyes a crack in order to be able to look up and behold Yami’s elegant features. “We didn’t hardly do anything today, and yet it’s one of the best days I’ve had with you. It’s so natural to just be with you, even though we didn’t break my usual routine.”
Yami smiled. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Oh, not at all.” Yugi closed his eyes again. “It’s something all couples do, with enough time together. It just means what we have is more than just a phase.” He snuggled down more deeply against his partner. “The ritual may be getting to be a routine, but…it’s still special every time. As is…being with you.”
Yami kissed his temple. “As much as I enjoy making love to you, and believe me, I do…I like this, too. Falling asleep with you. It does feel…natural, as you say.”
Yugi grumbled under his breath. “It’s not like I’m not going to wake up at midnight anyway.” He shifted his head and opened his eyes fully to give his partner an exasperated look. “Did you know that, for some odd reason, you returning to the Puzzle makes me need to go to the bathroom?”
“What?” Yami couldn’t help but laugh in response. “Yugi…”
“I’m serious!” Yugi laid his head back down firmly. “I’ve done it enough times to know. No matter how awake or sleepy I am, at midnight, when you go back in the Puzzle, I’m going to need to get up and go to the bathroom. I have no idea why, that’s just the way it is.”
Yami continued to chuckle, though he tried to quiet down for his partner’s sake. “I see,” he said at last. “I’m sorry, Yugi. If I could do anything about it…”
“It’s okay,” Yugi breathed, his eyes fluttering closed. “It’s just funny, is all.”
Yami murmured his agreement, and then quieted down to let his partner sleep. It took a while for Yugi to fall asleep, but eventually he did, and Yami got to lay with him and watch him sleep for about an hour before the day expired and the ritual stole him away back to his home in the Puzzle. Sure enough, less than thirty seconds after the clock struck midnight, Yugi pulled himself out of a deep slumber and dragged himself out of the warm blankets to go down the hall to the bathroom. When he came back to bed, he had woken up enough to notice that it was just after midnight and Yami was gone. Removing the Puzzle safely from his neck, he set it on the pillow and then reached for the stuffed dog Yami had given him last year for his birthday and curled up with it instead. He pulled the blankets back up around his shoulders and breathed deeply, smiling to himself as he realized he could still smell Yami on the bedclothes.