Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh

Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind.

Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse

Update Schedule: Final updates and edits are official finished~

Writing Note: This story was an attempt for me to get past writer's block and to finalize my more descriptive prose (which I am still working on). Any feedback concerning it would be appreciated. Please and thank you.

Dindundon- Wow, I'm definitely flattered that you got so excited for the last chapter~ And I'm glad you thought the plot twist was good lol I actually have planned some interactions between Sugoroku and Yami in a later sequel. I'm predicting the third or fourth, considering the next doesn't have much of the family in it. Actually the friends kind of have to go on the wayside too from what I've got planned. Although, considering how much the stories tend to stretch when I do edits and additional scenes with rough drafts, that might change. I DO know, though, that Yami interacts with Joey and Serenity (fun times, let me tell you lol) and eventually Tristan and Blankey (the German shepherd in the manga, if you don't remember her) so there's that. And a couple of new characters are introduced. It's going to be something a little on the darker side with attitudes and reactions to things (especially a couple of things that Yami does and says).

Also, thank you, the title drop is totally meant to give shivers LOL I'm kidding but I'm actually super proud that it affects one of my readers like that ^^

All right, SO! Lemon in this chapter. The chapter's rating is officially MA (Mature Adult). Yugi and Yami get some physical exercise together (I know, I know, it's a long time in coming). Anyways, there are a few mentions of kinks, but nothing is really pointed at or explored. If bondage (it's a brief mention) makes anyone nervous, just remember it's a joke that Yami makes. If masochism (it's also a brief mention) makes anyone nervous, just remember it's momentary and more teasing than anything else. There are SLIGHT mentions of blood during the lemon, mostly because of some violent reactions on Yami's behalf, and just because it couldn't be Behind You without someone getting threatened a bloody end by the deity that is Yami.

Also, if anyone considers that the chapter is somehow…unfitting, I guess would be the best word…just remember that since the sequels were planned in advance, each of them might have a similar feeling until the end of it. I'm still not sure how many parts it will have, considering the mini-series seems to suddenly be growing a little longer than I planned, but by the end of it, it'll all seem pretty much wrapped up nicely. There might be loose ends at the end of it because some things are going to be for you guys to decide on your own. Anyways, despite that, technically since this story mostly focuses on their interactions and Yugi coming to terms with all of his feelings concerning Yami, it shouldn't feel incomplete or unfitting, but if it does, yeah, just remember that.

TLDR: Chapter is rated MA. Kinks in lemons are mentioned briefly. Sequels were planned in advance, ending might seem strange (but might not also, don't know).

Chapter XVI

How did one go about summoning a god?

For over an hour Yugi had been attempting to summon Yami to him. He'd used his name. He'd gone as far as to picture him appearing in front of him. He'd even offered blood and wine at one point.

But not once had the red-eyed teen responded to him.

His shadow had stretched across the wall and turned so dark it looked as if nighttime had spread in a hideous brushstroke of black. But still the other boy did not come. Yugi had watched it multiple times, counting off the seconds it took for it to do so. It would stretch and darken, become a hideous lash of black against sky blue, but it had not brought with it Yami himself.

It lasted only as long as it took him to blink, so swift in expression that Yugi almost thought himself foolish for even believing his grandpa's words. He had been seated on the bed for hours now, staring at the spot his shadow lurched upon the wall behind him. The room was bathed in off-golden light, the sun creeping downwards in its usual slow descent.

For what felt a lifetime Yugi had struggled to come up with a new name to give the other boy. He'd settled only hours into the night, half-asleep and drowning with disbelief. And he'd woken up and tried repeatedly since then to summon Yami there. But now, it seemed, Yugi was unable to even grasp upon the other's slightest sense of interest.

Without a response, the task of trying to bestow some new hint of freedom upon him was almost daunting in all reality. And then, with that, came the horrible idea that perhaps this would do him so much worse rather than any better. But his grandpa had mentioned that Yami had reacted to his name each time he'd spoken it while with Tea. And if he had reacted to it, then why shouldn't he be concerned that doing so might allow someone else to somehow summon him through any other number of means?

Yugi bit his lip. He was stumbling through the dark with each attempt. The entire situation itself was one huge, gaping black hole. It was bleak and desolate and it was impossible to know if the repercussions would be great or lenient. Attempting to summon him there, trying to give him a new name…

What if it all did a million times worse than he had ever expected?

What if this was all the wrong thing to do?

What if it bound Yami more permanently?

Or it somehow released him and he became more destructive than he already was?

Yugi faltered.

He didn't even know what deity Yami was.

He had no idea what he resided over. He had no depth of knowledge towards his power. He had no concept of how he was worshipped. He did not even know if Yami was at his fullest strength.

He doubted the latter but what if, for all his ferocity and anger, Yami was the simplest, smallest of gods?

The small teen sighed and bit his lip harder, until blood crept across his tongue and he nearly cringed. Yugi had no idea if Yami even truly understood what it was that he wanted from him, why he needed him to appear there. He did not know if he did, if it was because he just did not care to come or if he was perhaps fearful of whatever it might be Yugi was calling him there for. He didn't think he had ever truly asked Yami to come to his side before. And, if he were Yami, the fact that he was trying now would have alarmed him and made him all but furious.

But what if something was wrong? What if Yami could not sense his emotions? What if he could not even see him from where he seemingly kept watch as his shadow? Perhaps it was all too brief and small a connection. It could be so loose and weak, something that only allowed them to truly come together where there was a trigger that provoked response from Yami.

Maybe that was the only reason he had been there when Ushio had cornered Yugi in the alleyway like that. Because Yami had not been there at all. Yugi had not sensed him in the slightest. And he had no explanation beyond that. He did not even know how their connection worked or even if his shadow stretching and draping itself along the walls like this was simply his own imagination.

Maybe he was just trying to comfort himself.

Maybe Yami's statement about always being behind him had been metaphorical…

He did not have words to actually summon Yami, he realized. All he had was a name that he had bestowed without meaning to and the vaguest idea that the god reacted to it when spoken. Because, as his grandpa had said, Yami did not seemed to be ruled by whatever law governed a given name.

And so, without more, Yugi could not truly imagine Yami going out of his way to respond to him. The reality of it was that there was no reason beyond his own loneliness. Yami was not obligated as Yugi was not in danger. And the small teen was not going to throw himself in front of a car or try to get himself killed for the sake of summoning a deity.

And, no matter how much he considered, ancient rituals for different gods in old times did not quite match up. There were too many of them. He would have had to scroll for hours through information on the internet. And some of that wouldn't even be truthful.

And all of it would be confusing and possibly call for a sacrifice or blood of some kind. And what could he offer but his own? And what if Yami wasn't even a god to begin with and—?

So come and find me.

Yugi startled from his thoughts, jerking. And then he froze in place. His spine tightened and his heart began to pound. His breathing grew shallow for a moment. Electricity and heat buzzed through his veins.

That familiar misting of chilled air had come upon his senses once more, though it slipped away immediately once more. The challenge was clear, intoxicating as it was delivered in its rich baritone pitch, and the small teen laughed softly.

So Yami truly could hear him, was actively listening. He was probably laughing at each attempt with splendorous amusement. And now, considering it, he realized it was exactly what the stubborn bastard might do to him.

Of course he laugh and tease him rather than help him at any rate.

Yugi sighed and headed for the door, listening and listening and knowing that his mom was not home. He checked anyways, to be on the safe side. He was far from willing to deal with her if she found him slipping out of the house so late like this. She would not want him to leave the house alone, especially when it was already rapidly becoming dark.

If his friends had been there, however, she might not have cared beyond warning him not to stay out too late. But she would never have approved of this. It did not matter that most oftentimes Japan was just short of being the safest place in the world.

The small teen rolled his eyes and made his way through the door which divided the shop and living space, slipping his shoes on and wandering for the front door. The bell chimed softly as he pulled it open, somehow so familiar that it managed to ground him for a brief moment. The Puzzle swung and hit against his abdomen gently.

He did not have to think about it to know where he was headed.

Yami was at the park.

It was the only place that made sense now that he truly considered it. It, aside from the arcade and the alleyway, was the only actual place outside of the house that they had crossed paths. He was not really sure what it was that made Yami choose the park. But he wondered if maybe it was possible he knew the area from his memories.

He had been to the park lots of times as a child. But how Yami might have known that was a question within itself. Perhaps Yami had cared enough to pick out what little information he found necessary from the memories he had dug through.

Now that Yugi wasn't running, there was a strange and very self-conscious realization which came over him. It was odd to be wandering the streets like this, especially at his hour. With winter so close the nights were so much longer, the days almost halved by the darkness.

It was only a few minutes after six and already the sky had given birth to ribbons of orange and red, gentle splatters of purple and blue. The stars were beginning to peek out from behind clouds that drifted easily, dissipating entirely before his eyes. It looked of navy blue fabric traced with fine diamonds of white and silver.

The streets were almost entirely silent. A few stray barks and the occasional movement in the dark did not do much to disturb it. Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in the smell of cold asphalt and humidity. Snow had just begun to flutter, finally. He could see the slightest of the soft flakes drifting through the air. It was so slow and lazy that he almost thought hours would pass before he saw the next handful to drift downwards. But he could feel it somewhere deep in his bones, a natural instinct, that the snow would be much more than the light dusting the weather channels had come to predict.

Yugi opened his eyes again, taking in the way that the streets had darkened in those few seconds. His teeth dug into his cheek, his head turning both ways as he hurried across the street just in case. A dog barked again, from somewhere far in front of him, and the noise was great and booming as it traveled so well forward.

He looked around a few times, though this was more because he worried he'd heard the direction of this bark wrong. Then another bark came forward, from an entirely new direction, and Yugi found himself relaxing slightly. The short series of yips that came afterwards were followed by a great and powerful baying which made the air quiver as if it were a plucked bowstring.

It must have been a few strays. Perhaps they were the dogs that lived in packs in the woods. He didn't know. Domino did have quite a few strays, however, though it was not the worst.

Yugi took in the trees and the benches which lined the way. The streetlights were bright in their scattered positions along the sidewalks. He hummed under his breath, a soft tune which comforted him if only slightly.

He could feel Yami there beneath his skin, in his head. He brushed against him and became flush amongst his thoughts, making him shiver. The secure feeling that came with it made him tremble briefly with relief. His heart skipped as he wandered forward and continued into the trees, drawing in a deep breath to get a taste of the night air.

The grass had grown a little sweeter, as if giving off a final aroma before they were swallowed up completely by the winter. The air cooled his throat and bit at his skin. But he felt as if his entire body were being engulfed in fire, as if he were feverish and desperate.

And he wondered if Yami were yearning for contact as he did.

Yugi weaved his way among the trunks, shivering at the touch of cold air that burned through him. The way his clothes felt a little tighter against his skin with the touch of a light breeze was oddly comforting. He glanced up, took in the way the clouds moved together overhead, almost as if summoned forth. They skittered across the moon, illuminated and bright where it had become hidden behind the thick white.

Snow…

The snow would come in a matter of hours—if even that long from then. The thought made him smile slightly with amusement, though he faltered and fell short the moment he realized that he could not see Yami anywhere. His face fell immediately. His head tilted to the side, bewilderment coming over his features as his stomach tossed slightly. And then, slowly, a new thought occurred to him.

Yugi stepped back a handful of paces, then very slowly craned his head back to look upwards. The action was almost enough to make his neck ache, head spinning with momentary dizziness.

But there he was.

Yami rested there, in such a lazy position that it made Yugi immediately smile again. The taller teen sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the branch. He was leaned forward only slightly, eyes glowing and burning through the gathering darkness. The idea of interrupting him in such a peaceful state made Yugi falter again, stomach tightening. His smile fell and he frowned in slight puzzlement. The mirroring look the deity granted him was not bemusement but rather dissatisfaction.

Then, like a cat, Yami pounced.

The height would have stunned anyone else. The drop would have wounded someone else altogether. The pain would have been enough to at least made them pause.

Yami simply landed in front of him, a couple of feet away. His drop had made only a loud crunching thud which caused Yugi to blink as he remembered the frozen grass. The small teen took a moment to watch him, see the way he breathed easily and eyed him without much expression. But Yami did not appear angry. And he looked healthy, seeing as he had not even had to crouch to recover himself upon his landing. When he stepped forward, he did not look stiff. He did not seem injured. And Yugi could feel nothing painful.

But Yugi felt sick all the same.

As Yami did not seem angered in the slightest. And that scared him. He studied the deity for a long moment. Those red eyes had grown narrow, darkening faintly. But his relaxed stance had not changed. The cold seemed to have done well to comfort him, to somehow leave his body warm and comfortable even as it appeared beautiful and alluring to the smaller boy.

Yugi stepped forward. Yami's lip twitched faintly with something almost like distaste. It threatened to curl back for a brief second, but the small teen found it hard not to laugh now. The sight of his reaction was amusing, adorable somehow even. Then Yugi moved faster, almost quick enough that he was running in that split second it took to get to him.

His arms wrapped around him immediately. The positioning was awkward. The god did not move to embrace him. Nor did he move his limbs were they were trapped against his flanks due to this action. Yugi buried his face into his chest. He closed his eyes tightly, smelling that strange and intoxicating scent of moonlight and darkness, of ice and winter itself.

Yami was statuesque against him.

His entire body was so wired with tension and hatred, that for a second, Yugi thought he might lash out and send him flying. He had begun to tremble finely, almost vibrating. The growing snarl in his lungs did not become loud enough for Yugi to hear, however. And then, very slowly, his arms began to move.

His palms found his left hip and the right side of his ribs. Yugi let out a harsh gasp as his fingers clenched with bruising force. The pain of it threatened to shatter the bones. The small teen hissed and stepped back. He did not want to make Yami any more uncomfortable than he already was. So, when Yami flexed his arms and pushed him back completely, putting the exact length of his limbs between them, Yugi could do no more than blink in surprise.

His hands slipped away only then. His red eyes flickered and trailed over his frame slowly for a moment. And then Yugi wondered if he appeared almost unsure of him. Yami tilted his head slightly, his mouth quirking downwards the smallest degree, and finally he huffed softly as his eyes narrowed into gleaming slits of blood.

"You came for a reason," he growled in a voice full of crisp darkness. The pitch and tone were almost personally offended, as if Yugi coming to think that he was worthy of touching him made him bristle. But he wondered, curious, as they looked at each other. "Say what you came here for."

"Yami no Yugi," the smaller teen announced with a bright smile. He nodded slightly, then started to move forward a step. To his amusement, in an act not the least bit surprising, Yami steeled his arms and touched his shoulders, holding him back. His lips curled and his white teeth flashed like beautiful stars where they showed briefly. He snorted, unable to help himself, and the god gave him an annoyed look before his eyes rolled with frustration. "That is what I think I should call you. That way, just in case I ever forget, I'll know just how much I've recently fucked up."

The other teen blinked at him. The shock was clear in his gaze. He stared at him, bewildered and stunned. And then he narrowed his eyes into thin slits of dark gleaming gems. "To remind you of our bond," he corrected him in a voice that was both gentle and distasteful. He watched him as if he thought Yugi might leap forward and try to launch himself into his arms once more. But, abruptly, his attention seemed to shatter away, snapping about as his own head did and he sniffed curiously. "I will remind you of how much you have fucked up plenty enough."

"I don't doubt you will," Yugi said truthfully, smiling softly at the taller teen. Repeatedly, the other boy drew in deep and long breaths, furrowing his brows in apparent confusion. Yugi searched his face, smiling a little more when Yami glanced at him with open bewilderment. And then Yugi tipped his own head up, staring straight at the sky where the thick white clouds were bunched so tightly together that the night was swallowed away beneath it.

Yami's fingers flexed and lightly tapped along his shoulders as he moved their positions. His nails gently scratched at his skin and Yugi thought the pads of his fingers felt soft like cold cotton for a brief moment.

"You did not even make it a week." The other boy was scoffing, but his attention was back on Yugi once more. Before him, fingers squeezing gently so that his nails it into his skin more fully to rival the chill of the night air, Yami peered at him with a sneering expression. His lips pulled back into the widest of smirks, showing off his teeth even in the night, and his voice lowered further. He was laughing now, voice all but purring with his laughter. "You made it all of five days into this month. And one of the last."

"Yeah." Yugi laughed softly. "And we had a deal, didn't we?"

Yami raised a brow, awaiting his admittance. The smaller teen smiled wider, watching his narrowed eyes with amusement. And then he nodded and tilted his head fractionally, reaching forward as if for his cheek.

"You won, Yami."

"I do not know if I should perhaps call it weak or commend you on your intelligence as you have bowed down to your most primal instincts."

The comment made him snicker.

"I think it goes both ways, actually, Yami. But I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, right?" he asked quietly, chewing his cheek and staring at him for a long minute and a half. He moved to scratch his arm, watching as Yami folded his expression into one of more purified cynical amusement which seemed almost to bleed with laughter. "Because…maybe after this…you won't have to rely on me anymore…right? Maybe you can go ahead and kill me…right?"

Yami did not blink. He began to purr with such elation and satisfaction that Yugi burst out laughing, once again stunned by his apologetic nature. The display of such happiness made him smile more, but he doubted any expression of joy he had ever worn before did well to mirror the look the deity wore.

"Ah, yes, retribution for trapping me here," he rumbled, shivering and smirking widely to show off his brilliant teeth. "Won't that be a gorgeous gift?"

Yugi shrugged slightly. He should have been undone by his hatred in such clear display as it was. But he had grown so used to it, so confident in its existence, that it was impossible not to embrace it fully and easily.

Yugi glanced at the snowflake that drifted past Yami's face. The other teen stopped short, spinning on it with an openly amazed and confused expression. He stared at where it had since landed, watching it melt into nonexistence on the ground. And then he bristled, his eyes shooting up again as more began to drift through the air in slow currents of white.

Yugi smiled, tilting his head, and watched him with nothing more than amusement to come upon his frame. Yami's eyes had grown thrice their usual size, as wide as immense full moons. The shock in his gaze was beautiful, lighting them like fireworks, and the god jerked backwards momentarily as a flake landed on his nose.

There was no anger to be found in him, however.

Yugi could sense none of it in the overlap of emotion which existed between them. Yami was stricken, visibly stunned, but he was not upset. Much of his temper had been coiled and molded into bewilderment, eyes stretched with amazement and confusion. Every muscle in his body was wired with his puzzlement, his head even tilted slightly to the side. And when another drifted to touch his hand, he stared at it as it took a few moments to fade into nonexistence.

"What…what is this…?"

"It's a little early for snow," Yugi commented by way of explanation. He felt any other approach might have shattered Yami's curiosity and turned it into embitterment. So he held a palm up, catching a flake of his own in the center, and shivered as it melted immediately. "Normally it comes in early January further up north here, especially over in Hokkaido. But it does normally drift through later in the month. It sometimes comes in the middle of February, near Valentine's Day and White Day, but hey, I don't have any complaints. I love snow."

He let the next flake float in front of his eyes. In his peripheral Yami was considering the snow with childish astonishment, almost drawn to speak once more with pure surprise. But then Yugi drew a hand closer to himself and bit his lip, watching the deity now.

"And, hey, if this is the last time I ever see it, then that's good enough for me."

The other boy tilted his head, wrinkling his nose. A sharp retort lay on his tongue and he had turned to sneer at him. But the flake had come out of seemingly nowhere. And when it landed on his nose, his focus was so drawn to it that his eyes crossed. The sight was so amazing to Yugi that he couldn't help but smile widely, stunned.

But if he were to laugh, he was sure Yami would lash out. And some small, aching, part of him was broken at the sight of it as well.

He drew in a deep breath, forcing himself to take this occurrence in stride. The alarms were going off in his head and he reached his hands up to run through his hair in order to keep from speaking again.

Yami had such little body heat.

He was so cold that he snowflake had maintained its beautiful, intricate shape and was perfectly intact upon his skin. Yugi wanted to sob just seeing this. It was not the reality that the other teen was decidedly not human.

It was the fact that it alluded to an idea that Yami was perhaps a cold-blooded creature, like some kind of lizard or a reptile or something. And that made his heart hurt even more to consider.

But…

He knew there was a way to raise his core body temperature. He had felt it on the mattress that night, waking up when Yami had left early. He had been warmer one of those nights. It had been enough to leave the faintest touch of heat to the sheets, however miniscule it was.

If could somehow perhaps convince Yami to stay longer—whether by means of sex or otherwise—he might be able to raise his body warmth. Perhaps it would be enough to make him seem almost more human…

The thought made him bristle, however.

A sudden and vicious sting of ferocity bloomed in his stomach, swelling and bursting forth like a dam being broken.

He didn't want to force Yami to change in any way.

It didn't matter how small.

Just the idea of something as apparent as his body heat being changed infuriated him. Yami was…Yami. If something changed outwardly, would he change with it?

He felt sick at the thought.

"You do not have to worry about something so trivial as my body heat, Yugi," Yami cut into his thoughts effectively, softly, voice mild and calm. His eyes flashed cruelly, laughing, but there was something curious as well, a spark of something Yugi could not quite name near the center of his iris, just beneath the lowest crest of his starburst pupils. "I assure you. I will kill you the moment I find such an opportunity. I will not stop to think about it. I will destroy you without so much as a blink."

Yugi shook his head, smiling at him mildly now.

"I didn't think you would, Yami. Do it if you can."

The taller teen stared. His eyes narrowed and his smirk fell away into a tight frown. Bewilderment made his brows furrow and he tilted his head as he considered him a moment longer. The long breath he drew in was exhaled slowly, voice soft and curious more than undone.

"You keep saying such things to me. Why is that?"

"Because I know your reasons for wanting to. And I agree with them. I did this to you, Yami. And you're half of me, aren't you?" he asked calmly. His eyes searched his for a moment, amused by the way his gaze darkened considerably with frustration towards his understanding. The deity had assumed he would fight with him, he knew. It hurt to say the words, but it was as simple as laughing for him to as well. "I can't honestly argue with someone who is literally a part of me. Besides…I don't want to have you place your own existence in harm's way just for my sake. I would rather you kill me than have to do that. I've already trapped you here and I…I am so sorry, Yami…"

Yugi had bowed his head, his voice coming out cracked and heavily broken, shattering into a thick swallowing sob of a noise. Yami froze in place, stunned by the display of such emotion. He could not think to respond and the other boy was shaking. His shoulders were rising and falling with sobs. He was breathing a little harder.

The physical ache of the rock forming in his throat made Yami bristle. But it was the tightness of his lungs, constricting so painfully with dismay, that made him further hesitate. He could not understand. His comprehension did not breach the design of human emotions.

The realization made his stomach roll.

He studied him for a moment. The sob was harsh and heavy. He cringed and stared, bewildered and unsure of what more to do. Then, very slowly, hesitating one last time, Yami reached out. His fingertips were almost shaking as they touched his chin, grasping it with such gossamer affection that Yugi assumed himself to be imagining it.

But then his face was tipped upwards despite the small hint of resistance he attempted to show him. He raised his eyes, looking at him from beneath shining lashes, and a tear touched his palm as it slid down his cheek. The heat of it was enough to startle him, but it was somehow almost beautiful in his brain.

And Yami could not take it.

Between his lack of understanding and curiosity and bewilderment, the deity found himself curling his lip back.

"Why the fuck are you crying?" he snapped in a vicious tone. The bristle he bore made his shoulders rise and his eyes flash. Yugi blinked at him and his lashes, shining faintly, looked almost like a small spidery embodiment of the night sky.

Yugi wanted to smile for a moment, studying him. His cheeks were colder than ever and his vision was still slightly blurred. But, oh gods, he could not help but want to laugh around the guilt and pain.

Yami was petulant…

Always so petulant.

Because he didn't understand.

Because he was scared of the tears.

And he didn't know how he was meant to deal with them and so he lashed out against them…

"Stop crying."

He wished he could have eased his fear in that moment more than he anything.

"I…I'm just so sorry."

"Get over it. I have no care for your sorrow or your guilt. Your apology bores me. I want your death."

Yugi nearly laughed. But to do so might have offended the other boy. So he closed his eyes, a few more tears losing their spots on his lashes, and shook his head slowly. "You're so simple-minded when it comes to that, but whenever I see you dealing with anything else, you seem so much more complex and…dangerous with your thoughts."

"Do not flatter yourself," Yami sneered. He curled his lips back and bore his teeth, eyes narrowing further. But Yugi was not looking at him and the effort was for nothing so he allowed such expression to fade from his face. "I only want one thing from you. The rest of this worthless world is useless to me but for its ability to strike my curiosity and make me puzzle."

"That's good, I guess."

Yugi opened his eyes as Yami scoffed loudly. Another snowflake landed near on his wrist closest Yugi's face. He had not withdrawn his hand, he realized. But it seemed so arduous to do so instead of simply allow it to remain there. He looked about them, considering the falling crystals.

"And this happens…every year?"

"It's going to be a few inches this time around," Yugi muttered. He glanced around them curiously now as well, taking in the many flakes that passed through the air so deliberately. Yami had not let go of his face and the reality of it halted him from turning to stare towards the lake. "It's going to have to be…otherwise it wouldn't be this cold or falling this fast."

"Lovely," the other snorted dismissively. But it sounded far less harsh than he must have meant it to. His curiosity had served as a buffer, bleeding through and fighting away whatever small hint of embitterment he had possessed moments before. His eyes were wide again, gleaming with something so unusual on his expression that Yugi was almost too stunned to name it as the delight it truly was.

He watched him closely, eyes softening. And then he smiled widely as Yami's red eyes flickered back and forth every which way. Each moment he surveyed his surroundings, those brilliant gems got a size bigger. Some of the snow was beginning to fall in clumps larger than others. And, as they fell, their beautiful shape was just enough to distract Yugi away from the other boy.

For a long twenty minutes they two of them remained like this.

Yugi's flesh was too hot to even truly take in the chill that the air offered where it should have been biting him like a dog's teeth, sharp and cunning and puncturing. The flakes melted against in a way that seemed unnaturally swift. It was almost as if the air around him was too warm for them to last. And the thought struck a small bit of sorrow into his system once more.

If this was truly to be the last time he ever experienced snow, he thought it was somehow an even mixture of misery and joy.

"I do not think this will be your final time to encounter such a thing," Yami murmured quietly. His head tilted towards him, eyes no longer curious but more amused as they peered about his face calmly. "I doubt that this experience between us will forfeit your hold on me…should that truly be a possibility in the first place."

"Do you ever wonder how long it will take?" the smaller teen asked. He searched those dark red eyes of ruby and blood, the starburst pupils of cold, bottomless darkness. He smiled faintly again. "I mean, how long will it take for you to be able to get rid of me and no longer have to rely on me?"

"Every second of every day. You have no idea the joy it will bring me when I am able to slit your throat and have no worry of repercussions."

Yugi smiled slightly and shook his head slowly, watching his face. "I'm sure I can't," he agreed with a small nod. "You seem to experience emotions at a stronger degree than I ever will."

"Yes, and yet your emotions spike like your energy when you are around me," Yami purred in amusement. His smirk was shark-like, pure white teeth and harsh glittering red eyes of pure cunning. "It is almost a punishment for you, is it not? You are forced to stumble through this and experience things on new levels you have never known before."

"…It's a lot different from what I'm honestly used to," Yugi admitted, frowning and considering his words. "But I don't think that it's a punishment. Maybe a painful truth, but not a punishment."

"Take the joy out of the experience," he sneered, rolling his eyes. "Nice."

He shook his head and looked at one of the flakes. It was much larger, seemingly made of multiple flakes, all of them clumped together into a tight and fluffy formation. He felt it against his skin for a single second, watching it melt immediately, and then turned back to him.

"I was…I came here expecting us to be doing something else…"

He bit his lip and then reached up to rub at the back of his neck, considering him. It was hard for him to truly point this out, as the words seemed some kind of odd and great, terrible, betrayal of some kind. He'd always said that he would only sleep with someone he cared for, that he'd wait until he was in love with that person.

This was so far from that realm of reality that it made his heart hurt.

"I was not aware you were in a such a hurry." His voice was brusque, a snapping tone, but then smirked, lifting his head and turning to him with wild amusement within his beautiful eyes. "Who knew?"

"I told you. I'm a sixteen-year-old boy. We are all about sex. We live for it."

"Even the virgins?"

"Especially the virgins," he replied with a firm nod, almost laughing with delight upon seeing how curious and amused Yami seemed in turn. "Now, how about you and I go back to the house and—?"

Yugi felt as if something had been forcefully ripped from him.

A cavity was left within it, bleeding and sore from where it had once resided.

It was great and terrible and overwhelming.

It tore his breath away and stunted his heartbeat.

His head felt so light he thought he might collapse.

He was trying to breathe, but choking and panting instead.

His bones rattled and shook beneath his skin, echoing loudly in his ears.

His eyes burned as if he had been exposed to chemicals for too long.

He fell backwards as if hit with a strong wind.

His skin was burning, feverish, and sweat bloomed on his forehead as his ass collided with the floor.

"I was uncertain as to how that would come to affect you, but I am glad I did it. That look upon your face is worth the extra bit of magic," Yami laughed softly, smirking widely. The smaller boy stared up at him, breathless and blinking with a dazed and horrified expression. "Guess where we are, little game."

Yugi did not have to bother with the task of looking around. He recognized the slight strain of tension which claimed the other boy's frame. He was unnerved. And, even without this telltale clue, he saw it in the way that warm air made the snow lingering on the taller boy's body melt.

"We're in my room. And…you still seem to think the walls will close in on us at any moment," he replied weakly, voice croaking. His throat felt raw and stripped and his lungs felt as if they might explode from the pressure. He coughed, sputtering, and then blinked wide eyes. Yami made a delighted noise in the back of his throat, grinning widely at his weakened state. Yugi reached up and rubbed at his throat, hoping to alleviate some of the pain. "Fucking hell, Yami…why couldn't you have just warned me?"

"Now, that is a mouthful of a curse. I did not think I would get something like that out of you," he chuckled with open amusement. His eyes were gleaming as he nudged his shoe with his own, studying him. "You should simply lay on your back for a few minutes. Otherwise you will find yourself in pain for quite a long while. You weren't built for shadow travel."
Yugi failed to make a wise crack at the first part of the second statement. But it was there, lying on his tongue, as he slowly lay back. "Shadow travel?" he echoed instead, watching the blue of his ceiling as it seemed to twist and writhe for a split second before settling. He groaned softly, the bleeding sore somewhere inside of him pulsating with pain.

"I would think it was self-explanatory with a name like that," the other spat. A small sneer lingered at the edge of each word. Yugi closed his eyes, ignoring the condescension of his tone. Instead he waited for some of that strained dizziness to start to loosen its hold on him.

He could hear Yami's movement, his footfalls soft and almost nonexistent but for tiny tremors where his weight pressed into the floor. He could not tell the exact direction, but he imagined it was the desk. But for what reason Yami would have gone over there was a mystery to him.

But Yami was indeed in front of it. His face was angled downwards, his eyes glittering with hatred. Before him, the silver of the metal reflected an image he loathed.

There was a sharp yet somehow blurred outline of his physique, something that existed without true definition. It was almost black but bordered more closest the deepest of grays that might ever come to exist. Flickering ribbons of the monotonous color twisted away from the core shape. He thought of wisps of smoke, like drifting flickers of blackness.

Two narrowly cut garnets of burning, glowing red met his eyes with sharp intensity. The glow of them was uniform, though the center seemed somehow brighter than the rest, pulsing outwards to make up the formation of his narrow gaze.

When he opened his mouth, flexing his jaws, the vision before him did the same. The lips parted, a jagged formation in which the teeth were hideous razor peaks of which surrounding a deep pit of blood red. He thought the color of his eyes versus this gaping formation of his mouth looked somehow the same and yet incredibly different all at once.

He was so caught up in his own investigation, he had not realized his loathing had been projected outwards for the other teen to experience. Watching his mouth move again, insides quivering with such hatred it made his shoulders tremble, the other missed it as Yugi padded over quietly to join him.

He stopped a couple of inches away from him, so as not to spook him with his own reflection displayed there beside his. But he watched the darkness that Yami had been observing, studying the way it writhed and danced in front of them.

"So…that's what you look like in the mirror," Yugi whispered before he could truly stop himself. It seemed abruptly to make sense as to why Yami had smashed the glass, why he had seen those shapes in the shards left behind that day.

He blinked and looked at him sideways now, tilting his head in wonder at the thought. His curiosity peaked at the very idea, and he blinked as Yami turned to face him with a snarl, his voice dripping with hateful venom.

"I thought I told you to lie down."

"You did. And I laid down. But you've been standing here for a few minutes now," the smaller teen muttered, turning away from his face to look upon that reflection once more. His hand hovered, moving without his conscious thought, and he wished for a moment that he could touch the core of that darkness. What he came in contact with, however, was predictably the mundane chill of the metal. His hand severed the reflection there, but it was not enough to gain Yami's satisfaction. "I thought I would check on you."

"As if I need you to—"

"I know you don't need me to," he interrupted, turning his head and facing him now with a frown. "But I got worried, so I did it anyways."

"Why? Why must you always worry about the things that do not concern you?" Yami snarled dismissively, voice drenched with frost. His timbre dipped lower, until it resonated in Yugi's bones and made his insides quiver. For a moment, leaning forward, he thought the deity might lash out violently. Maybe he would forego what he had initially thought his salvation and simply kill them both with a strike of his beautiful nails.

But then, possibly because he heard his thoughts, or even because he had found his own mind trailing a different path than Yugi's initial fear, Yami pulled away from the desk. He looked at him, studying him for a moment, then turned to start for the bed. "Take off that fucking Puzzle. I do not wish for repetition of the last time I ran into that piece of shit trinket."

Yugi could not help the small laugh that came to bubble up, looking down at his own reflection for a moment. He wished for a split second that he might share the other boy's pain. He almost wished he had never come to know his own face so well that he would never have to question what it looked like at any given time.

The fact was that it was a simple thing that had been taken from him. And it was something that everyone took for granted. Seeing someone unable to do the same made Yugi's heart hurt. But there was no remedy he knew to fix it. And, somehow, in the smallest corner of his mind, he wished he could do the same as Yami had in the alley that night.

He wished he could show him what he looked like. He wished he could let him experience that little discovery of identity. But he was not powerful. He was not magical.

He was just a sixteen-year-old, a foolish boy who had made a mistake and brought into the mix a creature far too great to remain amongst mortals.

The thought was somber enough that he swallowed hard to fight back a new rush of pain. Instead, fingers shaking faintly, he slipped the chain over his neck and pushed it onto the desk. The soft thud of it made him shiver as the gold chilled against his fingers as he pushed it away slowly. He closed his eyes for a second. And then he turned his head and glanced over at him.

"Does…your reflection always look like that?"

The other teen stiffened for a split second. He did not raise his eyes for a moment, startled by his words. His head snapped towards him now, however, as his lips curled into a snarl. "Does it matter?"

"…No, I guess not. I just can't really…imagine."

"No one asked you to!" Yami spat viciously, eyes flashing wildly. "No one once asked you to stretch that pathetic little mind of yours to try to comprehend that! I don't need you attempting to sympathize with me. I do not require your pity."

"I don't pity you. You're too strong for that," Yugi answered, shaking his head and feeling his heart break a little more at the assumption. "I just…if I were in your situation, I don't think I could survive it."

"I do not care."

"I know you don't." He paused for a moment, slowly shaking his head again as he moved towards him. Yami's anger only seemed to grow more abundant at such words. He breathed out harshly, baring his teeth for a moment. "I wouldn't in your place, either."

"But you are not. You are not in my—"

His fury was enough to knock the wind from Yugi's lungs altogether. The air was drenched with it, a great and terrible heat that bit through his blood. His fight-or-flight instinct reared its head, desperate for him to flee. And yet it was easily smothered away into nonexistence.

The action he took instead was so foolish it could have gotten him killed if not for the double-edged reality it held for the god in front of him.

He sprang forward, ignoring him. His hands cupped his jaw, his thumbs tracing his cheeks as he leaned forward. Yami fell silent immediately, as the smaller boy had known he would. Not even the recurrence of a snarl came from him. He peered up at him, startled but more amazed as well by his audacity to take such action.

And, though they stared at each other, and Yami was capable of continuing his hateful words, the taller teen fell silent. He regarded him with cold, glittering red eyes. Yugi had known this would happen as well.

If there was one thing he had come to know of the other, it was that he did not waste his breath. If he assumed one was not listening, he would fall silent. And so, now, he stared at him and watched with those deep eyes.

They feathered shut only when Yugi leaned closer, their lips meeting only a heartbeat later.

From the speed of the movement—despite their pause—was an awkwardness that made Yugi falter. All of his inexperience seemed to rush forth now, welling upwards in his bloodstream. His heart was skipping beats as reality came upon him.

Porn made everything look so easy.

And books made everything seem as if it were magical and fun.

But the reality of it was more terrifying than it was graceful like written word.

In his desperation to quell Yami's growing enragement, he had forgotten the implications of his own actions. And it came to him now that maybe he was not truly as ready as he had claimed formerly.

But it was the only way he could think to make Yami feel better. And he would be damned if he left him to suffer longer than necessary simply due to his own fear.

Yami opened his mouth for him despite the awkwardness. Yugi pressed gently against his knees with his own. The taller teen had begun to bristle and by the gods, the other boy could feel it. The deity resented this gentle touch he offered him. It scared him and he loathed it.

He saw it as something both intimate and disturbing. Because Yugi treated him almost as if he were fragile. He seemed to touch him, to kiss him, as if he might break beneath his touch. The very definition of his weakness in such an idea made him want to snarl.

And the reality was one that Yugi realized as well.

No matter the argument they had, the other would never come to change the perception of this situation. Not once would Yugi admit to it willingly, either.

The smaller teen pressed more of his weight against him. A hand lowered from his cheek to cup his hip, squeezing lightly with his fingers. The bone was hard and sharp beneath his skin, like a glacier of ice. It was jagged, like a knife's blade, and he shivered at the way the reality seemed to swallow him whole. It was sturdy and cruel.

It bore down on him like teeth.

He knew well enough from health class that he other teen was underweight. But he had not known the extent of it. But he did know that his skin was soft where it should have been soft. And this clarification did well to allow him an understanding of what he was always so cautious of.

He was dangerous, his demeanor alone sharp enough to cut through flesh, but it was in order to shield what could have been potentially taken advantage of by an opponent.

It came to him only then that Yami might feel his emotions. But the did not swell and burst in him as they did Yugi. Whereas his temperament fluctuated and he could flex a total control over it, the smaller teen did not for even a moment think he could boast the same.

And though he thought he would never have desired to do it to another person, Yugi was growing even more fearful. Yami was not relaxing. And his tension was making his head spin. His heart felt as if it might pound straight out of his chest. He struggled, trying his hardest to think of a new way to come over his idea of easing the stiffness from the other boy.

And then he found himself faltering.

Flip us over, Yami growled softly into his mind. The tone was softer than what Yugi had ever expected from him. It was warmer than he had ever heard it before. It was a blatant attempt to meet him halfway, but it was also clear that Yami did not know of any other way to do so.

The smaller teen hesitated, pulling back to look at him. The red eyes were wide open, burning into his now. His pupils were quivering, his discomfort visible in the very distress they showed him there. But he was still trying.

And the sentiment alone was enough to make Yugi feel better.

But still, unable to think any further, the small teen opened his mouth twice. Then he shook his head briefly, feeling sick to his stomach.

"I—"

For a moment there were so many words in his mouth that he could not breathe them out. It was impossible to string them into a coherent sentence as well. He waited a long moment, struggling to force even once more out, and then shook his head again. He cut himself off a third time. And somehow, despite himself and the amazement that filled him as well, Yugi was not the least bit surprised to see Yami watch him rather than speak in turn.

He kicked his shoes off in an attempt to dispel some of his growing nervousness, then drew in a deep breath as he stepped away. In his periphery, as his eyes focused fully on the bed, the other boy had grown still in confusion. His gaze had grown wide and his jaw had tightened, his expression somewhat sharp with disbelief. His shoulders had risen faintly and it was clear that he was not impressed, a bristle beginning to overtake his frame.

Yugi ignored it, the way his eyes grew so cold and furious as they burned into his skin. He made his way to the pillows in a quick crawl. The action drew Yami's attention, his curiosity growing. But Yugi merely fell back against the mattress with a momentary wish that he should have attempted to coax Yami to do this before instead.

The red-eyed teen tilted his head curiously, raising a brow only when Yugi smiled simply and reached out a hand for him in easy invitation. The anger had long since dissipated, but now it was replaced by the cold lapping of unease within his belly. Yami studied him for a heartbeat or two, eyes flickering about his own. And then he followed his lead to kick off his shoes and straddle him.

For a moment, fearful, Yugi grasped at his shirt tightly. He fisted the material in his growing anxiety and hoped that Yami did not think he was trying to hurt him in any way. But he needed an anchor. And he feared moving too quickly as Yami might involuntarily lash out in response.

His stomach was twisting harshly, his heart skipping forcefully. He almost swayed even where he lay against the pillow. It seemed so utterly natural, as if predetermined by thousands of years, but it still made him quake. Yami was statuesque, watching him for a signal that his movements were warranted rather than taking advantage.

When he released him, shuddering only once, the red-eyed boy watched him for a long moment. Yugi wished he would have had the strength to nod at him, to tell him that it was okay to move. But he felt so small and the situation seemed terrible and daunting now.

But Yami took his shudder to mean something of an equivalent. Because of this he shifted his weight, pressing his palms into the mattress to comfortably distribute his weight. His weight was better focused and his sense of balance comfortable now.

There was no heat to be given from the other teen. And his aura cloaked the air like mist. And Yugi was cold enough beneath its blanketing presence that he shivered once more. But, for the moment, the other teen did not pay him full attention as he would have otherwise.

Yugi was stunned by how comforting this realization was. The simplicity of this reality was just enough to allow him room to steel his nerves once more. He held his resolve now, closing his eyes for a brief moment.

Yami was distracted in some manner. For whatever reason, his interest was more popularly associated with the comforter beneath his fingers, his nails flexing to scratch lightly upon its material. His eyes had grown distant, but there was a distinct soft rumbling purr which left him, escaping into the still air. Both of them felt the sense of peace which came with the familiarity of this simple noise.

The situation was daunting, but the simplicity of the things which surrounded them made him want to laugh.

Yugi reached up to grip at the right lapel of his jacket. The thin material of the school uniform he himself so often wore was a comfort in this strange situation. It let out its own soft rustling noise, gentle and easy. His racing mind calmed slightly at the brief presence. And he thought of it keenly as a second skin with how often he donned it. The material which rested on Yami's skin was a shade darker, almost even purple where it served a contrast to his brilliant golden-bronze skin tone. But it was still the same material. It was still the same design. But for the color difference, it was a perfect replica.

The movement, he found as he looked away, had caught Yami's attention. It had riled his focus, brought it back to be dedicated to him once more. He peered at him, red eyes curious and yet somehow encompassed with a knowledge which seemed old and ancient, with such power it made him breathless for a split second.

He studied him for a long moment. Then he lowered his face to press into his neck. Yami's breathing was so steady it seemed almost mystifying that it lacked as much warmth as Yugi's own possessed. His skin was burning, hot enough that Yami felt as if he were touching a live flame. Yugi felt his cheek like a cool gel pack against his neck, soft and smooth where it lay there. But his exhales were so cool that it made his body rebel slightly, twitching against such touch.

"Why are you so cold?" he muttered, allowing himself a moment to close his eyes and grow used to such a sensation. "I thought darkness had at least a little warmth to it…"

"No, the darkness is cold. It is always cold. There is nothing to warm it, Yugi. But…you have more than enough heat to survive it, don't you?" he growled against his skin. His lashes tickled him as he closed his eyes, almost as if he were bracing himself for one reason or another. "Just a little chill…"

"You like the winter, though, don't you?"

"I was born in the summer. I'm a wimp for warmth," Yugi mumbled, shivering again when Yami snickered into his skin and pressed his tongue against his pulse point. Yugi felt almost as if the other boy were tasting it through the thin layer of flesh. The idea made him shiver again, and he could not be sure if it was with delight or bewilderment. Either way, he closed his eyes in an attempt to embrace such touch.

But his mind shied away from the chill and he found himself feeling slightly queasy for a brief moment. He wondered, however, if maybe the other boy could draw warmth from him like this. He reached his free hand up to touch his shoulder, moving his palm down Yami's back to the bottom of the blade there, feeling the sharp and jagged bone beneath his fingertips.

It was startling, how Yami's shoulders were broad but the bone so terribly narrow under his hand. The arch of it was so small, almost gentle in an odd way, and, as he traced his way back towards his chest, he was amazed by how sharp and prominent his collarbone was. It was soft, beautiful beneath his fingers. And the muscle of his arm was taut, wiry, bunching when he shifted his weight. The sensation was pleasant, somehow mesmerizing, in a way that Yugi could almost forget himself in it.

The smaller teen trembled and Yami purred at the feeling. His body shook beneath him, clinging to his jacket with a grip which kept tightening. After all of the fighting, they were both bending to each other. He could feel it, his own frailness and the fragility that such position gave him. They were like two well-spun jagged pieces of glass. There was no fight in him. There was no hatred to overheat his blood. And, despite his fear, Yugi was willing beneath him.

It was strange to him how easily they had pushed aside such differences for a common goal. And he did not know that Yugi gained anything from an experience such as this.

The smaller teen was sweating and feverish. But his own body temperature had remained the same and Yami considered the saltiness he could smell which lingered in the smaller teen's perspiration. Curiosity teased at his insides and he slowly lapped his tongue along the side of his neck, trailing it upwards to savor such flavor.

Yugi reveled in the touch. His head dropped back, a low and hoarse noise escaping his mouth. His spine arched, pushing to press their bodies close together. The blunt nails of his free hand dug into the taller boy's skin, drawing small lines of pink in a way that made his own back arch like a feline's.

For a long breath, neither of them moved. The reactions they elicited from each other was enough to satisfy for that small period. And then Yami moved, scraping his nails over Yugi's right side, bunching the material of his shirt. When he did not protest, the taller boy began to pull it upwards, and Yugi was stunned when he felt the deity lower his face to press against his chest.

He could feel his heart beating against his cheek as he situated his ear against his breast. It was somewhat shaken with the new movement. But it came back with a new strength. Listening to it was hypnotizing and melodic, almost intoxicating in its simplicity. Then he pulled away once more, running his tongue over Yugi's skin again, delighted that he felt as if he could taste his blood as the muscle trembled and rattled beneath his touch.

Yugi flushed, breath coming out in a loud pant, shaky but not at all scared. His nerves were still rather frayed, his hands almost shaking with them. But he still sat up to allow Yami more room to pull the jacket from his arms. For a moment, holding the piece of clothing in his hand, Yami made no move more than to watch him. The sensation was so eerie that Yugi nearly snapped at him, uncomfortable beneath his penetrating stare.

But he realized belatedly that it was not his skin he was so focused on but more the lines of his veins, the intricate weavings of purple and dark blue there beneath his skin. He was memorizing them, it seemed. Or maybe he was just using them as a way of getting over his own nerves should he have any.

He arched his hips, rubbing slightly against his strained erection with the movement. Yami shifted minutely at the touch of their pelvic bones, somewhat surprised by his initiative. Then he sat up slightly, just enough to pull his shirt over his head. The thin layer of cotton fell to the floor next to the bed. He expected the other to have done something similar but he found himself instead looking the jacket in his hands over as if curious.

A moment passed. Yugi furrowed his brows. Rather than dropping the jacket, Yami had begun to stretch it slightly, pulling the sleeves to their fullest. Then he tugged gently as if to test how far he could make them reach.

"What are you doing with my jacket?"

"I plan to tie you up with it," Yami stated simply.

Yugi froze in place, heart skipping a beat. He opened and closed his mouth twice, eyes owlish. The very idea struck too much fear in his heart to contain in any manner. He swallowed hard. "W-what?" he squeaked out, shaking his head and blinking at him. "No, oh, hell no, you are not."

Yami looked at him for a moment from beneath his lashes. His lips had stretched into something of a wide smirk. His jacket was pulled again by the sleeves, his expression beautiful and dangerous. And his countenance could have put the very devil to shame.

"It is funny that you only find it in yourself to fear me when I threaten to tie you up," he quipped, leaning forward slightly. His red eyes flickered about Yugi's for a moment and he tightened his grip on the jacket sleeves, twisting it around his right palm. "Tell me, Yugi, do you think if you're not tied up you'll have a chance if I decide I want you dead?"

"No. I'm just not into the whole bondage thing," Yugi stated truthfully. He shivered, then moved to snatch the jacket out of his hands. The other teen did not so much as blink. His smirk grew wider and his eyes were mocking, wide and glittering. Yugi dropped the clothing material to the floor, blinking again, and then found himself frowning as he recalled there had been zero resistance.

"…And you never planned to tie me up in the first place…"

"No. I planned for skin on skin contact with your hands on me," Yami snorted dismissively. For a moment he still sounded mocking but there was a sincerity in his tone as well now. He rolled his eyes and then peered at him curiously, tilting his head to the side. "You truly are such a slight little thing."

Yugi would have snapped at him had the comment not been so innocent and curious. It was not in the slightest critical. And somehow it was amazingly reassuring to see that his companion did not find it necessary to sneer at him now. It would have been so easy for him to take his anxiety and run with it.

He could have destroyed him altogether if he had only desired it. It was more beneficial to him not to do such a thing. But, as he watched him, he did not think Yami had even slightly considered saying it negatively. He was simply making a statement, one which was simple observation. He was saying something that he already knew. He was simply saying that he was small and thin.

"Are you sure you don't need to eat?" Yugi asked before he could stop himself. Yami's long fingers moved to weasel beneath his belt buckles. He paused, the buckles and button between his index and thumb.

For a long moment Yami was simply frozen. And then, very slowly, he blinked. He continued to process this statement, bewildered almost by the very idea of such a question. And then his eyes flashed and his lips drew into something of a tight line, a grimace of impatience and annoyance.

"I—I just…you're just… You're really skinny and I don't think that being around me is going to fix it…"

"If it will silence you, I will begin eating," the other teen sneered viciously, rolling his eyes and fixing him with a cold expression. The smaller boy could have hit himself for all the good his concern had done.

A long, soft sigh left him.

He had just insulted Yami without even meaning to. The deity was bristling and furious, though that had not changed how easily he worked on his task of seduction. He ignored him when he sent an apology. Yugi knew he could hear him. But Yami refused to give confirmation beyond leaning forward and pressing his hands lightly over his chest.

His fingers touched along his ribs for a brief moment, brushing over his nipples seconds later. And then Yami curled his fingers and scraped them lightly over his belly. Yugi was immediately knocked breathless by this action, the soft touch nearly causing him to buckle with desire.

"Oh," he muttered under his breath. The little curl of a moan seeped out of his mouth unbidden as he licked his lips, looking him over curiously. The other teen ignored him again before starting to slip his jeans off his hips. Yami smirked in amusement, pulling the pants away so that he could expose more of the smaller boy's skin.

Yami paused and Yugi felt his cheeks growing bright. He did not think it was embarrassment which colored his cheeks. But he did not know if it was excitement either. Yami licked his lips, his nerves fading only slightly somewhere along the way, he realized, and now he was simply aroused. And both of them could feel the impatience coming from the red-eyed teen.

"Well, at least you aren't slight here," Yami commented. He smirked widely and pulled his boxers off as well. Yugi raised his legs some to help the taller teen pull them off. Then he watched him kick them away with his knee. His eyes were caught on his erection, surprising Yugi somewhat, but he felt a warm sense of pride fill his veins for a moment at the way he licked his lips again and purred. "Then I would truly be disappointed."

"Wouldn't want that," Yugi snorted, trying not to shiver with anticipation at the very idea that look in those darkened red eyes brought. It was a soft quip, coming out husky and amused. Yami smirked, surprised by his words but more so when the smaller teen reached out to tug lightly on his jacket to pull him closer. It was somehow surprising to him that Yami had not slipped out of his range at any time while undressing him.

He had kept close enough that he would be able to hold his jacket. And Yugi was stunned by the chill of lacking body warmth the other possessed. The smaller teen kept a grip on his shoulder, the bone still incredibly sharp and smooth beneath his palm.

"Are you actually going to lose your clothes at some point or what?"

"Hmm?"

The distraction was obvious in his tone as he blinked at him with a tilt of his head. For a brief second Yami seemed almost inclined to argue. His lips curled faintly before he blinked again, red eyes searching his briefly.

Yugi thought for a second that he might just call it quits. Perhaps he would just give him another orgasm and consider it over and done with. But finally, blinking, Yami slipped out of his hands like sand between his fingers.

The smaller boy propped himself up onto his elbows. He watched him, blue-violet eyes searching his face, and his head tilted as their gazes locked together for another moment. It was somehow disappointing as they searched each other's eyes. There was something unsettling and truthful that passed between them and weight of such a thing bewildered them both, if only slightly.

It was further upsetting that Yami did nothing more than simply strip of his clothes. He simply dropped his clothes away. It was not the slightest bit erotic as Yugi had hoped for that brief moment. And he could now hear Yami laughing under his breath, in his head. He was snickering visibly even as he undid his belt buckles and pulled his pants down, kicking them away and following with his boxers seconds later.

He was not all sure what it was that Yugi had expected—if he was expecting anything at all, really—but it was comforting to see that Yami still looked so much like him. He was a little bigger. But it was not by much. And he definitely did not have an erection like those guys in porn tapes.

And he was not the least bit ashamed to admit just how relieved he was at the very thought that he wasn't. He was almost one hundred percent sure he would not stretch that way. There was no way he could take on twelve inches in length and similarly in girth.

Yugi was relatively sure that would have ended up with his intestines impaled and that hardly seemed comfortable. And, beyond that, he was pretty sure that they were simply props.

Or…at least he truly hoped they were…

If that was really what existed in their pants, then that was horrifying…

"That's…an odd take on sex," Yami commented wryly. He raised a brow at him curiously, tilting his head in bewilderment.

Yugi blinked wide eyes, blushing, and then smiled at him slightly. He shook his head, reaching his arm out, his hand open in invitation once more. It was the most comforting action he could take without making it all too obvious.

The other teen did not hesitate this time. He was on the bed again in seconds, straddling him as he had before. The blue-violet-eyed boy moved to his embrace his shoulder with his right hand again. He massaged at the skin again, while Yami hissed softly and moved his mouth to his throat.

"Have you…done this before?"

Yami stayed silent for a long minute. Then, roughly, the red-eyed teen snapped, "I don't know. Most likely not. Why should I have? Your species is a miserable one. I would hardly wish to immerse myself within it."

"Hmm…I don't think I know of a god in mythology that hasn't had sex before."

"Well then, here's your first, yes?"

Yugi hummed in the back of his throat, stretching against him like a satisfied cat when Yami moved his lips against his skin again. The action made the red-eyed teen growl softly. The tension in his shoulders left, the question forgotten as if it had never come into existence to begin with.

His lips were little touches, light chills upon his skin. His lips ghosted over him, gossamer as he breathed roughly once. It burned him, little bites of soft pleasure that made him tremble as he moved along his collarbones. He stopped to press his nose into his throat. Then his tongue came out, licking between his clavicles where a small pool of sweat had gathered.

Fever, fever, fever…

Yugi shivered and hissed, slightly uncomfortable for a split second as Yami's erection bumped into his hip and leaked pre-cum. He licked his lips, swallowing hard, and fought back another small shudder.

He was still so cold to the touch, all hard flesh even as his tongue ran over his sweat skin. Yugi chewed his bottom lip, his skin seeming to swell with the touch of Yami's saliva, his frayed nerves soothed if only slightly. The taller teen continued to move his tongue over his skin, a distraction that Yugi was drowning in.

And then he felt his finger.

Yugi jumped beneath him. Yami paused circling his entrance.

But the reaction was not born of patience.

He had startled at his touch. And his mouth was open, bared against his throat. His sharp canines were pressed lightly against his skin as if to tear into his jugular. His breath was somewhat heavy, still mildly unsure.

And then the moment passed. His tongue passed over the column of his neck. His finger stroked softly.

Yugi shivered again, sucking in a deep breath from between his teeth. He moved to spread his legs further, giving Yami more room for better access. The tip of his index finger brushed against him several times. And when he moved the digit, his nail was as smooth and cold as glass where it touched him.

He moaned, squirming, and Yami pushed his finger into him just enough that it did not breach the muscle but teased his entrance. Yugi shivered, gripping tightly onto his shoulders with his growing unease. His blunt nails dug into Yami's skin as his own pre-cum oozed onto his belly.

Yami's other hand moved to his hip, gripping his skin there as he pressed the heel of his palm against his bone. The smaller teen licked his lips and squeezed his eyes shut tightly. Yugi tried his hardest to brace himself.

But a new fear had begun clawing at his insides and it was harder to think straight and attempt to relax. But it rendered him immobile with panic. Yugi couldn't breathe properly, his exhales a rough and terrible noise. And he nearly trembled with this overwhelming cold flare to claim his belly.

His body, so tightly wound, did not even register for a moment that Yami was still above him.

But it did register the sharp, hideous pain that shot through him abruptly. For a split second Yugi thought that perhaps Yami had foregone preparation altogether. And then his brain began to sort out further details, finding where it was that the wound originated from.

He swallowed a scream, baring his teeth, and grunted out a weak breath. He recognized nails digging into his skin, his hip gripped so tightly that it felt as if his bones might crack from the pressure. And he realized, eyes shut tightly, that the other boy had clawed at him.

In fact, he was still clawing at him. His nails were threatening to break skin. He was seconds from spilling his blood.

The noise came out strangled in the back of his throat, almost silent but for that small thread of noise that he could not stop from escaping. His heart skipped and rattled. Yugi could not understand the change of situation. And his mind struggled to realize the depth of it now as well.

Yami's teeth were scraping along his jugular again, posed and ready to sink into his skin. His breathing was erratic, rapid and strained, and Yugi feared he was hyperventilating. His entire body was taut like a bowstring.

His canine was lowered now, pressing against his throat and crawling upwards. And Yugi cried out again, horrified. The skin had split, though not deeply, but it was still enough to burn and hiss, tensing up somehow further.

Yugi needed to stop him, he realized. He had to figure out some way to make him halt. If he did not stop him, he might end up doing further damage. And who knew if Yami would stop before he was dead? But it seemed so impossible and Yugi could not make his mouth form the words.

His mind spiraled and dipped. His stomach twisted and churned. For a moment he thought of how wrong it would be to turn back on his deal. And then he flared with indignation, ashamed of the idea of being considered a wimp by the other boy.

"Ow, ow!" Yugi yelped, grabbing at his shoulders tightly with his fingers. He jerked, twisting his lower body, and it shook Yami of his grip on his hip just enough to jar his attention. The deity blinked and Yugi pushed on his skin, staring up at him with wide eyes. The other teen refused to raise his eyes, nor did he lift his attention to look up from beneath his lashes. Yugi licked his lips, panting raggedly as the fear gripped him a little tighter. "Stop."

Yami finally looked up now, staring back at him coldly. His eyes were lit by a vibrant and dangerous frustration. But there was impatience as well, and mounting confusion, which followed swiftly afterwards. Weariness had begun to eagerly eat away at the rest of the expression in his eyes. The other teen stared at him, scowling, and both of them breathed out harshly as if trying to challenge the other to see who was more undone by it all.

Yugi shook his head, sighing softly. Then he squeezed his shoulder, mumbling, "Okay, you're freaking out. Why are you freaking out, Yami?"

Yami opened his mouth, then closed it so sharply that the air reverberated with his teeth as they clicked together. He huffed through his nose loudly enough that the smaller teen tilted his head. He stared up at him in open confusion, the frustration bleeding away instantly.

"Why are you freaking out?"

"I don't know. I don't fucking know!" Yami snarled angrily. He was breathing harder than ever and glaring at him even as his shoulders quaked with the attempt to suppress a shiver. "If I fucking knew, I would not be freaking out right now, would I?"

Yugi blinked and then looked him over for a moment. Yami looked incredibly distressed, almost puzzled as well. When he reached up to touch his face, the deity began at first to pull away and then stopped at the last second. For a moment he eyed his hand warily. Then the next second he leaned forward enough to press his cheeks lightly into his fingers.

The action was an invitation to allow him more room to stroke his cheek. But it was obvious that the two of them had grown tense once more. And so they stared at each other, the seconds sluggish as they passed.

Yugi wasn't sure how to comfort him, but he did know that if he allowed him to go further, he would end up hurting him and thus himself. The idea was unappealing to him in every sense. And he could see the way his red eyes became unimpressed as well.

Yami may have wanted to kill him when it was all over. But for now he had no desire whatsoever to hurt him. The tension in his shoulders was still apparent beneath Yugi's hand. All of his frustration and nerves made him cranky and impatient and furious.

It had devastated every sense of calm he had ever possessed.4

"All right," he murmured softly. He nodded slightly, giving him a small, gentle smile. Yami blinked at him in confusion, furrowing his brows. "Okay, roll us over."

The confusion was swept away immediately. The raw distrust that came in its wake was enough to knock the air from Yugi's lungs. Those red eyes narrowed, his lip curling faintly with anger. "What?" he growled now, voice low and guttural, as if he might spring forward and tear his throat out despite himself.

"Come on, Yami, roll us over. You know I'm not going to hurt you," he coaxed softly. He ran a hand over his cheek and down to his chin, watching him as he leaned subconsciously into the gentle touch. "Just roll us over and relax, okay?"

Yami stared at him as if he had just spoken another language, something so complex and estranged from his own mind that he could not possibly fathom the meaning of his words. The thought rattled Yugi far more than he wished to admit.

But then those red eyes narrowed further. Yugi could see his jaw locking in place for a moment, as if he were trying to fight away both a verbal response and the initial instinct to lash out by biting him in the throat. His gaze had sharpened and he seemed to struggling to puzzle the statement out, trying his hardest not to spit at him in mounting frustration.

There was no trust to be found in the expression. There not the slightest sense of companionship, either. There was not a single hint of mild satisfaction or acceptance to be found in his eyes.

Nothing cushioned the clear hesitance.

Nothing helped to shelter the disdain.

Yugi felt his heart begin to ache in his chest. Yami looked so terribly troubled, as if he were at war with his need to take his energy and his own distrust of him. He did not want to give him power over this situation in any way…

The seconds passed in swift beats.

Yugi felt his heart hammering after what seemed to be long minutes of inaction. It occurred to him only then that Yami could simply pin him there and do what he wished. He could take and take until there was nothing left.

And he knew, looking at those darkened eyes, that Yami had come to the same conclusion. He was considering it as well, staring down at him with that cold expression of something almost akin hate.

Then, abruptly, as if he were unable to do more than stiffly clench at his skin, Yami moved. His hand slid under his back swiftly. His other braced against the mattress. The movement was so fast when he tossed them both sideways that Yugi didn't have time to even wrap his legs around his waist.

The small teen jostled sideways. His breath was pushed hard from his lungs. He nearly fell over the side of the bed. Then his hand clenched upon the comforter. His head spun, almost as badly as when he had dragged him into the room using his magic earlier. He panted, struggling to regain his sense of balance.

Then he blinked.

The other teen was rigid beneath him.

He was bristling. And his breath came in soft snarls. Yugi almost could not hear him doing so. The sound was so gentle in the quiet of the dead air that it seemed to be swallowed away and smothered into nothingness.

The smaller teen breathed out a weak exhale. But Yami did not seem more than simply stressed. He did not seem to have hurt himself in any way. And his chest was rising and falling in measured movements. His anxiety was harsh and angry. And his teeth were bared at him.

It occurred to Yugi only then that perhaps he should not have been so surprised to know that Yami was just as insecure about the entire situation as he himself was. He had admitted to being a virgin—or something to that effect, anyways; his grandpa had said he might simply be confused towards his origins at the moment—and this was his first time too.

The thought was mildly comforting, yes, but it did nothing to fix the majority of his nervous tension which claimed them both in a vice grip. He just had the ability to hide it better where Yami himself had cracked upon asking. It was not an obvious fracture.

But it was enough to say that Yami was slightly unsure. And it was clear that Yami had not cracked before the pressure had become too much. He had been forced to release his anxiety somehow, in whatever manner he could. And so, now he snarled. Now he panted and remained frozen beneath him. Now he glared furiously…

Yugi struggled for a moment to truly comprehend the depth of just how much he must have tried to smother it in order to keep himself together formerly. It had probably destroyed him for the most part. He shook his head after a long moment, trying to shift his thoughts away. Then he pressed a soft kiss to his neck.

Yami responded by means of snarling a little louder. It was a guttural breath, one so deep that Yugi felt his own spine tighten and knot beneath his skin. It reverberated within him, making his marrow liquid, and he breathed out a soft sigh. They stared at each other for a moment, the smaller teen hesitant before leaning forward to nuzzle his cheek.

"You have to relax."

"I don't want this," Yami snarled hatefully into his ear. Yugi was more than mildly amazed that he did not try to bite into his skin there. "If had desired this, I would have said so before."

"You're the one so insistent about this whole sex thing."

"As in me fucking you, not you being the one to—"

Yugi hated the anger in his tone. But he was more than slightly undone by the way Yami seemed seconds away from quivering, the tension caught and straining beneath his skin. "Yami, why can't you just calm down a little bit?" he whispered in a voice that mixed with despair and desperation. "If you could just calm down, this might be easier…"

"I do not trust you enough to 'calm down', you disgusting little piece of shit."

Yugi would have cringed had he not expected such words to come out of his mouth in the first place. "And I don't trust you enough to let you do this again. When I agreed to this, I wasn't expecting you to try to tear my skin open."

Yami stayed silent for a long moment. The tension in his body loosed in a furious tremble. Yugi almost pulled back to look at him. But then the taller boy huffed. And the smaller teen had a startling thought that perhaps he heard a whisper of apology beneath the noise. But he could not be sure, as the noise nearly swallowed the words completely.

"It's okay," Yugi muttered, shaking the stunned daze from his system. He pulled back enough to flash him a small smile which he hoped seemed reassuring. "I'm not upset or anything. I just… I need you to calm down before I'll let you do that again. And you're obviously not relaxed enough for me to even consider it at the moment. Just… Maybe if I do it first you can follow by example?"

The red-eyed teen blinked, interest caught by the statement. He tilted his head after a moment, narrowing his dark eyes, and for that brief second he seemed to stare into Yugi as if peering beneath his skin and into his soul. Then, abruptly, as if such a moment had never come to occur, he nodded with a sharp expression.

"But, should you fuck this up, I will tear you limb from limb."

Yugi flushed, then burst out laughing with a small shake of his head. "I won't fuck this up, okay?" he said gently but part of him trembled at the idea. If a god could mess up, then surely he could as well… "I just…I'm not going to be all that great, so…a little leniency, please?"

"Whatever."

Yugi wished he could have gotten more of a response than that, but he would take what he could get at this point.

"Um…lube or—?"

"What the fuck did you just ask me?" Yami snapped, nearly panting with his ferocity. He bristled, snarling low in his throat when Yugi snorted and laughed before quickly biting his lip to smother the noise. "Are you insinuating that I'm too weak to go raw?"

"Okay, so obviously no lube." Yugi hardly saw a reason to try to explain to him that the use of lube or against it didn't determine much of anything. He shook his head and snickered a little louder. "But I mean, it's going to hurt some—"

"As long as you do not draw blood, I think it will be fine," he hissed coldly, scowling at him once more. "But if you should break my skin, I will kill you."

He also didn't see a reason to point out that lube was used almost specifically for that reason besides easy traction. "Really?" he asked instead, smirking. "You know that would kill you too, right? I mean…I'm just trying to make sure that you know that."

It wasn't said with insolence but Yami wished to beat it out of him all the same. He opened his mouth, prepared to snarl. But then he fell silent once more. His eyes glittered, staring up at Yugi almost blankly as he considered the words.

Then, dismissively, he waved his right hand in a flick of his wrist, a vague gesture to do as he wished. Yugi smiled at him, showing all of his apparent amusement. He had forgotten, somehow, in all that time arguing, that his death would bring Yami's as well. It was somehow hilarious and yet absolutely devastating all the same.

His hatred ran deep enough to harm his own self-preservation…

And that was something Yugi could not help but feel sick thinking about it.

"Just stay relaxed," he coaxed, cutting away his own thoughts and swallowing hard. There would be more time to puzzle through all of it later. He could think about it and further upset himself when Yami wasn't currently staring up at him with that dismissive expression. He didn't need to think that when they were finally going to do what Yami had been craving so desperately for what seemed like eternity now.

Yugi stretched himself out over him, one hand braced at his side, touching his ribcage with his thumb and tracing his fingers over the smooth skin. The small ridges of his bones were smooth and gentle in their arches, and he couldn't help but smile softly at the realization.

He looked so healthy when he was not tense. But there was also a touch to his skin that made it look slightly pulled and stretched too tightly, as if completely unnatural.

But hadn't Yami said formerly that his body was still being created? If he looked like this nose…perhaps it was not so much that he was underweight or sick. Maybe it was just that his body still lacked a few essential parts that would have made it perfect.

The idea made Yugi feel a little better. And he wondered if he should still ask him to eat if Yami would do so. Maybe he would truly gain something from the experience despite his earlier arguments that his energy was the only thing necessary.

He ran the index finger of his free hand over his erection once in an attempt to take some of the edge off. The action made Yami's eyes narrow slightly, a petulant gleam entering his red gaze. Yugi pulled his hand away, moving it wards instead as he considered the hint.

The other boy would not allow himself to be so easily distracted. He did not appreciate the gesture, either. He distrusted Yugi so much that he would not even consider the effort put behind such a gesture. So, instead, the smaller teen teased him as he had done with him beforehand, running the pad of his finger along his entrance. It took him a moment to grow comfortable with the action, kneading softly at the flesh a moment later. The grin that spread across his face was wide and amused as Yami began to purr with satisfaction towards such a sensation.

The noise was subconscious and hardly expected. And Yugi knew without thought that it had slipped from his throat without his realization.

Yami had been expected more of a fight, Yugi realized. He had been expecting more of a straightforward defense rather than the ease that had been coaxed out of him so simply. He, much like Yugi, had thought for sure that it would be a battle to make him relax so easily. They had both thought he would snap. The sensitivity had surprised them both, making Yami melt into the stimulation, all but mewling with his quick and easy and altogether eager responses. The smaller teen nipped at his jaw gently, coaxing Yami to grab his shoulder with one hand while the other wrapped around his ribs.

Should it not have been so rough, the nails pressed lightly into his skin, Yugi would have thought it a gesture of enjoyment. But then he felt the slight pressure and the warning became abundantly clear.

Should Yami find reason to, he would not hesitate to break his ribs.

Collateral damage would not dissuade him.

Yugi respected that silent declaration, the promise that lingered with the touch, and continued to rub his finger over his entrance. The touch was so light that the small teen almost felt that he himself could barely feel it. Finally, the other boy gave him a signal to move, his muscles submitting and ready for his finger.

Yugi hesitated for only a moment, hovering, but felt the way the other tensed beneath him in growing aggravation and so pressed in slowly. Instantly Yami's long fingers pressed in the most gossamer of touches against his ribcage. A small, lingering chill made his skin tingle faintly and he swallowed hard as he shivered and licked his lips nervously.

For a moment he rested there, finger only a little over halfway inside of him. And then he pressed a little deeper. The movement was received without discomfort or attempted rejection. The ease of its acceptance was somehow overwhelming to Yugi. He trembled, unsure of how else to express his relief, as Yami breathed in a tiny, slow exhale against his cheek in a nonchalant manner.

It was when he prodded with a second finger, brushing lightly and pushing gently, that Yami let out yet another low purr. His sensitivity to such touch made Yugi nearly tremble with delight. And the other boy tensed faintly as Yugi slipped his middle finger's tip into him. The snarl came loud and dangerous, his nails digging into the smaller teen's flesh with almost enough force to puncture his skin.

The force was merely bruising, Yugi realized with relief, but the power behind it was on clear display. It did not matter that the pressure was miniscule now. It mattered that if he did not heed the warning, Yami would crush his rubs altogether. The small teen froze in place, teeth digging into his lip. Alarm made his skin crawl, his throat clogging even as he tried to swallow hard.

He tried, in vain, to reassure Yami mentally that he would have stopped regardless.

They both felt the light sting which came with the addition of his second finger. And the sensation of it lingered under both teens' skin. Yugi was abruptly certain that, had he continued, the slight pressure would have become a hideous burn soon enough. So, laying there and breathing through his teeth to relax himself, Yami convinced himself to release the smaller boy's ribs. It was instinct that kept them both so still now, however. The warning was clear to both of them, relating to them both that should Yami tense he would come to hurt himself further.

A small trickle of blood came from the crescent-shaped marks on his side. Yami blinked at the sensation of warmth against his fingertips. Yugi hissed softly, more in surprise than pain, and the failure of an apology was welcome to them both.

For a moment longer they remained completely still.

Then, breathless, Yugi whispered, "Hurt?"

"No."

"Uncomfortable?"

"Yes."

Yugi nodded slightly, about to say something further, but then he found himself falling silent once more. He was startled as Yami closed his eyes and mumbled, "Hurt?"

It took the small teen a moment to realize he meant the small cuts. He drew in a deep breath, then exhaled, "No."

"Uncomfortable?"

"Yeah."

They were quiet again.

Yugi breathed out a soft sigh but did not move his fingers any further inside of him. The red-eyed boy beneath him remained statuesque. Then he breathed softly and his fingers twitched gently. For a minute longer the deity failed to move. Then his eyes snapped open, curious and confused—and altogether self-conscious if Yugi were to be truthful with himself—to stare at the smaller boy blankly.

Yugi gave him a small smile, then laughed softly. "I just wanted to see your eyes," he admitted in that same breathless tone. "I wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting you."

His finger slipped further inside of him and Yami wrinkled his nose but did not fight him. There was no tension beyond a small squirm of discomfort. And the smaller teen stretched his fingers in a scissoring motion.

Yami tilted his head, blinking at him and wrinkling his nose once more. But there was no pain to be found and so the other continued his prodding. A small purr was elicited from the taller teen, the pleasure uncomfortable and bemusing to him. The sting had faded away into near nothingness and the sensation was steadily growing more familiar as Yugi continued to play with his preparations.

Yami's eyelids fell steadily lower until they became hooded, and his eyes were so dark that they seemed almost black for a split second where the shadows danced in them. The effect faded again immediately, however, as Yugi began to prepare for a third finger. Abruptly, as if he had been struck with a knife or a white-hot poker, the purr cut away completely. In its place came a hideous snarl and the deity's face twisted into an expression of avid hatred and something almost akin disbelief.

"Hey, hey," Yugi soothed, eyes wide, but there was also a small bite of sharpness which had come to leak into his tone. "I am not going to hurt you. I know it's uncomfortable and it stings a little, but it's okay. I won't hurt you—at all, okay? I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

For a moment Yugi's words seemed to fall on deaf ears. His lips remained curled back, his eyes blazing. And the disgust on his face was clear as he stared back at the smaller teen. He snarled softly again, his fingers still bearing down upon his skin as his nails curled inwards. Both of them stared at one another, expressions full of alarm and frustration.

It passed in what felt like hours of intense silence. The time seemed to move sluggishly, as if they were simply amidst molasses. Yet, finally, Yami began to relent. Desperation had clawed at his insides, reminding him once more why it was that he needed to go through with it all.

Had he not required Yugi's energy through sexual release, none of this would have happened. It was only his own necessity which kept them in this situation and thus he had no true place to grow so hateful. But it did not stop the emotion from rearing up in his gut violently, the very force of it alone almost enough to make him lash out.
Yami forced himself to relax, a sharp and hideous sigh of an exhale slipping past his lips. He hesitated, but then pulled his hand away from the other's skin to run his tongue over his fingers. When he pressed the tips lightly upon his skin, Yugi nearly shivered. Had it been anyone else, he might have bristled and felt disgusted.

Yet, somehow, it was almost intimate and beautiful in an awkward sense. It seemed, almost, for only a moment, as if he truly cared that the bleeding stopped and the sting be eased. It seemed more for his own personal benefit but Yugi did wonder.

The small teen stretched his fingers to splay them apart as the other teen's face twisted in discomfort and slight disgust. It was somehow exciting. Yet he was utterly displeased to realize that his penis would be an extremely tight and intensely awkward fit. Yami was not going to be very happy with it if he was already so sensitive during simple prep.

He moved his fingers into a triangular shape, working to stretch him further. And he felt amusement drift through him as Yami wrinkled his nose again, but did not pause in his purring. His red eyes looked somehow stunned, as if they had grown several sizes larger than usual. Yugi wondered if it was because of the new sensation or the thought that had crossed his mind moments before.

The way his red eyes glimmered with confusion made him look immensely young and innocent. If Yugi had not known him to stick his hand down his pants at his own whim, he might have thought he was entirely awkward beneath him like this.

But there was some small rather stray kind of beauty to the expression that made him shiver slightly. The very expression of such blatant confusion and innocence made something inside of him warm with delight. And Yugi could not help but laugh softly as he began to scissor once more, pumping between each action, and stretched him to the fullest he was capable with his fingers.

"Are you ready or do you want another finger?"

Yugi could not tell if it sounded mildly disgusting or dirty to the other boy. Or if perhaps he simply sounded extremely naïve and small.

But he could feel the fear and shock coiling within his stomach. There was a brief, singular moment of which Yugi felt winded. He wanted to pull away entirely for a long moment. He sincerely wanted to reconsider this deal they had come to make together. Maybe he could even negotiate new terms.

But he realized, abruptly, that they were both naked. And he was still prepping him. But the reality of it made his skin crawl. They were already so close and yet he was so afraid he did not know if he could truly go any further.

Being on top did not make him any more courageous than it made his eyes green rather than blue-violet. It was somehow horrifying to think of how much control he held at this moment. But he wished to be able to hand the majority of it to the other boy as he considered more fully his discomfort.

He smothered the sensation, however. And he hoped to the gods that Yami did not lose his nerves nor sense that his own were fraying. The red-eyed teen might very well lash out. But Yugi reminded himself that this was—in some way—a justice given over for his own faulty abuse of limited knowledge of his Puzzle.

The red-eyed teen was silent for what felt like hours. His eyes flickered with something like distrust, however, and it made them darken more considerably. For the smallest of moments Yugi wished he might follow that sensation. He wished he would fall upon it completely, force him away entirely. But then it faded altogether and Yami merely gave him a brusque nod as if it forced him to make up his own mind.

"Okay," Yugi murmured. He was surprised how much tension made his voice seem weaker and smaller altogether. He forced himself to breathe out evenly once more. "Relax and stay still for me, Yami."

If it had not been for his own good, Yami thought perhaps any other time he would have argued. His mouth opened and closed, his eyes flashing like sharp knives beneath the sun, and then he forced himself to clench his jaw again. Between the two of them Yugi could not tell who caused such tension. His own body was so taut he felt he mirrored a drawn bowstring. And beneath him, Yami was working to keep his body as receptive to his touch as he could.

His hand moved from his ribs to his shoulders. The nails dug gently into his skin, and his breath came out in a harsh gust of air. He nodded, blinking once, and then his eyes sharpened like dagger blades. He watched him, cold and frozen beneath him, and Yugi fought a shiver as his blood began to rush and yet freeze all at once.

He licked his lips, focusing entirely on the expression which riddled the red-eyed boy's face, and swallowed hard as he considered himself for a long moment. It was ridiculous how fearful he had become in the last few seconds. He wondered if it was the power the other boy had handed him so unhappily, or if it was simply the idea of this action in and of itself.

He wondered briefly, looking down to avoid to the way Yami's eyes seemed to cut through him like teeth, if he could keep his fingers like this. If he could keep them stretched and open so fully long enough to enter the boy, then surely it would not be too stressful. He had never considered it before, as he had never had reason to as he, like Yami, had assumed the positions to be opposite. They had both assumed that it would be Yami on top and himself on bottom.

It seemed only natural that a deity would take position above and himself below…

Yugi could make him stretch that far if he needed. He knew that the body was accustomed to such measures when it came to sex. It was how one was kept from tearing tissue after the act. The body naturally adapted to the actions…

He shook his head to scattered the thought. It was not worth puzzling over when he knew the other might grow impatient sooner rather than later. "Lift your legs up for me and wrap them around my waist, okay?" he instructed. He paused for a moment, then flushed brightly as a new thought occurred to him. He could not stop himself when he blurted out, "Slowly, Yami! Really slowly!"

His tone caught Yami off guard enough to make him blink wide red eyes, shocked by the urgency in his voice. Then his lips began to pull and twist into a tight frown which bordered an annoyed grimace. For a moment he merely gave Yugi that same expression, blinking so that it would become nothing more than a blank disapproval at his suggestion.

But his hips rose enough that he could wrap his legs around Yugi's waist as slowly as possible without the loss of momentum. His former impatience was brought to the forefront of both of their minds again. And, for the briefest of seconds, Yami seemed to imagine throwing Yugi onto his back and entering him instead. But it was shaken off again, dissipating long before he even moved again.

He looked tired and resigned to this position now. There was such dejection in his expression that Yugi nearly flinched away from him entirely. But the other boy's weight held him fast, seeming abruptly to grow far heavier than it ever had before. And Yugi was abruptly aware of his inability to do more than simply follow his original plan to stretch him as fully as he could.

He twisted his wrist, angling it to continue to hold the other open as much as possible. But a sharp jolt of pain came through his bones in angry retaliation. He hissed and Yami blinked at him, looking towards his own wrist in surprise. Yugi ignored this, however, running his tongue over his teeth.

If he could do this, then it might make it easier for Yami when he tried it later as well.

Yet, somehow, despite himself, he was unsurprised when it did not work.

There was just not enough room for him to slip his erection inside of the other boy with his fingers splayed as they were. Even his various attempts to change his position and pivot his wrist did nothing to gain him more room.

So, instead, he huffed unhappily at his inability and pulled his hand away completely. He shuffled his hips forward, his weight tipped forward. The mattress creaked beneath them with the new movement, groaning a soft protest, and Yugi watched as Yami frowned momentarily at this change of position.

The new intrusion, as slow and seemingly hesitant as it was, made a snarl creep up through his throat. His expression turned into one of increasing displeasure and caution, red eyes flashing brilliantly. Yugi frowned for a moment, though a small sense of new and disturbing elated pride came through him as well.

"Sorry—bigger than my fingers," he muttered. He gave him an awkward smile though his insides were growing more rapidly warm with approval at this new height of connection between them.

He licked his lips even as Yami stared at him with clear, blank annoyance. Yugi was abruptly desperate to lean forward now, to either kiss him with bruising force or draw his bottom lip into his mouth. He wanted more than ever to taste the deity's tongue, so strong and beautiful, against his own.

"Well, actually, I'm not sorry. It would be pretty disappointing if I wasn't."

Yami chuckled quietly for a brief moment but it was over again swiftly. His face twisted up, scrunched as his eyes narrowed in surprise. He eased his way further, slow and torturous, and was almost inclined to ask him if he wanted to stop.

It was a vague idea which passed through them both that he might pull out again. It was so abrupt, in fact, that it caused both of them to falter in their union.

But it also came to Yugi that Yami had not stopped him before and would not now either. But still the small teen was torn between impulses. He could push in all the way, or he could pull away again and refuse to attempt it a second time.

He didn't want to hurt Yami.

And the red-eyed teen did not seem entirely pained, but he did not seem comfortable either.

And Yugi almost feared that he was simply missing the touch of pain that the other boy might have felt. Was it possible that his excitement was somehow cutting away the sensation he should have felt as well?

His hips snapped suddenly.

Yugi let out a strangled cry. Yami writhed, hissing in clear distress. The movement caused the bed to creak.

Yugi trembled, gaping. Yami snarled softly and clawed at his spine. His nails were cutting lightly into his skin. The small teen worried for a moment that he was going to carve his way into his bones.

Yami's red eyes squeezed shut, jaw snapping shut with an audible click. He quivered once, then snarled again. When his eyes opened again, they flashed brightly with pain and frustration. His grip on Yugi's skin grew rougher. He scrabbled as if trying to find purchase. His breathing came out in a rough pant.

Then he writhed, somewhere between panic and pain and anger. He moved so violently that his grip seemed almost to break Yugi's back. The small teen was tugged closer, nearly falling face-first into the pillow beneath Yami's head. The deity growled and sank his nails into his skin further. His shaking was quelled only a few minutes later, his breathing harsh and vicious.

Abruptly Yami's nose pressed into his neck. His hands drifted from his back and shoulders, finding their way into his hair. His fingers tangled there and he breathed harder again. But the shaking came a moment later, his snarl escalating. His teeth lightly grazed his collarbone.

And then he hissed softly into his skin. Yugi swallowed hard, wishing more than ever that he could have sworn that nothing like this would have happened. He wished he could have ensured Yami now that nothing like this would happen again.

But the trembling was growing more erratic. And the ache between them was hideous, burning in and under his skin.

Yami had hurt himself in his haste, and the pain was enough to make Yugi want to crawl away from him altogether. But Yami held him in a vice grip, aching, and he almost thought the deity might try to bury himself within him somehow. He quivered, guilt burning through his twisting stomach, and Yami panted again, more harshly than ever, against his slim throat.

A-are you okay? Yugi finally managed to whisper. He shifted his face to the side, just enough that he could rub his cheek against Yami's in what he hoped was a comforting motion for the other. He hoped to the gods that the deity would not be further harmed by such an attempt.

The answer he was given in response was nails which raked upon his spin. Yugi arched his back like a cat, unable to help himself as he drew in a deep and unsteady breath.

Fine, the red-eyed teen snarled in his mind. Just do not fucking move.

"I won't," Yugi assured him, voice laden with fearful tension. His muscles strained and weakened with distress. He rubbed his cheek against his once more, breathing out harder. Yami was not shaking anymore, the pain easing itself slowly but surely. But there was something else quickly taking its place as well now.

Yugi was unable to shake it, nor even fully confront it now. A strange, instinctual fear had come over him, coursing first through Yami and then him. It was apparent he was not the cause of it, however.

But he could not bring himself to question it either.

If he asked, he feared Yami might become desperate to prove him wrong.

He might lash out, move too soon, hurt himself further…

What if he wound up tearing something?

Or what if Yugi was forced to pin him down to keep him from hurting himself?

Who knew what might happen after that?

If he moved too soon, he would definitely have to pin him. He would not allow Yami to hurt himself further. It might get him punched or his face carved with nails, but it was not a question.

If he thought for even a moment that Yami might hurt himself, he would restrain him.

Yugi moved his right hand away from where it rested next to his ribs. His fingers drifted gently over his hipbone, making Yami shudder. He pressed his nose into Yami's cheek, relieved by the cool softness which greeted him there. And then, as he rubbed, Yami fell back against the pillow with something of a small, nonchalant sigh of gratitude. Move, he growled softly, a rough and guttural noise despite his relaxed stance.

The smaller teen took a second to adapt to this new feeling of filling him now that he was somewhere sure Yami was okay. And, despite himself, he reveled in the way that his inaction seemed to make the other boy bristle in frustration. Then, slowly, Yugi dragged himself out and pushed forward again in a gentle rocking motion.

A hand moved in his hair again, rubbing at the nape of his neck. He kneaded gently at the flesh there, soft and without his sharp nails. Yami's eyes closed, his brows furrowing faintly, and he twitched uncomfortably as he continued his movements. Then he curled his lip back slightly, allowing his left canine to press against his bottom lip visibly for Yugi to see.

The effort of which he put into concentrating on that feeling of Yugi moving seemed almost overshadowed by the awkward and fumbling rhythm. This inability to truly come up with more than simple rocking back and forth in slow drags seemed to be eating at Yami's lacking patience. But moving too soon had only caused him pain formerly and the deity was nothing if not smart enough to ignore his former mistake.

He was not one to repeat a repercussion of such magnitude with conscious thought once more. Adaptation was a skill that he did not second guess. Such action as to put himself through a second dose of pain without necessity was not within his nature. His very core was that of survival, and wounding oneself unnecessarily was not such a thing he took into consideration.

Awkward fumbling and rocking back and forth as Yugi found some kind of confidence and self-assurance would have to do. Besides, the small teen had been very upfront about it all. He had told him without hesitance that he would not be too amazing to him as it was his first time doing such a thing…

But far be it him to accept his own displacement in this situation. His inability to move without harming himself was nothing that was surprising either, however. He did not know much about the endurance of his human frame. And he did not want to risk further wounding himself or Yugi.

So he settled more fitfully against the pillow. His teeth pressed a little further into his lip, however, and he hesitated to do more than keep his eyes shut and his focus so solely on this new, more invasive action between the two of them.

Had he opened his eyes to look at him, Yami would have found Yugi watching him as closely as he was trying to focus on their union. He was purposely avoiding a rhythm over finding exactly where and what spots he could go without harming the deity. He angled to push deeper than before, as far as he could. The angle was just enough to allow him to drag over Yami's prostate, startling him but eliciting a strange snarl of excitement and pleasure from Yami beneath him.

The deity's lips twitched again, though now his curled lip fell back into place. Yugi shivered, relieved that there was no longer that tense, displeased expression worn upon his face. His tooth no longer threatened to puncture through his skin and draw blood. And the noise was still vibrating within them both, resonating beautifully in their cores.

Yugi moved his hands to further stretch himself out over the other teen until both of their bodies were pulled to their fullest. He lowered his mouth to his ear, breathing softly against it, the movement surprising them both. Yami was growling now, the noise a soft and low rumbling as Yugi moved once more to brush against that spot.

The smaller teen slipped a hand beneath Yami's back, the deity arching and twisting to accommodate him silently. The action delighted the smaller teen, making him lower his cheek to the other's as he wrapped his arm around his back firmly. Yugi shivered, welcoming the addition of such cooler body heat against his own overheated body. The satisfaction was simple and easy, the small bit of contact all but overwhelming him for a split second.

The taller scoffed against his cheek. The movement was deliberately slow and soft, so that his breath bathed over his skin like a winter breeze. He thought briefly of the snow touching his skin and Yugi reveled in such a gentle touch. He wished for a moment that he could have melted into it all, nearly purring with satisfaction once more.

"So, how does it feel then?" Yami asked slowly, quietly, cutting into his thoughts entirely.

He seemed almost hesitant, yet haughty as well, and Yugi wondered at this thought. He did not know what it was that Yami really meant to ask him, either. His immediate thought was that of just how fucking tight he was around him, how hot and pulsating he seemed despite his usually cold body warmth. His second thought was to say that he felt like a fire personified with his spike of body heat.

Then he wanted, more than anything, to say something along the lines of just how amazing it was that this all felt. He trembled with delight, wanting to laugh at himself for his own vulgarity. Then he felt abashed, becoming embarrassed and somewhat horrified by the thought that perhaps Yami was listening to him now.

He tried several times to form words, or somehow string together something that he could possibly put into the air between them. But much of it made him feel weak and stupid. And another part of him was distressed by the idea of phrasing something wrong and causing Yami offense.

"Like you just gave me a really great gift."

It was just enough to encompass the slight relief in his voice. And it did well to avoid any potentially harmful phrasing. Aside from the fact that Yami might perhaps spitefully point out that deities were given gifts and never mortals. He could easily say that only mortals showed homage if he truly wished to.

Yami snorted loudly and skeptically into his ear. The volume and the noise itself made Yugi jerk back slightly in surprise. He blinked, looking at him with wide eyes, and then frowned as they stared at one another for a moment. He thought he might bring up his former thoughts, maybe even sneer them at him and watch him writhe shamefully at the idea.

But, despite the obvious inquiry of his choice words and the way he looked at Yugi so cynically, the deity did not speak.

And then something occurred to him, so suddenly that Yugi nearly gaped at the other boy in shock at the very idea.

"I—I'm having sex with a god," he mumbled, unable to force the awed amazement from his voice as he opened and closed his mouth once. Eyes nearly twice their normal size, heart pounding in his ears, he blinked at the other boy in shocked uncertainty.

Was he truly a god?

Was he truly having sex with a god?

It was somehow paralyzing to come across the thought and face it at its natural value. It was immeasurable and overwhelming to consider the strength of it. And it was overwhelming now to consider that the red-eyed teen beneath him was so dangerously out of his league in species.

The thought made him quiver.

And his gaping did not stop. His mouth merely fell back open no matter his numerous attempts to shut and keep it shut. And, amused as he was, Yami found no pleasure in the other's startled, horrified expression. Had he not snarled at him viciously this very point several times before, it would have been humorous.

But he'd told him many times of his divine status, though Yugi had turned a blind eye to it and ignored much of his furious declarations. And the doubt was still there. Yami could sense it, flickering between them two, and his lips curled back to show his teeth in open hatred of his disregard.

"Sorry."

Though Yugi was now humble and almost bore a semblance of humility, Yami hated him. Yugi's head was bowed and his eyes were on his collarbones, somewhat ashamed, but the apology did nothing to soothe the deity's mounting anger.

"Whatever," he snapped spitefully, voice bordering a sneer. The word was close to becoming a snarl of distaste as he glared at him. "Just move faster."

The smaller boy nodded slightly, gaining just enough speed with the inward thrust to make Yami purr loudly and pull him closer again. His anger dissipated with the influx of pleasure, his nails scraping lightly over Yugi's skin, forcing him somehow impossibly closer. A small but overpowering throb of need swept through them both, so hard that it was on the very edge of becoming incredibly painful.

Yugi licked his lips against the other boy's again.

He needed him.

For how long was the question, however.

Was it only that moment?

Would it be longer?

It took him several moment to realize that the touch that lingered on his shoulders now was not a gesture to pull him closer. In fact, his palms were on the front of his narrow bones, his fingers digging into his skin on the back. His hands were encompassing his shoulders entirely, holding them in a position that, in any other situation, would have made him capable of pushing him back.

The action of pressing lightly on his shoulders was gentle and soft. Yugi blinked, startled as the realization came to him that Yami meant to speak to him. The smaller teen pulled back only enough to face him fully. There was no embrace Yami wished to offer him, only a cold and lingering rejection.

It was as if a bucket of water had been dumped over his head. Or maybe it was as if the heavens had just opened and a personal rainstorm was waging overhead for Yugi now. He shivered but the intensity in the other boy's eyes did not waver. His red gaze was swirling, dancing with vibrant sparks of harsh embers like a fire being brought back to life.

The way his lips curled back was a sneer of amusement and distaste. Yugi faltered, shivering. Clearly Yami had no plans to stay for as long as the smaller boy had been imagining. The reality was harsh and cold, one that nearly winded the blue-violet-eyed boy altogether.

Yugi felt immediately stupid for his own former thoughts, his entire body rebelling at the incredulous idea. Yami had no such desires to be tied down further than he already was. He had, after all, been bound to him by his own stupidity by giving Yami a name and identity that he was forced to answer to.

He thought it a blessed mercy that he did not open his mouth and form the words. He was not sneering at him as he could have. The severity of the situation was not given another, more horrifying light yet again either. Yugi was sure he would have become incredibly sick if Yami had spoken again.

He didn't want to hear the words again, the crushing feeling in his gut already enough as it was. For a moment Yami smirked at him as if the thought were the most fun he'd considered, the best to have crossed their minds in months. He looked at him as the Cheshire cat might have, given several bowls of cream and a mouse in gift wrapping. And he appeared ready to pounce on him at any moment.

Then his eyes closed and he purred softly, almost laughing with delight.

It was weird, but each long, smooth stroke made Yugi wonder if perhaps he might be losing a bit of himself and gaining something of Yami in the meantime. He still could not find it in his mind, his vast expanse of vocabulary, to describe the amount of completion and power which came with this action.

His heart was beating erratically in his chest now, Yami breathing softly in sync with it. Then he let loose odd little pants that made him shiver in surprise. It was temporary by all means, but still it was there, if nothing else.

You think too hard about insignificant things, Yami's voice snarled in his head. Yugi blinked, shivering as he caught the sharp look on his face. Do not complicate it further than it already is.

The smaller boy let out a little laugh, nodding to himself even as he muttered, "It's already bad enough" in full agreement. It was so low in tone that the other teen narrowed his eyes and tilted his head. Yami was forced to strain his ears in order to catch the words, nodding shortly in response as he considered them fully.

His lips twisted and pulled into a wide smirk, eyes dancing with a cruel and overbearing amusement. His teeth glittered for a brief moment and his tongue flicked over his top incisors as he watched him. His expression made Yugi pause, alarm making him bristle faintly before frowning at him in puzzlement.

His red eyes glimmered again, cunning and sharp, with more than light touches of menace and brutality.

"What?"

For a long minute Yami remained silent. Then he chuckled loudly and shook his head slowly. "Oh, little game, tell me something," he purred softly. "What is your definition of using someone?"

"…I don't know. I never really thought about it before."

"Then allow me to tell you that you are wrong if you think that I will ever grow to take care of you or respect you in any way. I have not the slightest interest in what you request of a partner." He stated the words simply, in the calmest voice Yugi had ever heard him speak in, though his tone grew somewhat distasteful towards the last word. "I am only here to get my new existence sorted, even if only in the most miniscule of ways. I know from basic survival that I need not waste time finding other humans to partake in this mindless action with. Seeing as I am bound to you in such a way, you are my sole source of life and power and even identity, understand? Nothing beyond that will ever come to matter to me. You will be sorely disappointed with the effort I will put into anything more should you ask for it. I will never give you more than what is necessary for my own benefit. Regard this as your warning, for you will not get another one."

"I know that."

"Then act as if you do," Yami spat coldly, baring his teeth for a split second with a furious snarl like the undercurrent of thunder rumbling softly in the darkness. He pulled Yugi somehow closer still, until their bodies were pressed too tightly together for even a piece of paper to be slid between them. The action halted all of his movement and the long digits stroked for a moment over the nape of the smaller boy's neck as he closed his eyes.

"Is there any way I could actually get you out of my head?" Yugi sighed after a long moment. His words made Yami release him somewhat, his fingers hovering against the back of his skull, and Yugi regained his momentum.

Still, despite his efforts, he could not for the life of him find a rhythm for which he could make his movements steady. Instead he only moved slightly faster. The slighter speed did well to allow Yugi to prevent causing Yami any further discomfort. This way the red-eyed boy would not snarl and snap at him furiously in response to such a sensation.

"Maybe if you were to think in a softer voice, it might help," Yami scoffed, rolling his crimson eyes and briefly studying the ceiling overhead. His face twisted for the merest of moments and then his focus slid back towards him slowly.

"I wasn't aware I was supposed to regulate that."

"You are a naturally loud person. In contrast me, Yugi, you are predominantly an extroverted person whereas I am quiet and introverted. Because of this, you are far noisier than I am myself. Perhaps, if you wish for me to remain out of your head, however, you might think to work on that."

"So, I'd have to completely change my personality to lower the volume of my thoughts?"

"I suppose. If you would like to believe such a thing."

Yugi was not comforted by the statement, instead bristling and snapping, "You aren't going to be here often enough for me to actually need to bother with that, though, are you, Yami?"

The harshness of his reprimand made Yami blink, but then he snorted and smirked in amusement. "Your mind is connected to mine; whether I am nearby or not, I will always hear you."

Yugi shuddered, considering him. "Wow. That's…really got to suck."

"It is certainly hindering. And highly unfavorable. Especially when, despite everything, it is you who I hear over my very own thoughts!" Yami snarled viciously. He appeared almost ready to lunge at him before falling silent briefly. His rage spent for the smallest of moments, he snapped his hips against him quickly. A purr escaped him even as he breathed in sync with the smaller boy's heart once more.

"Am I really?"

Yugi blinked in confusion. "Really what?"

"Breathing in sync with your heartbeat."

The smaller teen was quiet for a long moment, taking some time to adjust to this new speed Yami had introduced. He thought to ignore the question, but the reality of it made him shiver as he met those bright red eyes again, curious and wondrous.

"Yeah."

"Huh."

Yugi supposed he should have been glad that was the extent of their conversation on such a subject. But the coldness of it still made his bones feel incredibly weak. Regardless, he turned his head to kiss along the edge of the other boy's jaw, coaxing gently for movement that Yami ignored pointedly for a moment. But Yugi persisted, kissing and coaxing, until a sense of exasperation came between them both and Yami's nails lightly ran over his shoulder.

Yugi almost laughed out loud. Yami ignored him again, but the constant sensation was distracting. And, when Yugi ran his tongue over the column of his throat, the red-eyed teen finally responded. He rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, hissing out a breath in annoyance, and then tipped his head so that their lips could press together again. He was rewarded with a harder thrust, making his fingers curl unconsciously so that his nails dug into his skin. Yugi's back arched beneath his fingers and he moaned softly into his mouth with approval.

You're warming up, Yugi noted happily. He was delighted beyond himself by the simplicity of the fact. Yami was indeed growing somewhat warmer, though he was still cold to the touch as he normally was. He purred with relief, further delighted by it all, and the action startled Yami enough to make him halt his movements where his tongue had been playing with his. His nails curled faintly into his skin again, grasping at him in momentary surprise which passed abruptly as he returned to his movements.

It happens sometimes, he returned dismissively. He bucked against him rather shamelessly, so forceful that Yugi nearly stumbled. He scrambled, surprised by the action, and tried his hardest now to keep up with their newest pace.

Teeth caught his lip with enough force to make him yelp and still briefly. Yami was snarling softly but he did not form words of protest. Rather he continued this loud, mindless and hideous noise that made the smaller boy's head spin.

Did I hurt you? Yugi demanded immediately, horrified and unprepared for the moment that Yami's brilliant eyes snapped open once more and boring into his viciously. There was such power and movement within them, like water rippling, that he was so mesmerizing he almost buckled beneath the force of it. A new sensation of pleasure swept through him, tackling his body in vibrant waves. Yugi trembled briefly with the terrible touch, remembering for a moment the first time they had met.

Your ribs are not broken, Yami replied coldly instead, severing Yugi's sense of security in that powerful pleasure. But, as if he sensed it and wished to make up for it somehow, the red-eyed boy moaned into his mouth and pulled him closer. His fingers tangled into the hair at the nape of his hair, tugging it lightly, and gripped hard enough to make Yugi wince painfully.

The pain of the touch gave him immense pleasure, however. And Yugi nearly cried out with it, unable to stop himself. It was electrified and gentle, the smaller teen feeling Yami draw him even closer to him now.

Briefly he acknowledged Yami's earlier words, that there need to be as much skin on skin contact as possible. There was a low and melodious purr to answer him, granting him the confirmation he had been wondering about it. It vibrated down his throat, swallowed easily, as their tongues remained tied and he moved faster for a moment.

Yugi pulled back, finally, panting for breath as Yami began to guffaw around his own heavy breaths. The sound was odd and enticingly mesmerizing, beautiful beyond what Yugi could describe. The fingers on his neck moved, tracing unfamiliar patterns and alternating between light and heavier, deeper touches. A low, squirming moan came from his lungs, drawn tight from the exhilaration of the other's fingers.

Sensitive, hmm? It seems to be something we both share, yes?

Yugi was not sure that he liked the way Yami contemplated the remark, the way it curled in his head like a drifting wind and sent a chill down his spine. The sensation of it as it moved through his mind was that of a burning, licking touch to each of his nerve endings. It was electrifying and cold and yet warmer than he dared to focus on.

His arms buckled, Yami laughing into his ear in delight. Yugi swore his brain was shutting down for a moment, his satisfaction making him all but collapse atop him. For a split second, everything seemed to become nothing more than the sensation of the other boy clenching around him, his orgasm matching his. It was nothing but an unwinding spiral of delirious heat, sultry tension, passionate violence and steady twisting.

And Yugi was rendered incapable of thought or expression altogether.

The deity continued to stroke his hair, playing with a few long strands. His fingers massaged at his skin, light traces of the tips where they danced here or there. It drew Yugi back to reality just enough to recognize the world was slipping back into place around him. His pulse was pounding and fire was shooting through his veins as he lifted his head just enough to look at the other day.

He was still snickering softly, breathless little noises, and his fingers continued their gentle ministrations. But it was Yami's eyes that caught his attention. They were dark and dilated, burning with a harsh edge like broken glass and a mirroring softness like that of the plushest down.

Yugi shivered and lowered his head again, listening to his heartbeat as he pressed his ear to his chest comfortably. His eyes closed tightly, a feeling of something primitive having broken loose inside of him. It seemed to pace restlessly back and forth like a caged animal.

Yugi pulled away after what felt like hours of being against his colder body, breathing hard and trembling before rolling over to lie beside him. The fingers in his hair remained tangled and his movements did not even cease for the briefest of moments. His red eyes flickered towards him for a moment, unreadable in expression, and then they drifted to the walls around them.

They were such a bright, glorious blue, and he wanted nothing more than to lash out at the very color. It was disgusting and mocking, something that seemed almost as if it were meant to keep his optimism higher than he cared to. It was almost as if it might rejuvenate him when his body felt so often ready to fall to pieces. The thought made him snarl before a small smirk came across his lips and he narrowed his eyes. Perhaps he could simply destroy the color.

He was a god.

Surely he could wipe it from exhaustion, could he not?

Yugi huffed, still struggling to catch his breath beside him.

"How are you not winded?" the sixteen-year-old muttered with a puzzled expression. His lips were pursed, his eyes but thin slits as he peered at him through his long lashes. He tilted his head and frowned when Yami did not turn towards him.

"We just did something that brought more power to me. Why might I be winded?" the red-eyed teen snorted, though now he tilted his head towards him curiously. It was not solely his emotion, but it was enough to make Yami smirk a little wider and turn finally to face Yugi once more. "You should try to take in larger breaths. Holding them and then breathing out for a set amount of seconds will do you will. It does well to promote easier pacing."

Yugi opened his mouth to ask how he would know that and then fell silent. A wave of shame came crashing through him as he pulled his pillow closer to himself instead. It came to him in a small flash, painful and disorienting as he blinked.

Yami had told him that he had previously been unable to make his lungs work properly at first. He had said he had worried that he was dying by some inexplicable source of magic. So it was not at all surprising to realize that the other had come to realize that he had to find his own way to balance such disability so as not to be rendered useless.

He was nothing if not a survivalist.

He would adapt endlessly if he was presented the chance.

Yami would survive anything if he only got the opportunity.

The smaller teen pulled the pillow closer to him still. When he swallowed, a knot had formed in the back of his throat. The other boy had clearly thrown the statement out as a cruel reminder of his mistake. And he had thrown this acid barb as well.

He watched Yami as he sat up straight and stretching himself out. His back arched like that of a graceful feline. His arms dropped his arms to his lap again. Then his eyes flickered around him lazily. He furrowed his brows as he watched him, crossing his arms and twisting himself more to face him. Yugi's nose brushed against his hip and instinct almost caused him to recoil fearfully. He thought for a moment that he might upset Yami altogether, but instead forced himself to press a little further into the cold skin there.

The other boy did not pause even at his silent questioning.

"I thank you for keeping your half of the deal we made," Yami stated, effectively causing Yugi to cringe and pull back in a violent recoil. His head snapped up as he sat up slightly in shock at the statement, and the red-eyed teen got to his feet. His red gaze shot about the room, taking in several things that Yugi was unsure he really cared to glance at, and then began to purr softly.

He seemed to move with a new and graceful energy, so fast that he barely seemed to bend over to grab his clothes from the ground in the first place. Yugi did not make a move to object, however, instead breathing in deeply and exhaling softly as he settled into the pillow again. He watched him curiously around taking in the curve of his ass.

He had known, of course, that it would be over and Yami would leave soon enough.

But it seemed entirely too ridiculous to put into words how quickly Yami was doing so.

Yami glanced at him sideways. His brow rose slowly, showing disagreement, and then he turned away again to pull on his boxers. His actions were fluid and swift as he dressed himself once more. When he was finished, he stretched his arms out in front of him and glanced about the room to find his shoes.

He kicked one of them, drawing it closer to him, then snatched a sock off the floor and began to pull it back on. The other was quickly clothed moments later as Yami spun on his heel to face the desk. An annoyed look was shot at the Puzzle upon realizing it was there and he snarled as his lip curled back.

Not once did he grace Yugi with a glance. The cold shoulder he cast him made the smaller teen feel almost queasy. And the blue-violet-eyed teen felt smaller than ever, watching him with an incredibly hurt look. But he had signed up for this, had he not? He had agreed to this, knowing that Yami would not remain there…

Yami had turned away from him completely, as if he had suddenly grown to know humility and the strength of modesty. Then he pulled his other shoe on without a second glance.

Yugi blinked, stiffening now as realization came over him. Yami was about to vanish rather than risk a run-in with the Puzzle seated on the desk. His original idea had been to slip out of the window…

And for a moment Yugi swore the other teen looked almost pensive as he glanced at it again. But, rather than disappearing, he strode for the door. It was almost as if he had somehow come upon the idea to cease any impulse to use magic in case the Puzzle might have attempted to counteract it…

Yugi shivered.

He was thinking of it as if it were alive again…

"Stay here. With me," Yugi murmured, shifting onto his elbow and leaning up. Yami paused in his steps, turning his head to stare at him over his shoulder with narrowed eyes. His long lashes were thick and dark enough to keep Yugi from being able to catch even the barest hint of red within his gaze. "Please? I worry about you when you aren't around and I…I miss you sometimes. So…stay here."

The statement made his eyes narrow further. Yugi lowered his head some, feeling somewhere between desperate and hopeful as he ducked his gaze. Now he could see the faintest glimmer of violent red, catching the emotion in the other's eyes. The action was enough to make Yami turn more fully to face him.

And the curiosity in his gaze was burning as he blinked in response to his intense stare, but no words left him. The seconds seemed to pass sluggishly once more. Yugi felt as if the air were growing heavier around them and his heart was skipping beats as the seconds stretched into long minutes.

"For how long?"

The smaller boy stared at him in avid confusion.

The question was so far from the range of possibilities of what he had expected Yami to say that he almost thought he had misheard him. He had expected him to sneer at him that he'd gotten what he wanted. He'd expected an argument as to why he did not need to stay there. He had expected him to snort and smirk and laugh.

But the question made Yugi scramble into an upright position. He felt winded still, his heart racing within his chest now. Possibilities had opened with Yami's simple inquiry and it was amazing to him. But his eyes were caught on his, glittering with cunning and menacing caution though it was mostly overpowered by curiosity.

"I don't know," Yugi admitted softly, chewing his cheek as he watched him. "For as long as you wish to be here. I won't kick you out or anything. You can come and go as you want. I just want to know that you're okay if you go for days without seeing me or something like that. I honestly don't want you getting hurt or anything like that…"

"So, really, you wish to have me remain here with you so that you do not have to worry anymore."

"No, I'm always going to worry, Yami. That's not ever going to chance. It's human nature to worry about someone else. Especially if they…make you feel more."

"More?"

"More. I don't have another word for it. I could say you make me feel. But there's a wide array to that and I can't just pin it down to one emotion. And I don't want to just…leave it like that," Yugi admitted. He gave him a small, shy smile that made his eyes brighter and left Yami blinking in surprise. "Maybe you make me feel them more intensely. Or maybe around you it becomes a balancing act that I both love and hate. You push me until I feel too much but when I'm around others it's almost like I feel too little. I don't have a medium yet."

"You expect to find one?" Yami asked slowly, drawing the words out and narrowing his red eyes faintly. He looked him over, considering his statement, and then curled his lip slightly when he saw that the intensity in Yugi's eyes had not changed.

"I think it's possible. I also think that you run away from me so often because you don't actually like feeling aside from not having that hollow sensation that we both share. I think that you feel too much and it comes out sharp and brutal for you and you hate it because of that. And I hate that you bring out my emotions that same way. I'm used to them being manageable and now they're everywhere."

"Your problem, not mine—"

"Oh, but it is your problem as well," Yugi laughed, getting up now. "Oh yes, Yami, I've noticed it. That was why you got so aggressive with me when you were trying to prep me and after I offered to show you that you didn't have to get so scared like that. You are just as affected by this all as I am. The only difference is that I am not running and you think you still can."

Yami bore his teeth, snarling quietly. The noise was so feral that Yugi honestly feared he might resort to attacking him to keep him away. His shoulders had risen and his spin was pulled tight, ramrod straight. His eyes were flashing brilliantly in warning.

But he had not touched him before aside from holding him against the wall those few times or pinning him against the bed and squeezing his throat lightly. He had not fully turned his wrath on him. He had not hurt him more than once. And that was something that now held Yugi in momentary rapture.

Because Yami knew limits.

Because Yami knew better.

Because Yami was vicious but he was not going to lash out stupidly.

He knew better.

And that was all that kept Yugi safe now.

They looked at each other. And Yugi could not help it when he began to smile faintly, his lips pulling to the left as a new realization began to creep into his mind as well.

Yami would not harm him now.

He would not lay a single finger on him in aggression.

He felt trapped, corned like an animal in a cage too small for him, but he would not lash out.

He would snarl and snap his teeth if he got too close.

But he would not attack him.

He would not lash out and break him as he had the potential to.

Rather, if he thought it safe to look away, he would disappear in a flash. He would retreat instead of risk himself. Because he knew that Yami felt volatile, as he had many times before, and that was more of a fear than anything Yugi could inflict in him at the moment.

The step he took forward made Yami snarl louder. His teeth gleamed in the lamp's yellow light. His eyes flickered and his pupils dilated for a moment. He looked feral, ferocious, but he did not step back. And his eyes were clear despite his intimidating stance. He was not lost somewhere in the back of his mind, behind the instinct to fight back.

Yugi smiled a little wider at the knowledge. Then he moved closer until he could almost touch him.

"What the fuck are you doing to me?" Yami spat softly, narrowing his eyes into slits. They glittered with an intense and violent focus. He glared at him through his long, spidery dark lashes. And Yugi could not help but smile a little wider. He tipped his head to the side, then reached forward to catch his hands.

The deity stiffened, growing statuesque in position, and fell silent.

Something soft and small was brushing against his subconscious. For a moment he could not process the lack of threat. His mind was trying to find a reason to lash out. He was trying his hardest to justify it. But then he smothered such an impulse.

There was a soft, subtle sense of reassurance in the touch. The smaller teen was clearly attempt to make him feel better.

It was not truly working.

But Yami could at least reward his efforts with a simple touch of his attention.

Though, when he was honest with himself, he was not sure he truly could have turned away at this rate. Things seemed inexplicable to be moving much too fast for his formerly fatigued mind.

"I won't hurt you. You know I don't have any plans to do that. But I also don't want you getting hurt either, Yami. I don't want you getting hurt physically or otherwise. I might not understand it and sometimes I don't think you do either—but it's there."

Yami stared at him blankly, processing the words. His fingers twitched but Yugi simply held them a bit more, eyes flickering about his.

"And it runs so deep, doesn't it, Yami?" he pleaded, watching as the taller teen tilted his head minutely. He licked his lips and searched his expression once more. Yami was not pulling away, at least. "And it hurts when we're apart—maybe not to the point that it burns or even really begins to ache, but it's there. It's like having a phantom limb and still feeling it there even when you know it's not really anymore. Maybe that's why you get so angry and act so violently sometimes or why I keep reacting so passively."

The red-eyed teen stared at him blankly once more. His silence stretched out for what felt like the longest five minutes of his life. Then his eyes abruptly flickered to their hands, where Yugi's still encompassed his, folding them together.

He pulled at his left, tugging it from his grip and blinking wide eyes when Yugi allowed his fingers to slip from his grasp. When he gave him a shocked look, furrowing his brows, the other boy smiled at him gently, raising a brow playfully.

"I won't keep you here." Yugi released his hands completely but did not back away, watching him closely and feeling warm that he was even still standing there. He knew that there was not a force in any world that would keep this living, breathing storm in place should Yami decide he needed to escape then and there. "But I want you to stay. Maybe not forever, because we might not need each other for that long, but for now…"

"Why?"

"Because you're just as lost as I am. It would be easier if we weren't so completely lost that we couldn't find each other at the end of this, right?"

Yami narrowed his eyes once more. His irises flashed like a pair of coins tossed into the air in the direct ray of a bright light. They were hit at just the right angle to make them gleam and sharpen like blade points.

"You hate being alone just as much as I do. I can tell—I could tell when you first started coming back here and talking to me around stealing my stuff." Yugi paused, biting his lip and then laughing softly when Yami gave him a startled look. Clearly the deity had not expected him to have noticed he'd taken some random souvenirs. The red-eyed teen had never done anything to hide it but Yugi had also failed to argue with him as he must have expected him to. But he had never taken anything too important—the most valuable thing he had snatched from his desk in the middle of the night had been a small picture of him and his grandpa, one of which he had multiple copies of. "You hate it, but you don't want to be around me often either. You're a loner by nature, but you don't want to be completely isolated. I know that. I understood that when you started showing up more frequently."

Yami narrowed his eyes, curling his lip slightly in unease.

"It's a contradiction, huh? You tore my Dark Magician card because you wanted to make me hate you enough that the next time we crossed paths I would not want to have anything to do with you. And it worked for all of five minutes. But I… Yami, as miniscule as our exposure was, I still ended up having darkened thoughts and I know you wound up feeling guilty for doing it."

"I don't—"

"You don't need to lie to me. I could feel you like you felt me that week. After you tore that card and I attacked you, I felt all of your guilt. I felt your confusion and your grief later. And you felt my anger and melancholy. That's why you came back to me with it," Yugi muttered, shaking his head and glancing over his shoulder for a moment. His eyes fell on the drawer he'd put the torn card in, taped only days before when he'd been able to finally look at it without wanting to sob. It had taken hours, his hands shaking from the utter pain.

He turned back to the taller teen now, eyes full of grief but a small smile on his face, trying his hardest to make Yami feel slightly better. He was sure he felt that dull ache that came with the very thought of the card.

"Yami, there is a reason for it, right?" he asked softly. "There has to be a reason for all of this—sharing our emotions, those brief little images that cross our minds when we do something like brush hands. It's…it's in the way we bring out each other's worst…and maybe our best too…"

"Your best?" Yami scoffed. "I have never brought out the best in you."

Tea brought out the best in him.

But Yami would never speak such a sentence. But he felt almost as if Yugi had come across this same thought as well, whether he cared to say it or not.

"Maybe not exactly," Yugi agreed, nodding slightly, "but I remind you that you have a conscience when you seem to conveniently forget that you're stuck in a human body. So I don't know about you, but I think that makes it a good thing on your behalf, right?"

"And what benefit do you gain from this, exactly? I get a little bit of my conscience back and you get what, Yugi?"

"I get to know that you're safe," Yugi answered, smiling gently at his cynical expression once more. Yami's red eyes darkened, glittering with disbelief, but he did not bother to fight him. "That you're safe and I am not going to find out that there was some kind of freak accident or somehow our bond fucked up and you wound up dying somewhere or something. And I get to know that I am not completely alone despite feeling that way almost constantly. And then I get the feeling that I have the right to experience the emotions that I do. I guess…when it comes down to it, I get security in it all. So…stay here. With me."

"I…"

"We can always figure this out as we go along, Yami. We have time. And it won't be nearly as nice as someone would hope and maybe it will be more mentally abusive than anything else, but I am willing to try if you are. I'm tired of only feeling partway. I want you here."

"And you would go through mental abuse just so that you could know that I am okay?"

Yugi nodded. "Gladly."

"You're an idiot."

"And you're a coward."

Yami bared his teeth in annoyance, his snarl low and soft. "You frustrating little bastard," he hissed. Yugi backed up when he started forward, matching him step for step until he hit the edge of his bed.

He searched those red eyes for a moment, checking for any violent impulses that the other might not smother. Then he snatched his shirt tightly in his fist and threw himself backwards. The deity spat out a noise of startled anger, visibly thrown off balance by this sudden action. He fell straight into him, hissing as his legs came in contact with the bed. The smaller boy gave him a wide grin of amusement, twisting the fabric of his shirt.

"What are you doing?"

"Come on, Yami—prove it to me that you're not just a coward. Stay here. Lay with me. Hell, fuck me if you want, but stay here."

"Why are you being so adamant?"

Yami was hissing angrily, his movement ceasing completely as Yugi arched his back to rub his hips against his in a leisurely circular motion. The impulse to throw his head back and moan his pleasure was overwhelming, but he clenched his jaw and swallowed roughly to smother it. The deity reached forward and grasped tightly at the comforter for purchase, cursing mentally at the feeling of the smaller boy moving against him so softly.

It was nothing but gentle brushes of skin against clothing and yet he swore he would unravel at this light sensation. Yami drew in a deep breath, holding it in his lungs, and bit his tongue to hold his pleasure at bay.

There was a loud and sharp noise that cut the air, like seams splitting. Yugi turned his head sideways, startled almost enough to stop his ministrations altogether. The other boy had completely torn the comforter at his hip. And his fingers were shaking finely, his nails scraping at the surface with each twitch.

Yugi moved his hand, tightening the fabric of his shirt further. His other hand moved to sling over his shoulders, pulling him closer and holding him completely in place. His palm pressed heavily against his chest now, the fabric hot and seemingly stuck where his skin touched it.

Yugi shivered when a rough, strangled pant left his lips, turning back to see that Yami was watching him with wide, dilated eyes. He was furious but his wonder was growing and his pleasure was harder for him to ignore than he would have liked to admit. And, as Yugi watched him, he struggled not to laugh.

"Because I care and I want you to stay safe."

Yami gave him a glacial look, clenching his jaw once more. An involuntary moan was smothered again, making him pant before he sneered, "You say that as if you love me". The tone was one of pure hatred and Yugi blinked stupid at the words. Then he burst out laughing, shaking his head at the declaration.

"I don't," he stated simply, smiling widely in amusement. "I don't know if I ever could, to be honest. But that doesn't define the reason behind someone caring for someone else."

"You want something from me," he presumed, moving to open his slightly when the smaller teen began to push against him in a soft motion once more. Yugi leaned forward and pulled slightly on his shirt to bring him impossibly closer.

The other boy snarled softly at the sensation, bracing himself harder against the bed. He licked the backs of his teeth in order to keep from moaning, nearly choking on the saliva in his mouth. His grip tightened further to keep his position and the comforter tore more violently, splitting at the seams and snapping loudly beneath his fingers.

Yami bit at his tongue, mouth watering more than ever. The close proximity allowed him to smell the soft sweat that still came from his pores. The deity turned his head, brushing his lips lightly against the smaller boy's teen. Impulse made him open his mouth and he nipped at his jaw, teeth slick with saliva but harsh where they sank lightly into his skin. He pulled back again, licking at his skin and nearly moaning once more.

"I want you here. That's all. Beyond that, you can do what you want, Yami no Yugi. I can't stop you and you won't listen to me if I attempted to argue my point some more. We're at an impasse as far as that goes." He reached out to run his free hand under his shirt, fingering the smooth ridges of his spine where his back arched faintly. "But I want you here, Yami. I want you at the house even if it's just to tell me that you plan to leave for weeks or months—or however long. I want to hear you tell me that. I don't want to have you gone for so long and without a single warning. It makes me worry and it frustrates me."

"You ask for far too much." Yami spat the words into his ear, muscles taut as his body tensed with pleasure. He gasped, swallowing away his moan, but his mouth was watering and his arm shook where he clenched his hand on the comforter.

His impulse was to throw Yugi more forcefully against the bed. He wanted to lick and snap his teeth and draw blood while giving him as much as he had gotten minutes before. His breath came in a ragged whistle, ghosting over his skin, and the smaller teen groaned in response.

Yugi hissed out another breath in his ear, then moved his hand out from beneath his jacket and shirt. His nails dug into the fabrics, pulling as the taller boy snarled in acknowledgment and encouragement at the slight pressure of pain the action produced.

"Masochist," Yugi teased softly, breathless before laughing. The taller boy was startled, red eyes wide and shocked by the declaration. But his expression quickly morphed again, twisting into an impatient snarl. His gaze was narrowed, boring violently into Yugi's now. "You don't think that demanding I never go out with someone else isn't the same as what I've just asked of you? I know you aren't going to go away forever and certainly not if you think I'm going to be entertaining myself with them. Like I said before, you won't let me experience pleasure unless it's you who gives it to me, isn't that right, Yami?"

He bristled at the way his name came from his lips. The tone was almost warm but full of laughter as well, and Yami wanted to lash out for a brief moment. But then he shivered, the impulse and his unease swept away with the movement.

His voice would not come out for a long while, however, before a strained strand of it came, tight and ragged in a breathless pant that led into a small, trembling purr. "Do you even know what it is that you are saying?" he demanded softly.

"Yes. I'm well aware."

Yami snarled softly at his quiet laughter. His teeth chomped loudly next to his cheek. The incisors brushed his skin. His breath came hot, almost wet and searing against his skin. Yugi snickered louder, releasing his shoulder in favor of sinking his hand into his hair.

"I also know that I don't really have that many options right now anyways. Regardless of you being here, I've only ever been interested in one girl and you scared her away anyways," Yugi snorted, smirking at the red-eyed teen who scowled at him with a slightly disgusted look. "And I have no doubt that I would not be funny if my best friend was suddenly found with her heart ripped out because of you."

Yami made a scoffing noise, snapping, "Whatever. She provoked me."

Yugi burst out laughing, halting his movements altogether. His guffaws only grew louder when he took in Yami's expression. His eyes had grown wide, startled, and his jaw had set into a violent scowl. His lack of movement had not gained any amusement from the taller teen. He had been too lost in the smaller boy's actions to really know what to do now that they had stopped.

"Provoked you—because she asked me out. Yeah—okay, Yami."

"Shut up," the deity spat furiously, baring his teeth in annoyance. He gave him an impatience look, hateful as he snapped without words for him to begin moving again. But Yugi was laughing too hard to do more than choke on his breath. He was turning red in the face, his amusement glittering in his beautiful eyes.

And, finally, Yami lost his patience altogether. He threw Yugi backwards, forcefully, into the mattress. His knee pressed into the furniture now as well, allowing him to all but loom over him. "She does not deserve you."

"And you do?"

"No. But I want you and I have you. So I think I win regardless of worthiness."

Worthiness…

Yugi truly liked the sound of the word. But he did not think it completely fit with such a statement. He chewed his cheek as he fought the impulse to say so, unsure whether Yami would respond well to these words. Instead he shook his head once, breathing in slowly and backing up on the bed to allow the other to climb on and straddle him.

"You don't have me. I have you. And if you want me, then agree to my terms or I'm going to enjoy having fun with dating and experiencing one-night stands and—"

"You would not," Yami snarled. He bristled and his eyes flashed with something Yugi thought seemed almost like fear there amongst them. He blinked, startled by the vulnerability that made his expression so readable, but the moment passed. His face twisted into a sneer, voice cold and angry like a snake waiting to strike. "You are blackmailing me."

"It's the same as you've been doing to me, Yami. I think it's only fair, right?"

Yami opened his mouth at first with the objective to argue. Then he fell silent. A huff left his lungs, loud and petulant, and his lips moved to his neck. His teeth sank into his skin enough to make him yelp in painful shock, clawing at his back in a panic for a split second. Yami pulled back with a snicker and Yugi bristled in irritation, scowling at him.

"You have no endurance for pain."

"I don't enjoy it," Yugi corrected him coldly. "Just like I don't like inflicting it either. You know nothing about me."

"We could change that."

"Unless you agree, then no."

Yami stayed silent for a moment. His eyes flickered about his for a few long moments. Then he narrowed his eyes and curled his lip. "Why would you wish for me to be here when I scare you?"

"I'm not…exactly scared of you. I fear the things you do, what you can do, what I know you've already done," Yugi explained softly after a moment's hesitation. He frowned, whining in the back of his throat when Yami moved to push his legs further apart with his knee. A small trickle of fear made him want to clench his legs shut, but another part of him simply ignored the idea altogether.

When Yami nudged him again, it was in invitation for him to wrap his legs around his waist. But the smaller teen could not find it in himself to do so for the moment. He found himself unable to stop his eyes widening drastically, his spine tightening, as he heard the zipper of the deity's pants being drawn down.

"It's not so much fearing you," he continued, forcing himself to focus on something else entirely for a moment. "If I did…well, you wouldn't be here right now, Yami."

The dilated red eyes narrowed and he peered at him through his lashes, fire against obsidian for a moment. His lips curled back faintly, his eyes flickering about his. "I will not change for you," he declared with a sneer. "You may bitch at me until I lash out but I will not change who I am just for you."

Yugi shook his head slightly. "I don't want you to change, Yami. I wouldn't ask you to. You already know what I ask and that's it."

"To stay here…with you," he confirmed. "And that is all you require of me?"

"Yeah, that's it."

"That seems so stupid."

"Then maybe you were right and I'm really an idiot. But it's true that's all I want. And that's all I'll take from you. Just stay here, give me a head's up if you are going to leave for any amount of time." He shrugged. "And shit—be gentle. I swear if you start like you did before I'm going to tear your eyes out."

Yami chuckled softly but did not argue, instead nodding and reaching to back to tap his fingers against his thigh, Yugi hesitated a moment longer, then lifted his legs to wrap loosely around his waist. "Very well."

"Very well?" Yugi repeated in puzzlement. "Very well what?"

"It means that if you can face your fear of what I can do and who I am, then I can certainly compromise and stay here."

If Yugi had not been so painfully aware of just how badly Yami did not wish to be there or how strongly he opposed staying with him Yugi would have been offended. But he knew the root of his fears and insecurity and it was the only thing to truly calm him. Because, had anyone ever thought to say that to him before that, he would have been offended. He would have questioned that statement a million times, tossing it around in his head over and over until he felt he might go insane.

But instead he hissed and chewed his cheek as Yami brushed his teeth against his temple as if he wanted nothing more than to sink them into his flesh. His breath came out in a small hiss, almost as if he was struggling to contain the urge to do just that, and he shivered. Or maybe he wanted to lick the entirety of his face as he had at the arcade.

This time he would have a real reason to do so that would not involve pissing Yugi off for the hell of it. But either way, he was not exactly pushing at the idea of doing so. He was not trying to force more of himself onto the smaller teen.

And with that realization came another.

Yami was so warm now…

"Just go slow," Yugi murmured when he found that Yami had paused and seemed to be debating his next move. "You won't hurt me."

Yami raised a brow in clear dissatisfaction towards hi words, questioning him in apparent disbelief. Then he shook his head. He pushed his own doubt aside enough to brace himself fully against the mattress and press against him completely, pushing just enough to squeeze the head in.

Yugi winced, realizing with sudden clarity just how foolish this entire choice had become. He had not fully thought it over and now that he considered it at its most pivotal of moments, he knew without a doubt that he was not truly ready for all of this.

The turn of thoughts was something that the deity bypassed completely. But he did stop, turning his head and staring at him. He gave him a look that said very clearly that he could take control if he wanted, that he had the chance to tell him to back off at any time he wished.

But Yugi had resolved himself already. He scrunched his face up and squeezed his eyes shut, trying his hardest to banish the idea from his mind. His body was tense for what felt like hours but he knew had to have only been a few short minutes and a small wave of shame filled his insides a she came to terms with his.

Had this not been his idea?

Had he not agreed to just this?

There was no room to back out—or, rather, there was, but he would not do it. He had been the one to declare this outcome a possibility. And he had already done this very thing with the other boy minutes before.

He would not back down with all of these facts staring him in the face.

"Okay," he muttered, nodding despite the small burn that lingered beneath his skin. Yami narrowed his dark eyes, skeptical of his shaky voice, but did not question him. His choices were his own to make; there was no reason for him to interfere. He moved forward again, surprised when Yugi did not object but clenched minutely and then forced himself to relax almost immediately after.

When he could not move any further, the deity felt faintly satisfied. But there was also a trace of faint irritation as he balanced his weight more comfortably. Yugi chewed his cheek for a moment, breathing roughly at the sensation and struggling to unclench his jaw. His face was still scrunched up, his eyes narrowed as he looked up at him.

Then he shook his head slowly, opening his eyes, and gave him a small, strained smile. The expression spoke of clear, extreme discomfort more than it did pain. "You can move if you want," he stated softly. "Just, you know…go slow?"

Yugi could not be sure if it was because of the fact that he had showed him the same courtesy minutes before or if it was just that he had asked that made the other teen nod. But he was well aware that Yami was testing his balance and working to pull them into a somewhat more controlled position.

His legs were still wrapped around his waist in what was now a vice grip. And Yugi was abruptly aware of the fact that this hold would most likely bruise his inner thighs later. But when the deity moved to arch his back slightly, his spine was soft beneath his fingers as his shoulders rolled under his fingers. The smaller boy reveled in the sensation, allowing it to distract him from the way Yami gently pulled away from him until only the tip remained inside of him. It came to him as he began to push inside just as slowly that he had lost his virginity—twice, in both ways.

It was such a distinctly clear, odd and satisfying thought that it was almost humbling to him. His lips twitched, then pulled into a wide smile as he closed his eyes and splayed his palm more comfortably over Yami's shoulder. The taller teen let out a soft chuckle that prompted him to open his eyes into slits. He stuck his tongue out as he thrush back in with the smallest touch more force. The smaller boy licked his lips, the motion pleasurable, strange and uncomfortable all at once.

Yami shifted his hips slightly, trying to find some kind of angle with which he might bring the other into a fit of mewls. He scrabbled at his back with pleasured little cries. But the taller teen could not seem to find that point. And his mind circled relentlessly around the question of the location of his prostate.

He cursed somewhere in the back of his thoughts, nearly snarling in frustration. He remembered only vaguely that he had not had the foresight to attempt prepping him again before doing this. But most of his senses were focused on the fact that Yugi was so hot and soft around him. It was almost as if he had dipped himself into a natural hot spring, where the waters would have ripped and lapped at his skin like liquid fire. But he did not think a spring could truly compare, however, with the way that he stretched to accommodate his size. The sensation was so perfect that for a split second he had to admit it felt like they were meant to be together like this.

Yami had been hoping for so terribly long that it would simply be a one time thing. He had been sure that it would give him the energy he required. He had convinced himself that it would help to make him more powerful and solidify his body once and for all. He had been so assured that it would help to empower him completely.

But it had occurred to him, of course, even as he had attempted to leave, that it would not be so. He needed more than this. And he was now encompassed so fully by the sensation of Yugi wrapped around him and the bond that existed there. It had twisted his thoughts now, forming a roadblock in which it cut through his former thoughts. He wanted to purr, to move without thought, and the impulse was so compelling that it was warning enough to prevent losing himself in that thought.

Yugi pulled him closer with his legs, bringing him somehow even further inside of him. The smaller teen's fingers traced a path along his shoulder to his hair. Then he released his shirt to creep under the neck of it and touch along the knobs of his spine. For a moment he remained frozen like that, merely looking and massaging. Then he finally tugged on Yami's hair lightly with his left hand, pulling him closer to press their lips together.

Yami shifted his hips again, pivoting, and bit back a small snarl of frustration at the lack of progress he seemed to be making. The smaller teen moved to rub his neck in something almost akin a comforting motion. But it did nothing to calm him.

Rather, Yami began to grow further irritated, bristling furiously at his inability. He should not have needed him to do that. It should have been easy for him to find it so that he could make him moan and writhe. It was incredibly frustrating to think that Yugi could even feel his mounting irritation as well.

You're thinking loudly, Yugi whispered into his mind. His hand tugged lightly upon his hair again. You need to calm down some, Yami. You'll find it soon enough.

Yami nearly pulled away to snarl at him that he did not need his reassurance. Hatefully, he thought to snap his teeth and sneer at him. But the smaller teen let out a small, startled yelp which made Yami falter for a split second.

It could have been pain or pleasure.

Yami could not focus on it completely.

A sense of fear had come over him, making him stop in place.

But then Yugi looked at him, bucking against him and purring with satisfaction.

Right there, the smaller teen purred. He pulled back to breathe, shivering from where he was pressing himself back into the pillow behind his head. Right. There…

The taller teen let out a small growl, deep in his chest. He reveled for a moment in the satisfaction that came with this new development. He pressed his face into his neck, licking as he moved his hips a little faster. The smaller boy encouraged this action with another buck that made Yami snarl softly. He picked a rhythm that was not entirely as fast as he had drawn the other into before, but it was enough to begin to tire him as he continued moving.

The smaller teen moaned softly, rocking his hips in lazy little motions that made Yami hiss behind his teeth with pleasure. His hips continued moving, his back arching and his nails clawing at his shoulder and scalp. The hand in his hair pulled once, then drifted lazily to his shoulder and pressed gently to coax him into leaning further forward, to stretch across him completely.

He was not entirely sure if it was because they had already done this minutes before or if he was giving in to that primal sensation that existed between them. But the more primitive connection between them begged that he speed up, make Yugi cry out and writhe in a mixture between pain and pleasure. But the red-eyed teen ignored this, his control frayed but held together at its core. And the fight not to give in to such instinct was enough to make Yami grow more erratic in pace, a growing fatigue tugging at his skin.

The lazy rolls of his hips made the red-eyed teen almost whine. Yugi pulled on his hair lightly again, rubbing his cheek against his. He was breathless and flushed, sweating. And it was only a few minutes into this act of their skin sliding against each other that it suddenly occurred to Yami how hot he truly felt. His blood was moving faster than ever and he swore he was going to combust at any moment…

Yami panted, a harsh noise that made him shiver as the other teen echoed him. A small bead of sweat landed against Yugi's shoulders. The smaller teen blinked, staring at this drop of condensation in shock. The taller teen ignored his wondrous expression, arching his back and rolling his shoulders again. Yami breathed out a rough exhale, his arms shaking for a moment, his control slipping completely as his body seemed to drop in energy. He was not paying attention to him. He was lost within a spiral of heat and power, but he was easily brought back to himself when Yugi began to pepper his eyelids and forehead with kisses.

"You okay?" he asked gently, drawing his lips back into a soft smile. His half-closed eyes were bright despite the exhausted look that lingered there. Yami stared at him for a long minute, unsure of what it was that he should say or do in response. Then, slowly, he nodded and rubbed his cheek against his for a split second. He pulled away, rolling over onto his side next to him and breathing hard.

"You seem pretty fucking winded now," Yugi snickered cheekily now. He winked when the other boy snarled in annoyance and rolled his eyes. But Yami did not look at him again for a long minute and so Yugi wondered if he had truly offended him.

"No strings attached? I can leave whenever I desire?"

Yugi froze in place, staring at him for a moment as disappointment crashed through him. Then he sighed, mumbling, "Yeah…just tell me when you're going and how long you think you'll be gone."

Yami stayed still, moving only to stretch his neck out and lay his chin flat upon the pillow as he struggled to gain his breath again. "I'm not going anywhere right now," he answered in a mutter, just soft enough that Yugi could catch the words as they trailed off.

Yugi was frozen, unsure of what more to say to that.

"Yami no Yugi…"

Yugi startled at the words, head snapping towards him. He stared with wide eyes but Yami refused to open his own to glance at him. He shifted his weight and rubbed his chin lightly against the pillow, sinking further into the soft material.

"I guess I could get used to that."

The sequel is named Shadow Me and is being updated irregularly.