Souvenir

Disclaimer:
Just own the words, not the folks.

Will Turn To

We
spent most of the first three days after Yami got
home in bed. Though much of my time was spent sleeping, many of those hours
were spent wrapped around each other in pleasure.

Who
knew that my loss of emotional control could be such a powerful aphrodisiac?

When
I woke up on our way home from the airport, I crawled into Yami's
lap and tried to make a meal of him right there in Raphael's car. Our first
'welcome home' coupling happened just inside the front door. Though rougher
than usual, since it had been so long and our only lubrication had been our
saliva, that hadn't deterred us from our second round in the living room or our
third round in the shower. We'd then slept about 4 hours before our fourth and
fifth rounds in our bed; and then collapsed for almost 16 hours.

Well,
I slept for that long.

When
I woke up the next afternoon, Yami told me that I'd
been out for the better part of a day and that he'd told my boss I had a bad
cold. I suppose that was a better explanation than to say that I was too
exhausted and sore to stand at a register or stock shelves.

Not
that I really cared at the time; I was just glad to have Yami
back home.

But
that was then.

Now,
I find it difficult to face the man who I'd allowed to see such dependency and
desperation from me.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The
tea he makes us after dinner is wonderful, as usual. But throughout our light
conversation, I keep my gaze fixed on my cup.

"You've
been a bit distracted lately," he notes as he puts our cups in the sink.

I
shrug.

"So,"
he slides his arms around my neck and places his chin on the top of my head,
"Are you going to tell me about it or should I guess?"

It's
familiar to have him leaned onto me like this; he's successfully used the same
ploy in the past to coax me into other conversations that I was trying to
avoid.

This
time I slip from his grasp and head up to my old room with a hasty, "I'll
be down when I finish my homework."

Actually,
I've already finished all of the required reading, exercises and lesson plans
for my current classes and much of the same for two of my next set of classes;
boredom and the need to keep my mind occupied during Yami's
absence had compelled me.

But
that was the easiest excuse I could think of to get away from him.

Besides,
it’s not really something I can blurt out over a cup of tea...

I
was so desperate to see him that I didn't care about the throng of people in
the airport as I tried to merge us into one being.

I
was so anxious to be with him that I didn't care that my climbing onto Yami blocked Raphael's view of the road and a delivery
truck had to swerve into the other lane to avoid hitting us.

I
needed his touch so much that I didn't care that he'd be mortified and upset
about tearing me; I didn't care about being torn.

Even
while still healing, my desire to be claimed by him is almost overwhelming.
Claiming him last night temporarily satisfied my body, but I still want...still
need...

How
can I face him knowing that I would do anything he asks? No matter what it
would mean to me?

How
could Yami see me as anything but a scared, damaged
kid after this?

I
re-direct my attention from the swirl of confusion in my mind to the remaining
reading and exercises for two more of my classes. At this rate, I'll be so far
ahead that the classes will become a complete waste of my time and money.

Maybe
I can take my entrance exams early.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Are
you still sore?" Yami moans against the back of
my neck as we spoon together in our bed.

"No,"
I lie.

'Anything,'
I think to myself as he retrieves our lube from the bedside table.

But
as much as I want him, I can't stifle my gasp of pain as his slick finger
slides into me.

"Seto?" He draws back with a
frown.

Always
warm, always concerned; always worried about the 'scared little kid...’

I
hate it.

"It's fine," I assert, pulling his hand back to finish
what he started.

"Seto," he protests, his voice closer to a moan than a
refusal.

"I
want you to take me, Yami," I whisper in that
tone that I know he can't resist.

I'm
not a kid, I'm not scared and I'm not so fragile that I can't endure a little
pain to bond fully with my lover.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

My
lover...

He
is my lover. And my best friend.

And
maybe I'm underestimating him.

Maybe
he doesn't think...

I
look up from my books as he knocks on the doorframe of my old room.

"I
won't be an emotional coward if you won't," he grins at me.

I
almost don't notice the strain in his face, but the fact that the grin doesn't
reach his eyes is hard for me to miss.

"You
said that you were fine," he continues quietly, leaning in the open
doorway. "And I didn't really want to know otherwise because I wanted you
so much..."

He
pauses a moment before continuing with a sigh.

“I
don’t understand why you let me hurt you,” he looks away.

“I’m
not hurt, Yami,” I insist.

“But…”

“I
don’t mind that you want me,” I try to explain. “Because I
want the same thing.”

“I
understand, but…”

"At
the airport, I know that I embarrassed you," I interrupt, dodging his line
of questioning and heading to the subject that’s front and center in my mind.

"No,
quite the opposite, actually," he laughs, allowing me to change the
subject; not that I’m naïve enough to believe that he’s not going to bring it
up again.

"I
felt...loved...cherished...possessed,” he continues. “No one I've been with has
ever made me the center of their world before. It’s...electrifying."

"You
don’t think less of me for being so...needy," I clarify.

“Of
course not!” he scoffs.

“You
weren’t gone that long, but for me…” I trail off.

“Seto…”

“I
just needed to touch you,” I explain. “Holding you at the airport wasn’t enough.
In the car, I wanted…wanted…

"You
wanted to devour me," he leers, stepping into the room.

I
nod once in affirmation.

"That’s
okay,” he grins. “Because I wanted to be devoured."
He leans down to kiss me.

The
bed in my room hasn't been used for sleeping in months. Yami
and I work hard to make sure that trend continues.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thanks
to my working ahead on my lessons, I was able to test out of two of my classes.
After breezing through the lesson books of another three of my classes, my
advisor set up a self study program for me. I then took less than 3 months to
finish the entire prep school curriculum. After that, I passed the exam to
enter university in October, with little effort. My rank as #1 on the exam also
afforded me a modest scholarship.

Despite
Yami’s suggestion that I cut back on my hours at the
store, I continue to work as I had before as my scholarship doesn’t cover all
of my tuition or my books and I don’t want to continue to rely on Yami to pay my school fees.

Now,
I’m looking at the end of my first year of college in a few weeks; a reality
that was merely a pipe dream a year ago. This summer vacation I’ll try to work
more hours or find something else part time to help with next semester’s expenses.

Looking
up from my studies at the third ring of the doorbell, I wonder why Yami hasn’t answered it. Getting up from my desk, I step
out of my old room to yell down for him when I hear the shower going off.

‘Well,
that explains why he didn’t answer. He must have gotten all filthy
 working in the garden again,’ I
think to myself as I slip swiftly down the stairs between the fifth and sixth
ring.

Opening
the door, I nearly fall over in shock to see Mokuba
and the Ishtars standing on the front porch.

“Big brother!” Mokuba
exclaims, throwing himself into my arms.

I’m
too shocked to speak and just hug him tightly. I thought it would be years
before I saw him again! If ever!

“Mokuba,” I breathe. “What are you doing here?”

“He
simply would not stop talking about seeing you,” Mrs. Ishtar supplies as she
sits on the couch, the twins flopping down next to her.

“No,
he would not,” Mr. Ishtar echoes as he closes the front door.

“So
we made a deal,” Mokuba chokes, picking up the story.
“If I passed all of my classes, including the accelerated ones and my
extracurricular ones with a ‘B’ or higher, I could spend the summer with you.”

“And
he aced every class,” Yami pipes up beside me.

I
turn in surprise to his matchless smile.

“Y-you
knew?” I gape.

“I
just want you to be happy, Seto,” he intones lightly.

I
find myself at a complete loss for words.

“Seto,” Mrs. Ishtar interjects into the silence. “Do you
happen to know a good barber or at least happen to have a pair of scissors?”

“Scissors…why
would you need…?”

“Remember
what I told you, big brother?” Mokuba interrupts,
stepping from my embrace. “About my hair and seeing you again?”

My
eyes widen in comprehension as he uncoils the tight bun at the base of his
skull and his voluminous hair springs free.

“A
deal is a deal,” Mr. Ishtar pronounces as I stare at my brother’s mane which
reaches to the middle of his thighs.

Happily
I pull Mokuba back into my arms.

-
Fin -

A/N: Thanks to all who
have followed me along this long journey and to those newly on the band wagon!
You’re much appreciated! Join me as I finish Cottage Cheese, DMNTM, Launch,
Lollipop and all my other YGO stories that I promise to finish! ^_^