Coalescence

26) Yugi's Struggles

Summary: Yami and Seto briefly discuss the hazards facing them in the upcoming tournament; Yami and Seto end up in the CEO's suite; Yugi concentrates on some needed decision-making.

Note: I've seen "Blue Eyes" and "Magician" used as nicknames between Yami and Seto before in a fic, so I avoided the natural tendency in this chapter to go that way and came up with my own set of nicknames. You're welcome!

Because of the words exchanged between them this morning - about "calming things down" - Yami merely reached over and squeezed Seto's hand before releasing it after he got into the car and it started moving again. He felt Seto's eyes on him, but he could not bear to look at him... not here... not yet. After a long moment in which he thought Seto was struggling with his shock, his lover settled back into the seat and looked away. Yami looked out the window, feeling as if he was dying inside a little.

Seto gritted his teeth, feeling his insides churn. [This isn't right; we should be together,] he thought, his chest tight. [What was I thinking this morning? Calm things down between us? Because of Yugi? But Yugi does want us to be together; he's just not ready to be with *us*... that doesn't mean...]

He turned back to Yami, reaching for his opposite shoulder to turn the smaller man toward him. Immediately Yami's hand came up to rebuff the contact. "You said this morning..."

"Fuck what I said this morning," Seto growled, grabbing the hand, twining his fingers with the other's, and pulling Yami into his arms. "I was wrong."

"Seto," Yami breathed, then shifted immediately to straddle the other's long legs. "We were both wrong." He took a deep breath and let the words he'd been thinking spill out. "I need you more now than ever, koibito. We're facing great danger and we must be united and working together... no, *bonded* or else the evil will overwhelm us."

"Not that either of us can't handle what's to come separately," Seto breathed, caressing his lover's back as he gazed into the intense violet eyes. "I believe in my own power... and I believe now in yours. But it seems you are right about the Bonds. There's a chance we can win through without them, but..."

"Lives would be risked," Yami finished for him, sliding his hands into his beloved's hair. "Souls can be lost... and not just trapped into cards, either. Given the choice, the risk is too high to take."

"L...lives are in danger? How do you know?" Seto asked, his hands stilling.

Yami closed his eyes briefly. "You could say I had another vision... I went back to consult with the Dark Sage, Seto. He told me how the Bond of the Gods ritual is to be conducted. And he gave me a warning." His eyes shimmering, he looked into his lover's concerned gaze again. "The mind controller who nearly stole the Millennium Puzzle will be back... and I have every reason to believe that he may already possess a Millennium Item in order to wield this power. Since the tournament is designed to draw out the Rare Card Hunters, Seto... there could well be a connection. Anyway, the Sage indicated that minds are at risk of being shattered... more souls trapped... and lives may even be lost."

"The Sage... a manifestation of the Puzzle..."

"Yes. Though I do not know all its powers, I believe in the Puzzle, Seto," Yami replied fervently. "As the Egyptian Pharoah who originally sealed away the Millennium Magic, it stands to reason that great power would have been stored in the vessel which maintained my spirit those thousands of years. I do not know how it understands about the new cards, but I dare not question its knowledge of them. Too much is at stake."

Seto's eyes felt hot, and he thought again of the despair he'd felt when Mokuba had been endangered. "Yami, we cannot risk those close to us - you're right. We must complete the Bonds."

Yami nodded, his eyes bright. "Yugi will come around. I must now trust in the Heart of my Light to respond with all his powers of love to the needs of the hour."

The sharp, violet gaze was suddenly too powerful to bear. Seto sighed heavily and folded his arms around his lover, holding the slender frame close against his body. "Yami... need you so much..."

"And I, koibito," Yami murmured in response, kissing his hair.


While reason told Seto to take Yami to the Kaiba Corporation's research facility to show him the new Duel Disk that would be used in the tournament, he could not help but postpone that for... personal reasons, directing the driver to instead take him home. [The tournament will wait for another day,] he mused, leading his beloved by the hand to his private suite in the mansion. [I cannot... I've waited for him my whole life... and I need this...]

After closing the door to the expansive suite behind them, Seto strode just a few feet into the front room, stripping off his long coat, then going to work on his shirt. "We won't be disturbed," he murmured, turning to note that Yami still stood just inside the door, watching him avidly. He removed his shirt, laying it aside on a chair, then turned to face his lover... and went down on one knee, opening his arms to him. "Yami, I have something I need to say..."

Yami gave a start as the tall teenager knelt before him, and involuntarily took a step backward. "Seto..." He felt a rush of heat spill into his blood, seeing his lover's naked chest and... the expression on his face, a blend of desire and open ardor that stole his breath.

Seto caught his hand and drew him closer. "Kami-sama, but I can't wait to be bonded to you," he breathed, raising Yami's hand to lay against his own cheek. "I know it's going to be something powerful and utterly wonderful all at once. And by then Yugi will be with us, too, since the Bond of the Gods must be created first. Yami! You sent my darkness to the Shadow Realm, though in some ways I still feel that my heart is black as night."

"Seto, no," Yami immediately protested, his eyes widening. "I could never think that of you..."

"I think in some strange way that I need *your* light," Seto breathed, then suddenly grinned and pulled Yami onto his knee, arms encircling the other's hips. "Well, I need more than that," he added with a wink, then sobered again, gazing back at the violet eyes that held his. "I need your fire and passion... and I need your power. You do know I'm addicted to power, don't you?"

His expression seemed serious, but Yami was suspicious. "Yes, that's true..."

Seto smiled abruptly. "You are one hell of a powerful being, Yami... Pharoah. I can't help but be addicted to you, I guess!"

Yami smiled, his own arms encircling his tall lover's shoulders as he shifted to straddle his lover's thigh. "Might I mention that you are already pretty powerful yourself? And that I might have the same addiction? My very own Blue Eyes White Dragon..." [And my High Priest,] Yami added to himself. [More now than ever...]

"I'm *your* Blue Eyes White Dragon?" Seto asked, stunned and amused all at once.

"Yes, my Dragon!" Yami chuckled. "Or should I say, will you be my Dragon, Seto? My great and powerful Blue Eyes?"

"Only if you become my Dark Magician," Seto replied, smirking. "My own Dark Mage..." [My beloved Pharoah... king of my heart...]

"Ryu..." (Dragon) Yami murmured in a hushed voice, leaning in to breathe the word close to Seto's ear.

"Mmmm... Majutsushi... Maju for short..." (enchanter, conjuror) Seto whispered back, his arms drawing the compact figure perched on his thigh close against his body. "Maju no ore..." (My Mage)

"Ryu no ore," (My Dragon) Yami breathed, then claimed his lover's mouth in a sudden rush of emotion, his hands coming up to fist in Seto's hair.

Seto moaned into his mouth as his own emotions screamed things to him like "want", "need", "TAKE", and abruptly they were dueling with tongues again, succumbing to their natural tendencies to dominate. But just as abruptly the ferocity slid into ardor and they were merely kissing with matched passion. Fire seared through their veins, but no longer threatened to consume them completely.

[This is it,] Seto thought with soaring joy and a new eagerness he hadn't thought possible. [I'm going to give myself completely to him, to my King, my beautiful Yami no Maju... I'm ready...] He pulled off Yami's mouth, breathing hard. "Maju... make me yours forever, Maju." Shifting the slender, muscled legs to fit around his waist, Seto stood, lifting Yami in his arms. "I want you to make me yours..."

"Ryu..." Yami breathed, almost in a groan, then held onto his lover fiercely as he was lifted against the tall body. "You mean...?"

"Yes, I mean *that*," Seto sighed, his lips near the other's ear. He carried Yami into his bedroom, gently kissing his koi's face as he walked. "I want it... I want *you* deep inside me, Maju..."

Yami groaned for real, the heartfelt plea making his body come alive in response, his senses attuned to his lover's scent and feel, his arousal sweeping through him powerfully. "Seto... Ryu..." he breathed, his voice slipping to a lower register.

Once they reached his massive king-size bed, Seto set Yami down on his feet, but kept hold of him, keeping him close as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Let me..." he murmured, reaching up to slip his lover's jacket off his shoulders. Then his fingertips rested on the buckle of Yami's characteristic collar.

"You can take everything off," Yami observed, amused. "The only significance that holds is that perhaps it binds me to my destiny. But I don't need a collar for that. The Puzzle does that anyway."

Seto slipped the wide collar off and let it clatter to the floor, his fingers already tracing his boyfriend's throat and collarbones. "You're a confusing mix of delicacy and steel power," he observed, noting the fine bone structure of the Pharoah's body in this manifestation. He took a deep breath, his desires crashing together. One part of him wanted desperately to ravage; the other half of him wanted to savor and fill his senses slowly with his remarkable little lover.

"I won't break," Yami murmured, his own fingers playing with the longish bangs threatening his lover's eyesight. "Looks aren't everything. I'm comfortable enough with this body to know that it's very similar to how mine must have been. And..."

"We're talking way too much," Seto interrupted, stopping his koi's musings by jerking the black muscle shirt up over his lover's head and off, not even taking care with Yami's hair. Then he made a sound suspiciously like a purr as he splayed his long fingers over the other's chest. "Kami-sama," he swore softly. "You're exquisite, my Maju. Your shoulders are broader than Yugi's..."

"Don't compare us," Yami interrupted smoothly, straightening. "He's just a smaller version of me." There was a glint of challenge in his violet eyes.

Seto felt a jolt of electricity hit his spine at the subtle ordering tone of his lover. "Yes, of course," he replied quickly, feeling his heart rate increase. [I've never met anyone so... potent... Kami-sama!] Continuing to run his hands slowly over firm pectorals and ribs, he couldn't help but lean forward to sample one small, dark rose nub, licking at it reverently.

Sighing deeply, Yami filled his hands with the rich, chestnut hair as he held his lover's head, holding him in place. "Mmmmm, I like that," he whispered, eyes falling closed as he enjoyed the delicate sensation.

With a sound suspiciously like a whimper, Seto folded his arms around the other's waist and shifted over to lave his tongue over the other nipple, then dared to suckle it. [I think I'm going to explode...]

Quickly, Yami took his attention away from his body for a brief moment in order to check his mental defenses. Yugi must not sense anything of his love-making with Seto.

Yugi was sitting cross-legged on the floor in his soul room, holding the Puzzle in his hands as he mulled over his situation. He didn't want to think about it, and since Yami had left - with his body - to meet with Seto, Yugi had distracted himself fairly successfully with the various toys strewn around the floor. But now he knew he was just wasting time, and decided it was time he faced up to his problem, though boring holes in the Puzzle with his glare wasn't really very fruitful.

Sighing, he got up and went to the door. Opening it, he got a shock when he saw what was outside. "Monsters!" he exclaimed, astounded at the gathering ranged in protective defense between the door of his soul room and Yami's. There was Dark Magician, Mystical Elf, Gaia the Fierce Knight, Giant Soldier of Stone, Wall of Illusion, Buster Blader, and Curse of Dragon.

Abruptly a new face popped out - Dark Magician Girl. The sorceress grinned and winked at him saucily, causing him to smile back as well. Yugi wondered about the group, then realized... and did the math.

Their combined defensive power was a staggering 15,550 points. They represented the strongest defenses of his deck! Giving Dark Magician a wry look, Yugi relaxed, hand to his hip as he shifted his weight back on one foot. "Isn't this going overboard a little?"

The ice-blue eyes of the Magician merely looked back at him unblinking. "Okay, okay," Yugi sighed, waving his hand at the solemn group of monsters. "I get the message... and I can guess what this is about. Don't worry, I'm not being nosy! Geesh!"

With that, he turned and went back into his soul room. Observing invisibly, Yami smiled. All was well.

[It's not actually my body right now,] Yugi told himself as he settled back down on the floor, hugging his knees. [I've got to remember that. So it doesn't matter... and I do want Yami to be happy. Seto-kun makes him happy...]

For a moment Yugi tried to imagine Yami and Seto being intimate... and he remembered how they had looked when they kissed in Yami's soul room. Then he got a strong sensation emanating from outside the door. "Okay, sorry!" he declared loudly, hoping his voice would carry to the defensive wall outside the room. After a moment, then the sensation faded.

[Okay, we're not going THERE again,] he mused, shaking his head. [Eh, it doesn't matter. I'm not ready to be like that... or even to love someone like that. I do love Yami... but it doesn't have anything to do with sex, I don't think. It's nice to kiss him... but that just makes me feel happy and warm. I think. I can't even think about kissing Seto! But if Yami and I Bond, I'll want to, I guess.]

Yugi stood suddenly, linking his fingers together behind his head as he stretched. [I... like Seto. There, I've said it to myself! He's really so nice now... I can't believe he's the same person. I guess Yami has tamed that big ol' dragon after all, eh? I don't really want intimacy... but I do like him. Is that enough? Should we go ahead with the Bond? I hope it doesn't make me want to have sex before I'm ready! I don't think it would coerce me... but Seto would be in my life... eh, well, if I do care about him already, then what's my problem? I guess...]

He flounced down onto the floor again. [I don't know what to do... maybe I should tell someone about this... get some advice...]


tbc