#I thought people were exaggerating when they talked about Atem's view of himself but oh boy were they right

[sbd-laytall]

Some Duelist No One Has Even Heard Of Before This Day: *to Atem* Yuugi hates you, actually.

Atem: Oh My God, he really does!

Yuugi: No? I don't? I actually love and appreciate him, but go off, I guess.

[lafeae]

Prompt: Hostage Video for @uglifish

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh!

Characters: Kaiba Seto, Yami Yugi/Atem, Yugi Mutou

For: @badthingshappenbingo

Warnings: Torture, Blood

Read on AO3

“It really shouldn’t take Seto three days to respond,” Atem sighed.

Yugi frowned to his partner, and finished wiping down the glass display case. “He’s always busy. He told us he’d be hard to reach....just relax.”

A small, noncommittal whine escaped Atem.

It broke Yugi’s heart to see him upset. Atem been staring at his phone at his phone for the last two days or so, checking every message with renewed enthusiasm, only to be let down time and again. It was the same sort of upset that Yugi was trying to power through and ignore with reason and logic.

“I miss him too, but that doesn’t unpack inventory,” Yugi said.

Grumbling, Atem swung his legs off the chair and heaved up, stalking over to a tower of taped up delivery boxes. He sighed hard and heavy, as if the weight of the was world pressed against his shoulders.

Yugi rolled his eyes and handed Atem a box cutter. “It’s fine, Atem.”

“It’s not.”

“He does this all the time.”

“Not to me.”

Yugi swatted Atem’s arm. “You’re exaggerating. What did he say he’d do?”

Atem sucked in a breath before biting his lip and shaking his head.

“Atem...”

“Nothing. It’s nothing,” Atem said. Yugi pursed his lips and arranged the new board game as Atem handed it to him. They sizzled in silence for several minutes, until the box was empty, before Atem said, “Nothing bad. Or...inclusive.”

“Uh-huh. But...?”

Atem’s cheeks darkened in blush. He tucked a lock of bang behind his ear. “...but I...I can’t talk about it.”

“Atem.”

“No!” Atem hissed. He sheared another box open and began to empty card packs from it. Yugi could tell he was jittery just by the way he was throwing the packs his way. “Just trust me, alright? It’s not bad. It’s for Valentine’s Day. And that’s all I’m telling you.”

“You guys planned Valentine’s without me!”

“No!” Atem shouted, though he was immediately taken aback by Yugi’s pouting and his chin hitting his chest. “We...we planned it for you. NOW I’m not telling you anything else. You won’t get another word out of me.”

But with an innocent glint from Yugi’s purple eyes, and Atem’s sudden interest in the wallpaper, Yugi knew that yes, if he pressed just hard enough, Atem would cave. And Yugi knew it would work. It took the right words and the right actions, such as sidling up beside Atem and leaning his head on the taller man’s shoulder before wrapping his arms around Atem’s waist. It was ignored for two nanoseconds before Atem’s arm set on Yugi’s lower back and pushed them hip to hip to rock them back and forth in a makeshift dance. Unpacking the box wasn’t happening, even if Atem tried.

It was moments like these that Atem wished would last forever. The feeling of Yugi pressed against him, swaying in sync to the inaudible music shared between then and only them. A song about love, probably, with a quick tempo.

Atem twirled Yugi out. Were Seto with them, he would catch Yugi and take over the dance, moving them into a waltz. Not that Yugi ever remembered how to do it, but Seto seemed content to show him every time.

It was all about the touch. The rhythm. The balance.

Yugi never thought he’d crawl into a bed where his hands touched one person while his feet touched another, but it was disquieting when one body was missing. He’d become surrounded by lovers, but more importantly, friends, and it was always worrisome when one was gone. The balance was off.

The song in their heads stopped. The pair looked at one another and smiled, before Yugi chuckled. “C’mon, we still got to unpack all this.”

“But it’s Valentine’s.”

“Mmhm. And we have to work.”

“That shouldn’t be allowed,” Atem protested, though he passed over more card packs. “Why have it be a holiday and not give people the day off? There’s so much more we could be doing right now. Might as well shut down the shop and do it.”

Yugi snickered as he imagined them turning the sign to closed, clicking the lock, and scurrying upstairs, hand-in-hand. He shook the thought away. “If we leave Kaiba out, he’ll be annoyed.”

“Mm. But he’s fun annoyed.”

“True.”

“Could send him some pictures,” Atem suggested. A few more booster packs were handed over as Yugi considered it.

“Like...what kind of pictures?” Yugi asked. Atem hummed dreamily and looked to the ceiling. “We can’t do those kind of photos here! Stop being naughty.”

“I didn’t go there...!”

“You were thinking it.”

“I was?” Atem asked, innocent. “Stop reading my mind! What am I thinking now?”

“That anything is better than unpacking boxes. C’mon,” Yugi shoved another box Atem’s way, topping it off with a kiss on the nose. “Help me and we can figure out some fun stuff for later. Maybe he’ll send us something back.”

And Yugi saw Atem melt. Strong Atem, headstrong Atem, defiant Atem...melting over little kisses, or hand-holding, or dancing. Though he knew that as soon as a customer walked in he would hold his head high and put on a face of congeniality and poise.

“Y-yes, of course. He will,” Atem said, completely positive.

In the moment, Atem’s phone chimed. He eagerly fished it out of his pocket and opened up the text message, his smile ear to ear.

“What is it?” Yugi asked.

“He must’ve heard us talking. He sent us a video. Look.”

Atem laid his phone down and showed the message:

Seto <3

Open immediately

Beneath it was a blurry video file that quickly downloaded. In the single frame was Seto’s shoulder, his locket dancing forward.

The pair glanced at each other and back to the phone again. The room was scanned, no customers in sight or even coming near the store. Without hesitation, Atem tapped the screen.

“This is the gift, I bet,” Atem said. “If he does it right, that is.”

Yugi didn’t know why, but his heart was throbbing. Something about the video seemed strange. The lighting, the angle, the pose. Maybe he was paranoid, or a little shy to the idea of what they might see from their boyfriend on Valentine’s Day.

The camera was shaky, lifting up and giving them a better view of Seto’s collarbones, his chin, his face.

Atem softly purred and laid his cheek in his hand. Yugi chuckled nervously, but leaned in closer to get a better look at the details of the ‘gift’ mentally hoping to see Seto take his shirt off just so he could mentally run his fingers over the taut muscles.

Seto’s face came into view, and all sense left Yugi. His hand clapped over his mouth, and “Oh, God...” slipped between his fingers.

Motley bruises bloomed up and down Seto’s jaw, and a large split in his lower lips left blood smeared and crusted around his lip. The further up the video went, the more the pair released that Seto was colourless, drenched in a sweat, and frantic to follow the camera as it traced up and over his head.

“Don’t you dare....” Seto muttered. A gloved hand smacked him across the face before caressing it.

“Shh! Not yet,” a hushed voice chided.

The camera deliberately and agonisingly backed away. bringing more details into view. Seto knelt on a twin-sized bed with off-pink sheets, a blanket haphazardly thrown across his thighs, though Yugi saw where his bare feet poked out of from the side, his toes violently squeezing closed

Slowly, the blanket was pulled back to reveal where Seto was completely naked from his waist down, thin legs shivering. As far as Yugi could tell, Seto’s arms were pinned behind his back. But what about his legs?

“Seto? What....?” Atem asked.

Yugi’s raw voice couldn’t muster a voice. His eyes heated up, threatening tears.

“I’m sure you’re curious what I’m doing with your boyfriend. Don’t worry....It’s nothing too traumatic. Yet. But he is quite a catch. I hope I....followed all the instructions on what he should do for the photo shoot. Though...I may have added some steps....”

Atem’s head ducked down.

Seto’s teeth clenched. “Shut up you absolute...!”

The hand grasped Seto’s chin, and the executive bucked around, leveraging his weight backwards to try and pull his captor into the frame. Instead, he was thrown against the wall with a loud ‘thud’.

“He’s not been very cooperate. Maybe I should chain him to the bed? What do you think...?” The voice teased. Seto’s teeth clenched, and he used his shoulders to push himself off the wall, scooting as forward as he could with his knees. “It would be fun. I could have so much fun with him—“

“You don’t want fun, you sick fuck. You want money.” Seto turned to the camera. “Don’t listen. Don’t engage. This is under control...!”

“He thinks so. Aren’t you so cute?” The hand ran down Seto’s face, and he lunged forward, chomping at the fingers. Again, he was thrown back. “He’s not wrong. I want money; makes the world go round, you know? And KaibaCorp. has some to spare. I think...oh, I don’t know, is 10 million rich enough for you? Are you worth that much, you filthy moneywhore?”

Seto grimaced, softly whining as he tried to prop himself up with his shoulder.

“Or maybe...20. Might as well, hm? I’m sure that shouldn’t be so hard. I could ask for a billion, it really wouldn’t matter, but I don’t want to be greedy. Because I do really, really want my hostage to have a little fun. I’ll make it worth his while.”

Tears streamed down Yugi’s face, and went he looked over to Atem, he wasn’t sure if was even paying attention. His crimson eyes were foggy and unfocused; his breaths short; his nails dug deep into his palms.

“If you want him to be....undefiled, I want...let’s do 30 million, hm?”

“Don’t listen—!” Seto shouted.

“It’ll be 40 if you keep talking.”

“Fuck you,” Seto threatened. “I eat idiots like you for breakfast.”

“He’s made it 40. I want 40 mil at 7 PM, tonight. Only you two—I hope you’re both watching—will drop it off. I will text you the location. If you bring anyone else with you...well...” A serrated knife came into view for half a second, the tip touching Seto’s chin.

Yugi buried his face into Atem’s shoulder and sobbed, but he couldn’t turn away. He focused only on Seto’s face. The resolve burning in his eyes. The fervour in his bruised cheeks. Seto was strong, he would be strong. And they would be strong for him. They would do this.

“Anymore words for them, Kaiba? I think I’m running you’re running out of time.”

The knife was nudged a little harder. Blood tricked down his chin.

Kaiba’s tongue licked his lips, and for a second, Yugi saw vulnerability flash in his eyes. He was weak. Scared. Full of trepidation.

“Don’t come, understand?” Seto began after regaining his composure. “Neither of you. Don’t play hero...I love you both, so don’t you fucking play hero. This is handled! This is—,”

The video cut off, ending with the ‘play’ button popping up over it. No more words, no laughter. No doubling up on the threats like the normal movie hostage video that Yugi had seen in thrillers. Just Kaiba begging them, pleading them to stay away.

A text came through.

Seto <3

Here’s the address: (link)

Kaiba says Happy Valentine’s Day. (heart)

See you at 7

Yugi and Atem stood in silence for several long minutes, both swallowing thickly and staring at the blurry video. Atem’s nail hovered over it, tempting to touch it again, before his fingers curled into his fist.

Yugi set a hand over Atem’s, stroking his knuckles. Neither has to speak to know that they weren’t going to be listening to Seto, no matter what he said. But it took them both

They just needed a plan first.