#mastabahs : atem.

[necrosin]

sometimes it occurs to yuugi that they probably EMBARRASS THEIR FRIENDS by virtue of their mere existence. when they press too close, nearly always touching, limbs overlapping, small displays of affection, all done without thought nor concern to their surroundings. pda has always been something that the group laughed about, tittering to each other, heads ducked together, sharing in one constant, gently cajoling, inside joke that always came back around, without fail. whenever a pair would start dating at school, unable to keep their hands off of each other, whenever honda would reach out for miho, for shizuka, a lovelorn expression on his face, only to duck out of jounouchi's swing whenever shizuka was involved, yuugi and anzu giggling to each other. whenever yuugi had stared longingly at anzu's hand, much too afraid to reach out.

it was different with friendly touches, an arm throw across shoulders, hands hoisting him in the air, fingers tousling his hair, small scuffles and wrestling matches, shoulders bumping, locking elbows together to walk in tandem, laughing, so on and so forth.

❛ i don't think i could ever do it, ❜ yuugi once said, laughing / the idea of it was terrifying / of reaching out to someone you adore in full sight of everyone and all the stars and beings in the sky / the idea had made him shy, the idea of being able to TOUCH ATEM ALONE had made him unbearable in his bashfulness, fingers poking together and head ducking and the whole song and dance, and yet ——

maybe it's a result of LITERALLY SHARING A BODY? what could possibly be closer than that? yuugi knows, knows now, that strange ache that fills him, that burst from his soul, a plaintive sort of wanting soothed only by proximity to atem upon his return to the land of the living ; as though his body protests at any distance between them at all, as though his soul demands for them to crawl back inside of each other, make homes inside of each other. physically, not just spiritually. and, short of literally tearing each other apart, near-constant touch is, really, the only other way to go ; which means that their hands tangle and their knees bump and their legs are thrown over each other and their arms intertwine and it's like friendly touches but not. INTENTION, and whatnot.

which is to say : YUUGI ISN'T SURPRISED WHEN THEIR FRIENDS ABANDON THEM AT THE ARCADE / they were practically sitting on top of each other without meaning to, his legs thrown over atem's, shoulders pressing close as they squint at the claw machine together, determined to win that beloved prize of a HUGE PLUSH to add to their ever growing ( slightly alarming ) collection. they were still nearby, of course, it's rare for them to get time together, anymore : distance and responsibilities and adulthood keeping them apart, but they were probably SICK OF THEM / in an affectionate way, of course.

❝ —— oh !! ❞ yuugi surges forward, the concentration on his face slipping as he drops the claw onto the corner of the giant plush they had thoroughly persuaded with nothing but brute force into getting closer to the prize slot, watching as it tips and tips and tips. ❝ atem, atem, i think this is it, ❞ he says, as though atem isn't right there, as though their arms hadn't been entangled and their shoulders pressed together and their sides of their hips pressed flush, bouncing slightly as he goes.

they watch with baited breath as it tips and tips and tips and then FALLS at long, long last. yuugi cheers and atem shouts in triumph, both of their hands lifting in celebration as they rotate towards each other, high fiving each other automatically, palms pressing and fingers tangling thereafter. "good work, aibou," atem grins / sounds pleased / warmly proud / soon he'll have to dedicate himself to getting another oversized plushie, just to make it even.

❝ nahhh, ❞ yuugi laughs, swaying close to atem, ❝ you did half the work, atem. ❞

atem laughs / chuckles / lifts their hands to press his mouth against the back of yuugi's hand, lips warm and sticky-soft with the lip gloss that he had snagged from anzu. despite himself, yuugi feels his heart flutter, a thrill bubbling through him / HE FEELS ALMOST SHY, AGAIN / like he's a blushing teenager utterly gone for the spirit that he shared a body with / his head even ducks for a moment !! ❝ i did 40% of the work, maybe. ❞

❝ pfffff, ❞ yuugi rolls his eyes, pressing close because he can, a quick kiss ( really more of a smooch, which should be embarrassing but isn't ) slanted across atem's mouth, the taste of cherries lingering as he flits in and then out / not lingering because while they were definitely guilty of EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF PDA, there are limits —— probably. it's just that he couldn't help but kiss him for a moment, his treasured atem, before pulling away to drag out the massive baby chick plushie that is, somehow, wider than he is. ❝ ready for the next one? ❞

❝ always. ❞

THE INTIMACY OF HANDS.—— [ hand kiss ] for the sender’s muse to kiss the back of the receiver’s hand.