Title: Tears of the Phoenix part 6

Author: Sorceress Fantasia

Pairings: S/Y, eventual YYxY, SxJ and maybe some others

Warnings: Angst, romance, sap, some OOC-ness, probably some historical incorrectness

Disclaimer: If my desire to own YGO were proportionate to the size of the world's deserts, there would have been at least two more Sahara Deserts. Since that has not happened, I must say that I do not own YGO or any of its characters.

Note: In this fic, Atemu goes by 2 names: Yugi calls him Yami, but the other characters know him as Atemu. Therefore, depending on who the character talking/thinking is, I will use the appropriate name.

Yugi had no idea how he made it to where he was. He had no idea where he was, either. He should have paid attention to where he was going, but he didn't. And now he was lost. The palace, someone should have told him, was much too big and too easy to get lost in.

He was learning it the hard way.

Yugi bit his lower lip, frowning. He looked around, hoping to find a friendly face, but there was none. Yugi didn't know a lot of people to begin with, and now that he wasn't even in the east wing, the situation seemed even more aggravating. Taking cautious steps, he tried to find somewhere he recognized. Still, there was none. And Yugi was getting tired already; the sun was blazing, the air was still, and he was in a place he had never seen before. It was time to ask for directions.

But the people in the area didn't seem like they liked strangers at all. Ever since Yugi had stepped into the area, he found himself the subject of intense scrutiny and even outright sneers and down-turned lips. There were arrogance, condescension, disdain and a whole lot of other emotions that Yugi could not read in their eyes. Looks could not kill, but they could make others feel insignificant and worthless. Yugi almost cringed but stopped himself in time, fully aware that he was like a sheep amongst a pack of wolves, and the slightest show of fear would result in him being torn from limb to limb.

Just who were these people? They couldn't be servants; if they were, they'd be working. Besides, they didn't dress like servants either. They were much too skimpily dressed they might as well have worn nothing at all.

Hesitantly, he walked up to a group of girls standing in the shade. Their harsh whispers and soft snickers ceased the moment they noticed Yugi getting closer, and they immediately stood closer as though in defense. Their disdain was becoming more apparent.

"Excuse me... could anyone tell me where I am?"

The girls laughed aloud then, their laughter amused and gloating. However, when they noticed Yugi's genuine confusion, they stopped, and instead, wore smirks that reminded Yugi of wolves ready to pounce.

"Don't try to be funny, boy. You know perfectly where you are. And it's not a place where you should be."

Another girl took a step forward, bending down to jab Yugi's forehead with a slender finger. "This is our territory. Newcomers shouldn't even be here."

"Newcomers?" Yugi echoed. "But I'm not new... I've been working in the palace for months…"

"Don't lie to us, boy," –the girl's gaze turned frosty- "You don't even know what you're doing. Get out now and go to where you've been assigned to. It'll take you a long time to get to where we are now. Don't you dare try to wriggle your way in when you're still so new."

Yugi was about to retort when he felt a hand on his shoulders and pulling him back. He looked behind his shoulders, blinking when he couldn't recognize the person. It was a young boy, perhaps a few years older than himself, with blonde hair and a pair of warm brown eyes. The boy was grinning toothily.

"Hey girls, don't be so hard on the kid. He just got lost, that's all. He's not part of the harem, really," he said. Then, he bent down to give Yugi a wink. "Right, kid?"

"Harem?" Yugi exclaimed, but any other thing he wanted to say was cut short when the other boy's hand slapped over his mouth.

The boy nodded sagely at the girls. "He's a new servant actually, but he probably lost his way. Ha, you know how big the palace is. Well, I'll just take him from here. Don't get mad over it, or you girl will get wrinkles, you know?"

Before the girls could stop him, the boy was already pulling Yugi away. It was like a show had ended, and the audiences went their own ways, and the girls dispersed. The two girls standing by a dark corner at the side, one of them tucking her red hair behind her ears, also turned around and shuffled back to her room when she noticed the boys were gone. The other girl followed obediently behind her.

But Yugi never noticed the two girls. Instead, he was concentrating on catching up with the other boy who was still pulling him along. "Hey! Where are you taking me?"

"Away from here, that's where. Don't you know you're in the west wing? And you were even wandering in the harem! Those girls probably thought you were a newcomer; that's why they were so nasty towards you," the boy said, still grabbing Yugi's arm and walking away quickly. "They think the more people there are in the harem, the smaller their chances of seeing the pharaoh. But to be honest, I don't think they're never gonna see his majesty at any rate. His majesty has never visited the harem since his coronation! And well, the girls are really scary. Not really their fault though, I guess. Desperation can make you do a lot of things. So now the harem has a system of ranking, and the ones who've been there longer know how it works. The new ones... well, they can only hope that the older ones don't try to hurt them.

"I hear that if a newcomer offends them, they'll use needles to poke every inch of her skin. It doesn't scar at all, and it doesn't bleed, so nobody can tell that the newcomer's been tortured. And while it doesn't kill, it hurts like hell!"

"Really?"

The boy nodded. "Really. You're just lucky I was passing by; my master made me return some books to the library in the west wing."

"How did you know I'm not a member of the harem? Not that I am, of course. Just being curious."

"You don't act like one. They're always trying to make themselves pretty and flirt around, and well... you look too innocent for that. And from the way you dress, you don't look like a harem member either. Ah, I think we're safe here. It's the edge of the north wing already and those girls can't leave the harem." He let go of Yugi's hand and turned around, grinning again. "By the way, my name's Jounouchi, but you can call me Jou for short. Everyone does it, cuz they think my name's hard to pronounce. And besides, we're servants; nobody really cares about our names. Don't think I caught your name..."

"Yugi."

"I've never met you before, and I've been working here for years! You new here?"

"Not really. I used to work in the east wing."

"Ah, that explains a lot. Nobody goes to the east wing unless they have business there," –Jou shrugged- "So you've been recently transferred over here? A lot of new servants in the north wing find themselves getting lost in the west wing one time or another."

"I just got transferred this morning. I'm working as the pharaoh's personal servant now."

Jou promptly did a double-take. "You're the new personal servant? It's you?"

Yugi blinked in confusion. "Yeah... anything wrong with that?"

"No, no! Nothing's wrong with that!" Jou quickly shook his head. "Just a little... shocked, I guess. I've heard about what happened in the court session this morning. The pharaoh must really like you to put you in such high regards. Now everybody's waiting to see you. They're curious about how you're like and what you look like."

"But why?"

"Yugi... oh, I can call you Yugi, can I?"

"Yes, of course you can."

"Right. So Yugi, his majesty seldom knows a servant's name, even if he's his personal servant. But now, his majesty not only knows you by name, he even said that hurting you is equivalent to hurting him! Do you know how serious this whole thing is?" By this time, Jou's eyes were already lighting up in excitement. "Yugi, you really did us servants proud! I think you've just totally given servant a whole different meaning!"

"I... I did?"

"Of course you did! But oh, you gotta be careful too. Some people might get jealous of you," Jou advised astutely, arms akimbo. "So now... just what were you doing in the west wing, anyway? Don't you need to be around his majesty?"

At the gentle reminder, Yugi gasped and looked skywards.

"Oh no, I'm late! I promised Yami I'd be back in time for lunch!" he exclaimed. "Jou, can you bring me to the dining room?"

"Sure can do! But ah... before I do that, you might wanna clean your face a bit. Those girls really scared you, huh?" Jou replied, gesturing to his cheeks.

Yugi quickly wiped his face with his fingers, and he groaned when he felt those sticky tear tracks. But his groan soon turned into a soft snort when he remembered his argument with Seto. It wasn't the first argument they had had, and it certainly wasn't going to be the last. And by now, Yugi was already familiar with the pattern. After their argument, they would both stomp off, and in a few hours or days (depending on when Seto was free), Seto would seek him out and apologize. So now, Yugi just had to wait. But in the meantime, he was going to make good on what he had said to Seto earlier, even though it had been a spiteful response. He was going to serve Yami well.

"It'll be okay. Just take me to the dining room, please?"

Jou gave him a long look, but finally gave up and shrugged.

Yami stared at the empty seat again. Where was Yugi? He was supposed to be back at least half-an-hour ago! For the umpteenth time, he cursed himself for giving in to Yugi and not let a guard follow him to the east wing. Yugi was still new to the north wing, and all servants always got lost when they came to the north wing for the first time. He wouldn't be surprised if Yugi was walking along the corridors and wondering which way to go.

Then, his over-active imagination kicked in. What if Yugi had fallen down and sprained his foot? Or what if Yugi had been stopped by some guards, lusting for his beauty?

The servants standing nearby the dining table nearly jumped when the young king slammed a fist down on the table in frustration. They were already wondering why the pharaoh insisted on waiting for someone before he would start eating; the chefs had stumbled in earlier in tears, afraid that the king was unhappy with their culinary skills. Now, the servants' curiosity was just being elevated by the pharaoh's strange behaviour.

Yami stood up, gesturing to the guards by the door. He was going to call his guards to search the palace for Yugi, and he was going to find his little one. It was then that someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" the guards asked.

"Yami? Are you inside?"

Smiling in relief, Yami nodded to the guards, and they quickly opened the door to reveal Yugi and Jou. Yugi was slightly startled when he noticed all the guards and servants staring at him, but when Jou gave him an encouraging nod, he entered the room. He had little to worry actually, for the moment he stepped inside, he was pulled into an embrace so tight and so suddenly he did not even hear the barely stifled gasps from the other servants.

"Yugi! What happened? Why are you so late?" Yami asked, giving Yugi a quick once-over.

"I... I got lost."

Yami's handsome face broke into a warm grin. "See? I told you to let a guard follow you. At least you wouldn't get lost." He was about to tease Yugi more when he noticed Yugi's overly watery eyes, and he let his thumb caress Yugi's cheek. It was dry, but there was the distinct feeling of dried tears. He narrowed his eyes.

"Were you crying, Yugi?" When Yugi tensed up, he knew he was right. "Tell me what happened."

Yugi shuffled his feet, averting Yami's hardened gaze. "It's nothing, really. I just lost my way... and got scared."

"Truth, Yugi."

"It's the truth. I just got scared," he mumbled worriedly. Even though he and Seto had not parted on good terms earlier, it wasn't a good idea to carp about it in front of the pharaoh. It could get Seto in trouble. "I'm sorry, Yami, for making you wait so long."

"It's alright. I'll get someone to bring you around the next time so you won't lose your way again," Yami said, in a tone far more gentle any of the servants could imagine. "I imagine you brought him back here, Jou?"

The blonde boy who was still standing by the door bowed. "Yes, your majesty. I was passing by the area."

"Is that so? Good job then. You may leave now."

Yugi frowned slightly, uncertain why was Yami being so distant towards the person who had just saved him. Despite the fact that Yami knew Jou name, Yami didn't act like they knew each other well. Against his better judgment, he called out to the retreating blonde, "Thank you, Jou! For helping me!"

Jou merely grinned widely in response, before he turned around and left the room. The guards closed the room quickly after that.

"Well then, let's have lunch now, shall we, little one?" Tugging gently on Yugi's arm, Yami led him to the dining table.

It was then that Yugi actually paid attention to the sumptuous spread, and the aroma assaulted his senses in delicious pain. There was so much food Yugi thought his eyes would pop out; if he had thought that breakfast that morning was a gourmet spread, then lunch was definitely a feast that he had only dreamed of and never thought possible. There was meat, cabbages and lots of other vegetables that he could not identify. And there was also dessert! Sweet wine cake! Yugi could just smell the fragrance of the wine.

"Yami? Are there any other people joining us for lunch?"

"No, it's just the two of us. Shimon wanted to stay with me, but I told him I wanted to have some private time with you. So he's off having lunch with the high priests, I imagine," Yami replied as they passed by one of the only two chairs at the table.

"Erm, Yami? We just passed by the chair."

"It's alright. We're not going to use it anyway." Yami slipped into his seat at the head of the table, and he patted his laps. "Come here, Yugi."

Yugi blushed, obviously startled.

As though sensing his discomfort, Yami patted his laps again. "Come here, Yugi. It's alright."

After another moment of hesitation, Yugi decided to take the plunge and climbed onto Yami's laps. He tried to calm himself down as he felt Yami's warm chest behind him, but it was a little difficult when he could hear Rebecca's warning words swarming in his mind. He nearly whimpered. And he did yelp when Yami shifted his position, lying Yugi across his laps instead.

"Heh heh... Yami, it's difficult to eat like this. I mean, I'm not even facing the table..." Yugi murmured with a deep blush, laughing nervously. His blush turned bright scarlet when Yami's arm wrapped around his shoulders and pull him closer. Yugi could just hear Yami's heartbeat under his ear.

"I want to see your face when I eat. And you don't need to face the table to eat. I'll feed you."

Yugi choked. Suddenly, it seemed that Rebecca wasn't just scaring him after all. Vaguely, he wondered if it was possible to make good on her advice and just run for cover now.

Yami just chuckled heartily, and reached out to grab a meat kebab. He pulled off a piece of the meat with his hands and held it to Yugi's lips, who wavered for a while before opening his mouth and allowing Yami to feed him. Yami grinned, and tore off a piece for himself.

"Wow... I've never eaten this before. What is it?" Yugi asked in awe, feeling the juiciness of the meat flowing into his mouth, tantalizing his taste buds.

"It's just beef (1). Do you like it?"

"Hmm. It's very nice."

"Have more then," Yami replied, pushing another piece of meat to Yugi's lips. "And now it's my turn. We should be fair, shouldn't we? So since I'm feeding you, you should feed me too." He passed the kebab to Yugi.

Blushing again, Yugi ripped off a bit of meat and held it to Yami's lips. He nearly yelped when Yami grabbed onto his hand, and took both the meat and his fingers into his mouth. He felt his breath stop when he felt Yami's tongue licking and sucking on his fingers. His eyelids fluttered and he desperately tried to breathe through the rampaging emotions, his fingers caught in a warm, wet caress. When Yami released them, he only looked at his hand hanging limply, too surprised to even grab his hand back.

"More Yugi. I want more."

Yugi followed the orders mutely, unthinkingly, and did not gasp when Yami licked his fingers again. But while he did not, the other servants in the room had to forcefully stifle their gasps. As far as they could remember, the boy in the pharaoh's laps was the latest personal servant to his majesty. He wasn't his majesty's newest concubine, was he?

"It's good, Yugi. Better than usual," Yami said with a slight leer to his voice, and Yugi couldn't be sure if he was talking about the food or something else entirely. "Come, have some more."

Yugi opened his mouth again, and accepted the food daintily, but mostly in shock. He absently wondered if lunch was always going to be like this from now on.

Yami just grinned wider. Lunch was going to be so much fun from now on. He would have to order the chefs to prepare more bite-sized finger-food though. And he would also have to remember to order them to prepare a sumptuous and sweet dessert for supper tonight.

Somewhere else in the palace, high priest Seto was stomping around and wrecking havoc on the servants' mental well-being. Most of them just ducked for cover when they saw him coming. Others, those less experienced with the high priest's temper, were pulled into cover by their friends, all the while wondering just what natural disaster had struck.

Seto was still huffing over his argument with Yugi. But he wasn't angry with his little lover. Not anymore, at least. Instead, Seto found himself mentally berating himself for being so... unreasonable. It wasn't Yugi's fault, and he knew it. It was all Atemu's fault! When had that brat turned into a lover-snatching idiot anyway? He should have pushed a concubine, any concubine, into Atemu's bedroom earlier! Maybe then, Atemu would not even have thought of bedding Yugi!

He gritted his teeth.

"Seto?"

He blinked, and turned around to see two girls strolling towards him. Recognizing them immediately, he bowed. "Your highness."

The first girl rolled her eyes. "Oh Seto, enough of the 'your highness' crap. Nobody does it, and you shouldn't have to either."

"Princess Kisara."

She smiled, tucking a stray lock of her red hair behind her ear. "Now that's better. But you can knock off the 'princess' too. So..." –she cocked her head- "What are you doing here? It's been a long time since we've met. You don't come around here anymore."

"Ah, I've been busy with work."

"And Atemu, I suppose? My brother can be so troublesome sometimes." Kisara giggled, ignoring the fact that if anyone else had been around, she could have gotten into trouble for openly criticizing the pharaoh, even if she was the pharaoh's younger sister.

Seto brushed it off as well. Kisara was already living as pitiful an existence as she was; there was no need to make things worse for her. He smiled softly instead, partially to set her at ease, and partially because what she had just said was so true. Atemu always gave him headaches.

"I've already heard about it, about what happened this morning. Everyone's been talking about it, actually. Did Atemu really tell the court that they can't hurt his new personal servant? Oh, what else did the rumours say, Shizuka?" she asked, turning to face the girl behind her.

Shizuka bowed obediently. "They said that hurting the servant is tantamount to hurting him, your highness."

"Ah yes, yes. That's what we heard," Kisara piped, turning back to face Seto. "So is all that true? Did Atemu really do all that? Oh you know how the grapevine works. Every time a rumour passes from one person to another, it always gets exaggerated. I've no idea how much to believe now." She made a face.

Seto smiled again. Kisara was such a child, even though she was barely a year younger than himself. But it was a miracle that she was still so optimistic after her terrible childhood. Born a princess and half-sister to the then crown prince, Kisara should have been able to enjoy the privileges of being royalty, but she did not. And the only reason was her hair. Seto tried to keep his eyes off the girl's flaming red hair, but found it difficult to do so.

"Seto?"

Her crisp voice broke him out of his self-induced trance, and he quickly regained his composure. "Ah yes, Atemu did do all that. Shimon and I tried to advise him against it, but it didn't work out. He's adamant about having Yugi as his personal servant."

She blinked. "Yugi? Is that the servant's name?"

He berated himself inwardly for not paying more attention to what he was saying and letting it slip. What would Kisara think, that a high priest would know a servant's name? Quickly, he added, "Yes, Atemu wouldn't call him anything but his name. I suppose I... got a bit too caught up in the situation."

"I guess that's understandable. It's really easy to get worked up when you're arguing with Atemu. He's just so stubborn and hard-headed! I can never change his mind..." She pouted. "But really, I wonder what's going to happen to the servant? Erm, you said his name was Yugi? I mean, being the pharaoh's personal servant is always a dangerous task. If anything goes wrong with the pharaoh's stuff, they're always the first to be blamed. Talking about that... did something happen to Atemu's previous personal servant?"

"He got a demotion of sorts. Yugi isn't really Atemu's personal servant; rather, he's supposed keep Atemu company. The person doing the job is still the previous personal servant."

"Ah, the poor child. He still can't escape Atemu's clutches," Kisara teased. "Ah, what's his name, Shizuka? You servants should know each other's names, right?"

Shizuka nodded. "Yes, your highness. His name is Ryou."

"That's his name. Ryou, that's right..." Kisara nodded sagely, getting a chuckle from Seto for all her bravado. "But anyway, we're talking about Yugi! Now he's a poor child. Having to submit to Atemu's every whim and desire..."

Seto clenched his fists.

"And life's not going to be easy for him from now on. The other servants won't be happy with him. Especially that Ryou. I mean, Yugi did snatch his job away from him and all. And Atemu never pays attention to these small details. It's really strange. Atemu can see the slightest flaw in a political move, but he can't see what his personal servant has to go through sometimes."

Seto knew she couldn't be anymore correct. Despite Atemu's assurances that he would protect Yugi, it wasn't enough. He had to help Yugi too. And the best way, he supposed, was to let a person he trusted get close to Yugi and protect him on his behalf. Who would it be, though? Seto did not trust a lot of people in the palace, and those he did trust were mostly too high in status to follow Yugi around. Then, an idea came to him and he grinned inwardly. Who better to tail the pharaoh's personal servant than the high priest's personal servant? He would have to talk to the mutt tonight then.

But when he really thought about it, Jou was part of his problems. Despite being an efficient and hardworking personal servant, Jou was also the reason why he could not appoint Yugi to be his personal servant. Jou had been a slave given to him by Atemu a long time ago, before Yugi even came into the picture, and there was absolutely no way to reject a pharaoh's gift.

Still, he could trust the blonde boy. And Yugi should enjoy his company.

"Atemu should really try to help him. Why, I was just passing by the harem this morning – oh, the area's a good place for a stroll, you know?- and I saw this group of harem girls bullying a new servant. The things jealousy does to people... but you know? The new servant kinda reminded me of Atemu. They've got the same hair and all..."

Seto stifled his gasp. It had only been a few hours since the announcement, and Yugi was already being bullied?

"But anyway, Jou was there and he helped the poor child out. Good thing he did. Otherwise, I'd have no idea how to tell those girls off! You know, nobody really listens to me. Everybody in the palace knows I haven't got any power." She shrugged.

"Atemu will do something about it, I guess," he told Kisara, his tone ringing with finality. That was a signal for the end of the topic of conversation, and Kisara easily got that.

So she pointed to her hair and smiled. "See my hair? Shizuka got me some new henna (2) and helped me dye it just this morning. Isn't it shiny?"

"It does look good on you." Better than your original hair colour. "Good job on this, Shizuka."

The servant girl bowed gratefully.

"I'd like to stay here and talk with you, Kisara, but I can't. I've got work to do now."

"I understand. But if you ever walk by the west wing again, come visit me alright? It gets really boring here," Kisara mumbled. "I'm the only royalty staying the west wing. Everyone else's in the north wing. And Atemu won't let me move there either. So make sure you visit me, okay?"

Seto nodded. "I promise. I shall take my leave from you now, your highness."

Kisara's eyebrow twitched at the title, but she let it slide and waved it off. With a soft sigh, she turned around and headed for her room again, Shizuka following behind her dutifully.

As the princess walked off, Seto couldn't help but sympathize with her. Born a princess, but living as a servant, or maybe even worse. There was nothing worse than being ignored and forsaken. But Kisara could only blame her white, almost silver hair, and blue eyes, a rarity in Kemet where most people had dark hair and brown eyes. People like Jou and Shizuka, who had been born with blonde and red hair respectively, were slaves brought in from other countries. But Kisara was a child of Kemet through and through, and her white hair and blue eyes were all unnatural.

She was forsaken the moment her father, the late pharaoh, saw her for the first time. If she had been anyone but a princess, Kisara would have been killed a long time ago. As it was, she was kept in a secure wing of the palace, away from her family and given only one servant to accompany her. It was no different from house arrest, Seto supposed, but it was for her own safety as well as keeping her a secret. Few servants gave her the respect a princess deserved.

Seto sighed as she rounded a corner and disappeared, and he walked back to the north wing. He had to find Atemu first, to present his suggestion and help protect Yugi. Then, he would have to find Jou and give him the orders. And then, he had to find Yugi and apologize.

He looked up to the sky and watched the position of the sun as much as he could without hurting his eyes. At this time of the day, Atemu was probably in the royal dining room having lunch, and being his personal servant, Yugi would be around too. He would have to pull Atemu out of lunch to talk to him then.

Rolling his eyes and groaning, Seto started for the dining room. It was going to be a busy day. He had work to do, a servant to talk to... and a lover to please. How did life become so troublesome anyway?

Back in the dining room, lunch was still an erotic affair, with Yami and Yugi still feeding each other and licking the other's fingers. Granted, Yugi was still blushing like there was tomorrow and hesitant in his actions, but Yami did not seem to notice that. If he did, he was inwardly rejoicing at the adorable expression and blush as he continued to lick and suck on Yugi's fingers.

Yami stole a glance at the table. They had finished most of the food, but there was still enough food to feed a small family. Waving for a servant to come closer, he ordered them to clean up the table. The servants gave each other a happy look; they would have a feast that day. But when they tried to take away the desserts and the small jar of honey, Yami stopped them, and they quickly beat a hasty retreat.

"Yugi, would you like some wine cakes? I had the chefs make them especially for you. I figured you would like some pastries," he said, already picking one up and tearing off a bit of the cake.

"Yami, where does all the food go? I mean, you can't just throw them away, can you? It's such a waste..." Yugi said hesitantly. He remembered wishing for all that food when he was living on the street, and those memories seemed so fresh in his mind.

Yami chuckled, and leaned closer to Yugi's ear, blowing softly. "I always tell the servants to clean up the table, and never to throw away the food. You know why? That way, they can sneak the food to the kitchens for supper later and it wouldn't be against my orders. Of course, they don't know that I know all that." He straightened, and offered the cake to Yugi. "Now, have some of this. I think you'll like it very much."

This time, Yugi acquiesced. So all that food weren't wasted like in those rich families back then; the street kids always loved to dig their rubbish for a good meal, but their servants would always chase the kids away. It felt better to know that Yami wasn't anything like those rich jerks.

He opened his mouth and allowed Yami to push the little chuck in. When Yami's fingers did not back away, Yugi gave them a few tentative licks, and Yami grinned like a cat that had just polished off a plate of cream.

"Like it?"

"Yes, this is very nice too... Soft and delicious."

Yami smiled. "Well then, you'll get to eat them as much as you like. Just tell the chefs to prepare it for you."

Yugi's eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"Really. I promise you'll get to eat anything you like from now on. But," he paused dramatically, "on one condition. You have to feed me too."

"Sounds fair," Yugi replied, and suppressing his blush as much as he could, he took the wine cake from Yami's hands and tore off a chuck. Pressing it against Yami's lips, he forced himself to stop squeaking from Yami took his fingers into his mouth again. Actually, it wasn't too bad. It was just licking. He could handle it.

Just then, the doors to the dining room swung open, and a figure marched in despite the guards trying to stop him.

"Your majesty, you've wasted enough tim-" Whatever words Seto wanted to say were cut short at the sight of Yugi sitting in the pharaoh's laps and Yugi feeding him.

Yami just shot him an irritated look. "Seto, can't you see I'm having lunch now? If it's nothing important, let me have my lunch in peace. And before you start, no, I don't consider those blasted documents on my desk as important enough. I've been working hard the last few days; I think I'm entitled to having a long lunch for once."

The high priest remained speechless and blinking, his face paling. His eyes landed on Yugi, and when his young lover frowned at him, Seto choked. But that choke seemed to help him regain his composure, and he quickly bowed. "Your majesty, I..."

"Nope, I don't want to listen to you now. Seto, go to my study room later if there's anything important. And unless the sky is falling, don't interrupt me again. Now go."

Seto was aware of a dismissal when he heard one, and despite how unwilling he was to leave Yugi in the laps of a lecher, he had to follow his pharaoh's orders. He marched out quickly, if not unwillingly. And the doors closed behind him.

"Now," Yami cooed, turning back to Yugi, "where were we?"

Yugi quickly turned his attention back to the pharaoh, but inwardly, he was still burning a hole in the door. More specifically, he was glaring daggers at the person who had just left, the very same person who had roared at him just an hour ago. Seto was so temperamental. And if Yugi did not show him just how adorable and well-liked he was, Seto would probably never understand. Decision made, he saw his first opportunity and scooted closer.

He tore off a small chuck of the cake, stuffed it into Yami's fingers, and led his hand to his mouth. When Yami's fingers were barely a breath's distance away, he murmured, "Somewhere here." And he leaned forward to take the cake with his teeth. It was a very small piece, as he had made it so, and once he had swallowed it, he gave Yami's fingers a teasing lick. And another. And another. Then, when he saw Yami's wide-eyed but pleased expression, he ran his tongue across the underside of every finger before gently sucking on them.

It was an understatement to say that Yami was very, very pleased. In one swift move, he shifted Yugi's position again, lowering him and letting their faces get closer. Now that they had finished the cake, it was time for some grapes. Picking one from the table, he placed it carefully into Yugi's lips.

"Don't bite down on it, Yugi. It's your turn to feed me," he purred roguishly. It was a sound that sent bolts of tingles down Yugi's spine.

Then, Yami leaned to and took his lips, grape and all. With an experienced swipe, he moved the fruit into his own mouth and carefully bit down on it, but keeping his lips on Yugi's. But it was too difficult to do both things at once. At least, he wanted his first real kiss with Yugi to be a truly satisfying one. So Yami backed away a little, quickly swallowed the grape, and leaned back in. This time, there was nothing between them.

The kiss was slow and lazy. Yami took his time to explore every creek and crevice, like an ardent explorer who had just found virgin land. The exploration had to be slow, meticulous, thorough, and he would leave no stones unturned. After all, he had all the time in the world. Then, the kiss turned rough and hard. It was as though Yami could not get close enough, could not kiss Yugi enough.

All the while, Yugi was feeling like a limb rag doll in the pharaoh's embrace. He had never been kissed, and had never imagined that his first kiss would be with the pharaoh. It actually didn't feel too bad. If he was to be honest, in fact, Yugi thought the kiss was giving him strange sensations. Bubbles were popping up in his stomach, wings fluttering in his chest, spasms zapping in his thighs, and fire blazing a trail in his throat. Unwittingly, he moaned, prompting Yami to deepen the kiss.

When the kiss finally ended, Yugi thought he was going to pass out, but Yami was still gazing longingly at his pink and slightly swollen lips.

Yami got an idea. He dipped a finger into the jar of honey nearby, and sensually smeared it over Yugi's lips. Before Yugi could even register the sweet taste, Yami had already dived in again, licking, sucking and nibbling. The pharaoh moaned deep in his throat, the sound sending tremors down to his groin. It was just as sweet as he had imagined, or even sweeter. Yugi and honey was definitely a winning combination. He smeared honey onto Yugi's lips again. Nothing was sweeter, tastier or more delectable than this treat, Yami thought.

Yugi could only feel his lips getting ravished thoroughly, and his mind was going blank. The spasms were shooting down his spine, awakening every vein, every nerve, every cell in his body. And it felt so good...

"Kiss me back, Yugi. Kiss me."

Yami's whisper was distant, but he heard it, and felt it reverberating throughout his body. Unthinkingly, he opened his mouth and coaxed Yami into kissing him deeper. Their tongues danced and dueled. There was no feeling better than this.

Finally, after a long while, it was over. Yami wrapped an arm over Yugi and pulled him closer, letting Yugi's head rest on his chest. The little one was catching his breath. Yami ran a clean hand down his exposed arm, feeling the soft complexion under his fingers. Beautiful. Perfect. Flawless. Just the way he loved it. And Yugi's lips were such a luscious treat too. Yami licked his lips unconsciously at the memory of their kisses.

If he had been uncertain before, he was sure now: Yugi was in love with him. And Yami was going to make sure that Yugi fell for him even harder.

Marking his success today on his progress chart, he knew it was time. He was going to move on to the next phase of his secret mission named 'Make Yugi My Lover'.

-tbc-

(1) Beef: In Kemet, meat was considered very expensive, so only the rich could afford to eat it for every meal. Beef is expensive because the arid land made grazing land scarce, and so it was very difficult to rear cows.

(2) Henna: People in Kemet used henna to dye their hair, as well as their nails and lips, red. According to scientific studies, they used henna to conceal their gray hair back then.

A/N: Maybe I'm just being defensive here, but well... please don't think any less of Yugi for what he's done. He's still young and vulnerable to his emotions. Besides, Atemu is pretty hot too. /sniggers/

Anyway, C&C please! More reviews probably means faster updates and better chapters. Of course, constructive criticism is very much appreciated. While I probably still have a long way to go, I'll write a YY/Y or K/J one-shot for the person with the 100th review. Details will be released when we get closer to the number, but well... just announcing it earlier.