Notes: Since this is an established relationship fic, it takes place when Jounouchi and Yuugi are around 23/24, respectively. Similarly, that relationship progression is the reason why Yuugi addresses Jounouchi by his given name, Katsuya, throughout this fic.

As a final note, yes, stun guns can leave scars if they're used improperly/used long enough to leave severe enough burns. I saw quite a few pictures while researching this. Many of them were not pretty.

Anyway, that should be all. If you read it, please review it.

Each One With a Story Attached

As a general rule, Yuugi was the opposite of an early riser. It was for this reason that the sight of the pale sunlight through the blinds left him feeling so puzzled.

He at least took a bit of comfort in that the sun had already risen. From what he could see of the early morning light, the sky had already settled in a nice shade of light blue rather than the typical oranges and pinks that heralded the oncoming sun. A glance at the clock on the bedside table confirmed his thoughts. It was a little after eight in the morning. Early, but not ungodly so.

Yuugi yawned, and rolled over onto his other side. Katsuya was still asleep. Yuugi grinned, a little flare of victory rising in his chest. If Katsuya was still asleep, that meant Yuugi could get away with going back to sleep. Not that Katsuya would make him get up anyway—neither of them had work today, there was nowhere they had to be—but he didn't like staying in bed all day if Katsuya was up and about, doing things. It made him feel like he was wasting the day. Yuugi snuggled into his pillow, and pulled the blanket a little tighter around him to block out the early morning chill—

And that was when his eyes were drawn to the scars along Katsuya's stomach.

It wasn't the first time Yuugi had seen Katsuya without a shirt, and it wasn't the first time he'd noticed the scars, either, though it was the first time he'd really looked at them when he wasn't preoccupied with other things. The scars were faded, and a bit difficult to make out as a result, but they were strange enough that Yuugi found himself looking closer anyway. They weren't very big; each one was about the size of a small coin and just as round, though there were strange lines connecting some of them, usually in pairs of two. Some of the scars were along Katsuya's sides, and others marred his stomach over his belly button. All thoughts of settling back down to sleep gone now, Yuugi reached out, gently poked one circular scar with his finger, and lightly traced the line to the scar connected to it. So weird—

"Mmmwhat'cha doin'?"

Yuugi started, and quickly pulled his hand back. Katsuya's voice was thick with sleep, and his eyes were only open halfway, though still lit with curiosity even in his grogginess. Yuugi hadn't been doing anything wrong—there was nothing wrong with touching his own boyfriend—but he still suddenly felt like he'd been prying into something he shouldn't have.

Still, Yuugi supposed, Katsuya wasn't the only curious one, and they'd known each other long enough that Yuugi knew he wasn't going to let it go without a real answer, anyway. Not with that look in his eyes. Yuugi propped himself up on his arm to look at Katsuya properly before he answered.

"I was just looking," he said, and when Katsuya raised his eyebrows, clarified, "At your scars. They're weird."

"Hm?" Katsuya tucked his chin so he could look at the scars that peppered his chest and stomach, and Yuugi poked one of the little circles again. "Oh. Those."

"What are they?" Yuugi asked. There was a part of him that didn't really want to know the answer, given that whatever it was Katsuya had gone through had to be pretty bad to leave him with that many odd scars. But now that he'd seen them . . .

"Burn scars, kinda," Katsuya said. Yuugi frowned, not really sure how fire could cause something a pattern that looked so precise, and when Katsuya looked over and saw Yuugi's expression, he said, "D'you remember that time with the stun guns? They're from that."

"Oh." Yuugi did remember "that time with the stun guns," much as he didn't want to, and it bothered him in a way he couldn't fully identify to know that it had left lasting scars, no matter how faded. If Katsuya was bothered similarly, he didn't show it.

"I've probably got more on my back," he said. "It's not like those assholes were very careful. Wanna check?"

"No," Yuugi said quickly. "That's okay." There were scars back there, too—Yuugi was pretty sure he remembered seeing them—but there was no need to confirm it now. Katsuya was still relaxed enough that he let the subject drop, though he was awake enough to prop himself up with his elbow on his pillow and his head braced against his hand as he looked at Yuugi.

Now that Yuugi was paying attention, he could see that although the stun gun scars might've been the most serious, they weren't the only ones. There were other little, faded scars here and there; with Katsuya lying on his left side, Yuugi's eyes were drawn to a long one along the outside of Katsuya's right arm, and he pointed to it.

"What's this one from?" he asked.

Katsuya looked at it, and frowned a moment in thought before his eyes lit up in recognition. "I think that one's from the mirror. Yeah, look," he leaned closer, and pointed to little white marks around it, "you can see smaller ones from the other glass shards."

"Why did you hit a mirror?" Yuugi asked.

Katsuya rolled his eyes. "It wasn't on purpose. Years ago I got in a fight with my dad, and you know those long mirrors you can put on the backs of doors and stuff?"

"Yeah," Yuugi said, and a sinking feeling told him he probably shouldn't have asked about this one, either, even as Katsuya still seemed to not really be bothered by it.

"He had one of those on the back of his bedroom door, I think left over from when he and my mom were still together. Anyway, we got in a fight, and when he pushed me my arm hit the mirror and broke it. He was pissed." Katsuya paused, and then said, "But he was already pissed to start with, so it's not like it made much of a difference besides the blood and broken glass."

"Mm." Yuugi looked away from that particular scar, and looked across Katsuya's chest until he found another one on the inside of his opposite shoulder. Yuugi lifted one hand to touch it. It was small and pale like the rest, but this one was indented a little. He frowned in puzzlement. "What about this one?" When he didn't get an immediate answer, he looked up and prompted, "Katsuya?"

Katsuya's lips were pressed together in a thin, unhappy line as he studied Yuugi's face, after a moment he asked, "Are you sure you wanna know? This doesn't exactly seem to be a happy convo for you."

"I want to know," Yuugi said, and when Katsuya continued to look at him doubtfully he insisted, "Really, I do. What's this one from?"

Katsuya hesitated a second more before he said, "I got stabbed."

Yuugi stared at him, aghast, thinking that maybe he'd say "just kidding" after and tell the real story. When no such punchline came, Yuugi asked, "What?"

"It was stupid, I got careless," Katsuya said, and he ran a hand through his hair. "I was probably . . . thirteen? Something like that. I got in a fight, and I wasn't really paying too much attention, I just whaled on whoever got close enough for me to hit. But I got this one guy, and because I was concentrating on hitting him I wasn't paying too much attention to what he was doing, besides getting punched. So I didn't see the knife." Katsuya shrugged. "It wasn't a big deal, it was just a little pocket knife, whatever. He was the one that needed the hospital afterward, not me."

"That's . . ." Yuugi looked down at the little slice of mattress between them, unsure of what to say. He knew Katsuya was tough—he'd known it for years, practically since they'd first met—and he knew about a lot of the fights Katsuya had been in, even if he didn't always know the specifics. But it was odd, somehow, hearing the stories and seeing that they were attached to something. Little marks that were mostly unnoticeable until you looked closer, but were etched like permanent badges sewn into his skin all the same.

"You okay?" Katsuya asked. Yuugi blinked, and looked up quickly, feeling bemused.

"Why are you asking me that?" Yuugi asked. "You're the one who went through all that."

"Yeah, but I went through it," Katsuya said, and Yuugi was about to say that was exactly the point when Katsuya said, "So I've already been through it, it doesn't bother me anymore. It's your first time dealing with it, and it looks like it upset you."

"No, I'm not upset," Yuugi said, but the look on Katsuya's face told Yuugi that he saw through the weak lie. Yuugi sighed. "I just wish you didn't have to deal with that, is all. It's not right that people hurt you like that."

"To be fair, I hurt the guy who stabbed me way worse than he hurt me. Before and especially after," Katsuya said, and Yuugi rolled his eyes at the light note of pride in Katsuya's voice. "But seriously," Katsuya dropped his joking tone, "all that stuff is in the past now, right? I don't have to deal with it anymore, and so you don't have to worry about it, either. All we have to worry about is whatever comes up next. Work, holidays . . . whatever." Katsuya smiled, and poked Yuugi in the cheek. "So cheer up, okay? Don't let it bother you."

That was easier said than done, but it was hard to stay worried when Katsuya smiled like that. At the least, Yuugi couldn't help but smile himself as he said, "All right, I'll try." It shouldn't have been possible, really, but somehow Katsuya's smile seemed even brighter, and on impulse Yuugi leaned up to lightly kiss Katsuya on the lips.

If nothing else, Katsuya was right about one thing, Yuugi decided. He wasn't going to have to deal with anything like that ever again in the future. No one would ever hurt him like that again, not so long as Yuugi was around.

When Yuugi pulled away, Katsuya's smile was softer, warmer, and he leaned down to return the favor, only to stop short when Yuugi's foot brushed his leg. Katsuya jerked his leg away, and Yuugi frowned as he asked, "What?"

"Your feet are freezing," Katsuya complained, and Yuugi's frown deepened. "Why are your feet always so cold in the morning? And your hands, too—they're basically ice."

"My hands and feet aren't that cold," Yuugi said, and he sat up all the way as he flexed his fingers, to try and work some warmth into them if nothing else.

Katsuya gave him a flat look. "It was like you were touching me with popsicles."

"Was not," Yuugi muttered, before he said, "Maybe it's not that I'm too cold, maybe it's just that you're too warm. You're more sensitive to cooler things because you're not used to it from being so warm all the time."

Katsuya frowned. "I . . . don't think that's how that works," he said after a moment, "but I've got nothing to argue it, so . . ."

"So I win," Yuugi said, and he flashed Katsuya a cheeky smile. Katsuya rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Your feet are still freezing, though. Maybe you should wear socks to bed or something."

Yuugi made a face. "What kind of person wears socks to bed? That's weird!"

"The kind of person who doesn't want to freeze off other people's legs and feet," Katsuya said. Yuugi pressed his lips together in thought for a moment, considering, before he said:

"Or maybe, since you're so warm all the time, you can just warm me up instead." Yuugi slid his hands under Katsuya's side, and though Katsuya jerked a little at the apparently cold touch, he laughed all the same. Yuugi grinned. "See? Nice and warm."

"Good plan," Katsuya said, his tone a little sarcastic, but mostly teasing. He sat up, removing Yuugi's source of warmth, and leaned forward to give Yuugi a quick kiss on his forehead. "But maybe one we should experiment with later. Right now, I wanna shower and brush my teeth. My mouth is gross."

"Yeah, okay," Yuugi said, as Katsuya turned and bounded off their bed to head toward the bathroom. Yuugi looked over at the bedside clock and saw that it was closer to nine than eight now. So much for getting any extra sleep. If he hadn't gotten distracted . . .

Yuugi heard the sound of the shower start in the bathroom. He considered tossing off his blankets to go into the bathroom himself, because Katsuya wasn't the only one who could use some morning toothpaste, and besides, there was more than one way to warm up cold hands and feet, and the shower could help with that. But instead of doing that, he rolled over to Katsuya's side of the bed instead—and it was still warm, so much warmer than Yuugi's side, so really, if anything, Katsuya had the warmer half of the bed and so it wasn't Yuugi's fault at all that his hands and feet were cold—and snuggled his face into Katsuya's pillow.

He'd brush his teeth, shower, and all that. He would, really.

After five extra minutes of sleep, anyway.