Chapter 7: rude awakening

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Deep, penetrating pain pounds behind my closed eyelids as I lie completely still. My body as motionless as a corpse. The deep all consuming darkness that thrives behind my eyelids swirls and surges making me dizzy and sick to my stomach. Memories of drinking far too many bubbling confections of sweet and burning wine floats up to the surface on the backs of thousands of floating, sparkling bubbles.
I never remembered drinking making me feel so awful before. I their thoroughly search through all of my memories and fine none that I could link to my present situation. This outcome is a complete and utter mystery to me.
There is the sound of muffled voices that seem to buzz in my ears like bees. They sound familiar to me, but they sound so far away that I can't discern just who was speaking. Everything is indistinct and blurred like fresh paint that someone ran their hand through before it was able to dry. Swirls and blurs that no one is certain where exactly they originated from nor where they ended. The world has become a light and distorted place. My body feels so light that I could fly, but also heavier than an anvil that could sink to the very bottom of the ocean.
A deep cold hits my face making me splutter and shoot up into a sitting position. My breathes come in ragged and startled gasps as I place a hand over my heart. The frantic pounding of my heart thrumming beneath my fingertips as I slowly regain control of my breathing.
"How kind of you to rejoin the world of the living." A cold voice calls out to me making me look over slowly, my Crimson eyes meeting a startling, nostalgic blue. "Joey was convinced that you died."
I groan in response as I roughly rub my face. Hundreds of water droplets dripping from my hair and onto my skin while even more gets spread about beneath my palms. The entire front of my outfit is completely drenched in ice water, in fact there are even a few cubes of ice slowly melting in my lap.
"You're a damn fool Atem, you know that?" He hisses at me with a voice of cold contempt and anger. "What were you thinking in that moment? Alcohol will solve my problem, because from where I'm standing it looks like it only made it worse."
"Good evening to you too Seth."
"Good morning." He responds bitterly. I glance over at him curiously, he merely raises an eyebrow in response.
"It's morning?"
"As I said," he says curtly. "Good morning."
"Oh gods." I groan as I lower my face into my palms. I've really put my foot into it this time. The pounding in my head and behind my eyes makes it next to impossible for me to think coherently. The only thing that continues to pulse through my mind every individual throb of pain are two bright amethyst eyes. They stare at me innocently but they are filled with pain as they look back at me.
"Seems that it's sunk in." Kaiba murmurs as he takes a seat in the leather chair just across from me, his long thin legs crossing at the knee. "I can only wonder what is going through your head at the moment."
"I'm sorry." I mumble into my hands, slowly raising my gaze to meet his. I find no sympathy in the eyes that await me. No sign of empathy glows in his cool blue eyes as he gazes back at me coolly. "I didn't mean to be an inconvenience."
"Cut the shit," he snaps. "You and I both know that isn't why I'm angry."
"I sincerely apologize." I bow my head slightly in a show of remorse. "I don't really understand what happened. Alcohol never affected me that much in the past."
A dark, humorous laugh escapes him. I can't help but stare at him with a look of confusion. "Oh I'm sorry, you're serious?"
"Am I missing something here?"
"Oh nothing, besides the fact that every time you drink alcohol you drink in excess and pas out." He responds bluntly, tilting his head to the side slightly. "You have no control when it comes to alcohol."
"If that is truly the case," I say slowly a small sense of disbelief tainting my words. "Then why do I have no memories of being so affected?"
"Simple," he answers with a frown. "I blocked out those memories."
"And why would you do that?" I ask with a tone of skepticism. "Doesn't that seem to be a bit dangerous?!"
"More dangerous than you wanting to hurt yourself?" He asks in challenge, his head leaning back slightly. "You weren't exactly stable way back when. I did it for your own good. Obviously I didn't do a very good job since you still remembered your craving for alcohol."
"That doesn't matter to me right now!" I snap. "What matters to me the most right now is if Yugi knows about what happened last night?" Kaiba remains silent as he stares back at me with a blank face. His empty expression is all the answer that I need. "Oh gods he does."
"Would you have preferred that I didn't call him?"
"No, yes, I don't know!" I clutch at my head as my head begins to throb painfully. "Everything is so difficult to comprehend at the moment."
"Regardless if I had called him or not, if you didn't come home Yugi would have come looking for you."
"He would, wouldn't he." I murmur, a fond smile stretching on my lips.
"Care to tell me what last evening was all about?"
"I was brushed off for the evening." I answer curtly. "As you can imagine I wasn't exactly thrilled." I grab the cool glass of water resting on the table and take a slow sip. Cool water sliding down my throat like a soothing balm.
"What was Yugi doing last night?"
"He canceled the plan we scheduled for Solomon to watch the little ones to just stay home and watch the kids sleep." I can't help but cringe at the note of bitterness in my voice, I can't help but feel angry.
"Atem," he sighs. "Don't you think that was a bit childish?"
"You wouldn't understand." I snap. "You always have Joey's undivided attention."
"Just as you have Yugi's."
"Doesn't feel that way." I grumble before taking another slow drink of water. The pounding in my head slowly beginning to dissipate.
"Things are naturally going to be a bit difficult in the beginning." Kaiba says softly. "You two will figure it out and everything will return to normal."
"Are you certain of that?" A slight feeling of anxiety gnawing at my heart as Yugi's face floats before my eyes.
"Guaranteed." He smiles gently. "If knowing you and Yugi has any merit, I am completely certain that you two will figure it all out."
A small smile tugs at my lips as I look up at him. "Then I suppose there is only one thing left to do." I slowly rise to my feet and Kaiba mirrors my movement. "Take me home."
"Gladly Atem."

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