The Bittersweet Fate Of A Duelist

Chapter 18

«You... what?».

Yugi sighed, his eyes still fixated in Seto's incredulous and perplexed ones: «I want to make love with you», he repeated, more slowly this time, enunciating word after word with accuracy and calm. He wanted to be sure the message came to Seto, that he understood how much Yugi was convinced of what he just said.
Looking down, Yugi grabbed Seto's hand and laced his fingers to his, their pale complexion contrasting sharply with dark blue sheets.
It was meant to be a reassuring gesture for both of them, and Yugi curved his lips in a faint smile: «I thought about it, you know?'I though about what I want, and what you want. What we both want. And of all I've managed to break down and check, there's only one point yet to be fixed».

«Yugi, you don't...».

«Shh», he sweetly silenced him, squeezing his hand. «Let me finish, okay?».
The CEO nodded, lips pressed in a soft line, and Yugi hid his face in the crook of his neck. Seto smelled modern and old, even though the mixture of golden sand and spices lost in memory kept weakening with the passing of days.
Seth's betrayal had left a deep mark on Seto's soul, no matter how much he tried to shake away all of his worries, and that ancient and gone life was on the brink of oblivion.
A deep breath, and Yugi spoke again: «It's been a long time since I last really thought about this. I was afraid of the lone idea of it at first, to be honest. Their faces, their voices... they kept coming back to my mind. I could no longer imagine anything other than their hands on my body, you disappeared completely». It had been painful, so much Yugi decided to ask Seto to get him some poison.

A solitary tear escaped his grasp, looking back at the memory of how much Yugi had been tempted to take that cyanide pill and end everything: «I never actually told you how many times I looked at the poison and though "hey, why not?", but... I guess I never wanted to put that weight on your shoulders». He smiled, bitterly: «But now – Yugi lifted his head, lightly stroking Seto's face with delicate fingers – it's not like that anymore. I'm not the same as before, that much is true, but I definitely can't deny what I feel».

Seto closed his eyes, enjoying the contact, the delicate touch of Yugi's hand on his skin. There was something he, too, couldn't deny.
«I... Yugi, I hoped this would come. I don't want to lie to you, that's a given, and I can't believe you don't remember what happened when... you know».
He nodded, without withdrawing his hand, still caressing his cheek to trace every single detail of his face. Yugi had no malice in his eyes, no splinters cracking that deep amethyst. There was only understanding, and an incentive to continue any argument he had started.
Thus, Seto hinted a faint smile, a bit melancholy: «This... relationship we have is complicated, I realize it. it always has been, and now it's even more so. And even if... even if making love with you is maybe the most beautiful thing I can admit to you and myself, even if there have been days when I wanted nothing more than to have you, I knew it wasn't right».

A pause, a brief moment to catch Yugi's expression and look for the line he had been forbidden to cross for months. His eyes were calm, waiting.
«I don't want you to, well, to feel you have to do something you don't want, okay? I know what you found, upon thinking about what I wanted, but...».

«But don't be influenced», Yugi concluded for him, slightly shaking his head. «It was my decision, Seto. I crossed that same line I had promised to ignore when I drew it».
Slowly, but without indecision or fear, Yugi straightened his back and opened his palms on Seto's chest, straddling him.
How much had passed, since the last time Seto had seen him like this? Since when had Yugi took in that view of the man he had fallen in love without even realizing it?
Too much, maybe, judging by the sparkle animating Seto's eyes and the accelerated beat of his own heart.
Yugi was short of breath, whether out of trepidation or anxiety about what he was going to do he didn't know.
Seto's eyes, normally so controlled, so indifferent to the world, struggled to remain still and roamed all over his body, shiny jewels barely focusing in Yugi's equally distracted.
«If you want, that line is ready to be erased completely».