Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan Fiction ❯ Can I Sleep With You? ❯ Before I Wake ( Chapter 4 )

Can I Sleep With You?

Chapter Four- Before I Wake...

Ryou warily eyed the mob that had invaded his territory.

Business at the shop was booming. News of Yugi Mouto had spread quickly, and hordes of tourists and fans alike came by the droves to pay homage to his memory.

"The next time the books show us in the red, we should do away with Joey." Bakura had snarked to him one evening.

That little comment had seen him laughing hysterically as he ran for his life down the street, Ryou and Joey right on his heels and out for blood.

Probably why I haven't seen him around the last couple days, Ryou mused. He remembered pretty distinctly some of what Joey had ranted at the ancient thief as they ran after him. Most especially the castration.

He smiled.

"Excuse me."

Ryou looked up (or rather, down) from his reverie to see a pig-tailed little girl holding up about a dozen card packs in her small hands. Even standing on tiptoe, she wasn't higher than the top of the counter.

"I wanna get these!"

Ryou raised his eyebrows. "All of them?"

The girl nodded, pig-tails bouncing enthusiastically.

He smiled and rang them through for her. "You must be quite a duelist."

"Nuh uh," the child shook her head. "But I'm gonna be! Just like Yugi!" She puffed up proudly at that declaration.

The smile stayed fixed on Ryou's face, even as his eyes saddened. "I'm sure you will."

She waved goodbye as she padded back to a teenage boy who was looking at a Dungeon Dice Monsters display. "Look big brother, I got some cards! Now I can play with you!" Ryou saw her beam up at the older boy. The scene reminded him of another sibling set.

He wondered how Yami was faring with the brothers. It had been just a little over a week since the funeral, and Kaiba had hounded after the grieving ex-pharaoh to accept his hospitality. Joey couldn't figure out why he'd bother with someone he considered a rival. To be honest, Ryou couldn't reason it out either. But he was grateful to the brunette and his little brother for their efforts all the same. Mokuba had ultimately been the one to wear Yami down enough to agree to stay with them.

His attention was diverted by a clock chime, signalling closing time. After all the sales had been rung through and the store emptied of customers, he took the sign out of the window and went tiredly upstairs to collapse on the couch in front of the TV.

"How long is Joey going to be with the take-out anyway?" He grumbled half-heartedly as he flipped disinterestedly through the channels.

That was how Joey found him when he got home almost an hour later.

"Hey lazybones! Think I can get a hand here?" He shouted from the doorway as he struggled to balance all the Chinese take-out cartons.

Ryou jumped up from the couch to grab some plates to set the table as Joey dumped his load on the kitchen counter.

"Whew! Sorry I took so long," the blond apologized. "But I had a hell of a time waiting in line. Guess everyone's in a mood for Chinese tonight." He grinned over his shoulder at Ryou.

They sat down and ate in relative silence. Well, as silently as Joey ever ate, anyway. As patient a teacher as Ryou tried to be, Joey simply never caught on to table manners too well.

After gulping half his glass to try to wash away a chunk of food that went down the wrong way, Joey looked up to see his lover just trailing his fork through his food, head bowed in thought.

"Don't think about it too much. Yugi wouldn't like it."

Ryou looked up blinking at him. "How did.."

"..I know?" Joey set down his fork. "It's always easy to tell with you. So, wanna talk about it?"

"I don't know if it'll help..."

Joey snorted. "How could it hurt? C'mon gimme a shot." He leaned his head on his hands.

Ryou sighed and put his fork down as well. "I was just thinking about where Yugi was found that morning. Did you notice? The graves he was lying on? They were of his family."

Joey's eyes widened. "No way." he breathed. "I didn't notice at all." He looked down, hiding his face behind a curtain of bangs. "I sorta had others thing on my mind."

Ryou nodded. "Yeah, everyone did. I actually didn't think of it until after the," he swallowed, "the funeral."

Joey lifted his glass for a long swallow. "So," he wiped water from the corner of his mouth. "So do you think it means anything?"

"I'm not sure, really. It just struck me as strange." Ryou resumed picking at his food with his fork.

"Yeah..."

Joey shifted in his seat, trying to get more comfortable as an awkward silence fell in the kitchen.

"Ya know, " Joey's eyes flicked over to Ryou as he lifted his glass again, "Did you ever find out what that whole disappearance mess was about? Ya know, when you found him that one night when we were all out looking. 'Bout a month ago, I think."

Ryou looked up from his plate in confusion.

"No, Joey. I never found him, remember?" he murmured. "I looked all night too, same as everyone else when we had heard that he didn't show up for that TV interview." Joey cradled one of Ryou's hands in both of his. "I had such a bad feeling back then, I was so sure I would find him beaten in some alley or, or worse."

He looked up into honey-coloured eyes.

"I can't remember ever being so relieved in my life when we all saw him the next morning, carefree as he had been in the old days." A rueful smile crept unwillingly onto his face. "To think I actually thought things would be okay, that any of us believed him when he said he was fine again." His voice cracked on the last sentence.

Joey got up out of his chair still holding Ryou's hand, leading Ryou over to the couch. Leaning back against the cushions, he pulled the albino into his lap, wrapping his arms around his love.

Sighing his leaned his cheek against the other's hair as he stroked Ryou's back soothingly. He relaxed a little when he felt the tense shoulders ease their shaking a bit.

"We all blame ourselves for not seeing it, Ryou." Joey let out a soft breath into the white hair, dishevelling it further. He frowned suddenly.

"Ryou?"

"Mm."

He stared at the opposite wall, not really seeing it as the wheels creaked in his head. "If you didn't find Yugi, why did he say he talked to you?"

Ryou blinked, and leaned away to look into Joey's face. "He did? I don't remember that."

The frown stayed on Joey's face, as the wheels got some momentum going. "Did Bakura say anything to you about that night?"

"Huh? No..." Ryou's eyes widened in realization. "You think he found Yugi?"

"Maybe, I dunno." Joey scratched his head. "I'm just trying to figure it out, that's all."

Chocolate eyes softened at the blond. "Well, maybe he found Yugi, but let him think it was me so he wouldn't scare him off. Yugi was pretty unstable earlier that day." He leaned against Joey's comforting warmth again. "It's not that strange Bakura would care; after all, they'd gotten to be pretty close over the past while. Remember how jealous Yami had been?"

He smiled at the memories that brought up. Looking up at Joey he was surprised to see the frown still persisted in staying there. He reached up to smooth a thumb between blond eyebrows. "You'll wrinkle up faster that way, you know." He murmured teasingly.

Joey looked down and had to smile. "You're right. And I'm just re-hashing old guilts I guess." He leaned down to brush against soft lips.

"I guess it doesn't really matter anymore anyway..."

Ryou nodded as Joey lifted him up to carry him to bed. "We should leave the lights on, Bakura's not back yet."

"Where'd he disappear to, anyway?"

Joey's bundle shrugged disinterestedly as he reached up for another kiss. "I don't know, maybe he's staying with what's-his-name, Devlin. "

Joey gave his passenger a grin. "Well, in that case..."

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To Be Concluded… (Promise! Almost done the next chapter! *crosses her heart*)