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His smile left. It looked like a hateful expressed, but it was not directed any specific direction. It was his version of a genuine thoughtful look.
“I am unsure.”
The mental flashes of Marik’s fear, anger and hate giving him more shape was enough for him in this state. Perhaps he would feel the shiver of excitement that comes with real confrontation. Perhaps he would go after the Pharoah, or the spirit of the ring. Destroying both would be a nice neutral.
Tho he would have to get very good at dealing with the consequences of his actions, or risk letting go of control for the other to deal with them. That could be dangerous- he may not be allowed back out.
He smirked a bit.
“My heart will surely look for help once he knows, dispite having most of the claim to our body. And I will act however I feel in the moment. He is the one who makes plans schemes. I just do things”
“I just do things.”
Gods, that must be nice - not having to fret over every decision. Atem is almost jealous. The annoyance is a little more pervasive.
Because of course he wouldn’t actually have a fucking plan. That’s too much to ask for. Instead, the shadow is going to cause chaos just for the sake of it, and it’s going to be difficult to predict what moves he’ll make.
This is going to turn out to be a headache.
The Pharaoh nods in understanding.
“So it would seem. I’ll have to check in on you from time to time, then.” He sighs. “To make sure you’re not committing any ridiculously heinous acts, and that Marik is okay.”
He uncrosses his arms, takes a sip of his drink. It’s already getting watery. Shame.
“Should you have a change of mind, I’d like to help you in whatever way I can. Maybe help you get along a little better with your heart. If you’re not going away, it will be tiring to continue on as you have been.”
He snorted a laugh. “You’re not sorry. You actively are thinking of ways to banish me at this moment. But there is nothing anyone can do to rid of me forever. I am not like you, or the spirit of the ring.”
His eyes narrow, and his smile remains musing. “I was born in this life, I am Malik Ishtar just as much as the version of him you like. To remove me over and over will just be slowly fracturing both of our souls. I cannot allow that.”
He glanced back over the bushes, nolonger seeing the young man he was following. Damn. Atleast he wasn’t waiting his time.
“As for my intentions,” he shrugged, sliding both hands in his pockets. “They are limited until Marik knows I’m fronting again.”
Working on a solution to the problem that is Marik’s shadow does not mean that Atem isn’t actually remorseful. But he’s not about to sit here and argue that fact with the entity. It’s unlikely that either of them will budge. Stubbornness is a trait that they share. It’s one that the Pharaoh shares with a lot of his enemies, unfortunately.
He watches the man’s eyes flit from him to a bush, then back. Curious. He must’ve interrupted something. Well, that’s not exactly bad. Whoever he’d been following is probably the slightest bit safer now.
“And when he becomes aware that you have returned?”
His smile grew a bit.
“My sweet light half has gotten into some trouble~ you see he is very dishonest, and the pressure of all those lies were starting to overwhelm him. But he’s having trouble stopping.”
He fiddled with his belt loop, “He lied to our siblings, and stole the Millennium rod, he’s been playing with it for a while now under the guise of protecting it.”
He narrowed his eyes. “He befriended Ryou Bakura in an attempt to ease his guilt over battle city, while not telling Ryou of those events.”
He smirked a bit. “Not to mention actively lying to poor Ryou about fraternizing with the spirit of the ring, who is once again attached to the poor boys chest. ”
He carded his free hand up through his bangs. “I started waking up when Ryou caught him in the lies, I am simply helping them all unravel, but you don’t have to believe me off the bat. Simply catch him in a lie when you speak to him, most things he would lie about either Ryou or Kaiba could verify as lies. And unless he cannot cope with the lack of dishonesty I should loose my ability to take control. ”
His expression slipped only a touch at the end. He didn’t want to fade away again at the end of this. But there was still time. “So unless you wish to banish me for ruining his carefully crafted lies you should leave me be.”
This is... a lot of information to take in. Atem almost feels like he should sit down, but there’s nowhere to go. He has to stay standing.
Marik has the rod? And the ring is back? And if they’re talking, does that mean Marik plans to give him the rod? It doesn’t seem likely after the heel-turn he’d done in the Pharaoh’s favor last time, at least. But that’s likely not going to stop the spirit from attempting to seize it regardless. His sticky fingers a permanent condition, seems like.
“I...” He’s not sure how to continue - what to address first. Ryou, the lying... Kaiba, even? What the hell is Kaiba doing with this? Actually... with Atem gone, it does seem like he’d be the one to step in when things go awry... “I find it best to be direct. I shall just ask him about it.”
Failing that, they can always... play a game. It’s been a long time, but this is a rather important situation, and there’s not going to be a lot of time to beat around the bush. The thought makes his skin crawl.
“I am sorry if that means you cannot exist.” This shadow has a will of its own. It is not a complete person, but... It is still alive, in its own way. He is genuinely saddened that there is likely no way for them to coexist peacefully. “But the safety and well-being of my friends comes first. You know that.’
He will also have to figure out a way to get rid of Bakura’s spirit. That is going to take some doing, for sure. He’s attempted to destroy it several times already, and every time it crawls out of some crack in the sidewalk like a cockroach.
“For now, are you only planning to tell the truth until your lighter half finds himself in a bind? Or do you have something more sinister in the works?”
His eyes become wild, for a moment. He huffed a laugh as he begins to take steps, circling the other man wolfishly. He kept the same distance.
“My king” he hissed in a venomous tone. “With all do respect, if he did not need a version of me, I would not be here. You do not know my goals or my purpose, you have not asked~”
As he finished his circling, he stopped, and leaned in close to his face.
“Go ahead, ask me~ ask me what could be bothering my sweet core personality so much that he would start disassociating enough to let me out~”
Malik leaned back, clocking his hip and resting his hand, sliding fingers through belt loops. “I’ll tell you, if you don’t mind completely disregarding hiz privacy~ ”
The relief and pain of Marik’s lies unraveling was currently sustaining him. He hadn’t really caught glimpses into this world until Bakura reared his head. Learning about Kaiba and the rod had been new information to Malik.
Currently, until Marik stopped having grief over his lies there was space for Malik in his heart.
Perhaps he has overstepped his bounds. He shouldn’t be provoking this thing. He should be cautious.
But something about the way that he speaks, the way that he treats his dominant personality, rubs Atem the wrong way. He feels similarly about the way the spirit of the ring treats Ryou. It’s upsetting, and he does not like to see his friends subjected to such torment.
As the malicious entity begins to circle him, he turns in time. He’s not about to give it any opportunity to attack from behind. His drink, almost forgotten, sloshes in his grasp.
He laughs haughtily; it’s a front, admittedly, but appearances are everything right now.
“No need to lie - you do not respect anyone, least of all me.”
He takes a deep breath, holding his ground as the other gets up in his personal space. He’s not about to back down.
“And because it becomes my business while you are walking around, I will humor you. Marik will understand, should you let him free long enough for me to discuss it with him.” He raises a brow. “Why are you here?”
Oh
Fear
Very cute.
His smile remained as he watched Atem brace himself. He didn’t like how the Pharaoh was so quick to call out how the dark alter could never be a whole. Just because it was true didn’t mean he had to say it.
He decided to break eye contact first. He chuckled darkly. “Oh, he did Pharaoh, very specifically he let go of all his hatred of you, which was the driving forces of our adolescents. Good news for you, wearing you like a skin jacket is low on my list for now.”
He crossed his arms, cutting his eyes to the king. There was almost a pur to his rough tone, like a larger cat, watching prey. “ But unfortunately for Mr. Main personality, life is painful. Where new sorrow, shame, and hatred falls I will grow through the cracks remaining in his soul. If I cannot be free neither can he.”
He’s struck a chord. It’s just barely visible: a little twinge, a secondary falter. The smile remains, but as the man breaks eye contact, the Pharaoh knows that what he’s said has broken skin.
That’s no surprise; he’s certain that this darkness is a little insecure about this unstable state that he’s in, that he’s not a complete entity. Atem feels a pang of pity. He’s been in that position - or about as close as one can come to it. To be intangible, to be at the whims of another person, only to be able to show your face under certain conditions... it can be quite disheartening.
He relaxes a little at the skin jacket comment, though doing so seems a little counterintuitive. Vaguely, he thinks he’s heard of someone doing such a thing in the past in another country - probably the United States. He’ll have to look into it later. Such acts are vile, of course, but knowing how and why someone would do it can be enlightening.
As the other continues to speak, he frowns.
“That is... regrettably true. Life is full of atrocities and upset.” His gaze softens a tad, but he remains wary. “But there is also plenty of good to be had as well. Friends, family... Love. Those things and many more are why we continue on.”
He crosses his own arms, mirroring the man in front of him.
“He does not need you. You’ve no purpose here - crawling out from whatever crevasse you came from was fruitless. Perhaps you should return?”
Malik was doing his version of people watching, specifically stalking. He had his eyes on white hair, but was not yet willing to approach the host. To easy, he thought to himself. And if Ryou valued honesty true, he may tell The main personality. Malik wasn’t quite ready for his activity to become known. He had a different man in mind to exacerbate the trauma. The more repressed feelings, and anger, the more freedom he gained.
While he was going on his mental tirade, the voice struck him. Instant confused rage, followed by an ugly since of pride. From his perspective it had not been that long since he had heard the Pharaoh with his own ears. Wearing his hair in a bun had been exactly the cover he needed, not to mention being thought dead.
As he turns his face to see the pharaoh, there was no disguising the hateful, gleeful expression on his face.
“My king, I haven’t been feeling well at all. I think we might be sick, but I don’t think they make medicine for this.”
He laughed darkly, obviously beyond amused. “Look at you, with your own body. You really know how to make a guy jealous.”
As soon as the man before him turns, he knows something is off. Something is wrong.
The presence hits him like a wave in that moment. He can feel an awful energy radiating from his companion’s body... One he hasn’t sensed in years, now. It’s still familiar enough, though; he could never forget the air that follows this terror. The single word that confirms his suspicion - that seals the idea that this isn’t the Marik he’d left in Egypt - is “we”.
Then Marik - the dark Marik - smiles. Gods, that’s terrible.
“I think they do, actually. Modern medicine has come quite a ways since my day! The thing is: it’s all made to keep you at bay.”
Atem takes a step back, tensing up to be ready for whatever may come next. If it’s a physical altercation, the blond will likely be at an advantage; he’s got the height, the reach, and maybe the strength. But the Pharaoh still has his puzzle, still has a little left in his bag of tricks. He’ll make it through.
“There is a stark difference between you and I, Shadow.” His eyes narrow. “You are but a fragment of my friend’s consciousness - you are his pain and his anger. I have always been a full being, even as a spirit. I’m sorry to say but you may never get to walk freely.”
He frowns, keeps his eyes locked on the other.
“How are you still around? Marik left you behind during the finals of Battle City.”
For The Ever-Lovely @malik-fall-out
Atem is... people-watching.
It’s something he enjoys doing - he likes to be the one off to the side now. The one in the shadows, like he’d first been when he came to be in this modern world. He’s had enough limelight for two lifetimes.
That is not to say he does not enjoy being the center of attention - he does, but he won’t say so - he just wants to be... a little lazy. He wants to do things on his own time. And a hobby that facilitates that is gazing at passers-by as he sips at his - what do they call it? - shake. This one is pomegranate.
As the condensation on the styrofoam cup begins to bead and trickle, wetting his fingers, he spots a familiar head of hair across the street from his small cafe table. One he hasn’t seen since Egypt - before his return, in fact. He hadn’t been around when Atem first resurfaced, but the other Ishtars had.
The Pharaoh rises from his seat, taking his drink with him, and dodges a couple of girls on the sidewalk. After a quick apology, he crosses the road between cars.
It takes him a moment to catch up of course; Marik has several inches on him and they’ve all gone into leg. But he manages to sidle up to the former tombkeeper without really breaking a sweat, despite the heat of the sun beating down on them.
He’s certain they’re both quite used to it by now.
“Marik!” He tries not to be too startling, though if the man’s siblings hadn’t let it slip that he’d returned after they all saw him die it might be an impossible task. “It’s good to see you.”
Ishtar has matured a little since their last face-to-face interaction. Not too much, but it’s clear that a couple of years have passed. He’s wearing his hair up in a bun today, which is new. Interesting.
“Are you well?”
Atem: *wakes up from a 5,000 year nap and everyone starts calling him Yugi*
Atem:
It has taken him a while to get used to the railway systems of Japan. Never before has he seen anything quite so complicated. Obviously, back home he’d not had the infrastructure to build such transportation. Everything was sent by boat, up or down the river. Anything that wasn’t sent over the water was carried by wagons pulled by horses. This is a definite upgrade. Journeys that used to take days now take hours - sometimes minutes, depending on the train and where it’s going.
The real tricky part is figuring out payment for getting where you need to go... among other things. Going from bartering and gold to yen and plastic cards is a bit of a process. Yugi had been the one to keep track of all that, and when he was with friends, they took over. Moreover, he’d not had to deal with exchange in any real capacity save for verbal agreements in his previous life - he was a king, after all. There were people for that.
Today, he is flying solo. He’s trying to feel out how things work by making a simple trip from home to... Well, where should he be going? He hasn’t exactly been set up with a job yet, hasn’t really been looking, but nobody else needs to know that. He could see a friend, but he doesn’t want to drop in on anyone unannounced...
He pulls out his phone - a device he’s mostly used to, thanks to his time in his partner’s body - and starts scrolling through his contacts. There aren’t many.
He enters the metro station and begins to type out a text.
>>Hello,
>>It’s Atem.
>>Are you available to hang out?
Yugi closed his eyes imagining it. Yes, he could see it. Kaiba stepping past guards, maybe even fighting through them. He could imagine
Stepping in eyes locked on the Pharoah, activating a duel disk and shouting, ‘Duel me Yugi.’
A fit of giggles escaped him. “I suppose your right about that. Do I get to know who won?”
A little light bulb went off in his head. He desperately wanted to show his partner the little changes in the home they once shared. Show him what the shop looked like now that Yugi ran it. His smile was brilliant.
“Wanna see the changes I’ve made to the game shop?”
Atem thinks for a moment. The outcome of the duel had been... expected. As hard as Kaiba had worked to get to the afterlife, as much effort as he had put in, the risk he had taken...
“I did.”
He’s still a little sad about it. He regrets it. But if he’d taken a dive, if he’d given it any less than his absolute best, he knows that Kaiba would have been even more disappointed with a win. At least now, they’ll have the chance to keep duking it out whenever they feel like.
Yugi smiles and he instinctively mirrors it, though his is a little softer. He gives the man a little squeeze.
“Absolutely - I would love to.”
Well there were several things to talk about. He would have to address the second half second. His expression remained very affectionate.
“I still think.” He paused before continuing. “I know it was still important for you to make it home. We worked so hard to get your memories back. I don’t know if anyone would have felt at peace if you stayed… even though none of us wanted you to leave.”
Yugi remembered his personal turmoil over the Pharaoh leaving. The idea of trying to make him stay had felt so selfish. If he had known it wouldn’t be forever it would have been only a little less heart breaking. As for the mention of the Plana and Kaiba.
Kaiba crossed over? All that effort to bring the pharaoh back, just to send himself to the afterlife? The thought of that made him feel, something. But he swallowed it very quickly. It wasn’t what was important right now.
His smile quirked up a little extra on one side of his face, voice becoming a bit teasing. “What’s this about Kaiba crossing over? Last I saw him he really wanted to see you… Duel you specifically.”
He had felt that Kaiba seemed a bit at peace after the fight with Diva, tho if he really thought about it, he hadn’t gotten a chance to say goodbye either times. Maybe he should stop to see his reserved friend.
Leave it to the young one to also be the more practical of them at times like this.
“Yes, you are right.” He sighs. “Destiny had already decided that I make it back to the throne.”
Luckily, it had said nothing about remaining there. And that’s the loophole he’d exploited. Some might say that it was irresponsible to leave again, relegate the task of governing to Seto. For a short while, he agreed that it was. But his desire to be with his friends in Domino had been stronger than any guilt he might have felt in leaving his kingdom again.
And, reasonably, it was already the afterlife. What more could happen? They’ll still be there when he’s ready to cross over for the actual final time - hopefully after a long life here.
He nods at the question.
“The very first thing he did was burst into the palace and pull out a duel disk.” A laugh. “Of course, Kaiba is the only person in the world that would be able to find a way to cross dimensions just to play Duel Monsters.”
A choked up laugh escapes him. The comfort of this moment eased away the sleepless nights and longing for the time they were together.
“Good! I’ve been good.” He sighed, content. “I’ve been running the shop most days, and taking some game design classes in my free time. Grandpa is ok, but he can’t work as hard as he use to.”
He took a deep breath, sinking against the other.
“… it hadn’t been nearly as long as I thought it would be. He pulled away from the other. Just enough.
"How are you here? I mean I, I’m so happy to see you… But I was expecting it to be the next life. You’re early.”
He placed a hand on the other man’s cheek with complete adoration. “Nothing’s wrong right? You’re just here, to be here?”
This is going far better than he’d ever expected it to. He couldn’t have wished for things to go any more smoothly. He shouldn’t be surprised; Yugi has always been the kindest person he’s known. Understanding in a way that most could only aspire to be.
Standing here, holding him in his arms... Atem feels more at home than he ever could at his palace in Amarna. No matter the situation, he will always be comfortable with his partner. The sound of his laugh fills the Pharaoh’s heart to bursting.
“Wonderful! I’m glad. I knew you would be okay, especially after our parting duel, but it’s still quite the relief to see.”
The next statement draws a chuckle out of him. Yes, early is one way to put it. He leans in to Yugi’s touch and smiles warmly.
“The only thing wrong was my leaving in the first place. I’m sorry it took running off to another dimension to realize that. As for how I am here...” His expression turns a little sheepish. “After the Plana came into play and Kaiba managed to cross over, it became far easier for the priests and I to focus our energies on sending me back. The body was a little harder.”
xx
It felt like a dream to hear that voice again. The whole world became still. Hate was nowhere near the feeling. The white hot feeling that gripped his chest. It choked his words for just a moment.
He turned, his eyes, landing on the other man. The other half of himself... their reunion during the duel with Diva had eased his heart some, but it was not enough. And now he was here.
His feet moved on their own, hands extended as he pulls the other into a tight hug.
"How could I ever hate you? I don't think that would be possible... I'm so happy to see you!"
When Yugi pauses, he thinks he may have overstepped some sort of boundary.
It’s been so long since he’s been in the mortal world, and they spent so little time face-to-face in the flesh... The last time they’d seen each other at all, they’d both thought it was going to be the last time. And it was supposed to be.
Yugi must hate him, right?
They’d gone through so much to get Atem back to the afterlife, where he was supposed to be. They’d said goodbye - twice. So much time spent sending him away.
And then he’d rescinded that decision.
When the boy starts moving, when he pulls the Pharaoh into a hug, he’s the one that freezes.
Yugi is... happy? To see him?
Relief washes over him like a tidal wave. He hadn’t realized just how much he’d been afraid that their bond had dissolved in his absence. He’d even gone out and gotten himself a place to live in the event that the worst case scenario played out and he was unwanted.
He wraps his arms around the boy and presses his face into a soft head of hair.
“I’m happy to see you, too, Partner.” He sighs, leftover adrenaline flooding out of his system. “How are you doing? It’s been a long time.”
