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“Atem, I am starting to doubt your position as the previous King of Games; I’ve never used this type of dueling strategy before, and it seems like it’s to set up the user for failure.”
Ryou Bakura sat crossed-legged on plush carpet, his surprisingly bare room only illuminated by five white candles, each on their own plate, wax dripping, surrounding him in the shape of a star. An Ouija board laid by his feet, the wood planchette moving from the “S” to the word “YES” on the upper left corner. Ryou bit his bottom lip, looking at the cards spread out in his hands, before straightening them and shuffling them back into his deck.
He knew Atem was sitting across from him, that dastardly handsome smirk he had fallen so hard for on his face. The bastard was probably enjoying making him squirm, so Ryou snatched up the heart-shaped planchette, pointing the tip to where he assumed Atem was, and resisted the urge to reprimand him for being such a smug brat, but one glance at this clock changed his mind.
“If I’m going to duel with this strategy,” he began, “I’m going to need you to explain it better, Mr-Shit-On-Details, but that will have to be later. I should be going to bed right now, should’ve been in bed hours ago. It’s well past two in the morning and I have college in a few hours.”
The planchette shook in his hand before being ripped away by an unseen force, clanking loudly on the wood board as it landed on the word “GOODBYE”. Atem, obviously, was upset; the two hadn’t been able to chat as long as they used to lately, being that Ryou’s first year of college was in full session and finals were creeping up. At lest summer vacation was in two months, Ryou already making plans of taking a trip to Egypt to visit his friend Malik and leave a bundle of flowers at Atem’s resting place.
“Really, Atem,” he scolded, “I know we haven’t been able to chat as much as we want to, but that’s no reason to act like a child. I want to stay up and talk too, but if I don’t pass my first year, I won’t be able to come back, and I haven’t slept very well in a couple days. You’re…quiet distracting, and had no right to make me so…excited on Friday.”
The planchette began to move.
S.O.R.R.Y
If he had the ability to see the ancient pharaoh, Ryou was sure he’d see a guilty pout, vibrant purple eyes lowered in shame. Ryou shook his head, a small but gentle frown on his face.
“Now, now, you were only a small distraction. You know I had homework all weekend. I’ll try to talk to you tomorrow, but don’t have your hopes up. Don’t be surprised if I can’t call upon you until Wednesday, Friday at the latest. I really need to focus all I can onto my finals. And, if I do pass and if I do beat someone in a duel with this strategy of yours…I’ll give you a treat.”
I. L.O.V.E Y.O.U
The frown eased into a smile.
“I love you too, dear. Now here’s where I have to say goodnight; say hello to your friends for me.”
It was a ritual, he supposed, as he started on the candle on the furthest left and made his way to the last candle on the right, snuffing out the flames. Nearly every other night he would set his candles up on their plates, his Ouija Board in the middle, and call out into the Land of Two Fields, beckoning the once nameless pharaoh’s soul back to the realm of the living, for a short while.
As the last candle was slowly blown out, Ryou felt something cold, almost wet, touch his cheek, soft like a flower’s petal, the sensation vanquished as the last breath of the flame was extinguished.
A kiss.
“Thank you, my dear Atem.”