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Yugi had tried falling back asleep—as he was exhausted—but was unable to. Somehow even his hair hurt. He had never been this hungover in his life. Because usually he didn’t binge drink. He didn’t break down sobbing while singing a song. He didn’t usually need to be carried back home.
In his defense, he had been rejected. Or…at least very misunderstood.
Squinting his eyes, Yugi glanced towards his bedroom door. Atem had barricaded his bedroom with a chair against the door, presumably to keep Solomon out. Hopefully, the chair would last several hours before Solomon would crush through it.
Yugi groaned. He felt so embarrassed . He didn’t even want to look at Atem—what was he supposed to even say? His memories of the past night slowly returned by the hour, and he wondered if he could ever face Téa again. If he even wanted to, for that matter.
“Are you…feeling okay?” Atem asked, now sitting on his own bed. Yugi did not know how to answer that question without whining. What he really wanted to say is I’m dying, but he was afraid Atem would take it literally.
“I’d hazard a guess that the answer is no…” Atem said.
“Everything hurts; I’ve never experienced anything like this…” He was hit with a wave of nausea and flipped his pillow to the cold side to bury his face into. He groaned again.
“Aibou,” Atem started, approaching Yugi’s bed. “How do I help you? I’m concerned.” Hesitantly, he put a hand on Yugi’s back.
It hurts. I’m so hungover.
Atem made a sympathetic noise, rubbing his back gently. He took the change in Yugi’s breathing as a sign that this was making him feel slightly better and not worse. He tried to recall something similar happening in his day, but came up short. In his day, he was a teenager and sure he drank more-than-moderately at times, but it’d never left him unable to get up and do his Pharaohly duties the next morning. And besides, the remedies he recalled his friends using were…not ones that would be plausible. There was no more Alexandrian chamaedaphne around! He supposed he could use a different sort of leaf? Would the dirty leaves Solomon refuses to clean from the Game Shop’s gutters count?
“I just want to go back to sleep.” Yugi mumbled.
“Have you counted your sheep?”
“ Yes. ”
“Well…clearly not enough sheep.” Atem sighed. He decides to go back to stroking Yugi’s back. “Does that help?”
“...A little…” Yugi sighed. “You don’t have to stay with me, Atem. It’s fine—I’ll get over it.”
“But I want to help.” Atem said, sadly. “I should have stopped you from drinking so much.”
“No, no. Agh.” He groaned, shifting so that he was looking at Atem. The action really hurt his eyes. “You probably couldn’t have stopped me, I was really upset and wasn’t thinking clearly—I definitely was rude to you.”
“You weren’t—lie back down.” He cupped Yugi’s face with his palm. “You can just relax today, it’s clear you’re in pain.”
“But...what about him? ”
“I’ll distract Solomon,” Atem smiled. He released his palm from Yugi’s face, and stood up from his bed. He had to cure his aibou’s hangover somehow —a leaf necklace would work, surely would it not? He could not withstand seeing his Yugi in pain any longer.
“I’ll be right back, Aibou,” he pushed the chair barricading the door away. He’d have to both entertain Solomon and make the leaf necklace simultaneously. But how?
***
“Oh goodie! Arts and crafts? Adopted Grandson, what a grand suggestion.” Solomon began gluing leaves onto a paper plate. “Say, would you like to have a wager later? Poker? Blackjack? I sure am good at gambling! And I hear you are too. When are we going to Vegas together?”
“Solomon,” Atem sighed heavily. “I am the King of Games. It would be ill-advised to gamble against me. I’d have your entire game shop by the end of the evening.”
Solomon looked him up and down. “But I want your magical abilities! I want the powers of the Pharaoh!”
“...No...Make your lovely...wreath.” Atem sighed again.
Solomon grumbled something under his breath as he glued different leaves onto the plate. Meanwhile, Atem’s leaf necklace was coming along well.
“Is that for an Olympic game, Adopted Grandson?”
“A what? ”
“The Olympics! The games! The extreme sport competitions.”
“I—I have never heard of such a thing…In my day, we had many competitions. I as pharaoh did win all of them. No...this leaf necklace is…” He couldn’t even think of a plausible excuse. “For fashion.”
“Ah! Fashion! I see. I have been looking for a fashion advisor for years. There simply are not enough homosexual fashion designers these days.” He looked at Atem quizzically. “Hmmmmmmmmm…Grandpop is wondering if his Adopted Grandson could...Help him pick out a snazzy new outfit.”
“...Just add a silver bracelet to your current outfit. I prefer capes.”
Solomon looked absolutely star-struck. “I will go to the mall later today and buy a new bracelet! Hurray! Thank you, kind homo!”
Atem sighed. At least the necklace was done. “Best of luck, Solomon.” He returned to Yugi’s room with the necklace. Yugi was asleep, so he decided to leave the necklace on his own bed. He heard the game shop door open and close—Solomon had left. Perhaps he should make Yugi some food? He was sure his aibou hadn’t eaten anything.
Yugi looked so peaceful. He’d begun to wonder what would’ve happened if he’d taken Yugi up on his invitation to lay next to him in bed last night. But it wouldn’t be the right thing to do… He was not someone who would take advantage of the state his partner was in, in order to indulge in a fantasy that Yugi would want to wake up next to him one day.
After seeing how Yugi had spiraled out last night after being blatantly rejected—which he’d respun as a misunderstanding—the last thing he wanted was to be rejected himself. He was sure that his feelings for Yugi were not mutual. But they had friendship, and it wasn’t worth sacrificing to summon regret.
He released a slow breath. It was time to stop thinking about his whims and wants, and to figure out what in the name of Heset he could give his partner in terms of food. He had no cooking skills. The last time he’d used the oven, he’d started a fire making a pop tart. Perhaps he could order something? Or should he wait for Yugi to tell him what he wants? Why was everything so...difficult. Before he could decide, Yugi woke up.
“What...time is it?” He asked, rubbing his eyes and wincing.
Atem nearly panicked. He didn’t have a watch! He didn’t have his sundial! How was he supposed to know—and then he remembered the clock behind him. “It is noon.” He said calmly. He picked up the leaf necklace. “Aibou, put this on to protect you from the hangover.”
“...What?” Yugi looked pale for a moment, and as Atem was about to explain his hangover cure, he made a dash for the bathroom. Atem followed him, slightly confused.
He was not confused for long as Yugi knelt before the toilet and dry heaved for what felt like five minutes. It most likely was not that long. But again, Atem did not have a method of telling the time in here.
He went back to rubbing Yugi’s back. Perhaps he should’ve put the leaf necklace on him right away. What a stupid mistake.
Shakily, Yugi began to rise on his feet. Bracing his shoulders, Atem guided him towards the sink. As Yugi rinsed his mouth, Atem—awkwardly—wrapped the leaf wreath around his neck.
Yugi paused. He shut off the sink and looked at himself directly in the mirror. His hair was matted and desperately needed to be combed through, his eyes were puffy and red, his face was pale and yet sickly green…
...And Atem decided to put a necklace of dirty leaves around his neck.
“Atem.” Yugi calmly stated. “ What is this?”
“It’s a wreath,” Atem tilted his head in confusion. “It’s to protect you from the hangover...at least, now.”
Yugi could feel his headache beginning to worsen. “Why is a leaf necklace going to…” he sighed. “Was this common in your day?”
Atem smiled, proud of himself. “Yes. It was. However, the same plant we used is not...commonly found anymore.”
“I...I don’t think this is going to work, Atem,” Yugi explained gently.
“Oh…” Atem’s smile fell. “Ah…Then what will help, Aibou?”
Yugi sank down to the floor, sighing. Now he’s hurt Atem’s feelings. “I don’t know, it’ll go away eventually. I guess food, water...maybe an hour or two...I don’t…I don’t know, maybe the leaves are helping a little.”
Atem smiled in triumph. “Thank Ra and Uneg! Don’t take them off, Yugi—you have to wear it to bed!”
“ Great ,” Yugi mumbled, twirling the leaves in his hand. But the triumphant smile on Atem’s face was admittedly cute to see.
“Your grandfather has stepped out to go on a shopping spree. I am no chef, Yugi. Pharaohs never cooked. I unfortunately have caused nothing but mayhem in your kitchen whenever I’ve attempted to make something edible. Can I order you some food?”
Yugi’s head was ringing. He placed his head between his knees and took a deep breath. “Sure…I don’t care what we eat...Do we have any gatorade left in the fridge, or did Grandpa take it all again?”
“I will go check and get the phone.” Atem said, patting Yugi’s shoulder. “Do you want me to carry you with me?”
“...No...thank you. I’m fine here. And I’m just a little hungover, not like...nevermind.”
Atem went into the kitchen and retrieved a blue gatorade, along with the phone, and the nearest takeout menu. When he got back to the bathroom with the three items, he found that Yugi was crying. He nearly dropped everything, but instead slowly knelt down next to him. He sat there in seiza and handed Yugi the gatorade without a word. He then attempted to draw Yugi into a side hug. Yugi cried on his shoulder. The tears seeped through the fabric of Atem’s t-shirt.
“What has caused you to cry like this?” Atem asked, sadly. He felt like his heart was being torn from its chest.
“E-Everything hurts, and I’m so embarrassed. And I’m more embarrassed now crying about it...And agh... you...made me a leaf necklace and that’s so sweet...And I-I was such a mess last night, and y-you...were...looking out for me, and I didn’t appreciate it.” Yugi breathed heavily, wincing in pain. “And the lights are too bright…”
Atem rose to flip the lights off. “That’s one less thing to cry over. And don’t worry about last night.”
Yugi let out a soft laugh. “Yeah…” He took a swig of Gatorade.
“Let’s go back to your bed?” Atem suggested. “Have you thought of what you want to eat?”
Yugi pulled himself up. “Honestly, I don’t care.” He sniffled.
Atem sighed. Yugi orders burgers 90% of the time, so the fact that he didn’t just say burger had him concerned. “Do you want a burger?”
“...Not really.”
“Uhhh…” He looked at the menu, before realizing they were still in the dark. He shook his head.
When they were in Yugi’s room, they decided on a bunch of greasy appetizers, which would arrive shortly. Yugi’s eyes were still red and puffy. Atem had not expected that his aibou would still be feeling this poorly.
“Do you want a hug?” He asked. Friends could do that, after all. Yugi nodded and leaned into the embrace. He wasn’t crying anymore, but Atem could tell that he might as well be. He combed his fingers through Yugi’s hair. One time Yugi had done that for him. It was a situation not too unlike this. It’d felt nice when he’d done it, so he hoped it would have the same effect.
“Thanks, Atem.” Yugi breathed. “At least we have an excuse to binge eat later.”
Atem nodded. “Of course, my second heart.”
That was very gay, but Yugi did not seem offended. Even if he couldn’t date Yugi, he was grateful that he could be there for him. Even if he was sure to continue on his pursuit of his childhood crush. But no matter what, he’d be there. They were linked by their very spirits. Perhaps one day he’d confess to Yugi, but this day needed no additional rejection.