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Atem tried to sit tall on his horse, but the sights of dens lining the mountain made it hard to hide his curiosity. His father had deemed him old enough to join on his excursions, which was exciting on its own.
But they weren’t here for play, or so he thought.
Atem’s father dismounted and he, with a little help from a guard, did so as well. As they headed to a hall carved into the mountain, his father spoke.
“Whatever you hear inside, try not to react. They can understand our speech, but only they can give us the ability to understand them. Serpent's tongue can be uncomfortable to listen to without aid, but it’s respectful to not recoil. To them, their family are like what the Gods are to us.”
Atem nodded, but still moved closer to his father out of nervousness. It all but left him seeing the nagas, only realizing he was gaping in awe when his father nudged his shoulder. Both knelt on one knee, the Naga Matriarch smiling warmly at Atem in particular.
It made him feel comfortable, and he felt more at ease. She was a beautiful naga, her iridescent scales glittering in the firelight and the white wings on her hips rested against her like a bird when perched. Her speech felt like pussy-willows tickling his ears, nothing like the discomfort his father described. Atem had to cover his mouth to stifle a laugh.
They were handed vials to drink, a deep maroon that tasted sour on Atem’s tongue and sent a shiver down his spine.
Just as Atem stood with his father, he felt a tail whip behind his knees, causing him to stumble and fall on his butt. He swung his head just to catch a white tail disappear behind a guard, a snicker following.
The Matriarch, seeing what had happened, crossed her arms. “Since you seem so eager to tease, Bakura, come meet our guests.”
“Maa…”
Atem ignored the groan, taking his father’s hand to be helped back to standing. When he faced the Matriarch, a naga boy with scruffy white hair sat slumped in his coils next to her.
“I apologize for my son, he’s very much a free spirit.”
Atem’s father chuckled. “Perhaps he could show my son the city while we speak, it is his first visit. We can teach our boys diplomacy another time.”
The Matriarch chuckled, looking down at her son. “That sounds like a good idea, milord. Bakura, please show Prince Atem our village. We’ll talk about your little stunt after they leave, hmm?”
Atem shivered but tried not to show it, clearly hearing the threat in her remark. Bakura seemed to as well, because he quickly grabbed Atem’s arm and pulled him away.
Atem almost ran into Bakura when he finally stopped, met with his piercing red eyes. “You listen, palace brat; I’m not your tour guide. I’ll show you around, but don’t expect me to tell you anything.”
Atem nodded, not willing to argue to avoid getting either Bakura’s mother or his father angry. He followed Bakura to the markets, stunned by how many wares were made with what looked like the same scales on their tails in various colours. “Your village is amazing.”
“It’s okay, boring though. You try enjoying it here when you can’t go anywhere near the borders.”
Atem smiled, surprised at how much they seemed to have in common. “Father won’t let me near the woods, even when I know how to fight and use magic.”
Atem paused, chuckling nervously. “He doesn’t know about the magic part though.”
Bakura rolled his eyes. “Such a rebel, learning things! Am I supposed to be impressed?”
Atem ignored the jab. “No, just making conversation.”
“Well, stop it. It’s not like our parents arranged us to become mates.”
Atem froze at that, face turning ruddy at the thought. “I, uh… didn’t even consider–”
“Gods above, I was making a joke.” Bakura pushed Atem’s chest lightly. “I already have a mate, he’s more fun.”
Atem, despite knowing it was a joke, felt slightly hurt. “I guess it wouldn’t make sense for a human to mate a naga, not unless our kingdoms were making peace.”
Bakura stared at him dumbly, then started to laugh. “You got jealous when I said I had a mate, didn’t you? Well good, because he’s the only mate I’ll ever have!”
Atem huffed, crossing his arms. “I didn’t say I wanted to be your mate, I was curious how a human and a naga would work.”
“Whatever, stop asking weird questions.”
Atem fell silent then, unused to having to deal with someone like Bakura. He distracted himself with the sights, which made the naga following them go unnoticed until Bakura cried out. Atem tripped over two tails as they fell to the ground, making the attacker snicker.
“Humans are clumsy, why is a human following you, Bakura? Stuck with guard duty again?”
Atem noticed this naga had purple scales, with matching purple eyes. Blonde hair fell into his eyes, which the naga brushed away to gaze at Atem.
“Ma’s making me play host, he comes from beyond the forest.”
“Beyond the forest?” The naga exclaimed, pouncing on Atem next. “What’s it like? Are there dragons hiding in the trees, or wildcats? What kinds of creatures live in your kingdom?!”
Atem was transfixed by the bright purple eyes of this naga, finding himself speechless. “Ahh…”
“Ugh, don’t ask him, he’ll probably talk himself into a circle.” Bakura said, pulling the naga away from Atem and glaring daggers.
It didn’t take much for Atem to realize who the naga was, making Atem smirk playfully. “So I’m guessing you’re Bakura’s...mate?”
“Yeah, I’m Malik. Don’t act cute, I’ll bite you.”
Atem blinked, tensing up. “I’m not...doing anything.”
Bakura snorted, nudging Malik. “Don’t say stuff like that around him, he takes everything literally.”
“Do not!” Atem said, cheeks burning in embarrassment.
“Hmm, so if I said I’d spit acid on his clothes, he’d believe me?”
Atem wanted to ask if nagas could, but kept his mouth firmly shut not wanting to be mocked.
Bakura noticed and smirked, nudging Atem. “Come on, we’re just teasing. You’re making it too easy.”
“There’s no dragons in the forest.” Atem huffed, crossing his arms. “Not that I’d know for sure since I’m not allowed to explore without my father or guards with me.”
“Heh, maybe we should run off into the woods and explore together.” Malik said, beaming at Bakura, “I can’t wait to see all the herbs growing in the wild…”
Bakura looked conflicted, cheeks ruddy the longer Malik gave him a pleading look. “Mmmh fine. But if Ma gets mad, it’s Atem’s idea.”
Atem bit his lip, shifting. “If it’s okay, can we detour to the stables? My sword’s clipped to the saddle.”
Malik whined but Bakura nodded, pulling the two of them toward the smithy instead. “Listen, if you can spar with me, I’ll say we both planned it. I need the practice anyway.”
“You’re just tired of losing to me.” Malik said, playfully nudging Bakura.
Atem shrugged, watching curiously as Bakura snuck into the smithy and grabbed two swords, handing one to Atem. He could tell it was balanced, yet almost felt as if he was holding a twig with how light it felt.
“Don’t get any ideas of cheating by hitting the tail, because these just shatter when you do. Now come on, let’s get going before our parents come searching for us.”
They snuck out into the woods, Atem guiding the two nagas to a clearing he spotted off the path. Malik would constantly sidetrack, getting caught up in the sights of birds and hares, even managing to snag one to cuddle before getting kicked in the side as it bounded off.
Atem made sure Malik was alright, which clearly made Bakura jealous. “Hey, get your hands off my mate, princeling!”
Atem rolled his eyes, removing his hand once he was sure no ribs were broken. “Shouldn’t be anything but a bruise. Sorry, I should have mentioned hares have a strong kick.”
Malik, ignoring his mate, ruffled Atem’s hair. “You’re much better at being a nurse than a prince.”
Atem’s cheeks darkened, mumbling an excuse only to get pinned by Bakura against a tree. “The hell!”
“I said, get away from my mate.” Bakura snarled, eyes a bright red.
Staring into them, Atem felt butterflies in his stomach. Clearly Bakura was aggressive towards him, and yet he was drawn to Bakura’s gaze for entirely different reasons…
Malik shoved Bakura away, now turning to glare at Atem. “Save it for sparring, and quit giving my mate that look. Maybe I don’t know a lot, but I’ve seen how humans court each other.”
Atem’s burned hot, both out of humiliation and embarrassment. “I don’t...I wasn’t…!”
Bakura smirked slowly, leering playfully seeing Atem sputter over himself. “Oh...so you don’t realize you were giving me nesting eyes? Or even Malik?”
Atem hung his head, grumbling as he continued walking. Malik and Bakura looked taken aback by his reaction, before giving each other conspiratory smiles behind his back. Atem, ignoring both of them, just wanted to get to the clearing and spar. Then they would slip back into the naga village before either his or Bakura’s parents noticed.
And maybe he’d stop thinking about the nagas behind him, being eerily silent as they followed.
It wasn’t far until they got to a clearing next to a stream, Atem sitting next to it to let the nagas explore. It was hard not to admire Malik’s fascinated gaze, or the soft gaze of Bakura’s face seeing Malik so excited.
He didn’t want their teasing to get to him, yet it blatantly clashed against his need to make a good impression.
No sooner had Atem started getting bored did Bakura poke him with the butt of his sword, holding it out. “Come on, let’s see how well you can fight a naga~”
Atem rolled his eyes and took the blade, pausing briefly to see Malik lazily coiled by a flowering bush. He laid back on his own coils, basking in the sunlight with eyes closed. Atem was brought out of it by Bakura’s tail smacking his arm, Bakura smirking once getting Atem’s attention.
“I know he looks gorgeous, but you should be focused on me while sparring.”
Atem flushed, huffing. “First, no using your tail for dirty tricks and I won’t hit your tail. And unless you want us getting caught; we stop at the first draw of blood.”
Bakura nodded, getting into a fighting position. Atem eagerly jumped into the first strike, focusing fully on parrying or blocking Bakura’s return attacks. Bakura was certainly a good fighter, not at all encumbered by the tail behind him and easily matching Atem strike for strike.
It was thrilling, and if the look on Bakura’s face was anything to go by he’d agree. Atem felt hot and sweaty, and knew Bakura was getting just as spent seeing his pupils blown when they locked eyes.
Atem let out a yelp when he felt coils around him, dropping the blade as both he and Bakura panting raggedly as he let his own sword fall.
“Let’s...call that a tie.”
Atem slumped against Bakura’s coils, almost pouting. “One more round at least, we have time–”
“Atem!”
All the boys froze, Bakura immediately pulling away from Atem and trying to hide the swords as their parents approached. The Matriarch looked amused, while Atem’s father was frantic.
“We looked all over for you, why did you leave the village without your horse? Or even just a weapon?”
“Because my son provided the weapons.” The Matriarch reached under Bakura’s coils and pulled the swords, making Bakura hiss in annoyance. “I told you, your son isn’t in any danger.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you, father.” Atem mumbled, bowing his head.
The Matriarch turned to Bakura, frowning. “You only had to stay in the village a few minutes, Bakura. Surely you could have found somewhere to practice inside the village borders.”
Atem knelt to the Matriarch just as Bakura was going to argue. “It was my idea to come here. I saw this place on the way and wanted to find it again, using sparring as an excuse. I… apologize if I worried you as well. I did not consider your will and it was foolish of me.”
Bakura gaped, before taking his mother’s hand. “No, I forced him out here. He mentioned it and it was my desire to please my mate that made me demand he show us. Prince Atem did nothing.”
Atem lifted his head, glaring and hissed. “I thought you said we’d both take punishment.”
“Then you decided to pull your nobility shit on me, you–”
“That’s enough.” The Matriarch chuckled, glancing between Atem and Bakura, “Seems like our boys get along very well, Aknamkanon. I am not sure, however, if your son is a good influence on my boy...or if my son is a bad influence on yours.”
Behind Bakura, Malik hid his laughter; both amused and embarrassed by the situation in front of him. Atem’s father smiled, relaxing some. “Perhaps both. I suppose it’s appropriate now to request lodgings. Had I anticipated a night ride, I would have brought more soldiers.”
“Of course.”
Bakura sunk into his coils as the Matriarch grinned at him. “Dinner is at sundown, I expect you all to return by then. I will inform your father that you are helping your mate entertain our guest, Malik.”
Atem sat back on his hands, blinking in surprise. “You’re not punishing us?”
“You and I still have things to discuss, but I see no reason why it can’t wait.” Aknamkanon said, holding out his hand to help Atem up. “It’s good to see you making friends outside the kingdom.”
Both parents said their goodbye’s; Atem was given his sword by his father before they finally left.
Bakura huffed, huddled in his coils and leaning against his tail. “It’s not fun when I’m given permission.”
Atem smirked a bit as he secured the sheath to his belt. “Lucky you, I get another lecture.”
“I hate that.” Malik grumbled, curling himself around Bakura. “Does that mean we’re leaving?”
Atem pulled out his sword, purposefully swinging to get Bakura’s attention, pausing, then slowly sheathing it again. “Well, I guess if you guys are bored–”
“You can’t taunt me with that thing and think I won’t want to test it, pull out your sword!” Bakura cackled as he grabbed both smaller blades.
Malik didn’t move, yawning while he snuggled into Bakura’s side. “Nah, nap first. The sun feels nice.”
Bakura faltered, actually looking torn which made Atem snicker. “As long as you’re okay with me resting against your tails, I wouldn’t mind.”
Bakura looked at Atem, setting the blades aside. “Oh fine you lazy snake, you win. But you have to let Atem nap on your coils.”
Malik shrugged and, before Atem could protest, pulled Atem close to wrap around him. Atem expected to be squeezed, but slowly relaxed. Malik only wrapped him in a light pressure, just enough to share warmth. Atem easily settled down and closed his eyes, using his arms as a pillow.
“Now I see why you coil up like this, it’s so cozy.”
Malik smirked as Bakura also curled nearby, pressing his torso on Atem’s back and making him freeze. “Don’t get too comfortable now.”
Bakura snickered, pulled Malik off Atem to snuggle with himself instead. “He can get comfortable. After all he is our...guessst tonight.”
Atem shivered and glanced at Bakura, noticing the playful look they both were giving him. It was like a secret they were letting him in on, and he had a feeling they would only be getting into more trouble with their parents over the course of his stay.
Atem, he realized, was excited for it.