Chapter Text
Day One
Eight years. Eight years and Hawkins Haven hadn’t changed at all.
Yugi stands outside the only bus stop in town, a duffle bag on his back and a rolling suit case at his feet, taking in sight of a town he had sworn off nearly a decade earlier. The stop isn’t busy – unsurprisingly – and when he glances over at the far too chipper welcome sign, the population reads back a dismal number that felt stagnant, like it hadn’t grown or shrunk at all since he had left. A healthy amount of snow lays in unused corners and on the sides of the roads, slushy and grey with dirt and sand, and it sticks to his boots in the grooves of his soles. There’s a splattering of familiar faces that pass by, although none of them pay him any attention, and it’s as jarring as it is somewhat heartbreaking, but he didn’t know what else he had been expecting. He pulls his scarf up over his mouth more at the second person that passes him with a quizzical look, just as the wind picks up, carrying a chill that could only be equated with the latter half of the year, and the smell of fresh pines and wood-burnt smoke.
He hadn’t felt homesick, per se, in all his years away. Not in the traditional sense, at least. He didn’t miss Hawkins Haven in the same way most people missed their hometown, in the tangible and explainable. Moving away had been the best decision he could have made when he did at eighteen, and he’d always stand by that. But ever since he had made a home for himself in Domino City hours away, he had this longing for the simplicity and innocence about this small, dead-end town. He missed the memories, his best friends, his childhood bedroom, the knowledge all the roads burned into his brain from late night drives in the summer. He missed Hawkins Haven in the idealistic way. But as he stood outside the bus station, curled under his winter gear and taking in the very unique smell of home, something tugs oh so tightly and violently on his heartstrings and his throat feels tight in response. Maybe he had been more homesick than he thought.
Just as quickly as it comes, it leaves, and replacing it in the void in his chest is the reality of the situation, bearing down like a heavy burden on his shoulders, suffocating the air from his lungs. Yugi wasn’t here for a good reason, far from it, and he wasn’t about to trick himself into thinking this was a goodwill pilgrimage. The trip had been planned hastily, and even more hastily carried out. The bus ticket was the cheapest option he found, and he had just barely managed to bring himself into doing that. Everything he owned that he could justify into bringing was packed haphazardly and tightly into his two bags, a stark reminder of how little he had truly settled in Domino. The rest of his belongings were left back with his roommate, stuffed into pre-labeled boxes if he decided to never go back and live out the reminder of his days here.
If he could go back, he realizes. Because Hawkins Haven was a black hole for every hope and dream anyone born here could think of. Even if you managed to get out, because you were lucky or desperate, something about it would always suck you right back in, making you wonder why you ever thought you could leave in the first place. And Yugi was going to be no different, and he was going to die here, and he always knew that-
Maybe he was getting ahead of himself.
Before Yugi can spiral further down into the self-deprecating and depressing hole he was digging himself, a very familiar truck rounds the corner coming off Elmwood Lane and stops right on the curb in front of him. Joey Wheeler, looking ever the same as he did the last time Yugi saw him years ago, throws his vehicle into park and jumps out in a spray of too-long limbs and a loud boom of “Yug!” in his heavy Northeastern accent. It’s only a moment later that he wraps Yugi up into a very warm and very needed hug, and Yugi drops his duffle to return it, not at all ashamed to be holding onto his best friend like this in the middle of Main Street. Joey smells like pine needles and campfire, exactly as Yugi always remembered. The tell-tale burn of tears grows in the back of his eyes. “It’s good to see you again, man!”
But when Joey pulls back, his signature toothy grin doesn’t quite meet his eyes in the way Yugi hoped they would, but he can tell he’s excited nonetheless, and it’s just enough to pull a smile on Yugi’s face, even if it feels forced. “It’s good to see you, too, Joey. I just wish the circumstances were better.”
“Yeah… Yeah, I do, too.”
They stand there for a moment of awkward silence, punctuated by even more awkward stares. A car honks in the distance. Someone who looks suspiciously like his high school English teacher passes by. His toes feel uncomfortably cold, even inside his thick boots. Not a moment later, Joey looks away and motions toward his truck. “Well, uh. Are you hungry? We can go grab some food. My treat.”
Yugi’s stomach practically growls in answer, empty from the hours spent waiting at the station in Domino and riding the bus here. “I could use some food,” he says, somewhat humbly, more polite than anything.
Joey helps him haul his small amount of things into the backseat of the cab, before Yugi’s climbing into a truck he very intimately knows, taking his place in a truck seat that’s practically his. Or, was. Long ago, when he was a different him. Joey joins him a moment later just as Yugi’s running his fingers over a familiar cigarette burn in the cushion foam, picking at the stray upholstery strings. “The usual?” Joey asks, because even after all these years they still have a usual, of course.
“Sure,” he answers, offering him a smile when Joey looks over at him. “I can always eat burgers. That hasn’t changed.”
Joey snorts. “I thought the big city would have changed that.”
“Domino changed a lot less than you think.”
Joey doesn’t immediately answer. Instead, he pulls away from the curb with a hum, tires squeaking in the icy slush under them, but the truck is every bit as reliable as Yugi remembered, finding a safe traction on the roads despite the risk. Joey is still comfortable behind the wheel, one hand laying lazily over the top, his other hand tapping some nonsensical melody into the faux leather upholstery of his door. Some local station playing classic rock comes through grainy and muffled through the old speakers, and Yugi turns his attention away from Joey and toward the snowy Hawkins Haven streets. It really hadn’t changed, the more he saw of it – shops that hadn’t moved, people that had stayed, roads with the same cracks and potholes. It was like the whole town was in a time capsule while Yugi had been away, living his life in the city. It brings something uncomfortable and burning at the base of his throat.
Because as much as he wanted it to not be true, he knew things had changed.
Dueling Point Bar was the closest thing the town had to a diner. It had been the favored hang out spot for Joey and Yugi when they were in high school – despite their age – because Raphael made the best burgers, and whatever constituted as laws were a little more lax with the population being so small. It had been in the same family for more generations than Yugi can count, almost amounting to a family heirloom at this point, but the cynical part of him that had been out now could only view it has an anchor tying them to this town forever. Still, he could remember those fond after school days, sitting with Joey and their friends in the usual table, stuffing their faces with food and trying to con an old timer into just one beer, without any luck.
Their table was the booth by the window, covered in graffiti from them and a dozen other patrons, and it almost warms Yugi’s heart when he sees it. The waitress at the front doesn’t bother leading them over the second she sees Joey, and instead just passes him two menus with a smile. “Holler when you’re ready to order.”
“Will do,” he says with a grin, and takes the lead walking to the booth. The seats still squeak something loud and unforgiving as Yugi sits, but they feel a little more plush than he remembered. Maybe they replaced the padding? “Just like old times, huh?”
Yugi hums as he glanced around. The décor was uncomfortably stagnant. He felt seventeen again. “Yeah… do you still come here?” He asks.
“With Tristan or Serenity,” he answers. “Sometimes both of ‘em. Did I ever mention they started dating?”
Yugi laughs softly. “I’m sorry Joey, but that was bound to happen,” he says, and only laughs more at the dismayed look on his face. “At least it’s someone you know. At least it’s Tristan.”
Joey grumbles under his breath, and the waitress appears wordlessly with a smile to set a glass full to the brim with beer in front of Joey. “Do you want anything to drink?” She asks, looking at Yugi. “Beer? Soda? Water?”
The idea of ordering alcohol here feels as foreign as Yugi does suddenly. The last time he ate here, he wasn’t even old enough to vote, much less drink. Something gets lodged into his throat for a moment, before he shakes his head. “Uh. Just water. Please.”
The waitress just smiles as turns away, and Yugi sinks in his seat a little. Joey snorts across the table. “Y’know you’re not a kid anymore, right?” He jokes, taking a long sip of his beer.
“Trust me I know,” he grumbles. “Last time I was here, I was in high school. There’s kind of a mental block.” Joey hums. When Yugi looks up at him, his face is straight and serious, like he wants to say something. Yugi’s stomach turns a little. “What?”
“No one blames you for leavin’, Yugi,” Joey says softly, but there’s an edge of… annoyance? “You had… a really good reason to take off when you did with Tea. But… you could have gone about it a better way, I think.”
A better way. A way that didn’t include burning every bridge and practically turning his back on the place he once called home. Joey was right – his reasoning was justified, if not necessary, but the execution was… messy. Yugi swallows something thick and painful in his throat and nods. “You’re right.”
Joey doesn’t give him a response to that. His knuckles are white where he holds his glass to drink again, and they stay wordless and awkward until the waitress comes back around with Yugi’s water and to take their orders. They sit in near uncomfortable silence while they wait, and Yugi glances outside the window if only to alleviate the growing discomfort in his chest. Across the street, a dark haired man laughs with his friends, joyful and loud, a dark blue scarf pulled tight around his neck. Yugi stares for a moment, a unsettling sense of déjà vu rising in his chest, before he catches a glint of something far too familiar in his eyes, and his blood runs icy cold.
“Did I tell you Mai inherited this place?” Joey asks, successfully pulling Yugi’s attention away from the window, and away from the creeping horror and dread rising in his chest. When Yugi must look like a deer in the headlights, Joey laughs. “Yeah, I know, that’s what I thought, too, when she told me.”
“I thought she was going to school out of state?”
Joey shook his head. “Nah, that fell through,” he says, tilting his glass to lazily swirl his beer around inside. “And her grandpa passed last year, left her the place in his will.”
Mai Valentine had been almost as vocal as leaving as Yugi had been hasty in the act. She had plans to leave the state, go to the east coast, and get a nice and cushy degree in something that would provide an even cushier salary, and practically bragged about it every time she got a chance. To hear that she was still here, stuck as she could be with an entire business in her name, feels like a cold slap in the face. Yugi almost didn’t want to see her, but he sees her flash of blonde hair behind the bar, passing over bottles and glasses and chiding the patrons he knew were regulars, and he honestly could be a little sick. “That’s… that’s awful,” he says without thinking.
Joey just takes a long drink of his beer, eyes downcast and avoiding Yugi. “It’s not as bad as you think, Yug.” His voice sounds tight, and it borders into an anger that Yugi knows must be brewing under the excitement of seeing him again. “Not everyone hates this place as much as you do.” And that’s tight lipped and forced, bitter around the edges.
Yugi flounders for a moment. “I don’t hate-“
The waitress coming back with their food cuts Yugi off. She sets their food down in front of them, checks on their drinks, and then walks off with a cheery smile. Joey watches her go for a moment, then starts idly eating his fries. “Let’s… let’s not get into that,” is what he says, and Yugi sees his throat bob as he swallows. “You’ve got too much going on right now. I’m sorry.”
Yugi isn’t sure what to say, so he says nothing, and just starts wordlessly eating.
They enjoy their food in a tense and uncomfortable silence. When the waitress brings the check around, Joey pays without any input from Yugi, but Yugi can’t find it in himself to make much of a fuss, anyway. When they step outside, it’s a little darker, and a little colder – the streetlights are starting to turn on one by one, bathing the street in a warm orange glow. One, further down on the corner, flickers in a way it always has. Joey turns his keys on his finger. “Well. Good to head back to my place?” he asks, the first words he’s said to Yugi in almost half an hour. “I gotta get up early for work, and all.”
“Sure,” Yugi says, clearing his throat awkwardly when it cracks. “Thanks. For dinner, I mean.”
“Don’t mention it,” Joey says.
Yugi hauls himself into Joey’s truck, and whatever cloud had been hanging over them in the restaurant seems to taper off – but not completely disappear. “Are you still working at the auto shop?”
“The one Raphael owns? Nah.” His best friend shakes his head. “I haven’t worked there in a few years. Tristan and I work as park rangers, for Crawford County Park. Spend a lot of time in an office, or out in the woods.”
A cold feeling passes over Yugi – how long had it been since him and Joey spoke? – before he smiles a little. “Oh. That sounds nice,” he says, then tries to ignore it, humming softly. “How are you handling that? You used to be terrified of all those stories we would tell about the woods.”
Joey fidgets uncomfortably he drives, nose wrinkled. “I try not to think about those, if I’m honest,” he murmurs. “Can you believe kids are still telling those stories? Like, the exact same ones we told at summer camp. It’s unbelievable.”
Yugi laughs softly. “Not much else to do in Hawkins Haven.”
“Except drink.”
“If you’re underaged, Joey.”
“Hey, that never stopped us.”
They make eye contact at a light, and then laugh, free and joyful, and Yugi feels like he’s home for the first time all day.
Day Two
Hawkins Haven Sheriff’s Office was set up in what used to be the old post office for the town. The police force itself was hardly anything to look at, consisting of Sheriff Arthur Hawkins, his deputy, and a handful of officers that mostly doubled as park rangers for the nearby county park, and firemen for the even smaller fire department. It was weird, to think that the department was so small, but it wasn’t like a lot happened in town, anyway – the last big event had been nearly a decade ago, and Yugi didn’t really want to think about that.
Yugi hesitates uncomfortably from where he’s standing outside the station. He didn’t sleep very well the night before, spending most of it laying on Joey’s couch, staring up at the ceiling, and only managed to nod off right around the time Joey woke up to get ready for work. There was a telltale sting behind his eyes, angry and painful, and his hands shook from the coffee he drank on an empty stomach. Yugi swallows down the burning rise in his throat, before mustering up all the courage he could to step inside. The receptionist sitting behind the desk is someone he vaguely remembers from high school, and she looks up as he approaches, a smile on her face. “Hi! How can I help ya?”
“I’m here to see the sheriff. I had an appointment. It’s about, um… I’m Yugi Muto.”
The woman’s eyes brighten. “Oh my god I thought you looked familiar! It’s been so long, Yugi!” she says, and Yugi would rather melt into the floor then deal with this. “Sheriff Hawkins’s out on business right now, but let me go see if the deputy is available, okay? Take a seat! I’ll be right back.”
She scampers off before Yugi can say much else, so he sits nervously in one of the plush arm chairs nearby, tugging at stray strings on his coat. This felt like déjà vu, in the worst way, in the way Yugi was actively trying to avoid. In a way that made him want to turn tail back to Domino, before he got too far into this. The walls are still wood paneling lined, and the carpet is worn down and green, like it always had been. The only difference is the deputy’s picture – where it had been Benjamin Hawkins, the sheriff’s son, now sat empty, the wall around it sun bleached and dusty. Yugi shifts, and then takes his phone out, if only to give himself something else to focus on, a reprieve from the downward spiral he was doing. There was two texts on his lock screen – one from Joey, asking him if he wanted to go to Dueling Point again when he was done, and another from Tea, wishing him well while he dealt with things. They were both sent while he was walking over from Joey’s place, and picks at a broken piece of his case, before responding to both.
To Joey: Sure, I’ll need the pick me up.
To Tea: Thanks Tea. I’ll keep you updated.
Yugi?” the receptionist says as she pokes her head back in. He looks up, and she smiles back at him. “Deputy Hawkins is ready to see you.”
Deputy Hawkins? Yugi stands and follows her back. The office is small, and sparsely decorated - full boxes sit in the corners, and half unpacked ones on the built-in shelfing on the wall. A blonde woman sits behind the desk, and it feels like a rush of cold water when she looks up, eyes wide and a smile on her face. “Yugi! Holy shit it’s been forever!”
“Rebecca?” Yugi asks as the receptionist closes the door behind herself. “You’re the deputy?”
Rebecca Hawkins, looking nearly the same as she did all those years ago, sits back in her large swiveling chair, grinning from ear to ear. “Yup! I’m the deputy now. I’d say I’ve moved up since my Dueling Point waitressing days.”
“I think you still were a waitress when I left,” he says, honestly a little dumbfounded. “I had no idea – I mean. Joey didn’t tell me.”
She snorts. “Wheeler never tells anyone anything.” She motions to the armchair across from her with a smile. “C’mon, sit, make yourself comfortable. We’ll catch up a little before we get to why you’re here.”
The reminder of why, even with as vague as it was, makes Yugi feel like he could be sick, but he sits anyway, sinking into the chair a little. Rebecca busies herself with a small buzzing mini fridge in the corner, quietly humming a song to herself, and Yugi takes a moment to look around. There was a single framed photo on the wall, of Rebecca in her graduation garb, standing next to two older men, smiling bright. Below that is a diploma from a local community college, her name embossed in silver, proudly showing her as the recipient of a bachelor’s in science. Back when she wanted to go into Environmental Science… What had made her stay? “When did you become deputy?”
Rebecca sets a bottle of water in front of Yugi, then sits back down. “Hmm… Two years now, I think? Honestly, I haven’t been able to keep track. It happened kinda suddenly,” she says with a laugh.
“What happened to your dad?”
She goes deathly silent at that, smile dropping. Yugi feels cold inside. “I… He went missing,” she says softly. “Four years ago. Not long after I graduated from the community college… I was going to move to Domino, to go to the university there, but… I couldn’t leave Grandpa to handle it all alone.”
“Oh. Have you-“
“No,” she says, voice strained. “We haven’t.”
It had been years since anyone had last seen Benjamin Hawkins, then. Yugi wasn’t a detective – or any kind of authority of that nature – but he had seen enough true crime TV shows to know that the odds weren’t good. And judging by Rebecca’s reactions, she had to know that too. Yugi shifts in his seat, and feels sick as the situation he was in was starting to rise to the surface. “I’m… I’m sorry, Rebecca. I really am.”
Rebecca doesn’t meet his eyes, and lets out a heavy sigh. “Yeah. I’m sorry, too, Yugi,” she says quietly, then goes into her desk drawer and takes out a file. The tab at the top is labeled Azumi Muto, and Yugi might cry. “Are you… ready to talk about this?”
No. But he couldn’t keep putting it off. “Yeah,” he lies.
She opens the folder, and inside is standard paperwork, and a few pictures. “So. Um. Tea’s mother was the one who reported her missing, on October 15th,” she starts. “The Gardner residence is still across the street from your mom’s house, and she hadn’t seen your mom come back home in a few days, so she called Grandpa.”
“Does she know when she last saw her?”
Rebecca chews her lip. “Probably October 12th, or around there, is what Mrs. Gardner said.”
So it had been a week. Yugi could really cry, or throw up. Or both. “I see.”
“Um. We searched the house. Her car and her keys weren’t there, but she left her phone and wallet behind. We didn’t find anything to point us in the direction of where, or even why. It’s like she just…” Rebecca looks up at Yugi, and their eyes meet for a moment. “Vanished.” Yugi looks down to his hands, clasped tightly in his lap. “We… really have nothing to go on, I’m sorry.”
Yugi shakes his head. “It’s… not your fault.”
“When was the last time you spoke to your mom?”
It’s sad how hard Yugi needs to think about it. “I… Last month, maybe?” he says quietly, and avoids Rebecca’s stare. “I…. I’ve been really busy. With work, and… personal stuff. I hadn’t had a lot of time to check in.”
“I see.” There’s a shuffle of things on the desk, and when Yugi looks back up, Rebecca’s pulled out a second file – Suguroku Muto. Yugi’s sure this might be hell. “Do… Do you know how well she was still coping? With your grandfather’s disappearance?”
“I-I mean… I-I think as well as she could. But it’s been… almost a decade since that, Rebecca,” Yugi says.
“They might be connected,” Rebecca says, her voice soft and sad, and her eyebrows turn down. “As much as I’d hate to admit it. As much as you’d hate to think about it.”
Yugi knows she’s right – they might be connected. Him and Grandpa were his mom’s rocks, and she essentially lost them both at the same time. Yugi always knew it was selfish to move away from Domino when he did, but he had to. “Yeah,” he admits quietly, shifting. “They might be.”
Rebecca watches him for a good long while, then sorts the papers out and puts them back in their respective folders. “Well… I promise we’ll give you a call if we find anything, Yugi,” she tells him. “Hopefully, sooner rather than later. And hopefully, with good news.”
“Thank you Rebecca,” he says quietly.
He stands, and they say their goodbyes while Rebecca pulls him in for a long hug. When she finally lets go, her eyes look a little teary, but she turns away before he can say anything. So Yugi leaves her office, and leaves the station, feeling all that more worn down and heavy than he had when he arrived. He steps out onto the sidewalk and takes his phone out.
To Joey: I’ll meet you at Dueling Point. Gonna need a beer
After three beers and most of his burger, Yugi found his face down on the table, cheek flat against the wood. The bar was filling up the more time had passed, and he honestly wasn’t sure just how long they had been there. Joey didn’t seem bothered, letting him do his moping and drinking and eating, conversating when Yugi started one, sliding him his water when he thought he needed a break from the beer. Joey was far too good of a friend, Yugi thinks idly from his alcohol-hazed brain. Far better than what Yugi deserved, after all he did. “I wish I could just go back to Domino,” Yug complains, not for the first time that night.
Joey dips his fries into some ketchup and hums. “How long were you plannin’ on staying?” he asks.
Yugi watches Mai work the bar, a wide smile on her face and a shiny metal tumbler in her hands. He should go say hi, at least, but his mouth felt like cotton whenever he thought about actually doing it. “I don’t know,” he admits quietly. “I hope not long. I don’t want to think about the alternatives.”
“Can’t say I blame you,” Joey says quietly. Yugi picks his head up and starts on his food again. “What did Rebecca say, anyway?”
“They have no leads,” Yugi says over a mouthful of fries and burger. “But that they’d call me if they found anything.”
Joey watches him, then sighs. “I don’t know how you’re staying together, Yug.”
Yugi looks up at Joey for a good long while, then looks away. “I’m immune to trauma,” he jokes, halfheartedly, desperately ignoring how uncomfortably real it was. It’s enough to get a snort from Joey, at least. He pushes some ketchup around with a fry, before setting it down. “I… I just have to not think about it,” he tells him seriously. “I have to keep my mind off of it. If I start thinking about it, I’ll become a wreck.”
Joey hums. They sit in silence while the room around them chatters and sings loudly to the music playing overhead. He vaguely hears Mai’s voice raise above some rowdy patrons at the bar, and another table clink their glasses together. “How did you handle this last time?”
“Huh?” Yugi asks, looking back up at Joey.
“Before. When it was Gramps, and…” Joey trails off, and his eyes meet Yugi’s, eyebrows knitted together.
Yugi goes cold in the middle and sets his nearly finished burger back down on his plate. “Honestly?”
“That’s what best friends are for, Yug.”
“I didn’t,” he tells him. “I still don’t think I have.”
Joey snorts. “That can’t be healthy.” Yugi just shrugs. “What have you been doing in Domino, then?”
“Work,” Yugi says, picking at some of his fries. “Work, sleep, spending what I can with Tea… More work.”
“Goddamn, man.”
Yugi avoids his eyes as he takes a long drink of water. “Like I said. I have to keep my mind off of it.” He’s almost too glad when the waitress comes back by to whisk away their empty plates and empty glasses. As nice as it was to just hang out and get some alcohol into his system, the room was quickly growing warm and stuffy, and he was starting to feel claustrophobic because of it. That, and he felt like he had been hit by an emotional truck today – he was exhausted, and while Joey’s couch wasn’t the comfiest thing in the world, it was still leagues better than nothing, and he was looking forward to trying to get some rest. When the bill comes back around, Yugi pays before Joey can argue, and then they’re heading out.
The cold air outside is almost a shock as Yugi steps onto the sidewalk, still pulling his coat on and shivering in the process. “Home?” Joey asks as he steps up beside him, hands deep in his denim jacket’s pockets.
“Please,” Yugi breathes into the cold air, making a beeline for Joey’s truck, listening to Joey laugh as he follows.
The ride back is quiet, but not uncomfortable. Joey taps his fingers along to some rock song playing quietly on the radio, and Yugi rests his head on the glass of the window, staring at the lit store fronts and traffic lights, vision almost blurry, before he blinks it away and sits back up straight. Neither of them say much as they exit the truck at Joey’s house and walk up the sidewalk to his cozy front porch, nor do they speak as the shrug off winter coats and kick off their boots. Yugi could remember a time when they were nonstop chatter, never running out of things to talk about, but maybe things had changed, as much as he hated to admit it.
It's only after they both go through their nightly routines, and Yugi is brushing his teeth while leaning up against the pedestal sink in the bathroom does Joey pop his head in, already dressed in his pajamas. “Hey, Yug?”
“Mm?” Yugi hums around his toothbrush, looking up from his phone.
“I know this situation sucks,” he starts off, voice quiet and fond. “But for what it’s worth, if it helps ya any… I’m glad you’re back. And I’m glad to get to hang out with you again.”
Yugi’s heart hurts to hear it, and he feels like he might cry. His mother’s disappearance was such a shitty reason to bring him back, when her or Joey alone weren’t able to, and he really didn’t want to be back anyway. But there was a fond nostalgia that made him feel young again to be back in his old haunts, sitting beside Joey and laughing about the same dumb stuff again. It made the whole situation suck a little less – made it bearable. He pulls his toothbrush from his mouth and spits the toothpaste out. “I… Thanks, Joey,” he says, swallowing around the lump in his throat, and offers him what he can only hope looks like a genuine smile. “I’m… I’m glad to be able to hang out with you again, too.”
Joey smiles back, and it meets his eyes, thankfully. “Good,” he says, then rubs his neck and clears his throat. “Um. Anyway. Sleep well, Yug. I’ll try to not wake you up in the mornin’.” With that, he walks off down the hall to his room, and leaves Yugi alone.
And much later, Yugi lays awake, watching the shadows dance in yellows and greens and reds across the ceiling of the living room, a vague sense of misplacement settling in right next to the feeling of being home, before he digs the heels of his hands into his eyes and cries.