Hot Chocolate and Truths

[madimpossibledreamer]

Main Points:
Yugioh Legacy!verse, part of the Phantom Tournament
Chapter Summary: They have a conversation with Dark Magician
Word Count: 1059
Rating: teen

               Yugi finds himself shaking a little when Joey finally sets him down.  Carefully, as if he’s made of glass.
               Ordinarily, that would both be sweet and drive him insane, but with the way he can’t stop shivering and the headache that is beating at his brain, he agrees that, for once, it’s probably justified.
               The instant he’s sitting in the chair, he glances over to Dark Magician, who’s set down Téa and is now hovering protectively.  Dark Magician carefully takes off the top robe and drapes it over Téa’s shoulders, which is good because she looks like she’s shivering just as much as he is.
               Mahaad looks oddly exposed with just the armor beneath.  “While I cannot approve of your actions, young Pharaoh, I can understand.”
               “Yeah, well, I can’t,” Kaiba disagrees harshly, ignoring the fact that he’s joining a conversation with a Duel Monster.  “If you could have summoned him to grab her, why didn’t you, instead of putting yourself in a situation where you might die?”
               Yugi feels a little flustered.  He hates making his friends worried about him, particularly if it’s because he’s been stupid.  “I don’t know.  I didn’t think.”
               Kaiba rolls his eyes.  “Obviously.”
               He shrinks a little in his chair.  “I…I panicked.  I just saw Téa and I…I couldn’t think.”  He realizes he’s repeating himself, but it’s Téa and he can’t lose a best friend and his girlfriend, not like this, not so soon.  Not ever, if he’d have a say, but of course life is life.  Still, that’s no reason to go into a downward negative spiral.  He does that enough on his own, but he’s older and stronger and he should be better than this.
               Joey walks over with a mug of hot chocolate, and there are enough marshmallows they’re threatening to spill over the sides.
               “Dere’s anudder one for her, but it’s in de microwave,” Joey explains.
               Kaiba slams his hands on the table.  “This is hardly the time to be cutesy.  I hate to state the obvious, but if you’re just going to ignore reality, I might as well bring it to you.  Yugi, you nearly died.”
               He’d deny it, but he’s shaking, too.  Mostly his hands, and it might be from the effort he’s expending not to throttle Yugi for being so reckless, but it’s nice to have the reminder that Seto cares, in his own way.
               “I’m sorry,” Téa croaks, and he attempts to get up, to go over to her, but ends up wincing and sitting back down again.
               Everything aches.  He’s cold, and miserable, and despite what Kaiba might think, he actually realizes that he nearly died, and it’s terrifying, but when one of his friends is in harm’s way he’s not going to apologize for acting on that.  At the same time, though, he doesn’t want to come off as a petulant child.
               “Don’t apologize,” he insists, at the same time Seto snaps the same exact words.
               “You’ve hardly been with him long enough to cure him of his reckless streak.  But if you could hurry it up, that would be appreciated.  He can’t keep nearly killing himself and expect that it’s not going to stick one of these days.”  Kaiba’s not going to say he’s worried, or show the fear on his face.  In his world, that’d be seen as weakness, and he can’t afford that. 
               Téa sighs, standing carefully like she’s the same age as Grandpa and she’s going to break her back if she’s not careful.  She pulls the Dark Magician’s robe closer around herself and stumbles over toward where he’s sitting.  She’s strong enough to glare Kaiba out of her way, despite the fact that he’s clearly worried about her too, and doesn’t want her to get hurt.  And despite himself, Yugi finds himself grinning.  That’s the Téa he knows, stubborn enough to not let anything get in her way once she’s set her mind to something.  She grabs his hand, which gets the slightest amount of a blush.
               Actually, now that he thinks about it, someone so strong-willed being possessed all the time doesn’t seem to make much sense.  But then, he wouldn’t classify Joey as anything less than stubborn, either.
               “So, I’ve got a huge headache, and I really don’t remember owning a dress made of this much lace.  Would anyone mind filling me in?” she asks cheerfully, stealing a sip of his hot chocolate, which really gets him blushing, embarrassingly, thinking thoughts of younger days teasing about ‘indirect kisses’.
               “I’m making you one too, ya know.”  Joey states, annoyed.
               “Yeah, but I can flirt with him and actually say that.  Rather than lie to myself, or Yugi because I’m trying not to freak him out.”  She smiles widely.  “You don’t mind, right?”
               “Uh-uh.”  Admittedly, it’s not an actual sentence, but it’s still cute.
               Kaiba growls.  Again.  “You sleepwalked over a cliff, and Yugi threw himself off to try to catch you.  He managed to call a real life Duel Monster, but if I hadn’t managed to do the same, he would’ve ended up at the bottom of the sea.  It’s not a good pattern to repeat.”
               “She was possessed again!” Joey defends her, but Téa’s too distracted by something else.
               “You did what?” she asks, and then notices a worried Dark Magician, minus the cloak or whatever, watching her from across the counter.  “Oh.  Hi.”
               That earns a soft smile and a wave.  “Seto called upon his Dragon, for which I’m very grateful.  I would’ve never forgiven myself if I had saved his Queen, but the Pharaoh died.”
               Yugi picks that moment to bury his head in her shoulder.  His face feels a little warm.  But then, it’s a little weird to hear something that blunt from one of his favorite Duel Monsters.  Still, it’s something she chose for herself, so you won’t hear her complaining.
               “Well, thanks, everyone,” she responds, looking at everyone—even Yugi, who feels her stare and shrinks away a little.  He knows he’s getting a lecture, but he’s not going to run away from it.  Avoid it for a few days, maybe, but he can’t do that without avoiding her and he doesn’t want to do that.
               “And does anyone want to explain what Joey was talking about?  Specifically, the ‘possessed’ and ‘again’ parts?”
               Yugi definitely squirms in response to the question.