Inside the Puzzle

Jokes and Heart

Jounouchi snickered at his own joke, appreciating it twice as much when Yugi failed to see the humor in it. He'd meant it mostly just to tease the other, not delving much deeper than that. If he truly thought about it, though; it would seem that the two were definitely involved with each other. Except, neither seemed to be aware of it.

"Ah, come off it, Yuug," he said, waving his hand. "I mean... have ya ever taken the time to really sort it out for yourself?"

Yugi rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything as he thought about it. It was true that he held everything Atem said to a higher degree than everyone else. Equal to his grandfather, really; but he'd be lying if he said his relationship with Atem was never intense. Atem's presence seldom meant for normal days. It wasn't that he was complaining about it-he missed those adventurous days. He didn't miss the life-threatening parts of it, but definitely the spirit's company. He could never understand why so many people harbored a grudge against a man they'd never met. It seemed selfish. Then again... I haven't exactly been the most selfless person around here...

Jounouchi had remained quiet, tending to the soup he was making. He turned the knob down to reduce the heat and took a seat at the table next to Yugi. He propped an arm up and placed his chin in his open palm, looking at the table with a small smile. Even if he had no intentions of interrogating his friend, he still wanted the other to open up to him. He brought his eyes up to meet Yugi's. "Hi."

Yugi gave a short laugh. "Hi."

"Has anyone ever told ya you're a pain in the ass?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah, actually. I'm getting used to it."

"Good." Jounouchi nodded. "Because you are. Makin' me stay up late and shit to talk ta ya."

Yugi's mouth twisted, but Jounouchi's smile made him to stop and smile in return. "Please. I just wanted to go to bed. You're the one who decided to make dinner at a stupid time." His words were snarky, but the way he said them was playful, albeit quiet.

"You've changed a lot, Yuug," Jounouchi said quietly. His smile hadn't wavered off his face, though it was more sad than happy. "You're not exactly the same guy you were before. Which is okay, I guess. I mean... ya can't stay the same forever. Change is bound to happen." He shrugged mostly to himself. "Answer this for me, though. When you're around Atem, how do ya feel?"

Yugi took a moment to think about it. He felt so conflicted about what Atem did to him. "Before he left, I was... so reliant on him. I depended on him to back me up in everything I did. Facing him in that duel was one of the hardest things I'd ever had to do. I was happy for him when he finally got to rest, but... I felt like I was breaking in half. Losing him was hard enough. And then, to lose grandpa... That was too much. Atem coming back as a spirit was just painful. It feels like I'm breaking into pieces every time he comes around me because he's not really here. Like a ghost that doesn't know how to say goodbye because he's too selfish to let them move on. But then... I haven't exactly moved on myself. Him being around just made it harder. And I wanna move on and stand on my own, but he makes it hard when he contradicts himself." He shook his head.

"How do ya feel about 'im, though?" Jounouchi fixed his posture, resting both arms on the table before looking at Yugi with a serious expression. "It's obvious ya mean a lot to him."

A blush began forming on Yugi's face, but he decided to ignore it. "He's like a brother, I guess."

"You guess?" the blonde echoes. "C'mon, Yuug. Did you only say that just to answer me so you could get it over with?"