milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

Yugi is the soul behind the eyes this evening, and those eyes are bright and violet-soft, faintly gleaming as he sits on the floor in front of the fireplace. He's watching the flames--the first real fire of the autumn season, in response to the increasing chill of the outdoor weather.

Hands clasped in his lap, he's humming just under his breath, a song that he doesn't know, but that the spirit in his head dimly recalls. It sounds foreign, exotic. Strange magic.

[OOC: Sudden slowtime possible, but unlikely for an hour or so.]

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Michael glances casually at the boy on his way somewhere else, nodding a greeting if he looks up.

Yami most assuredly does the mental equivalent of looking up, which in this case proves to be shifting into non-physical form, appearing just beside Yugi with eyes narrowed into glittering slits. Do you feel it?

Yeah. Lot of power but...in two. Yugi shivers, faintly, eyes wide as he watches the man.

Like us? I'm not sure.

Michael pauses as he sees the boy shiver... and his telepathy's giving him odd signals. He can'r see Yami, but he can sense him.

"You okay?"

Blinking once, Yugi gives him an automatic and bright smile. "Oh, just fine! Sorry...my mind's in another place."

Michael nods, looking at him a little warily, and decides to be polite. "Michael Guerin."

"Yugi Motou," he says, trying another disarming smile, not wanting to make an enemy unintentionally. "Um, I'm fairly new, here."

It's not that easy to make an enemy of Michael. Not a true enemy, anyway.

"Welcome to Milliways, then."

"Thanks." Years of being bullied in school may have left him a little cautious. Yugi gives him a quieter smile, anyway. "Have you been here a while?"

"About nine months. I'm only here part-time now, though."

"I'm stuck here, for now," Yugi says, shrugging one shoulder.

We should ask him. Yami is like a strange and almost vicious eagerness beneath his skin, all curiosity.

Yugi reaches out a hand toward Michael, then pulls it back, thinking better of touching. "You have...a shadow," he murmurs, because he has no other way to describe it. "Your heart."

"Ah, sorry. I was never Bound. This place was just the best I had, for awhile." Hearing the last, he hesitates, eyeing Yugi strangely. "You can see him?"

Yugi shakes his head, biting his lower lip for just a moment. "I feel him. It's a bit like a sudden chill."

Lifting a hand, he presses fingertips over his own heart. "Can you see?" he asks softly. "I...have one too."

Michael pauses, reaching out telepathically. He realizes, suddenly, that must have been what he sensed at first.

Hello?

Being spoken to in such a way as this is more than unusual--so unexpected, in fact, that Yami's first response is instinctive, defensive, the mental equivalent of jaws snapping shut in warning. After a moment he eases again, voice smooth, black satin.

Hello. A pause, like lean limbs rearranging. You have quite a talent.

Yugi himself has closed his eyes, brow furrowed a bit in wordless worry.

Michael glances at Yugi, suddenly concerned. But this is started now.

I was given it when I was... born.

And taught to use it by me, Rath contributes, lazily, in a tone much like Yami's.

Yami folds around him, mind against mind, reassuring, and Yugi draws in a breath, shoulders relaxing marginally. This is my other self, he murmurs, touching his fingertips to the Puzzle where it hangs around his neck, squeezing the metal slightly between both hands. Because of this.

Who are you? asks Yami of Rath. The sensation of his concentration is familiar, like a ripple of piano keys along Yugi's spine.

I am *his* other self.

My past self, Michael clarifies. He's always been here, just not always awake.

I, too, am of the past. Yami's interest is sharpening now, and after a moment Yugi offers up control. There is a shift between them, body instantaneously leaner, sleeker, and eyes going bladed. Or so I have been told.

He recalls the power of it, the touch of sand. Nothing concrete.

There's a brief wordless exchange between Rath and Michael, and then Rath comes forward - not all the way, but taking more control than he had a moment ago. His bearing becomes more military, visibly, and the presence behind the eyes is older.

How did you come to be sharing the body? I take it your situation is not ours.

The Puzzle was in pieces, Yugi speaks up after a few moments of silent encouragement. My grandpa brought it back from Egypt, and I solved it. Things from then are still a little...blurred.

They had not been consciously aware of each other then--their memories were not shared, and gaps remained.

Thus was my soul sealed, for some great length of ages, Yami continued, holding up the Puzzle by the heavy links of chain that Yugi had chosen. I remember nothing of consequence. Nothing of use, or of myself. He lets the Puzzle fall again, chain sliding through his fingers.

So the solving of this Puzzle allowed you your freedom, and to share the body? Intriguing.

Yami gives him a shrug, leaning back against both hands. Apparently so. The body. The soul, two in one. His eyes turn vaguely speculative, sharpening further. You understand, perhaps.

They both answer at once, more or less. The mental voice blurs oddly.

We do. We're part of the same mind, always have been.

You're partners, then, like we are, says Yugi suddenly. His mental version of a smile sparks with quiet light, brilliant even when overshadowed by the pharaoh's darkness. Kage-oh.

Yami's lips curve, just the touch of a smile.

Michael-Rath's expression matches it.

We are. Partners, brothers, two halves of each other.

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