Work Text:
"Valentine's Day..."
"You remember Valentine's Day, don't you Atem?"
The pharaoh glanced over at his partner, offering something of a sad smile
'How could I forget? You were always so sad, pining over Tea`...' he thought to himself
"When is it again?"
"Just a few days from now, on the 14th," the smaller gamer answered, his fingers looping around the pharaoh's as they turned away from the store window and started walking back in the direction of the game shop
"I see, and do you have any plans for that day, Partner?"
"Actually I was hoping you might want to spend the day with me,"
Atem smiled softly, a slight blush on his face
"I would greatly enjoy that,"
"Then it's settled, we're spending Valentine's Day together,"
"Yes," Atem nodded, squeezing Yugi's hand
"Settled it is,"
~+~
"You want to make chocolates for Atem for Valentine's Day? That's so sweet!"
"You really think so? I hope it sends the right message..."
"Well the message SHOULD be that you want to date him but I know when it comes to romance the pharaoh can be a little.... dense...."
Yeah... Tea` certainly wasn't lying about that
"I suppose he can, though... I wasn't aware that you knew,"
Over the video call, the dancer started shaking her head, letting out a tired sigh
"Remember that date you set us up on a wile back?"
"Sure,"
"At one point I told him that I really, REALLY liked him, he looked at me and said 'And I really really like you Tea`, you're a magnificent freind',"
Yugi winced, partly in an effort to disguise the laugh that wanted to bubble up in amusement
"That's... pretty bad,"
"Not as bad as a few months ago when I told him I used to have a massive crush on him, he said that if I ever wanted to duel him he would be 'honored to be crushed' by me,"
Now that time....
That time it was just a cringe
"Oh Pharaoh...."
"Yeaaaah, I don't suppose you've made any attempts to share your feelings with him huh?"
"Oh sure I have, on Christmas Eve I told him that I loved him, that he was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and that I wanted to spend eternity with him, he went on a five minute speech about how much he loved me, said that his soul had spent the last three thousand years waiting on mine to be born, that he wanted to spend eternity with me and that he would happily die a million deaths just to have one more moment with me, and ended it by saying that no one could possibly have a better freind,"
Now Tea` was the one wincing
"Ouch..."
"I tried again on New Year's by saying that he was the love of my life and I wanted to have a family with him, he went on about how he had been blessed enough to essentially live two lifetimes and I was the 'most treasured' part of both, and that he considered me family too,"
"..... Wow, that actually physically hurts me,"
"I know, I'm hoping that with chocolates- since he KNOWS what they mean- there will be no confusion,"
"I really wish you the best of luck, I can't say that it'll work, but I'll help however I can,"
"Thanks Tea`, really, I plan on making them tommorrow so will you be available to help instruct me?"
"Sure will, you should probably go ahead and get the ingredients though, you'll need to have everything ready when we start cooking,"
"Already planned for it," Yugi grinned back, saying a quick farewell before turning off the video call and rising from his desk chair
He grabbed his coat from where he had draped it over the back of his chair, then snatched his wallet from the desk
Time to go shopping then
~+~
"Chocolate on Valentine's? Well, I can't speak for what Tristan is doing, but yeah, I'm making some,"
Atem seemed utterly delighted with this information, his eyes lighting up, a grin on his face
"You know how to make it then?"
"Sure do, I taught myself a few years ago after this girl I liked gave me her's, I ended up dropping them on our way out of school and felt so bad that I vowed to make her chocolate instead to make up for it,"
"Oh.. that's quite chivalrous, may I ask what happened to this girl?" Atem asked curiously
After all, Duke was with Tristan now, clearly it hadn't worked out
"You wouldn't believe it, I spent three days learning to make chocolate, made some that were ok enough- ugly, mostly, but tasted decent- and when I went to give 'em to her, I saw her kissing some other guy,"
With that, the other gamer shrugged and sighed dramatically, leaning against the counter
"Oh well, that's just how the dice rolls sometimes, so you're wanting to give these to Yugi I'm guessing?"
"Yes," the pharaoh confirmed with a quick nod, following Duke obediently through the shop, not even needing to be instructed, as the other man lead him into the back
"I recall this tradition from when Yugi and I shared a body, women gave men chocolate for Valentine's Day if they liked them, but.... can the tradition also apply to men giving chocolate to other men?"
"Sure it can! There's no reason to let the straights have all the fun, what else do you remember about Valentine's Day?"
"Ah, well, the first year we were together he really wanted Tea` to give him some... the second year she gave him a box similar to the ones she gave to Joey and Tristan, although, Yugi's was a bit bigger, apparently this was not the correct kind so.... there are different kinds?"
"Eh, sort of, giri choco must be what you're thinking of, it's 'obligatory chocolate', given to co-workers, colleagues and freinds, as a way of showing appreciation for them, 'honmei choco' must be what Yugi was wanting from her- chocolate implying romantic intent, I assume that's the kind you're going to want to give to Yugi?"
"Ah... yes.... honmei choco," he answered, a little more shyly, face a bit red
"I'm sure Yugi'll love 'em, and I'd be glad to teach you, but first, I need you to do something for me," Duke noted, approaching the small refrigerator that was kept in the back break room, swinging the door open and pulling out a tray of chocolate
"Try these and tell me if you're in heaven,"
~+~
Yugi woke to his best freind's face hovering just inches away from his own
It caused him to gasp, jolting slightly as he stared up at those beautifull crimson eyes, and the bright, loving smile on Atem's face
"Good morning aibou," he greeted cheerfully
"Ah.. good morning to you too Atem, to what do I owe this pleasant surprise?"
"Today is Valentine's Day, that's a vey special day,"
"Well, yes, I suppose it- oh!"
And before Yugi could even finish his sentence or finish blinking the sleep out of his eyes, there was a big, red, heart shaped box sitting right in front of his face
Leaning back a little on instinct, he peered up and gave Atem a light, adoring smile
The pharaoh looked so excited to be giving this to him, it was always nice to see Atem looking so happy
"Happy Valentine's Day, partner!"
"Well happy Valentine's Day to you too," he replied with a soft laugh, happily taking the box and unwrapping the pretty lilac ribbon that had been tying it together
And when he opened it up, he found chocolates- as expected- but they were much more special than mere ordinary candy
They were homemade
He could tell, given their.......... "unique"........ shapes
"Atem.... did you make these yourself?" he asked in amazement
The pharaoh gave a tiny, nervous nod, his fingers wrapped around the blankets, holding on for dear life
No wonder he had been so excited, he must have worked himself to death on these...
Making chocolate wasn't easy, even for someone who was familiar with modern cooking, but Atem.....
Well, to say that he wasn't great in the kitchen was putting it rather mildly, he had nearly blown up the microwave the last time he tried to make popcorn
"Will you try one?"
The "please" went unsaid, but Yugi heard it in his voice anyway
Yugi didn't hesitate any longer, plucking one from the middle of the box and popping it in his mouth
He honestly wasn't expecting them to be great, Atem had clearly had someone teach him how to make them so they probably wouldn't be bad, but much to his great surprise, they were actually really.... really... good
"Atem... these are amazing!! Where did you ever learn to make chocolate like this!?"
"I owe that to Duke, he was tireless in his efforts to teach me to make them myself, though I think he enjoyed the 'teaching' process a little more than necessary,"
He had the gnawing feeling that some part of his once-upon-a-rival had gotten a kick out of being good at something that Atem couldn't pick up on with immediate perfection, and that teaching him the same things over and over again until they were perfect (well... perfect enough to be passable) had given him some sort of thrill
But he wasn't about to say that
"Wow, he must have done a great job then, now I'm kind of worried mine won't be up to snuff, Tea` is a great teacher but I only had her assistance through the webcam so she didn't taste any herself,"
And before Atem could ask the obvious- "You made me chocolate too?"- question, Yugi leaned over and opened the nightstand drawer, presenting Atem with a pretty gold box wrapped in royal purple ribbon
It was such nice packaging, Atem almost didn't want to open it
Sitting back on his heels, mouth slightly open, he carefully tugged the ribbon away and opened the box, immediately feeling his heart start to flutter
Atem had seen plenty of store-bought chocolate in his time here, Yugi had no problem indulging his sweet tooth, and these.....
If Yugi hadn't said they were homemade, Atem would have sworn they were from some fancy gourmet candy store
"Yugi.... these are gorgeous...!!"
Not that he was surprised, Yugi was magnificent with craftsmanship, everything he did always looked so immaculate and smooth, and chocolate was obviously no exception
They were shaped in little hearts.... and pyramids... and ankhs.... and cat faces and - was that The Eye Of Horus in the middle!?
"Mou Hitori, aren't you going to eat one?"
Yugi was clearly amused, but Atem was .. a little less so, blushing and heart now moving from a flutter to a full on hammering in his chest as he carefully picked up one of the little pyramids and took a bite, eyes wide, sitting a little straighter
"Yugi, these are magnificent!!"
"You like them? Each shape has a different flavor, the hearts are peanut butter, the pyramids are toffee, the ankhs are caramel, the cats are coconut, and the Eye Of Horus is hazelnut,"
Atem sank, his shoulders sagging and a look of embarrassment falling over his face
"Oh Yugi... all I made was plain chocolate...."
And even that had taken him hours and hours of dedication....
"It's ok, it's really really GOOD chocolate! You should be proud of this Atem! The last time you used the kitchen we ended up with soup on the ceiling, and now you've made these AMAZING chocolates.... you worked really hard,"
"But... they were supposed to be special aibou, they're ... they're honey chocolates,"
... Honey?
Honey chocolate?
Yugi hadn't tasted any honey... and Atem said they were plain
......
Honey.... honey......
".. Atem, do you mean 'honmei' chocolate? Romantic chocolate?"
Head hung, Atem gave another tiny nod, chewing his cheek anxiously
It was taking an enormous amount of restraint for him to not laugh at the sheer cuteness of this situation, but he knew Atem would take that the wrong way, so he kept quiet
"Atem.... Mou Hitori.... I made honmei chocolate for you too, and FYI, honmei chocolate isn't determined by how fancy it is or how expensive it is or even if it's homemade or not, it's how much of your heart was put into it, and your heart is splattered all over this box, you've definitely given me the best honmei chocolate I could have ever gotten,"
Atem's eyes were big and wide and innocent, practically sparkling when he suddenly jumped and wrapped his arms around his partner in a tight, suffocating hug
"A-Atem! The chocolate! You're going to crush it all over the bed!"
That was just enough to make him pull away, smiling nervously as he carefully moved the boxes aside
"So ... you made honmei chocolate for me as well?"
"I did, I guess this means that we have the same feelings for eachother, wouldn't you say?"
It was still amusing to see Atem looking like such a nervous little puppy, amusing and cute
"I... I believe so," he said softly, sitting back on his heels
"Then I guess we'll have to do something special tonight, hm? Our first Valentine's Day... as a couple?"
With the shocked-awed-excited expression that came over Atem's face, Yugi would swear that they hadn't just talked about exchanging honmei chocolate and feeling the same way towards eachother, he seemed legitimately surprised by the word "couple"
"That would be magnificent, my partner, I shall plan something for this evening, you are free after work, yes?"
"Free as a bird," Yugi promised, leaning in a little closer and giving Atem a soft, chaste kiss to the cheek, grinning at how extremely warm the pharaoh was
Atem was always warm to the touch, but he was definitely more so this morning
Yugi was willing to bet it had something to do with how much darker his complexion had become, no doubt completely red-faced now
"I'm going to make breakfast, why don't you take your shower first Mou Hitori?"
Atem gave a little nod, and Yugi slid out of bed to head downstairs
He couldn't help giggling once he was gone, noting that Atem wasn't right on his tail like he usually was
All these years Yugi had always assumed he would be the shy one in any given relationship, but apparently Atem had him beat on this one
~+~
Work was going to be difficult
Atem didn't always have to go in to Kaiba Corp, given that he was a sponsored duelist, he was only needed when Kaiba called on him for one reason or another, but he did like spending his free time there when Yugi went in, it was alot better than being alone all day
Yugi, being a game designer who had an exclusive contract with Kaiba Corp, didn't have to be on KC property every day either, in fact he did alot of his actual designing at home or at the game shop when business was slow, he only came in about three days a week, spending the other four at Kame Game Shop helping his grandfather, but apparently today was one of the days that Kaiba needed him in the office for whatever reason, so Atem had tagged along
His and Yugi's schedules didn't always align- far from it, there were plenty of days when Kaiba called upon Atem for something when Yugi was at the game shop, and that was fine, Atem really enjoyed spending time with his long-time rival, and in truth, he had come to consider Kaiba to be much more like a freind over the years, since coming back to the living realm, he had even started considering him to be more than just a freind
But he couldn't put a label on it
He felt so similarly about Kaiba as he did about Yugi, but he knew those feelings would never be returned, and he knew that multiple partners in a relationship was considerably rarer and more frowned upon than it had been when he was a pharaoh- even then, polyamory was pretty uncommon outside of the pharaoh himself, it just... didn't seem to be in the cards
Atem was trying to let it go, he hoped that the more in love he fell with Yugi, the more his feelings for Kaiba would naturally dull into a comfortable freindship like what he had with Joey and the others, that was how Tea`'s feelings for him had gone, after all
She had admitted to him not long after his return that she used to have romantic feelings for him, but that, after meeting her girlfreind in America, those feelings had smoothed out into the same freindship-feelings she had with Yugi
His would surely do the same... right?
Well, no matter
The point of the matter was, between Yugi and Kaiba, he never spent work hours alone, so he had followed Yugi to work that morning to see if Kaiba needed him for anything
He'd even be up for a duel if it kept him occupied, and as he usually lounged around Kaiba's office until the CEO had a spare moment to duel with him or to show him what he needed, Atem could use that time to plan Valentine's Day
He'd have to call Joey for help
He was apparently spending his first Valentine's Day with Mai this year and had really gone to the ends of the earth preparing it
This was his plan
This was what he had in mind
.....
Right up until he arrived at Kaiba's office, where the CEO's secretary was loyally waiting at her desk, flagging the pharaoh down hurriedly
"Oh!! Mr. Muto! Mr. Kaiba was expecting you, he's in a meeting right now I'm afraid, but he said that this had your name on it and to give it to you when you showed up,"
With that, she reached down under her desk and pulled up a rather large box, wrapped neatly in red papper, and set it down in front of the pharaoh
"Ah... I see... you wouldn't happen to be aware of what time he may be back, would you?"
"I'm afraid not, he just said it was important and that it may run pretty long, his schedule is cleared for the day, if that gives you any indication,"
"Oh... I see..."
So he might be spending the afternoon alone after all...
Though maybe one of his freinds was available for lunch, Joey was a sponsored duelist with Kaiba Corp too, if he wasn't busy planning for Valentine's Day, maybe he'd be up for it
Then he could give Atem a real lesson on what to do, like Duke had
Though come to think of it.... what if he had taken the entire day to celebrate with his girlfreind?
Mai was the other sponsored duelist he knew, what if they both had the day off and were doing a couple's thing?
Wouldn't Joey have said that though?
Oh... no matter, he'd just have to call him
But first, opening this .... thing
He unwrapped the box, and found with quite a bit of surprise that it wasn't so much a box as it was a glass case beneath the papper
And inside that case?
What looked like an artfully crafted Dark Magician statue
Eyebrows raised, Atem hurriedly lifted the glass case away from the bottom of the container, and was immediately hit with the scent of.... chocolate....
It was a Dark Magician statue made entirely of chocolate!!
Mouth open, he glanced down at the bottom of the statue, noting the hieroglyphics printed on the bottom ever so neatly in thick, smooth icing
Find the clue and be my Valentine
Had Yugi done this?
Had his partner- his boyfreind- anticipated Atem's loneliness and decided to give him something to do wile waiting for Yugi to finish his business here?
"Mr. Kaiba also said that if you needed to use his office wile he was gone, you were welcome to do so, just as long as you don't disturb anything,"
Nodding eagerly, Atem thanked her and carefully placed the glass back over the bottom of the container, picking it up and carrying it to Kaiba's office
Yugi had created a puzzle for him for Valentine's Day, and he was determined to solve it before lunch
~+~
In honesty, Yugi had been hoping to plan Valentine's Day himself
He hadn't expected Atem to just.... take on the responsibility right out of the park like that
He had every bit of faith that his boyfreind could come up with something spectacular, and- because he wasn't overly familiar with Valentine traditions- something really unique and creative
He had just... been hoping to show off his own skills in the matter, he supposed
Yugi liked to consider himself a romantic, he had spent so much time as a teenager fantasizing about the romantic dates he wanted to take Tea`- and, later, Atem- on that he felt pretty confident he could have done something remarkable
But oh well, maybe next year he could put his planning to use
He would certainly have the time to do it, and no shortage of plans
He had been fantasizing about spending Valentine's Day with a partner since he was fifteen, first with Tea`, then with Atem, and, during the almost two years that Atem was gone, he had even started fantasizing about Kaiba....
He knew it was riculous to feel this way about the CEO, there was no chance of a relationship there
Kaiba didn't even consider him a freind, he doubted that the other duelist even liked him, most of the attention Kaiba had paid to him over the years had been centered on Atem and, honestly, it was just kind of lucky that Kaiba hadn't tried to date the pharaoh before Yugi finally did...
He liked Kaiba- alot- and deep in his heart, he knew that there was a romantic pulse there, under other circumstances he'd even be willing to say he felt- ... more than just "like"...
But there were so many reasons that wasn't an option
Besides, he loved Atem more than the earth, the moon, and the stars combined, more than the sun it's self, he should be completely satisfied with having the pharaoh
Over time those blossoming feelings for Kaiba would fade, he just needed to let the relationship with Atem sink in a little more, he supposed
Regardless, he tried to shake off all of those thoughts, to settle back into the happy, contented bliss he had been in this morning, and to focus on work
He needed to come in and work on the new bug reports so Kaiba could have the game ready for beta testing again by Monday
The game was so close to being finished, they just needed to make a few more productions before it could finally go on to the marketing stage- cover designs, prices, ratings, etc- and finally, FINALLY release it
He was hoping for a May or June release but to get there he really needed to solve the last of the bugs now
So, sliding into his desk chair, he moved up to log onto his computer and- ...
Saw a medium sized red box in front of him
Head tilting slowly, he unwrapped the papper and found that, rather than getting answers, there were only more questions raised
Under the wrapping was a box made out of pure chocolate, somewhat resembling the box the millennium puzzle had come in, and when Yugi opened it, he found- ... puzzle peices...
3D puzzle peices....
As well as a small note card sitting carefully on top of them, reading only:
Solve the puzzle, be my Valentine
Had.... had Atem done this?
SURELY he hadn't had the time or skill to do something THIS elaborate, especially considering how.... let's say "crooked".... the chocolates from that morning had been
But no one else would have given Yugi a valentine, right?
Not one that was this huge, atleast, not to mention romantic
He was expecting some giri chocolates but this.... this COULDN'T be giri.....
And it flat out said the giver wanted him to be their valentine so it couldn't be giri
Then.......?
Maybe Atem had enlisted Duke to make it for him
He had gotten the other game-creator to make teach him how to make chocolate in the first place after all, maybe the ones from this morning had been Atem's homemade effort and this one was the elaborate honmei chocolate Atem had been fretting about
Duke was obviously talented enough to have pulled this off, if he could teach Atem to make something so delicious in only a few days- something Atem had talked about in detail over breakfast- and considering his artistic skills from creating Dungeon Dice Monsters...
Yugi reasoned this had to be the explanation and smiled sweetly down at the box, he was eager to try a peice, but he'd have to solve the puzzle first
So he reasoned he would work on it over lunch, do the bug reports now and celebrate his progress with the puzzle during his break
Maybe he'd even get done early and be able to plan something of his own for Atem after all
Now that would be a great Valentine's Day
~+~
Atem had been trying to find this so called "clue" for an hour now
He had started with a quick physical examination of the statue, but had been admittedly non-thorough, having not wanted to risk damaging it or melting it, and then gone on to the phrase it's self
He had scribbled out just about every anagram for the phrase and nothing made any sense, he had even tried finding clues with the word "Dark Magician" added in but to no avail
Now he was back to the physical side of things, but he was becoming increasingly frustrated and hopeless to the idea of ever figuring it out
He had to hand it to Yugi, this really was a great puzzle
He was in the midst of poking around the top, leaning it forward just a bit to see if he was, perhaps, missing something about the Dark Magician's face it's self, when suddenly he heard something, just ... something slight, something like... a little bit of a rattle....
Blinking, he carefully moved his hands down and took the chocolate by the center, tilting it slowly back and forth, and surely enough, there was the sound again
And with just a little more inspection, he came to realize that the little panel at the base of the chocolate statue, where the writing was, seemed to be loose....
Eyes narrowed, he started searching for some kind of tool he could use to pry it away, he didn't want to just flat out break it in case he accidentally damaged part of the clue, so he wanted to be considerably gentle with prying it away
Conveniently enough though, he managed to spot a dragon-shaped letter opener laying in the center of the table
Immediately, he snatched it up, sliding it into one of the corners of the little panel, and with absolute ease, it popped right off
Smirking, he took note of the hollow inside of the base, and more importantly, the little note sitting inside it
Upon grabbing and opening the note, he found a simple but clear message waiting for him
Use one dragon to find the other
.....
What the hell was that supposed to mean!?
~+~
Yugi had just finished putting together the chocolate puzzle, smiling in satisfaction
It hadn't taken him much time in all honesty, in fact, it had barely taken him any time at all, but he had still enjoyed the experience
Once he had the last peice in place, he found that it was in the shape of a pyramid, and even spelled out another message
In red, blue, and violet icing, it read:
Roses are red, violets are blue, solve this riddle, and all will be revealed to you
...
Well, he only had a couple of bug reports left....
He could finish this little game before going back, right?
~+~
Use one dragon to find another, one to find another, one to find.....
Atem had nearly scoured this office, dragon-shaped letter-opener in hand, and to is total bewilderment, he had yet to find anything else with a dragon on it
Ofcourse that atleast made him feel a little more confident in his assumption that the first dragon the clue had mentioned was, indeed, the letter opener
But what could a letter opener do to help him find something else? It wasn't as though it had a compass inside it or anything, how could it- .....
Wait.....
Letter opener.....
Rushing to the desk, he sat down in Kaiba's desk chair and found an absolutely thrilled grin taking over his face
There was an envelope sitting in the center of the desk, placed so neatly that it had to have been on purpose, and it was completely blank
Carefully, he reached out for it, flipping it over and shoving the dull blade through the top of the letter, slicing it open in a quick and easy jerk of his wrist and pouring the contents down onto the desk
Inside was nothing but a flashdrive
A dragon shaped flashdrive
Excitedly, he hurriedly looked around for a computer, or something else to plug the drive into, and spotted what looked like a phone charger sitting on the edge of the desk
Figuring it couldn't hurt, he took the cap off of the drive and picked up the "charger", shoving the drive inside it and waiting a beat
Much to his delight, a small light began emerging from the top of the "charger" , and mere seconds after that, he was staring at a bright red holographic message written out for him, hovering above the little device
This is where you test your skill
This is where you test your game
This is where I go in for the kill
This is where I'll take your fame
Are you up for the test?
Atem frowned in annoyance, this.... really didn't sound like something Yugi would write....
Had he been mistaken? Was this elaborate valentine really from someone else?
But who would that be?
Who would want to be his valentine other than Yugi?
Especially this badly, and with this much skill at creating puzzles.....
Well, he would figure that out later he supposed, right now the priority was really more about solving the puzzles and getting to the prize
Now.... what was this about "testing"?
~+~
This was.... this was hard
In complete contrast to how easy the initial 3D puzzle had been, solving this riddle was driving Yugi crazy
He had first tried just arranging he letters into other sentences, but that hadn't seemed to provide him with anything viable, then he thought to check on flower language and look up the meanings of both red roses and blue violets, but he couldn't discern a message from that either
He was starting to get frustrated, rubbing his temples and staring down at the riddle a second time
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Solve this riddle
And all will be revealed to you
...
Roses are red... violets are blue...
What if...?
Slowly, Yugi disassembled the puzzle, sorting all of the peices with red letters into one pile, all of the ones with blue letters into another, and then finding a small pile of purple letters in the center
V, O, L, E, T, A, R, E
But with a little bit of rearrangement.....
E.L.E.V.A.T.O.R.
The elevator!!
Rushing out of his office, work completely forgotten now, he made a b-line to the nearest elevator, searching for a clue, and that's when he noticed it- a little tiny organza bag in the corner filled with blue and red flower petals
Aha....
He hurriedly dumped them out onto the floor and counted them all, eyes narrowing slightly
There were 35....
But he was already on the 35th floor
He was one of the few lucky souls to work on the top floor of the building with Seto Kaiba himself, if he was already on the 35th floor- ....
Wait...
This was the same trick as before, it had to do with colors
But wich color should he be counting, red or blue?
Crap....
Crap
Rubbing the back of his neck, he started thinking back to that poem, hoping he would get another clue, when-
"Ahh! Aibou!! There you are!"
Oh shoot, not now not now not now-
"I am still solving your fourth puzzle, but I shall have it soon!"
Wait a minute, what?
"Atem... what puzzle are you talking about?" he asked in confusion, leaning up to hit the "door open" button as the doors had begun to shut
Atem, meanwile, stood in front of him, looking equally confused
"The... puzzles you have been leaving for me.... for Valentine's Day....?"
"Atem, I haven't left you any Valentine puzzles, you've been leaving me puzzles... haven't you?"
Atem, looking suddenly pale, slowly began to shake his head
"No... I.. I haven't,"
There was a breif moment of silence between them before Yugi's eyes narrowed with newfound determination
"Then it sounds like we both have a secret admirer, and I think, if you were lead here too, then we might just be intended to solve this one together..... what's the puzzle you were in the middle of solving?"
"Ah, well, I believe it has something to do with one of the testing facilities here, I just am unsure of wich one,"
Testing facilities...
The testing studios and labs were between floors twenty-five and thirty, plus the secret lab he kept on the basement floor beneath the lobby, so he just needed to find the number of petals that suited a number between twenty-five and thirty, since there were only thirty-five floors, it wouldn't be that hard, he just needed to find the majority...
The red petals
And upon counting.....
"Floor thirty!"
The major simulation lab
"Come on, I know where we have to go,"
And without a second of hesitation, he pulled the pharaoh into the elevator and pressed the button to take them to the thirtieth floor
~+~
The lab was weirdly empty
Usually it was crawling with engineers and technicians, always working on the new technology at hand, but now it was entirely empty, like a ghost town
Anxiously, the two stepped forward, starting to look around the lab curiously, searching for the next clue
"Do you think that there are two clues? One for each of us? Or do you think that there's just one now, since we were lead to the same place?" Yugi asked curiously, his hand wrapped gently but firmly around Atem's as they walked through the room, searching for anything that looked remotely suspicious
"Actually.... I was going to ask you the same thing," Atem confessed
At first nothing looked suspicious, but then....
"Well, I think that question is answered,"
In front of them was something resembling a stone tablet on the top... and a computer screen on the bottom, the top written in hieroglyphics, the bottom written in English
"Whoever this is wanted to make sure that you and I would have to help eachother with this one, aibou," Atem noted
After all, he could read Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana thanks to his time with Yugi, but English.... well, not everything Yugi knew had stuck with him once exiting his body
The most commonly used everyday skills like using a duel disk and the Japanese language had stuck with him, but the less Yugi used any particular memory or skill, the less Atem had access to it once he exited Yugi's body, meaning that English was virtually non-existant to his knowledge base now
"Not to mention that they knew you could read hieroglyphics, and knew how to write them - or atleast copy them- themselves...." Yugi added slowly
"Yes, that's even more odd..."
"Are they accurate Atem? Can you read them?"
He nodded slowly, taking a step closer to the "stone" and slowly tilting his head
"The past has haunted us long enough, I wish it to scar us no longer, I hope my dedication and devotion today has made your hearts grow fonder,"
He glanced at Yugi, silently encouraging him to read the English half
"The future that awaits is brighter now, and if you wish to ask me why, then you must solve one last puzzle and figure out- who am I?"
For the longest moment, they both seemed to be stumped, staring at the tablet for a long moment, neither saying anything, until finally-
"You know, for being two of the smartest people I know, you sure are STUPID,"
In unison, the two spun around, staring in shock at the figure standing behind them
"Kaiba!?"
"You still haven't figured it out yet? I'm disappointed in both of you,"
"You mean..... you're the one who set all of this up and has sent us on this .... puzzle-scavenger-hunt?" Yugi asked in shock
"Yes, I would have thought it was more obvious than that,"
"Well in terms of the clues yeah.... it wasn't too hard to make those connections, but .... we just didn't believe you would have really done all this...."
"Why? Didn't think that I could? Didn't think I was romantic enough or smart enough or-"
"Kaiba," Atem interrupted suddenly, effectively cutting the CEO off
"We did not expect you to do any such thing because we were unaware you would feel this way towards either of us, especially not the two of us together, forgive us for being a so ... uninformed, so quick to assume,"
For a few moments, Seto himself was silent, before seeming to get a hold of himself and clearing his throat
"So..... what's your answer?"
"O-Oh um.... was there a question?" Yugi asked innocently, much to Seto's annoyance
"Only the one I've been asking relentlessly all this time,"
Atem smirked, for once catching what he meant sooner than Yugi had
"You wish to know if we will be your 'valentines', thus asking us for a romantic relationship yes?"
He took that silence as a "yes"
"And it does not.... bother you that Yugi and I are-"
"I want BOTH of you, remember?" he grumbled
Atem and Yugi were quiet for a moment, staring down eachother, communicating almost telepathically, before offering Kaiba a pair of gentle smiles
"We would be honored to be your valentines," Yugi finally said, reaching out with his free hand to take one of Kaiba's, leaving the other for Atem to grab
The CEO actually seemed.... shy all of a sudden, atleast somewhat, his face a little red
"Good," he muttered, clearing his throat
"Then neither of you have Valentine's Day plans?"
"Not yet, but I was going to mak-"
"Don't, you do now, meet me in the garage in an hour, we have plans,"
"What about work?" Yugi asked in surprise
"I don't need your new bug repairs until Monday, you can work on it tommorrow,"
Seemed reasonable enough....
And in honesty, both Yugi and Atem were rather disappointed when the CEO pulled his hands away- albeit with reluctance- to turn away from them
"I have to finish a few quick things, but we'll leave soon,"
Oh, he wasn't getting out of it that easily
With another silent exchange of glances, the two of them rushed suddenly up to the CEO, standing in front of them, and before he could question them, they both leaned up on their toes and gave him a soft, sweet, kiss to his lips
It barely lingered, but it was enough to shock him out of whatever he was going to say next
"Worry not, Seto," Atem said with a smirk
"We don't mind waiting," Yugi agreed
"Yes, in fact one could say we are quite proficient in waiting for romantic things,"
Seto sighed softly again, staring down at them with mock exhaustion
"You two are going to do that annoying, 'finish eachother's sentences' thing forever aren't you?"
And without missing a beat, in total unison-
"Yes,"
That was ok though
Seto had asked for these Valentines for a reason after all, he wouldn't have them any other way