Work Text:
Day 1
“They’re taking a while,” Mokuba murmured, eyes narrowed in on Atem in front of them at the resort check in desk.
Kaiba noticed it too. Just like he noticed the bright pink shirt Atem wore covered in tiny flamingos. Not that it was out of place in the ‘palm fringe paradise’. He was pretty sure he saw a chair upholstered in a similar fabric at the entrance to the grand lobby. If the shirt wasn’t bright enough, the sun pouring in through the vaulted ceiling windows illuminated it enough to cause a sunburn on anyone in the proximity. The desk clerk was brightly dressed as well. Maybe that was why it took so long. It wasn’t rocket science to check two people into a room. If anything he would’ve expected it earlier when Tristan checked five of them into two adjoining rooms. It didn’t make much sense for the desk clerk to stare bewildered at her computer monitor, but she was.
She shook her head, handing back the printed online reservation receipt to Atem. “I’m very sorry, but I cannot find this reservation number in the system. Did you book your reservation through our website?”
Joey burst into the room, in his typical obnoxious fashion, distorting Atem’s response to the clerk. “Ya ready yet?! The water’s great!”
Drenched head to toe, sand caked to his soaked shirt, Joey bounced on the balls of his feet, ready to sprint out of there. Yuugi trudged in behind him, his clothes drenched as well, water dripping from his hair and sleeves. “It would've been better in swim trunks but yeah it’s nice.”
Kaiba’s full attention was on Yuugi at that point. His black button up shirt and tight jeans clung to him showing every single angle and curve he had. He wasn’t the only one staring, Atem was too. At least until Tea walked up to Yuugi, holding out a towel. “Can’t turn away for ten seconds.”
“Right?” Serenity giggled, rounding Tea’s side. “I'm jealous you got in first.”
“We can go now!” Joey grabbed Serenity's hand and pulled her away.
She laughed and dragged her feet, gesturing to Mokuba. “I need to stay here, Joey. We’re not checked in yet.”
“Go on ‘Ren. I got this.” Mokuba shrugged his shoulders.
He had that dumb ‘heart eyes’ look on his face when she beamed back at him and raced with Joey out of the lobby.
“Ren?” Kaiba mocked, getting a dirty glare in response.
“You only get to make comments when you stop flying the blue eyes jet. We’re adults now. I don’t know if anyone told you.”
Kaiba rolled his eyes and looked back at the counter. Kaiba was enjoying the view of everything that was them as Yuugi joined Atem at the front desk, squeezing the water from his hair with the towel. “What's up?”
The attendant at the counter sighed. “I’m so sorry. We’re fully booked for the next month.”
“Why would that matter?” Yuugi stood up straight, letting the damp towel drag the ground. “We have a room.”
“Unfortunately, as I said, we have no record of your reservation.”
“There has to be-”
“Thank you.” Atem forced a polite smile and led Yuugi away.
Mokuba took the initiative and walked straight up to the front desk. He didn't bother waiting for her to say her rehearsed greeting or check on Atem and Yuugi. He just laid his card down on the counter and said, “I need to check into my room. It’s under Mokuba Kaiba.”
The attendant immediately straightened up, as they often did when they heard their names. “Welcome to sunset resort, Mr. Kaiba.”
Off to the side Kaiba strained his ears and looked out of the corner of his eye. Yuugi whispered, leaning close to Atem, both examining the reservation paper. “What happened?”
“I don’t know,” Atem sighed through his nose. “I showed her the reservation receipt but apparently it’s not in their system.”
Yuugi chewed his bottom lip then offered Atem a smile. “We’ll figure it out. There’s other places around here we can try.”
Peak season in the Bahamas? Probably not.
Atem murmured, “I’m sorry I messed up our vacation.”
“You didn’t mess up anything.” Yuugi giggled and pulled his phone out of his pocket.
Kaiba forced his attention on Mokuba and the front desk while Yuugi called the neighboring resorts. His voice faded as if he walked away, but Kaiba wasn't about to put himself in the middle of all that. What would he offer? His room? Not a chance in hell. Maybe if he rented out a 100 room estate and put them in the opposite wing. Maybe, but he didn’t have 100 rooms. He had a sad excuse for three rooms. Three rooms; one bathroom, one livingroom, one bedroom. It just wouldn’t work.
Kaiba made the mistake of looking over. Atem realized before he could look away and flashed him a really pathetic ‘nothing to see here we’re all fine’ smile. No one was buying it, and Kaiba didn’t appreciate the façade. He could offer. Nothing would make him happier than for Yuugi and Atem to stay with him, but not like this. This would be a week of alternating between nonexistence and a third wheel. He’d sooner offer to Mai and Ryou.
Mokuba took his keycard and slid it inside his suit coat pocket and proceeded to grin at him like he was waiting for something. Kaiba wasn't going to be baited by it. “Seto Kaiba,” He huffed at the clerk, tossing his black card on the desk.
“Welcome to Sunset Resort as well, Mr. Kaiba. Just a moment while I get your keycard ready.”
She typed in the computer, then wandered off when she realized the envelopes were out. He could feel Mokuba staring at him, just like he could hear Yuugi on the phone with yet another resort. Eventually Mokuba sighed, “You’re really not going to offer, are you?”
Kaiba didn’t respond. Mokuba knew damn well why he wasn’t going to offer anything.
“If you don’t do it, I will.”
“No you won’t. You’ve been looking forward to this for the last six months.”
Kaiba didn’t like the look of Mokuba’s menacing grin. “I wasn’t planning on offering my room.”
He narrowed his eyes.
Mokuba’s grin fucking grew and he swore he saw horns.
“No.”
Immediately after he thought there was no way anyone on earth could persuade him, he heard Atem softly murmur, “What did they say?”
Yuugi’s sigh was enough.
“I’m disowning you,” Kaiba muttered under his breath then glared at the attendant. “I need two more keys.”
“Of course, Mr. Kaiba. Right away.”
He collected the envelope with a sunset over the ocean printed on it, gave Mokuba one extra ‘you’re dead to me’ glare, and stomped towards Atem. Yuugi noticed him well before Atem did, but he wasn’t prepared. In one swift motion he removed one of the cards from the envelope and shoved the remaining cards into Yuugi’s chest, almost knocking him over as he passed.
“Kaiba wait!” Yuugi shouted.
He wasn’t about to do that. He didn’t even pause to acknowledge Mokuba when he branched off to his own room. He just wanted peace and quiet to work without Mokuba knowing. Was that too much to ask? What was so bad about trying to ‘keep appearances’ and get the important things he needed to do done. Why can’t he do both?
Kaiba bristled. Now was not the time to have erotic images of Yuugi and Atem.
The suite was at the end of the long hall. Good. It’d make Mokuba work in order to bother him. Once to his room door he lifted the key to slide it into the reader. Quickly, Atem grabbed his arm to stop him. “We can talk to Joey-“
“You’d rather be stuck in a room with 3 other idiots the size of a closet? Or better yet, stuck in a room with Tea and Tristan?”
“Well… No.”
“They’re not idiots,” Yuugi defended.
Kaiba ignored him. That wasn’t the point and they both knew it. “Try not to take up the whole bathroom with your eyeliner bullshit.” He yanked his arm out of Atem’s grip and slid the key into the reader. The door light turned green and he shoved it open.
It looked exactly like the pictures online. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded the living room showing a picturesque view of the private beach, outdoor shower, and a canopy lounge. The sofa, oversized chair, coffee table and entertainment center all perpetuated a ‘modern and rustic’ style; blocky with natural shades of tans and cream. The kitchen sat to the right, fully updated, furnished with a solid oak table and chair set, solid oak bar stools for the counter, and stocked to his specifications (though he’d have to order more things for Yuugi and Atem). The master bed and bath took up most of the top left of the suite separated by a set of double glass doors that opened into the kitchen. From where he stood, Kaiba could see the simple king size bed covered with plain cream sheets and a linen canopy flowing around the four post bed. Though he couldn’t see the bath, he imagined it had a similar style as the rest of the suite, modern and rustic. It was sufficient. He’d been in better and he’d been in worse. It wasn’t something he’d choose for Yuugi and Atem but it would do.
It occurred to him, only now when Atem and Yuugi both walked in, that it was much more designed for a couple on a romantic vacation than someone who just wanted to be as far away from everyone else as possible. The coffee table had a vase full of roses, the king size bed in the master bedroom had a heart shaped decorative pillow, and the kitchen counter had a bottle of champagne in a bucket that said ‘enjoy the romance of the Bahamas’.
“Wow! Atem look! It has one of those bed things on the beach,” Yuugi gasped and pointed out the windows as he leaned over the large modern sofa.
Atem snickered and pulled Yuugi with him towards the windows. It was only then that Kaiba realized one of them was actually a sliding door. Yuugi raced to the lounge and jumped on it. Kaiba watched them talk, watched Yuugi’s excitement and awe, and watched Atem’s smile of equal excitement and approval, until Yuugi pulled Atem down with him onto the lounge. He wasn’t willing to subject himself to that. Though it did bring up an interesting predicament he hadn't considered.
Kaiba rounded the sofa and pulled up one of the cushions. Much to his dismay, this particular sofa didn’t have a pull out bed. “Shit.”
—
“Is he still there?” Yuugi whispered and bit his lip, sprawled out across the beautiful canopy lounge.
Atem sat up to look back through the glass windows. His hair tousled in the ocean breeze. Yuugi was jealous that it didn't start frizzing like his did. Saltwater was his best friend after he got his hair wet, not before. Atem then laid his head down on the linen pillow that spread across the whole of the lounge. “No. He’s in the bedroom I think.”
Yuugi mouthed ‘oh gods’ and giggled.
“My sentiments exactly.”
Yuugi took in a big deep breath of salty air. He couldn’t believe it worked. Sure they had a back up plan just in case but… it worked. He had his doubts when Mokuba first told them Kaiba had a crush on them at the Kaiba Corp Gala, even after Serenity backed him up and they both showed them the text messages as proof. It seemed too good to be true, too far of a stretch and too coincidental to not be staged. Could this really mean it was true? “We’re doing this. We’re really doing this.” Then he half laughed and rolled onto his back. “Are you sure? There’s no turning back after this.”
“I am certain, Partner. You do not need to ask me so many times.”
“Well this is new for me.” Yuugi smirked, and playfully stuck his tongue out. “I don’t want to force anything on you just because I’m excited.”
Atem chuckled, and shifted on the linen covered lounge. “In truth, I should be the one asking you a million times. As you said, this is new for you.”
“I'm a fast learner.”
“You are, but extended relationships can be quite challenging.”
“Polyamorus you mean-” Yuugi beamed- “and I know, but the best dreams are.”
Atem hummed in agreement. “We also have the poor fortune of admiring the most challenging person we’ve ever met.”
They really did. One would think after witnessing Kaiba’s knack to take things from 0 to a million, they’d run for the hills. That would probably be wise, but they just couldn't do it. Atem loved the devoted attention and Yuugi loved the familiarity. Well, that was the nice way to put it. Kaiba was actually more on creepy stalker levels and overconfident to a fault. Nuance. “We like a good game.”
Atem sat up slightly on the lounge and leaned over him. Yuugi reached up, brushing his fingertips over his jawline. Atem was so beautiful, and the sunlight and sand made his eyes sparkle with deep magenta. “We do.”
Yuugi wished he wasn’t soaked so he could pull him down completely on top of him, but he wasn’t complaining about Atem’s lips on his.
Atem hummed, vibrating his lips and pulled back. “I’m so lucky to have someone as supportive and understanding and strong as you.”
Yuugi’s face grew hot, barely noticeable in the heat, but noticeable nonetheless. “And I'm really lucky you're here. I can’t imagine doing this without you.”
Atem brushed his fingers through Yuugi’s hair and placed one more kiss on his lips before laying on his side. “What should we do first?”
“Go swimming. Let Kaiba relax a little before we pester him relentlessly.”
Atem laughed. “That is probably wise.”
“After I kiss you some more though.”
When they came back inside Kaiba was nowhere to be seen. Yuugi changed into his swim trunks and both of them left the room to find their friends.
—
Kaiba tried to bury himself in work, but the pillows and blankets he’d collected from the reception desk continued to taunt him. It felt like years instead of a few hours when Yuugi and Atem walked back into the suite. The room filled with the scent of sunscreen and coconut rum. Yuugi walked up to the kitchen table Kaiba sat at and set down a martini glass next to his computer. He didn’t bother looking at it. “What is that?”
“Side Car.”
It appeared well made. He tasted it, found it agreeable, then returned to his work.
Yuugi was apparently not having any of that. “So what did you do today?”
Kaiba thought if he bored him to death he’d leave him alone so he rattled off the technical details of the few reports he’d finished up and ensured someone actually looked at them. He also toured the resort with Mokuba. It was, again, acceptable but not lavish. Hoping that would satisfy him, he glanced up expecting his eyes to be glazed over. Instead Yuugi smiled at him strangely. “Having the best vacation ever, huh?”
Kaiba thought about ignoring it, but decided to be a smart ass instead. Stone faced, hands folded under his chin, he replied in a monotone voice, “Nothing could possibly compare. This is the happiest I’ll ever be.”
Yuugi burst into laughter.
It wouldn’t be so amusing if Atem wasn’t trying to hold in his laughter too with the straw of his daiquiri smashed between his reddened lips. Kaiba’s face hurt from refusing to let it show. It helped to look away from them and focus on the computer screen, but not for long. Yuugi yawned and walked over to the sofa.
He glanced over his computer screen feeling his stomach do a flip. Yuugi and Atem seemed to be coming to the same realization he had earlier that day. There were two solutions to this problem. They could sleep on the floor in the living room; the rug was fairly plush and the cushions from both the sofa and chair could easily be removed. Or they could decide that Kaiba would be better off on the sofa and retire to the bedroom.
They chose… option three.
Conveniently, and ironically, the option that Kaiba didn’t even know was an option. His mind spun with all the implications it had as it happened right before his eyes. Yuugi walked around the sofa, scooped up some of the blankets and pillows, and carried them into the bedroom. Atem carried the rest. They chose, of all the options, to sleep in the same bed as him. It wasn’t exactly unusual for them. Atem talked about spending the night at their friends houses before, no one cared and often only one bed was available. It made logical sense, but Kaiba wasn’t like all their other friends. Should he be honored that they felt so comfortable with him or devastated that he was about as friendzoned as he could possibly get?
Atem paused in the doorway of the bedroom and turned. “When are you going to sleep?”
Never. “When I’m finished.”
“When is that?”
When hell froze over. When the Martians enslave humanity. When Joey was nominated for a Pulitzer prize. When he figured out how to invent a device that created matter out of thin air. At least then he’d be able to create a second bed and free himself from the awkward sleepless night he was about to have. “Atem. I’ll go to sleep when I’m finished.”
Atem frowned and started to protest when Yuugi shouted from the other room. “Shower’s ready.”
Friendzoned on levels. He should’ve chosen to be a dick.
Atem reluctantly walked into the bedroom and out of sight. Kaiba buried himself in reports, graphs and figures. Which worked for a while…
“Turn it off or I’m turning it off for you,” Atem said from the doorway, hair damp, shirtless, arms crossed over his chest, and loose pajama pants tied around his waist.
Kaiba only let himself linger on the sight for a second more before flitting his gaze back to the computer. He saved his work, just in case, but he had no intention of stopping. “I’m almost done.”
He didn’t need to see it, he could practically hear Atem roll his eyes as he stomped into the kitchen and slammed his laptop closed. Kaiba barely had time to move his fingers away. “Great, you're done now. It’s late.”
Atem turned around and walked into the bedroom as if Kaiba were right behind him. No. Not a chance. He reopened his laptop and got back to work. Though he kept looking out for Atem to come back out into the kitchen. He was surprised he didn’t. Instead they turned the lights out and got into bed. Kaiba ignored it, continuing on for at least an hour before someone emerged from the room.
“I’ll go to sleep when I’m done, Atem. I told you that already.”
“I know,” Yuugi grumbled, trudging over to him.
Unlike Atem, who he expected to slam the laptop closed on him, Yuugi gave him zero warning. He slammed it closed and yanked it off the table, catching the tips of Kaiba’s fingers in the process. “Fuck!”
Yuugi did not care. He continued to scowl, eyes mostly closed, as he carried the laptop into the bedroom doorway. “If Atem wakes me up one more time cause you’re not in bed I’m tossing it in the ocean.”
Yuugi backed up and gestured for Kaiba to go first. A better tactic, but it wasn’t going to work. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”
He swore he heard Yuugi say he was too tired for this shit. But that surprised him less than Yuugi stomping towards him, grabbing him by the back of the shirt and hauling him up out of the chair. Kaiba swatted his hand away, but he was standing. Yuugi turned towards the bedroom door and lazily grabbed his sleeve. Kaiba pulled his arm away too. “I can do it on my own.”
Yuugi grumbled again, shuffling over to the bed and sliding into the far side. Even in the dark he saw a roll on the bed, which he assumed was Atem, merge with the new lump in the bed Yuugi created. “Thank you partner.”
Yuugi groaned.
They left him room, but -
He looked back into the kitchen debating whether it’d be worth it to try and stay out there. No. Yuugi smashed his fingers, he was probably serious about throwing his laptop too. It wasn’t worth the risk… but just barely. He took off his suit coat and headed for his overnight bag near the bathroom. Scooping it up he continued into the bathroom and closed the door, noting the odd way it opened into the bedroom.
It made the master bath feel larger, but that was never the focal point. Ignoring it, he got ready for bed. Sooner than he wanted, he walked out of the bathroom and made his way to the bedside. Most of it was open, Yuugi and Atem barely took up a third of the king size bed. Part of him was happy about that and the other part disappointed. He should sleep on the sofa.
“Are you okay?”
Kaiba grunted in response and pulled open the covers. He noticed the bed shift when he got into bed but he thought it was just him. Laying down on his back, he noticed Atem staring at him and turned his head. Atem was staring at him alright, smirking. He could see it through the shadows on his face. “What?”
“I expected a little more resistance from you.”
“I almost lost my fingers and actually lost my laptop.”
Atem snickered. “He’s an utter asshole when he’s half asleep, isn’t he? He’s so cute though.”
“You could’ve warned me.”
“How else would I get you to sleep?” Atem yawned. “And I thought it was obvious. Have you seen his face?”
“Ha-“ Kaiba quickly rolled onto his side away from him. “Go to sleep.”
DAY2
Atem stretched out on the cloudlike bed and smiled. Yuugi was still wrapped around his back. The room smelled like fresh linen, the ocean and sunscreen. The beautiful glow of the morning sun flooded across the foot of the bed between the slats in the wooden window blinds. Mornings on vacation were some of his favorite times. They were quiet, beautiful and serene. Sliding out from under Yuugi, trying not to wake him up even though he knew that was impossible, he realized he had very little room to maneuver. He couldn’t stop his smile from spreading ear to ear. Kaiba was in the direct middle of the bed, his face mere inches from him.
Biting his tongue, he tried to sneak out of Yuugi’s arms and over Kaiba without waking up either of them. It worked for the most part, he was out of Yuugi’s grip, hovering over Kaiba, when suddenly Kaiba decided to roll over. He held his breath and tried to move as fast as he could, basically rolling with him and off the bed. His feet landed on the floor on the other side of the bed. Letting out a shaky breath, he slowly stood; proud that he managed not to wake anyone.
While standing there in the silence he admired them for a moment. The room was still relatively dark, the glow from the morning sun hadn’t quite reached their faces, but he could see them nonetheless. They looked so peaceful and so tired. They had to be. He knew how hard they both worked, they needed the extra sleep. He tiptoed out of the room, shutting the double door behind him.
The kitchen was much brighter, lit by the morning sun rising over palm trees. Atem smiled to himself looking all around the room. It was beautiful, a resort room they’d put on their brochure pictures. Eyeing the room service menu on the counter, he started a pot of coffee while flipping through it.
Immediately he saw a breakfast spread labeled ‘fools in paradise’. He grinned, looking around for Yuugi’s phone. That’s exactly what they needed. The pot made a gurgling sound and Atem suddenly realized they probably didn’t have anything to put in the coffee. Hoping for at least a small carton of milk, Atem opened up the fridge. There in the middle was a bottle of creamer. Not just any creamer, but Yuugi and Atem's absolute favorite: cinnamon roll. How could someone be self centered and incredibly thoughtful at the same time? Yuugi’s phone buzzed right beside the coffee pot. That question would have to wait for another day.
—
The smell of coffee woke Kaiba up. Atem must be awake. He heard him walking around in the kitchen, and his deep laughter at one point. It was his laughter that caused a complete shift down the entire front of his body. Eyes wide open, he realized he’d somehow moved to the other side of the bed and had Yuugi wrapped up in his arms. Yuugi yawned, and snuggled into his chest, sliding his leg between Kaiba’s knees.
He shifted his head on the pillow, looking down at Yuugi’s face. Yuugi was angelic with his hand curled up by his cheek and the longer he watched him sleep peacefully as he did the warmer his face felt. Could he just go back to sleep like this? Would Atem be angry? Would Yuugi be upset? They were too close. He needed to move before he got used to this, but he really wished he didn't have to.
Kaiba gently weasled away from Yuugi and slid across the bed to the clear opposite side. He thought he’d done a good job of moving without waking him when he heard Yuugi sleepily sing, “Good morning, Kaiba.”
Kaiba turned to look at him over his shoulder. Yuugi’s eyes were closed as he stretched across the sheets. Kaiba fought the urge to move his bangs out of his face.
Yuugi sat up and looked around the room with lidded eyes, smacking his lips. Kaiba couldn’t stop himself, huffing a short amused breath through his nose. Yuugi didn’t seem to notice. He scratched the back of his neck, scowling at the bathroom door. “Are you getting up too?”
“Yes.”
“Hmmm I better get a shower,” Yuugi murmured and trudged out of bed.
Kaiba watched him shuffle into the bathroom and bat at the wall for the light switch. When it finally flipped on Yuugi grimaced and closed the door. Kaiba took his time getting up from the bed. He debated on getting dressed before he went out there, but decided coffee was more important. Slowly he walked to the double doors and opened them.
The kitchen was covered in food and flowers. Atem in the middle of it all, carrying a mug of coffee. “Good, you're awake. Is Yuugi up too?”
“He’s taking a shower.”
Atem smiled and nodded in the direction of the food since his hands were full. “Breakfast is ready. I’ll be right back.”
Atem swept past him focused on not spilling the coffee while he opened the bathroom door and walked inside. As the door closed behind him, Kaiba realized he should probably be in the kitchen at that point. He closed the bedroom doors behind him and walked up to the table. In the center was a card on a platter of flowers with three champagne glasses sitting inside. It said something corny about love and paradise. Kaiba rolled his eyes. He did take the glass though, after noticing the freshly squeezed orange juice and high dollar champagne.
“What do you think?” Atem asked, walking back into the kitchen to grab a champagne glass as well. “It all sounded great.”
Kaiba took one cursory glance at the food while he poured champagne into his glass. “It’s fruit.”
“Fruit and chocolate and little pancakes.” Atem held up a little heart shaped pancake.
“I’m blown away by the skill and craftsmanship.”
Atem laughed, deep and real.
He let himself smile, topping his glass off with orange juice. When he finished, he picked up his glass and turned around. “Atem.”
“Hmm?”
“Where’s my laptop?”
“What is that?”
Kaiba rolled his eyes. “Just tell me where it is.”
Atem thought it’d be funny to repeat himself in Ancient Egyptian.
“Cute. Give it back.”
“Oh my god they're hearts!” Yuugi screamed as he raced into the room with damp hair. He picked up two heart shaped pancakes and brought them up to his face like he had hearts stuck to his cheeks. “Did you see them?!”
“I had hoped you would like them.” Atem snickered and joined Yuugi at the table. “Get a drink and we’ll carry these to the lounge.”
“That’s a great idea!”
Kaiba started to walk towards the sofa when he felt something grab his arm. “I’ll take that.” Yuugi said, taking the glass from his hand. “Get dressed Kaiba.”
“I’m not-“
“There’s way too much for just us and we’ve got plans today, right Atem?”
Atem nodded firmly.
“You have plans. I have to work.”
“You are on vacation. Get dressed.” Yuugi turned around and walked off with his drink.
Fine.
—
Yuugi felt like he was on cloud nine waiting at the swim up bar for drinks with Joey. The plan was going great. Kaiba slept in the same room with them, ate a romantic breakfast with them on the romantic beach lounge, he didn’t get mad about not being able to work (the biggest shock for Yuugi) and he seemed genuinely interested in going sailing with Atem. Best vacation ever!
“Ya actually got him to agree to that?”
“Yeah, crazy right?
“And how’s that one bed situation goin’?”
“Amazing!” Yuugi sang and flashed him an evil grin. “He hates everything.”
“Fuckin’ good. He deserves to be knocked down a peg or two.” Joey leaned back on the bar, kicking his feet in the clear water. “What’re they doin’ anyway?”
“Sailing.”
“Why didn’t ya go too?”
“Well fine, I guess I don’t want to hang out with you guys anymore.”
“Hey, I gotta ask.” Joey laughed and nudged him with his elbow. “For all I know they were eaten by sharks. I ain’t seen Tristan or Tea since we got here either. It coulda happened.”
Yuugi beamed, turning towards the bartender when he heard a glass touch the bar. “Thank you.” He picked up the drinks and sank back into the water, holding Joey’s out to him. “And honestly, sailing isn’t my thing. Even if it was, I want them to have time together without me.”
“Ha! Ya need time away.”
Yuugi leveled Joey with a wide eyed frown and rasped into his glass. “Yes.”
“Eh at least they're out, unlike Tris and Tea.”
“Jealous?”
“Eh well, what can ya do?” Joey smirked and shrugged his shoulders.
Yuugi giggled following Joey to the other side of the pool. Joey wasn’t the only one there, he realized. Mai and Serenity laid out in the middle rows of some beach chairs, fully reclined sunbathing. It seemed like they found a new friend. One of the other ladies sunbathing was talking to them, happily giggling at the face Mai made.
“Speak of the devil.” Joey snorted. “Hey man!”
Yuugi noticed Tea rush over to the recliner beside Mai, joining in the conversation as if she’d been there the whole time. He turned to wave hi to Tristan but got a face full of water instead. Joey cackled while Yuugi coughed and sputtered. “You’re supposed to shout cannonballs.”
Tristan’s smile fell. “Oh shit you’re right.”
Yuugi smoothed his hair back and out of his face, playfully groaning, “You owe me another drink.”
“Pft, make Kaiba get you another drink. Those things aren’t cheap.”
Yuugi beamed. “They’re included for me. We had mimosas and heart shaped pancakes this morning.”
“Ha! Tea wanted that. I made her go with the other one because it had a real breakfast, not just fruit.”
“Pancakes are a real breakfast.”
“Look dude, I need meat.” Tristan bounced up in the water so he could slap his stomach. “This six pack doesn’t come cheap.”
“Ha! Pretty sure that six pack’s been in the cooler for years.” Joey laughed.
“Oh yeah? Wanna bet on it?”
“That a challenge, old man?”
“I’m only 4 months older than you!”
“Long enough!”
Yuugi rolled his eyes and leaned against the pool edge, sipping his drink. Joey and Tristan wrestled in the water, becoming a nuisance to everyone in the pool. It didn’t take long for people to clear out, muttering about them or talking about plans they’d rather be doing other than getting splashed by two adult men who acted like children. Yuugi agreed, but he was stuck with those two.
Eventually when almost everyone disappeared, Joey tapped out. Yuugi snickered at how red and out of breath he was. Tristan didn’t look much better aside from shouting loudly. “Champion of the sunset resort! He does not know the meaning of the word defeat!”
As soon as Tristan started the stupid ‘gun show’ routine, Tea whistled from the lounge chair. Yuugi doubled over laughing.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Joey, swimming over to a different part of the pool. Joey lifted himself up over the edge and waved. “Ya can come out now.”
Curious, Yuugi watched as Ryou popped out from behind the shaded lounge chairs on the outskirts of the pool area.
“Don’t forget your hat!”
Ryou’s eyes went wide and he disappeared again, only to come back with a bright red sun hat almost as big as an umbrella…. And for some reason it looked great on him. “How?”
Joey snorted and glanced back at Yuugi. “That’s what I’m sayin’. I fuckin’ got it as a gag. I give up.”
Ryou walked up to the pool edge, hat shading most of him and what it didn’t cover, his swim shirt and oversized swim trunks did. He stepped into the pool slowly and practically melted into it at the bottom of the steps. “Hello Yuugi.”
“Why were you over there?”
“I wanted to read my book.”
“He didn’t wanna swim with other people.”
“I had a book.”
Joey nodded then shielded his mouth, but still talked loud. “There were people in the pool.”
Ryou splashed him and swam across the pool to lean against the edge with Yuugi. “I’m dying to know how it’s going. Where’s Atem and Kaiba?”
Yuugi happily told it all again. Mokuba had the best ideas.
Day 3
Kaiba’s fingers twitched at his sides, itching to touch them. He couldn’t move, but he felt like it was for a good reason. He shouldn’t push his luck. Maybe he didn’t belong in the stone lined throne room.
Yuugi’s golden ankh earrings swayed as he walked up to Atem’s throne. He kissed the back of his hand and for some reason Kaiba felt like he wasn't supposed to be seeing that. Atem told Yuugi he was divine. He looked divine.
Yuugi turned away from Atem and held his head up. He took a couple steps towards Kaiba when a smile spread across his face that Kaiba thought he only had for Atem. “Bow.”
Kaiba’s entire body ignited with something he never thought he’d feel from being told that. He grit his teeth to keep from moaning and got down on his hands and knees. The floor was cold against his feverish skin. His heart pounded in anticipation. He all but dug his nails into the stone. Where were they? Did they leave? Should he move? He closed his eyes.
Suddenly Kaiba felt a firm grip on his hips. Opening his eyes he saw Atem on his knees in front of him. Atem smirked then flicked his gaze back. Yuugi hummed in approval and lifted Kaiba’s shenti.
He’d never felt so turned on in his life. He'd never wanted this more. The instant Yuugi pressed his erection against his ass he felt like he was going to come, but Yuugi didn’t do anything else. Kaiba was miserable, wanting to move, wanting Yuugi to move, wanting, no, needing anything.
Atem murmured to him softly ‘good things come to those who wait’. Ha! Like he was going to do that. If he believed in that he never would’ve left the orphanage, never would’ve taken over Kaiba Corp, never would’ve brought Atem back, never would've- Yuugi ground against him, slow and deliberate, but it didn’t last. Kaiba felt like he was going insane. He couldn’t take it anymore. He moved. Atem looked like he was going to stop him when suddenly he felt something hit his face.
Rage took the forefront and he jolted… awake.
Atem’s hand rested on his face and he had to push it off to see anything. Apparently Atem accidentally smacked him in the face when he rolled over. He was dreaming. But he didn’t feel any different. He still felt on fire, still couldn’t breathe, and still oddly, felt someone pressed up against him. It didn’t take long to put two and two together, especially when Yuugi lifted his leg over Kaiba’s hip.
This was cruel. Absolutely cruel.
Kaiba gently moved Yuugi’s leg off of him and shimmied down the bed. Yuugi and Atem didn’t move at first, but when he stood up from the bed, they both rolled towards each other as if he weren’t there to begin with. It was probably for the best.
Kaiba padded towards the bathroom and grabbed the handle. He completely closed the door then flipped on the light, looking down at himself. There was no amount of walking around, taking a cold shower, or thinking of something else that would fix this. He locked the bathroom door and checked it to make sure. This called for a long, long, cold shower.
—
“Why are you making coffee?” Kaiba muttered. ”You’ve already had two cups.”
“This is for Yuugi.”
Kaiba hummed, glancing between Atem and the closed double doors. “He sleeps really late. Does he always do that?”
Atem shook his head, sitting at the kitchen table to finish his pastry. “The company he started working for is demanding of him. I’ve told him several times he could quit but he insists on staying.”
Kaiba nodded. “I can’t believe you make Yuugi coffee in the morning.”
“We are on vacation.” He said, picking a layer of crust from the turnover. “Besides, I only make him coffee in the morning if I need to talk to him before he is fully awake. As I’ve said before, mostly asleep Yuugi is an asshole.”
“So it’s a peace offering?”
“Yes.” Atem put the torn piece of pastry in his mouth.
“And you’re okay with that?”
Atem shrugged his shoulders. “It is no different than entering a temple of the gods. They do not take kindly to open mouths and empty hands.”
Kaiba smirked, giving him a short huff that could be construed as a laugh before taking a sip of his coffee. “When are you giving me my laptop back?”
“Not today. We have plans.”
“That’s what you said yesterday.”
“And we have more plans.”
“Like what?”
The coffee pot beeped and Atem grinned, standing up and turning to get Yuugi a cup. “That’s exactly why I need the coffee.”
He carried the hot mug of coffee back into the bedroom. Yuugi stirred, taking a deep breath. “That smells great.”
“Good morning, Partner.”
Yuugi rolled over and smiled sleepily. “Good morning.” He yawned and sat up, reaching out for the cup.
Atem handed it to him and sat on the edge of the bed. Yuugi breathed it in, eyes closed, then took a sip. “Mmmm that’s good.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“What are we doing today?”
“I have to double check to be certain, but I thought we’d get our nails done today.”
Yuugi hummed sleepily. “I love that idea.”
Atem stood up and let Yuugi crawl back under the sheets. He kissed his forehead and walked out of the bedroom, partly closing the doors. When he turned around Kaiba was staring at him.
“He’ll be up in a minute.”
“And?”
“And then we can get our nails done.”
“Absolutely not.”
Atem reached into his back pocket and pulled out a deck of cards. “Want to play for it then?”
-
Kaiba wanted to pick up the water filled pedicure chair and throw it at Atem’s smug grin. He didn’t want to be there, didn’t want his feet wet, didn’t want the message and didn’t want the very elegant metallic blue nail polish that sat on the tray beside him. Well he did like the color and the wine was actually good. His back was hurting him and the massage chair did help with that. The salon wasn’t as crowded, pretentious, or gimmicky as he’d originally thought. They were the only customers in this particular line of pedicure stations. And because of that, they all got to pick which seats they wanted. Kaiba wanted this one, and wanted it more when Atem and Yuugi sat on either side of him. Despite not having a single interest in the cooking show that was on or the half a palm tree he could see through the window swaying in the breeze, he did get to see Yuugi playing in the water with his feet and watch Atem’s relaxed smile while he watched the dumb cooking show.
But that wasn’t the point. The point was Atem should’ve lost! He was so close to winning!
Yuugi giggled and Kaiba snapped his glare at him. “What?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s… I don’t know. You’re pouting and it’s cute.”
His face had to be just as red as Yuugi’s was. “I could end you right now.”
“Wait until I’m done with my pedicure,” Yuugi said, looking down at his feet. “I’m really excited about this black.”
“I still believe you should get purple, partner,” Atem said from his other side. “You always get black.”
“Well yeah but this is ‘matte black’. I’ve only done onyx, jet black, abyss black, black-“
“We get it,” Kaiba snarled.
Yuugi thankfully shut up, continuing to play in the water with his feet. Kaiba closed his eyes, trying to figure out how he lost, when he felt a hand on his sleeve. “Do you think I should get purple?”
Kaiba opened an eye, quickly glancing between Yuugi’s hand, the black, and his very serious frown, before closing it again. “No one should know the name of more than one black.”
“Okay,” Yuugi said happily.
Kaiba thought he’d get some more quiet with Yuugi satisfied, but that wasn’t how this vacation went. Atem shifted in his chair, loud enough for Kaiba to open his eyes and look over. He eyed the controls as if he were debating on hitting a button then shrugged his shoulders.
He was still bitter about the game, but that didn’t mean he wanted Atem to be uncomfortable. “Don’t like the chair?” He asked, trying to sound as uninvested as he possibly could.
“It is nice, but I haven’t found a setting I like.”
“Did you try the kneading one?” Yuugi offered, “That’s kind of like how I rub your back.”
Atem shook his head at the controls as if that weren’t good enough.
Kaiba figured that would be the end of it. There wasn’t much anyone could do at that point so why bother. Glancing up at the clock, he tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. It felt a lot later than it actually was.
Completely out of nowhere Yuugi gasped. “Why don’t we try a couples massage?!”
“Because ‘couple’ implies two people,” Atem replied before taking a sip of wine.
“Oh…Can't we add someone?”
No. Not a chance. Kaiba glared at Yuugi hoping to stop the whole thing. “Absolutely not. I am not doing that.”
Atem shook his head, ignoring him. “There are only two tables in one room. They cannot simply add one.”
Yuugi completely ignored him too, leaning further forward so he could see Atem better. “We can ask.”
Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest. “I already said no.”
“I suppose we could ask.” Atem swirled his wine. “They may have something else.”
Kaiba refused to say another word. They were just fucking with him at this point. He didn’t have enough wine for this. It didn’t take too much longer before the nail techs came over and started on their pedicures. Kaiba glanced over at Yuugi every now and then, waiting for him to ask about the purple. When he did, she brought a few choices over. Kaiba grabbed the one he liked and set it on Yuugi’s tray.
“Okay that’s the one.”
Kaiba wasn’t sure how he felt about getting color on his nails. He’d never done it before, never allowed himself to even try it. He couldn’t wear something like that while running Kaiba Corp. He couldn’t care less what others thought of him, but when it cut into profits and business deals, it just wasn’t worth the trouble. He kept glaring at Yuugi and Atem whenever they’d mention their vacation. They told the techs all about their room issues and how Kaiba ‘saved their vacation’.
If he heard one more ‘you’re such a good friend’ he’d shove nail polish remover down their throats.
After their pedicures, they were separated into different stations. He had half a mind to tell the tech to drop it and he’d give her a generous tip. But Yuugi kept looking over and when he wasn't, Atem did. Resigning himself to his fate, he watched the nail tech paint the light metallic blue onto his nails. At first he hated it, planned to bathe his hands in turpentine as soon as he got back to the room, but as they dried under the UV light the blue actually turned mostly white, only reflecting a blue hue when the light hit it right. It was a lot like his Blue Eyes.
He stared at his right hand, not sure how to feel about it, but loving the color when the nail tech smiled. “Is there anything I need to fix?”
No. He wanted to take it off anyway. Just tell her no. He slid his hand back over to her and before he knew it, pointed out every single flaw he wanted her to fix. She took longer than he would’ve liked, Yuugi and Atem were already finished by the time she was, but they were acceptable. He didn’t linger after she finished, quickly signing the receipt and filling in the tip amount. He stood up from the chair and walked out of the salon, Yuugi and Atem following after him. He expected them to go on their own ways but no. He wasn’t that lucky.
“I wanna see,” Yuugi said and grabbed his hand.
Then Atem grabbed his other hand. “Oh these look amazing. Very good color choice, Partner.”
“I thought so.” Yuugi giggled then smiled up at Kaiba. “Do you like them?”
He loved them. Yuugi did have a good taste in color… on other people. He really needed to work on the black. “I didn’t have a choice,” Kaiba retorted, hoping he’d drop it.
“You always have a choice.” Atem said with a stupid shit eating grin.
He knew what Atem was doing. Yes, he’d said that to him before, but it was completely different. Atem had a choice to come back from the afterlife. Kaiba did not have a choice about getting his nails painted. Apples and oranges. “They’ll do.”
Yuugi practically burst with happiness and squeezed his hand. “Really? I love them too.”
Yuugi and Atem started talking about his nails and now it was starting to get awkward with both of them… Holding his hands. “Are you finished?”
Atem turned his hand over and quirked a brow at his wrist. “We better get back to the room. It’s almost dinner time.”
Yuugi and Atem let him go, heading back to their room. Kaiba looked at his nails one more time before following them. They were exceptional, weren’t they?
Day 4
Atem laid on the linen covered lounge outside their room reading a book as the sun set. He spent the day with his friends, beating all of them at volleyball. He had a wonderful day and hoped Yuugi and Kaiba’s jet ski excursion went just as well.
Just as he flipped the page of his book he heard the glass door of the suite open. “We’re back!” Yuugi sang and ran up to him. “Did you have a good day?”
“I did.”
Atem turned his attention to Kaiba who was just behind Yuugi. He fiddled with the watch on his wrist and side eyed Yuugi. “We had a race.”
“Yeah,” Yuugi said and shrugged his shoulders. “I almost won.”
Atem didn’t get a chance to congratulate or support. Kaiba tossed his watch on the lounge beside Atem and scoped Yuugi up. At first Yuugi looked as dumbfounded as Atem felt, but that quickly cleared up into a fit of giggles. “Noooooo!”
“You lost.”
“Yeah, but we didn’t agree to this!
“Your exact words were ‘loser gets dunked’.”
“I can’t dunk you.”
“That sounds like your problem, not mine.”
“Foul! Cheating! Atem, tell him it’s against the rules!”
Atem laughed too hard to respond, especially when Yuugi flopped in Kaiba’s arms and held his hands out dramatically for him. “Atem save me!”
Closing his book and sliding it up beside Kaiba’s watch, he kept laughing. He barely got out of the lounge before Kaiba was in the waves walking out until the water was at his knees. ‘Saving him’ wasn’t really an option at this point but he was going to try anyway. Jogging down the beach he watched Kaiba smirk down at Yuugi, acting like he was going to take him back to the beach, then drop him like a sack of potatoes in the water. Atem could hear Yuugi’s gasp-like shout from all the way up the beach.
He expected something like this from Joey or Tristan, but it was somehow more endearing when it was those two. Atem shook his head, probably more impressed Kaiba walked out into the waves after avoiding water any other time at all costs. Kaiba took one step towards the beach and turned his back on Yuugi. Bad move, even Atem wouldn’t do that. Yuugi eyed him like a cat crouched down in the water and shot up at just the right moment, knocking Kaiba over.
Atem couldn’t be prouder.
At least until Yuugi turned his whiles on him. “Come heeeeeere.”
“Not a chance.” Atem laughed, holding up his hands in defense.
Yuugi held out his arms, almost falling over in the waves as he walked towards him. “I just want a hug.”
“No,” Atem laughed, backing up. But Yuugi was far enough out of the waves to chase him, and he did. Yuugi was a lot faster than he was; sneakier too. Yuugi would catch him at any minute. It was only a matter of time. “I’m not the one who lost.”
“I’m not going to dunk you. I just want a hug,” Yuugi sang but the moonlight glint in his eye told a whole different story.
Yuugi lunged for him, grasping at the hem of his shirt but he just barely got away, planning to bolt down the beach. He didn't make it far. A pair of strong arms swept him up. “Kaiba?!”
Kaiba smirked, carrying him out into the water to about the same point he had Yuugi.
Atem tried to sit up and get free. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Wouldn’t I?” Kaiba quirked a brow then let him fall straight into the cool water.
He didn’t get a chance to shout like Yuugi did, all he had time for was to suck in a deep lungful of salty air before he was submerged in the waves. It was deep enough that he didn’t hit the bottom, but shallow enough to get himself able to stand almost instantly. He lost his balance a little when he got to his feet and tried to wipe the water out of his eyes. Yuugi giggled from behind him, wrapping his arms around him to steady him.
“An eye for an eye. Remember that, both of you..”
Kaiba chuckled. “You smudged your eyeliner.”
Did he really?!
Yuugi cackled, rounding Atem’s side and shaking his head. “You’re fine.”
“I’ll get you back.”
Kaiba scoffed, running his fingers through his hair, pulling it back. With his hair out of his face and the moon’s bright light glittering the ocean, his eyes glittered too. Yuugi’s giggling faded as well, though they were all out of breath. Suddenly, Yuugi pulled on his elbow. “I’m starving. Do you guys want a snack?”
“I could use a drink too,” Atem said, tearing his eyes away from Kaiba to follow Yuugi.
Kaiba moved first though, quickly reaching out to catch Yuugi when he wavered on a loose shell. They made it to the beach, and out of the waves, but Atem was having a difficult time focusing on the path to the suite and not Kaiba’s soaked see through white linen shirt, or Yuugi’s old off white band shirt that hung off his shoulder and clung to his skin.
“Can we still get room service?”
“Typically no, but yes we can.”
“Awesome! We can play a game while we wait.”
Kaiba scoffed, glancing back to smirk at Atem. “You do owe me a rematch.”
Atem matched his smirk.
“Do you want to shower first?” Yuugi asked, “I can grab your stuff from inside. Or you can use mine. I think I left my body wash in there.”
“You leave everything everywhere.” Atem commented, delighted by Kaiba’s short chuckle.
“Don’t bother, Yuugi. Not worth the trouble. I just need all the sand off now.”
“Right? It’s everywhere.” Yuugi laughed and paused at the linen covered lounge.
Atem waited with Yuugi while Kaiba walked to the outdoor shower. He stared at him, focused intently on his back, shoulder blades, chest, everything. When Kaiba finally rounded the corner he felt like he could breathe again, but it wasn’t until he heard the shower running that he felt he could relax.
“Oh my god, I’m going to die.” Yuugi said quickly, hunching over and groaning.
His reaction was so in sync with Yuugi's that he laughed. ”You can't be worn out already.”
Yuugi shot him a glare.
“You will not die.” Atem snickered, his gaze quickly focused on Yuugi’s soaked skin tight shirt.
“I don’t think I’m going to make it seven days,” Yuugi whispered and huffed.
He was right. Atem doubted he’d make it either. The only slight touch of release he had to look forward to was a possible quickie in the outdoor shower before they went inside. Assuming Yuugi wanted to, but Yuugi always wanted to.
Atem heard the shower turn off and looked back at the door. Kaiba got out, towel wrapped around him and dripping. He didn’t say a word or even look in their direction as he left the outdoor shower and walked into the suite. Apparently it was their turn.
Yuugi moved first, walking towards the outdoor shower, snagging Atem’s hand as he went. He smiled to himself, squeezing Yuugi’s hand. Their vacation was going by too fast. Yuugi opened the outdoor shower and held the door while they both walked inside. It was darker than Atem figured it would be with the open ceiling, but they managed. They walked through the tiny beach storage area in the outdoor shower. He wished he would’ve paid better attention earlier in the week. A boogie board hung on the wall just like Joey bet him it would be. He owed him an apology.
“We should use this to-”
Atem turned to find Yuugi had taken his swim trunks off and tossed them to the side when he turned the shower on. Yuugi stepped into the water and smiled. “Use what?”
“Nothing. It’s not important.”
Atem joined Yuugi under the warm shower, touching him everywhere he could. Yuugi wrapped his arms around Atem’s neck and leaned in to kiss him when the outdoor shower door rattled. Atem stepped back and smiled. Kaiba had set two towels on the door for them. Yuugi leaned over to see the towels and smiled, whispering, “He can be so sweet.”
“Until we get inside and start playing Gin.”
“I don’t know who else could possibly be just like him.” Yuugi mocked and then gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
Yuugi stepped back into the shower, running the water through his hair quickly then stepping out. He walked up to the door and took the towels, holding one out to Atem when he walked back. Atem turned off the water and then took the towel, wrapping it around himself. Yuugi wrapped the towel around his waist as well. “Ready to lose?”
Aterm laughed, following Yuugi out of the outdoor shower and into the suite. He assumed, since Yuugi left his swim trunks in the outdoor shower, that he’d head straight back to the bedroom to get clothes. He didn't. He walked into the kitchen, sat down at the table and started to shuffle the deck of cards. Atem grinned, walking up to the table and sitting down across from him.
Kaiba finished ordering room service and came back to the table, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Atem tried his best to remain calm. He wanted to win, but to his right he had Yuugi dressed only in a towel and to his left he had Kaiba, who decided he didn’t need to get fully dressed either, still wearing the swim trunks he’d had on before but no shirt.
“I’ll deal.” Yuugi chirped happily and began to deal out the cards.
He was going to lose.
Day 5
Yuugi and Atem waded in the waves, letting them toss and sway them as they wished. Despite Kaiba having his laptop at his disposal, his work reports pulled up and ready to go, he hadn’t touched a single thing. He couldn’t help it. Every now and then Atem or Yuugi would wave at him. One time he waved back. He probably shouldn’t have, now they knew that he was paying attention, but it happened. Too late to take it back. He kept watching them until Joey carried Ryou out to join them.
Kaiba sighed, glancing over his computer screen at the other side of the beach. Tristan and Mai joined in with a game of volleyball on the beach while Tea and Serenity cheered them on. Atem and Yuugi had plans all day with their friends. They left him a note on their pillows saying he had the day free to do whatever he wanted, hinting that they hid the laptop somewhere in the suite. He found it easily, but he wasn’t sure if he was just clever or if they left it somewhere easy. He was going to assume he was just clever.
Kaiba typed away when he heard a familiar huff in the lounge chair beside him. “I can’t believe you’re working. I’m surprised they didn’t hide it on you.”
“They did. I found it.”
Mokuba laughed and kicked up his feet.
“What are you doing over here and not with Serenity?”
“Tristan and I are going saltwater fishing. She wants nothing to do with that so she’s going shopping with Mai and Tea. I’m just waiting for them to finish their game.” Mokuba playfully smacked his arm. “So… Is it as awful as you thought it’d be?”
Absolutely, probably, maybe, sort of. Kaiba stopped typing and stared down at his fingernail polish. “I don’t know yet.”
Mokuba looked at his nails too. “You know? I actually like that color on you.”
“I can’t wear this anywhere.”
“You could wear a barrel everywhere and no one would question you, trust me, I've thought about it.” Mokuba sat up, laying his legs over each side of the lounge. “I really think you should tell them how you feel. It’s pretty obvious they like you..”
“How? The only reason they’re doing any of this is because they feel bad about the room. They couldn’t care less if I was there or not.”
“You are such a lost cause. How oblivious are you?”
Tristan called for Mokuba before Kaiba could retort anything. Mokuba got up, waved goodbye, wished him luck with work, and disappeared with the others. Atem and Yuugi walked out of the waves about then. He thought for a moment they’d just walk away, but both of them looked around, smiled when they found him and waved.
Maybe Mokuba was right… No.
—
Yuugi sank into the bathwater until it covered his lips. This was the best vacation he’d ever had in his whole life and he couldn't believe it was going to end in two days. One day really. They only had tomorrow to do all the things they wanted to because the next day they’d have to leave. Time was running out to actually talk to Kaiba about everything, but Yuugi didn’t feel any more confident either way.
By some crazy stroke of luck, the bathroom door opened and Atem walked in with a martini glass in his hand. Yuugi lifted his head, watching him walk into the bathroom and set the glass down on the side of the tub.
Yuugi’s eyes glazed over when Atem started talking to him in Ancient Egyptian, kneeling beside the tub and nudging the glass closer to Yuugi. He didn’t catch all of it, but Atem spoke Ancient Egyptian to him enough that he could pick up on a portion of it. Something about begging indulgence from a god but he felt like that wasn’t what he actually said. Either way, it had the right effect. Yuugi sat up and took the glass, bringing it to his lips and trying not to look Atem directly in the eyes. “I don’t know what you said, but I’m successfully buttered up.”
“Good. Then you’ll tell me what’s bothering you.”
“It’s really stupid.”
“Never.”
Yuugi sighed into the glass, rippling the martini. “I’m worried about talking to Kaiba.”
Atem sighed, leaning heavily on the edge of the tub. “I am too.”
“What are we going to do?”
“What we planned, talk to him after dinner.”
“Yeah, but what are we going to say?”
“Something along the lines of we are greatly enjoying his company on this vacation and we want to continue it when we get home.”
“You make it sound very business-like.”
“Kaiba appreciates business-like.”
“True,” Yuugi giggled. “I’m going to mess it up for us.”
“Stop that. We are doing this together, remember?.”
Yuugi nodded. “Okay… okay we’re doing this. When is dinner?”
“5:30.”
“What time is it now?”
“3:30.”
“Where’s Kaiba?”
“Snorkeling with Mokuba, probably for another hour.”
“Okay… okay I can take a-“ Yuugi's eyes widened. “You mean he’s not going to be here for an hour?”
“Give or take. Why? Is something wrong?”
Yuugi quickly splashed Atem, soaking his clothes. “Oh no! You’ll have to take a bath now. What a shame.”
Atem gasped at first then shook his head, laughing. He stood up and pulled his soaked shirt off, tossing it into a pile on the floor as he turned around. Yuugi took a long swig as he watched Atem walk into the bedroom while unbuckling his pants. “What are you doing?”
Atem pulled something out of his suitcase then turned to face him. “What do you think I’m doing?” He asked, waving a bottle of lube.
“Do we have that much time?”
“Maybe not but there’s a lock on the door.”
“Touchè.”
Atem walked back in, catching the bathroom door and locking the handle. “It’s very strange that the door opens into the bedroom.”
“I noticed that too,” Yuugi said as Atem let the door swing closed.
He was surprised the door didn’t make a sound when it closed, but then again, it did have a fluffy bathrobe on it. Atem blocked his view of the door and let his pants fall to the ground. Who cared about the door? Yuugi drank in every movement, every angle, every curve, every freckle, everything that was Atem as he stepped into the bath.
“Why are you so hot?” Yuugi breathed, setting his drink on the edge of the tub.
“We’re in the Bahamas. It’s sunny.”
“Ha ha.”
Atem snickered. “I guess it’s because I did something right in another life and was blessed by the gods bewitching you in this one.”
“Are you trying to tell me you’re not hot?”
“I am simply telling you that you view me significantly different than I actually am.” Atem moved closer to him, wrapping his legs around him and pulling him to lay on top of him.
“Or you’re incredibly hot and in denial.” Yuugi husked and ground his erection against him.
“I suppose that is possible,” Atem groaned. “We do have a lot in common.”
—
“We DEFINITELY need to do that again!” Mokuba shouted, “Wow, that was fun!”
“It was too short,” Kaiba said, though he completely agreed. It was something he’d have to take Yuugi and Atem to do next time… Next time.
“Right? Or was it just because we were having fun?”
Who knew?
“Atem and Yuugi are going to love those.”
Kaiba glanced down to the small gift bag he had in his hand. He hoped they would. It wasn’t anything extraordinary, but it was a beautiful memento.
“Alright well I have plans with Serenity so I’ll see you at dinner.”
Kaiba nodded, reaching into his pocket for his keycard. Mokuba kept walking past him to the doorway at the end of the hall. Kaiba glanced at him as he disappeared wondering if maybe Mokuba was right and he should talk to Atem and Yuugi about…them… Later… maybe later.
He opened the door and walked inside, looking around for signs of Yuugi and Atem. The bedroom door was open, blinds open and not a hint of movement in the entire suite. Deciding they were out with the others, Kaiba walked into the bedroom to get his suit and air it out before dinner. As soon as he stepped inside he noticed the light on in the bathroom and the door wide open. They must’ve been in a hurry. Thinking nothing of it, he stopped in front of his suitcase.
“Ahhh, yes, don’t stop,” Atem rasped through ragged breaths.
“Shhh.”
Eyes wide and heart in his throat, Kaiba snapped his attention to the bathroom. Atem leaned over the side of the bathtub gripping the edge with white knuckles, dripping water onto the tile floor. Yuugi had his hand wrapped around Atem’s mouth, arched over him with his bottom lip pressed firmly between his teeth. The euphoria evident in his adorably wrinkled nose, and Atem’s furrowed brow took his breath away. He felt like he was melting from the inside out, finally catching up to the outer layers of his skin; his face in particular. Yuugi’s hand over Atem’s mouth muffled, but didn’t take away, the sound of Atem’s pleasure driven moan. Yuugi spasmed and grunted, burying his face in Atem’s shoulder blades.
Well… He could cross number two off his bucket list. The only thing he needed to happen now would be Yuugi look up at him and insist he join them. That would cross the rest off. The idea sounded incredible, but stark reality told him that would never happen…. Then Yuugi lifted his head and they locked eyes.
Like a slap to the face, Yuugi yanked Atem back into the bathwater.
He knew it. Reality was harsh and dreams like that just don’t happen. He didn’t know why he even hoped for it. Kaiba spun on his heel and strode out of the bedroom. Not a sound escaped that bathroom. Not a drip of water and not a single voice. He was surprised. Yuugi always had something to say.
Out in the living room all Kaiba could hear was his heartbeat, and all he could feel was painfully aware of how turned on he was. Tense and frustrated didn’t begin to explain it. Searching the room his face grew hotter. Normally he’d hidden how he was feeling with work, but his laptop was gone. Atem hid it again. He wasn't dressed to go for a run or walk, the bathroom was obviously occupied and like hell was he going to try and talk to someone about how he was feeling. He was out of options. Kaiba resigned himself to an awkward wait in the living room. Very awkward since he was still in his swim trunks and those showed everything. Kaiba glanced up at the ocean through the windows. A cold shower might be out of the question but a cold swim would work.
He walked around the sofa towards the glass door, grabbing Yuugi’s beach bag as he went. If he cared about the towels or anything else in there he should’ve thought better about shutting the door. “Kaiba?”
His blood rushed to his face as he glanced over his shoulder. Yuugi looked like he scrambled to meet Kaiba in the living room. He was dressed, but his shirt clung to his chest making it lay strangely over his shoulder. He continued to tug at it as he stood there. His tugging only made Kaiba's blood rush elsewhere when he drew Kaiba’s attention to his unfastened pants. “We’re really sorry.” Yuugi huffed in a soft murmur. “We- Where are you going?”
Kaiba tore his eyes away to look at the bag in his hand. “I’m going for a swim. What does it look like I’m doing?”
“Oh uh,” He stopped tugging at his shirt and started playing with a damp strand of his hair. “You can say no, I mean since… but would you like company?”
Kaiba didn’t answer verbally, but he did grab Atem's bag as he walked out the door. Why not? They were going to be out there whether he told them to or not. They always were. The fear that this time they might not, forced him to glance back at Yuugi. He had the nerve to smile and disappear into the bedroom.
It was fine. Everything was fine.
Kaiba walked through the sand down the beach. He found the two reclining sun chairs Yuugi and Atem had set up the day before at high tide and tossed their bags onto them. It probably wasn’t the best idea, the tide was coming in, but he didn’t expect to be out long. After taking off his shoes, he turned towards the waves and started walking in.
The water was indeed cool, but refreshing as it washed over his feet and ankles. The sand moved under his feet making his steps slower into the waves. At least it was sand and not sharp rocks or shells. He continued walking until he was able to swim in the crystal clear blue water. The water was beautiful. Truly truly beautiful. He swayed with the light waves, looking out towards the ships and seagulls in the distance.
Being out there did clear his head, calm his heart and set his blood running the right directions. It was like nothing happened at all.
“That’s a really pretty view.” Yuugi murmured, from maybe a foot away.
Kaiba jolted, completely shocked they were there so fast. Where’d they come from?!
Atem snickered. “We didn’t mean to startle you.”
Kaiba scoffed, and went back to watching the ships. The silence that fell over them didn’t fit the beautiful view or the calming sway of the water. He needed to say something. Clear the air so they could just move on. He understood, it was bound to happen. Honestly, he was shocked this didn’t happen earlier. Disappointing? Yes, but he’d get over it.
Atem swam in front of him blocking his view of the ship. “What are your plans for the rest of the evening, Kaiba?”
“We have dinner at 7.”
“That wasn’t what I meant,” Atem said softly with a smirk.
“I know what you meant and that’s the only plan I have.”
Atem and Yuugi looked at each other for too long, like they were talking to each other without saying a word and it was starting to get awkward again. Kaiba almost looked away towards the ships again when Yuugi reached up and twirled a lock of his hair between his fingers. “So we had a plan after dinner, but we were talking about it and we’re not sure if we should do it now or not at all.”
Atem quirked a brow like that wasn’t exactly what he thought.
Yuugi had Kaiba’s full attention now. “It’s almost 6, Yuugi. If you wanted to do an excursion you should’ve already booked it by now.”
“No no.” Yuugi blushed, pulling the lock of hair tight around his finger. “It’s not like that.” Yuugi took a deep breath and let it out, whispering something to himself that sounded a lot like ‘we’re doing this’ but Kaiba wasn’t sure enough to comment on it. He gave Atem one final glance before he looked straight into Kaiba’s eyes. “We’re having a great time with you here.”
He was as well.
“And we planned on talking to you about this after dinner, but then. That happened.” Yuugi glanced back at the suite like it was the culprit. “So we thought we’d just talk to you about it now.”
“Get to the point.”
Yuugi pulled the strand of hair so tight it had to hurt him. “The point is we like you.”
Kaiba swore he broke a blood vessel. He did nothing to deserve the ‘friendship’ speech. What was this? A ‘friendzone ceremony’? “I swear I’ll drown you right now if you finish that thought. I got it. Friendship bullshit. Moving on. You’ll never get me to buy into it, Yuugi. Quit trying.”
Yuugi laughed, a full fit of laughter that Kaiba didn’t get to hear very often. He was so mesmerized by it that he wasn't prepared. Yuugi’s laughter faded and then he smiled at him in a way he never had before, or if he did Kaiba didn’t realize it was meant for him. It sent a million butterflies in his chest into a frenzy. He couldn’t breathe. “No.” Yuugi swam closer, reaching out and cupping the sides of his face. “Kaiba, I love you.”
Before he had a chance to get any part of his brain to work, Yuugi closed the space between them and kissed him. Yuugi’s kisses were everything he thought they’d be and somehow more. Soft and sweet and powerful. Too short. Far too short. Yuugi pulled back, his smile strained, with nerves Kaiba imagined. They had to be as fried as his were. When he looked at Atem he swore he was dreaming. Atem smiled lovingly as well, a smile he never believed would be meant for him. “You…”
Atem reached out, wrapping his fingers round the back of Kaiba’s neck and bringing him closer for a deeper kiss, his tongue sliding between Kaiba’s lips. His kiss was too short too. Atem grinned. “Yes, I love you too.”
When he pulled back, he let go of Kaiba, and floated into Yuugi’s arms. Yuugi didn’t let go of his hair until Atem’s back hit his chest. Then he held on to Atem, lifting his shoulders up to his ears. “So what do you say? Will you go out with us??”
“I-Why?” Kaiba finally got out. This seemed too good to be true. Too perfect to be real. Could he really have been wrong about them this whole time? Did they really feel the same for him as he did for them? “Did someone put you up to this?”
Atem quirked a brow. “No. We’ve been fond of you for a while now, Kaiba.”
Yuugi nodded, his smile growing a little more confident. “We spent this whole vacation trying to gauge how you felt.”
“Though we still have no idea.”
Yuugi laughed, nodding. “None whatsoever.”
Kaiba blinked, then blinked again. “How do you not know?” He glanced at Atem. “I went to Aaru to get you twice. When you decided to come back I created a life for you, a past for you. I’ve made anything you wanted to happen, happen.” Then he looked at Yuugi. “I will talk to you about everything. You were the first one to possess any of Kaiba Corps new tech. I made them for you specifically. You’re the only one I talked to about Atem leaving. You know that.”
Yuugi’s eyes were as big as saucers. “Really? I didn’t know that.” Yuugi buried his nose in Atem’s hair, his face bright red. “That’s so sweet.”
Kaiba didn’t think it was sweet. It was just how things were.
“Words cannot express how much I appreciate everything you've done for us,” Atem said, reaching through the water to take Kaiba’s hand and squeeze it. “But that still doesn’t answer our question.”
Kaiba rolled his eyes. “Yes.”
“Woo!” Yuugi shouted, still hiding his face behind Atem.
Kaiba shook his head and moved through the water, grabbing Yuugi by the arm and pulling him away from Atem. Yuugi smiled, his face still red. “Can I kiss you again?”
Kaiba nodded curtly, pulling Yuugi into his arms. Atem was right behind him, his smirk changing to a smile when Kaiba made sure to touch him too. Yuugi kissed him again, soft sweet and powerful, and this time longer, but still not long enough. When Yuugi broke the kiss Kaiba noticed Atem was watching them. It didn’t take long to draw a line to what he saw earlier. Unfortunately, Atem was on that train of thought too. “So, Kaiba, how long were you watching us?”
“Not long.”
“How long is not long?”
“How am I supposed to know that Atem?”
“Well, what did you see?”
Kaiba felt his face heat up instantly. He was NOT going to answer that.
Yuugi wrapped his arms around Kaiba’s neck and frowned in thought. “Did you see me fingering Atem?”
Kaiba tried not to look flustered or sound disappointed that he didn’t see that. He didn’t know if it worked but he tried. “No.”
“Okay so not long is the right answer.”
“Maybe, but it still does not answer my question,” Atem insisted.
Yuugi shrugged like he completely agreed with that. “Well, the door was closed when you got into the bathtub with me, so it wasn’t then.”
Kaiba moved his head into Yuugi’s line of sight making damn sure he was paying attention. What the hell were they doing?! “Are you seriously going to explain the whole thing?”
“How else are we going to know?”
“Take my word that it wasn’t long.”
“We believe you.”
Kaiba narrowed his eyes, waiting, but Yuugi didn’t elaborate at all. “However?”
Yuugi lifted his shoulders and smiled at him exactly like he did at the nail salon. His cheeks tinged pink and his eyes sparkled with admiration, but behind that sparkle was mischief. Like he was caught red handed. “I can’t help it. You’re really cute when you’re pouting.”
Kaiba lifted Yuugi up and threw him, smirking at the gasp of surprise and the large splash he made. Served him right.
He relaxed back into the water, still smirking at his handiwork when Yuugi resurfaced. Atem swam up behind him and laid his arms over Kaiba’s shoulders. He was pretty proud of himself watching Yuugi wipe water from his eyes, giggling and threatening him. “I’ll get you back.”
Cute. Sure he would.
Atem rested his chin in the crook of Kaiba's neck, brushing his fingertips over Kaiba’s chest. He was trying not to pay too much attention to it, but it seemed like the only thing he could feel aside from Atem’s warm chest against his back. Yuugi playfully glared at Atem, wrinkling his nose. “Aren’t you supposed to be defending my honor?”
“Of course, Partner,” Kaiba almost elbowed Atem in the stomach when he purred right next to his ear, “What did we do after I got in the bath again?”
Yuugi’s eyes sparkled with mischief and admiration again. “I fingered you for a while before we had sex. I’d say that was at least half of it so you couldn’t have been there for that long.”
“Was it when we started having sex?” Atem asked softly, right in his ear.
Kaiba closed his eyes and exhaled like his lungs were in a vice grip forcing air out of him. They were determined to send his heart into cardiac arrest, assuming his blood was even running anymore. The ocean wasn’t cold enough. “No.”
“Okay well then it had to be at the end then cause we did NOT last long.” Yuugi giggled, swimming back over to him. Against his better judgment, Kaiba let Yuugi wrap his arm around his neck, but this time, with Atem there, Yuugi cupped the side of his face with his other hand. “You’ve tortured us all week.”
Atem groaned in agreement, resting his head against him.
He tortured them?! How?! He wasn’t the one getting caught. He wasn’t the one going into detail about it either. He wasn’t the one falling asleep on them, or changing shirts right in front of them. He had a list. What did they have? “You’re exaggerating.”
“Hardly, I can smell you everywhere.” Atem brushed his thumb over Kaiba’s chest, then lifted his hand to do the same to Yuugi. “At least at home we had breaks.”
“Right?” Yuugi scoffed, flicking his attention from Atem to him. “I thought for sure you were going to catch me this time.”
“Catch you doing what?” Kaiba furrowed his brow.
Atem turned his head to murmur in Kaiba’s ear, “Yuugi has a tendency to stare.”
Yuugi lifted his shoulders, ducking down so the water almost covered them. “I can’t help it. You’re both really hot. What do you want from me?”
No. He would’ve noticed. Yuugi was OBVIOUS about it. Even the secretary made comments about Yuugi staring at Atem and how romantic it was. No one said anything about Yuugi staring at anyone else. They would have. This wasn’t a normal relationship dynamic by any stretch. It didn’t make any sense. Yuugi and Atem visited him at Kaiba Corp all the time, someone would’ve said something to him. “When?”
Yuugi lowered more. “All the time.”
“All the time.” Atem repeated. “But unlike you, I catch him.”
“Allll the time.” Yuugi giggled.
“Of course you do, it’s pretty obvious,” Kaiba said, glancing at the silhouette of Atem’s face on his shoulder. “Everyone catches Yuugi staring at you.”
“No, you don’t get it.” Yuugi said very seriously. “He catches me staring at you.”
“It led to an interesting conversation a year ago.”
A year? Did he hear that right? Kaiba turned his head to look at Atem. His disbelief must’ve been a little too obvious because Atem snickered and kissed his cheek.
“We would’ve tried this earlier but ultimately we decided your friendship was more important.”
Kaiba rolled his eyes.
“We know you don’t like to hear it,“ Yuugi snickered, then lifted himself out of the water maybe an inch. “But it’s true. You mean a lot to us. We didn’t want to risk losing you.”
At that moment, it really sank in. This wasn’t a fleeting infatuation, some weird phase they were entertaining while on vacation, or worse, a trick. It wasn’t any of that for him either, but now he understood deep the roots went. Had things been different, this vacation could have started much like it was ending. A year in the making at least, maybe more who knew? A lot of wasted time, but he couldn’t be upset about it. It made the relief and warmth he felt so much more rewarding. Kaiba wrapped his arms around Yuugi and pulled him closer.
They meant a lot to him too. No, a lot didn’t cover it and the more he thought about it, the more it overwhelmed him. All he could do was hold on to them and hope they understood. They had to know by now he was bad at this. Mokuba liked to tease him about it all the time.
Whatever he did seemed to be working, Yuugi relaxed in his arms and Atem nuzzled into his neck more. Kaiba held them both up in the waves, finding it ironic when he knew they were the ones that held him up in his everyday life. Yuugi exhaled a deep breath through his nose, cooling the water on Kaiba’s shoulder. “I could sleep like this.”
“No sleeping, Partner. We have dinner soon.”
“Do we have to?”
“Yes, you haven’t eaten in several hours.”
“Fine I guess.” Yuugi nuzzled his head under Kaiba’s chin. “But only if you carry me.”
“Absolutely not.” Kaiba smiled, trying not to laugh when he did it again.
“Then I’m sleeping.”
Atem swam back, his hands lingering and brushing across his chest and shoulders. He figured Atem was going to try and get Yuugi but he had a better idea. He swept Yuugi up, cradling him to his chest and carried him closer to shore. Yuugi did what he hoped he would, gave him a smug grin and laid his arms loosely around Kaiba’s shoulders. He should know better. At just about where he was the day before, he dropped him, laughing at the look of betrayal all over his face before he was swallowed up by the waves.
Kaiba took a step back, still laughing when Yuugi resurfaced. Then from behind him he heard Atem murmur, “That reminds me.” Before he rammed his shoulder into Kaiba’s back knocking him into the water too.
—
Atem held his head high, his grin as smug as it could get. Yuugi’s ragged breaths and giggles as he trudged up the beach behind them only made it worse. Kaiba wasn’t much better, his faded shadow swaggering across the sand beside them. Served both of them right for bringing him into their nonsense the day before.
Atem set his beach bag on the canopy lounge and walked over to the outdoor shower. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Yuugi toss his bag as well, then gently loop his pinky in Kaiba’s. “Did you want to take a shower before we head to dinner? I know my soap is in there this time”
“Or if you’d prefer.” Atem said, opening the outdoor shower. “We could take a bath when we get back. The tub is plenty big enough.”
“It really is.” Yuugi gasped. “We can have bubbles and wine and chocolate covered strawberries!”
Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest. “Didn’t you already have a bath?”
Yuugi scratched the back of his neck, his smile puffing up his very pink cheeks. “Well, not really.”
Kaiba rolled his eyes, dropping his arms to his sides.
“What? It’s not like we had a lot of time.”
“Seemed like enough time to me.” Kaiba said with a grin, walking towards Atem and the outdoor shower.
Atem pushed the door open more and stepped aside so Kaiba could come inside as well. Yuugi hesitated but followed them inside. He thought about asking Yuugi if he was alright, but Yuugi wasn’t paying much attention to him. Yuugi followed Kaiba into the storage area and stopped, catching his wrist. “Are you sure?”
Kaiba turned back. “About?”
“This,” Yuugi gestured to the shower and all of them.
“Change your mind? What happened to your ‘wine and strawberries’ idea?”
“No I haven’t- Do you want to do that?”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable or bored or-“
Kaiba turned away and walked straight up to the shower knob, turning the water on and adjusting the temperature. Atem brushed his fingertips over Yuugi’s back, but it didn’t seem to do much to calm him. “I just want to make sure you’re okay with this. We can use the other shower if you want.”
“How is this different from a bath?”
“It’s not, I just… Are you sure?”
Kaiba threw his head back and squared his jaw. “Yuugi, if you ask me one more question, I swear I’ll pull the entirety of the Spherium franchise off the market and blow up every manufacturing factory involved.” Kaiba lowered his head, staring daggers at Yuugi.”If I don’t want something, you’ll be the first to know about it.”
“Well yeah but-“
“I mean it, Motou.” Kaiba warned, “Every single factory.”
Atem tried not to laugh. Yuugi was being himself, kind and compassionate to a fault and it annoyed Kaiba to no end. It was a good question, maybe not asked that many times, but the idea was sound. Unfortunately for Yuugi, Kaiba was right. He’d tell them if he had a problem with anything. He was always good at that.
Suddenly, Yuugi gasped. “That’s where they are!” He raced through the outdoor shower to his abandoned swim trunks. “I was looking everywhere!”
“I told you they’d turn up.” Atem chuckled and joined Kaiba under the warm shower.
Kaiba wrapped his arm around him, but was still very focused on watching Yuugi. “You lost them?”
“Yeah,” Yuugi took them into the storage area and hung them up before padding back towards them. “I had sand everywhere last night too. I had to take them off and forgot to pick them back up.”
Atem’s grin spread when Kaiba stiffened. “Are you trying to tell me you were naked when we played Gin?”
Yuugi turned beet red. “I had a towel on…”
“That explains why you didn’t answer the door for room service.” Kaiba grabbed Atem by the arms and pushed him back so he could look at him. “And you knew the whole time didn’t you?”
“I did. I was sort of hoping you’d notice.”
“I wasn’t!” Yuugi insisted, lifting his shoulders.
Kaiba’s watch beeped and he tilted his wrist so he could see the time. Atem could see it too. “We only have a half hour,” Atem commented.
“Well,” Yuugi said, winking at Atem when he walked around to stand behind Kaiba,“that should give us enough time.”
Yuugi reached around Kaiba’s waist and curled his fingers under the swim shirt. It was innocent enough, but the darkening blue of Kaiba’s eyes were not. It felt surreal, witnessing Kaiba let his guard weaken for once. He looked forward to the many days they’d spend breaking it down completely. Mesmerized, Atem slipped his fingers under the elastic band of Kaiba’s swim trunks and pulled on the tie inside.
Kaiba’s breath caught.
Atem’s did, too.
Kaiba let Yuugi pull his shirt up, and helped him get it off the rest of the way, tossing it. The soaked shirt made a loud plop noise when it fell onto the ground where Yuugi’s swim trunks used to be. Yuugi’s hands were everywhere, appearing and disappearing along Kaiba’s arms, shoulders and sides. Atem found himself chasing after Yuugi’s illusive fingertips in the guise of helping the water erase the sand. Kaiba’s arms tightened around him, pulling him more into the shower water. Atem closed his eyes to keep the water out of them and tried not to melt from the gentle way Kaiba reached up and cradled the sides of his face in his hands. He did melt when Kaiba pressed his lips against his.
Deepening the kiss, Kaiba slid his tongue over Atem’s. He wanted to be more helpful, but he was a little distracted feeling Kaiba’s freed erection poking his hip.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Kaiba broke the kiss. Atem didn’t get a chance to ask what was wrong, Yuugi started immediately, “Are-“
“I mean it. One more question.” Kaiba rasped, putting his left hand on the wall by the shower knob to steady himself, his eyes closed.
“Okay.”
Kaiba was so focused on whatever it was Yuugi was doing he didn’t seem to notice Atem take a step back out of the shower stream. It gave Atem a perfect view of him, head to toe as the shower water poured down his body. He also got a perfect view of Yuugi behind him and what he was up to that caused that reaction.
Much like Yuugi loved to do with him, he told him all the time, he lazily explored every part of Kaiba he could touch, and currently he was focused on a particularly sensitive area. His fingers curled around Kaiba’s balls and Kaiba spread his legs more to make it easier for him. Then Yuugi let him go, his fingertips disappearing again. Atem reached for the shower knob to his right and turned the water off. They didn’t need it anymore. No more sand.
After he switched it off he slowly dropped to his knees, placing a kiss on Kaiba’s hip bone. Kaiba's eyes shot open and he hungrily watched Atem as he sank lower. Gripping Kaiba’s upper thigh with his left hand he wrapped his right hand around Kaiba’s cock. He throbbed in his hand before Atem squeezed him but there was something strangling more erotic about watching Kaiba pant because of it.
Satisfied with Kaiba’s attention he went after Yuugi’s.
Sitting back on his heels and gently squeezing Kaiba again, Atem gave a slow stroke to the tip of his head, kissed it, before sliding his hand back to the base of Kaiba’s cock. Kaiba shuddered and gasped, spreading his legs more again, and that was exactly what Atem wanted. He watched and waited until Yuugi’s fingertips crossed his line of sight again.
They did shortly after Atem stroked Kaiba again. Yuugi massaged Kaiba’s balls, but this time Atem caught his hand, keeping Yuugi from wandering away. Looking up into those piercing blue eyes, Atem leaned in, pressing his face into Kaiba's groin. He breathed in his unique scent and tilted his head so he could lick Yuugi's fingertips and Kaiba's balls at the same time. Even with the saltwater and the shower, he could still smell Kaiba and every breath of him he took sent a jolt straight to his groin. A brief moan escaped Kaiba's throat and his nails scratched the shower wall.
Yuugi huffed. “That’s not fair.”
He could be less fair.
Kaiba’s long fingers curled into Atems hair as he licked them again, then filled his mouth with as much of them as he could. Yuugi panted but didn’t stop flexing his fingers, at least until Atem purposefully slid his tongue over them. Yuugi hummed low in his throat and pulled his fingers away. Atem didn’t stop, though he could hear Yuugi moving out from behind Kaiba. He wasn’t terribly surprised when he felt Yuugi’s hand on his shoulder. “He needs to back up." Placing a final kiss on Kaiba, Atem sat back on his heels.
Yuugi put his hands on Kaiba's hips, guiding him back against the shower wall. Atem drank in the sight of Yuugi getting on his knees in front of Kaiba. He didn’t miss the purposeful way Yuugi moved just enough to the side for Atem to see everything as he pressed his face into Kaiba’s groin loudly breathing him in. Atem got a good look at Yuugi licking Kaiba’s balls before he began sucking on them. Kaiba's neglected cock rested on Yuugi’s cheek, bouncing with Yuugi’s jaw and dripping with precum.
He could watch this all day, but Kaiba didn't want to just be watched and he got that distinct impression when pleading blue eyes met his. He supposed they tortured him enough; tortured themselves enough.
Atem crawled forward and curled around Yuugi’s back, making sure Yuugi felt how hard he was. Instinctually, Yuugi arched back and whined, his mouth still very full. Kaiba's jaw dropped. It felt like he had waited millenia to be able to experience this again, and now that he was here, he realized why it always went so horribly wrong before.
His hands wandered all over Yuugi's sides and hips. Returning to Yuugi felt easy; he was used to Yuugi’s body, the way he moved and responded to his touches. Yuugi was safe, a part of him in many ways. He never had that before. Atem kissed Yuugi’s shoulder, neck, and cheek just shy of touching Kaiba’s leaking cock.
Kaiba huffed in frustration and Atem soaked up that attention.
His happiness was never the goal before. His past relationships stemmed from diplomatic agreements, political alignments, or at the lowest points, power. There was always a veil of fear; the inability to trust fully. Moving out from behind Yuugi to kneel at his side, Atem licked the precum from the slit of Kaiba’s cock. Immediately, Kaiba buried his hands in their hair.
There was no fear here, and it felt like the world outside didn’t exist either. Atem opened his mouth wide and let Kaiba guide him down his shaft, all the while looking up at mesmerizing blue. Kaiba staggered a little, repositioning himself. “Fuck.”
Atem kept looking up at him tilting his head back slightly so Kaiba could thrust in and out of his mouth. The coil of arousal in his groin wound tighter. On the surface he was at Kaiba’s mercy, held still by Kaiba's hand in his hair, but the reality was they were at Yuugi’s mercy. No matter what Kaiba wanted to do, Yuugi completely controlled every movement Kaiba made. Atem wondered if Kaiba was as turned on knowing that as Atem was. Especially when Yuugi slipped his hand into his pants caressing him. He moaned around Kaiba’s throbbing cock, feeling him pulse against his tongue. He was completely at their mercy.
It never worked before. It never worked before because it wasn’t them.
Kaiba’s eyes fluttered closed and his jaw tensed.
Suddenly the grip in his hair tightened. Atem soaked in every single little movement and sound Kaiba made as he came. Kaiba shuddered and Yuugi moaned in response. The sounds they made pulled at his heart. All for him. Kaiba coated Atem’s tongue in cum, thrusting into his mouth as far as Yuugi would allow. He let Kaiba fuck his mouth as long as he wanted transfixed by the pleasure in his face. When Kaiba’s grip on his hair was non-existent Atem sat back on his heels letting Kaiba fall from his mouth. Yuugi sat back too, but not before kissing Kaiba’s now flaccid cock.
Atem wasn’t quite done. Reaching up he gripped the back of Yuugi’s neck and pulled him in, kissing him. Yuugi moaned and melted into him, as Atem knew he would, when he tasted Kaiba’s cum. Yuugi sucked on his tongue and used his own to search Atem’s mouth, trying to get every bit he could. He moaned again, pulling back to break the kiss and lick his lips. “I hope we brought enough lube.”
The look of utter euphoria in Yuugi’s eyes made Atem’s heart skip a beat. He laughed and kissed him again. "We did."
"Good." Kaiba said, straightening his back against the shower wall. He laid his head back and sighed blissfully but held his hands out to them to help them up. It was sweet and Atem didn't hesitate for a chance to get his very raw knees up from the sandy wood slat shower floor.
Yuugi took his hand as well and stood up. “Urgh. I forgot about that.” Yuugi said squirming. “A hard-on covered in sand is awful.”
Atem snickered, sliding a finger under the band of Yuugi’s trunks. "You should have taken those off as well."
"I thought about it, but then kneeling down would have been awkward." Yuugi gestured to the open base of the shower walls.
Atem supposed Yuugi had a point.
Kaiba lifted his watch and let out a long breath. “We're late.”
"I'll be two seconds.” Yuugi took his shorts off, dropping on top of Kaiba’s and then turned the water back on.
Atem nodded and turned, walking out of the shower to grab towels for then. When he came back he found Kaiba holding Yuugi while they stood in the shower stream. A wave of pure love washed over him when they smiled at him. Where was a camera when he needed one?
Yuugi turned off the shower and Kaiba reluctantly let him go to grab the towel from Atem. Kaiba lazily wrapped it around his waist, Atem smirked. “Feel better?”
Kaiba’s small smile when he looked up from the towel said it all. “I guess we’re even.”
Atem scoffed, handing a towel to Yuugi. “Not at all. Yuugi’s much better than I am.”
"No I'm not!" Yuugi squeaked and covered half his face with the towel.
“There is no need to be modest, Partner."
"If what I saw is any indication, Atem knows what he's talking about," Kaiba commented and Yuugi covered his face completely. "Is that your plan for me?
"Oh gods," Yuugi said into the towel.
"Probably,” Atem smirked, turning around and opening the outdoor shower for them, ”but not if I get to him first.”
“Is that a challenge?”
Atem turned back. His stomach flipped and his heart pounded in his chest. Kaiba gave him the same look he did when he challenged him to a duel. This probably tied for the best day of his life. This, and the day he realized he wanted to go home and figured out where home really was. "Yes."
Day 7
Standing in the lobby and watching the others check out, Kaiba felt like his vacation just started. Yuugi held onto his hand gently, talking to Atem about how much they loved the gifts Kaiba got them on his snorkeling excursion. Their suitcases were all packed and stacked on the trolley beside them. Everything was ready to go. Everything but him. What if they changed their mind after they went home?
Atem reached around him, sliding his thumb in the belt loop of his pants and resting his hand on Kaiba’s hip. “When do you have to go back to work?”
“Monday.”
Atem smiled at that but Yuugi’s reaction was more colorful. He gasped and leaned on Kaiba's arm. “You can stay at our place!”
“Don’t you think you should ask?”
“I was told not to ask questions.”
Kaiba sighed in mock frustration. He did say that, he didn’t regret it, and he didn’t plan on taking it back either.
“Our bed is smaller.” Atem commented. “Perhaps it’d be better for us not to stay there.”
“Yes but we have Baste and Kuriboh.”
Kaiba completely forgot about the cats.
Atem snickered, “We may need to get a bigger bed.”
May? No they did need a bigger bed, but he wasn’t terribly concerned. He had ideas on how to fix it.
The front desk freed up and he walked up to it to check out. He wasn’t paying the desk clerk much attention. He was focused more on plans for when he got back. New bed, keys maybe, Yes. He’ll blackmail their apartment management into evicting them so they can live with him. Better yet. Maybe he could light the apartment on fire, after he got their things out, of course. It’d be better than dealing with asking them to move in with him. He’d have to get a custom cat house made as well.
“I hope you had a wonderful stay and come to see us again soon.”
Scoffing to himself he grabbed the receipt paper from the attendant and folded it up. There were better places he wanted to take them. The only reason he’d come back here was if they insisted. Helpful broken doors or not.
Yuugi and Atem pulled the trolley towards the resort doors, waiting for him. Yuugi immediately grabbed his hand again when he met them. “I guess we’ll see you when we get home.”
“When does your flight leave?”
Atem felt around his pockets then hummed. “I’m not sure.”
“Did Mokuba give them to us?”
“I thought so but-“
Kaiba thought it odd that they would go through Mokuba for the flight tickets from but not to. Regardless they needed a way home. Kaiba searched the lobby for his little brother, catching sight of him just outside the resort. He pulled Yuugi along with him through the automatic doors. Yuugi did the rest for him. “Mokuba!”
“Heyyyy- '' Mokuba's excitement turned immediately to panic “-ohhhh. Yeah. You’re going to ask me about the plane tickets.”
Yuugi's shoulders slumped. “Yeah.”
“So I uh- did not get those.”
Surprise surprise.
“What do you mean?!”
Mokuba scratched the back of his neck. “Well I thought you’d fly back with us on the jet but I wasn’t thinking and we ended up taking a flight from New York here after a meeting.”
Serenity hit him on the shoulder scowling at him. “So that’s why I had three layovers!”
“I’m sorry! I forgot!”
Kaiba could care less about all of that. “Why were you planning on them flying back with us?”
Serenity immediately perked up, crossed her arms over her chest and grinned ear to ear. “Yeah Moki. Why were you planning on them flying back with us? It couldn't be because you spilled the beans and helped plan this whole thing.”
“I swore off cran vodkas. What else do you want?”
Kaiba was caught somewhere between plotting his death and hugging him. “You’re dead to me.”
“You say that all the time.” Mokuba grinned.
“You’re dead to me too.” Serenity huffed. “Unless you sit in the layovers with me.”
“Fine! Fine. I hope you’re all happy!”
Kaiba watched Serenity wave down a taxi, pulling her trolleys of luggage behind her. Mokuba followed, muttering to himself while he called the airport. Speaking of calls. Kaiba didn’t need to make a call. That was unnecessary but a quick text to the head of the most famous resort on the island should suffice. He also texted Roland to bring his jet, in a week of course. He had a message back from the resort before he could pocket his phone.
‘We’ll see you in 20 minutes. Mr. Kaiba.’
Satisfied, he slid his phone back into his coat pocket. It was only then that he realized Yuugi and Atem were still upset. Why? “I’m not going to leave you here.”
Yuugi seemed to lighten up at that, though he was still clearly upset. “I’m guessing you didn’t really get what Mokuba said.”
“Your flight wasn’t booked. Again, I’m not-”
“Neither was our room-” Atem cut him off- “and not by mistake.”
“What do you mean not by mistake?”
Yuugi sighed. “My company sent me to the non profit gala Kaiba Corp always participates in and Mokuba was there. We were having a few drinks.”
“Mokuba was having a lot of drinks.”
He wasn’t surprised.
“Yeah,” Yuugi chuckled, still refusing to look up at Kaiba. “He told us that you liked us and we uh… planned this whole vacation with you.”
Kaiba narrowed his eyes, not sure whether he should be angry or not. “Planned?”
“The room we were attempting to check into was a false reservation. One we created. We did book a room here, however we did not use it.”
Yuugi nodded and looked up but just briefly. “You let us stay with you so we didn’t have to. Which was what we hoped would happen.”
Kaiba just stared at them trying to process. He still wasn’t sure how to feel about it. “Why would you do that?”
Yuugi met his eyes and his loving smile came back. “I wasn’t lying to you. We wanted to be with you, and we wanted to make sure you really wanted to be with us before we said anything. It’s why we waited so long in the week.”
Everything clicked into place revealing a perfect picture. It made sense. Mokuba invited him to get them all together, he constantly talked about it to get Kaiba used to the fact that he’d be stuck there, and he was so involved in the planning process because Yuugi and Atem asked him to be. It also made sense of everything Yuugi and Atem did all week long. The excursions, the salon, the bed, the games, the dinners, almost losing his fucking fingers. They wanted to spend time alone with him, wanted to sleep by him, wanted to just be around him and they were, all week. Kaiba narrowed his eyes at Atem. “Who else knows about this?”
“Everyone…” Yuugi murmured.
Kaiba rolled his eyes. Of course they did.
“We’re really sorry. We should’ve told you earlier we just got-” Yuugi gestured wildly and laughed. “I don’t know.”
“We did not intend for anything to come across deceptively,” Atem added gravely.
That was why they were upset? Of all the most ridiculous- “I think you’re confusing deception with ingenious.”
Atem relaxed and Yuugi giggled. Satisfied that he didn’t have to say anything else about it, he turned and walked towards the line of taxis in front of the resort. The first one he walked up to just so happened to be one that he recognized.
The driver, Knowels if he remembered correctly, immediately grinned and stepped out of the taxi. “Have a good stay Mr. Kaiba?”
“It was satisfactory.”
Knowels opened up the back door for him and held it, gesturing for him to get inside. Kaiba didn’t wait, climbing into the taxi and crossing his legs. Knowels closed the door while Kaiba fished out his phone. Roland had texted him his estimated times of arrival. The door on the other side of the taxi opened and Atem climbed inside first, Yuugi right behind them. Knowels closed the door and walked around to put their luggage in the trunk.
Atem leaned against him, resting his head on his shoulder while he played with the bracelets on Yuugi’s wrist. “Did you get us plane tickets?”
“No. We’re going to Bahamomba Resort for the week. My jet will be here by then.”
Yuugi leaned forward so Kaiba could see him better. “We can’t-“
“You can’t leave so It’s your only option now isn’t it?”
“What about Baste and Kuriboh?”
Kaiba pulled out his phone and added that bit in for Roland, flashing Roland’s response to Yuugi. “They’re taken care of.”
Yuugi nodded and sat back, laying both his hands in Atem’s lap. In the silence Kaiba checked his emails and sent out several messages indicating he would not in fact be back to the office on Monday. Knowels closed the trunk and walked around the taxi. He got into the driver's seat and signed happily. “Where to, Mr. Kaiba?”
“Bahamomba Resort.”
Knowels nodded and put the taxi into gear.
Yuugi sat up again. “But I have to work on Monday. I’ll lose my job.”
Yes! That would make the whole thing a lot easier. “And that’s a bad thing?”
“Well,” Yuugi snickered. “I mean yeah kind of. I have to support a house boyfriend and two cats who are convinced they are gods.”
Atem chuckled and squeezed Yuugi’s hands. Kaiba stared down then laid his hand over them. “You don’t need to worry about it. You can always get your job back at Kaiba Corp.”
Yuugi’s grin grew. “Isn’t there a policy there about sleeping with your boss?”
“Not anymore.”
Yuugi giggled, his cheeks red. “No. We’re not doing that… But I guess I can apply to QuantiK.”
Kaiba knew where he was going with that; Kaiba Corp owned QuantiK but they handled themselves without Kaiba Corp interference. “I’m assuming you won’t let me send them a recommendation.”
“I won’t, you’re right.”
“Unorthodox I suppose, but I’m glad things worked out this way. You hated your job,” Atem said, nuzzling his head on Kaiba’s shoulder.
“I really did.”
“And we didn’t get a long enough vacation together.”
He couldn't agree more. When the Bahamomba Resort came into view Kaiba glanced at Atem. He had his eyes closed, brushing his thumb over Kaiba and Yuugi’s entwined hands. With his free hand Kaiba typed a message and sent it, spending the rest of the ride thinking of how he’d enact revenge once they returned to Domino City.
‘Thank you, Moki.’