Darkness Before Dawn

Setting Up Housekeeping

That afternoon...

Headbanging to the metal blasting from his computer speakers, Yugi's eyes were zeroed in on his screen, fingers flying over the keyboard as he propelled his character around the deathmatch map. Ah, there was Dog of War up ahead! black_mage fired his Redeemer toward Dog of War, who reciprocated.

The whole screen turned white as the nukes collided and blew up, killing both players.

"Damn!" Yugi yelped in awe. "Deemer arena's off the chain!"

Hastily, he clicked to respawn and went after Dog of War.

So caught up was Yugi in his game that he never heard the door opening and closing behind him or the hushed sound of bare feet padding over his wooden floor. He might have heard the creak of the bed, but just took that for the ambient sounds of the game.

Atem couldn't help but smile in amusement at Yugi's laser like focus on his game. At this moment, a nuclear blast occurring outside wouldn't have been able to distract Yugi from the game. After settling on Yugi's bed with his back against the wall, Atem cast a quick glance around the room, smiling again when he saw the posters of the pyramids and Sphinx that Yugi had mentioned upon their first meeting. The cartouche that Atem had drawn for Yugi was taped to the wall near the head of Yugi's bed so Yugi could look at it when he went to sleep and when he woke up, bringing a broader smile to Atem's lips.

The sound of an explosion from the computer's speakers caught Atem's attention and he focused on what Yugi was doing.

"Shit!" Yugi cried.

"Ha! Fucked ya up d' ass dat time!" Jou's voice came over Yugi's speakers.

"Yeah? Well, I'll fuck you right back!" Yugi almost screamed back into his microphone as he fired his Redeemer at Dog of War.

As Yugi continued to play, Atem watched him closely, memorizing every mouse click and keypress he saw. After a while, Yugi exited the LAN and connected to the Internet to host a game.

"Enough of this bullshit. I'm playing online!" he fumed.

Dog of War has entered.

Yugi and Jou began fragging each other over the Internet, this time using the stock weapons. Eventually, some other players entered and began blowing Yugi and Jou away.

"Agh! Damn it!" cried Yugi, hastily clicking to respawn.

This happened again and again, Yugi only landing one or two frags. Finally, a frustrated Yugi slammed his fist down on the desk, pushing the keyboard tray angrily away from him.

"Fucking aimbotters!" he spat.

"Ha ha ha ha!" a quiet laugh emanated from behind him.

"Huh?" yelped Yugi as he swiveled his chair around, to see the Egyptian gazing at him with upturned lips and twinkling eyes. "Atem?! How long've you been here?"

"Long enough to see you getting your ass handed to you," answered the smirking Egyptian.

Yugi crossed his arms and looked away with a huff.

"You did say I was welcome in here. Was I wrong to enter while you were playing your game?" Atem inquired, a note of anxiety seeping into his voice.

With a sigh, Yugi uncrossed his arms and looked at Atem again, smiling weakly at the Egyptian to reassure him.

"Nah. It's cool. I'm glad you're here. I'm just pissed about the damn game," he fumed.

"So I could see," chuckled Atem with a return of humor.