Darkness Before Dawn

Happy Birthday, Yugi

Saturday, June 4, 2005

As the morning sun shone brightly from the high blue vault, the ferry bobbed merrily up and down on the gentle waves. Yugi climbed up on the railing for a better view of the deep blue ocean they were currently traversing. Standing next to him, a worried Atem kept a sharp eye, should Yugi accidentally tumble overboard due to a rough patch.

"Not too high, Yugi!" he yelped as Yugi climbed up again.

"Chill, Até. I'm 19 today, not nine," Yugi gently chided.

"I know, but just be careful," pleaded Atem.

Their conversation was interrupted as the blue water suddenly erupted in white foam, splashing everyone in the vicinity from head to toe, leaving the spiky hair of two tricolors slumping down with water dripping from it. As they looked, a huge whale made its presence known, blowing a jet stream of water from the nose atop its large head. The creature raised its great tailfin, then swung it down, sending more water spraying in all directions.

"By Ra!" gasped Atem in awe of the huge cetacean.

"Now that's what I call a birthday present!" laughed Yugi.

Kame Game Shop

Everyone had gathered for Yugi's birthday. As Yugi, Atem, Mai, Shizuka, Bakura and Jou sat at the table, their eyes lit and their mouths watered at the sight of the double chocolate cake that Sugoroku carried carefully in, having labored to bake it well until the wee hours last night. The lambent light of the 19 candles that reposed on the cake's surface cast merrily dancing shadows on the walls of the dark room.

"Happy birthday, Yugi!"

Once the cake was set before him, Yugi took a deep breath, made a wish, and blew with all his might to get all the candles out at once. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he had succeeded.

"Yay!" everyone cheered, clapping their hands.

"Wudja wish fer, Yuge?" Jou asked, leaning over toward Yugi, who was in the process of cutting the cake into as even pieces as he could manage.

"Sorry, Jou. That's absolutely 100% secret, vacuum sealed," smirked Yugi.

"Pffft!" snickered Jou, grabbing his plate to hold it out for his piece.

After everyone was served, they all forked into the moist cake. When they tasted the sublime chocolate frosting and breading in their mouths, they were all swept away into heaven. This was not a cake to be rushed through in order to get to presents; this was a cake to be savored.

After cake came presents. From Mai and Shizuka, Yugi received several new video games that he eagerly looked forward to playing. From Bakura, several Duel Monsters booster packs. From Jou he received the latest nVidia GeForce gaming card.

"Yer machine's three months old. Time t' upgrade," grinned Jou.

"Cool, man," laughed Yugi.

From Sugoroku, Yugi received several more booster packs for his deck with new monster, magic and trap cards.

Yugi knew not to expect anything from Atem since the Egyptian hadn't a yen to his name. Just the fact that Atem had left the house and was here, surrounded by everyone, was enough of a present in Yugi's mind. This he thought as he flashed his boyfriend a quick smile, catching a mirthful crimson gaze right back.

Later...

Yugi and Atem leapt out of the car and turned to face Jou, Mai and Shizuka.

"I'ma hang out at da clinic a while," smirked Jou. "You two have fun."

A blushing Atem managed an awkward chuckle at the lecherous tone in Jou's voice.

"What's that s'posed to mean?!" glowered Yugi.

"Whatevah ya wan' it to," grinned Jou as he put his car in drive and peeled on out before Yugi could find something to throw at him.

"Of all the rude, perverted... I can't believe that guy!" fumed Yugi as he turned for the door.

"It was all in jest," soothed Atem.

"Yeah. I know," sighed Yugi as he let them in.

Yugi and Atem stepped out of their footwear in silence, then stepped up into the house.

"Hey, Atem. Sorry, but I'm kinda birthdayed out. I'm gonna go crash in my room a while," Yugi announced in a listless tone.

"Hm? Alright," replied Atem. "I'll likely have dinner finished when you come down."

"OK. Thanks," said Yugi, absently giving Atem's hand a squeeze before turning for the steps.

Atem watched Yugi walk upstairs and waited until he heard the bedroom door close.

'Good. Now to get to work,' he thought as he headed for the kitchen.

Later...

Atem had been at work for hours, slaving over the stove, and the kitchen was permeated by the scent of Kobe beef, tomato, mayo, ketchup, mustard, bacon, everything needed to make an exquisite birthday hamburger. His just-finished masterpieces reposed on a serving tray under a steel domed lid to keep them hot.

Atem brought everything over to the table and lit two candles. Presently, the sound of socked feet thumping down the stairs warned him of Yugi's return to the waking world and he stood tall, ready to make the evening a memorable one for Yugi.

Yugi arrived at the bottom of the stairs and could do nothing but stare in slack jawed awe at the table with the dim glow of the two candles casting dancing shadows on the walls. In the lambent firelight, he could see that the plates and glasses were set out and in the middle reposed a large serving tray with a steel lid on it, meaning that Atem had made something hot.

Curious, Yugi sniffed the air.

"I smell hamburger."

Atem's smile widened and his ruby irises began to twinkle as he approached Yugi and gave his shoulders a squeeze.

"Happy birthday, habibi!" he said, pulling out the chair for Yugi. "Please, sit!"

"Atem!"

Blinking away his tears, Yugi sank down into the seat and watched as the Egyptian placed the tray before him, then whisked the lid off, revealing the largest, juiciest hamburgers he had ever seen in his life, with two ground beef patties, bacon, cheddar and pepperjack cheese, mayo, ketchup, mustard, dill pickles and gherkins sandwiched between two pumpernickel buns.

"Gods!" Yugi whispered.

"Please, enjoy, habibi," entreated Atem as he picked up his own hamburger and sat down.

"Itadakimasu!"

Yugi and Atem picked up their hamburgers and bit in. Exquisite! Delicious! Sublime! None of these adjectives could go far enough to describe the taste of that hamburger in Yugi's mouth. He knew Burger World was forever wrecked for him after having eaten Atem's beautiful burger, but that was more than alright with him.

Later...

"The food was great!"

"What an awesome burger, Até. I dunno if I'll ever be able to go back to Burger World now," joked Yugi.

"Why, thank you, habibi. No, no! Stay seated. The evening is far from over," said Atem as he stood and took their plates to the sink. "After every birthday dinner comes the gift."

At the word 'gift', Yugi's head swiveled around and he watched wide-eyed as Atem quickly rinsed their used plates off, then retreated upstairs. The sound of bare feet thumping quickly upstairs, belying Atem's enthusiasm for the moment, caused a smile to break on Yugi's features.

'He did get me something!' he thought. 'For Atem to be so thoughtful, even with everything that's happened to him... He's just too awesome for words.'

The sound of feet thumping just as quickly downstairs alerted Yugi to Atem's approach and he sat up straight. Presently, Atem entered with a small black felt box in his hand, which he proffered to Yugi.

"For you, habibi," he said jubilantly as he sat down.

With large shining eyes, Yugi eagerly pried the box open, to reveal a gold cartouche like the one Atem always wore, with some hieroglyphs engraved in it, which he recognized instantly from the paper that hung on his wall.

"My name! My own cartouche with my name on it!" he cried as he jumped up and impulsively threw his arms around Atem's neck.

He felt the body tense up in his arms and was about to withdraw, when he felt Atem's arms wrap around him and a nose pressing against his neck.

"I'm so glad you like it," Atem whispered.

"So awesome! Now we'll totally match!" Yugi cried happily, breathing a secret sigh of relief that Atem's reaction to this hug was the opposite of his reaction to Yugi's first hug upon receiving a cartouche.

"Let's put yours on so we can begin matching," smiled Atem as he took the pendant from the box.

While Atem stood behind Yugi, clasping the chain at the nape of his neck, the warm hands that brushed against Yugi's skin sent electric jolts through his system. He looked down at the beautiful golden pendant that now reposed over his black shirt and smiled.

"I know!" he declared suddenly, pulling out his phone. "Pull your cartouche out of your shirt and lean into me, Até!"

Atem did so and smiled with Yugi as his habibi held the phone with its camera facing them and took a photo. Upon turning it around, their smiling faces were revealed to them in the phone's small screen.

"It's perfect, habibi," Atem declared happily.

"Want me to email it to you?" asked Yugi.

"Yes, please," replied Atem.

After firing off the email, Yugi put his phone away and sat on the spot on the couch next to Atem that Atem was patting. Remembering Atem's earlier easy acceptance of his touch, Yugi snuggled up next to the Egyptian and couldn't help but smile as Atem wound his arm around his shoulders and held him tight.

For now, everything was alright.