A change doesn’t have to be a bad thing, he reminds himself, over and over again to try and subside (or preferably just outright ignore) the bubble of anxiety in his chest and the tension in his shoulders on his way to the apartment he’s already terribly late to be moving into. He’s not at all unfamiliar with the concept of avoiding going home– things should be different now, not living with his father, but not knowing what to expect to find waiting for him at home is somehow almost worse. What if this roommate is some kind of weirdo and they can’t possibly get along? Even worse, what if they’re a total jerk, or.. or… a complete neat freak to nag him all the time about needing to tidy himself up.
He knows very well that he should’ve gotten this over with earlier in the day, just hurried up and faced the fear of the unknown, but like any true procrastinator he pushes off the simple task of even going home until the sun is already setting and he doesn’t have many other choices left if he wants to be able to ever find his way there. This isn’t Domino, where he knows every street and back alley turnaround better than the back of his own hand… and finding himself lost and stranded is probably the only thing worse than going home to someone who might not even want him there.
The silhouette he spots when he opens the door catches him offguard, confused at first in the dim lighting of the apartment and certain his eyes must be playing tricks on him or… something more reasonable than what he’s actually seeing, eyes squinting sharply and coming in closer with a sense of surreal disbelief. “Yugi? What’s with the–” It’s the voice… that voice, moreso than anything, that sends a shocking jolt of realization through his body that no matter how impossible the reality that he’s seeing may be, it still is, in fact, reality.
He never has been someone particularly adept at navigating his own complex emotions, and now is certainly no exception with the torrent of joys and pains gripping at his heart, racing away in his chest. He feels just as speechless as the other, perhaps even moreso, feelings written plainly on his face while he stands several feet away, gawking at the other. All that time he’d spent back then preparing for Atem to inevitably leave, forcing himself to come to terms with and accept that so he could see him off with a smile… it couldn’t have ever erased the heavy ache each of them had felt and carried with them since he’d departed, Joey just as much so as their other friends. To see him standing here now, after everything they had all gone through to see him off properly, once and for all, he’s not sure if what he’s feeling is a selfish relief in seeing him again or a kind of almost terror of what could be so wrong that Atem would be dragged back all over again, and if being here means he’s suffering…
– Aw, fuck it, he decides, after too many minutes of staring and thinking (something that everyone who knows him can agree is not his forte) instead of acting, crossing the short distance between them to throw his arms around Atem in a hug that could probably crush the life back out of him for fear of him disappearing all over again if he doesn’t hold him tightly enough. His eyes feel hot and wet, blinking back the stinging moisture gathering in the corners so that he won’t actually cry and make even more of a fool of himself than he usually does. He’s so warm… real flesh and blood and bone, and apparently all his own rather than the shared body of a willing host. That’s kind of strange to think about, when for so long both Atem and Yugi had been a partnership that came as a packaged deal… but probably for the best. Breathing a sigh of relief, he doesn’t pull away or release his grip on the smaller man at all, but he does finally find it in himself to speak.
“What are you doing here? How are you here? Not that I’m not happy to see you, but…” Things as complicated as the workings of the afterlife, fate, destiny… it’s all a little too much for him to comprehend, and maybe for the moment, he doesn’t really care about the specific details. Finally releasing Atem enough to hold him at arms length and get a proper look at him, he eyes the other up and down, still in a sort of disbelief and panic blended with the euphoria of an old friend’s company that he never thought he’d get to see again. “You look good, man… except whatever the hell you’re wearin’. What are those?” don’t meme on him!!!
It failed to dawn on him that he had truly never met Joey as himself... Of course, he knew Joey, he would call him a best friend, however he had never truly met him as himself, it was always on borrowed body and time. In the moments where no words were spoken, he felt something being shared between them silently, the crushing feelings of emotions that had been locked away for who knows precisely how long was beginning to crush them both, immobile under its intense weight. He was smart enough to realize Joeys feelings..... though he knew better to act on them, regret for never speaking about his true hearts desires crashing into him waves, now threatening to pull him under in their tide. Where would he even begin?
The hug caught him a bit off guard, unable to move for a brief moment until his body reacted naturally, reaching his hands up to wrap his arms around the other. He clung too tightly onto Joeys shirt, as though if he did not hold quite tight enough that the other will be but a memory once more, haunting him with what-could-have-beens. All it took was the brief stammering of Joeys breath for him to realize that he was also fighting back the urge to cry... it was a happy cry, mixed with a release of emotion that neither dare share. Joey was so warm and... tall and comforting. He really had not changed much at all. It was nice to be able to keep his feelings for Joey and what he was thinking to himself as well....
Once the other finally pulls away, he’s reluctant at first, holding onto Joeys shirt until the last possible moment and smiling at the other with a bit of a shrug. He’s not sure what to say first. He can’t exactly explained what the afterlife was like... a warmth... but then, nothing really, though clearly the world itself was not done with him and that itself was difficult to explain. He hums and shakes his head.
“I wish I had more to offer you as an explanation. By all right and sense, I should be dead still.” It’s.... weird thinking that he was truly dead and now he isn’t. Referring to himself in such a way scared him a bit. He had taken so much time to accept the fact that he would be departing again, but now to be pulled back... Exactly how long did he have to be back now? How long does he get to have a life here.... it seemed unfair, and not something that he wanted to think about. Luckily, Joey had other points to push that snapped him out of it and suddenly had him feeling quite defensive.
Huffing, he puts his hands on his hips. “I’ll have you know this is the traditional garb of a pharaoh. This is far more comfortable anyways and I’ve yet found the time to go shopping for clothes of your time. Those pants that Yugi would always wear were tragically uncomfortable -- skinny jeans, right? How do you people expect to be mobile.....” Pausing, he caught himself going on a bit of a rant, as he is want to do, but smiles at the other, with sort of a devious.
“I look good? Thank goodness, and here I believed you would be less attracted to me now that I am only myself.” Called him out..... and also.... it feels nice to be with Joey again, things fell naturally into place, almost as though nothing every changed. He was not shy with looking the other up and down. “I’m glad to see you haven’t changed, years have not diminished your dashing good looks.” No one says things like ‘dashing’ anymore... unless you’re a thousand year old man. It was just... nice to see that this Joey was still the same. Even though they were speaking now, the air still felt almost unbearably heavy with things left unspoken, reaching his hand out for a moment, he was tempted to grab Joeys hand, but thought better before and retracted the hand back to his hip. “Have you been well?”
