Atem rapidly pressed the buttons on the remote, not staying on one for any length of time and some barely long enough to even catch what the program was. Kaiba, annoyed, glanced over at him from the other couch cushion.
“Please just pick a channel and stick to it already.”
Atem blew one of his bangs out of his eyes in a huff. “I don’t want to watch something new unless it’s from the beginning. I hate not knowing what’s going on.”
Mokuba piped up from the floor where he was laying on his stomach across various strewn pillows, comic book in hand. “You could just stream something instead? Or maybe something recorded?”
Atem pursed his lips, frustrated with his own indecision– and something he knew actively got on Kaiba’s nerves every time it was his turn to pick. He flipped through two more channels before something caught his eye.
Atem lowered the remote as the screen showed a KC Cup Tournament duel between himself and Kaiba.
Mokuba looked up as the cheering audience caught his attention, sitting up to lean against the couch. “Oh, I love this one!”
Atem raised an eyebrow and turned to Kaiba. “What is this?”
“All KC Tournaments are aired. How did you not know this? You signed a waiver.”
“Ah, right.” Atem looked back to the screen, searching his shared memories from those years. “I’m not sure I truly understood at that point. I was more concerned about a chance to duel you that I was about the technological aspects of it.”
Kaiba’s eyes widened imperceptivity and turned away to catch a shot of himself drawing a card with a flourish and slamming down a card with a flick of his fingers, mouthing off about his opponent having no chance to beat him as his coattails billowed around him.
“You’ve always had a flair for the dramatic, Seto.” Atem looked at him from the corner of his eye, smirking.
Mokuba looked back at Atem, unamused. “Don’t even. You absolutely do it too and are sometimes worse.”
The camera shot cut to Atem drawing a card with the flick of his wrist, not even bothering to look at it as he slammed it down. He threw a hand back as the wind from the summoned monster flapped his jacket around his shoulders like a cape, all the while spewing about the Heart of the Cards, lecturing Kaiba the entire time while also arguing it was their destiny to battle.
Atem’s face scrunched up as he cringed lightly. Mokuba turned back to look at him square in the eye, his face daring Atem to say a word.
Atem schooled his expression and changed the channel, effectively cutting himself off from the speech he was still giving Kaiba on screen. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he claimed, full of air, as he continued his rapid channel flipping.
Kaiba ran a hand down his face and thrust his hand out towards him. “Give me the goddamn remote.”
Atem held the remote out of his reach. “No, it’s my turn to pick, Kaiba, and I intend to do just that.”
“At this rate it’ll be the next century by the time you decide on something.”
“Well, I suppose that’s just another century of you being frustrated with me, wouldn’t you say?” Atem’s eyes gleamed as his tone took on a hint of teasing.
Kaiba’s eyes rolled towards the ceiling before conceding, turning back to his phone. “Don’t push your luck that I’ll put up with you for that long.” The jab lacked all of the typical bite and derision to be expected from Kaiba.
Atem settled on a program he vaguely recognized from previous episodes. He leaned his head back to look at Kaiba with a sly smirk in the corner of his lips. “You’ve already put up with me for millennia, Seto, I think you can stand a few more years.”
Mokuba made a gagging sound as he flopped back into the pillows. “Ugh, you guys are gonna make me barf.”
Atem winked at Kaiba before settling back into his seat, a small, secret smile on his face.
