#puzzleshits

[principalcellist]

I wasn't going to color this, but then I started coloring it anyway because I lie to myself all the time - and then I 100% gave up halfway through because god

Happy MerMay

[principalcellist]

Can't believe I forgot to post this here! Happy Valentine's Day!

[principalcellist]

can you do 49?

#49 - Staring at each other’s lips for a moment before moving closer, as if drawn together by some unseen force.

BRUH. This ended up being longer and heavier than I meant it to be. Some background: Atem is gay and Yugi and he are best friends but Atem is in luuuurv, but he doesn’t want to scare Yugi away by being ~ToO gAy~ and he’s got a...not bad(?), but emotionally-distant relationship with his dad.

Idk, I might use this in an actual story one day  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It’s nearly two in the morning and they’re sitting on a street curb, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for their shared taxi to arrive. The night is eerily quiet, save for the occasional firework in the far-off distance from leftover New Year partiers. It’s not snowing, but it’s cold enough that their breath is visible and Atem squishes his shoulder against Yugi’s more, trying to leech his warmth.

“Quick, tell me your New Year’s resolution. Ready? Go!”

Atem just blinks, bringing himself back into reality from where ever he’d just been, and lifts an eyebrow.

“You’re bad at this game,” Yugi comments after a moment with no answer. “The instructions are so easy, too.”

“First of all, I am bad at no game ever, so jot that down.”

“Did you just meme me?”

“Secondly, do you actually make resolutions?”

“Of course I do!” He’s scandalized. “Everyone does!” Atem’s lips quirk and he turns his face back to the empty street. “You don’t?”

“I feel it’s rather pointless. If there’s something I want to do, I’ll just do it. Why put off later what I can do now?”

“I mean, okay. Yes. I see what you’re saying. But making resolutions you don’t actually intend to keep is part of the New Year’s experience.” He playfully shoves the other with his elbow. “Okay, what if you had to make one?”

“Who is it that’s forcing me?”

“Uh, say someone put a gun to your head and threatened to pull the trigger unless you made a resolution.”

“Is the chamber loaded?”

“Of course.”

“Hm, that is serious.” Atem thinks about it for a while, staring up at the stars. “I don’t know.”

“Jeez, fine.” Yugi leans back on his palms, brow furrowing in thought. “I’ll make one for you.”

“I don’t think that’s how it’s supposed to work…”

“You should tell your dad that you’re gay.”

There’s a stiff, silent pause in time that hangs over their heads like a storm cloud. Louder than the night, but colder for it. When Atem finally lowers his head to meet Yugi’s stare, there’s not even the slightest semblance of his usual good-natured mischief. Instead, his violet eyes are stiff and defiant. Resolute.

“…You know why I don’t want to do that.”

“But I think you need to. How many kokatsu appointments are you going to flake on before he suspects something is up? And don’t pretend that him trying to find girls for you doesn’t make you uncomfortable - I have eyes.”

“It’s fine.” Atem buries his chin into his scarf, feeling his cold fingers balling into fists. “He’ll give up after I reject a few of them. He’ll avoid the issue, just like he always does.”

“But after that?” Yugi presses. “When he stops arranging them, but then starts passive-aggressively asking you when you’re going to bring a girl home? When another dinner goes by with you two only saying the bare minimum before falling into awkward silence? He’s your dad. He cares about you—”

“If he cares so much, he should’ve noticed by now!” Atem finally bursts, voice snapping through the stillness with the loudness of shattering glass.

The passing time is suddenly painfully obvious as Atem feels every second, every minute, tick by in the span of a heartbeat, pulsing hard against his chest. He watches Yugi’s steel dissolve into flesh, his lips forming around silent words. Atem wishes he’d say something, anything, to drown out the echoing inside his own head.

“Hey…” It’s spoken in such a low, hushed way, Atem might not have even noticed it if it weren’t for the hand now on his shoulder. “Look, I get that you’re mad, and maybe scared, and I’ll admit I don’t really know how these things work in your culture, but—” he takes in a breath, slow and heavy “—I see the way he tries reaches out to you, and I see the way you reach out to him, even if you don’t realize it. I don’t know if he’d like it, but I do know he’d at least try to understand. Because he loves you, Atem, and I think you’ll really regret it if you don’t say anything while you can.”

Atem knows that Yugi doesn’t get to see his own father a lot; that he loves his dad very much, but they’ve never been close and probably, at this point, never will be - that his grandpa was the main paternal figure he had growing up. Yet here Atem was, father always around and still very much part of his life, but done trying.

He doesn’t want to sound as guilty as he feels, but the best he can do is murmur, “It…it’s going to be really weird. And awkward.”

“Then I’ll go with you!” Yugi says, no hesitation. “I probably can’t make it any less weird or awkward, but I’ll be emotional support! And if your dad needs some time to himself afterward, I’ll take you to Burger World and we’ll stuff our faces. Then we’ll stay the night at my house and binge Mario Party until our eyes fall out.”

Atem chuckles. “We already do that all the time.”

“Yeah? And it’s fun!”

“You don’t have to go out of your way for me.”

“But I want to,” Yugi insists. The hand on his shoulder moves upward to pluck a stray piece of confetti from his dark hair, leftovers from the New Year’s celebration. “You’re crazy if you really think I’d let you go through something like that alone.”

“I’ll…think about it,” Atem says pensively, but there’s a smile on his lips, alight in his eyes and heart. Yugi’s smile is much the same, and it hovers delicately in what little space exists between their moonlit faces.

“Oh, I just thought of another resolution for you.”

“And what’s that?”

“You should smile more often.”

Atem loses himself somewhere in the breath of the words. They’ve somehow leaned in close enough that he can actually feel the statement on his warmed cheeks, a sudden summer breeze in the middle of winter. So close that Atem, heartbeat thudding in his throat, clearly sees it when Yugi’s gaze flits down to his mouth, studying the curve of it before he seems to realize what he’s doing and anxiously looks back up.

Atem only response is to release a shaky exhale and let his own gaze drop to Yugi’s lips. He wonders if it’s the alcohol making him so brave, the excitement of a New Year, or something else. He doesn’t have time to really debate which it is, because Yugi’s eyes are lowered again and Atem is shifting closer and – oh. Suddenly, nothing exists between them except the taste of cheap champagne.

It’s a light touch, soft and unsure, but it’s a big deal. A huge deal. A firework a couple blocks away suddenly explodes and Atem jerks back, startled. Then reality settles in and he’s leaning away further, face burning, ready to fix the situation before Yugi can get too disgusted and leave.

“I’m so—" he tries, but Yugi is pulling him back in, lips colliding, hands gently framing his face for another heartbeat.

“Don’t apologize,” Yugi says, resting their brows together. “Not for this.” Atem swallows, mouth dry, but he’s not finished: “You already know I’m attracted to guys, but I’ve never been with one. I’ve never seriously thought about it until I met you. I like you a stupid amount. I always think about you – I’ve even dreamed about you. Sometimes it honestly feels like I’m dying, but in a weird, good way. Like—” He suddenly grabs Atem’s hand, holding it tight against the spot where his heart pounds a hard, erratic rhythm.

“That’s all you.”

[principalcellist]

Proof that I haven’t forgotten about updating Counter. I’m working on it LOL

[principalcellist]

Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE drawing their hair? I have?? WELL, I’M GOING TO KEEP SAYING IT.

Anyway, these are just some quick sketches of the turds for my AU (that I really need to finish writing the next part of lmao). Also?? That kiss?? I  D I E D.

Read it on Ao3

[principalcellist]

Shoutout to the anon who reminded me (on Yugi’s birthday lol) that I’ve abandoned my boys. This is for you.

[principalcellist]

puzzleshit idea

Atem is an Arabian prince who fled his country for safety after a civil war broke out (He’s trying to keep his identity a secret of course)

Yugi thinks the big secret is that he’s gay

I mean, Atem is - but that’s besides the point

Atem thinks Yugi knows the PRINCE secret tho and is confused on why he doesn’t tell, but is very grateful he doesn’t

Atem is all “Thank you for not telling everyone about...well, you know...” and Yugi (bless him) is just like “Hm? OH! Yeah. Well, it’s not a big deal, right?”

Atem is just that ??? meme afterward

Nevertheless, to show his gratitude, Atem gives Yugi little gifts - nothing big or fancy or whatever, but periodically bringing him lunch or finding a nice flower because gay reasons appreciation

Yugi is like “that’s not necessary, but thanks” and graciously accepts them because he doesn’t want to be R U D E and he actually likes Atem doting on him

Anzu sees one of these interactions and her first thought - like any other romantic - is “A FOREIGNER!! GIVING GIFTS!!? THAT’S COURTING, RIGHT??!!”

So Anzu tells Yugi she thinks Atem is courting him and wants to be a couple

And Yugi’s the ??? meme all over again

BUT! AT THE SAME TIME he’s also kind of super excited because WOW, he thinks Atem is really nice, too!

Idk more stuff happens and they end up developing those pesky ~ f E e L i N g S ~ for each other

Awkward hilarity ensues

When Yugi finally finds out Atem is a prince he’s just like “WHAT??!!!”

“I thought you knew!!”

“I THOUGHT THE SECRET WAS THAT YOU’RE GAY!!!!”

“THAT WAS A SECRET??!!”

Because frankly, Atem was very obviously gay with Yugi the whole time

“I’VE BEEN DATING A PRINCE THIS WHOLE TIME??”

Atem is super embarrassed but also hopefully happy because “We....we’re dating?”

And Yugi is also embarrassed now and dying on the inside because “OH MY GOD - OH, NO YOU’RE TOO CUTE--!!”

[principalcellist]

please kiss each other omg please please just kiss