Title: The Boys of Summer – Ch. 4: Come Sail Away
Author: bnomiko
Rating: PG-13
Pairing(s): Yami x Seto, Rafael + Valon + Amelda, Malik + Bakura
Spoilers: none… takes place post-Orichalcos Doom arc
Warnings: swearing, lime
Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is the creation of Kazuki Takahashi. "The Boys of Summer" is performed and recorded by Don Henley. "Come Sail Away" is performed and recorded by Styx. Gatorade is a product of The Quaker Oats Company. This is a not-for-profit fanwork and I do not own any of these characters.
Summary: Sequel to "More Than Words" (can stand alone, but it makes more sense if read as a sequel). Independence Day with Valon leads to a short sea jaunt during the fourth day of the vacation.
Status: 5 / 9
Archived at: http://www.phenixsol.com/Miko/FF/

This is a MILD YAOI fic (male x male sexual situations). If you are offended by homosexual relationships, please do not read this. Flames will be disregarded.

* * *

Author’s Notes:

@>’--,---‘--- @>’--,---‘--- @>’--,---‘--- @>’--,---‘---

The Boys of Summer

Ch. 4: Come Sail Away

* * *

Yami began to awkwardly reach for his phone as the loud digitized recording of "Monochrome Trouble" sounded for the second time in less than a minute.

"Yami… don't… ah…"

"What if… it's important?"

"It's not. No one… important is going… to call you…"

"But…" The ringtone stopped playing. And then started again. "Nnh. Just let me…"

"No, damn you!" Seto swept his arm out and knocked the phone off the nightstand and onto the floor. "Ha! Oh… mmmm…"

"… Yeah." Yami leaned over and trailed kisses down Seto's spine. "Baby…" Then Seto's cellphone began ringing. Both teens froze. "Don't answer that."

"Mother fuckin' goddamn piece of shit…" the brunette muttered, his hand automatically creeping forward for the phone.

"Kai-baby, don't. It's not important."

"Like hell! What if something happened at…" Seto momentarily lost his train of thought as Yami began moving again. "Ah, uhhhh… at home?"

The shorter duelist paused again and sighed, bracing himself against his lover's back. "Fine, just make it… see, it stopped ringing."

Seto groaned and dropped his forehead against the pillow as Yami chuckled and shifted his weight back over his knees. But then, as if to spite them both, Seto's cellphone began ringing obnoxiously again. "Shit!" Before his younger lover had a chance to protest, Seto snagged the phone and flipped it open quickly. "Kaiba," he barked testily.

"Hey, took you blokes long enough to pick up," Valon said cheerfully.

The young billionaire stared at the phone in disbelief, then yelled, "Damn you, Valon!"

Yami growled and collapsed against Seto's back. Irritated, he slid a hand over his boyfriend's shoulder and closed it around the cellphone. "Give me the phone."

"No."

"Seto, give me the phone."

"Why?"

"Because…" Seto grumbled something unintelligible and handed Yami the cellphone. "Valon, we're…"

"Hi Yami! I tell you, Kaiba's a prick without his morning coffee. But you already knew that. I'm on my way to pick you two up."

"Valon."

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

Yami's eyebrow twitched. "Valon!"

"Yesss?"

"We're fucking! Interrupt us again and I'm going to hunt you down and send you to the Shadow Realm!" The ex-spirit slammed the cellphone shut and threw it aside, where it was promptly forgotten.

* * *

The youngest member of Doom had to guts to show up at the hotel anyways, but at least he made sure to show up a good hour later than he originally planned. Yami had apparently forgiven him, since he not only accepted Valon's phone call from the lobby but also he agreed to go down and escort the Aussie back up to the suite.

Seto had just stepped out of the bathroom when Yami and Valon walked into the suite. "Yami? Where are… shit! When did he get here?" he asked, glowering darkly at Valon once he got over his initial surprise.

"He called while you were in the shower. Since you weren't ready yet, I thought it would be rude if I just left him waiting downstairs."

"Rude? Rude. You know what's rude…?"

"Uh, Kai-baby…"

"Ah, sorry about that, mate! I didn't know you were ah… having a naughty." Valon threw Seto a wink.

"A what? No, wait… never mind."

Psst, Kai-baby…

"By the way, Kaiba, nice towel. Don't get dressed on my account."

Yami covered his mouth with his hand, but couldn't stop a few sniggers from escaping. Seto gave him an accusatory look. I was trying to tell you, Baby…

The taller teen's entire face reddened. "That's it! Get OUT! Both of you!"

"But…"

"OUT!!" He pushed both teens into the hallway and slammed the door behind them.

"Hm. Mad as a cut snake," Valon observed while studying the door. "Well, I suppose I should bring him a peace offering. What kind of coffee would he want?"

Yami shrugged. Want some coffee?

Seto gave a mental growl. Yami-kins… do you reaaally have to ask?

Well… what kind?

Anything strong.

Yami sent his lover a smile. Junkie.

Hn. Whatever.

"He just said something strong. And I'll have some hot chocolate if you don't mind. We'll be down in the lobby by the time you get back."

"All right. And… by the way…"

"Hmm?"

"You did all right for yourself, mate. Kaiba's… well, he's hotter than I imagined." Valon's blue eyes twinkled in mischief as Yami glared daggers at him, the Sennen Eye flashing briefly on his forehead. "Aw, don't get all upset now. It's a compliment! I'll be back in a jiffy."

* * *

A half-hour later, the three duelists were on their way up to the Bayshore Marina in Newport Beach, where Valon's Phoenix Gravitation was docked along with a hundred other yachts, sailboats, sloops and pontoons. The marina was quite the hotbed of activity, and Valon explained that since it was July 4th, it would only get busier since there was an annual Fourth of July boat parade taking place early that afternoon as well as the Fireworks Over the Bay display later that evening.

"And here she is, ain't she a beaut? 39 foot long Carver Motor Yacht. She's half mine, half Pegasus'." Valon patted the hull of the ship with great pride.

"I hope you're better at steering a boat than driving a car… Ow!" Seto glared at his boyfriend.

Kai-baby, be nice.

Why?

Because. Just be nice.

Valon grinned idiotically at the two of them. "Is there any way you can teach me that telepathy thing? Cause I think that'd be awesome… wouldn't Rafael and Amelda get a kick out of it!"

Yami scratched the back of his head. "Um… I don't think it's something I can teach someone. It's just… there."

"Aw, that's too bad. Oh well…" Valon hopped onto the back of the yacht and held out his hand. "Come on now."

Yami and Seto followed him onboard and the Aussie gave them a quick tour. The ship had a kitchenette, plush living area, and two staterooms with roomy beds and their own baths. "It's amazing they can fit all this stuff in here… it's like a floating apartment," Yami observed. "So how do you decide who sleeps where?"

"The fore cabin is for Pegasus. He doesn't come out much but does use the boat on occasion. Amelda and I have the aft. And Rafael… he's come aboard a few times when we're docked, but otherwise… Well, I can't blame him." Valon's eyes darkened momentarily in thought, but he shrugged it off. " So… is there any place you two want to go? Normally I just take her out into the open sea and let her drift while I sunbake. Or we could join the boat parade."

Seto frowned at the thought of being paraded around like some sort of tourist attraction, but Yami beat him to the response. Letting a hand drift over the buttons on his shirt, the ex-spirit said, "I want to work on a tan too. It'll be my souvenir from this trip."

* * *

The brunette CEO thought he would regret not bringing along his laptop, but after about forty minutes out at sea he really wasn't as bored as he thought he would be. Valon and Yami both insisted on roasting themselves out on the walk-deck while he stayed inside the salon and passed his time lying on the sofa, mind linking into the conversation through Yami, who was now on the verge of falling asleep and lulling Seto into a half-dream state in turn. Apparently the link could not only to connect their thoughts and feelings, but could be expanded to include a phantom physical sensation as well. Letting his mind wander, the young billionaire thought about how natural mind linking felt now that he had some practice with it. He had initially expected it to be… intrusive and insidious. It was something that required absolute trust and he hadn't been convinced of his own feelings until just recently. But once he was open to the idea... he found that it wasn't anything like he feared. Instead, it was soothing and warm; Yami's emotions washed gently over his like the lapping of waves on a still summer's day, their thoughts embracing like long-lost lovers...

On the edge of Seto's mind, Yami hummed happily at his lover's good mood even though he wasn't privy to the actual thoughts. And that was another thing... Yami never tried to intrude and was never upset at being blocked out, which Seto did more often than not. He supposed that was something he needed to work on. Idly Seto also wondered if it were possible to remain mind linked while asleep and what would happen if it were, and of course there were all the sexual possibilities now that they were out of Yugi's range of "hearing"…

He must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next thing he knew, someone was shaking him awake. Or perhaps not. Regardless, Seto rolled over and promptly fell off the sofa he had been dozing on, and wondered absently why he felt so hot.

Yami?

Mmm?

Are you all right?

I think… I've been out in the sun too long.

Seto frowned, climbed to his feet, and rushed out to the deck to check on his lover. He found Valon crouched over Yami with the back of his hand pressed against the ex-spirit's cheek. Scowling, Seto practically shoved the other brunette out of the way and knelt beside his lover, his fingers lightly trailing over Yami's back. He didn't look badly sunburned, but his skin did feel warmer than usual.

"Ah, I'm afraid we both fell asleep. He probably has a bit of heat stroke and might develop a wee bit of sunburn later down his backside. Good thing I insisted that he use sunscreen..."

How ironic is it for an Egyptian to get heat stroke or a sunburn? Well, I guess technically Yami isn't Egyptian anymore… Yami moaned and slowly propped himself up on his forearms, red eyes focusing uncertainly on Seto's face. The young billionaire's scowl deepened and he attempted to pull his boyfriend to his feet, noting for the first time that both teens had been sunbathing in the nude. He suddenly had the maddening urge to kill Valon, but first he wanted to get Yami inside and with the way the younger teen was wobbling against him, it looked like he was going to have his hands full of Yami, thereby sparing Valon's scrawny neck for the time being. It's okay. I'll get you inside and get you into a cold shower, okay?

Yami nodded slightly and pressed his head against his lover's chest. Seto reached down and scooped up the shorter duelist easily and carried him down to the salon, Valon quickly following after he had gotten his shorts back on.

"You can use the master head, mate, in the aft," Valon said, seeing Seto looking around indecisively. "There's a shower on the left once you're through the door. I'll go get some bottled water from the fridge; we have to get him rehydrated. And I'm really sorry about this… I didn't mean…"

"Whatever." Seto headed for the bathroom and deposited Yami on the tiny ledge inside the stall and turned on the water, using the handheld shower head to gently run cool water over Yami's body. The former Pharaoh sighed and shut his eyes.

Don't pass out on me.

I won't. I'm just… tired.

Yeah, well, baking your brain will do that…

"Hey, err… I brought some bottled water and Gatorade. I'll leave them outside the door, okay? I'm going to start heading back to the harbor, just in case."

"Hn." Dumbass.

Me or him?

Both of you.

Yami blinked and looked up at the taller teen, water dripping off his bangs. I didn't mean to fall asleep.

I… I know. You just… Feeling a bit better? Seto asked lamely.

Yeah. Still tired though.

You can take a nap once I get you cooled down and you get some fluids into you.

Seto, that sounds dirty, Yami complained.

Yami! Oh for crying out loud… The brunette couldn't help but roll his eyes, causing the shorter teen to chuckle weakly.

Sleep with me? Seto gaped at Yami incredulously. No, not like that. I mean if I take a nap…

Oh… well, yeah… sure. Truth be told, he didn't feel so great himself and a nap sounded pretty good. Just a short one though, he told himself. I don't want to sleep the day away.

* * *

Valon checked back in on his guests once the Phoenix Gravitation docked at the marina. As he crept into the cabin, Seto awoke and glared at him with half-lidded eyes, a low rumbling growl warning the Aussie to not get any closer.

Valon stopped where he was, eyes wide. "Is he all right?" he mouthed, gesturing at Yami, who was naked and curled up on his side atop the sheets, an arm flung over Seto's stomach.

The tall CEO began to shrug in response, then thought better of it and nodded instead.

"Can I get you anything? Lunch? More water? Aspirin?"

Seto's brow furrowed momentarily, then he shook his head. "Sleep," he mouthed back, the rhythmic rolling of waves already rocking him back to sleep.

"All right." Valon left and Seto shut his eyes again.

* * *

The next time Seto awoke, it was already early evening. Crap… how long have we been asleep? He felt Yami shift beside him and heard a yawn.

"Yami?"

"Yeah, I'm awake."

"Mm." Seto rolled onto his side and slapped his hand onto his lover's forehead. He was relieved to find that Yami's fever had subsided and his temperature was back to normal.

"Baby, I'm fine," Yami said, batting lightly at the brunette's hand. "But thank you for staying with me."

"Hn. Whatever," Seto automatically responded. "So… you need more aspirin or anything?"

"Well… more of that gel would be nice. My back's a bit tender."

The older duelist rose and retrieved a bottle of aloe vera gel from the nightstand, along with a bottle of orange Gatorade. Yami sat up and accepted the drink gratefully, sipping it slowly while Seto massaged another handful of gel onto his back. At least Yami's sunburn wasn't severe… his skin was just slightly pink now that his core temperature had stabilized. "I think I heard Rafael's and Amelda's voices past the door," Seto mentioned conversationally after he was done with the treatment.

"I suppose we should make an appearance, ne?"

"Not while you're naked."

A light blush touched Yami's cheeks. "Kai-baby, I left everything up on the deck."

Seto let loose a small sigh. "I'll go get your clothes. Sit tight." Straightening up his rumpled cotton shirt and khakis the best he could, Seto slipped out the door and walked straight into Pegasus.

The silver-haired man smiled in greeting. "Kaiba."

"Pegasus." Vaguely he recalled Valon mentioning that the yacht was half his. "I didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow."

"I didn't come here to talk business... I'm only here for the fireworks show."

"Hn. Excuse me."

"Ah, Kaiba!" The young billionaire's current least favorite person came running up to the pair of CEOs. "If you're looking for Yami's clothes, I dropped them off in the head."

Pegasus turned a blinding smile onto Seto, who blanched and wondered if anyone would notice if he killed Pegasus along with Valon. Rafael and Amelda probably would, which would mean he'd have to get rid of them too. What a headache. Without another word, Seto turned around and returned to the master stateroom.

* * *

After a simple dinner of finger sandwiches and potato salad, the six men gathered on the bridge to await the start of the fireworks show. All around them, private beachfront homes, the marina, and other boats were alive with activity. When the sky finally darkened sufficiently, the fireworks show began, eliciting a roar from all the assembled spectators at the marina.

Yami smiled as the sky lit up in a rainbow of colors, the fingers of his right hand interlaced with Seto's left. Ooh, that was nice. And I liked that purple one right before it.

Yami, we have fireworks all the time at KaibaLand and you aren't this impressed with them.

The former Pharaoh huffed lightly. I'm always impressed with them. You just don't notice. When we're at KaibaLand, you're only watching the fireworks display because you're convinced that you need to improve the show. You're so caught up with what could be going wrong that you don't see what's going right. Look at the positives, Kai-baby. At least this day is ending nicely.

Oh yeah, I had a blast.

As if on cue, a spectacular barrage of red and white fireworks crackled and bloomed in the night sky. Seto scowled faintly.

"Come on now. It's not that bad, Kaiba," Pegasus said cryptically from his seat at the helm. When Seto quirked a brow at him, the silver-haired CEO nodded his head at Yami, who continued to gaze up at the sky from his perch aboard his lover's lap. Seto found himself tightening his arm around Yami's waist possessively, which earned him a nod of approval from Pegasus.

Baby? Something wrong?

Seto shook his head as more fireworks went screaming through the sky, lighting up the darkness with flickering sparkles of blue and red. He could hear Valon cheering his approval behind them, accompanied by Amelda's soft clap and Rafael's low grunt.

Hn. Look at the positives, he told himself. Everyone at the marina was having a good time. And somewhere between the sandwiches and start of the fireworks show, he had lost his urge to do bodily harm to Valon and Pegasus, at least for the time being. And best of all…

Seto rested his chin on Yami's shoulder, and in return, the shorter duelist chuckled softly and pressed a light kiss on his lover's cheek.

Yeah, fine, I guess this day wasn't so bad after all…

* * *

TBC

@>’--,---‘--- @>’--,---‘--- @>’--,---‘--- @>’--,---‘---

Additional Author’s Notes (regarding how this chapter came up):

* * *

July 19, 2005