Disclaimer: Plain and simple. I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh!

A/N: I needed to write something light after all those heavy chapters for "Carry On" and "The Garden." Also, I finally found the beginnings of this after months of it hiding from me. I'd find it, then lose my notebook, then find it again, and lose it again… yeah, you see the pattern. So anyway, I hope it still has the tone of the first chapter, and I hope I can continue to add to this 'story' in the future. Enjoy!

- Ocean

Day Two – The Beach

Now this, right here, was how a beach chair was supposed to be treated.

Warm, bright sands that softly cradled its elongated and awkward shape. A harshly soft breeze that whipped and stung and roared at its faded plastic colors. Glaring sunbeams that penetrated the cloudy sky and promised to warm and burn to their brightest potential. Fluffy, cushioned towel of bright bright green that cocooned it like a blanket. All this, with the promise of coldness and salt from the blue-gray ocean in front of it, and a beach chair had reached nirvana.

The chair was perfectly willing to forgive Yuugi the indiscretion he had put it through on that bitter winter's day at the park. Or it was, until Yuugi, drenched to the bone in chilling water, ran up the beach and flung himself clumsily into its supporting embrace.

The chair groaned with the added weight, creaking in protest against the rough treatment it was yet again receiving. Yuugi wriggled himself into the chair, grinding the thousand sand granules he'd brought with him into the worn plastic.

Honestly! Was such a loyal companion destined to be treated so poorly?

Yuugi remained blissfully unaware of his beach chair's problems, shivering as a rogue lick of ocean wind pushed its way under his vibrant towel and triumphantly eradicated all heat he had managed to trap beneath the cotton. Grabbing hold of the edges of the towel he quickly flapped the material in a dire effort to rid himself of the chill. But all he managed to do was capture more cold air, much to the amusement of his snickering Subject.

Yuugi got his own laugh when the Subject – who had opted to stay in the iceberg known as the Pacific Ocean – was knocked head over heals by a brave wave he hadn't noticed coming. It was quite an interesting sound to hear; Yuugi's teeth chattering through his boisterous laughter. The sounds the Subject were muttering once he clawed his way back to the surface were no doubt as fascinating, though probably not as suitable for young ears.

Yuugi nearly jumped out of his towel when an orange plastic Frisbee flew just inches over his belly and from his nose. He yelped in surprise, a high-pitched, almost girly sound that his Subject would use as a bargaining chip for the next two months.

Sand flying in all directions and a brawny arm reaching over him alerted Yuugi to Jou's appearance. He watched blankly as Jou retrieved the Frisbee and, with an elegant flick of his wrist, sent the devious little saucer flying back towards the family that had lost it. It wasn't until Jou, clad only in his electric blue bathing suit, wrapped his own candy striped towel around his waist and sat beside Yuugi in the sand, careful to move the rather sharp edge of the Subject's plastic shovel out from under his bottom, were any pleasantries exchanged between the two friends.

"You got sand on my towel," Yuugi said resentfully.

"Eh, you'll live." It wasn't as though Jou was going to apologize for something he felt was deserved anyway. Plus, he made it a rule never to apologize for having fun.

Yuugi frowned during the next five minutes while he meticulously rid his towel of every grain of sand he could find. Jou spent the time rummaging through his beach tote, a bright white, knitted, gaudy thing that he only used because he knew it embarrassed Yuugi and the Subject to be seen with it in public.

"Pink, green, yellow, orange, or blue?" Jou asked, his nose buried in the tote.

Yuugi had is own issues to deal with. "I can still feel sand on me! Bleh!"

"I'll go with pink, for variety." Long ago Jou had learned the painful but valuable lesson that when it came to Yuugi and his comfort, it was best to remain happily ignorant of the situation until you heard the key word that proclaimed that Yuugi was once again ready to join polite society. Jou shuddered at the memory while he uncapped the tube that contained the pink-colored zinc oxide and squeezed a generous amount onto his finger. Never again would he allow anyone to convince him of the sweet, innocent, and assumingly non-violent nature of his best friend. His right shoulder had hurt for a week as a result of Yuugi's displeasure of being interrupted during his rant about how uncomfortable spandex could be.

"Divine."

Ah, there we go. Jou raised his finger covered in the thick sun block, smeared some under his eyes and on the bridge of his nose, then turned to his friend.

There was a long moment of silence that confused Jou. It wasn't like Yuugi to stare that openly or that… well, there was no other way to say it… that dumbly at anyone.

"You look ridiculous," Yuugi finally blurted out. He proved his sincerity by waving his arm over his head to get the Subject's attention and, once he had it, pointing hastily at the pouting Jou.

"Boy, I feel the love," Jou grumbled.

At this point the Subject probably would have offered his comments on the matter had not a relative of the first brave wave that knocked him off his feet hadn't decided to try its luck and live on the edge. Even Jou had to laugh as the Subject's feet flailed helplessly above the waves.

"You'd think, with all he's done, a wave would be a simple opponent," Jou mused.

Yuugi reached out from beneath the warmth of his comfy towel and groped, rather awkwardly and quite comically, underneath his chair. After tipping himself over once and whapping Jou at least twice (undisputedly) he settled himself back into the chair with his prize – a pack of Honey Roasted Peanuts. Only then did any sign of him hearing Jou's comment register on Yuugi's face. He pursed his lips, sought through his short-term memory, and huffed.

"You give him too much credit," Yuugi said in-between peanuts.

"Whadd'ya mean?" Jou attempted to acquire some of Yuugi's forbidden peanuts. He realized this was a bad move on his part when he heard the crinkle of the bag as Yuugi's hand clenched it defensively. Freezing in place wasn't going to do him any good. Not with the look he was being given. He decided to go for the gold.

"Hey look!" Jou said quickly and with great excitement. He pointed actively towards the ocean. "He lost his suit on that one!"

Yuugi's head snapped over to look at his Subject, eyes wide with anticipation and a laugh playing on his lips. Jou, hopefully naïve that his plan had worked, lunged for the bag of peanuts. He managed to get his fingers on the plastic – a moment of personal triumph – before he halted in his tracks. He stared, slack-jawed, before recoiling in indignation.

"Did… did you just growl at me?"

"You tried to take my peanuts." The statement was offered with no hint of remorse.

"That's no reason to growl at your best bud!"

Yuugi ignored the protest completely, focusing all his attention on not choking as he ate his peanuts and cackled at the engaging battle between the Subject and the ocean waves.

A quiet moment was shared between the two friends, which, of course, meant that many weird and unrelated events took place. In order:

- A seagull dived at Yuugi's head and tried to steal some of his hair for nesting.

- The Subject got caught in a rip-tide and was dragged a nice distance away from the shore.

- A lifeguard experienced a curious moment of being pelted by peanuts after accidentally kicking sand on someone's hideous green towel.

- Jou acted as a temporary chair for the kid who tripped over his leg while chasing after his parents.

- Yuugi fell asleep.

- The Subject fought his way back to shore.

- Jou tried mixing all the colors of his zinc oxide together and smearing them on Yuugi's chest. He did not succeed.

- The Subject was thoroughly entertained as Jou was overpowered by an unhappy Yuugi and his loyal beach chair.

Some sputtering was required to get the gritty sand out of Jou's mouth after Yuugi's latest retaliation. He reached into his gaudy bag and whipped out a blue sports drink. He glared sideways at Yuugi as he swished and spit to his side, covering the solution with dry sand.

"Geeze Yug. Ever sought counseling for that temper of yours?"

"You know, it's funny. Anzu asked me the same thing." Yuugi's eyes narrowed in thought. "Hey… I think everyone's asked me that!" He blinked. "Except him." He gestured weakly towards the Subject who, having valiantly made it back to shore and been entertained by Jou's beating, was rewarding himself for his efforts by laying flat on his back and panting to his lungs' content.

"Well duh," Jou instructed. "As though he's any judge. Besides, he has to live with you. He's smart enough not to incur your wrath."

Yuugi flopped in his chair, limbs splayed at all angles, and sighed dramatically. "You talk like I'm the devil or something."

"Now now," Jou reassured. "Just his protégé."

In a show of friendship, Yuugi restrained himself and kicked Jou only once in the knee. The gesture was acknowledged, but not appreciated.

Interrupting the moment was an errant strand of sunlight that had managed to bully its way pass the clouds to stand triumphantly on the beach. This heroic feat spurred to life every figure on the sand – save one, who remained delightfully out of breath – into frantic action.

Yuugi, sensing the opportunity to get warm, flung his towel to the side, covering Jou's head, and dashed for the sunbeam with twenty others, doing his part to create the stampede that caused young children to flee for the safety of their parents' legs. He didn't have any plans for when he reached the glorious sunspot, but at the very least he was going to bask in the welcoming light.

One thing he definitely hadn't intended on doing was tripping over a poor sandcastle that had been abandoned during construction, which caused him to lose his balance and bump into a woman who, in an attempt to sidestep her attacker, inadvertently pushed a little girl onto a path that included a young man sprawled on the sand, completely unaware of his immediate future. Yuugi heard a cry of surprised pain and was perfectly willing to ignore it for the sake of the sun when he recognized the irritated groan. Wincing, Yuugi resigned himself to his fate and meekly walked over to his Subject.

The Subject ignored him as he helped the small child regain her balance and continue her chase of the sunbeam. He purposefully didn't look at Yuugi.

"I'm sorry," Yuugi mumbled.

"You had to have something to do with it." The Subject sniffed importantly, then laid back on the sand. "Couldn't stand to see me suffer in peace."

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Satisfied with his comeback, Yuugi made to walk proudly to the now crowded spot of sun when Atemu opened his eyes and looked at him.

…

… it was one of those looks.

It didn't mean anything.

There was absolutely no thought behind it.

…

… it turned confused at one point ...

… then knowing …

… and then bored.

"Either leave or say something," the Subject said irritably. "You're creeping me out just standing there."

Yuugi's mouth fell open to give its impression of a gaping maw. His arm rose of its own accord, but he was well aware of the curling of his fingers as he pointed with purpose at the man in front of him. "You LOOKED at me!" he shouted. It made him feel better about himself.

The Subject lifted his head off the sand and stared. The expression said everything it needed to.

"Because you always mean something when you look at me!" Yuugi stomped his foot, his arm shaking as it continued to point accusingly. "Stop it!"

The Subject was too befuddled to offer a response. "So… I'm not supposed to look at you?"

"No!"

Jou had decided to come down to the waterline to see if the Subject was alright after having been tripped over only to witness Yuugi standing beside him, yelling and pointing. The man looked offended, though Jou couldn't fathom what the Subject might have said to make Yuugi that upset. "Hey man," he said, having to jump backwards to avoiding the flailing arm that came his way when Yuugi turned to face him. "Geeze, what's got you all riled up?"

"He looked at me!"

Jou blinked. That was a very strange accusation to make against anyone. Even for Yuugi.

"So?" Jou asked.

"He looked. At me," Yuugi said, slowing his words as though that would help convey their meaning. He gesticulated wildly behind himself, assumingly in the Subject's direction. "He does all sorts of things when he looks at me!"

Jou raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and leaning back on one leg. He would have looked intimidating if he hadn't chosen the pink zinc oxide. Blue would have looked nice; even green would have brought out his eyes. "Like what?" He was happy with the rising blush on Yuugi's cheeks and the redness that appeared on his neck. The bug-eyed expression was pretty sweet too.

Yuugi turned to yell at his Subject for getting him into this situation to find that the Subject had long since given up on him and was wading back into the ocean. With a cry of righteous anger Yuugi took off running after him, leaving Jou to shake his head as his friends proceeded to wrestle in amongst the waves. He watched as each man scored a point against the other – consisting of elaborate dunking rituals – and then headed back to his towel.

So long as they didn't drown themselves, there was a cute brunette who was not yet aware that she desperately needed his attention.