Alright, I started this fic back in 2009, and picked it back up where I left off. I will be working on this fic and "Playing with Fire" side by side. But I had this stuck in my head and had to let it out before I forgot about it. My chapters are kind of short, but hopefully these get longer as I go along. Rated M for adult themes, violence, language, and perhaps more later on.
Deathshipping: Ryou/Yami Marik (For this story, Yami Marik will simple be called Marik, more details about this as the story unfolds)
Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh, nor will I ever.
Attracted To the Dark
Ryou leaned over his desk again, checking himself out in the mirror. Smudging a small bit of eyeliner around his eyes to help them pop out, he rubbed his finger along the edges, wiping off the extra makeup. Tonight was the night of his book signing, and he had to look his best. He wanted to appear elegant but mysterious to give off that edge that he always pulled off in his writing. He grabbed a red ribbon and tied his hair back with it, tucking the white locks behind his ears. Standing up straight, he took one last glance at his attire for the night: a long-sleeved silken black button up shirt with red cuffs and a white undershirt along with his white jeans. The undershirt was more for security if he got warm and wanted to unbutton his shirt without looking like an easy target. He knew that he had a rather soft look to him and didn't want that to influence his readers. He picked up his book and started his way out the door, grabbing his keys along the way before locking up.
Once he arrived at the seen, there was already a line of people waiting outside, he chuckled to himself and went around the back entrance, knowing full well not many people were aware that it even existed, allowing him to make an easy appearance. He found his table and set down the items that he brought with, a personal copy of his book, along with another few stacks behind him that the store placed out for purchase, a stack of self portraits, and a glass full of pens. "Perfect, I'll do this small book signing tonight, and then next week I've got my appointment with that TV station who wanted to do an interview with me. Never thought that I'd get this far in my career!" he cheered quietly to himself. At least he had the profession of a writer, people generally expected them to be at least a little eccentric.
The lights went from dim to bright as the doors opened, letting the crowd of people inside. The group was mostly women, of course, who ran up to the table as quickly as they could. He had a feeling that a few of them hadn't even read any of his works. But it did still boost his ego a bit when a nice crowd came in solely to see him. "Why hello there miss, which would you like?" he asked with a pleasant smile on his face, his voice soft and melodic. She took one of the pictures and a copy of the new book, asking him to sign the portrait. "And who will I be signing this out to?"
"Me! My name is Anzu. I'm such a big fan!" she cheered loudly, annoying him slightly, but he didn't let it show. After all, he had to remain professional. He couldn't pick and choose who read his books.
"Ah, a lovely name for such a beautiful lady," he said smoothly, hating every word of it.
He wondered if they realized that he wasn't even into women. Then again, maybe they were just hoping that he was a sensitive straight man who loved writing gothic romance novels. Most of the line went the same, woman after woman, with the occasional male in between. A few of them were lookers; a few of them weren't so blessed. The next in line startled him slightly however. Amethyst eyes narrowed at him, taking in his appearance. He couldn't tell what the other was thinking behind those eyes. Such an unusual color, but they complimented his dark skin well. The hair did throw him off a bit though. It was wild, sticking out in every direction with a pretty blond shade. He was dressed in a black, sleeveless shirt that tucked into his dark belt that wound around his black jeans. All the dark colors, or lack there of, gave him an alluring presence." Why hello there, Mr. Bakura. You're writing has captivated my attention almost as much as you have," the man's voice was deep and seductive, reminding him much of the way he had described the object of the leading character's interest. "Marik."
"Hmm?" Ryou replied, snapping out of his fantasy world and back into reality. He hadn't noticed he had been staring. He heard a dark chuckle in response and it ran chills up his spine.
"Please make it out to, Marik," the stranger repeated. An exotic name too. It didn't surprise him too much; after all he obviously wasn't Japanese. Then again, he was only half Japanese himself. A faint blush crossed his features and he took out a new pen, signing his name to Marik, followed by a little heart that did not go unnoticed by the other. When he went to take the signed copy of his picture, tan fingers brushed against pale ones, and Ryou swore he felt an electrical current spark against the contact.
He felt dazed when he walked away, wishing that he would have asked for some method of contact for him. Then again, if he was a fan of his work, he was sure that he'd see him around again. Maybe he even lived in town. Domino City wasn't too big of a place, even if it did hold a lot of important enterprises within it. He only hoped that this wasn't the last time that he would see that exotic man. The rest of the signing went on as a monotonous task, as he forced himself to remain friendly and keep his mind on the task at hand.
Once he arrived home, however, he unlocked his house and wondered inside, dragging himself upstairs only to flop down ungraciously on his bed. He had started at 8 p.m. and now it was near midnight. His hand was sore from all the writing he had to do, seeing how he wrote his stories on his laptop. Letting out a sigh, he let his mind wander back to that strange man. Why was he so enthralled by those eyes? Something about him made him want to learn more, maybe ask him out for drinks. "Gods…I hope he's single. At the very least let him be gay!" he groaned to himself, already feeling attached to those devilish good looks. What gave him the right to waltz in there looking like that when he had a job to do? Now it was all he could think about. Maybe a cold shower could clear my thoughts...
The next morning, Ryou woke up and went straight to the bathroom to brush his teeth and hair. That shower had done wonders to help calm his body down, but he knew that it was only a temporary fix. There was a party going on that day and he had been wondering whether or not he should even show up. But now, he wanted nothing more than to go if only to get his mind off of other things. At least this new experience gave him material for his next novel. He was really looking forward to writing about it. Maybe he'd even notice that it was about him by the time he got it published. For now, he went to his closet to search for an outfit. He didn't bother with lunch, since he had slept in to one in the afternoon. The party started in an hour. It was a get together for all the business associates and other folk who could afford to get their way in. He was in no way short on funding, especially since his books were selling like hotcakes.
Picking out a white short sleeved button up polo along with a black overcoat that he would leave un-tucked over his black slacks, he changed into them at his own pace, which was still rather slow due to grogginess. He brushed his hair out once more to make sure that it looked soft and under control since he planned on wearing it down today. He grabbed his watch and snapped it onto his wrist carefully, double checking the time to make sure it was correct with his cell phone before slipping that into his pocket. Once he was satisfied with his overall appearance, he locked up and hopped into his car once more. "It'll be nice to get out of the house anyway. It's not like have anything to do around there at the moment besides more writing," he sighed to himself, wishing for a better social life than he had. It was hard to find friends who weren't superficial in this town, and when you had money, it made the search even harder to find. He arrived at the mansion that it was being held at and rang the door. Of course Kaiba would have it at his house; he was always looking to impress the masses. He had a large disposable income, and liked to flaunt that in the faces of whoever dared turn to take a look. But the house was gorgeous; he had to give him that. And after only a few moments of waiting, somebody finally answered the door. He wondered how much he paid his door keepers; he had somebody for each tedious job that he could think of. Did he ever do anything for himself other than work?
Ryou smiled and walked in, thanking the man at the door before leaving his overcoat on a hook along with the others. Green eyes locked onto him as soon as he entered the room, as the man who they belonged to ran up to embrace him. "Ryou! Good to see you, it's been ages. How's the writing treating you? Looks like you've got a nice fan base going for yourself," he chuckled.
"It's nice to see you too Otogi," he beamed. Otogi was one of his real friends, somebody who he could rely on. He also knew everything about everybody important in town, but when it came to his friends he didn't release any information they wouldn't want him to. "It's been nice. I had a signing last night that took about 4 hours." A whistle was heard in return and he received a pat on the back.
"Not bad, not bad. Some of those authors get to spend a lot more time than that, without breaks! Don't forget, I got you that spot on TV for Friday. Had to pull a few strings to get it though," he admitted, picking up a glass of wine that had been carried by them on a tray and taking a sip. Ryou nodded and smiled broadly.
"And I'm very grateful. I'll make it up to you sometime, I promise." This earned a wide grin in response as he finished off his glass of wine. It's a good thing it was only a third of the way full in the first place. Then again, Seto was the one who would have to deal with his fiancé later on. It wasn't much of a mystery how those two got together; as a matter of fact it had been the talk of the town. Otogi had been Seto's "mistress" for quite some time before the relationship was made public. But nothing could be kept a secret for long, especially not when the paparazzi had found them in a lip lock when the limousine door was opened at the premier of Seto's newest invention on the market.
"So, have you heard about the new book critic in town yet? They say he's a real hard ass; but your work is pretty good, maybe he'll sponsor you. They say he just flew in his home in Egypt." Otogi whispered loudly enough for only Ryou to hear, but not for anyone else's ears. He shook his head and let his brows furrow together.
"All the way from Egypt? What's his name?" he queried, perhaps he could persuade him to read one of his books.
"His name is Marik Ishtar…I believe he just flew in last week," the dark haired male answered confidently, knowing his stuff. "Seto invited him here today as a welcome into the city. He's totally loaded, enough to make my blue-eyed angel sweat a little," he chuckled, amused that there was someone out there who made that icy corporate man of his nervous.
Ryou's eyes widened at that bit of information and he swallowed, how on earth could he have such luck? It had only been last night that he first met him. Looking around the room for that mess of spiky blond hair from the other night, he spotted him from across the room. Apparently he had already been spotted himself, for he was making his way over. Once he noticed he had the attention of the one he approached, he gave a small wave to Ryou and a sly grin broke out upon his face. "Ah, so we meet again," he purred, standing a bit closer than Ryou was comfortable having this man to him, maybe it was because it felt ten degrees hotter now that he was face to face with those mysterious eyes once more. "Hello, Marik was it?" he chuckled nervously, placing out a hand to shake out of politeness.
"So the two of you have already met, huh? I'm going to leave you two to do your thing while I go check on Seto," he gave Ryou's shoulder a squeeze as he took off in the opposite direction, hunting down his lover in such a crowded place. Though it wouldn't be too hard, his ego is large enough that he could probably be seen from space. But that was just his opinion of the man.
The taller male blinked slightly as the other left, wondering if it was something that he said to scare him off. Perhaps it was a signal that Ryou wanted to be alone with him as well. Either way he was fine with the outcome. "Yes. And of course you're Bakura, Ryou," he stated bluntly, but smoothly. Why did everything about this man draw him like a moth to a flame? He knew that such a quick attachment could prove dangerous to him, but at least he was given the time to get to know him now instead of being drawn to a complete stranger. "I read the book you released last night. It was lovely…did you write it from a personal experience?" he questioned, causing Ryou's face to darken. It had been one of his steamier books, giving out a vivid description of his imagined sex scene. He shook his head mildly and averted his gaze. "No, I write purely on fantasy." Why do I get the feeling that came off sounding bad?
However the man didn't laugh at him, he merely looked amused as his eyebrows raised. His gaze looked awfully calculating. What was going on behind that piercing gaze? No sooner did he have time to question it, he had gained a more pleasant look on his face, leaning in. "What do you say take this conversation outside where we can speak privately? No need for everyone to get wind of my proposal for you just yet," he explained, placing a hand on Ryou's back and guiding him outside with little to no argument from the other. "I've been thinking," he continued, "Since I got a hold of your work, I wanted to get to know the mastermind behind the script. Especially the darker themed ones. I like the way your mind works…" Ryou nodded, staying silent while he continued to speak. "I want you to write under my company's name, we'll take care of the publishing costs. Of course you'd have to agree for me to be your editor."
The whitnette thought he could faint right then and there. Taking in a deep breath, he filled his lungs deep with oxygen before answering, "Of course, I could use a new sponsor, the contract with my last one expired with this book," he chuckled, brushing a hand through his hair.
"So you can start right away then?" came the voice full of some sort of mirth.
"Yes, of course. This Monday if you like…" he answered, looking back up into his eyes. He's so tall, his mind wandered, feeling his heartbeat quicken. Business. This is strictly business. Don't even think about hitting on him, it'll probably ruin your chances at keeping this opportunity.
"Great, I'll be seeing you around." Ryou could have sworn he saw him wink, but then again, it could have just been wishful thinking. After all, his mind was rather clouded with thoughts that plagued his conscience as he stood, waving after the man who had just walked back inside.
Well, so much for clearing my head of ever seeing him again.
