| The Millennium Rod | I
"Haven't you anything better to do than bother me?"
Marik opened his violet eyes to send an irritated look over at Bakura, who was busy writing something in a notebook and looking just as annoyed.
"I did come here for a reason. You said you were busy, so I decided to wait. And I've been waiting quite some time, Bakura." Marik growled as he sat up on Bakura's bed.
"Then just leave," Bakura waved his hand dismissively at Marik, not looking up at him.
Marik scowled, not wanting to have wasted his time up until now.
"My Millennium Rod has been acting strange."
Bakura looked up from what he was writing, dark eyes piercing into Marik's.
"What do you mean?" Bakura quirked an eyebrow as Marik looked at the Millennium Rod held tightly in his hand.
"It keeps showing me...strange visions." He scowled, his face showing both a mixture of confusion and irritation.
"Is that all?" Bakura scoffed, "I thought it did that normally," he muttered as he started back on writing. Marik glared at him, angry that he was dismissed so easily for the second time.
"Normally it only acts when I command it to but lately it's been doing it even when I don't want it to," Marik continued, regardless if Bakura was listening or not.
"The visions must be someone's thoughts, perhaps their dreams. I know these can't be real memories...because most of them involve me." Marik mumbled, barely audible toward the end.
Bakura, who had been listening but not really paying attention, took notice of this small change in volume. It was curious enough to make him look up, at the least. Marik was staring at the Millennium Rod still, his brows furrowed in deep thought. Bakura smirked, deciding to toy with the Egyptian for a little amusement.
"Hm... What makes you so certain they're not just memories you've forgotten?" He was sure that any problem with the Millennium Rod would ultimately resolve to be Marik's fault, so, naturally, he would do his best to make it as difficult as possible for him in the meantime.
"That's impossible," Marik huffed, crossing his arms, "I'd remember,"
Bakura quirked an eyebrow, curiosity starting to gnaw at him. What exactly were these visions of, anyway? What could be so odd that Marik would come to him about it?
"Are you sure?" Bakura leaned forward in his seat a little, searching Marik's face for some hint at what the visions were of.
"Yes, Bakura, I'm positive. I would have remembered something like that." Marik scowled at him, not affected by the white-haired man's scrutinizing stare.
Bakura smirked, having the opening he needed to ask directly while still appearing uninterested.
"Something like what, pray tell?" He inquired nonchalantly, twirling the pen in his hand between his fingers. Manipulating this young fool was just too easy.
Marik shot him a knowing glance. He was well-aware Bakura planned to lead him in circles, he'd known that since he first decided to confer with him. Marik could tell in an instant that Bakura was a good manipulator, but then so was he. He was also aware that Bakura knew a great deal about the Millennium items, even more so than himself. He still wasn't quite sure why, but he figured it would be advantageous to get anything he could from him about the Rod. He knew describing the visions to Bakura was unnecessary, and now Bakura was asking him to do so.
"That's not important. It'd take a very long time to explain them all." Marik shrugged, using the first excuse to come to mind. Bakura smiled and leaned forward in his seat once again.
"Then perhaps you could show me," he suggested with a nod toward the Millennium Rod. Marik fidgeted, not sure how comfortable he was trying to use the Millennium Rod on the holder of another Millennium Item.
"That won't work. Your Millennium Ring will prevent the Rod from affecting your mind." Marik huffed. Bakura suddenly saw the opportunity for an even greater prize than a few moments of amusement, the Millennium Rod.
"Then why don't you give it to me, so that it will show me the visions?"
Marik scowled at Bakura, who was looking at him as innocently as possible. That was when Marik had enough. He didn't have to take this disrespect.
"Your advice would have been useful, but not worth losing the my Millennium Rod. How foolish do you think I am?" Marik stood up, holding the Rod close to his chest. "I'll decipher these visions on my own!" He added before swiftly turning to leave.
Before he could leave, however, Bakura stood up and declared, "I will get the Millennium Rod. Whether you give it to me or I have to pry it from your cold, dead hands. Consider this your warning."
Marik paused in the doorway, the words sinking into his brain. They only succeeded in turning his frustration to anger. He looked back over his shoulder and smirked.
"How amusing," He grinned, "Do you honestly think you could take the Millennium Rod from me, Bakura?" His voice was full of mocking and there was an immediate air of superiority around him.
He stepped closer to Bakura, still grinning as his hand quickly clasped around the Millennium Ring. His smile grew wider as he saw that one moment of something almost like panic in Bakura's eyes. But before Marik's fingers were fully enclosed around the Millennium Ring, Bakura's hand was tightly around the Millennium Rod. Bakura's smirk easily matched Marik's grin. For that moment, they were equals.