Note: This is short, fluffy and pointless, but hopefully kinda cute. I've been sticking Ryou and Marik together in most of my fics lately, so here's how they met. It's all down to the ice cream.

Chocolate Fish Ice Cream

There was a long, fairly straight road right through the middle of Domino city, deserted as darkness fell and light rain sprinkled down over everything. There were orange, glowing streetlights all the way down the road, evenly spaced and usually all working fine. Tonight, though, one went out as someone walked beneath it. As he passed the glow flickered back into life, but the same thing happened with the next, and every one he passed under. It would have been easy to follow his unhurried progress down the road from the air, since he seemed to be walking in a patch of perpetual darkness.

In stark contrast to the shadows surrounding the first figure, the light seemed to cling to the second one as he ran up, almost glowing. The streetlight they met under flickered for a moment in indecision over what to do, but in the end stayed on.

Ryou stopped a few feet short of Marik in surprise, resting his hands on his knees and doubling over as he caught his breath. Marik watched in amusement, wondering why Bakura's light had come running towards him. They only ever saw each other occasionally, since Marik and Bakura were friends of a sort, and Malik was a friend of Ryou's. They'd never been alone together though, and Marik suspected Ryou was probably afraid of him. Most people tended to be.

"Can I help you with something?" The yami finally asked, leaning against the lamppost. The light flickered again but still didn't go out.

Ryou straightened up, looking slightly flushed from his run and a little damp from the rain, which had been falling for the past hour or so.

"Sorry, I thought you were my yami. The lights do that when he walks under them, too." Ryou explained sheepishly, smiling.

"Are you looking for him? I think he passed out drunk over at Malik and Otogi's place." Marik supplied, trying not to stare too openly at the hikari. Ryou had always fascinated him – he didn't look like he was just some average human. He had a light about him, aside from the paleness of his skin and hair, which made him almost seem to glow. Everything about him was soft and gentle – his hair, his skin, his hands, his eyes, his voice… It was the complete opposite of Marik, but it was everything he'd never had and he wanted it more than anything. He felt like Ryou was some rare treasure and he just wanted to hold it, just to make sure it was really there.

"He never calls. I was on my way over there to see if they had him – they never answer the phone. I suppose I'll go home now then, if he's ok." Ryou smiled again, and Marik couldn't get enough of it. He liked the way Ryou just took his word for it that Bakura was ok. It wasn't often people trusted him, especially not if the pharaoh had anything to say about it.

"Do you need me to walk you home?" He offered, not really expecting Ryou to say yes, but just wanting to say it so that Ryou would know that he didn't mean him any harm, and cared about him getting back safely. Every little thing he could do to give Ryou a good impression of him counted, after all.

The hikari looked up at the much taller yami leaning against the lamppost a few feet away and then turned and glanced down the long road back towards his house, the soft raindrops catching in the orange light from the streetlamps.

"Are you sure it's ok? If you were going somewhere I'm sure I'll be fine," Ryou gave Marik a look that said he wanted company for the walk home, and the yami grinned, happy to have the chance.

"I was just wondering around. I'd like to walk you back, I didn't think you'd want me to." Marik straightened up and began walking, slowing his usual stride so that Ryou could walk comfortably beside him.

"What made you think that?" Ryou asked, "Has my yami been telling everyone I'm crazy again? Did he tell you about the ice cream?" The hikari demanded, and Marik wished Bakura had.

"He hasn't told me anything. What about ice cream?" The tomb keeper asked, curious. Ryou sighed, smiling slightly.

"You can't tell anyone or they'll think I'm nuts. I bought this ice cream with chocolate fishes in, and they were grinning! I couldn't eat it, I kept thinking of those little fishes smiling while I ate them. Plus, every time I put one in my mouth, Bakura kept making little fish screams in my head. Help meee! Don't eat mee!" Ryou said in a squeaky voice, and Marik burst out laughing.

"Haha! 'Kura really did that? He's the one who's nuts, have you heard half the weird stuff he freaks out about?" The yami asked, a grin on his face at the thought of spilling the dirt on Bakura with his so-called innocent little hikari.

"Sponges! He hates sponges." Ryou giggled.

"And kiwi fruits. He can't touch them, they're all fuzzy. He won't even go in the same room as them." Marik cackled wickedly.

"Really? I didn't know that one." Ryou looked like he wanted to go out and buy some right that moment to test it out.

"True, I threw one at him and he screamed like a woman."

Ryou burst out laughing along with Marik and the tomb keeper watched him, enjoying the happiness in the hikari's brown eyes.

"That's brilliant! I'm going to put them in his food." Ryou decided, then looked up at Marik curiously. "So why did you think I wouldn't want you walking me home?" He asked.

"Well, don't I have a reputation for being big and scary and crazy and evil?" Marik asked, wondering why Ryou laughed slightly at that.

"Well, you are pretty big. As for the rest, I was asleep through most of battle city, so I never really saw you then. I never even met you until you and my yami and the pharaoh split from us, so I missed all the interesting bits. Besides, my yami, Otogi and Malik like you, so you can't be that bad. Yugi and his lot say the same things about my yami as they say about you. They're alright people, I suppose, but I think they obsess over that bloody card game a bit too much. Not that it isn't fun once in a while." Ryou smiled. "I helped my yami out more than most people know when he was fighting the pharaoh – I know what he's been through and there's no such thing as neutral. I had to pick a side, and I picked my yami's. If they say he's a monster when he's not, why should I believe them when they say you're one too? I'd rather make up my own mind. You seem quite nice." Ryou finished, blushing slightly.

"Wow, nobody ever called me nice before." Marik remarked, noticing the blush and wondering if it meant what he hoped it meant. "Thanks, though. For treating me like a human being, even if I'm not technically human."

"That's not so unusual if you live around here." Ryou grinned as they reached his front door and stopped. Not really wanting Marik to leave, he hesitated, not sure if the tomb keeper would really want to stay longer.

"Um…"

"What's up?" Marik asked, tempted to offer Ryou a goodnight kiss. As a joke, of course.

"What time is it?" Ryou asked, for lack of anything better to say.

"About midnight, why?"

Ryou looked down, blushing a little darker this time, then looked back up at Marik's odd violent eyes.

"Are you hungry? I have this chocolate fish ice cream that needs eating, and it's just about time for a midnight snack, after all." The hikari managed, wondering if his cheeks were really as hot as they felt.

"Really? Er, I mean, that'd be nice." Marik tried to stop himself grinning like a maniac but failed, and Ryou giggled at him.

"Come on, I'm not eating something that's smiling at me. It's up to you now!" Ryou laughed, gesturing for Marik to come inside as he opened the door.

"Not a problem." Marik laughed too, following the light into the dark house.

The End.

Well, that was…fluff. And not much else. I have the same problem with the ice cream, and my brother is afraid of kiwi fruits, if anyone was wondering where those little bits of strangeness came from. I was going to take this further, but I have Weiss Kreuz Gluhen to watch and I have a NightWalker craving. Yay for procrastination!