Title: Night on the Town
Summary: Isis had warned him that Bakura would lead him to his doom, but Malik ignored her. He was certain that she was wrong. Until he met Bakura's mysterious friend. Then suddenly, it was too late, and maybe he should have listened to Isis after all... M/M, B/R
A/N: What am I doing, starting another story? Well, I think this one will be pretty short, probably only a two or three shot. The chapters will be shorter than my standard as well. I've just been hearing a lot of people complaining about the shortage of bronzeshipping and tendershipping fics on the site – y'all make me feel guilty, here. So I'm going to try (key word: try) to add to them. Consider this an experiement. I'm not entirely comfortable with any of these characters yet, but I'm going to give it my best shot. Let me know what you think!
Friday night. There were no better words than those two when strung together, unless it was "summer vacation". Unfortunately, summer vacation was a long way off, but Friday night meant two days of freedom from the school that his sister insisted that he attend. Malik Ishtar danced around his room, singing absently to himself in anticipation of a night out at the clubs, as he struggled to pull on his tightest pair of jeans. Unnoticed by him, the door opened a crack, and an amused set of pale blue eyes watched as he finally managed to yank the fabric up around his hips and fasten the jeans. He turned towards the mirror and grabbed his brush, then yelped when he caught sight of her face in the mirror.
"Nee-san! What are you doing?" he demanded, a rosy pink color settling upon his tanned cheeks. "Why didn't you knock?"
Isis chuckled and opened the door fully. "I did, but you were so involved in singing that you didn't hear me," she countered, tilting her head with amusement. She watched him for a moment, her expression gradually growing grave. "Where are you going?"
"Downtown." Malik quickly looked away and began brushing his white-blond hair, hoping against hope that she would drop it. He knew, however, that it would never happen. Isis had been taking care of him for so long that she considered herself to be more like his mother than his sister, and that meant she went out of her way to keep tabs on everything he did and every place he went. Sadly, that also included all of the friends he spent time with. Either his tone or his actions must have given him away, because Isis frowned.
"With Bakura?" she asked sharply.
"Bakura might be joining us," he said with as much innocence as he could muster. It wasn't technically a lie. He grabbed a tight violet tank top and the silvery mesh shirt he wanted to wear over it and quickly pulled them on to avoid her penetrating stare.
"You know I don't like it when you spend time with him," Isis said, stepping into the room and folding her arms. "I don't usually involve myself with your friends, Malik. I know you're old enough to chose who you want to spend time with, and I trust that you will make good decisions. But I really wish that you would stop hanging around with Bakura."
"Why? Because he's a bad influence?" The sarcastic comment slipped out before he could stop it. Isis pressed her lips together into a thin line as he straightened his shirt, and he sighed, knowing that if he didn't make an effort to smooth things over, she'd be giving him the silent treatment for a while. "Nee-san, I don't know why you dislike him so much. Bakura's not the bad person he used to be. Ever since he started dating Ryou, he's actually changed a lot."
He didn't even know why he was bothering to argue with her. Even as the words came out, he knew exactly how fruitless that they were. Isis had never liked Bakura. From the moment that Malik had met the older boy at a club and become fast friends, she'd been against him. He'd never forget the first night he'd brought Bakura home. The tension had been through the roof. Fortunately, Bakura had apparently found her poorly concealed hostility amusing, and didn't take offence. Since then, Malik had been careful to mention his friend to Isis as little as possible, but he didn't like outright lying to her, and it was true: Bakura had become a completely different person with Ryou's steady influence.
"Malik, please stay home tonight."
"Eh?" Lavender eyes wide, Malik dropped his brush and gave her a look of utter bemusement. "Nee-san, everyone is waiting for me. My ride will be here soon."
"I don't want you to go out with him!" There was an urgency in her voice that both confused and annoyed him.
"Why?" Grabbing his keys, he propped a hand on his hip, hoping that he didn't look as exasperated as he felt. "Unless you can give me a good reason..."
Isis looked torn. "Malik, I..."
"Good-bye, Nee-san," he said, rolling his eyes and tucking his wallet into his jeans. He stepped towards her, intending on giving her a kiss on the cheek, and was unprepared for when she grabbed his arm and yanked him against her so hard that he stumbled. "Ow! Nee-san, what are you doing? I'm going to be late."
"Bakura is dangerous," she said, ignoring what he said, willing him to understand. "Ever since I met him, I've had this feeling that he's going to lead you to your doom. You can't be around him. Please stay home."
A chill shot down his spine, though he tried his best not to let it show on his face. Isis had been getting "feelings" since they were young about things that hadn't happened yet, and she was almost always right. Logic dictated that he should have listened to her, but he couldn't see Bakura doing anything to hurt him. "Nee-san..."
"I just don't want you getting hurt." Her fingernails dug into his arm. It hurt, and he winced slightly without thinking about how it would look. Isis blinked, then released him with a look of surprise. "Sorry, I – "
"It's alright." He cut her off. "Look, I promise that I'll be careful, but I really don't see how Bakura could be dangerous to me. Ryou's got him so wound around his little finger that Bakura couldn't do anything even if he wanted to, which he doesn't. Honest. I know this is hard for you to believe, but he's actually a really nice guy. Now, please let me go." A crooked smile formed on his lips, and he gave her a playful wink as his cell phone chirped with a text message. "I swear that if Bakura asks me to go down a dark alley, I won't."
Her lips twitched as she fought back a smile. Malik knew he'd won and cheered silently as she stepped aside. "You've grown up so fast," she observed, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I just don't want to lose you."
"Won't ever be a problem," he said reassuringly, leaning forward and brushing a kiss across her soft cheek. He walked out of the room after that, not wanting to give her the chance to protest anymore. In spite of his confident manner, he couldn't help feeling chilled as he headed out of their house and spotted Bakura's car idling in the driveway. For a split second, he hesitated, wondering if it wouldn't be better to head back inside and stay home with Isis after all. His decision was made for him when the occupants of the car caught sight of him.
"Malik, hurry up!" Bakura shouted, sticking his head out the window. "Move it."
"Bakura!" Ryou reached across the car and punched his boyfriend in the shoulder, looking exasperated. "Jesus, knock it off, would you? He's coming."
Just like that, all of his tension drained away, and Malik found himself smiling easily as he sauntered forward and got into the backseat. "Hey, Ryou. Bakura, you're so impatient. I don't know how Ryou puts up with you."
"It takes practice," Ryou said.
"Oi!" Bakura glared at him. "You can walk, you know."
Ryou's doe-brown eyes widened dramatically. "But then I'd be too tired to play tonight, Kura-chan. You wouldn't want that... would you?" His hand, which had been resting on Bakura's arm, slid lower. Malik felt his face heat as he glanced hastily out the window, but there was no way to block out the sound of Bakura's strangled curse.
"Come on, you two," he complained. "Do you have to do this now?"
"Oh, err, sorry, Malik." Blushing, Ryou started to pull his hand back. Bakura caught it in his and kept Ryou's hand trapped even as he started the car up and began backing it down the driveway. "Hey, Malik, isn't that your sister? She doesn't look very happy..."
Malik looked back at the house. Sure enough, Isis was standing there, watching the car drive away. Even from a distance, he could make out the frown with no problem. "She didn't think I should go out tonight. Said she had a feeling something bad was going to happen. Stupid, huh?"
In the front seat, Ryou and Bakura looked at each other without saying anything for a long moment. Ryou sighed and pulled his hand away from Bakura's as he looked away, out the window. Bakura just smirked and turned his gaze forward so that his reddish brown eyes were watching Malik in the mirror. For the first time ever, Malik felt a bit uncomfortable at the strength of Bakura's gaze. Isis's words about Bakura leading him to his 'doom' washed over him again, along with a prickling sensation, and he fidgeted.
"That is stupid," Bakura said finally, breaking the heavy silence. "I'm sure you'll have a good time tonight. One of my friends is in town. I just know that you two are going to hit it off."
"Great," Malik said awkwardly, wondering why that made feel him like he should jump out of the car and run back the other way. When the hell had Bakura gotten into match-making? He kept looking out the window, wanting to avoid Bakura's penetrating gaze, and tried to keep from feeling too nervous about the night ahead. Surely nothing too bad would happen... right?
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