Apologies for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. And also a warning, there is OOCness. A lot, even for me, I think. But it's what came to me so I went with it. Hope you enjoy.

Knock knock...knock knock...knock knock BANG!

...Silence.

Sighing, Malik pulled his yami away from the door before he could throw himself bodily against it, which his stance indicated was a very real possibility.

"Give it a rest, he's obviously not in."

Marik growled in response and pulled away from his hikari, he KNEW he didn't like to be touched dammit!

"Why wouldn't he be in? It's not even 9am yet, who in their right mind would be out this early?"

"Uh...we are, brains..."

"I repeat, who in their right mind would be out this early?"

Malik sighed and turned away, fishing in his pocket for the spare key Yami had given him as he did. He didn't really like going into other people's apartments without permission, but he really needed his MP3 player back. Ishizu was giving a talk on ancient Egyptian vases that afternoon and she'd made it pretty clear that she expected him to attend. He'd be damned if he was actually going to listen to the Ra cursed drivel that spilled from his sister's mouth though. He'd fill Yami's ice tray for him or something, he decided as he opened the door, that would help ease his guilt a little. Personally, it always bugged the hell out of him when there was no ice.

He only managed one step into the small apartment before he was roughly pushed aside by his impatient yami.

"Hey, where are you going?" He called, watching Marik disappear into the kitchen as he pushed himself up off the floor, "I don't think it'll be in there."

"I don't give a crap about your little noise box, I'm hungry" came the irritated reply.

Sighing in exasperation, Malik turned from the kitchen door and started to search for his property. After ten minutes of rummaging, he still hadn't found it. Biting his lip, he glanced over at the door to Yami's bedroom. These were the only two rooms besides the kitchen and bathroom, so if it wasn't in here and it wasn't in the kitchen, as Marik had confirmed after two minutes of asking him the same question, then it was mostly likely in the bedroom. Shuffling up to the door, he rapped his knuckles on it and waited for a moment. He couldn't be in there, there was no way he could have slept through Marik's knocking and the loud bangs as he threw things around in the kitchen (he tried not to think of the mess being rapidly created in there).

"Yami?" He called hesitantly before knocking again.

"Just open the door you retarded slug pellet!" An angry voice called from the kitchen, muffled by the generous amounts of pastry it had to pass through to reach the outside world.

Sighing again, Malik put his hand on the door handle and gripped it tightly.

----------

Grumbling about the lack of Pop Tarts in the Pharaoh's kitchen, Marik continued rummaging through the fridge. There had to be something decent in here apart from croissants! His eyes lit up as he spotted a hot dog nestled behind a large chunk of Swiss cheese. Pulling it out, he grinned happily. So what if it was half eaten and had green flecks all over it? It was meat.

----------

Malik turned the handle and pushed the door open in one quick movement. He was fully prepared to find Yami asleep in bed, even perhaps in the buff, since he himself preferred to sleep that way and knew a lot of other people who did too. What he was NOT prepared to find, however, was Yami asleep in his bed, wearing nothing, with Bakura draped over him, snoring softly and also wearing nothing.

His jaw dropped as low as it possibly could. He was so stunned; he couldn't make any kind of sound at all. That quickly changed when Yami groaned in his sleep and snuggled into Bakura's dishevelled hair.

----------

Marik nearly choked on the last piece of the hot dog when his hikari's scream ripped through the apartment. Bolting out of the kitchen, he was by his light's side in seconds.

"What happened?"

Malik could do nothing but whimper and point shakily at the bed. Blinking, Marik turned his head to look and actually took a step back when he saw Yami and Bakura, both opening their eyes and stretching after finally being woken by Malik's scream.

Bakura looked up sleepily and stared at the two Ishtars for a moment before letting out a bark of laughter. Yami looked over to see what was so funny and felt his stomach lurch in embarrassment as his eyes locked onto the two pairs of gawking lavender ones. Quick as lightning, he grabbed the crumpled sheets at the end of the bed and pulled them up to cover his naked body.

"What the HELL are you doing here?!"

Malik opened and closed his mouth a few times before he was able to speak.

"We knocked! I swear we did! I just came by to get my MP3 player. I…I'm sorry."

Yami pouted and reached across to his bedside table for the device, throwing it neatly towards Malik, who only just caught it in time. Once Malik had stopped fumbling with the thing to try and get a firm grip on it, the Pharaoh flashed him a look that clearly indicated that he should leave. Now.

Blushing, Malik started to mutter an apology and shuffle back towards the door. He was stopped before he'd gone more than two steps by a loud rumbling sound followed by a breezy squeak. Slapping his face into his hand, he groaned then turned to glare at his yami.

"Do you have no manners at all?!"

"No" Marik replied without hesitation, "But I couldn't help it this time, my guts feel like they're on fi-gyaah!" Moaning, he bent over double and clutched his stomach.

Frowning, Malik moved closer and put his hand on Marik's back. It wasn't like his dark to show if he was in pain, so it must really hurt, whatever it was.

"What's wrong? Where does it hurt? Have you been fighting with that girl down the road again?"

Marik growled and glared up at his hikari before letting out another pitiful moan and falling to his knees. Malik bit his lip and bent down next to him, he was really starting to worry now. His anxiety increased exponentially when, a few moments later, Marik slammed a fist into the floor and started to curse in a long dead language that even Malik himself didn't understand.

"Mar-" Was all Malik got out before his yami let out a blood curdling scream and fell flat on his back, seemingly unconscious.

"No!" Malik cried, bending down over his yami to check his pulse. Before his hand could find it though, there was another loud rumble, followed by an almost deafening ripping and popping sound. Soon after that, came the smell. The smell that Malik would later find was strong enough, even in his dreams, to wake him in the night covered in cold sweat.

Retching, he scrambled back as far as he could before leaping to his feet and tearing out of the room, tears streaming down his face. Bakura came out close behind him, still stark naked, and retching in a similar fashion.

"By the gods, what was THAT?!" The tomb robber gasped, once he could breathe again. Malik barely heard him. Braced against the wall by one hand, the other resting on his knee, he was bent over trying to control his breathing to lessen the nausea.

It took them about five minutes to notice that Yami hadn't come out with them.

Bakura sucked in a sharp breath as his eyes widened. He'd forgotten! Grabbing a teacloth from the kitchen and ignoring the mess, it was Yami's apartment after all, let him worry about it, Bakura tied it round his mouth and peeked into the bedroom. Sure enough, Yami was unconscious on the bed, unable to flee the noxious fumes due to the fact that his left wrist was handcuffed to the bed frame.

"Oops" Bakura chuckled.

----------

It was an hour and a half before the bedroom was safe to enter for more than a few seconds again. Yami, as Bakura had predicted, was a little miffed, so he decided to leave him tied up for the time being.

Not sure whether he was more angry or disgusted, Malik stormed over to Marik and slapped him round the head.

"Explain!"

"I can't!" Marik whined, rubbing his head, "It just came on out of nowhere!"

"Peoples internal organs do not do…THAT, for no reason!"

"It must have been something I ate…"

"What did you eat?"

"Just the stuff I found in Yami's fridge. Some croissants and a bagel. Oh, and half a hot dog."

"Hey!" Yami cried angrily before blinking and going over what Marik had said, "I don't have any hot dogs. I don't buy them."

"Well, there was one there. It was half eaten and had green bits all over it" Marik shrugged. His hikari flashed him a look of disgust and turned away.

Yami frowned and scratched his head.

"That's not possible; I haven't had a hot dog in months."

"You had one last night" Bakura pointed out.

"Oh yeah" Yami chuckled, "The one that stupid gypsy hag sprinkled her pixie dust on and told me was cursed."

Yami cackled to himself for a few moments before he noticed the look on Bakura's face.

"…What?"

"You…you got cursed by a GYPSY?"

"No. My hot dog did."

"And Marik ate…the hot dog" Bakura breathed, his face white with fear.

"What the heck is wrong with you, it was just some crazy carnie!" Yami said, shaking his head. He yelped as Bakura grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently. He went on to explain, over the next ten minutes, that gypsy magic was among the strongest of all sorceries. And that, while the curses were never permanent, they could be devastating.

Marik, apparently feeling fine again, stood up and laughed.

"Right. I just got cursed by a magical hot dog. Ok, I'll see you idiots later" And with that, he stormed out of Yami's apartment. Malik smiled apologetically at his friends then followed.

----------

Practically running to keep up with his yami, Malik glanced at his watch. He skidded to a halt and his heart nearly stopped when he realised that was exactly what his watch had done. It still read 9:45. The same as it had been the last time he'd looked. He groaned and looked around for a clock, Ishizu's presentation was at noon, surely they couldn't have been there that long? He let out a sigh of relief when he found one and it showed that it was only 11:30. Still, that left only half an hour to get home, get ready and get to the museum. Pulling Marik away from the candy store window he had stopped by and now had his face pressed against, he doubled his pace and headed home.

----------

Adjusting his tie one last time, Malik turned to face his yami and spread his arms wide.

"What do you think?" Ishizu had insisted he dress formally. He had no idea why, probably just because she could, knowing his sister.

Marik glanced up from his plate of chicken wings and looked him up and down.

"It makes you look short."

Malik just blinked. That was a strange thing to say, nothing like the usual insults he got. Shrugging, he turned back to the mirror and preened for a few more minutes before declaring that they had to leave. He tried to ignore the fact that Marik was stuffing chicken wings into his pockets.

----------

They ran, panting, into the museum at ten past twelve and were forced to sneak quietly into the back of the presentation room, praying as they did so that Ishizu wouldn't notice their tardiness. No such luck. The moment the talk was over, she grabbed them by an ear each and hauled them off to her office.

"Is it really so much to ask that you turn up on time for at least one of my talks?!" She ranted, towering over them as they sat where she'd shoved them on the small couch underneath the window, "What is your excuse this time?!"

"Malik wanted his MP3 player from Yami so he didn't have to listen to your talk, so we had to go get it this morning. We got held up because I ate a gypsy cursed hot dog that made me gas everyone, and then I had a snack" Marik said, almost in one breath.

Malik stared at his yami in disbelief. He couldn't believe he'd ratted him out just like that! Trembling, he turned back to Ishizu and smiled weakly. The small hope that he'd get out of this unscathed quickly vanished when he saw the look of absolute fury on his sister's face. Leaning forward, she reached into Malik's pocket and pulled out his MP3 player.

"You…you…YOU LITTLE…"

----------

The moment they got home, Malik threw himself on Marik and pinned him to the floor.

"You weasel!"

"Hey! I didn't mean to, it just came out!" Marik yelled, kneeing his hikari in the gut then flipping him off.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Malik growled, clutching his stomach.

"Exactly what I said. I didn't want to say it, but I couldn't stop my mouth."

Malik raised an eyebrow and folded his arms. That made no sense. Perhaps he should call Bakura; he seemed to know a lot about things like this. Unfortunately, he didn't get much information from the tomb robber as, after he'd explained what had happened, Bakura had burst out laughing, told him he was going to enjoy the next twenty four hours very much, laughed some more, then hung up. Twitching, Malik turned back to his yami.

"How do you feel?"

"Hungry."

"Are you ever not hungry?"

"Rarely."

----------

It became painfully apparent over the next few hours, that Marik was now incapable of lying. It had been amusing at first, asking him questions and knowing that the answer was the truth, but after a while, it got boring. And it got awkward when Marik started to blurt out random secrets he most likely never would have shared with anyone otherwise. RaRa for example. It NEVER would have crossed Malik's mind that Marik slept with a stuffed animal.

Bored and hungry, Malik headed for the fridge. Unsurprisingly, Marik was already there. They had been trying to avoid each other as much as possible, for both their sakes, but the house wasn't that big so it was practically impossible. Elbowing his yami out of the way, Malik peered into the fridge and picked up the last cup of jello. This extracted an enraged battle cry from the other. Some might say that physically throwing another person around the kitchen for jello was excessive. I doubt the Ishtars would care. They both loved jello and there was only one left. The conclusion was simple. Fight until one person was no longer able to claim it.

Today was Malik's day. He managed to score a victory with the inventive use of a raw onion and a tub full of sporks that left Marik face down and groaning on the floor. Smirking, he sat on his yami to eat his prize.

"Mmm, so good!" He purred, sucking it slowly off the spoon. Seeing the angry look on Marik's face just made his smirk widen, there was nothing he could do.

Or was there?

Marik didn't like to use this particular attack; he used it only when it was absolutely necessary. Like now. Twisting so that he could look up at his hikari, he closed his eyes. Curious, Malik lowered his spoon for a moment. What was he up to? Summoning all of his inner strength, Marik forced his eyes back open and waited.

Malik nearly dropped the jello. By the gods, it was so…so…CUTE! Marik's eyes had widened impossibly and were shining with a kind of watery light that made him look like he was about to cry, but at the same time, like he was about to giggle. And his face! His face had twisted into the purest, most innocent expression Malik had ever seen! He looked absolutely adorable. Not so cute though, when his face snapped back to its usual maniacal grin and he snatched the jello, downing it in one gulp. Malik blinked, not realising at first what had happened, the image of Marik's Ultimate Cute attack still imprinted on his mind. When he did realise, however, he was not happy to say the least.

The fight that followed was one of the most brutal the house had ever seen. It ended with Marik stuffed down the back of the couch, and Malik with a fish bowl stuck on his head. They were both completely exhausted by the time they managed to grease Malik's head free. Flopping onto the couch, side by side, they both sighed and tilted their heads back.

"What time is it?" Marik asked, glancing at his hikari. He'd never gotten the hang of telling time, he wasn't embarrassed like most people would be though, he didn't really care. He had better things to do than count minutes.

"Two thirty in the morning" Malik yawned, "We should probably go to bed."

Marik chuckled, "Together?" He teased.

"No! You don't seriously want that do you?" He could never be sure when his yami was joking and when he was serious.

Marik's tan face paled and his throat went dry. Why? Why did he have to ask a god damn question?! Now he was screwed. So, so screwed. Jerkily, as though he was trying as hard as he could to resist, which he was, Marik nodded. He would have found Malik's reaction funny if it had been any other situation. As it was, the choking, spluttering and random hand gestures just made him ten times more uncomfortable. How were they going to be able to live together after this?

Malik's brain felt like it had gone numb. He'd never imagined this happening. Gulping, he tried to calm down and think. Ok, so, his yami had just confessed that he wanted to sleep with him, did that mean he was just horny, or something else? Looking up into his dark's eyes, he voiced his thoughts.

"Do you just want to screw me, or is it something more?"

Marik's eyes widened and he tried to clench his jaw shut, to no avail, the word still found its way past his lips.

"More."

Shaking now, Malik took a deep breath then asked the big question, the one that had been gnawing at him since that nod.

"Do…do you love me?"

Seeing the vulnerable, almost desperate look in his hikari's eyes, Marik couldn't bring himself to even try and resist the curse this time.

"Yes."

That one word sent a shock through Malik's body and he slumped forward with a sob. Marik's eyes widened again and he leaned forward in concern. Had he somehow hurt Malik? Wouldn't be the first time he'd done it without realising. Gripping the top of his light's arm, he pulled him up slightly so he could see his face.

"Wha-"

His question was cut off as Malik wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him into a tender kiss. It didn't stay tender long, with Marik being one half of it, but it was uncharacteristically controlled roughness that took over. After several minutes, they broke apart and stared into each others eyes. Neither could think of any words that would justify their feelings, so the silently agreed to go upstairs and use something other than words.

Shooting to his feet without warning, Marik swept Malik into his arms and carried him bridal style towards the stairs. Smiling, Malik wrapped his arms around his yami's neck once again and snuggled into his chest.

"Marik?" Malik whispered as the reached the top of the stairs.

"Hmm?" The psychotic tomb keeper murmured, kicking the door open.

"I'm not sharing the bed with RaRa."