Yes, I know. I have other things to work on right now. However, if I didn't write this, the plot bunny that was gnawing at my brain would've won, and we can't have that, now can we?

Basically, we really don't know what happens to Ryou and Bakura after his and Malik's duel with Marik, so I improvised because I thought it was cute. ^^ (Anyway, I'm trying to work on the many different ways Bakura can be portrayed, and this was helpful.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh. I do have a pet rock, though. He's my bestest friend. His name is Fredrick, and he will murder you in your sleep. (But only if I tell him to. That means no flames, people, or you know what will happen. O_o )

Some people talk of being disoriented when they wake up someplace strange. They say that they can't remember what had happened, or where they had been before falling asleep. They say that it takes a while for all of their encounters to come rushing back to them.

When Ryou woke up, he knew exactly where he was. (And who he was with.)

Sitting next to him, his head in his hands, was the Thief King, Spirit of the Millennium Ring, commander of the Dark Necrofear. ( To most people, however, he was simply known as "Bakura.") He looked up when he felt Ryou's gaze.

"Hello, Landlord."

" Hello." There was a few moments pause.

"So… did we lose?"

Bakura chuckled bitterly. "Yes, I suppose we did. Apparently, that psychopath is stronger than we estimated."

Ryou sighed. "Really, this is starting to get old."

Bakura laughed, this time with humor. "You know, most people who find themselves trapped in the shadows aren't exactly worried by the lack of variety they hold."

"Well, it's true." He frowned. "And you know what? It's almost always your fault."

The other shrugged. "Well, if you're going to be my host, you're going to have to face the consequences." Ignoring Ryou's protests, he went on to add, "Anyway, it technically wasn't my fault this time. You're going to have to blame Malik for this one."

Ryou grimaced. "I wonder what happened to him…." he mused.

Bakura shrugged nonchalantly. "He can't be worse off than us. He might have even been spared, considering it was me who took the direct impact." (Ryou could tell by his expression that he was none too pleased about this little detail.) "Besides, we really should be worried about ourselves, rather than him."

Ryou couldn't help but agree.

Bakura stood up and stretched. "Well, Landlord, you might as well get comfortable, because it seems we're going to be here a long while."

Ryou decided not to ask how you could possibly "get comfortable" in the Shadow Realm, and instead pulled out a deck of cards from his back pocket.

For what seemed like hours (or really could have been minutes; time didn't pass normally in the shadow realm,) he amused himself by playing every single person game he could possibly think of. Bakura, meanwhile, spent his time roaming the perimeter of their confinement, muttering to himself things about a certain "bloody stupid Tomb Keeper" and trying to find a portal that could lead them back to reality.

After a while, however, he seemed to get bored of his pacing and came to sit down in front of Ryou. He watched the teen for a minute or so, deep in thought. Finally, he spoke.

"Landlord?"

"Hmm?"

"What the devil are you doing?"

Ryou looked up. "Playing solitaire."

"I see. Does this game have an actual purpose?"

Ryou smiled. "You know, not every game was invented to turn your opponent into a pile of dust, or what-not."

Bakura looked affronted. "I knew that," he said, his tone clearly indicating that indeed, he had not. "What kind of a game is made for just one person?"

"Well," Ryou said, gathering up the cards, "The great thing about these particular cards is that you can use them for hundreds of other games, too." He began to shuffle. "For instance, the game Go Fish can be played with as many people as you want, within limits. And you can use any other perfectly ordinary deck of cards." He thought for a moment. "Actually, you could probably even use duel monsters, if you had enough of them." He then dealt out the cards, and proceeded to teach Bakura the rules of all the card games he knew.

Looking back, Ryou later decided that the following events were some of the weirdest he had ever experienced. Really, it was hard to remain terrified of an ancient spirit who couldn't even grasp the meaning of the words, "go fish."

"Why "go fish?" Why can't they just say, "Take another bloody card?"

"Because," Ryou explained for the tenth time, "that particular term is much too vulgar."

"You think everything is vulgar."

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"Do not!"

And so it went.

The strange thing, though, was that Ryou was actually enjoying himself. Sure, he was trapped in the shadows with a deranged, revenge-bent, ancient Egyptian spirit who controlled his body, half of the time without permission, and sure, for all he knew his friends were being brutally murdered by someone even crazier than Bakura, but there was something calming about playing a simple card game that wasn't going to determine whether he lived or died. For the first time in a long time, he was enjoying playing a game.

And these days, that was something to be treasured.

"Hey Ryou?"

"Yes?"

"Well don't just sit there! It's your turn! I haven't hung around for five thousand years to wait for you to pick up a damned card!"

Okay, so maybe it wasn't perfect. But it was as close as Ryou was going to get.

Yay! Done! Reviewers get Ryou plushies. 3

Hearts you forever!

-Eggy