Okay, two things: I know I said Birthday Kisses was a one-shot, but I decided to write a sequel. Also, today (or tomorrow depending on when this gets posted) is Ryou's birthday! Happy Birthday, Ryou!
Marik will do the disclaimer:
Marik: monotone Daughter of Horus does not own YGO. She has no money, so you can't sue her.
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It was the day after Marik's birthday. The celebration had been a blast—well, the candles had melted the frosting on the cake, but at least there was cake. Lots of it! Ryou had been well-received by the Ishtars (although Rishid had glared at him for a while before Marik reassured him).
The two boys were currently in Ryou's living room, snuggled up on the couch. Marik was flipping channels boredly, while Ryou was simply relaxing, enjoying the feeling of being close to his boyfriend. He raised his head and looked out the window to be greeted with a welcome sight.
"Hey, Marik! It's snowing again!"
Marik sighed. He hated the snow. It was cold and wet, and he'd probably catch pneumonia. But then again, Ryou loved the snow, and Marik had to admit that Ryou had him wrapped around his little finger. Besides, it was in the snow that they had had their first kiss. And if I do get sick, Marik thought, Ryou will take care of me…
"So, what do you want to do, Ry?"
"Well…we could stay in here all nice and warm, or…we could go have a snowball fight!"
Marik groaned. He knew that if he didn't do want Ryou wanted, he would a) be tickled to death, b) have a sulking Ryou on his hands, or c) be subjected to the Giant Chibi Puppy-Dog Eyes of Death. Personally, Marik thought even his yami would have quaked in fear in the face of Ryou's puppy-dog eyes.
"Snowball fight."
"Yaaaaaay!" Ryou threw his arms around Marik before running upstairs to get changed. Marik, defeated, put his coat, gloves, hat, and scarf back on.
When Ryou finished getting all bundled up, he ran outside to the front yard. (1.) Marik was nowhere in sight. Before he could call out, however, he was smacked in the side of the head by a rather large snowball.
"Marik!"
His boyfriend looked deceptively innocent. "What? You wanted to have a snowball fight, right?"
Ryou grinned. "You won't know what hit you." He bent down, picked up a handful of snow, rolled it into a ball, and threw it at Marik's head. He yelped in surprise as his hat was splattered with snow.
"Oooh, I'm gonna get you for that!" He chased after Ryou, a wicked gleam in his eyes and a huge grin on his face. Ryou, with an equally huge grin on his face, yelped in mock terror and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction—which wasn't very fast, by the way.
Marik tackled him, sending both of them rolling over in the snow, with Marik on top. Breathless and flushed, they stared into each other's eyes.
"You look gorgeous…" Marik breathed, before kissing Ryou tenderly. Ryou shivered. Note to self: Get tackled more often. "Are you cold? C'mon, let's go back inside and warm up."
"Yeah, th—that sounds good."
Both shivering, they went back inside. Mari threw his several layers of clothes in the general direction of a nearby chair, leaving him in jeans and a sweatshirt, (2.) while Ryou, once again, went to get changed.
When he came downstairs—likewise in jeans and a sweater—Ryou sat down next to Marik on the couch, resting his head on Marik's shoulder.
For a long time, there was silence. Finally, Ryou asked, "Hey…Marik?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you ever wish…that none of this had ever happened?"
Marik gazed at his snowy-haired boyfriend for a while before answering.
"No. I'm sorry for my actions during Battle City…but if it wasn't for that, I never would have met you. If I had the chance to relive my life, I wouldn't change a thing. I'd go through it all—my yami, my scars, everything--for you."
Ryou shifted, burying his head in Marik's chest. "Thank you, Marik", he whispered into the folds of his shirt. "Nobody's ever said anything like that to me before…you're the best boyfriend anyone could ever have, I don't care what my yami says."
Marik raised his eyebrows. "What did that psycho kleptomaniac say about me?"
Ryou sweatdropped. "Remember when Rishid was glaring at me?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry about that—it's his "Protective Older Brother" mode."
"Well, picture that, verbally, with a lot of insults. That's what Bakura said about you when I told him we were dating."
Ryou heard Marik's laughter rumble through his chest. "Why am I not surprised?" he marveled, before pulling Ryou into a deep kiss.
Memo to self: Must get Ryou to eat more vanilla ice cream, Marik thought as they broke apart, needing air (neither of them having remembered to actually breathe).
Ryou's eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Oh…crap", he whispered. Marik was instantly concerned.
"What? What is it?"
"Marik…what's today's date?"
"December 24…Christmas Eve."
They both froze with the exact same thought running through their heads. Crap, I didn't buy him a present! Must not panic, must not panic…Oh, It's hopeless! He'll probably hate me forever now!
"Ra, Ryou, I'm so sorry—"
"I swear I'll make it up to you—"
Suddenly, Marik laughed. Ryou's eyes narrowed in a scarily accurate imitation of his yami.
"What is it?"
Marik wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "I just realized how absurd we sound. We've only been going out for two days and we're panicking because of Christmas gifts that we couldn't have known to buy? Ryou, trust me. I'd rather have you than the socks Ishizu sent me last year."
Ryou found himself giggling. "She gave you socks?"
"Yep." Marik grinned at the memory. "We weren't speaking at the time, but I guess she felt she had to give me something."
They both laughed at this. (Picture it—socks? Almost as bad as getting underwear for Christmas.)
"You know I love you, right?"
"Yes, Marik, I love you too. Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, angel."
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1: I know Ryou lives in an apartment building, but let's just pretend he has a house and his yami isn't home at the moment, 'kay?
2: As sexy as Marik looks in those leather pants and midriff-baring shirt, you can't expect him to wear them in the middle of winter, can you?
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