A/N:
An early Valentine's Day present for all of my lovers out there! I love each and every one of you so very very much, even though I don't know most of you. True story.
Special thanks to ltk022 for being my beta-kins this time around! Other mentions to Kaleigh Elric and my good pal Eileena for distracting the hell out of me when I was trying to edit it myself!
Disclaimer:
The author disclaims all!
Ryou picked up a black marker and crossed off the day on his kitchen calendar. With a bright smile to himself, he noted that the next day would be Valentine's Day. He then grabbed his car keys and stuffed them into his pea coat pocket, throwing his weight onto his front door and exiting the small apartment. The snow was shoveled up against the banister opposite his door, but the hinges still tended to stick in the wintertime. Locking said door behind him, Ryou descended the rickety, snow covered steps to the parking lot below.
He walked up to a plain, white car, dirty from driving on salted roads, and hit the unlock button on his key fob. Hurrying into the car, a sanctuary from the icy, stinging wind, the young man breathed a sigh of relief, turning the key in the switch and automatically turning on the heat.
Backing out of his parking spot, the Brit turned onto the main road and headed towards town. His apartment was in the suburb of a sizable city, so he had to drive for about half an hour to get to the center of town. Turning at a light, Ryou checked off the familiar landmarks in his head, even though he had taken the route so many times before that he could drive to his destination with his eyes closed.
Finally pulling up to a tiny café on a back road, Ryou parked in front of it next to a large, dark red truck. Switching off the engine, he stepped out of his car and hurried into the dimly lit building, the bell on the door tinkling cheerily behind him.
The café looked small on the outside, but in reality, it was comfortably roomy on the inside. Round, tall tables were placed in front of the large, arched windows facing the street. Two cushioned stools were set up on either side of each table, and all sorts of jungle-like plants hung from the ceiling rafters, stood in corners, and framed windows with their long, draping tendrils. The greenery, complimenting the dark, polished, mahogany wood the room was made out of, gave the eatery a relaxed, mellow feel. On the other side of the café was a standard bar, complete with all of the features of a modern kitchen as well. One of the things Ryou liked about the little place was that Yuugi, the chef at the tiny restaurant, made the food right there in the dining room while the patrons watched. The aromas in the café were always amazing.
Sitting in a stool at the table in the very back of the café was a man that was strikingly similar in appearance to Ryou. His white, spiky hair framed his pale face erratically, giving him a menacing appearance. A pale hand brushed a few stray locks out of the way of his dark brown eyes irritatedly. The man's long, black trench coat was draped over his stool, the bottom hem of the garment still brushing the ground despite the height of the chair. He drummed his slender fingers against the table impatiently, casting his gaze around the café and checking the watch on his wrist every so often.
Ryou walked up to the man, pulling off his gloves as he did so, and tapped his companion on the shoulder. "Hey, Bakura," he greeted warmly.
Bakura turned his head, twisting his body at the same time meet eyes with Ryou as best as he could. "At last he shows up," he commented, voice laced with sarcasm.
Ryou jumped up to get onto the stool across from Bakura and leaned comfortably against the padded back. "Excuse me for having a slow car when it's ten degrees outside," he countered, picking up the menu on their table and opening it up, "We can't all drive giant, fancy trucks, you know."
"Whatever. Leave earlier," Bakura suggested, taking the second menu and eying the items on it hungrily.
A waitress sauntered up to their table, clicking her pen in a habitual motion. Her brown bobbed hairstyle was held back by a dark purple ribbon that matched her miniskirt. The nametag pinned to her loose-fitting tank top read "Anzu". She smiled at them charmingly, showing off a row of perfectly white teeth behind her bright red lipstick. "Hello, boys! What can I get you today?" she asked perkily.
"I'll have the French vanilla hot chocolate, please," Ryou told her with small smile, closing his menu and putting it back on the table.
"Want marshmallows with that?" she asked distractedly, busily writing his order on her tablet.
"Yes, please," he replied.
"And you, handsome?" the waitress asked Bakura jokingly when she had finished scribbling on the paper, turning to face his unamused stare.
"Coffee," he stated simply, as if he didn't want to be bothered with talking to her, putting his menu on top of Ryou's.
"Any sugar or whatever?" Anzu asked, jotting down his order.
"Just black," Bakura admonished her, already turning back to face Ryou.
After she had left to make their orders, Ryou leveled a suspicious glare at the other man. Why wasn't he saying anything about it? Didn't his boyfriend know? "Bakura, do you know what tomorrow is?"
"February 14th. Why? I thought you had that calendar with the pansies on it," Bakura commented offhandedly.
"They're authors!" Ryou defended angrily, narrowing his brown eyes, "And tomorrow isn't just February 14th."
"Oh, really? What is it then?" the taller male asked, leaning in with a smirk on his face. Riling up his tiny lover was both easy and amusing to the brash male.
"It's Valentine's Day, of course!" he declared disbelievingly, hoping Bakura was just playing dumb to aggravate him.
"Valentine's Day? And what's so special about this Valentine guy that he gets his own day, hm?" Bakura asked indignantly, crossing his arms and leaning back.
Ryou looked like he had been slapped across the face. "What's so special about it? Really?" he asked loudly, voice cracking at the end.
"Really. I don't know what Valentine's Day is," Bakura insisted as he leaned forward again, beginning to worry. His boyfriend looked genuinely distressed at his ignorance.
At that untimely moment, Anzu came back to their table carrying a tray with two cups balanced on it. One was a plain, white mug with pure, black coffee in it. The other was a delicate-looking cup with a fancy, curved handle and golden trim around the rim. It sat upon a matching saucer with a doily on top. A few marshmallows bobbed and floated on the surface. "Here you go, boys!" she declared, placing the plain drink in front of Bakura and the fancy cup in front of Ryou. The girl then wiggled her fingers as a goodbye and strutted away to take care of the few other customers in the café.
"Valentine's Day is where people who love each other exchange gifts to show how much they care," Ryou explained in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's been pretty heavily commercialized, so I'm not sure how you haven't heard of it. Basically, it's a holiday for a priest who performed marriage ceremonies for persecuted denominations."
"And why does this pertain to us?" Bakura asked bluntly, not sure what he was supposed to be understanding from Ryou's explanation.
Ryou sighed sadly, turning his head to hide his blush. "Everybody celebrates Valentine's Day by showing the people they love how much they care about them. I figured it would mean even more to us because we're kind of like the people that Saint Valentine helped. They weren't socially accepted either."
"Oh," he replied, feeling insensitive after seeing the way Ryou's face fell as he explained his obsession with the holiday. He could have slapped himself at that moment. Taking a drink from his mug, he tried to gather his thoughts quickly. "Hey, Ryou. Uhm, what do people usually do for each other on Valentine's Day?"
The smaller teen was taken aback by Bakura's sudden interest. "Well, some people get candy, flowers, or a card," he started, thinking about what he was making for Bakura. "Jewelry, too, I guess."
The taller Brit's eyes widened a fraction, as if remembering something. "What do you want, though?" Bakura asked, deciding not to beat around the bush. He leaned in, eager to make Ryou happy by any means necessary, and hoping his younger lover's response would suit the plan he was already formulating.
Ryou, however, just laughed at him. "I don't think I'm going to tell you!" he exclaimed happily, seeming very pleased with himself, "That would take all the fun out of it."
Bakura groaned, dropping his head to the table. This whole Valentine's Day thing was going to be slightly harder than it sounded.
Malik dried off his platinum blond hair thoroughly, wrapping one of his fluffy, white towels around his slim, tanned waist and the other around his head. The young blond then stepped over to the bathroom mirror and cleared some condensation off of the surface with his right hand. Wrinkling his nose in a grimace at the black smudges of eye make-up that the water hadn't cleaned off, the Egyptian rubbed vigorously at the unsightly marks with the end of the towel he had wrapped around his head.
"Malik!" the deep voice of his lover called from somewhere in the house, "Phone's for you!"
"Coming, Marik!" he replied loudly, hurrying out of the en suite bathroom into the large bedroom they shared. He picked up the receiver of the phone that was sitting on the nightstand next to the bed. "Hello?"
"Hey!" Ryou greeted cheerfully from over the line.
"Ryou!" Malik exclaimed excitedly, eager to talk to his best friend, dropping onto the plushy, king-sized bed, "What's up?"
"Nothing really. I was just wondering what you and Marik are doing for Valentine's Day," Ryou told him curiously, winding the chord of the kitchen phone around his fingers idly.
At Ryou's mentioning of Valentine's Day, Bakura, who had been watching television in the living room, snapped his head towards the kitchen.
"Oh, come on, Malik!" Ryou protested loudly, laughing at his friend, "You have to be doing something other than that! You always do that! Valentine's Day has to be something special."
Bakura dashed up the staircase as quietly as possible, heading quickly into his boyfriend's bedroom and picking up the phone. He held the receiver away from his mouth so that it wouldn't pick up his shallow breathing, and listened carefully, hoping for a clue as to what Ryou wanted.
"Bakura didn't even know what Valentine's Day is!" the little Brit exclaimed, laughing along with his Egyptian friend.
"Seriously? Oh man, Ryou. He'd better be getting you something amazing to make up for that!" Malik declared. "What do you think he'll do? A romantic dinner? Flowers and candy? Dare I say it… jewelry?"
"I've got no clue," Ryou confessed, "He's so unpredictable, you know?"
"Marik's no better," Malik lamented despondently, "I'm hoping this year he'll do something special for me, but I know not to hold my breath."
"Oh, Malik," Ryou cooed, trying to comfort his friend. "Do you want me to have Bakura talk to him?" he suggested.
"Nah. If Marik's going to do something special, I want it to come from his heart," Malik stated dreamily.
Bakura nearly gagged. Why were they talking like love struck girls? 'Do they always talk like this to each other about us?!' he wondered incredulously, all of a sudden finding it very hard not to cut into their conversation.
"If you're sure," Ryou said unhappily. "Anyway, are you doing something for him?"
Malik laughed a little. "Why bother? He's so easy to please. A blowjob is all it takes to make his day," he informed Ryou offhandedly, "Why go the extra mile if he won't appreciate it?"
"I guess that's true," Ryou said softly after a few seconds, "I don't really do that kind of thing, so I had to get creative."
"Creative?" Malik asked, his tone giving away the fact that he was smiling suspiciously, "Dear Ryou, whatever do you have up your sleeve?"
Bakura carefully put the phone back down.
When Ryou woke up late that Saturday morning and stumbled dazedly into his kitchen, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he found a plate of French toast, a full glass of orange juice, and a tall container of his favorite brand of yogurt sitting on his kitchen table. Blinking rapidly, Ryou tried to understand what he was seeing. He walked out of the room and slowly walked back in. The only thing that changed was that he noticed his mail was lying on the table next to the freshly prepared breakfast as well.
Sitting down carefully, Ryou gave everything in front of him a thorough, suspicious inspection before picking up his fork. Using the edge of the utensil to slice off a piece of the crispy toast, he delicately slid it off of the fork with his teeth, chewing thoughtfully. Realizing quickly that it didn't taste at all like poison, he switched to trying a spoonful of the yogurt. Finding no fault with that either, he took a hesitant sip from the glass of orange juice. Now with the knowledge that he would live another day, the Brit happily finished his breakfast while sorting through his mail.
After breakfast, Ryou pulled on his coat, slipped on his gloves, wrapped a red, knitted scarf around his slender neck, and, checking to make sure he had the plain, brown, cardboard box that was Bakura's present, rammed the front door open with his shoulder. The door opened easily, and Ryou went flying through the threshold, crashing straight into the banister across from his door. He cried out in pain, sliding to the bare, wooden floor. That's when he realized that it was completely clear of snow. Grabbing the banister behind him with one hand, the Brit pulled himself up slowly, careful not to further aggravate the bruise that he was sure had already started to form on his chest.
Heading down the precarious stairs to his car, Ryou thought. He thought about who could have broken in to his apartment. He thought about who broke into his apartment with the intent of making his breakfast and getting his mail. He thought about his crash into the banister. He thought about who fixed the hinges on his door, so that when he forced his door open like he did every day, he flew into the banister. He thought about snow. He thought about who shoveled the snow off of the landing, leaving nothing to cushion his fall as he hit the ground after flying into the banister. Ryou thought so much about these things that he didn't even notice that he had been standing next to his car in the freezing, morning air for a good three minutes. It couldn't have been Bakura. Bakura wasn't thoughtful like that.
At least, he thought so.
When Ryou pulled up to the little café, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary at all. The sidewalk was barely shoveled, as usual, and Bakura's truck was in it's normal spot out front. He stepped carefully out of his car, cardboard box under one arm, and shuffled into the tiny restaurant.
Bakura was sitting in the same spot as always at their usual table, drumming his slender fingers against the tabletop and checking his wristwatch every ten seconds. Ryou wondered in the back of his mind if Bakura was compulsive or if he was just really that impatient. Clearing his throat as he approached his boyfriend, he knew from experience not to startle the man, Ryou boosted himself up to the stool, placing the box in the center of the table. "Happy Valentine's Day, Bakura!" he greeted happily, leaning in and kissing Bakura's pale lips quickly.
"Yeah. Valentine's Day," Bakura repeated, looking tired, "You, too."
Anzu walked up to the table, tablet and pen in hand. "Hey, boys! What can I get for you today?"
"Two sandwiches, a soda, and a glass of water, please," Ryou told her, deciding that Bakura looked unfit to decide on anything by himself, even something like lunch, "Whatever Yuugi feels like making today is fine."
"I'll be back in a smidge!" Anzu promised, leaving to get their orders.
"So, what's in the box?" Bakura asked once Anzu left, stifling a yawn as he did so.
"It's your Valentine's Day present!" Ryou declared proudly, putting his hands on the box and staring into Bakura's eyes playfully.
"Oh. I see," Bakura said plainly, making no move to take it from his boyfriend.
"Don't you want to open it?" Ryou asked, cocking his head to the side and trying not to let the hurt creep into his voice by over exaggerating his confusion.
"Do you want me to?" the taller Brit asked skeptically.
Ryou fixed him with a puzzled look. "Why wouldn't I?"
"You seem to be really into making me wait and guess about things lately," Bakura told him with a shrug, "I just figured maybe I'd have to solve a riddle first or something."
"Oh. Nope. No strings attached. Open it!" Ryou commanded cheerfully, pushing the box towards Bakura.
Pulling a small but sharp-looking knife out of his jacket pocket, Bakura began slicing away the packaging tape on the top of the box. Ignoring the reproachful look Ryou gave him for carrying a concealed weapon along to their date, he slipped it back inside his jacket and opened up the box. It was full to the brim with warm, lumpy balls of cookie dough that smelled fresh from the oven. Bakura felt his mouth begin to water as he inhaled the overwhelming scent of warm chocolate. "Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Bakura asked quickly, stuffing a cookie into his mouth. He sighed happily, chewing slowly.
Laughing at his boyfriend, Ryou pulled the box away from Bakura slightly. "Save room for your lunch," he reprimanded playfully. He then reached into the box and pulled out a plain, white envelope. "There's a card, too."
Taking the envelope from Ryou, Bakura pulled it open and slid the red, construction paper heart out of it. The card had white, lacy trim around the edge of it, and in the center were the words "I Love You" and Ryou's signature in black sharpie. The younger Brit had drawn cute, little hearts all over the valentine in the same color. "Ryou," Bakura began slowly, his tone unusually soft, "I… thank you."
"You're welcome," Ryou replied with a big, teary smile.
"I have something for you, too," Bakura said, pulling a tiny box out of his pocket. It was wrapped in light blue paper, Ryou's favorite color, and had a white, silk ribbon tied around it.
Ryou's breath caught in his throat. He looked at Bakura with wide eyes before fixing them on the box and taking it from his boyfriend. Slowly, he undid the ribbon and set it aside. Pulling the lid off of the box, he found another, velvet-covered box inside. Pulling the smaller box out, Ryou opened the lid carefully. Inside was a silver band with thin veins of gold running through it.
"It's just a promise ring," Bakura explained nervously, hoping Ryou hadn't taken it the wrong way, "For now."
Tears were running quickly down Ryou's face as he delicately slipped the ring onto his finger. He looked up at Bakura happily, wiping away some of the tearstains on his cheek. "Bakura, I love you," he told his boyfriend, trying to keep his voice from wavering too much.
Bakura felt heat quickly rise to his cheeks, and he had a look of surprise on his face, not used to being in this sort of sentimental situation and certainly not expecting that kind of a reaction out of his younger lover. He quickly snapped his head to the side, staring hard out the window so as not to meet eyes with Ryou and lose his precious control over his emotions.
At that moment, Anzu came bounding up to the two with a full tray of lunch. She set the food down on the table and looked like she was about to say something, but the brunette stopped herself. She took in the appearance of the two of them quickly, her perceptive mind realizing that she shouldn't interrupt their moment. Without a single word, the waitress hurried away, leaving the two lovers alone to enjoy their Valentine's Day together.
A/N:
Happy Valentine's Day, all you lovers out there! Y'know, I really hope I made someone cry with this. -crosses fingers-