Bakura walked alone in the park, his long white hair in his eyes. He was content just to walk and listen to the night. The crickets chirping, the owls hooting, the toads peeping, everything combined to form the most beautiful music he'd ever heard.

Bakura loved to come out here when it was completely abandoned, to, if nothing else, wash away all his troubles with their natural melody. But tonight his walk was to be interrupted, and in a big way.

A sudden loud keening startled him, and he stumbled back, looking around in shock for the source. He didn't have to look for long, as the dark clouds split open and a column of white light shot down, hitting the ground just a few feet away from the stunned albino, who was covering his face with his arms.

The light pounded into the ground for several seconds before it faded, and upon uncovering his face, Bakura saw a small figure on the ground. It was a small boy, with white hair like his, but a bit shorter and less unruly. He wore white robes, and his skin was so pale it almost matched them. But the thing that caught his eye immediately were the colossal snow white wings protruding from his shoulder blades.

Bakura moved closer to the seemingly unconscious boy and knelt down, watching him with fascination. It was then that he started to stir. There was a small moan and he shifted a bit before weakly lifting his head and looking around as if trying to see where he was. Which, Bakura thought, made sense. The kid just fell out of the sky, it probably wasn't intentional. Unless, you know, it was some kind of extreme skydiving sport. The wide emerald eyes finally froze when he set his sights on Bakura. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Bakura broke the silence, standing up and smiling. The boy cocked his head in confusion.

"Well, that settles it," Bakura said in a carefree manner. "I've finally snapped," he looked up at the sky and said to no one in particular, well, no one in particular that was there at the moment, "You were right Mariku! I was going insane! And I've finally reached my destination! You're like an Egyptian GPS, man!" He looked back down at the confused, winged boy on the ground, squatting in front of him again. "Well, little figment of my imagination, mind telling me what's gonna happen next in my delusions? I'd rather not be taken away by the nice men in white coats, if you know what I mean," he winked. "Of course you know what I mean, you came out of my head."

The pale boy shook his head slowly. "You're not insane," he whispered in a soft voice.

Bakura laughed. "Of course I'm not. I guess I haven't completely accepted it yet, if my mind's telling me I'm not insane," He continued to talk like this for a few seconds before the boy reached out with a shaky hand and pinched his leg.

"OW! What was tha-" He fell silent as realization struck. If this boy was his mind, then he wouldn't have been able to cause him pain. Which meant…

"You mean you really just fell out of the sky? For real?" he breathed. The boy nodded, and gave a small smile. This man's antics amused him for some reason. And he wasn't running away, which was probably a good sign.

Bakura sat down in front of the boy and ran a hand through his hair. "Then I would assume… you're an angel?" he asked. A small smile flickered across the boy's lips, and he replied softly, but in a mischievous tone.

"I don't think so. I just fell out of the sky, so that would make me a fallen angel, no?" he tilted his head and Bakura laughed softly.

"Well, what's your name fallen angel?" he asked.

"Ryou."

"Bakura," he stretched a hand out to the celestial being, and, when he took it, helped the boy sit up. "Damn it," he smiled, shaking his head. "Why does all the weird shit have to happen to me?"

Ryou laughed, and the sound was… well, angelic.

"Well," Bakura sighed. "I suppose you're gonna need somewhere to stay, unless you want to just stay here until someone else comes across you?"

Ryou smiled. "No thanks. I doubt anyone else would be reacting this well to finding a former angel lying on the ground. What were you out here for, anyway?" he asked.

"I was taking a walk," he said. "Just a simple walk. Like I said, all the weird stuff happens to me. I should've known better, after all, my life's been almost normal for the last few months. There's no way it could actually have stayed that way, it would be too easy!" he grinned.

"You're kinda funny," Ryou said, before coughing. It was a normal enough action, but the angel seemed almost spooked by it. He looked at Bakura with wide eyes. "Did… did I just cough?" he asked.

Bakura nodded slowly. "Yeah. People do that. It's normal, no need to get all freaked out."

Ryou shook his head. "No! Angel's don't do that kind of thing, we don't have human functions. If I just coughed, it means I have to live with human needs and urges. I don't know how to do that, I don't think I can!" he was starting to panic at this point.

"Hey now, relax, it's not that hard," he looked around and started moving. "We should probably get out of here before someone else comes along and you end up in a lab. That wouldn't be good."

Bakura stood up, pulling Ryou up with him. The fallen angel didn't seem to be injured, so he let go of him and let him support himself on his own, only to have to catch him again as he fell.

"What's wrong?" he asked, furrowing his brow. He didn't have any outward injuries, was something broken?

Ryou blushed. "Um, I'm not really used to having a, well, a tangible body. I've never done this before."

Bakura sighed. "You're gonna be a handful, aren't you?"

"Sorry."

"Don't be. Just try to pick up the technique as we walk to my house," he grinned and shook his head, starting to move. He had to try not to laugh while Ryou tripped over himself and stumbled.

Bakura caught him again as he pitched forward, and something occurred to him. "You know, you should probably pull your wings in, in case we come across someone on the street," he said, making sure the angel was stable again.

Ryou's eyes widened. "OH! Yeah," he said, pulling his wings in tight to his back, hiding them from view. Bakura found it rather impressive that things so huge could fold in on themselves enough to be out of sight.

It proved to be a good idea when they walked past a lady on the sidewalk. She gave Ryou and him some strange looks, but that wasn't surprising. They were out there in the middle of the night, Ryou stumbling and dressed in an ornate Grecian style robe and sandals. Not to mention they both had snow white hair, and Bakura was adorned in his gothic, punk-rock attire. They must have been a hell of a sight, even without Ryou's wings showing. Luckily, Bakura's house wasn't far, so they didn't have to deal with any other encounters. As Bakura unlocked his door, Ryou voiced a question.

"Why do you lock it?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

Bakura gave him a strange look. "So people don't break in and take my stuff, or worse, try to kill me."

The angel's eyes widened. "People here do that?" he asked in a horrified tone.

"Yeah. Wouldn't you know that?"

"No. I wasn't a guardian. Only guardians ever watch the human race, the rest of us have elementary knowledge about you, nothing else," he shook his head as they walked in. "How can people do those sorts of things?"

Bakura shrugged. "In the human nature, I guess. When you've lived your life here, it's not a big deal. Happens every day."

Ryou looked up at him with big eyes. "And you're just able to shrug it off like it's nothing? How is that possible?"

Bakura thought for a moment, sitting Ryou down on the couch and watching as his eyes widened at the cushiness and bounce. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "I guess it's just so common nowadays, it's become normal."

Ryou looked down at the floor. "That's horrible… truly horrible," it was about then that his stomach rumbled, and he jumped, looking around in surprise. "What was that?" he looked up at Bakura, who burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny? What was that noise? Where did it come from, stop laughing at me!" Ryou was looking distinctly indignant as Bakura struggled to keep himself from falling to the floor. Eventually he calmed down, and looked at the angel with a slightly apologetic expression, still snickering slightly.

"That was your stomach," he explained. "It means you're hungry. What do you want to eat?"

Ryou blinked. "Eat? I have to eat?"

Bakura nodded. "Humans need to eat to live, Ryou."

He looked down. "I've never eaten before. How do you do it?" he asked, looking back up at Bakura.

Bakura furrowed his brow, not quite sure how to explain it. After all it just came to him as a reflex. How was he to explain it to someone who'd never done it before? "Um… well, you put food in your mouth and chew it, and then you swallow it by working the muscles in your throat. That's pretty much the best I can explain it," he shrugged.

"And how often do I have to do this?"

"A few times a day," Bakura smiled, it was like talking to a really big toddler. He found it amusing. The kid had the innocence of a toddler too, which wasn't all that surprising given where he'd come from. Simple walk in the park his ass.

"Oh… what do you eat?" he asked.

Bakura grinned a bit. "Food."

Ryou sighed. "I gathered that, Bakura."

Bakura smirked. "You're a snippy little thing, aren't you?"

"Maybe."

He raised a brow, still smirking. "Come on, pick something to eat. I suppose I'm gonna have to teach you how to do that too, huh?"

Ryou smiled a bit, and stood up carefully, making sure that he wasn't about to fall over. He followed Bakura to the kitchen, steadier on his feet now that he'd had a little practice.