DISCLAIMER: I don't own yugioh. If I did, there would be a whole lot more shipping. I'm just playing with the puppets for a little while.

It was kind of a given that whoever lived with Bakura got a crash course into the criminal underworld. He brought stolen items home, came back late at night with blood staining the cuffs of his jacket, and more than once Ryou had caught him stitching up a knife-wound with a casualness that made him a little bit sick. He knew his yami was more than capable of handling anything that the world threw at him, but that didn't stop him from worrying as dawn drew ever closer with no sign of his lover.

A slowly cooling cup of tea in his hands, curled on the couch with his feet tucked under a blanket, he watched the second hand slowly tick its way around. He was at that stage of exhaustion where the noise of the TV was intolerable, but focusing on a book was impossible. His mind drifted aimlessly with the tick of the clock, his eyes stubbornly open but his mind nearly asleep already.

The click of the door startled him into wakefulness, his heart leaping at the sudden noise in the quiet. Bakura raised an eyebrow at him as he closed and locked the door, shrugging off his black coat and throwing it carelessly over a chair.

"What are you doing up, yadonoushi?" He pulled out the elastic tie holding his hair back and Ryou watched mesmerized as he shook out the long white strands. He smiled tiredly and set his cup carefully on the table.

"This is later than you usually get home. I woke up around midnight and got worried when you weren't there." Bakura snorted softly.

"If you say something cliché like 'I missed you sleeping beside me', I may have to hurt you." Despite the harsh words the hand that carded through his hair was gentle as it tipped his head back. Bakura kissed him firmly, without pretense, but gently… Until a sharp canine nicked his lip a little too casually to be an accident.

Despite his exhaustion, Ryou could feel himself responding. His yami was in a mood, it seemed, and as Bakura tightened the hand in his hair to taste his mouth more deeply he felt himself submitting. Bakura hummed in pleasure and shifted his grip to pull his hikari into a proper hold. Ryou moaned softly when their bodies pressed together, and Bakura's hand drifted lower-

"HEY! We agreed, no sex on the couch!" The voice of one of their housemates made Ryou jump nearly a foot in the air, accidentally smacking Bakura in the nose in the process. Bakura snarled and rubbed his nose, glaring daggers at the one who interrupted them.

Marik glared back, blonde hair mussed and clad only in a rumpled shirt (thankfully long enough to cover his thighs, it must belong to the larger Malik), Millennium Rod in his hand. He pointed it threateningly at the pair.

"We have to sit there too, you know! Get a room." Bakura snorted.

"Oh, like you two ever listen to that rule…" If Marik were lighter-skinned, Ryou was sure he would have turned beet-red. A dark chuckle came from behind the Egyptian.

"The Robber has a point, Hikari-pretty…" Malik wrapped an arm around his hikari's waist, pulling him close against his-

Ryou quickly averted his eyes.

"Malik, PLEASE put some clothes on if you're going to walk through the common areas." The psycho smirked.

"Nope, don't think I will. C'mon Pretty, back to bed." Marik yelped as he was hoisted onto Malik's shoulder and carried back down the hall. Bakura eyed them as they left, eyes lingering…

Ryou gently slapped him on the arm and received a deadly glare in return. Oh, he was gonna pay for that…

"What? I was admiring his musculature." Ryou just laughed and leaned into Bakura's chest, eyes drooping shut.

"I'm sure you were."

He squeaked softly as Bakura picked him up and carried him bridal-style to their room. He was dropped unceremoniously onto his side of their queen-sized bed and slipped under the covers as his yami undressed. He yawned and snuggled into the pillows.

"What kept you out so late?" Bakura finished exchanging his jeans for sweatpants and pulled off his shirt.

"Visited the new jeweler's downtown. Some idiot tried to rob a bank in the same district and they shut down the bus lines. I hitchhiked home." Ryou winced.

"Yami's still got you banned from the Shadow Realm?"

"I don't see why, it's not like anyone died… And I'm sharing the profits from those photos with him, so he can't complain!"

"I think most people would object to photos of them in… vulnerable positions… being sold on the Internet. You got off lightly." The embodied spirit slid into bed and his light immediately snuggled up to his bare chest, humming softly in pleasure. Bakura humphed.

"Still worth it."

"If you say so…" Ryou was almost asleep already. Bakura allowed himself a rare, gentle smile, stroking the white hair back from his light's face tenderly.

He'd never admit it in a thousand years, but knowing he had someone to return to, who worried when he didn't come home… It warmed his dark, shriveled heart.

"Good night, Ryou."

And with that, Bakura let himself succumb to sleep.

Author's Notes:

Apparently when I'm tired I write fluff.

Hope I made you smile. Review if you feel like it. :)