Disclaimer: Nope, don't own.
Notes: Just a little plotbunny that hopped up on my lap while I was watching the Jounouchi/Mai duel of Doma... This is not a romance; I don't even have hints at romance in here...But if you still want to interpret it that way, then be my guest. smile-sweatdrop
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He ran because he didn't think he could take any more of it; of the hesitant way they regarded him. They treated him like he was a hungry dog that could spring and attack at any second. But then sometimes he did feel like a caged animal; trapped in the corner with no way out.
Okay, so maybe that was a bit melodramatic. But the way Yuugi, Jounouchi, Anzu, Honda, and Bakura got so wary around him was pretty vexing.
He scrawled a quick note to his siblings and left it on the kitchen table before hopping onto his motorcycle and beginning to drive, no idea where he was going or when he would stop.
And so here he stands in the middle of the highway, his precious now-broken-down motorcycle propped up against the guardrail. "Oh, well," he mutters to himself. "It can't really get any worse than this..."
Famous last words, of course, because no sooner do the words escape his lips do the clouds burst and rain begin to pour.
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On that same day, she ran as well. She and her boyfriend could only duel so many times, and conversation topics were quickly waning. Happiness was like water to her – she'd fool herself into thinking she had it, and then it would trickle through her fingers.
She was beginning to feel once again like that plastic floral arrangement in the corner of the room – pretty to look at, but with no purpose.
So, Mai Kujaku was driving as well – no specific destination in mind – when it began to rain.
And whom should she notice but a soggy and sulking Malik Ishtar? Mai slows the car and rolls down her window, raising an eyebrow. "Malik?"
"M-Mai?" He's shivering. Which is no wonder, Mai thinks, the kid's wearing a tank top...
"Need a lift?" she asks. Malik shrugs, looking longingly into the warm dry interior of Mai's car and then back to his poor lifeless motorcycle, obviously quite torn between what to do. Mai rolls her eyes. "I have a cell phone, you know... We can call someone to tow it."
Malik chews his lip. "Oh, alright," he gives in, getting sick of trying to rub the goose bumps from his arms. He walks around the side of the car and crawls in the front seat, looking around admirably at the lush leather interior.
"Here," Mai says shortly, holding out her cell phone as she pulls away from the spot.
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"So, what were you doing, anyway?" Mai asks. Malik shrugs.
"I was just...riding. I didn't know it was going to rain..." He looks over at her. "And you? You don't come over this way much, do you?"
Mai shrugs as well. "Well, where do you want me to drop you off? What's your address?"
Malik looks surprised. "N-no, that's way too much trouble; you can just-"
Mai smiles slightly. "It's no problem... I'm not really doing anything this afternoon, anyway."
"Really?"
"Really. Now, what's your address?"
He complies, telling her, and for a little while, the car is silent as the vehicle approaches Domino.
'He's actually a quiet kid...' Mai notes. She looks out of the corner of her eye and sees the way he sits, slumped in the seat, staring dully ahead. Something's on his mind, and for some Mai realizes for some reason she wishes she knew what it was.
But then, she has her own thoughts.
Said thoughts begin to chase themselves in circles, until Malik's strangled yell stops them dead.
Mai cries out as well, slamming on the breaks as she finally notices she nearly ran a red light and straight into a car crossing the intersection. Drivers in the cars nearby look over and shake their heads condescendingly.
"Sorry 'bout that..." Mai mumbles. Malik shakes his head, taking a shaky breath.
"That's okay," he says, the words coming out in a nervous gasp. "Something wrong?" he asks, as Mai begins driving again, gripping the steering wheel.
"I just... have a lot on my mind," she says firmly. She tries – and fails – to stifle a huge yawn. "Plus I haven't been sleeping very well..." she says quietly.
Malik nods, lapsing back into silence.
"Please, do you know where to get a cup of coffee around here?" Mai asks, her normal sauciness gone.
"Yeah," Malik replies. "There's a little place a little ways ahead..."
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"Hey, Malik, what do you want?" Mai asks, the two of them standing a few minutes later in front of the counter of the coffee shop in question.
Malik shakes his head. "Oh, I don't have any money."
Mai shrugs and smiles. "My treat. It's the least I can do after nearly killing you back there."
Malik smiles himself.
"Besides," Mai sighs, aside to Malik, "I don't know what's good here, so I figured I'd just follow your lead."
"Erk..."
The two select a seat by the window once they've made their purchases. They both ordered cappuccinos, and Malik licks the frothy cream off the top of the beverage.
"Dunno why, but you don't seem like one to drink coffee," Mai comments, sipping her own drink. Malik shrugs.
"Rishid and Neesan both hate it."
Mai smiled to herself. Yes, that made sense...
She respected Rishid, for some reason. She decided they were kindred spirits that night on the Battle Ship, seeing him lying there in oblivion, after Malik had tossed him aside.
Mai had deemed Isis worthy of respect as well. Female duelists need to look out for each other, right?
Malik, she wasn't so sure what she thought of him. Her opinion of him had changed drastically – first she'd hated him, they all had; then... then everything happened...
It was plain to see that the Malik Ishtar who sailed out of Domino Harbor that one evening was not the same person who had sailed into it only a few days before.
"You seem deep in thought," Malik remarks, jerking Mai off her train of thought. She smiles rather wearily.
"I...I guess so..." She looks up, his pale lavender eyes boring straight into her own violet orbs. Mai suddenly looks down at her watch.
"Geez, it's getting late," she sighs. "I-I'm not making you late for anything, am I?" she asks.
Malik smiles almost wryly. "No," he says. "No one expects me to be anywhere..."
"Lucky you," Mai sighs again. "With me, Peter's always 'be here, be there, we have to do this and that'..."
"Peter?" Malik cocks his head.
"American businessman," Mai explains. "My boyfriend...The only reason he keeps me around is so he can brag about me."
They're silent for a moment. "I think you're the lucky one," Malik says suddenly. "At least, you have someone..."
Mai scowls and shakes her head. "I'm just a show dog to him."
Malik frowns as well. "And I'm a rabid one to them."
Mai glowers, understanding just who 'them' is.
"He always holds me at arm's length, away from him..."
"They're so hesitant around me..."
"Why doesn't anybody understand?" they say in frustration, simultaneously. They blink at each other, surprised, and they laugh.
Now Mai smiles at Malik, realizing this is probably the first time she's ever seen him truly laugh. "You don't laugh like him," Mai smirks.
"Who?" Malik asks genially. "Peter?"
Mai's smile fades. "No..." she says softly. " 'Him'...It. The other you."
"...Oh."
"He's why I haven't been sleeping," Mai confides, gripping her coffee cup. "These dreams... They keep coming back."
Malik leans forward, his voice low. "What happens in them?"
"He traps me again, in that dark place..." her voice shakes slightly. "He traces his fingers along my cheek and I'm so afraid, afraid of what he could do to me..." She shudders involuntarily.
"Can't say mine are like that," Malik says after a short silence. Mai looks up at him, amazed.
"In mine..." Malik swallows. "It's always the same event, but sometimes the dreams start at different points, and sometimes they go further.
"In my dreams, he always wins the duel against Yuugi." He stares at the floor. "A-and so I die, in a way... But I can still see... I see what he does t-to them..."
"Them? You mean Yuugi and the others?"
Malik shakes his head. "No, the dreams always end before he can kill them; it's Rishid and Neesan that he goes after first." His body trembles slightly.
Mai finds herself genuinely surprised at how much these dreams hurt him. Slowly, she reaches out and places a hand over his. "You really love them, don't you? Rishid and Isis?"
Malik nods. "Sometimes, it makes me angry that they forgave me so easily, after what I did to them," he whispers. He looks up at Mai and smiles ruefully. "No, that's so stupid."
"I think I can see that you'd feel that way," Mai shrugs. "But you don't have to keep hating yourself about what you did, especially because you didn't even have a clue what you were doing. Malik, Battle City is in the past now."
Malik says nothing, bangs falling in front of his eyes. "B-but Yuugi and the others-"
"Are being stupid," Mai finishes. "Just give them some time, okay, Kiddo?"
He nods slowly. "You're right; I guess if I were them I wouldn't trust me either."
Mai blinks. "That's the spirit... I think..."
They've finished their cappuccinos, but find no need to leave just yet.
"So, what do you think about me and Peter?" Mai asks. Malik looks down at his empty mug.
"I think... I think... Well, what was he like when you first met him?" Malik looks thoughtful.
Mai smiles at the memories. "Oh, he was so sweet. So reserved and insecure; he was still learning Japanese, you see. But once he started getting his confidence...
"I don't understand," she says softly. "Am I just so worthless, he can just throw me away...?"
Malik leans forward and looks up, trying to look into Mai's downcast eyes. At his invasive gaze, she shuts her eyes.
"You're not worthless..." Malik assures with concern. "Peter's just sounds shallow. That's not your fault, Mai. I think... I think you just want someone to care about you, Mai. There's nothing wrong with that." He leans back in his chair and smiles embarrassedly. "I'm not any good at this philosophical kind of talk..."
Mai looks up at him and smiles. "It sounds pretty good to me..."
"What sounds pretty good?" a friendly voice from behind asks.
Malik whirls around in his chair, coming face-to-face with Yuugi. "Y-you..."
"Hey, Yuugi!" Mai smiles. He smiles back.
"What are you doing around here, Mai?"
"Well, I was out driving when I stumbled upon poor Malik here, stranded in the rain with a broken-down motorcycle. So I gave him a ride back to town!"
Malik still looks flustered by Yuugi's sudden appearance. Yuugi's smile fades slightly, and he looks a little ill at ease. "I wasn't...um...interrupting anything important, was I?"
Mai's smile takes on a rather impish appearance. "Yuugi, are you insinuating Malik and I are on a date?"
Yuugi scratches his cheek, smiling good-naturedly. Malik stares at Mai, embarrassed. "Don't say that!" he protests, his cheeks red.
Mai puts on a face of mock-hurt. "When you put it like that, it sounds like you're embarrassed to be seen with me..." Malik just sighs. Mai turns to Yuugi and smiles.
"Oh, and what sounds good are Malik's philosophies. He's got some pretty good ideas, you know."
Malik looks even more embarrassed.
"Wow," Yuugi chuckles. "Sounds cool. So anyway, I saw you guys through the window and thought I'd say hi."
"Well, I'm afraid we've got to be going," Mai says. "I've kept Malik long enough, and I've got some things to take care of myself."
"Oh, okay," Yuugi shrugs. "I'll see you guys later, then."
They exchange a few more goodbyes, but Malik pays no attention to them.
Yuugi had said 'you guys'... He'd been talking to them both...
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It is eight-thirty at night when Mai pulls up to her apartment, rain still falling. The sight of the plain, white, two-story building sends her crashing into reality. She stops the car but doesn't get out, as if staying inside will keep her from having to face reality again.
There was some dinner party beginning at eight that she and Peter were supposed to be attending.
As if on cue, Mai's cell phone rings. Digging it from her purse and checking the caller I.D., Mai's suspicions are confirmed. It's Peter.
She ignores the ringing and checks her voice mail and text messages – Peter, apparently, has been frantically trying to contact her in the past half-hour.
Mai turns off her cell phone, smiling, and slips it back into her purse. She knows she can't leave him hanging forever; she'll talk to him tomorrow.
But as for this dinner party – Mai finds with satisfaction that she could not care less about it. She opens the door and steps out of the car, leaning against the hood and letting the rain drench her.
A smile tugs at the corners of her lips, and before she knows it, a giggle bubbles in her throat, escaping as a choked snicker before she can stop it.
It is then that Mai realizes just how alienated she has become with laughter.
And so, without further ado, Mai throws her head back and laughs.
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Ending notes: Um...yay!
Anyway, the original plotbunny came about when I was watching the Jou/Mai duel of Doma, and I found it interesting that Mai has nightmares about Yami M. I've always thought Malik was another person likely to have dreams about him, so I thought hey, what if they find out they both have nightmares about Yami M? And so A Lift was born. Yay.
Reviews, pwease?