AN: For a friend of mine.
The night was dark, illuminated only by the silver crescent moon waning above their heads. Stars that had died long ago shone their light, thousands of them embedded into the sky like tiny jewels. Ryou blinked lazily, a soft smile stretching his mouth slightly. His white hair seemed somehow whiter under the moonlight, his chocolate brown eyes somehow warmer. He sat on a padded navy blue bench, on the cobbled courtyard that wrapped around one side of the house. He and Bakura were currently staying at one of the Kaiba's holiday homes in Japan, after Yugi suggested that the gang go down to the beach for a couple of weeks. It had taken Ryou a while to convince Bakura to come along – not only because he didn't see the point, but because Yami was going. To say that the two didn't get along was an understatement. Ryou had finally managed to convince him to go when he mentioned that the two of them would, unlike the others, be getting one of the little houses all to themselves.
Bakura had mostly stayed inside so far, only coming down to the beach for ten minutes on the second day before leaving again. Ryou had tried to get him to stay longer, but trying to get him to be around the others was nearly impossible. He sighed.
Just at that moment, something bright flashed past him. Startled, he looked up to see a firefly, hanging in the air. He smiled, reaching a hand out to the small dot of light, only to have it dash away. But another one took his place. Looking around, Ryou realized that several of the tiny bugs were flying around in the night air, indifferent to the cool breeze that raised hairs along the hikari's arms.
"What the hell are those?"
Ryou glanced over his shoulder to see Bakura standing in the doorway, an eyebrow raised as he lazily watched the creatures fly around the backyard. Smiling, he beckoned the yami over, pleasantly surprised when the thief sat down next to him.
"They're fireflies."
Bakura continued to watch the insects, curiosity only slightly showing on his face. Just enough for Ryou to notice, the mind link wasn't completely gone, after all. The pair sat quietly, fascinated by the sight of the small lights dancing all around them. As time passed, the number of fireflies slowly increased, and the creatures got a little braver.
One hesitantly flew over to Ryou, landing right on the end of his nose with a gentle dive.
A deep chuckle came from right beside him as Bakura reached out to poke it, a slight frown appearing as it darted away. Ryou gently reached for his yami's hand and placed it back on the seat, silently telling him to let them be.
The firefly came back, and after a while, others joined it.
Slowly, the hikari lifted his hands to gently cup a few of them, face lighting up when they didn't fly away. Bakura watched him with a lazy smirk, amused for some reason. Ryou made a small noise of surprise when two hands grasped his hips, pulling him over to sit between Bakura's legs. One arm wrapped around his waist, while the other hand clasped his shoulder, bringing him back to rest against Bakura's chest. Ryou looked over at the Egyptian, noticing with astonishment the smirk that was more contentment than malice.
Smiling, he relaxed back against Bakura, letting his head rest against the side of the older ones neck. The thief simply smirked wider, continuing to observe Ryou as he played with the tiny lights dancing around them.
Over the fence, Marik and Mariku were quietly watching, the latter trying to stifle a laugh. Marik glared at his psychotic counterpart before dragging him away by the ear, quietly muttering that if he ever mentioned the scene he wouldn't be getting any sex for a month.
Marik did, however, pass along the one photo he had taken to Ryou, after making him promise to never let Bakura know that he had taken it.