Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh is the intellectual property of Kazuki Takahashi and Konami, and is being used in this fanfiction for fan purposes only. No infringement or disrespect is intended by this fanfiction.

.

Description: Some people want to escape the past, and some people want to chase it. When Varon comes to him asking for help, Jounouchi finds that sometimes it's possible to do both.

Prompted by Round 7 of Season 8 of the FFnet Fanfiction Contest, Conflictshipping (Jounouchi/Mai/Varon). This story uses anime canon/continuity.

.

This story is dedicated to Alecto Perdita,
who asked where Jounouchi went that year.

.

Out of the Blue

by Animom

.

.

~ Avalon ~

.

"I don't mind dropping you at the marina," the farmer that had given him a lift all the way from the construction site in Cairns said. "Never know what kinda weirdos are roamin' around the docks in the middle of the night."

"I really appreciate it." Jounouchi was bone-tired, but as he got out of the truck he still remembered enough of what the old man had said during the 11-hour drive to wish him good luck in his upcoming canasta tournament, congratulate him again on the birth of his grandchildren, and express again his outrage that Australia had not been chosen to host the 2022 World Cup.

What he did not remember to do was to take his duffel from the back of the truck, an omission he didn't realize until after the taillights had winked out far down the sleeping street. The gulls above the marina sounded like they were laughing at him. "Shut up, damn birds," he grumbled, digging out his keys as he wearily climbed the three flights of fire escape stairs to the tiny studio apartment he shared with Kajiki. He turned the key in the lock as noiselessly as he could, even though his roommate wasn't supposed to be back for several more weeks. Exhaling in relief to find the apartment still empty, Jounouchi dug the wad of banknotes out of his back pocket, counting as he kicked off his shoes. Just over $8,000 – his wages from from six solid weeks of 14-hour days and double-time weekends. More than enough to keep them going until the tourist season kicked into high gear again.

Stripping off his dusty shirt, he opened the icebox to find only a lone beer and a jar of pickled scallions. He took both, opened one of the apartment's bay-facing windows, and then sat on the sill sipping and munching and looking out over the water sparkling in the moonlight.

All things considered, things were going okay.

When he'd first graduated he'd been thrilled to be out of school, but the joy wore off fast once he noticed that he was the only one without anything interesting to do. Yugi had moved to America to be near Anzu while she was at the conservatory; Honda was going to college for a business degree; Otogi was running a company; Ryou was studying pre-law; the Ishtars had gone back to Egypt. Sure, he'd dueled a little, won some small tournaments, but the fact that he was still playing a card game while his friends had moved on to grown-up activities killed his enthusiasm.

And then he had received a letter from Ryouta Kajiki, the former ocean duelist. Come to Australia, my friend, the exuberant fisherman had written, come sail and surf with me! Though the surf lessons hadn't progressed very far, Jounouchi had learned how to handle a boat, read the weather, and spot schools of fish. More importantly, he found after a few months that the occasional letters and calls from his friends no longer left him with a lingering aftertaste of failure. Without the pressure and painful reminders that had been in his face everywhere he looked in Domino his mind had become blissfully empty, filled only with the sound of sails and wind and waves… until the day that the sun, emerging from the clouds after a brief storm, turned the water of the reef such an infinite, mocking shade of brilliant blue that Jounouchi realized that he had to do more with his life than drift.

Soon afterward he'd seen a flyer asking for volunteers to help build low-cost temporary housing for communities hit by cyclones and tsunamis, and on the spot he decided that charity carpentry might be his salvation. "It's a great idea!" Kajiki had said. "We've caught all the fish we're allowed for this year, and the tourists won't arrive for several months – so go build houses, my friend!" Jounouchi had picked up enough skills from that first volunteer stint to get a temporary job with a construction subcontractor, and since then he had alternated volunteer and paid work in the off-seasons between fishing and being the tour guide for Ryouta's Reef Tours, a small sport-fishing business that they ran now and again.

Yeah, it had shaped up to be a pretty good life. There was only one thing missing.

.

~ Re-Make / Re-Model ~

.

Once he finished eating he fell into bed, sleeping through one day and into the next. When he woke he got groceries, did laundry, and bought a new hard hat to replace the one he'd left in the farmer's truck. At first it was nice to relax, but by the second day he was antsy and bored with reading. He considered — and then rejected — the idea of going down to Airlie Beach for a few days: that was his last resort, for when he was so desperate for companionship that he'd settle for drunken sex with a stranger or three. No, what he really needed, he knew, was just to be around the noise and bustle of people; so he dressed, stuffed some money into his jeans, and went down to the pub on the corner.

He had eaten almost half his pizza when he happened to glance up to see an oddly familiar figure cutting purposefully through the crowd toward him. Brown hair, blue eyes… no, it couldn't be. Not here.

It wasn't. Fortunately his brain snapped out of its paralysis and identified the newcomer as Varon, the former DOMA swordman and Armor duelist. "Hey!" Jounouchi jumped up from his chair and clapped the other man in a bear hug. "I almost didn't recognize you without the big hair and the goggles."

"Yeah," Varon grinned sheepishly, running one hand over his now close-cropped head. "I got sheared. Still have these, though." He tilted the helmet he held in his other hand to show a pair of battered goggles.

"Sit down, sit down! Pizza okay, or you want something else?"

"All good," Varon said. "Pint of gold," he said to the server who had appeared next to their table.

"None for me," Jounouchi added as he shoved his plate across the table for Varon to use. "Man, I can't believe that we ran into each other down here! What are the odds?"

Varon laughed as he pulled a slice of pizza from the pan onto the plate. "Pretty good, since I've been sitting on the dock across from your unit all day waiting for you."

"What? Really? Why?"

"Because," Varon said between bites, "Even though it's been a couple of years, I've always remembered what a rush it was dueling you that night. Remember that? How we almost died?"

"I remember."

"Anyhow, when someone mentioned that you were living here, I decided to look you up next time I was in the area."

"In the area?"

"Yeah," Varon said, nodding at the server as she set down his beer. "I've got a motorcycle shop in Brizzie. Came up to Mackay couple of days ago to look at an old Ducati I'm thinking of buying to restore."

"Ducati — motorcycle?"

"Yeah, when you can't dance with your first or second love," Varon said, taking the last piece of pizza, "you take what's third on the card. Anyhow, since I was so close I decided to have a quick ride up here and see if you were in."

"Two hundred kilometers is a quick ride?" Jounouchi said, reaching for the check before Varon could. "You should have called first. Between construction work and reefing I'm not at that apartment much."

"Eh, I decided to take my chances," Varon said with a shrug. "And either way it wasn't a wasted trip. There's plenty to do between here and Mackay, right?"

Jounouchi, thinking of Airlie Beach's nightclubs, raised an eyebrow at Varon. "Yeah, that's the truth."

"So," Varon said lightly as they left the pub and walked along the boardwalk that bordered the marina. "You're between gigs, right? Want to pick up a bit of cash by helping me out? I need to get that bike in Mackay down to my shop, but it'll cost my left nut to ship it. What you think of riding down there with me? You on my bike, me on the Ducati? I'll pay your fare back up here."

To Jounouchi's ear Varon's casual suggestion sounded far more rehearsed than spontaneous, but that fueled his curiosity. "Road trip? I'm in."

"Good deal. So we'll crash at yours tonight, and leave early tomorrow?" Varon was fiddling with an MP3 player he'd pulled from his pocket, twisting in an earbud as they rounded the corner and started up the stairs to the apartment. "This is great. I've always wanted to see where the world's third-best duelist parks his ass at night."

.

Since Jounouchi wasn't sure that Kajiki's hammock was Varon's idea of a proper place for a good night's sleep – it definitely wasn't his – he made up the army cot. Varon stood in the center of the room with his arms folded, nodding his head in time to whatever he was listening to.

"I guess that'll do it," Jounouchi said. "I'll sleep out here, and you can have my bed."

Varon had suddenly started dancing the twist. "See pee ell five nine three aich!"

"Huh?"

"She's the sweetest queen I've ever seen," Varon sang to Jounouchi as he pantomimed holding a microphone, "CPL-5-9-3H! See here she comes, see what I mean? CPL-5-9-3H! I could talk talk talk talk myself to death! But I believe I would only waste my breath…"

"Er, okay," Jounouchi said, wondering how wise it was going to be to spend the next few days with this manic cyclist.

"Great song," Varon said, pulling out one of his headphones and walking over to Jounouchi. "Here, have a listen." As Jounouchi put the earbud in Varon explained, "It's about a guy who sells his car. A few weeks later sees a hot woman driving it – he knows it's his car because of the license plate – "

"Oh, that CPL part?"

"Right – and he wants to ask her out, but can't get the courage." He pressed a button, and the song restarted from the beginning. "I tried but I could not find a way, Looking back all I did was look away. Next time is the best time we all know, but if there is no next time where to go go go?" There was an insistent, rapid-fire guitar, a smoky saxophone, and some weird electronic chirping noise.

"Not really my kind of music," Jounouchi said, pulling the headphone out and taking a step back: Varon had been standing much closer than he needed to be for music-sharing purposes. "You should go shower now so we can get out of here faster in the morning."

.

~ Just Like You ~

.

Jounouchi woke to Varon's face bending over his cot. "Morning! It's almost dawn, so hands off yer crotch and get going." The headphones were already in, and Varon waltzed back from Jounouchi, turning in a circle as he sang, "Hopelessly grounded, I walk through the streets, remembering how we spent time, hopefully yearning that someday we'll meet, but when could we, how could we – why?…"

Rolling his eyes, Jounouchi went to take his shower.

When he came out of the bathroom he saw that Varon was holding the framed photograph of Mai that was the mantel's sole decoration.

"Such a great picture," Varon said somberly. Though the soft thump of music was audible from his headphones, he was no longer dancing. "Despite her charms being hidden."

"Only some," Jounouchi said, toweling his hair. The picture, taken several years ago at a Duel Monsters costume party, showed Mai dressed as Hibikime. Though a dark blue wig covered up her blonde hair, the tight green sheath dress she wore hugged her her curvy body to perfection.

"Who's this guy?" Varon asked with a smirk, pointing to the shirtless blond teenager dressed as Kagemusha of the Blue Flame standing next to Mai.

"Some moron," Jounouchi said, pulling on his shirt. "I still can't believe that she talked me into coming to that party half-naked." He patted his jeans to make sure he had money and his cell phone. "Okay, let's do this!"

.

The first sliver of sun broke over the horizon as they ran down the stairs to where Varon had hidden his motorcycle.

"You mind riding bi- er, pillion?" Varon asked as he handed Jounouchi a helmet, bright purple, brand-new, and still sporting a price sticker.

Jounouchi grinned. "Nah. Rode bitch to Honda a million times." He peeled the sticker off. "You were pretty sure I'd say yes to this, huh?"

In reply, Varon merely adjusted his headphones, put on his own battered helmet, and swayed from side to side as he crooned, "Time conquers innocence, pride takes a fall, in knowledge lies wisdom, that's all…" He kicked the bike to life, revved the motor. "Quicksilver baby, so hard to pin down, oh when are you coming around?"

.

It was early enough that the roads were empty. Jounouchi half-wished he'd thought to acquire an MP3 player – or at least asked Varon before they set off if he'd be willing to share the headphones again – but until they stopped he figured he could make do with Varon's occasional humming and low singing.

They made it to Mackay in just under two hours. Varon pulled off the main road onto a weedy, dirt-and-gravel driveway framed by tall, weather-stained stone pillars, and a few seconds later they drove around a grove of trees and up to a old barn that displayed a few lingering flakes of red paint. An old woman wearing a flowered dress and a yellow apron came out of the ramshackle house visible through the trees next to the barn, and Varon and Jounouchi got off the bike and removed their helmets.

"You're here about Edgar's motorcycle, is that right?" Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"Yes ma'am," Varon said as he removed his headphones, then asked with surprising gentleness, "Are you still sure you want to sell it, Mrs. Farsparrow?"

"Oh my yes," she said, wringing a corner of her apron. "What use do I have for that old piece of junk? I'm not about to join Granny's Angels!"

Varon nodded, then pulled a roll of banknotes from his pocket and handed it to her. When she fanned through the bills and started to protest that it was far too much, he said firmly, "No, it's not. I only wish I had more for you."

Looking as if she was going to cry, Mrs. Farsparrow clutched Varon in a fierce hug, then patted his arm. "How about I make you boys some breakfast, then? Or lunch? Before you go?"

"That would be wonderful," Jounouchi said, and she smiled at him.

"If you don't mind, Mrs. Farsparrow, I'm going to use the tools in the barn to do a few repairs before we leave," Varon said. "To make sure we can get to Brisbane without any breakdowns."

"Oh, that's fine," she said. "You can take them too, if you want." Then she hurried back to the house.

.

After wheeling a dusty, decrepit-looking yellow motorcycle out into the driveway, Varon dragged out a huge rusty toolbox and a bucket of cleaning rags and set to work, removing various small parts from the Ducati. "So I fix bikes," he said, wiping a long thin wire with a rag and then holding it up to the light. "What do you do?"

"Help a buddy during the fishing season. Build things."

"Yeah?" Varon said, scraping gently at something near the engine. "What sort of things?"

"Eh, concrete, rough framing, finish work," Jounouchi said. "Site supervisor says he may put me on wiring or plumbing crew next project if he has room."

"So you like construction," Varon said, grunting as he tried to loosen something with a wrench. "You gonna go for a contractor's license?"

Jounouchi was taken aback. "I – well, I never really thought about it."

"No worries. Good money, subcontracting." Varon was removing the screws from a small metal plate. "Nice and easy. Go where you're told, do what you're told, collect a heap of cash, get rotten, bang some lucky girl til she can't count from one to two." He set the plate down carefully on a rag, laid the screws on top, and then peered at the bit of the bike he'd uncovered. "None of the sweat of a business, worrying about SGT and insurance and leases and net profit and all that shit."

"This bike thing you do," Jounouchi asked. "Is it worth the sweat?"

"Yeah," Varon said, putting the metal plate back on. "Here's the thing: No one's on me but my own self. If I want to sleep in, I can; if that makes me go a day off schedule, miss a promise date, and my customer gets pissed and goes elsewhere, well then, it's my own damn fault for being a dipstick."

"How much is it going to take to restore that old wreck?" Jounouchi asked, giving the Ducati a skeptical look. "Will it even run?"

Varon gave him a withering look. "D'you even know what this 'old wreck' is?"

"No."

"Didn't think so." He turned back to the bike. "Limited production, this was. Took me forever to track her down. She's actually in pretty good shape, thanks to Edgar. Body's solid, tires have good pressure and almost full tread. Engine rumbles a little dirty, though, so I'm gonna make sure that she'll behave once I get her heated up." He stopped, thought a minute, and then grinned over his shoulder at Jounouchi before going back to his work. "When I get her to the shop I'll take her entirely apart, down to the frame. Seal the inside of the gas tank. Overhaul the engine and tranny. Clean, maybe rebuild the carburetor. Same for fuel lines and brakes. I'll upgrade the electrical system, replace all the bolts and nuts and screws. Re-chrome. Repaint." He slapped the seat. "And my ass will tell me by tonight if I need to re-foam."

Jounouchi was impressed. "Seems like a lot of work."

Varon shrugged and put in one of his headphones. "It's a privilege to restore such a gorgeous beast. And anyhow, I'm the sort who likes to fix things." He turned and studied Jounouchi. "You are too, am I right? People, especially. Bet you're far better at the people-fixing bit than I am."

"Me? No." Jounouchi laughed, embarrassed. "I've never been able to help anyone who really needed it. Ask my dad."

"Or maybe," Varon said, standing and dusting off his jeans. "Maybe you do everyone heaps of good, but are too dim to see it."

Jounouchi kicked at a pocket of gravel. "Change the subject."

Varon didn't say anything for a few minutes, then said lightly. "So… this bike. I'm hoping to give it to someone as a gift, but that'll depend on you."

"Me?" Jounouchi frowned. "Wanna explain that a little?"

Varon wiped his hands on a clean rag, reached into his jacket, pulled something out, and then turned to show it to Jounouchi: a Cyber Harpie card. "It's why I brought up the people-fixing thing."

Just then they noticed Mrs. Farsparrow waving at then from the porch, and they walked over. On small table near the door, a tarnished silver tray was crowded with a rack of toast, a jar of Vegemite, a pot of coffee, and two mismatched china cups.

"Now, just eat as much as you like, I can always make more," she said, pressing her frail hands together as she watched them drag two of the porch chairs over to the table. "I can't tell you how very much I've missed cooking for someone."

"Will you join us?" Jounouchi asked before he sat down. "There's room to squeeze in another chair."

"Oh my no," she said, waving her hands at them with an almost girlish giggle. "I wouldn't know what to do with myself!" She turned and went into the house.

Sweet old hen," Varon said as he sat down. "Must be tough for her, living out here alone."

They munched toast and drank coffee for several minutes, avoiding eye contact, until Jounouchi sat back, folded his arms, and said, "Alright, talk to me."

Varon cleared his throat. "Yeah. Well. You know Mai said she might come back to me – to us – some day? I've tried to be patient and leave her alone but I can't take the waiting anymore. The not knowing if or when. And since I know you talk to her, I was hoping that you could tell me if I have a chance, any chance. At all. With her."

"So let me get this straight, " Jounouchi said, tilting his head. "You just happened to hear I was living in Bowen, and you just happened to buy a bike up this way?" He raised an eyebrow. "Pardon me for thinking that's kinda a load of bullshit."

Varon held up his hands. "Oops, officer, you caught me." He shrugged. "Yeah, so I made up a reason to call her. I told her I wanted to get in touch with you. She didn't ask why, she just gave me your address."

"And…" Jounouchi closed his eyes and put a hand to his forehead, "and… wait… my psychic powers are telling me that you were hoping that she'd say, Oh Varon, I've been so hoping you'd call, I've missed you so much! Come to me right now!"

Varon frowned. "Fuck you." He sighed. "But – yeah."

Jounouchi shook his head. "I don't buy it. Mai and I talk every week, but she never mentioned your call."

"Well…" Varon looked away. "Okay, so she asked me to do her a favor, alright? She wanted me to check up on you, see how you were really doing. Find out if there was anything that you weren't telling her. Like if you were seeing anyone." Varon sounded suddenly puzzled and surly. "Like if you were available. God, she's still into you?"

Jounouchi reached over and lightly slapped the side of Varon's head. "Don't be an idiot. She's not into me."

"How do you know? Why else would she have kept in touch all this time?"

"Because we're friends?" Jounouchi refilled his coffee cup. "We've always been friends."

"Now you're being the idiot." To Jounouchi's surprised look Varon said, "When I first met Mai, she was on about you all the time. I'm not talking a lot, I'm talking seriously obsessed. She kept saying how much she hated you, that she was glad that with DOMA she finally had the power to defeat you. Well, after a while I didn't buy it. No woman spends that much energy frothing over a man unless he makes her panties damp."

Jounouchi worked his jaw. "You got wads of charm just squirting out of your ass, you know that?"

"C'mon, you know it's true! Thin line and all that, right?"

Jounouchi shook his head. "Maybe that's true for some people, but not Mai. Even when we first met – well, and aside from how back then I was barely legal, just a kid – I think for her it was," he tried to find the right words to explain it. "I think it was that she'd never had a friend before. Probably not even a woman friend, but definitely not a male one. She was so used to guys trying to get into her pants she didn't know what to make of me, so she probably thought it was love."

Varon looked across the yard to the yellow Ducati. "So you two never… ?"

Jounouchi folded his arms. "Not that it's any of your business, but no."

Varon exhaled and looked at Jounouchi, clearly relieved. "You can't… thanks. That's always eaten at me, imagining…" He looked up suddenly, belligerent. "Wait —why not? She's got to be the hottest woman you've ever seen!"

Jounouchi laughed. "Maybe, but like I keep telling you, I don't think of her that way. She's my friend. I love her like family. Like a sister. You bang your sister?"

"Dunno. Don't think I have one."

They sat without talking for a while, listening to the birds and crickets. "So…" Varon said at last. "is she seeing anyone?"

Slightly exasperated, Jounouchi said, "She was living with someone, but they moved out a while ago."

"Who was it? Did he hurt her?" Varon slammed his fist on the table; the coffee cups rattled. "I'll kill him if he made her cry!"

Jounouchi said, "You know, you really gotta get over that. It pisses a lot of women off. Mai especially."

"What does?"

"That big macho act, as if you own her. Mai can make her own choices, fight her own battles, and heal her own wounds." He stopped for a minute, and said thoughtfully. "Just remember, even if you know where someone is going, you got to let them get there their own way, at their own pace." He pushed at a crumb of toast and muttered, "No matter how much you want to pick them up and carry them."

Varon eyed him questioningly for a moment, then asked, "So what do I do in the meantime? Watch her go 'round with every other damn guy in the world but me?"

"Well," Jounouchi said, "first off, she doesn't go 'round with men as much as you think." He poured himself another cup of coffee. "And second, you shouldn't assume that she was with a man."

Varon's eyes became comically big. "No… shit. Really? Anyone I know?"

"Maybe," Jounouchi said, trying not to laugh. "They paired up to duel and find rich husbands, and wound up… pairing up for a while." He sipped his coffee slowly, enjoying every bit of Varon's reaction. "From what Mai said it was sexy good fun, and just what she needed. Big infusion of Wonder Woman Amazon Power."

"Was a Magic Lasso ever involved?" Varon asked.

Jounouchi waggled his eyebrows. "She didn't say. I didn't ask."

"I guess I should finish the bike," Varon said abruptly, pushing away from the table.

"Okay. I'll help Missus… "

"Farsparrow."

"I'll help Mrs. Farsparrow clean up," Jounouchi said.

When he knocked he saw the old woman get up from an antimacassar-draped armchair near the door and hurry to open the screen door for him.

"Well, aren't you a gentleman!" she said as he carried the tray in. "You and your brother are so nice!"

"No no no," Jounouchi laughed, setting the tray down next to the kitchen sink. "He's not my brother. Just a old friend I'm helping out a little."

"I was eavesdropping," she said without shame, putting the jar of Vegemite in a cupboard. "He's in love, hm? Such a wonderful thing. Is she a nice girl?""

Jounouchi nodded. "Yeah, she is. She's been through some tough times, though."

"Oh, who hasn't?" Mrs Farsparrow said as she washed out the coffee cups. "There's always clouds and rain in life. But it's how you treat the sunshine, that's what counts." She nodded firmly for emphasis.

Jounouchi picked up a towel and dried the dishes. "Very true."

"And how about you?" Mrs. Farsparrow asked.

"Me?"

"A handsome young man like yourself. Have you found happiness?" Mrs. Farsparrow's eyes were twinkling.

"For me…" Jounouchi looked out the kitchen window. Varon was packing up the tools and the cleaning rags, unselfconsciously dancing and singing with all his heart, "You see, I know it sounds crazy, but what can I do? I've fallen head over heels, over you…"

"For me it's still a little cloudy."

.

~ Both Ends Burning ~

.

"Are you gonna sing the whole way?"

"Uh huh, " Varon said cheerfully. He twisted in his headphones, pulled his goggles down, and kick-started the Ducati. "Soon as this girl warms up a little we can go. I want at least three hundred kilometers before dark." He tapped a button on his player, put on his helmet, pressed a hand dramatically to his chest, and shifted his weight into a sexy, hip-thrust pose. "Both ends burning, with a strange desire," he gave his hips an Elvis roll, "that feeds the fire in my soul tonight… Both ends burning…"

"I think you can get a cream for that," Jounouchi shouted over the rumble of the Ducati.

Varon grinned, swung his leg over the seat, and then rode a slow circle around Jounouchi. "Burning… burning… keep on burning… til the end… til the end…"

Jounouchi pulled on his own helmet and held his hand up in farewell to Mrs. Farsparrow, who was waving at them from the safety of her porch. "Let's get going before that nice old lady calls the cops about the singing pyromaniac bikers in her yard."

.

The miles and cities flew by, though afternoon and into evening. At first it seemed like Varon was planning to go straight through, stopping only to re-fuel, but finally he pulled onto the shoulder.

"Next place we pass that looks to have clean sheets?"

"Yeah. My ass isn't used to this much pounding."

Varon chuckled.

Twenty minutes later they passed a sign: The Silver Quill it said. Affordable accommodations. ~ Left on Negahiro S., 250m.

The desk clerk, a young woman with turquoise-streaked hair, was carefully inking over a pencil drawing as they came through the door. "One room or two?" she asked without looking up.

"One with twinsies," Varon said. "We're on the cheap. Could you give us mate's rates?"

At the sound of his voice she looked up and eyed them with frank appraisal. "Thirty?"

"Done." Varon handed her the money and took the key. She popped a yogurt pretzel in her mouth and went back to her art.

.

They dropped the helmets off at the room and then walked over to the pub for some food. Jounouchi wasn't sure what Varon had ordered for them – but that was okay, because he was so tired that his taste buds didn't work. By the time they went back to the room he could barely keep his eyes open.

"Preference?" Varon asked, closing the door and tossing the key on the dresser.

"Huh?" Jounouchi asked, sitting on one of the beds and tugging at his shoe.

"Do you have a bed preference?"

"Dunno." He let himself fall backward, one shoe still on. "This bed is good."

Varon came over and knelt to take off Jounouchi's other shoe, then held out his hand. "You want to take your pants off now?"

Jounouchi let Varon pull him to his feet. "Nah," he said, swaying a little.

"You sure?" Varon put an arm around his waist.

"I'm good," Jounouchi said. He was vaguely aware that something was not quite right about the current situation. "You're too short," he mumbled, leaning on the warm solid body holding him.

"So that's how it is," Varon said, letting him go with a little push. "I thought so. G'night, Jounouchi. Sweet dreams of whatever tall bastard you're cracking on."

.

Jounouchi was awakened the next morning by the insistent chirp of his cell phone.

He answered with a groan. "Ya?" He didn't see or hear Varon; the other bed was rumpled but empty.

"Jounouchi?"

"Oh hey, Mai."

"Are you OK?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just sore. My ass is still numb and my back is killing me," he said with a yawn. "I'm not used to that much riding in one day."

A long pause. When Mai spoke next there was an odd tone in her voice. "Good God, JoJo, what happened? It's not like you to be so reckless."

"Huh?"

"Didn't you – did you go clubbing last night?"

"Clubbing? No," he said with a puzzled laugh, then, when it sunk in what she meant, "Oh! No! Not that kind of riding!"

She gave a short, embarrassed laugh. "Well, good." She cleared her throat, then said in what was clearly meant to be a topic change, "So, you know I care about you, and I would never do anything to hurt you, right?"

"Uh-huh," Jounouchi said, hearing the key rattle in the lock.

"And that won't ever change," Mai said.

"I know that," Jounouchi said, waving at Varon, who was carrying a tucker bag and a tray with two large paper cups.

"Anything I would do, I'd do to protect you, because I care," she said. "I don't want to see you get hurt."

"It's okay, Mai," Jounouchi said, half listening as he watched Varon set the cups and bag down on the dresser. "I know you sent Varon to check up on me. It's sweet, the way you act like my big sister."

"Varon? Is he… is he there now?" Her voice — hopeful and eager – told him all he needed to know before she caught herself and said archly, "Well, I'm surprised. I thought that the story he told me about wanting to get in touch with you was just a lame excuse to call me. He's not getting you into trouble, is he?"

"No, we're behaving," Jounouchi said with a grin, enjoying the way Varon stood so nervously, shifting his weight from foot, clearly apprehensive about what Mai might be saying about him. "So… do you want to talk to him?"

"Yes," she said softly, "I do."

Jounouchi handed the phone to Varon, and the tone of his "Hey, Mai," kept Jounouchi smiling all through his shower.

.

~ Out of the Blue ~

.

He came out of the bathroom to find the motel room door open, the bright morning sunlight drenching the shabby carpet and walls with gold.

He peered outside to see that Varon had walked a ways out into the expanse of scrub that surrounded the Silver Quill and was sitting on a large boulder, squinting at the landscape.

"Have a good talk?" Jounouchi asked.

"Yeah." Varon tossed him a rock. Tan, almost perfectly round, it was surprisingly light. "That looks like a thunder egg, right? Mai said you collect them."

"I used to," Jounouchi said, turning the geode over and over in his hands. "I liked opening them, seeing how different the inside was from the outside."

"People are like that too," Varon said. "Sometimes what you see isn't what you get once you crack 'em."

"Yeah."

"We could borrow a hammer from the front desk," Varon suggested.

"Maybe," Jounouchi said. You're all asshole on the outside, he had told him, but I don't think you're asshole all the way through.

"Well then," Varon said, jumping down from the boulder, "if you're done with your beauty sleep, I'd like to get going."

"Sure." He didn't move, though; the geode felt good in in his hands, and he couldn't bring himself to let it go.

"By the way, Mai said to give you a message," Varon said as he walked past Jounouchi toward the motel room, handing him the cell phone as he passed. "She said to tell you that maybe you left Domino too soon. Hope you know what she meant, since I have no clue."

Jounouchi turned to stare at Varon. "Too soon?" Did that mean…? With a grin he rolled the geode back into the shadow of a thornbush.

"Didn't you wanna break it open?" Varon asked from the doorway, where he stood with the two helmets under his arm, getting ready to lock the motel room door.

"Nope," Jounouchi said, taking a deep breath. "I know what's inside, so I'll leave this one here for someone else to discover." Even if you couldn't fix people, or change them, or carry them where they needed to go, it probably didn't hurt to be handy in case they needed anything once they got to where they were going.

"Alright then!" Varon said. He threw the purple helmet to Jounouchi, adjusted his goggles, stabbed at his MP3 player, and sang full-voice, flat-out, "Then out of the blue Love came rushing in; out of the sky came the sun; out of left field came a lucky day; out of the blue no more pain…" He pulled on his helmet. "Let's get these bikes to Brizzie. I have a plane to catch!"

"Funny thing," Jounouchi said, eager for the horizon, "I think I'll be catching a flight soon myself."

.

.

.

~ The End ~

.

.

Author's notes

Okay, first off, although I'm not sure why, I decided that I absolutely had to set this story in Australia, a country I know nothing about. (Although I haven't seen it, I do know that the 4kids dub of DOMA gave Varon an Australian accent.)

A big thanks to cheeky-eyes, who helped correct some of my errors of fauna, signage, and slang.

The title of the story and the sections, and the various bits that Varon sings, are from the following songs by Bryan Ferry / Roxy Music:

"Avalon" by Bryan Ferry © E.G. Music Ltd 1982
"Re-make/Re-model" by Bryan Ferry © E.G. Music Ltd 1972
"Just Like You" by Bryan Ferry © E.G. Music Ltd 1973
"Both Ends Burning" by Bryan Ferry © E.G. Music Ltd 1975
"Out of the Blue" by Bryan Ferry/Phil Manzanera © E.G. Music Ltd 1972

Although I've quoted lyrics in stories before, this story is going to count as my attempt to do a proper songfic, where the lyrics are integrated into, and shape, the narrative. (By the way, I would definitely encourage you to go to roxyrama or allthelyrics and look up the songs referenced, especially "Out of the Blue." Hint hint.)

Or you can watch this lovely video: www. youtube watch? v=b9QpI3wVvek

The Silver Quill is for Shirogane. Hi Shiro!

Finally: There are some tiny bits in this story that tie it into other stories of mine, but I do hope that this piece stands on its own for those who haven't read them: for those that have, this ties in to the Epilogue of Coming Clean. (There's also a passing reference to the costume party Mai hosted in chapter 4 of that fic.)

.

19 Dec 2014. ~ More tweaks.