A/N: This is part of Sitabethel's Theifshipping dirty santa, started on Tumblr. Thanks for helping beta, Sita! There's a collection on A03 if you want to read all the other goodness.

My prompt was: "A date at a pumpkin patch. Must include: apple cider, a hay ride, and kissing in the hay." It might seem a little out of season at this point, but someone wanted cute times at a pumpkin patch for their holiday fic, so by golly they are GETTING cute times at a pumpkin patch for the holidays.

Of course, I don't own Yugioh or I wouldn't be writing fanfic for you fine people. ;)

FFnet doesn't have a Kudos button, so please leave me a review or find me on Tumblr/A03 if you liked it! :)

"I cannot believe you convinced me to go along with this." Bakura tugged his scarf tighter around his neck and glared at the blond annoyance crunching through the leaves beside him.

Marik just smirked playfully and tucked a hand into the crook of his companion's arm. "Going along with me is what you do, Oh Mighty Thief King. You like it."

Bakura adjusted his scarf again. "I hate you."

"You love me." Marik eyed the fingers poking at the scarf. "It's not that cold, you big baby."

"Yes it is." Bakura huffed before a sly grin spread across his face as he leaned in. "Maybe you should warm me up some more, dear, since it's your fault we're even here." He waggled his eyebrows for emphasis.

Marik leaned in with a sultry smirk as he internally rolled his eyes at Bakura's ridiculous waggling eyebrows. Really, you'd think Bakura would have learned subtlety somewhere across two and a half lives and several thousand years, but he supposed that was part of his charm. He slowly brought a hand up to cup a rosy cheek, leaning close enough to let their warm breaths mingle. He opened his mouth, tilting his head ever-so-slightly as he tipped forward and softly whispered "…no."

Laughing had gotten a lot easier over the last few years.

So had ducking on cue.

Now that their chaotic teen years were behind them, Bakura had found himself dragged along to more and more outings to "make up for lost time". Normal childhood experiences were rather lacking in their little group. At first it had mostly been Ryou that insisted everyone go make some "normal" memories for once - not that all of his suggestions were exactly "normal". In his more vulnerable moments, Bakura wondered if his former host's… unique… tastes in entertainment were because of the influence of the ring, or whether the ring just picked the boy because he was messed up to begin with. Ryou's immediate fondness for Marik's darker half didn't exactly help his image, either.

At first Bakura had managed to avoid most of the excursions, but when Marik latched on to the idea too, he was stuck. It wasn't all bad, really. Nothing- well, nothing legal- was funnier than ambushing one of the pharaoh's little minions at point blank range with a super soaker full of ice water. And the arcade was alright. He'd only broken the whack-a-mole twice, and the second time had definitely been Kek's fault. Really.

But other times he found himself wondering why he put up with it all. Such as when he was denied well-deserved kisses while freezing his ass off on the way to see a bunch of stupid gourds. Of all the idiotic things to do on a fall afternoon. He'd rather be touring graveyards with Ryou and Kek. At least then he could terrorize the stupid kids trying to act tough by walking through some tombstones. That was always good for a laugh.

Bakura was brought out of his thoughts with a squeeze to his arm. "Stop being such a grumpy ass. This will be fun." Bakura just grumbled and shoved his hands further into his pockets. "It will, you'll see. Oh, there look! Hot apple cider. Maybe now you'll stop grumbling about the cold."

At the mention of cider, Bakura couldn't help but perk up a bit, anticipating the pleasant warmth in his stomach. He allowed himself to be dragged towards a wooden stand run by an obnoxiously cheerful looking woman. He let Marik deal with her chirpy small talk, snagging his drink as soon as he could. A pleased sigh snuck out as the warmth spread to his fingers.

Marik grinned at him. "Happy now?"

"Hmm." He enjoyed the warmth for a few seconds more before taking an experimental sip and eyeing the cup in annoyance. "What the hell, Marik. You said you were getting cider."

"It is cider."

"It's juice."

"It's cider. They spice it. Come on, it's good. Ryou made me try some last week."

"This is juice. Glorified juice." He sneered at it for a second before looking around and casually shifting his weight to angle himself behind Marik a bit, away from the crowds. He snuck a hand into his jacket and produced a small flask.

"Did you seriously bring alcohol to a pumpkin patch?"

"I need to stay warm somehow. Are you complaining?" Before capping the flask again, Bakura gave Marik a shit-eating grin and waggled the flask at him. Marik sighed just a bit before holding out his cup for his share. "There. Now it's cider. Sort of. Cheers."

The plastic cups didn't make much of a clinking noise, but it was the thought that counted. The fact that it made Marik smile was a nice bonus, too, not he'd admit that to just anyone. Bakura took another sip and gave a pleased hum, leaning into Marik's side as they enjoyed the warm drinks for a few quiet moments. If this was what the day would be like, maybe it wouldn't be so bad. He was a little disappointed when his cup of fake cider was empty.

Marik tossed their empty cups into the bin. "Alright, you grump, let's go make the most of this day now, hmm?" He held out a gloved hand to Bakura who took it with only slight hesitation, wondering what he was about be dragged into next.

A mother passed the couple by, being nearly dragged by a young boy who was babbling excitedly about 'corns' and 'aminals'. Marik smiled wistfully at the child. He was actually quite thankful that Ryou started getting them all out to popular childhood haunts. Too many opportunities had been missed, for all of them. He sometimes wished he could fill in some of Bakura's missing childhood from back then, but the modern equivalents would have to do. Behind the grouchy front he sometimes put up – seriously, it wasn't that cold – Marik was sure he also enjoyed the feeling of just being a normal person for once. In any event, the outings had become a way for them to get to know each other when there wasn't a pharaoh to destroy or a village to save. These moments were precious.

He glanced at his partner, smiling when he spotted the corner of Bakura's mouth quirking upwards at the child's antics. "C'mon, let's go find out why those 'aminals' are so exciting."

The pair walked down the dirt path in silence, following the distant sounds of animal calls and small children shrieking and laughing until they rounded a corner to see a whole petting zoo bustling with visitors. It was clearly a popular attraction.

Marik nudged Bakura's shoulder and jerked his chin towards a pair of exceptionally short donkeys in a nearby enclosure. "Aw look, they've even got a pen for the stubborn asses. I wonder how much they'd charge to keep you?"

Bakura snorted. "Like that could hold me." He smirked. "Though, the company looks like it might be an improvement…ow!" Marik smiled sweetly as Bakura glowered and rubbed the pinched spot on his arm. "Hey, don't start it if you can't take it, Ishtar."

Marik just continued to smile and led them towards the other enclosures, eyes lighting up as they passed baby animals of every type. He stopped and knelt next to the rabbit enclosure, and reached a hand out to stroke the soft ears of a snowy white one near the fence. "Ha, this one might be your long-lost brother, Kura. Ooh! The other white one over there can be Ryou, if we can get him away from that kid."

"Nah, let's name him Stew."

"Stu? Why would you name a rabbit St…Bakura, no."

Bakura grinned impishly. "Yeah, and that one over there can be called Pie, and that one can be Roast! Perfect. I'm in. Let's go buy a hutch for them immediately."

"Kura, I'll put up with you eating meat, but would you please stop referring to the adorable baby animals as lunch." Marik watched Bakura kneel and give one of the rabbits – Pie, he thought – a soft scratch behind the ears.

"But they look so tasty, dear."

Marik rolled his eyes and just kept stroking the rabbit's soft fur. He knew from experience that continuing their verbal sparring match would probably end with something that would traumatize the children around them. Normally, that wouldn't be a problem, but it would be a shame to get kicked out for poor behaviour so soon after arriving. After a few minutes, Stew was no longer satisfied with ear scritches and hopped off towards a group of children holding out food pellets. Marik brushed off his pants and he stood, only to notice his boyfriend focused intently on a group of children clamouring and poking at something at the base of a tree. He stood up next to Bakura as he tried to peer over the little heads and see what the commotion was about.

"HEY! Mooooom, it scratched me!" A boy around seven stomped his foot and held out the hand bearing his barely-reddened war wounds. Bakura frowned and walked over to the cluster of children.

"What's going on here?"

A little girl piped up. "The kitty won't play with us!"

Marik craned his neck around Bakura and spotted a flash of movement in a knot of roots at the base of the tree. As the kids moved around, he managed to spot a tiny ball of fluff backed into the little makeshift cave. The poor thing had fluffed itself up lo look as large as it could manage, which wasn't very, and was baring miniscule fangs with wide eyes.

He felt Bakura tense a bit next to him and put a hand on his arm. "Kids, I think the kitten is scared of so many people at once. Why don't you let us get him back to his mom? He might be nicer if he feels safe."

"But we wanna play with him!"

"I can see that, but I don't think he wants to play right n-…Kura!"

Bakura took a more active approach, pushing his way through the kids and crouching in front of the terrified kitten, effectively blocking it from sight.

"Hey! Mister, we found it first!" A boy looked about ready to try pushing Bakura out of the way, but he didn't quite dare. The man looked scary with that scar on his face.

Bakura shot a look at the boy who spoke. "And all you've done is scare it. Too bad kid, my kitten now. It's going back to its home."

"But….!"

The thief ignored the child's complaint as he slowly reached a hand out to the kitten. As soon as his fingers were within range it took a swipe at them, but the little scratch marks it left didn't faze Bakura in the least. He kept reaching forward inch by inch, then snatched the kitten around the middle as quick as a flash before it could bolt to who-knows-where. He winced a bit as four paws worth of needle-like claws sunk into his hand and wrist at once, followed swiftly by sharp baby teeth. As he pulled the kitten up to tuck it in his jacket he noted it wasn't much bigger than the hand it had attacked. Bakura was pleased – this thing was a fighter through and through. He transferred the growling tuft of fur into his jacket, letting it sink its little claws into his shirt for grip as he kept a firm hand on the squirming lump.

Marik, meanwhile, had been trying to disperse the group of kids, who were eager to play with something so small and cute. He watched Bakura stand. "Oh good, did you get it?" At Bakura's nod, he turned back to the kids. "Ok, the kitten is going home now. You all have to find some other animals to play with. Shoo." He ignored their protests, brushing them away. "There are lots of other animals that want to play, go bother them. I will call your parents if I have to. Move it, show's over."

He kept a stern look on his face until the last of them turned away. He couldn't help but feel a little bad for them. It hadn't looked like they meant any harm, but that many children at once was even a lot for him to deal with, so he didn't blame the kitten for hiding. He turned to find Bakura gently rubbing the bump in his jacket with one hand while the other was tucked inside with his little guest.

"Is it hurt?"

"Mmm, no, I don't think so. Poor thing's shaking though – what were those kids thinking?"

"They didn't mean anything by it, Kura. They just wanted to play."

"Well, they should have stuck with Stew and Friends." He flinched.

"What's that look for?"

"Little bastard's using my finger as a chew toy." Bakura hissed. "Damn, those teeth are sharp. Squirt won't give up." He gave the lump an approving pat before offering his finger right back to it. Marik felt his heart melt a little as he watched his partner be so protective of his charge. "I guess we should find your home, hmm? You see any cats around, Marik?"

"I think I heard some in that shed over there." Marik pointed to a nearby building. When they entered it, they were met with the gaze of a rather large barn cat flopped in the hay surrounded by four other little balls of fur, who were curled up in a pile and fast asleep for the moment. A sign adorned with a paw print helpfully read Hello! We like to explore and play, but please don't carry us out of the shed. We need to stay with our Mom for a while yet!

Bakura snorted at the sign, and waggled his fingers for the runaway kitten, who was now comfortable enough in the jacket to attack the fingers with both front paws as well as his teeth. "Either you're the bravest of your litter, or you need to be more careful with the kids, you little bastard." The kitten just gnawed more enthusiastically on the thumb it had rightfully caught.

Marik put a hand on Bakura's jacket over the kitten. "Alright habibi, time to put it back."

Bakura snorted a little. "I don't even know if it will unlatch itself at this point." He carefully opened the jacket and tried to ease the kitten out, but it wouldn't budge. He finally just shoved his hand at it to make it pounce and latch itself around his wrist like a fluffy bracelet. Once it got out of the jacket, Bakura gently shook it loose like it was an oversized burr. After a moment of fluffed-up confusion, the kitten noticed the familiar smells and darted for its mother, pouncing at her ear and chewing on it. The cat batted a hand at the little rascal and dragged it down to her chest to subject it to a thorough cleaning as it mewled piteously in protest. Marik could swear he saw the kitten give them an accusing look. He caught the fond smile on Bakura's face and leaned into his side, laying his head on the thief's.

After a moment, Marik leaned in to give Bakura a quick peck on the cheek. "Well, my hero, let's leave him to his bath. I saw something about a maze I want to try."

Bakura crossed his arms with a huff as they rounded a corner into a dead end. Another one. Again. "This maze is supposed to be for children. How in the names of all the gods combined can it be this hard?"

"You found your way through tombs for a living. You tell me." Marik glared at the stalks of corn like they had personally offended his honour. They'd been wandering the corn maze for at least half an hour, and had yet to find even one of the eight stations supposedly hidden within it. They were supposed to be finding sign posts according to the sequence of shapes on their card, but at this point they'd settle for any station they could find. "Let's just find the nearest exit and find something else to do, this is ridiculous."

"No. We will not be defeated by corn. I refuse." Bakura closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had, after all, gotten through much more challenging mazes of passageways in his time. The fact that there was no shadow magic helping guide him to the goals should be more than balanced out by the fact that this was a maze for children.

A small girl chose that moment to scurry by, waving a nearly-complete stamp card and babbling excitedly with her parents about finding 'just one more!'. He huffed again. "Why can't they just send people in to look for the exit? Even in the Ra-damned puzzle I was only looking for one door. Looking for eight things at once is bullshit."

"I think it's supposed to make it easier to find something." Marik crossed his arms and glared harder at the wall of corn. "Not that it's working."

"We will defeat this stupid maze if it takes all day. Come on." Bakura grabbed Marik around the wrist and started to stalk off down another passageway with great determination. They had to be running out of places to look at this point, right? He heard a sigh from the blond, but was followed nonetheless. He glared at the corn ahead. This time. This time they would find something.

The thief slowed his pace when Marik worked his wrist out of his hold and took his hand instead. If anyone asked they could try to pass this off as going for a nice fall stroll, rather than them being humiliated by a maze. He automatically matched his pace to his partner's as they made their way around the twists and turns, using gentle pressure to lead Marik through the passageways.

When they didn't hit any more dead ends right away, Bakura let his mind wander as he enjoyed the warmth of their hands and tried to ignore the irritation prickling under his skin. Stupid childish activities aside, moment like this – of just being alive next to Marik – would always be worth savouring. He was startled back to the present when Marik shouted out beside him.

"Yes. Yes! Fucking finally!"

Bakura blinked back to awareness and immediately spotted the wooden signpost stuck in the ground just ahead of them. He let out of gleeful cackle and yanked Marik towards it. About damned time. He fumbled for a moment to get the hole punch lined up and punched a little heart-shaped hole in their maze card with a kind of vicious glee.

Bakura held the card up like it was a prize jewel and shouted at the sky. "HA! You thought you could defeat us?! Think again, you stupid bloody maze! We win!" And with that, he grabbed Marik around the waist and yanked him in for a hard kiss. He threaded the fingers of his free hand through his partner's hair as the blond melted into the embrace and kissed him back with equal passion. A moment later he broke off for air and rested his forehead against Marik's. "Told you we'd beat it."

Marik took a deep breath and licked his lips before trying to find his voice again. "Yeah, but there are seven more of them to find."

"Fuck that." Bakura stomped back to the sign post and merrily punched little hearts into all of the leftover boxes, matching be damned. "There. We're done. Let's get the hell out of here."

Marik chuckled. "How long do you think it'll take to find an exit?"

"Who said we're bothering to look for the exit? C'mon, I've seen enough corn for every lifetime." He grabbed Marik's hand once more and dragged him laughing right through the wall of stalks to sweet, sweet freedom.

Marik happily sipped a cup of cocoa – cocoa, not cider, because Bakura had refused to drink more of the 'glorified juice' – as the pair sat on a bench, resting their sore feet for a few minutes. Marik pulled his boots up onto the bench and leaned back on Bakura's shoulder with a contented hum.

"We should go find the hay rides next. That doesn't involve any more walking for a while, and Ryou said we really had to do it. He looked really excited about it for some reason…"

Bakura hummed in what sounded like assent, more focused on warming his fingers on the cup of cocoa than anything else. Marik tilted his head to watch him all but cuddle the cup to his chest.

"Do I need to be jealous of your new love affair, habibi?"

"Well, it never refused to warm me up. So maybe." Even as he said it, Bakura grinned and turned to plant a kiss on the crown of Marik's head. The pair stayed cuddled up on the bench for a few minutes of peaceful silence as they finished their drinks. Marik was staring into the bottom of his empty cup trying unsuccessfully to will more cocoa into existence when he felt Bakura shift and stretch behind him.

"Well, let's go find this hay ride thing. I don't want to deal with Ryou's pouting face if we skip something he specifically said we should do. I can't handle the puppy eyes. You can never tell if he's actually upset or plotting a horrible revenge prank."

Marik chuckled as he sat up. "It's usually a prank. Maybe I should tell him you wouldn't go just to see if he can manage to dye your hair again. That was great." Ryou had always had an unconventional way of dealing with problems, but that was probably Marik's favourite. He still had a couple of pictures on his phone from that particular incident. Bakura had made the grave mistake of going on a bit of rant about how stupid one of Ryou's Monster World NPCs looked because of the figurine's hair. Ryou had been…displeased. They never found out exactly how he managed to get purple hair dye into their shampoo bottle undetected, but it had been just enough to turn Bakura's white hair into a fetching shade of lilac for a couple of days. Thank Ra he'd showered alone that morning. Bakura had been furious at first, but after a thorough scolding from his former host and some reassuring kisses from Marik, he'd managed to apologize. Not that he'd learned manners from the experience, but one step at a time.

Bakura gave his partner a look. "Or you could not do that and still sleep in the bed tonight."

"Or that."

Bakura stood up, snagging Marik's hand as he got to his feet as well. "Lead the way, brat."

Marik led them through the farm towards where the hay rides were advertised. The first thing visible as they rounded the corner was a paddock where a pair of large work horses were being watered as a second team was tacked up for the next wagonload of people. Marik smiled to himself as Bakura's pace got just a fraction faster once he spotted the horses, and followed him to the resting animals.

Bakura gave them an appraising look. "Hmm, they look like good strong mounts." Marik stood back and let his partner have his moment. In no time, he was patting the horses with confident hands and scratching at their foreheads. They must have been able to sense his comfort, since they quickly started to nose into his chest, apparently pleased with the affection. Marik was sure he had an embarrassingly sappy look on his face as he watched his boyfriend touch foreheads with the horses, murmuring to them in his mother tongue with a gentle smile quirking his mouth. Bakura was always so sweet with animals in a way he just wasn't with most humans, save perhaps Marik and Ryou – most of the time anyways. Well, and possibly Kek, but Marik would be hard-pressed to get him to admit that. There was a degree of rivalry there that acted as a foundation for their odd companionship. He wasn't going to question it too much.

Eventually, Marik walked closer and ran a hand down one of the muscular necks himself. "Worth it just for this, huh?"

The ex-thief just murmured a vague agreement, lost in his thoughts until a cheerful sounding farm hand called for guests to load up on the next wagon. Marik tucked a hand in Bakura's arm to help steer him away from the paddock. They could always come back after the hay ride. The horses were lovely for Bakura's mood, but he had a feeling that the mischievous look on Ryou's face when he had suggested this meant they were in for more than petting horses.

Bakura allowed Marik to guide him away from the paddock when the next hay ride was announced. Part of him would rather just stay with the horses than deal with the crowd of humanity rushing toward the wagon, honestly. But he could see how excited Marik looked to go, and there was no way he'd risk pissing Ryou off by skipping it. Who knew what the kid would come up with to retaliate.

They shuffled forward and hopped up onto the wagon. The crowd seemed to be automatically organizing itself with the school-aged children and teens at the back and the adults closer to the front with the driver, which seemed rather strange. The pair made an unspoken decision to split the difference and took a seat midway along the wagon, settling down onto a hay bale together as the last of the group climbed on board. Once the wagon was full, a farm hand called for the crowd's attention. Bakura scoffed a little. How much instruction could sitting around on a hay bale really need?

"Alright folks, thanks for joining us today! Before we get started, I need everyone to take a seat on the hay or on the floor of the wagon, please. We ask that all guests remain seated until we get to the main track, where the path has been lined with soft hay for your safety. Your driver, Mitch – say hi, Mitch - ", here there was a brief pause while an elderly gentleman with pronounced laugh lines around his eyes gave a friendly wave and mumbled hello from the driver's seat at the front of the wagon, "he'll let you know when it's safe to get up if you like. We suggest that anyone who just wants to relax and enjoy the scenery sit near the front of the wagon with him. Mitch will point out any interesting sights on the way. For the rest of you," the farm hand took a moment to shoot the crowd an impish grin "be careful, have fun…and good luck." There was some soft laughter from the crowd at that.

Bakura glanced at Marik and raised a questioning eyebrow, but Marik just shrugged a shoulder and looked about as confused as he felt. Was the modern world really so obsessed with safety that they had to 'be careful' on a flat wagon, covered primarily in hay and small children, being pulled by a pair of the sweetest work horses you could ask for? He just barely held back and eye roll at that. After all, some people would say the same things about children's card games. He rather doubted a shadow game would burst into existence in the middle of a hay ride of all things, though.

The wagon set off, swaying gently as the horses gained some momentum. Bakura was perfectly content to watch the trees slip by and enjoy the warmth of Marik beside him. Not long ago he had thought peaceful moments like this were something he'd never be allowed, in any lifetime. Too much of himself had been fed to the shadows to be worth granting this kind of quiet happiness. That he had not only been given another chance, but that he had someone he loved to share them with, was still baffling sometimes. He shifted closer to Marik, reassured by his steadfast presence at his side. His quiet musing was interrupted by the guide.

"Alright kids, we're on the main track now. You lot have fun, but be careful walking around back there. The wagon won't be stopping! Be nice to each other, now."

There was a general shuffling and some excited murmuring as most of the kids and several of the teens clambered to their feet. Bakura watched this with only mild curiosity. It was kind of sad, really, that standing to balance on a slow, steady wagon was apparently supposed to be a thrill. His attention jerked to the far back of the wagon when a loud yelp sounded, followed by a burst of laughter from a young boy.

"Gotcha first! Gotcha first! I'm winning, big bro!"

Bakura quickly spotted a boy maybe a year or two older than the laughing child, splayed out spread-eagled in the hay on the side of the track. He shot a startled look at Marik. Did that boy just fall off the wagon? Was he hurt? Bakura started to get to his feet, but Marik stopped him with a hand on his arm and a grin spreading across his face. "Wait Bakura, look."

Bakura glanced back and saw that the boy who seemed to have fallen off was back on his feet, scampering towards the back of the wagon and vowing revenge with a wide grin plastered on his face. Just as the first boy caught up and started to haul himself back up, a pair of giggling girls managed to unseat each other in a tangle of limbs and a small puff of hay, and another group of kids seemed to be playing a game of chicken with the edge of the platform.

Oh. Oh.

Marik grinned as he watched another kid flop into the hay on the road. "I guess we know why Ryou was so excited about these. This is chaos!"

"Yeah – looks like it's mostly the little kids playing though." Bakura was kind of disappointed, but it hardly seemed fair to take on a bunch of children. Even he had standards. "We should tell Kaiba to decide the finalists of his next tournament with a death-by-hayride melee. That makes about as much sense as anything he usually comes up with." He chuckled at the mental image of Kaiba programming a wagon of hay pulled by blue-eyes white dragons with his usual intense seriousness.

"It'd be an improvement, really. It's not as far to fall as from a blimp."

Bakura grinned. "True." He stretched his legs out in front of him. With at least a third of the younger visitors off the wagon at any given time, there was more room to spare. As he shifted into a more comfortable position, he noticed a change in some of the children's voices.

"Come on, Taichi, let me up!"

"Get up yourself, you wimp!" A large boy, likely in his early teens, laughed cruelly and continued to block the way up for several children trying to clamber back up to solid ground. When a small girl crawled forward and reached out to help the boy up, Taichi gave her a hard shove off the wagon too.

"HA! You losers will have to jog the rest of the way back!"

Well then. Bakura had never tolerated meanness for the sake of meanness, and he wasn't about to start now. He rose calmly to his feet, mindful of Marik's eyes on his back. He stalked up behind the brat ruining the game for everyone else and spoke in a carefully neutral tone.

"You should be helping the younger kids, not harassing them."

"Whatever. It's their fault for being losers." The boy met his gaze dead on and then scoffed at Bakura's hard look before turning back to smack away another child's hands as they tried to pull themselves up. Bakura hid a grin. This kid thought he was so tough. Bet he had never faced down an entire room of armed guards to deal with an arrogant jerk before though. It was a delicious feeling when your opponent was hopelessly outmatched and didn't know it yet.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." As quick as lighting Bakura slipped one hand under the boy's armpit and the other grabbed up a leg, lifting him like a sack of flour and dumping him unceremoniously off the wagon in a tangled heap of limbs. "Bye." He smirked and waved a mocking hand towards the boy struggling to get back to his feet. Looks like he'd have to work to catch up. Serves the brat right. He was startled by a rousing cheer from many of the kids and a small pair of arms wrapping around his leg.

"YEAH! That was awesome, mister! He's so mean but you beat him! That was amazing!" Large brown eyes blinked up at him.

Bakura looked down at the little girl latched around his leg. "Uh…you're welcome?" He shot a bewildered look towards Marik, who just smiled back with an oddly smitten look on his face. The girl beamed up at him for a second before rushing to help her friend up. Bakura followed, reaching out and scooping tired kids back up to the floor of the wagon so they could rest.

Marik soon joined, helping get the kids settled back on the wagon. "Aw, my hero!"

"Shut up, Marik." Bakura flushed just a bit.

"No, that was sweet. My knight in shining hoodie." He snuck a peck to Bakura's cheek.

A boy they had just helped back up, perhaps nine or ten, tapped Bakura on the shoulder. When he had his attention, he puffed out his chest with an air of great importance and said "Sir, I am the Dread Pirate Roberts, captain of our mighty crew!" There was a quick round of whooping from one group kids nearby, and booing from another. "You saved some of my crewmen. Are you a pirate too? You can join our crew."

Bakura blinked at the boy for a second or two, before a wide grin spread across his face. He winked at Marik. "I'm no pirate, boy. I am the legendary Thief King Bakura! All should fear me."

"A thief? You can totally help us steal all the pirate gold for ourselves then!" The boy stuck out a hand expectantly, and grinned widely when Bakura gave it a firm shake. "Haha! We've got a thief king on our team, guys! We're so gonna win now! C'mon, we gotta push those guys off as much as we can." Roberts – or whoever he really was – pointed at the group of boys who had booed him earlier and promptly took off.

Amidst the chorus of laughter as the pirate crews clashed, Bakura spotted Taichi finally sneaking back onto the wagon with a glower. He gave the boy a warning look, but he just sulked his way further on to the wagon. Good.

The Thief King took to his role as crewman with gusto. He stuck to defending his 'crew' and helping the kids back up, since it seemed unfair to do any of the pushing himself when he was so much bigger. Unfortunately, with a little help from a certain blond instigator the other team figured out that if they were going to win, the thief had to go first. There was a sudden cry of "Get the thief king!" and the next thing Bakura knew he was being overrun by laughing kids and found himself hitting a bed of hay with a surprised 'oof'. When he rolled to his feet, he spotted Marik giving fist bumps to a few of the perpetrators. Oh, he was going to regret that.

Bakura quickly jogged back to the wagon. Up ahead, he spotted what looked like the end of the trail. Perfect. He just had to lull dear Marik into a false sense of security first.

Bakura gained favour by playing the perfect "knight in shining hoodie". He stayed trailing behind the wagon, handing some of the tiring kids up to Marik before giving him a sweet smile. "Help me up, love?" Marik smiled back and crouched near the edge as he held a hand out to pull Bakura up. Oh, what a foolish mistake that was.

As soon as Bakura had hold of Marik's hand, he braced one foot on the edge of the platform and yanked Marik as hard as he could. He caught the blond and he tumbled forward, rolling them safely into the hay by the side of the trail. He lay on top of a stunned Marik for a moment, holding him close and breathing hard, and then leaned forward to whisper in his ear. "Revenge."

He planted a quick hard kiss to Marik's mouth before popping up into a crouch. "Well, there's the end of the trail. Hope you can make it back in time, Ishtar!" He sprang to his feet and bolted. A second behind him, Marik scrambled up and joined the chase. In no time, they were shoving at each other and laughing just like the kids as the Dread Pirate Robert's crew cheered on their champion thief. The track was nearly done by the time they had scrambled their way back.

Bakura took a strange sort of giddy pride when he managed to lift himself back up first. He made sure he was firmly anchored to the ground before holding out and arm to help hoist Marik up. As the pair collapsed backward, Bakura couldn't help the bright laughter that bubbled out of him to match the rosiness he could feel rising on his cheeks. He hadn't had that much fun since the super soakers. Bakura turned his head to the side and took in the profile of Marik's laughing face as he clutched his stomach. Their laughter trailed off into content smiles.

He had only a moment to appreciate the warm bubble of joy in his stomach before Roberts appeared upside down in his vision. "You ok, Thief King?"

Bakura sat up and ruffled the boys hair. "Just fine, captain. How fares the crew?"

"We're good. Thanks for helping us – we totally won."

"No you didn't!" Another voice raised from across the way.

"Yes we did, so there!" Roberts turned his attention back to Bakura after sticking his tongue out at the other boy. "You can be on our team anytime!" The boy gave Bakura a huge sunny grin before he scrambled off to rejoin his friends.

Marik smiled. "The mighty Thief King rides again, huh?"

The Thief King smiled a little wistfully. "Looks like it, love." They spent the last few minutes of the ride in pleasant silence, listening to the sound of sturdy hooves on dirt and happy families laughing together.

Marik had to smile as he watched his boyfriend bid the horses a quick goodbye. He had been so sweet when the kids pulled them in to their games. It was nice to see him like this. He was usually so grouchy with other people…maybe it was just his protectiveness coming out around the kids, but Marik would take it. As Bakura strode back to him, he took a moment to look down and assess the damage of being yanked off the back of a cart. He eyed the bits of hay and dirt with distain.

"Ugh, we're filthy. I hope you're happy with yourself."

"Well, at least the hay matches your hair."

Marik lifted a hand to his head. "What does that have to do with…." He trailed off as his hand hit several rough pieces of hay that had worked their way into his hair. "Oh, what the hell." He glanced up at Bakura's head, but there didn't seem to be any stray strands in his white mane. "How did you manage to avoid any in your hair?"

Bakura shrugged. "Magic."

"This is going to take forever to brush out." Marik loved his hair, he did, but sometimes the upkeep was exhausting. Digging out hay was new, and he was not looking forward to it. "Ugh, I must look awful."

"You look fine. If you're that worried, we can sneak behind the hay bales so you can fix it." Bakura jerked his chin towards a large pyramid-like structure, made entirely of large bales of hay. Marik seized the opportunity and dragged Bakura to the far side, away from the crowds.

Once suitably hidden, Marik attacked a section of hair with vigour. He tried to pull out the bits of hay one by one, but they kept splitting or breaking and getting woven even further in. He huffed in frustration. This was only making it worse.

Bakura strode up behind Marik and gently pulled his hands away from his hair before gathering it in his own hands. "Here, let me try. I have nimble fingers…"

"I can practically hear you waggling your eyebrows, you know."

"And yet I don't hear you arguing, love." Bakura leaned forward to peck a quick kiss to the back of Marik's neck while he had his hair out of the way, before fluffing out the mane in front of him. Marik felt his partner separate a section out and start combing his fingers through the strands. It wasn't long before he heard frustrated mumbling coming from behind him.

"This stuff is evil, Marik. I think you're going to be a scarecrow forever. We'll just have to get you a horrible plaid shirt and overalls to complete the look."

"So much for your nimble fingers, then."

"Well wait, maybe I need a closer look." Marik shivered as he felt warm breath on the back of his neck. Bakura fiddled with the hair for a second or two more before laying a kiss on the nape of Marik's neck.

Marik chuckled. "That's a very close look your taking, habibi."

Bakura had progressed to laying lines of kisses up the side of Marik's neck and hummed happily. "More than my fingers are nimble. And this is more fun." He darted out his tongue for a quick taste of skin.

"Kura, someone might walk in on us." Even as he said it, Marik found himself tilting his head to give the thief more room to steal kisses.

Bakura snorted against his neck. "Then I should just bring you back to that damn maze to ravage you properly."

"Someone would still catch us."

Marik allowed himself to be turned around by the shoulders to meet Bakura's twinkling eyes and overly serious expression. "No one would ever find us in that gods-forsaken maze, Marik."

He couldn't help but laugh at that, and leaned forward to catch Bakura's smirking lips in a proper kiss. Screw it. If they were going to get caught making out like teenagers, they could at least make it good. He backed Bakura up into the wall of hay behind them as they kissed. Kisses were good, but he was not going to be the one covered in even more bits of hay. He stepped forward, pressing their fronts together and enjoying the warmth of the body in his arms and the taste of the lips under his as he did his best to steal Bakura's breath away. When they broke the kiss for air, he took the opportunity to lay a few kisses of his own on Bakura's neck above his scarf, and felt him tilt his head back. Marik assumed he was just being given more space to work until he felt the rumble of Bakura's voice under his lips.

"Hey Marik? You think they'd let us burn this pyramid thing down when they're done with it?"

Marik glanced up and saw Bakura staring up at the top of the pyramid with a contemplative look. He laid his forehead on Bakura's collarbone with a breathless laugh. "Bakura, no."

"Aww."

Marik planted one more lingering kiss on Bakura's cheek before straightening up. When Bakura turned his head back down to face him he added a lingering kiss or two to his lips for good measure as he gently palmed Bakura's cheek. "Ok, habibi, let's get out of here before we really do get caught necking in the hay. Let's grab a bite to eat before we go, I'm starving." Marik linked their hands as he led the way back into the crowd.

Bakura eyed the menu on the little canteen's wall critically. Everything on the menu seemed to have meat in it. Which was great for him but… he glanced sideways at Marik and spotted the little frown sneaking on to his face. Bakura dug around in his pocket, but he knew he didn't have much cash on him, and Marik has used most of his keeping him warm with drinks. He stared at the menu harder.

"Let's just order a fuck-ton of fries. We can eat real food when we get home."

"You can order a burger or something if you want, you know."

"No."

Bakura marched forward and dug out all the change he had left before ordering four side-orders of fries. He refused to eat a real meal himself if that left Marik stuck only picking at a few fries. He grabbed the tray and herded Marik towards a table, plopping down on a seat and setting the tray between them.

"There. This'll have to do for now." He popped a fry in his mouth, and felt very pleased with himself when Marik pecked him on the cheek and murmured a grateful thank-you in his ear before grabbing a serving for himself and tucking in.

"This was a pretty good day," Bakura paused to eat another bite, "even if the cider was fake and it's colder than Zorc's asshole out here." He was gratified when Marik burst out laughing beside him.

"How are you still complaining about that? It's not that cold! Honestly, Bakura, how do you even function over winter?"

Bakura sniffed and stuck his nose in the air with his best pretentious look. "Monster World is an indoor activity." He could almost hear Marik's eyes rolling and felt a wide grin stretch across his mouth.

"I'm dragging you outside as often as I can." Marik munched down a few more fries before a thought occurred to him and he straightened up. "Hey, this is a pumpkin patch."

Bakura raised an eyebrow. "How very observant of you." He waited for Marik to finish rolling his eyes at him again, assuming there was something more to his thought.

"No, no – I mean, they're not just called that on the sign, they actually sell pumpkins. Maybe we should go get one for Ryou as a thank-you. He can carve it up or bake something with it or whatever."

"Good plan, but I'm out of cash." Bakura glanced up from his fries and saw Marik raising an eyebrow at him. "Ooh. I love the way your mind works, you know that?"

Marik snickered into his fries. "I don't know where you'd put the thing though."

"Trade secret, dear." Bakura playfully nudged Marik with his shoulder. He couldn't help it – he was already halfway through his first of several contingency plans for the Great Pumpkin Heist. He chewed his way thoughtfully through a few more fries before Marik spoke up again, interrupting his chain of thought.

"But seriously, was it a fun day for you?" Marik gave him a contented smile as he waited for the answer.

Bakura leaned over to peck a kiss to Marik's lips before replying. "With you, always."