Written as a present for A .Clueless. Conundrum!
This plot bunny leapt out and attacked me with a baseball bat, and I found that I had to write it down; it was also partially inspired by my dad. This is both a "thank you" for writing my requests and a "get better soon!" for ya, AG. Lots of sibling fluffiness abounds here, since I've been writing creepy/angsty stuff and I needed some fluff.
Set post-series after "Oreos" and "Optimus Prime Does Not Approve", and please leave reviews if you can!
Marik slipped off of his motorcycle and pulled the bag of groceries out from the basket he had attached to the side of the vehicle; Ishizu frowned upon the idea that her younger brother might have to carry items on his motorcycle since it could compromise his safety, so she had insisted on having a small basket installed where he had once stored his duel disk to carry things while he was driving.
After nudging the kickstand down he began heading for the house, shifting the grocery bags from one hand to the other so he could undo the straps on his helmet. He grumbled to himself as he dug through his pockets to find the house key; he did like these khaki pants, but the pockets were expansive and it was starting to get dark outside.
He found the key at last and with a triumphant smirk he fitted it into the lock, opening the door. "I'm back!" he called as he entered the house, shutting and locking the door behind him before kicking his shoes off in the entry way. The Egyptian was not exactly expecting an answer, but he did know that there was someone here; Rishid's car had been parked in the driveway.
Marik advanced further into the house, awkwardly slipping out of his leather jacket and setting it on the coat rack as he padded through the front hall. As he rounded the corner to enter the family room he noticed that his older brother was also in the room; the back of the man's head was plainly visible from where he was standing. "Hey Rishid," he said casually as he came into the room.
He paused when he did not get a reply and moved around to the front of the chair to investigate, a puzzled frown marring his features. Normally Rishid would have replied at the sound of his brother's voice, so why hadn't he—
Marik's train of thought halted when his eyes landed on the occupant of the armchair.
Rishid was fast asleep in the recliner, his head resting uncomfortably on his chest; the footrest had not been pulled up, so Rishid's slippered feet were touching the floor. An open book sat on his lap and between his limp hands, telling Marik why his elder brother had been sleeping there instead of stretched out on the sofa.
"Oh…no wonder you didn't answer me," said Marik quietly, gingerly setting the grocery bags down on the nearby coffee table before returning his attention to the older man.
Marik could still hear the slight wheeze in his brother's otherwise even breathing as he slept and his eyes softened; poor Rishid was just getting over a bout of bronchitis and the man still showed lingering symptoms from it. His brother had always been healthy throughout the years, so it had come as a surprise when the eldest Ishtar came home one night with a scorching pain in his throat and an accompanying cough; Domino's cold weather clearly did not agree with him.
Marik eyed his brother with some concern. Rishid was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants as well as a pair of slippers, but there was a chill that ran throughout the downstairs because of the large windows and the front door; there was a fairly good chance Rishid could once again catch the dratted illness if he remained where he was.
Yet the younger teenager hated the idea of disturbing his older brother to move him upstairs to his room. Rishid would insist on helping Marik in the kitchen with dinner if he was woken up, regardless of how sick he felt; he and Ishizu had just barely managed to convince their brother to take it easy while he had been ill, but even so Rishid had clearly hated the idea of staying idle.
He frowned, running through his various options until at last an idea occurred to him. Carefully, he moved around to where the lever for the recliner was and very gingerly pulled on it, watching the footrest slowly rise and lift his brother's feet into the air; as the chair leaned backward, Rishid's head lifted off his chest to rest comfortably against the back of the chair.
Marik waited until he was certain that the movement had not disturbed his slumbering brother before leaving the room, padding silently up the stairs to Rishid's bedroom and dragging the quilt off of the bed. He gathered the thick and fluffy quilt into his arms and returned downstairs noiselessly, reentering the room and dropping the quilt onto the sofa.
He returned to Rishid's side and very carefully lifted the book from his lap, bookmarking the page that the older Egyptian had left off on and setting on a nearby table. After checking one more time to see if Rishid was stirring, Marik lifted the blanket off the sofa and gently spread it over the man's sleeping body.
When the blanket touched him Rishid shifted, causing Marik to stiffen in concern, but then he went still again and the boy inwardly sighed with relief. "There you go, Rishid," he said softly with a smile, tiptoeing back to where he had left the grocery bags on the small table.
He willed for the plastic bags to remain silent as he resumed his journey to the kitchen; to his relief, not a sound emanated from the bags even after he set them down on the kitchen table.
Marik returned to the doorway of the kitchen to make certain that his older brother had remained where he was and his eyes softened when he confirmed that Rishid was still sound asleep. "Sleep well," he said gently as he turned the family room light off, immersing the room in darkness.
Marik reached for a nearby house phone so that he could call Ishizu; he knew his sister was probably on her way home right now and that inevitably his brother would have to be woken up when dinner was ready, but he would still try and give as much of a break for his brother as he could possibly manage.
His older brother did so much for his siblings without asking for any sort of reward for his efforts. Marik felt that Rishid deserved so much more than a nap as a way to express his gratitude, but for now he would just let his brother sleep.