AN: Chapter 2 is here! Now with more action! More drama! More fluff! And even more stuffy talk! Strap in, we're going feefshipping.


Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Marik dozed peacefully. He was having one of his favorite dreams: he was skipping through the woods, on his way to visit a den full of foxy boxes. The sunlight was filtering its way through the thick canopy overhead, giving the entire scene a fairy tale vibe. He had had this dream so many times that he knew every detail by heart. Sadly, he was sick in the dream as well, but it hardly mattered. It was just a dream, after all.

He only had one more turn to make before he would be at the den. He was so excited he could sing. And sing he did-

" La la la, do do do
Skipping through the woods
Goidg to beet you
Foxy boxes
Foxy boxes
Goidg to beet -
what the frig?"

His song was cut off when he came across a rather large sunflower growing in the middle of the path. That wasn't right.

"Sudflower? There's no sudflower id this- oh, frig."

Once Marik realized who he was, the sunflower laughed maniacally and morphed into his human form. He then stalked over to his other half, before purring, "Why, hello, Binky Boy."

"What do you wadt?" Marik asked, not even bothering to hide now sick or annoyed he was.

"I'm so glad you asked!" Melvin cackled, "You see, I was thinking today, and I realized: I can't remember the last time you let me out to play."

"That's because you burder people," Marik said flatly.

"-And I thought," Melvin continued, completely ignoring the other, "Boy, wouldn't I just love to give Florence a big ol' bear hug!"

Marik was about to tell the other no, when he had an idea. A very evil idea. So evil, in fact, that it would make Melvin look like an armature. And it was guaranteed to get the maniac to stop bugging him. "Be by guest."

"Wait, what? Really?" Melvin asked in surprise. He wasn't expecting to get Marik to give up so easily.

"Yeah," Marik sniffed, "He's really beed buggidg be today."

"Okay!" Melvin exclaimed, happily slipping into control. Well, he was happy until realized exactly why Marik had let him take over. As soon as he did, he was hit with a powerful wave of nasty feelings: for starters, his skin felt clammy and sticky. He was burning up, but at the same time he was freezing cold. His nose was clogged, and it seemed to tickle persistently. His throat felt dry and scratchy, his stomach was in knots, and worst of all, he had a killer headache.

"Baaaaariiiiiiiik," the darker half whined, "Why didd't you tell be you were siiiiick?"

"Surprise!" Marik exclaimed from the back of Melvin's head, "I wadted it to be a surprise! Dod't you like surprises?"

"Dot whed they bake be feel biserable," Melvin moaned, grabbing blindly for the tissues.

"So you bean you dod't like by surprise?" Marik asked innocently.

Melvin blew his nose. "If you say the word 'surprise' ode bore [EFF!]-idg tibe," he threatened, "I swear to Ra I will fidd a way to kill you without killing byself."

"Ha," Marik laughed, before falling into a coughing fit. "You soudd fuddy," he finished weakly.

"Hbb, gee," Melvin wondered sarcastically, "I wodder who's fault that is?"

"It's Rex's fault!" Marik defended, "He cabe to the last coudil beetidg and was sdifflidg the whole tibe!"

"Look, I dod't care," Melvin stated flatly, "I wadt you to take over agaid. Right dow."

"But you said you wadted to play!" Marik insisted.

"That was before-" Melvin's sentence was interrupted by a loud sneeze. He whined again; the force of the sneeze made his throat hurt even worse.

"It's doh fud beidg sick, is it?" Marik asked knowingly.

"Doooooh," Melvin pouted, "Will you please take over agaid?"

"Dope!" Marik said sweetly, "It's fuddy to watch you suffer."

"This is cruel add udusual pudishbedt," Melvin whined, curling up under the coversin an attempt to get warm, "Isd't that illegal?"

"First of all," Marik said, "You're ode to talk about 'cruel add udusual pudishbedt.' Secoddly, yes. But I'b a villaid, you're a villaid, add you've had it cobidg."

"Pleeeeeeease?" Melvin begged, "I'll do adythidg!"

"Adythidg?" Marik asked.

"Yes, please, just dod't let be put up with the rest of this cold!" Melvin pleaded.

Marik thought it over for a minute, then nodded."Okay. Od ode codditiod."

Melvin perked up, "Yes?"

"You dod't bug be for the rest of the week."

"Deal," Melvin nodded, letting Marik pilot the body again. He retreated back to the dark recesses of Marik's mind. After that horrible experience, he definitely needed the rest of the week to recover. And maybe next week too.

Marik opened his eyes after slipping back into control and sat up. "Bad idea!" he thought as the room began to spin. He laid back down and squeezed his eyes shut. Maybe he could get back to sleep.

Sadly, Marik had no such luck, because as soon as the room stopped spinning, the door slowly opened. Bakura poked his head in, and stepped into the room once he saw Marik wasn't asleep. "Morning," he said quietly, gently nudging Marik so that he'd open his eyes, "How are you feeling?"

Marik moaned, sitting up. "I'b so codgested, I cad't eved-" Marik's sentence was cut off by a stifled sneeze, "Sdeeze right." He groaned, before taking a tissue and attempting to blow his nose. "I cad't eved blow by dose," he whined.

"I know," Bakura patted his partner's head, "Do you want to try using the vaporub?"

"Wait, you have vaporub?" Marik asked.

"I found some in the cabinet while you were asleep," Bakura explained. He failed to mention the help Ryou had given him.

Marik's face lit up. "I'b saved!"

"Yes, yes," Bakura rolled his eyes, grabbing the small jar from the nightstand, "I'm guessing you want to put it on?"

Marik looked away, then he looked down at the comforter before admitting quietly, "I dod't dow how. I've odly heard it's good for if you're codgested."

Bakura wasn't surprised. They probably didn't have any modern medicine in the tombs, and Bakura himself had no clue what it was until he saw Ryou use it a few years back. "Yes, and it's also good for when you have a sore throat and you keep coughing," he explained.

"That soudds like be too," Marik said, "How do you put it od?"

"Well, first you need to open your shirt," Bakura said, "Then you-"

"Wait, by shirt?" Marik asked in alarm, "Bakura, are you hitting od be?"

"No Marik," Bakura sighed irritably, "If you had let me finished, I would have told you that it goes on your chest. That's why you need to open your shirt."

Marik blinked, "Oh, sorry," he mumbled, unbuttoning his pajama shirt.

Bakura nodded. Once Marik's shirt was out of the way, he took a little blob of vaporub and rubbed it in circles on Marik's chest. He realized this was the first time he had ever really been even remotely close to intimate with the other. He silently hoped Marik didn't notice how he was beginning to blush. He dared to look up at the other, and was surprised to see Marik had his eyes closed. His mouth was relaxed into a smile, as if the vaporub was already working on clearing his sinuses. Bakura smiled himself. He was glad to see Marik was starting to get some relief.

Marik let out a happy little hum, "Mmmm, I thidk it's working." He took in a massive breathe of air through his nose. It sounded wet and congested, but at least the mucus actually moved. He grabbed another tissue from the box and held it over his face.

"What are you doing?" Bakura asked.

"I think I'b gonna-" Marik's breath hitched, then he let out three wet sneezes into his tissue. "I think I'b gonna do that," he finished, throwing the tissue away.

Bakura paused, "Bless you," he said, "You sound better."

"Thanks," Marik sniffed, "I feel better too."

Bakura was quiet again. He still wasn't sure what he should say or do in this situation. Eventually, he asked, "I made you soup, do you want to try to eat some?"

"You bade be soup?" Marik asked excitedly, "Aw, that's so sweet of you!"

"I-It's not sweet," Bakura stuttered, feeling his cheeks go red hot from embarrassment, "Y-you just need t-to eat something so you get better."

"Well, I think it's very nice of you," Marik stated cheerfully, snuggling back down into his blanket, "Thank you."

"N-no...You're welcome," Bakura mumbled as he hurried off to fix Marik's lunch. He came back quickly with it on a tray: vegetable soup with a glass of orange juice, with added cold medicine.

"Oooo," Marik cooed when he saw Bakura come back into the room. He sat up quickly (or, at least, as quickly as someone in his state could). He looked at the tray placed in his lap, then exclaimed, "It's got a bendy straw!"

"Very good," Bakura rolled his eyes. At least he wasn't too delirious to notice.

"I didn't know we had bendy straws," Marik said happily as he ate his first spoonful of soup. "Mmmmmm," he sighed, "This is really good."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Bakura chided, trying hard not to let himself blush at the compliment.

Marik swallowed the soup, then mumbled, "Sorry," before digging in again and enjoying his meal.

Bakura sat back down on the edge of the bed and tried not to stare at Marik. He was glad to see his partner seemed to be feeling better, but it still felt creepy to stare. Instead, he looked down and began smoothing the sheets repeatedly. At least it was something to do.

After a few minutes. Marik let out another content sigh, then informed Bakura enthusiastically, "I'b all done!"

Bakura took his tray, then commented, "That was fast, you must have been hungry."

"I was starved," Marik told him before looking away sheepishly and admitting, "I kind of... threw up by dinner this morning."

"Marik!?" Bakura exclaimed, nearly dropping the tray, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was a big deal!" Marik defended, "And plus, you were asleep."

If Bakura had a free hand, he would have pinched the bridge of his nose about now. Instead, he let out an irritated sigh, before saying, "Okay, next time you throw up, especially if it's in the middle of the night, you come and tell me, okay? You could have had bloody food poisoning, or worse!"

Marik recoiled a little. He stared at Bakura a long moment, trying to read him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled quietly, then asked, "Are you... mad at me?"

There was that heart ache again. "No, Bakura sighed, setting the tray down to walk back over to Marik.

"You seemed angry," Marik said, sinking down into the covers, as if he was trying to get away.

"I'll admit, I was a little upset," Bakura said calmly, smoothing Marik's hair back away from his face, "But that's only because-" he paused, trying to find the right words to say, "Because if something happened to you... Ishizu and Odion would... I couldn't-" he sighed again, then moved his hand under Marik's chin so that he could carefully make the other look at him, "It would be really bad if something happened to you. And I hope you realize that."

"I-I think I do," Marik said unsteadily.

Something inside Bakura broke when he saw Marik's face. He sat Marik up, then squeezed him tightly in a hug. What kind of monster was he? Yelling at someone who clearly was unwell and very vulnerable? He was kicking himself mentally for it now. "I'm sorry I yelled. I didn't mean to upset you. Can you...forgive me?" he asked, his own voice trembling a little.

Marik was quiet for a moment. "Yeah," he sniffed.

Bakura got up again, and took the tray again. As he left the room, he said in his best attempt at a gentle voice, "Why don't you pick a movie for us to watch? I bet that will help you feel better."

Marik perked up a little, "Really?"

"Yes, really," Bakura nodded.

Marik's face lit up. "Okay!" He said happily, before getting out of bed to look through his movie collection. When Bakura came back, Marik proudly held up the DVD case he had selected.

"The Little Mermaid?" Bakura asked.

"It's by favorite," he told Bakura happily.

"Okay," Bakura chuckled. He thought it was cute how Marik could watch the same movie so many times and not get bored of it. "You go get comfortable," he told the other, "And I'll get the movie started."

Marik handed the case over with a nod, before crawling back into bed and nestling under the blanket. Bakura came over with the remote and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Noooo," Marik whined, patting the stop next to him, "You gotta sit up here, with me."

Bakura sighed, before moving to the indicated spot. He leaned back against one of the spare pillows and closed his eyes for a second. "Maybe I can get a quick nap in," he thought to himself. Suddenly, there was a weight on his chest. "What in the name of buggery are you doing?"

"Getting comfy," Marik explained happily, shifting about until he found the perfect position.

"On me?" Bakura asked.

"Yup, you're warm," Marik yawned, nuzzling a little into Bakura's shirt.

This was certainly unexpected. "Marik must really be bloody sick if he's cuddling me," he thought. Well, he probably wasn't getting out of this anytime soon. He wrapped an arm around Marik's shoulders, and started rubbing his back slowly through the blanket. Marik sighed contently, watching the movie through heavy eyes. Before the first act was over, Marik was fast asleep.

Bakura wasn't sure what to do. Should he move Marik back onto the pillow? No, bad idea, that could wake him up. He turned down the movie, before adjusting the blanket over the both of them. He moved the hair out of Marik's face again, then leaned down and- He hesitated for a moment. Was this the right thing to do? He remembered his mother kissing him on the forehead when he was sick, and Ryou's mom had kissed his forehead too. But Marik didn't have a mom... he leaned down and kissed Marik's feverish forehead. Marik sighed happily in his sleep, nuzzling in more. Yes, that was definitely the right thing to do.