Me; whoa OoO people actually liked it!
Bakura: they WHAT?
Ryou; wonderful! ^^
Me: eee, really, I'm so happy! thanks for the reviews, favorites, etc, guys 3 I appreciate them ;v;
Bakura: THEY WHAT?!
Ryou; I think Bakura's going into shock /worried
Me: eh, he'll be fine. Now, moving on! I hope everyone enjoys this chapter ^^ hopefully this one's better then the last;;;
I do not own Yugioh or it's characters~
Chapter 2: A Mess of Complications.
Ryou shrugged his shoulders slightly. "Humans aren't supposed to know." He replied to the man's question, his voice slightly careful and almost hesitant, eyes still watching him. "Or rather, they aren't supposed to see us." he shifted uncomfortably; the man's stare was almost unnerving suddenly.
Bakura nodded, it made sense in a sort of fantasy-like way; with other worldly beings not meant to be seen by humans. And it partly explained why he'd been so freaked out, but he'd also thought he was going to harm him – that he was his enemy, which made little to no sense at all. Weren't angels stronger then humans, and watched over them or whatever? They were said to possess unbelievable strength and magic – being a heavenly being and all that, so why had he been scared of him? "I guess I can see why you'd be scared because of that," he said, "but why did you say you thought I was your enemy?" his eye brow rose. "Don't I look human.. or whatever?"
"Um," Ryou shifted a little again, his breathing passed normal and into shallow with nervousness now. "Yes, but I did not realize that until I calmed myself. I thought you might have been someone else," he answered simply, and then decided that was enough information for him. He leaned away from the wall, his wing twitching harder with the movement and causing him to wince.
Bakura winced a little as well, not knowing what he could do to help: he assumed the majority of the pain the angel was obviously in had something to do with the twitching wing, but he hesitated to move closer, or offer to take him to the hospital again. "Which would be who?" he asked, mostly to distract both of them.
"I have said enough already," he replied. "I should be going now," He looked up at the sky, then blinked against the rain and looked back at Bakura. "It's raining, and it's dreadfully cold, so I suggest you find some sort of shelter, unless you were already on your way toward one, and if that is the case, I apologize for keeping you." He said, and for the first time since he'd seen the angel, Bakura felt the rain hitting him and his body trembling with the chilly air, his jacket – as well as his bag - on the ground where he'd dropped it earlier when he fell.
Before Bakura could speak, the angel began walking, rather slowly and a little wobbly, but walking away nonetheless. "I do suggest you forget you saw me, it isn't healthy for humans,"
Forget about him? Bakura thought, ha! Not likely.
"And what, leave a pretty little angel like you wandering the streets?" Bakura asked skeptically. "You'd be seen within a second, and besides, you don't look exactly well enough to travel," He glanced at the twitching wing as the angel paused and looked at him again. "Do tell, what will you do if another human sees you? And what if they turn out to be your human enemies? Muggers, for example, would be shocked, it's true, but they'd probably still steal your things and beat you up, and you don't look like you're in shape to defend yourself or to even fly away with that shaky wing of yours. And what about where you'd sleep, if you sleep at all? There would be worse things then muggers at night, Ryou." He warned him seriously, and then hated himself when the angel's eyes widened in fear, but the truth had to be said. Just imaging it himself, however, was horrifying even to Bakura: this small, panicking angel, going up against careless, ruthless people of the night.
The thought made him decide on something: he'd have to look after him, just until he was better – so he'd be able to defend himself against whatever mortal thing attacked him, and whatever other being that threatened to attack him. He didn't like the thought of the angel being alone, and, in all honesty, he felt sorry for the poor bugger, and wanted to help him a bit.
Ryou looked at the ground, his own mental image of the situations the man predicted being ugly ones. He shuddered. "I.." perfect, now he had to deal with evil humans, AND try to get back to Heaven. What made everything worse was how true the man's words were about him – he was weak, injured.
"Sorry, but it's true." Bakura said, looking back and picking up his jacket, which was now soaked. He bunched the fabric in his hands and wrapped it into a hard bunch, which caused the majority of water on it to wring out and onto the ground. He then grabbed his bag, shook it a bit with disappointment as he realized a few small precious objects were now probably ruined, and turned back to the angel, whom he realized now was shivering slightly.
He walked in front of him, causing the angel to jump slightly, and offered him his fairly dry jacket. "If you want, you can stay at my place until you heal up and all – and don't worry, this isn't some weird plan to hurt you," he reassured sincerely.
Ryou looked at the jacket, then slowly looked at Bakura's face, slightly fearful, confused, and cautious. "I d-don't even know you except for your name." he stated. "How do I know you won't just.. 'mug me', or do whatever other things bad humans do?" he asked, remembering the fact that the man's soul was weighed down by something: perhaps that was it.
"I haven't done anything," Bakura stated simply, rolling his eyes slightly as he lowered the jacket a bit. Yeah, like he would mug someone. He was an asshole, but not THAT much of an asshole – he couldn't imagine hurting the creature. "Don't you remember me telling you I wasn't going to hurt you?" he asked, annoyed slightly.
"Yes," Ryou answered. "But your attitude isn't very good."
"I'm always like this," he stated, shrugging. "And besides, I've had a long day, don't hold it against me."
"Hmph," was all the angel said, his hands holding onto the fabric of his dress. He wanted to trust the man, but he couldn't – not after realizing the danger he was in. he doubted there was anyone he could really trust.
"Look, I promise I won't hurt you, alright?" the taller teen said, trying to make his tone softer then it usually was while still holding strong honesty. "You can stay until you're better, or if you don't want to stay even that long, you can leave, but come with me and stay at least one night." he said, almost pleading, but not quite. "You'll be safe at my apartment – and there's two other people there, and believe me, they won't hurt you or allow me too – not that I would, anyway. One of them might even love your company." He almost wanted to roll his eyes at the thought of Marik and the angel talking; within two hours he'd probably have the angel gossiping and talking about romance novels.
Ryou's eyes widened again, and he blinked a few times. He sounded convincing, but what shocked him a little more was that he actually sounded worried about his wellbeing – something he wasn't accustomed to. In heaven, Ryou was always safe, happy and well taken care of, so no one worried about him. The thought of the human worrying about him made him feel guilty to have burdened him with even the thought of his own well-being, but the fact that he was worried also spread strange warmth in his chest that he rather enjoyed feeling.
He looked down in thought, but then shook his head. He couldn't risk being seen by other humans. "Thank you for the offer, but I don't wish to burden you or the people you live with. I shall manage on my own," he looked up and grinned slightly, the sight possibly the most angelic thing Bakura had ever seen in his life, and he was seeing an ANGEL.
He began walking away again, and it took Bakura a few moments to snap out of his daze and follow him. "You won't be burdening us, honestly – my roommates are used to company, they've had plenty of other roommates through the years, and you won't be bothering me, either." He reached out and touched the angel's none-twitching wing, causing him to jump and swirl around, almost hitting Bakura with his wing. He backed up a step, his muscles tense.
"Sorry," Bakura apologized. "I really don't like the thought of you out here alone and beat up." he said, and wondered if he sounded weird and corny. He probably did, but didn't real care at that moment.
That familiar warmth spread in his chest, and it was then that Ryou realized the man wasn't going to give up. He sighed. "You are quite persistent," he stated, "It is a bad idea that I go with you."
"No, it isn't." Bakura insisted. "I'm trying to help you, that isn't a bad thing." He rung out his jacket again and walked toward the angel, slowing his pace when Ryou started stepping back. "Just stop fighting, and think of it as a night you don't have to worry about. Trust me,"
The last words made the warmth in Ryou's chest even worse, and made him feel slightly hazy. He sighed again, and thought it was best that he comply with the human – it was odd that he was so persistent, but he had a feeling it was for good intentions, and again, his point seemed quite valid.
But, he had to try a few more times to walk away.
"Fine, I shall stay with you," he gave up finally after another two tries, his voice having a strange edge to it. "But your.. 'roommates'," he recalled Bakura using the word, "cannot see me. It is bad enough YOU are seeing me now."
Bakura grinned crookedly, feeling some satisfaction at having won the argument. "I can try to manage that," he said, then walked over – again slowing his pace when Ryou started backing up a bit, but continued walking.
"Relax, I said to trust me, remember?" he said, and the angel stopped and bit his lip. When he reached the doe-eyed angel, he rung out his jacket again and carefully placed it over his head and around his shoulders the best he could to keep him dry, and quickly moved it around so it wasn't touching the angel's right shoulder after a wince from him. He apologized quickly.
Ryou blushed slightly as the pain went away. "It is alright. Thank you," he said, "but how will you stay dry?"
Bakura shrugged. "I'll be fine, don't worry. Now let's go, despite not caring about the rain, I don't want to be stick in it all day, and we should hurry up and get you to my apartment before my roommates get there." He started walking back toward the direction his apartment was in, and mentally told himself to remember to call his boss whenever he arrived home. It would seem he wouldn't be able to buy gum for a while.
He glanced back to make sure the angel was following, and blinked at how slow he was going. "Hey, hurry up now."
"Sorry," Ryou said as he weakly tried to move faster, only to wince as his leg muscles began to sting. He bit his lip, and his legs begun wobbling a bit with his effort.
Bakura sighed and turned on his heel before walking over to the angel. "Here, I'll give you a ride." He said, and then turned and knelt down on one knee, leaning down a bit. He felt a little foolish at the gesture, but he couldn't very well have Ryou falling now, could he? And carrying him with his arms definitely wasn't an option.
Ryou just stared down at him in confusion. "Um, forgive me, but I'm not entirely sure it's the best idea that I.. 'ride on you'. That's incredibly unheard of - it would look ridiculous, and not to mention unnatural since people walk on two feet."
Bakura looked over his shoulder and just stared at him for a few seconds.
"Er, no. you put your arms around my neck, your legs around my..er," he felt a little odd at explaining this. "my hips, and then I hold behind your knees, and carry you – on two feet." He added.
"Oh.." the angel blinked, but against his own better judgment, decided it was probably the best option.
Hesitantly, he leaned down and wrapped his arms and legs around Bakura's form, blushing horribly and wincing a bit at the coldness. And then hands gently grabbed his legs, pulled them forward, held on, and then Bakura stood up – almost falling back with the extra weight from Ryou's wings, and the action caused him to yelp and tighten his arms and legs on instinct.
Bakura nearly choked, and managed to keep his balance. He then sighed a bit with what air he could
This wasn't going to be easy.
He leaned forward a bit so he could control the weight a little more, and although it served to hurt his back, he knew it was for the better, and it even helped him breathe easier with the tight hold on his neck. "Could you loosen your hold a bit?" he asked on a choked breath.
"S-sorry," Ryou immediately relaxed his hold – but not enough to where he wasn't holding on.
Now able to breathe again, Bakura started walking once more, saying nothing more to the angel as he focused on carrying him through the rain.
Ryou was tense, partly because the air seemed a bit awkward between them now, but mostly because he was being carried by a human. This was something unheard of in Heaven, and would shock his fellow angels if they saw him – just agreeing to stay with the human would have made them overwhelmed with shock. But they would understand, wouldn't they?
Probably not, he thought, and then looked up at the sky. He doubted they could even see him, what with the darkness covering the clouds. Heaven was a different place completely – a different world, even, full of happiness and purity and warmth and love, and the clouds were where the majority of angels were – their own personal part of Heaven on Earth: watching, beneath the clouds, over the humans down below, helping people and guiding them on the correct path. But they didn't control people – that was impossible, and so, without realizing, people could choose whether or not to listen to the angels that tried to guide them.
That's what the angels in the clouds did; they protected people and tried to direct them on the right path, away from bad or evil things. Some of the angels had once had a human life, others were never born humans, but they all still loved the humans, and did their best to help nonetheless.
Ryou was one of the angels who were born human, and then became an angel once they passed on. He'd had a rather hard life as a human, and died far too young due to illness, but was stuck on earth for a certain amount of time due to a feeling that kept him there. After a long while, someone had went to him and reassured him, and then he let go, and was taken to Heaven.
He had a pure soul, a sweet soul, and because of this, was made into an angel.
His fingers tightened on Bakura's shoulders a bit as he remembered the last time he was on earth, just as a spirit, but before he could continue on with his thoughts, Bakura suddenly spoke up.
"As much as I hate to ask, do you think you can cover your shoulder blades up a bit?" Bakura asked suddenly, pausing at the edge of the alley and peeking out. "People will probably stare, and without those things covered up it shows they are connected to you."
Ryou gasped, and then quickly – with some trouble balance-wise – unhooked his arms to cover his shoulders with the jacket, wincing and making a strange noise when his wing stung in response, but he ignored the pain the best he could, and kept them covered, understanding Bakura's plan to make it seem like they were fake.
"Sorry," Bakura murmured when he heard the noise. "It'll just be until we reach my place, then you can take the jacket off."
"I-I'm fine," Ryou mumbled, the warmth spreading in his chest again.
With the jacket still covering his head well enough, he looked around out and passed the wall to distract himself from the warmth he felt, and saw the people who walked passed, and the strange, large machines that zoomed passed them on what he knew to be road.
"Covered?" Bakura asked briefly, waiting.
"Oh – yes," he answered immediately, and then quickly wrapped his arms around Bakura's neck again. It strangely felt comfortable, along with being carried, despite his throbbing wing. He tried to keep them steady and unmoving to keep the illusion, and it was a bit hard with his twitching wing, but he managed to keep it a little at ease so it would look like the twitching were caused by his carriers movements.
Bakura started walking again, and Ryou watched in fascination at the people he saw; all of them were unique and special in their own way, wearing certain styles and colors, doing certain things as they walked with umbrellas. He wondered what type of personality and life each had, and looked closely at each one to see if he 'knew' them spiritually, if they were one of the people he helped. He only spotted a few, and felt a small portion of happiness each time he saw one, and sadness each time someone saw he was looking at them, giving them strange looks.
It was probably because he seemed to have large fake wings, and was covered in dirt. He still felt sad though.
"Ahem, so," Bakura spoke after a few moments, the awkward silence he felt started to annoy him, and there were questions he was curious about, "What exactly happened to you?" he lowered his voice into a whisper that only Ryou could hear.
Ryou gulped, his sadness leaving his mind immediately. "Um.. it's a long story." He murmured.
"I have time,"
The angel sighed. "I.." how to begin? "I was pushed here by a dark being," he said curtly. He didn't want to go into too much detail. He wouldn't be with the human long, and right after he was healed enough, he would leave, and pray that the human forgot about him quickly. Bakura didn't need that much information about him or the situation in Heaven – it wasn't something for a human to know, and he didn't want to damage the human somehow with it. Despite handling the fact that Ryou was an angel with almost too much calm, the angel didn't want to risk anything.
"A dark being?" Bakura repeated. "A demon?" a DEMON attacked him?
"No, a dark angel." He corrected. "They're angels who've been consumed by evil," he explained, then mentally scowled himself for doing so. Dark angels were similar to normal angels, only they weren't pure, and instead of guiding people in the right path, they guided them on the wrong one, and caused misfortunes. They had no control over people either, though, and in the end it was up to people to decide what path they went on.
Bakura took in that bit of information with a bit of amazement – all that time, he had no idea any of this existed, not to say he didn't believe in God, he just didn't realize such things like angels and such were actually what people predicted them to be. It was quite an intriguing discovery.
"Interesting, why did he attack you?" he asked, curious.
Ryou blinked at such a calm reaction. "Um.. well," he paused, thinking of ways to avoid answering. He couldn't tell him why – that was what would damage him and worry him to no end.
He could think of no answer to give that would not worry him, so instead, he simply let out a soft breath, and said. "I cannot tell."
"What, you don't know why?"
"I know why, I just cannot tell you."
"Why not?"
"I.. I cannot tell you that, either."
Bakura rolled his eyes. "So this is like the whole 'cannot be seen by humans' thing, huh?"
"Unfortunately,"
The dark eyed teen shook his head, and looked back at him, causing the angel to hold his breath once he saw his pale face. "I handled the first one pretty well, why couldn't I handle this one?" he asked, irritated.
Ryou kept quiet and turned his eyes to the soaked white hair in front of him, rather flat, but slightly curly now with water. Some of the locks were seemingly glued to his arm in random little patterns, but he could barely feel them due to the cold. He looked at each lock of hair, so similar to his own, instead of speaking.
Bakura groaned when he got no answer, and looked ahead again. He assumed the angel didn't trust him very much – and why would he, anyway? He didn't know him, and he was human – a human with a bit of a bad attitude. He didn't even want to be with him, Bakura had practically forced him to go. But what would have happened to him had Bakura done nothing? He knew the streets of Domino, Japan – where he obviously lived – like the back of his hand. He knew there were trouble-makers that came out at night; he knew the angel wouldn't stand a chance –
No, he wouldn't think about it. The angel was safe, that was the important part.
"Actually, never mind." Bakura mumbled even lower. "It's good enough that you let me help you, I don't have to know the details." He suddenly felt rather guilty, but pushed it aside. He wanted to help him, and saw no other way then to convince him to let him.
Why had he even tried to help? he wondered, why did he feel the need to?
A little startled, Ryou blinked, but kept silent.
Moments passed, and the rain continued dropping. Ryou could feel Bakura's body trembling with the cold, and feeling guilty himself for more reason then one, unhooked one arm from around his neck and reached toward his own head, grabbing onto the jackets hem and pulling it so it was partly covering Bakura's head, ignoring his throbbing wing. Anymore of the jacket being pulled, though, and his wings would be exposed.
Bakura, being slightly confused as to what the angel was doing, just kept silent, his eyes slightly narrowing with his confusion.
A little disgruntled, the angel leaned his shoulders up so they were pressed against his own cheeks, and pulled the jacket more so Bakura's head was completely covered. The angel saw only darkness with light at the bottom where the edges of the jacket were now, but he didn't mind.
Realization finally hit Bakura, but he didn't get a chance to speak.
"Thank you," Ryou said, closing his eyes. "for helping me. I'm sorry I can't give you many details about how and why I ended up here, but you already know too much. I can't risk you knowing more." He said softly, angelically. "I suppose I can see how it is unfair, but I can't help it. But not to worry," he wrapped his other arm around Bakura's neck. "I'll be gone before you know it, and then you'll forget about this whole situation."
"Right, whatever you say," he replied, skeptical. "and you're welcome."
Ryou grinned slightly. "Really, thank you, Bakura."
Bakura said nothing – he was too tongue-tied. The angel said his name for the first time, and so angelically and pure, it almost made his heart stop.
What the hell was going on with him? Was this normal when encountering an angel?
He didn't know, and pushed the rising emotions aside, deciding they were too foreign and strange. He continued walking in silence, and begun seeing his school in the distance; perfect, that meant he was only a few blocks away from his apartment.
The silence kept on, and after a while, he could feel the angels head leaning against his own, and heard and felt the gentlest of breathing.
The angel had fallen asleep.
With great struggle, Bakura climbed the sets of stone stairs up to his apartment floor. The narrow, long, three story building was yellow with a brown roof, which always made Bakura think it looked like a giant banana. Despite that, he rather liked living there; the apartments were decent on the inside, fairly large, and came with two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom.
And thank god for the separate bathrooms, he couldn't imagine how Marik and Malik's looked, what with Marik and his hair supplies, and their habits of barely ever cleaning anything.
He finally reached the third floor, which thankfully had extra roof beyond the wall so he was more protected from the rain, and quickly started for the door he knew to be his apartment's – three doors from the stairs. It was quiet in the hall, so he knew his roommates weren't home yet.
He reached the door and looked back at the sleeping teen on his back. He shook his shoulders around a bit, regrettably waking him. "Hey, Ryou, wake up, we're here."
"Mmph?" Ryou's head lifted, and blinked when his eyes met the darkness of the jacket covering him. "Where are we?" he asked, his voice tired and low. He hazily recalled the situation in the alley, and being carried by Bakura. He blushed immediately as the thought provoked warmth in his chest.
"At my apartment," Bakura answered. "You'll have to get down now so I can unlock the door and all," he bent his knees a bit, and let go of the angels knees, and in turn Ryou unhooked his arms from around Bakura's neck, and stepped onto the cold pavement of the third floor.
While Bakura got his keys out and put the right key in the lock, Ryou shivered with the sudden coldness on his front. He clutched the jacket to him, pulling the hem so he was able to see. He briefly looked at his surroundings, blinking curiously at the yellow wall with what seemed crusted -on dirt. The ground was hard and looked similar to what Bakura had been walking on earlier, but a little darker.
They were high up, with a black metal fence protecting them from accidentally falling, and the place next to another yellow building with a brown roof, and behind it there were many more buildings, small ones that had many connections to them, sort of looking like small tunnels made of, what he assumed to be, metal. Above, he could see the sky was still dark and grey, and made everything look quite blue and monotone to the angel.
He looked back at Bakura once he heard a jingle and a rather harsh twist come from the lock, and then the door opened and the taller teen stepped aside, holding the door open with his hand. He gestured the angel in, looking a little tired himself.
Ryou looked into the apartment, hesitant to step in. the apartment seemed a bit small, and smelt rather fresh and polished compared to the outdoors, but due to the darkness he could only see the outlines and hints of things. Closed curtains, a couch, chair, some sort of fairly large box with books atop it against the wall, a large, but rather short length-wise, wall in the center of the room with some chairs next to it, and on the other side, he could see hints of what he knew to be a kitchen.
He looked at Bakura, as though silently asking whether or not he should still trust him enough to go in. Bakura gave him a patient look, and waited.
Ryou bit his lip, and walked in side-ways to make sure his wings would fit through the door. His bare feet stepped onto a rather soft, yet solid and warm, floor material – which was a heavenly change from the cold, harsh ground and gravel.
He quickly stepped aside, being careful to keep his wings close so they wouldn't bump into something, and Bakura quickly walked in and dropped his bag next to the door. Both teens were dripping wet, but neither seemed to take much notice.
Bakura closed the door behind him and flipped on a light, casting a great brightness into the room.
It was rather intriguing to Ryou; white walls, grey flooring, light brown couch that looked to be rather worn out, slightly new-ish cream colored chair, black box with green and black books on it, set on an old looking, small side table with a see-through door on it, and a few strange looking, thin books within it that were set crookedly so they would fit the tiny space.
At either side of the box, there were single white doors, which Ryou assumed was where Bakura and his roommates rooms.
"Welcome to my apartment," Bakura said, his tone rather cool. "It isn't much, but at least it's better then the hell-hole outside. Make yourself at home," he walked into the room, glancing at the horrible furniture that Malik had fought for a year ago, not because he wanted it, but because Marik didn't.
"Thank you," Ryou murmured. "I like your home, it is very nice." He looked around, grinning slightly.
Bakura gave him a skeptical look. "If you say so," he sighed a bit. "C'mon, first things first, you need to get cleaned up." He started for the door to his room, of course not even daring to go near his roommates.
Ryou hesitantly followed after him as he opened the door to a room and walked in. "What is the second part?"
"Getting into dry, and clean," he eyed the angels dress "clothes. Or are you not allowed to wear human clothes?"
Ryou shrugged a bit. "I just see them as clothes, though I should probably be wearing this when I leave," he pointed at his rather short dress. He didn't entirely like the thought of changing – he wasn't accustomed to such things, he'd worn his dress since the day he went to Heaven. It was special to him, but he knew it was better that he not wear wet clothes.
"Fine by me," Bakura said, quickly crossing his room and heading into the bathroom, flipping on the light once in it.
Ryou, on the other hand, paused to take in the room since the windows were open and it was bright enough to see. It was as big as the main room, and had a fairly large, bed with sheets, blankets and pillows spread everywhere on it. Next to it, there was a side table with a lamp on it and some papers. Beside it against the other wall, there was a short, narrow dresser with a shirt tall sticking out of one of the drawers, and on the ground there seemed to be quite a few more clothes.
Somehow the fact that the room was messy didn't surprise him very much.
Moments passed as Ryou took in the details of the room, and it wasn't until Bakura spoke that he remembered why he'd followed.
"Hurry up now." Bakura said, peeking his head out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel.
Ryou gave him a wary look due to how impatient he seemed, but walked toward the room he was in anyway. He looked in, and saw it was a small, light blue painted room with slightly old dark wooden flooring. There was a fairly large bath toward the end of the room, a steel bar going across the top and connected to both walls, a rubber-looking curtain draped over it and pushed to the side. There was a sink, and what he recognized to be a toilet.
Bakura went more into what space there was of the room, grabbed a towel from a high shelf connected to the wall, and offered it to the angel. "Here, dry up the best you can. There's more up there if you need more," he walked out of the room then, his hair slightly dry and messily covered with a towel. "You could attempt to shower if you want, but I highly doubt your wings would fit in there." He was surprised his wings could even fit in his room, really.
Ryou simply blinked at him, taking the towel. "S..shower?" he asked, not at all familiar with the word. "You mean bathe? Do you have a bucket I could fill with water, then? I'm afraid it won't be very effective otherwise," he laughed a bit.
Bakura stared at him for a long moment. "..What..? no, I mean.." he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "You don't know about modern things like pipes and such, do you? I thought angels were supposed to know everything." He stated matter-of-factly, but then remembered the earlier incident of Ryou not understanding even what a piggy-back ride was.
The angel bit his lip. "No, we don't pay much attention to how things like that change and develop – it doesn't concern us, since we do not require such things in Heaven. We only focus on helping people," of which, he knew for a fact, was a theory amongst humans – so he wasn't as much telling a fact, but more rather clarifying what was already known.
"Uh-huh," Bakura murmured, then took the towel off his head. "I guess I'll show you how things work then," without waiting for an answer, he walked back into the bathroom and beckoned the angel in with his finger.
Hesitantly, the angel complied, watching carefully as Bakura turned on of the twin nozzles at either side of the silver faucet in the center, which water began to pour out of. "This turns the water on, just twist it - and the more you do, the more amount of water comes out, and faster. This one's for hot water and the other is for cold water." He explained, gesturing to the other handle, almost struggling to explain something nearly everyone knew of. "It's the same with the shower, except there's another handle you can use to make the water come from the top faucet. It's like a bath, only you stand up." He added, gesturing to the showers nozzle.
Ryou's eyes were wide with wonder at this new information, and he was gazing at the objects with new-found understanding. "Wow, things have certainly developed!" he exclaimed, smiling hugely. "It's brilliant; I never would have dreamt such things would ever exist – and done in such a fashion!" He was nearly giddy, placing his towel over his arm, and reaching out his hands and twisting the nozzles one at a time, causing cold water to pour out, and then hot water – and enjoying it, almost like he were a child who found a new toy.
Bakura's eye-brow rose at how happy he seemed, but he dismissed it; the angel was obviously very innocent when it came to certain things. "It's been like that for a while," he informed, and then glanced at the toilet. "Oh, and also, this is were.. you um, do your business." He gestured to the white toilet, and doe-colored eyes quickly looked to see what new treasure he could find. "your private business." He almost blushed, feeling embarrassed at explaining. "And you use.. well, yeah," he awkwardly pointed at the toilet paper that hung beside the toilet.
The angel blinked, and then his eyes widened more with realization. "Oh – I already knew that." He said, a blush rising to his pale cheeks. "Quite an improvement, though. Thank you for the information." He commented, and then awkwardly returned his focus to the sink. He grinned again and begun turning the nozzles once more.
"Indeed," Bakura agreed, then his eyebrow rose in confusion once he thought of something. "Wait, you knew about that, but not about showers and such?" was this a joke?
Ryou paused, realizing he'd probably given too much information without even really taking notice. "Um, you could say that." He said simply.
Bakura doubted he'd get any more information on the topic, so he decided to dismiss it for now and decide that answer was good enough.
He reached up to the shelf with his hand and brought down some clean rags. "Well, now that you know how to use a sink and all, after you dry off, you can use these to clean yourself the best you can." He placed the rags on the edge of the sink. "Unless, of course you need me to explain that to you, as well." He said, jokingly, smirking slightly suddenly. Maybe he could even help him –
No.
What in the actual hell? Even to him that was too much.
Ryou looked at him with a bit of a blunt look, blushing again as his heart picked up a bit of speed. "I-I know of how to do that quite well by myself, thank you."
"Right then," Bakura nodded, and then quickly headed out the door. "I'll find some different clothes for you to wear – they'll be on the bed when you come out, just put the wet ones in the bathtub." he closed the door before the angel could even murmur a reply.
Bakura took a deep breath and started looking for some clothes, but paused before he even reached his dresser.
What the hell was that about? He was an angel, for god's sake! And they barely even knew each other! What was WRONG with him?
He ran a hair through his barely dry hair, and then quickly shook the towel against it. He had to stop thinking weird things when it came to the angel and doing weird crap, it wasn't right, and he didn't have any more spare time to think about that, or make stupid jokes.
After a minute, he decided his hair was dry enough for the moment. He found some clothes – comfortable looking ones, laid them out on the bed, and then grabbed some clothes for himself and went to leave the room – only to pause briefly as he heard the shower turn on in the bathroom, followed by giggling.
He shook his head, but couldn't help grinning slightly at how innocent the little angel was. Really, it was a rare thing to see someone so happy over something modern society was more then accustomed to, and rather strange. But something about Ryou's reaction made him think it was almost magical, and the reaction itself seemed rather… cute.
He mentally kicked himself, and left the room, thinking that he was probably going to hell.
For minutes, Ryou was having a total blast just playing with the nozzles of the sink, but he'd quickly become bored with it and began playing with the 'shower'. He felt much like a child, and enjoyed it immensely.
However, he needed to act mature again at some point.
He cleared his throat, turned off the shower, took Bakura's jacket off and carefully placed it in the bathtub. He dried himself the best he could with the towel, and then placed it aside on the sink. He then grabbed a rag, turned the 'hot' nozzle and got the small cloth completely soaked.
He washed as much dirt off his body as he possibly, and carefully due to his scratches and such, could until he felt clean enough, the warm cloth making him feel more comfortable and relaxed. Afterward, he then re-soaked the cloth and cleaned off his feathers – being careful with the right one, which wasn't throbbing or twitching as much by now, but each time he cleaned off a feather that was closer to where his wing joined, a horrible sting would shot through his wing.
It wasn't as bad as his earlier pains had been, but he tried to be as gentle as possible with the sensitive feathers.
He tried to clean his dress, but only succeeded in sinking the already crusted on dirt further into the fabric. After a few minutes, he gave up, and decided he'd wash it properly whenever he got a chance.
He took a deep breath, thankful for Bakura offering him help, and trusting him a little more now that he realized Bakura was truly a keeper of his word so far. He hadn't hurt him, of course he'd been a little rude and impatient – but he didn't really mind it. After all, he recalled Bakura saying that he'd had a long day, so his behavior was almost to be expected.
He sighed silently and leaned his palms against the sink, looking down into the partly dirty bowl. He owed his life to the human for taking him in. burdening him, in Ryou's eyes.
He still felt quite guilty for burdening the human. Ryou knew he had a life to live, things he did and needed to do, people he saw and needed to meet - he wasn't supposed to have an angel interfering with his life, it wasn't fair to him to have to care for him and keep him a secret for whatever length of time. It was a waste of his mortal time.
And Ryou selfishly giving in at the alley, made everything worse. He'd be lucky if he was even accepted back into Heaven at this rate.
Even the feelings he felt for the human were wrong – warm, fuzzy feelings. Those were emotions angels felt for humans, but they weren't directed or caused by humans, they loved them regardless of what they did or said. It was just natural.
But at the alley.. the way Bakura was practically pleading…
No, no, Ryou thought as he straightened his back, staring determinedly at his reflection. He barely knew the human, and Bakura had just been a caring person, doing something kind for someone else. Nothing more, nothing less.
He had to stick to his decision: the second he felt better, he would leave, and when he figured a way back to Heaven, he would make sure Bakura was very much taken care of. That would be how he'd thank him and make up for the time he'd been burdened by Ryou. By giving him more good options.
He looked at the door and, reaching out, turned the handle and pushed it slowly open. He peeked out and saw Bakura wasn't there. He then spotted some clothes laid out for him, just as Bakura said would be.
He walked out, wobbling just slightly, and started toward the bed. He leaned down once there and looked closely at the attire; a rather large looking black t-shirt, and blue sweatpants.
He looked toward the door again, and deciding no one was going to enter, quickly, and with extreme care, undressed, wincing as his right feathers were briefly squished against the dresses opening. He lifted the t-shirt, put his wings through it first, and after a great struggle, managed to put the shirt on without ripping it. It was a bit uncomfortable having his wings in the same opening as his arms, but the baggy fabric allowed them enough room.
And he became even more comfortable when he folded the right sleeve so there was less fabric rubbing against his wing. It still throbbed a bit at where it was touching the shirt, but as long as he didn't move that much, he'd be fine.
He put his pants on and slowly made his way out of the room, only to gasp silently as he saw Bakura was lying on the couch asleep, snoring rather loudly. He looked to be dry, with the towel he'd been using earlier snuggled comfortably in his hands, and partly draping over his new, dry clothes.
"Oh my," Ryou murmured to himself. Apparently, he hadn't been the only tired one.
He shifted a bit, uncomfortably not knowing what to do, and decided he'd just sit somewhere until Bakura awoke again. He could probably leave, but by now he knew that wasn't much of an option, considering the situation.
He made his way to the chair across from the couch, and sat. He briefly looked at everything again, wondering what certain things were and what they did, and if the other angels would appreciate them as much as he seemed to. Perhaps they'd appreciate them even more so.
The humans had come such a long way.
He looked back at the sleeping man, and titled his head a bit. He was handsome; Ryou had to admit, especially when he was sleeping. He looked younger like that, and quite peaceful despite the snoring.
Ryou almost wished he were human and born in the modern century, maybe then he could have actually been friends with the intriguing man.
End of Chapter 2.
Me: WAOW THAT TOOK A LONG TIME! OTL mostly because I was distracted a lot, but nyeh.
Bakura: why do you even bother? It isn't even written that well, and it's stupid and doesn't make much sense.
Ryou: oh, be nice, Bakura, she's just rusty is all.
Bakura: … she's still stupid, Hikari.
Ryou: /sighs
Me: hopefully I'll get better soon orz I do apologize if this isn't written very well, like Ryou said, I'm a bit rusty;;; again, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, though ^^ I'm hoping to update it again very soon~
oh and also, sorry if it's.. a weeee bit long..;;;;;