Marik kept his feelings hidden, which was easy as long as Ryou was around. The boy was nothing like his Yami, other than some physical appearances, which he could easily overlook by thinking of him as a younger sister. He felt a little guilty for this at first, but Ryou never exhibited masculine behavior so the feeling quickly passed. He went out more after that night, looking at potential homes in person rather than primarily through advertisements. He also went around town to any place that was hiring and filled out numerous applications, after having spent a week trying to submit digital ones and getting no response. Ryou had told him these things take time, but Marik didn't have time... or rather, didn't want to believe he did. Living with Bakura was supposed to be a temporary fix, just to keep him off the streets, and even if his feelings hadn't bested him he had begun to feel a little too comfortable there. Besides, the longer he stayed, the harder it would be to pry Ryou from his side and, though the boy had the best of intentions, he was becoming too much.

As the latter half of the day drew long, Marik decided to go back to his temporary place of residence. He took a small road that veered off his normal route, thinking that no harm could come from passing through Domino's other residential areas. As he cruised by quaint homes at a casual pace, he caught sight of a building which stood out from the others. Apart from being oddly-colored, the bulk of the house sat further from the sidewalk than the others, and there was a smaller attachment jutting from its front. Marik slowed to a stop to read the sign next to the house. It read 'Mutou Family Game Shop'.

"Mutou?" Marik mused to himself. His bike's engine purred in agreeance and he nodded to no-one in particular before parking beside the sign.

The jingle from the bell above the door startled Solomon, who had been busy tidying up his display case. He quickly shut it and folded his hands in a business manner. "Oh, hello! We don't usually get customers this late."

Was it late? Marik thought. The sky had just been yellowing as the sun travelled toward the horizon.

"Yes, forgive my intrusion, then," he said, eyeing the man's strangely-patterned locks of hair. If they weren't related, someone effed up a paternity test. "I was just wondering if Yugi Mutou lived here."

"Oh! Are you a friend of Yugi's?" Solomon seemed a little too interested for Marik's taste, but he smiled.

"Yes!" then his eyes darkened, "well, sort of. It's a bit of a long story..."

Solomon laughed heartily, "yes, with Yugi's friends, it always is. Just a moment, I'll tell him you're here."

As the man headed toward the stairs, he suddenly looked back with sharpened eyes. Marik's heart jumped and he took a step back toward the door. "If it's too much trouble, I can come back..."

Solomon watched with that odd, cat-like stare. "This isn't some kind of trick to get me to leave my card shop unsupervised, is it?"

Marik's eyes widened. He let a small sigh escape his throat then laughed a little too awkwardly. Solomon was still on guard. Marik mustered his best 'Namu' smile (as it would have been before) and shook his head. "No, I am here to see Yugi and that's all. I don't even play Duel Monsters anymore."

At this, Solomon's eyes grew wide. "You don't play Duel Monsters?"

The sheer disbelief in his voice was enough to make Marik laugh again, more sensibly this time. Solomon was smiling now, though he still seemed baffled at the thought as he disappeared up the stairs.

When Solomon told Yugi 'one of' his friends was there to see him, the boy thought his Grandpa was just being lazy and didn't care to mention which friend it was. Though he hadn't been expecting anyone, it didn't seem odd to him at all that someone would show up. He figured it'd be Joey, looking for a place to stay after another bad night at home, or maybe Tea to finally confess her love to him.

Okay, that last part was a fantasy, but a teenager can dream, can't he? At any rate, the person he saw was quite likely the last person he expected.

"Marik? What are you doing here?"

Solomon seemed worried as he looked back and forth between the boys. His gaze settled on the visitor.

"I thought you said you were my grandson's friend?" the elder said accusatively.

"I said it was a long story," Marik bowed to show respect. "Your grandson and I have had our fallouts," he turned to Yugi, confusion evident in his eyes, "but I thought we had resolved our differences."

Yugi's mouth felt dry, so he swallowed once before attempting to speak. "Well, we have, but you went back home with your sister and..."

"And now I'm here again," Marik cut in, "to stay."

Though it took some convincing, Solomon finally allowed the boys to go upstairs to Yugi's room. Marik hadn't intended to stay very long, but he also hadn't expected their conversation to start on either side of a counter. The more he thought about it, the more he smiled with ease. Of course the King of Games would live in a hobby shop. It just wouldn't make sense any other way.

"Have a seat," Yugi waved a hand over the span of his room casually. "Anywhere you'd like."

Marik would have preferred to stand to keep things short, but ultimately chose the computer chair. It was comfortable enough for a quick chat, but not so that he'd overstay his welcome. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have come to your home unannounced."

"Oh, it's no big deal," Yugi spoke casually, cleaning up the cards he'd strewn across his sheets. "It's not like I live in a normal house. Lots of people find me by coming here."

Marik nodded, and felt more at ease. "I've been staying at Bakura's until I can get on my feet out here, so until today I didn't even know this place existed."

Yugi sat on his bed and raised an eyebrow. "Bakura lives on the other side of town, by Kaiba's place. What were you doing all the way out here?"

Marik shrugged, "job hunting, apartment browsing, typical on-your-own stuff."

Yugi shuffled his deck just for something to do. "Why?"

Marik blinked, not expecting the simple question. "Why? Well, I need a job to afford a place to live, and..."

"What's wrong with Bakura's?"

Yugi's forward attitude irked the blonde, but he caged his anger. "It's temporary. I'm just a guest there."

"I'm sure Bakura wouldn't mind if you lived with him," Yugi was, of course, referring to Ryou when he said 'Bakura', but that didn't stop Marik's blood from warming and chilling at each mention of the name. "Unless he's the one telling you to get a job and get out."

Marik shook his head, feeling the truth come out before he could ask himself why he was telling it. "No, I'm doing that on my own."

"Tell me something then, Marik," Yugi had put his cards away and was pulling out some kind of yearbook. "Why are you living there at all?"

Marik swallowed and stood up, "Yugi, this isn't why I came here tonight..."

Yugi looked up, "then what did you come here for, Marik?"

There was a maturity in his manner that hadn't been there before, and Marik found himself both pleased and angered by it. "I'm not sure, really. I thought maybe we could put our past behind us and become friends."

There was a faint blush that was all but invisible against his tanned face. Yugi softened. "Sure, Marik. I'd like that."

Marik nodded and offered his hand to the boy, who took it and stood up. He was a little taller than the tan blonde remembered, but not by more than an inch. As he turned to the door he almost said 'Ryou will be expecting me', but caught the words before they escaped. Instead he apologized again for his intrusion.

"You're fine," a voice too deep to be Yugi's chuckled. Marik halted, but didn't need to turn to know the pharaoh had more parting words. "You're not intruding on anyone, Marik... and Yugi and I aren't the only ones who think it."

Marik kept his head down all the way out, knowing his blush was noticeable now. He bid Solomon a quick and untraditional goodbye as he exited the Game Shop; Yami watched from the window as he shoved his helmet on and fumbled to get the bike running. Yami gave way to Yugi, though projected his spirit beside the boy to continue his watch. The corners of his mouth twitched against a satisfied smile. When Marik rode out of sight, Yugi turned to his dark half.

"Why did you say that to him?" the boy asked.

"As though you weren't pestering yourself, Aibou?" Yami taunted.

"I just don't want to see him on the streets, that's all," Yugi huffed. "At least with Bakura he has a home."

Yami moved to the side of the bed as his light crawled in and got comfortable. The yearbook was open to their class. Yami noted the tiny hearts next to Tea's photo; Yugi blushed and slammed the book shut. Yami laughed. "With my help, Aibou, I hope to have put him on a path toward something more than just a home."

"You mean friendship?" Yugi looked up hopefully, though a gleam in translucent eyes suggested something more.