A/N
(Before I start my little talk here let me tell you this.. OMG. I just typed both my author's notes here... and then.. THEY JUST DISSAPEARED. I'm hating fanfiction right now. But I guess I'll just try to type the same things I just did... if I can remember what I typed...GAH! this is sooo frustrating.)
OK.
Well, here it is... the new chapter.
I tried my best to write it as soon as possible with minor spelling fails, but I tend to somehow still always miss things... especially really stupid, obvious things... Oh well... I tried my best.
Now first of all I really want to thank everyone who reviewd, they really gave my ego a huuuge boost!
And most of all they keep me motivated!
As for character development, I tried, but I'll tell you more about that at the end of the chapter..
Now just read, and enjoy as always!
Ps, screw FF for messing up my layout... or whatever it's called. Just saying that when I type my stories in word they look fine, but when I open them here there are breaks everywhere, and the sentenses are all messy! I'm probably just tired... and I'm keeping you from reading my story! Silly me, I'll be quiet now.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder Marik was pulled from his thoughts.
"Finally we get to see your house Marik, it's truly something."
The man standing next to him was tall, his spiky black hair had strands of gray even though he wasn't that old.
"I'm glad you could make it, where's that business partner of yours?"
Marik was very pleased with this man showing up, seeing tomorrow he was going to sign a very important contract.
The man grinned.
"He's parking the car… he'll be right here."
--
Walking outside in the cool evening air Bakura leaned against a three.
"Finally alone…"
But his newfound rest was quickly disturbed when he heard a voice coming from his right.
Looking over to see who had the guts to disturb him like that he saw a young
man talking to someone on the phone.
"… yes I know, he's with him inside of his house right now… yes… about the deal, what else? but we'll have to wait until tomorrow, there are too many people around now."
Bakura frowned, was that man talking about Marik and his little deal?
Suspicious as he now was Bakura silently watched the man as he walked into the house.
Moving over to the doorway Bakura kept a close eye on him as the man locked eyes with another taller man, silently informing him.
Realizing that the tall man was standing next to Marik Bakura frowned again.
Waving the younger man over, the tall man said something to Marik, who then shook the younger man's hand enthusiastically.
How strange, Bakura was sure to ask Marik who those men were later.
--
Four more hours passed and when the final guests finally left the music stopped.
After filling up a large plastic bag with leftovers from the party Marik finally made his way to the lounge, moaning as his body hit the soft cushions.
"Hey…"
Hearing Bakura's voice Marik opened his eyes.
"What."
Bakura smiled. "enjoyed you party? You look a little worn off…"
Marik let out a long and annoyed sigh. "Is there something you want?"
The day had been exhausting, all Marik wanted was to lay down, be left alone.
Bakura nodded, moving from the doorway to sit next to Marik.
"Yes, when you were talking to that tall man… is he the man you're doing business with?"
Marik grunted, "why so curious all of a sudden? You never gave a shit about my business deals before."
Bakura gave him a serious look "Just tell me, I overheard something strange today…"
"Yes I'm doing business with that man, he also has a partner and he was also at the party… now will you leave me alone?"
"I knew it…" Bakura mumbled.
Looking Marik in the eyes he spoke in a low voice, "listen Marik, something is off with that deal and I don't think you should go tomorrow."
"Don't be so ridiculous Bakura, you don't know anything about business so don't you try to advise me either."
Grabbing his shoulders tightly Bakura forced Marik to look at him.
"Trust me on this Marik, I've had more experience with people not being who they seem to be than you… don't go tomorrow."
Marik pushed his arms away and stood up.
"One more word about this and you'll regret, I'm going to bed."
Bakura tried to stop him again but Marik was already running up the stairs to his room.
Slamming the door closed he left Bakura standing in front of it shaking his head.
Why wouldn't Marik ever listen to him, why was he always so damn stubborn? It drove Bakura mad. All he wanted was for Marik to listen, it was for his own good.
Finally realizing it was absolutely no use to try to talk to Marik when he refused to listen Bakura let out an aspirated sigh.
"Fine, if something bad happens tomorrow you're all on your own!"
And Bakura angrily stomped down the stairs to his own bedroom.
--
The next morning Marik woke up early, and after careful consideration he decided to wear a black blouse and jeans. Nothing too formal, but not too casual either. He took one last look in the mirror, practicing his million dollar smile once more before packing his stuff and making his way to his motorcycle.
"Let's make some money!"
And Marik took off.
--
Arriving at the building he had been at times before he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Today was important.
As he walked into the building he was immediately greeted by the young man.
"Come in, we were already waiting for you…"
Ready to turn left like he always did the young man stopped him.
"Uh, please, this way…"
So Marik followed a little confused.
Turning another couple of corners he was finally greeted by his business partner.
"I hope you don't mind having our meeting in a different office… our old one suffered from some… water damage."
"That's fine..." Marik said slowly while sitting down.
Lowering his voice Marik gave the man a serous look.
"So… did you bring your contract?"
The man nodded.
"Did you bring your money?"
Marik nodded in return and opened his suitcase before turning it around so the man could see.
The man moved his eyes over the money, grinning madly.
"Yes…" he mumbled, looking back at Marik he continued,
"The contract says that you'll be our primary financer for the upcoming two years, earning 50 percent of our profit, correct?"
Marik nodded again, satisfied smirk slowly making it's way on his face.
The man quickly dropped the serious tone though, and let out a low chuckle as he continued.
"…yes, I just know this deal is the best I've ever made. Sales will be higher than ever…and don't you worry about any of the crime related matters, Marik, I've got those all covered so you'll have nothing to worry about."
Marik let out a long, dark laugh.
"…Ah, I see… but I'm not concerned about those matters, my friend, all I care about is my profit. What your customers do or don't do with your products is truly of no interest to me."
The man smirked slyly, and leaning back into his chair he nodded again, confirming that he understood Marik completely.
"Alright, it's all good then, now lets see where I have that contract…" the man mumbled, looking around his desk. But after looking through numerous drawers and still not finding the mentioned contract the man let out an agitated sigh before he appeared to suddenly remember something.
"Oh, I think I left it in the other room… if you could follow me there we can sign it right away."
"Okay, that's fine." Marik said while closing his suitcase and getting up.
The young man opened a door in the back of the office and Marik saw a long pair of stairs leading down into another room with two more desks in it.
The young man went down the stairs first, leading the way for Marik, who followed before stopping after a few steps when realizing his business partner wasn't following. And then he suddenly felt very suspicious remembering Bakura's words…
--
"Are you coming?" Marik said, slowly turning around.
He was only half surprised when he found a gun pointed at his forehead.
Cursing quietly Marik gritted his teeth.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? I thought we had a deal."
The man grinned.
"Yes we certainly have a deal… you just wont be the one profiting."
"Get down there." the man said, gesturing his gun towards the room at the end of the stairs.
"No." Marik was incredibly angry now, and most of all he didn't like it one bit that Bakura had been right.
"I'm not asking again…"
Ready to smash his suitcase into the man's face Marik had completely forgotten about his little partner who was standing only a few steps behind him.
Feeling the man's hands grip the back of his shirt pulling him backwards Marik gasped realizing he was going to fall.
Hitting the side of his head hard against the concrete floor Marik was knocked out for a moment.
Soon enough he could feel the suitcase that he still held tightly in his hand being pulled away from him, and Marik growled lowly, trying to get back up.
But his head felt like it had been split in two, and feeling blood drip from his hair Marik was pretty sure that it had.
"You… you don't actually think I'll let you get away with this do you?"
Marik moved to his knees very unsteady, his visage blurry.
"Actually…" said the man, moving the gun against Marik's throat.
"Actually I think I will get away, with you dead who's going to stop me?"
Marik growled spitting on the man's arm.
"You piece of shit…" the man growled.
Marik let out a cold laugh looking up at the man.
"Do it…" Marik hissed.
"Oh I will…"
But he never did.
The second he was about to press the trigger his gun flew out of his hand, and Marik could hear footsteps coming down the stairs.
Through his blurry vision Marik could make out a knife sticking in the gun and he grinned.
Right before passing out Marik saw a flash of white hair run past him and a hand full of knives, already aiming for the two men.
"Hey… Bakura…" he mumbled before he was sucked into the darkness.
--
Getting Marik's unconscious body back in the car wasn't the hard part, but carrying him up all those steps to his bedroom after already having carried him up that long pair of stairs at the office was really exhausting.
But Bakura had made it.
Resting his head against Marik's chest Bakura tried catching his breath.
"You should stop drinking so much… you're getting heavy."
After taking care of the wound on Marik's head Bakura allowed himself to finally sit down in a chair close to the bed.
He felt a little out of place in Marik's bedroom, he had never spend more than 5 minutes in there. Ever.
The room was very majestic.
The soft carpet covering the floor, the enormous bed sitting in the middle of the room against the wall, filled with equally soft pillows and the walls decorated with shelves containing books, photos, Marik's accessories and some other things.
But still out of all the rooms in the house Bakura knew Marik would prefer his own room and bed to wake up in, so that's why Bakura took the trouble to get him up there.
Looking at his body now he couldn't help but smirk.
Brushing a strand of hair out of Marik's face he whispered,
"No Bakura, shut up… you don't know anything about business deals… now look who's laying here unconscious… you better listen to me next time because I'm not coming to save your ass again."
--
It was the middle of the night when Marik slowly started to wake up.
Feeling a soft pressure on his chest he tried to sit up, but feeling his head hurting terribly he laid back down cursing.
Last thing he knew was going to that office… right?
"Bakura was there…?" he mumbled, suddenly remembering everything again.
Moving his hand over to his chest he felt his fingers brush against very soft skin that could only belong to one person.
Slowly stroking Bakura's hair Marik smiled.
He owed him his life, again… he wondered how to ever repay that debt.
Suddenly Bakura's eyes opened, realizing he was being touched he quickly sat back up to stare at Marik.
"My hero!" Marik groaned sarcastically.
Bakura gave him a death glare and he quickly silenced.
After staying silent for a moment Marik slowly moved his eyes across Bakura's body.
"How did you find me on time?" Marik was very eager to find out.
"I followed you." Bakura said simply.
"Why would you do that after I got so angry last night?"
Bakura let out a soft sigh.
"Because, unlike you, I am suspicious… I already told you I knew something wasn't right."
Marik grimaced.
"You're always suspicious… how was I supposed to know they had plans like that…"
"You were supposed to know because I told you, but of course, why listen to Bakura? He's always so wrong… isn't he?"
Marik's eyes darkened.
He didn't need Bakura's pissed off attitude, his head was already killing him enough.
"If you want to be angry go to your own room."
Bakura was hovering above him in less than a second.
With his eyes furious he slowly lowered his face only inches away from Marik's.
"I should have just let you die there, you unthankful fool."
And Bakura was on his way out.
--
Laying there all by himself Marik started to feel a little, tiny bit guilty.
Bakura was right… he had warned him. And he could have just let him die, but he hadn't.
"Wait!"
Bakura stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Marik's voice.
"I'm… sorry… just stay here tonight."
Slowly turning around Bakura looked back though the doorway.
"Why would I?"
"Come on… you know you want to now don't give me such a hard time and just come back…"
Bakura slowly walked over to Marik's bed sitting down on the edge.
After a long moment of silence Marik spoke again.
"So… did you kill them?" it came out quite bluntly."I'm not sure, I didn't check."
Marik frowned, that didn't sound much like Bakura.
"Why the hell didn't you check?"
"Because I was a little busy trying to stop you from bleeding to death and see if you were still breathing, Marik."
Marik took a deep breath and tried hard to remind himself to not always be so blunt and sharp with his words.
Not sure what else was left to say Marik closed his eyes.
Noticing Bakura hadn't moved since sitting down Marik moved his hand untill it caught onto the sleeve of Bakura's shirt.
Pulling a little Marik whispered "…just take off your clothes and lay down… I promise I'll shut up."
--
Marik's skin felt warm against his own, but still Bakura couldn't relax.
His breathing was steady and deep, so Bakura figured Marik had fallen asleep.
They had never spend the night together in Marik's room ever before.
And when they slept together it had only ever been in Bakura's bed, or in any other room of the house, any except Marik's room.
Bakura figured that this room was to Marik what the warehouse was for him, something secure, safe. Perhaps Marik felt uncomfortable to have him here, but Bakura would never ask. This was probably just for tonight only, Bakura knew that as soon as Marik was feeling better he'd be sleeping in his own room again in no time, and Bakura really didn't mind that. He didn't mind in what room or bed he and Marik spend their nights, as long as they were together. It was so much easier to fall asleep with someone warm beside you, and after all this time Bakura just wasn't used to cold, lonely nights anymore. He blamed Marik for that completely.
But right now Bakura was tired, so tired even that he had trouble not falling asleep.
He just didn't want to. He wanted to make sure Marik was doing fine for the rest of the night.
Cursing himself a little for caring that much, since he knew caring only meant problems, Bakura turned so he was facing Marik.
A long time ago he had sworn to kill Marik himself, and now he wouldn't even allow others to touch him, harm him. Not even in the smallest of ways.
Sighing Bakura's mind drifted back to that one day that changed everything for him. He remembered it so very well.
Marik has some issues, no?
Not liking it to have Bakura in his bedroom... silly Marik. I'll explain why this is in the next chapter!
Also, about the character development, I really did try but I just feel that it fits better into the next chapter, there will be more room for it there ;) And I do hope this chapter wasn't disappointing, I'm totally not experienced in writing business deals-gone-wrong! But I'm learning along the way...
Haha, and I just couldn't help but laugh at imagining Marik telling that guy that he 'wouldn't get away with it'...sounds like some bad crime movie.
...I'm really not good at promoting my fics, am I? but I don't mind, It's all good!
...Just hope you guys will still review!
See you next chapter,
xxxx Ninjabelle.