Here is chapter 4. I hope you enjoy.
A motorbike came to a halt outside the grey sad-looking apartment building. In Malik's personal opinion the place looked decrepit and condemned with it's saggy frames and cracked windows, even pieces of the building peeling off. Malik wanted to describe the street itself as soggy but a better description was that is was riddled with pot holes and most of those pot holes were flooded even though it hadn't rained for several days. It did however look like it was gonna rain soon. Even in the mid afternoon the area was dark and shadowed and in the places between the building he could just make out shadows skulking about as if waiting for something.
Malik snorted audibly and made a derogatory comment about, "No taste," under his breath before fishing around in his pocket and pulling out a key. He wheeled his bike up to the maintenance room and quickly unlocked the door. Melvin had given him a key awhile back when they had still vaguely been in touch. He hadn't seen his yami in almost a year, and things would have stayed that way if the circumstances hadn't changed. Malik was only here to retrieve a rather expensive text book from Melvin. A book that was rather difficult to replace. He headed into the building and bounded up the steps two at a time eager to get this done and over with. He got to the fourth floor and headed down a poorly lit hallway. As he walked he glanced at the doors until he came to a door marked with no number and just a carved, "Fuck you," and knocked.
After his first initial knock received no answer, he tried again, and again. The former tomb keeper began to feel agitated, he knew Melvin was home because the maintenance room downstairs housed the dark's motorcycle. He decided after a moments contemplation to just force the door open and was mildly intrigued to find it unlocked. But he brushed it off and stepped inside the poorly lit apartment. The inside was sparsely furnished and suffice it to say dismal. The lack of light was caused by ragged dust brown curtains, or better yet blankets, that were hanging off bent nails just above the windows. There was a chair in the entryway with a pile of smelly shoes stuffed under it and a coat draped over it.
Marik stepped into the living area and spied a burgundy couch that had seen better days sitting in the middle of the room conveniently in front of a rather large flat screen TV. There were an array of cans littered along the floor, labeled anything from soda, beer, to imported pineapple juice. Marik wrinkled his nose and stepped over a box as he approached the kitchen.
The kitchen was no better than the living area as old food littered the counter tops as well as an array of cans and dirty dishes. Everything in the kitchen looked dingy and gray and Malik noticed quickly that his yami had not set the time on the microwave anytime late as the numbers still flashed a random time. He sighed and wondered vaguely if this apartment wasn't actually abandoned. It was as if nobody had touched it in weeks, but he knew better because Melvin's bike had been parked in the maintenance room downstairs. With another quick look over Malik stepped out of the kitchen and re-entered the previous room.
It startled him momentarily when he saw his yami passed out on the couch. He wasn't sure how he had missed him when he had first walked by, but there he was dressed in his professor attire and sporting strange markings all over his skin. Malik stepped forward to get a better look and was mildly fascinating when he recognized a few of the markings.
"Black magic again?" Malik scowled and leaned closer to get a better look at Melvin's forearm. "Appears to be some strong stuff." Malik's fingers brushed slightly over the tanned arm and he let out a frightened gasp when two strong legs suddenly shot out and locked themselves around him in a stone-like grip.
In the span of several seconds, Malik found himself on the floor and his Yami was upon him, effectively pinning him to the floor, mad eyes staring intently into his.
"What are you doing in my apartment?"
It took the winded Malik several moments to reply, but eventually he responded. "I came to retrieve my property. I lent you a text book awhile ago and I want it back."
"Too late." breathed Melvin. In one fluid motion he leapt to his feet and stepped away from his light.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Demanded Malik. He picked himself off the floor and shot his Yami with a rather cold stare. He noticed right away that his dark side was still in superb shape. Even beneath the professor attire, muscles still made themselves known, and Melvin's sleek figure moved with the grace of a large predatory cat.
"You'll have to wait until break is over. Your book is at my office." Melvin explained over his shoulder. He stretched in a way that emphasized his strength and Malik had the inkling that he did that on purpose for intimidation. Malik watched him saunter into the kitchen and he could hear the fridge open. He contemplated following his dark into the kitchen but decided against it.
"I need the book for this term! What's so damn difficult about going and getting it for me!"
Melvin reappeared, his expression impassive, and he held a bottled tea in his left hand. Malik eyed the bottle warily.
"I'm all out of alcohol and soda." Explained Melvin, he popped the cap and took two long gulps. The muscles in his throat moving powerfully while he drank.
Malik swallowed dryly and took a step back towards the door. "You didn't answer my question."
"To hell with your question. I'm exhausted and tired and I'm deprived." He fixed Malik with a malevolent look. "I suggest you leave. You will get the fucking book back when I feel good and ready."
The light contemplated his options briefly. He didn't like his Yami's attitude or the strange look he was receiving; after only a moments hesitation longer Malik turned on his heel and marched toward the door in a 'holier than thou art' manner. His hand had just reached the door knob when he heard Melvin speak again.
"Hikari~ I will see you again."
Malik wrenched open the door and left. The words still whispering in his brain. He shivered and tried to wipe the experience from his mind. Things had not gone as planned, and Malik regretted having paid his insane half a visit.
0000
Ryou went looking for the thief and paused while passing the bathroom, when he heard a strange sound.
"Aaaah!"
It sounded very much like Yugi, almost like he was distressed. Ryou took a moment to knock twice and called through the door, "Yugi are you alright?"
"No!" Yugi sounded breathless and frantic. "Ah! Don't touch that!"
Ryou clapped his hand over his mouth and took a step back.
"Stop it! Please don't put that there!" A sudden crashing sound followed by several splashes and another yelp came from the bathroom.
Yugi held a razor out of reach while he struggled with the Pharoah. Atem was being indignant, not only did Yugi have to help him stand, he also had the keep the Pharaoh's hands off the various objects around the room. The young college student felt a heated brush creep across his face as Atem leaned against him. His bronze skin glistened from the water and he now smelled of modern shampoo and soap. All of his muscles flexed easily, and his toned body was magnificent despite the bruises that now marred his beautiful skin. His yami's dirty clothes were piled in the corner and Yugi decided it might be better if he gave Atem some of his clothes temporarily. Helplessly Yugi's eyes scanned the room taking in the disarray.
The entire bath experience had been one giant mess, and Atem just could not stop touching things. On top of that Yugi was soaking wet and so were the towels. He rested the injured Pharaoh against the counter and after retrieving one of the towels from the bathtub that Atem had discarded in there he marched over towards the bathroom door. Opening it he glanced around but Ryou was already gone. Great... Just great...
0000
Ryou had rushed down the hall in horror after hearing the sounds from the bathroom and had slammed the door behind him. He pressed his back to the door and took a deep breath to calm himself. He glanced up momentarily and noticed the white haired thief asleep on his bed with a gray, black, and white tabby cat curled up on top of him. Ryou took a moment to enjoy the scene as it was rather cute and peaceful, which was a strange contrast given the previous hellish hours.
The moment was ruined when Akeifa stirred and made a grumbling sound. The hikari watched as the thief sat up slowly and blinked at the cat sitting upon him. The cats only response to Akeifa's movement was a yawn and a half-hearted stretch. Seconds went by and the thief's eyes focused on Ryou and then narrowed. Ryou gulped as he stared back. He feared for his cat's safety and at the same time he feared for his own.
Akeifa watched Ryou for a moment longer and made a note of the demon's expression. It looked something like helpless and pained. After another look at the strangely large and fat cat sitting on him he attempted to remove the creature from his chest. A gentle prod failed and the thief changed tactics, he shoved at the cat quite hard and shifted his legs.
The movement failed to drive off the rather indignant cat which only dug its claws into Akeifa's shenti. The man let out a yelp and tried grabbing the animal, which in turn lashed out at his face.
In the span of a couple seconds the once peaceful room had exploded into chaos. Akeifa was rolling around trying to detach a very angry feline from his face and Ryou rushed to his aid. When the thief rolled to the left Ryou snatched at the cat, and managed to peel it from Akeifa's face.
"No Florence!" scolded Ryou as he held the cat tightly trying to calm it down.
Akeifa rolled to the floor and clutched the side of his face. His eye was hurting where the cat had dug its claws into his eyelid. It had also bit his nose and scratched his chin. After a moment he looked up a his demon and saw that it was cradling the horrible monster that had viciously attacked him.
"I'm sorry." Apologized Ryou. He tightened his grip on Florence as the cat gave out an annoyed growl. Ryou pet the upset cat until he began to calm down, then he opened the door and set the cat down in the hall. Akeifa watched Ryou warily with his good eye. He clutched the edge of his coat and held it to his face to prevent the blood from running into his other eye. "I'm really sorry." Ryou apologized again. He rung his hands nervously as he contemplated getting the first aid kit. "Are you alright?" He took a hesitant step toward the thief, concern showing in his soft brown eyes. "I...I should go get a rag." Ryou said as he turned around quickly and left the room.
Since the bathroom was closer, Ryou rushed in and fished a rag from a drawer below the sink.
"Ryou!" Yugi yelped. "Thank God, could you get me a towel?" The boy was fighting with a very indignant, and very naked pharaoh, but he managed to motion to the towel currently floating around in the bathtub. "There was kind of an issue..." he trailed off.
Ryou was relieved to see that Yugi was still wearing all his clothes, albeit completely soaked ones. "Oh...ok. I'll grab you a new one." He told his friend. He rushed out of the room and snatched a towel from the closet. He came back into the bathroom just as quickly and tossed the towel to Yugi, who caught it and nodded his thanks.
Ryou took a moment to wet the wash rag he had obtained from the drawer and then he left without another word and returned to his bedroom to find that Akeifa was now sitting on his bed, the corner of the thief's coat still held against his face. With extreme caution Ryou approached the thief; he kept his arms outstretched to show he meant no harm. When the thief made no objections and simply let Ryou near him, Ryou let out a sigh of relief.
"I just want to help." he murmured softly.
The kind words and soft tone fell on deaf ears. Akeifa didn't understand a word and he didn't trust the tone. He did however recognize the object in the demon's hand to be a wet rag, and the demon's intentions to help. He weighed the possibilities in his mind, and came to the conclusion that if the demon wanted to kill him he'd have done it already. While he still did not trust him, and he had the suspicion that Ryou was a demon of seduction, he allowed him to clean the wounds on his face.
Gentle hands touched Akeifa's face as the demon softly pried the thief's own hand away from the cat scratches. Akeifa complied and let the demon remove his hand, he sat quietly on the bed, his fingers gripping his feet, and his posture tense with nervousness. The demon was slow and careful as he ran the cloth along his face, wiping away the blood. The scratches weren't that bad and the bleeding had already slowed. When he had finished with his eye, the soft hands moved to Akeifa's nose and then his chin, cleaning each cut with care.
Under the watchful stare of the thief, Ryou worked as carefully as possible. He tried to keep his hands from shaking. Even though the thief was being compliant and letting him clean his wounds, it didn't stop Ryou from feeling fear. At any moment Akeifa could get offended or feel threatened, and then Ryou knew he would be in a world of hurt. Even if Akeifa would not kill him, it didn't stop him from beating the shit out of him.
Just as he was finishing his task Ryou's soft brown eyes met Akeifa's steel grey ones. For a moment their gazes held and the thief seemed to star straight into Ryou's soul, and that made Ryou feel vulnerable. Uneasiness swept over him and he broke their gaze turning his eyes down to his hands.
Akeifa watched as the demon took a step back, keeping its gaze cast down. It was as if the demon was showing him respect, something very unusual but Akeifa liked it. He got a thrill from being respected. And that demon's stare... those eyes had been so innocent; he had been unable to detect any malice or ill intention, just pure honest concern. Akeifa ceased his contemplating as the demon took yet another step back. He decided he didn't want his demon to leave and instead snatched his wrist, preventing him from getting farther away.
Ryou was shocked when the thief's strong hand suddenly clasped around his wrist and stopped his escape. He felt terror overwhelm him and he searched Akeifa's features for any clue as to what the thief wanted from him. "I-I-I... Don't hurt me... Please.." he stammered.
The demon's frightened pleas filled Akeifa's ears. In the second he had gripped his mirror's wrist, fear had appeared in those large brown eyes. Why was this creature so frightened of him? Disgust filled Akeifa, as he watched the demon's timidity. This creature was fooling him, it couldn't possibly be this scared. It was a demon for Ra's sake, what did it have to fear? "Thank you." he spat. He didn't want to thank the deceitful monster in front of him, but he felt compelled to do so anyway.
The words that the thief spoke were in Egyptian and Ryou failed to understand any of it. It could have been gratitude but frankly from the tone it made Ryou assume that the thief had just cursed at him. Which was fine. He hadn't really expected that much from the thief anyway. He knew Akeifa didn't trust him, and that didn't surprise Ryou at all. After all if he were in Akeifa's shoes, he wouldn't trust himself either. As soon as the thief released his arm, Ryou wasted no time fleeing the room.
Outside the door he spotted Yugi carrying Atem out of the bathroom. The Pharaoh was looking as regally as possible while wrapped in a Mickey Mouse and Friends blanket. Ryou gave the two and odd looked and Yugi stopped to explain.
"His clothes are sort of dirty. I'm gonna see if I- Ouch!" Yugi winced painfully. "If I can't find him something to-Ah!-wear temporarily." Yugi grimaced and shifted his arms. "Could you mayb-ack! Clean up the bathroom for me. Sor-eek! about the mess! WILL YOU CUT THAT OUT!" Yugi elbowed the Pharaoh in the side. This caused Atem to retaliate by striking him over the head quite painfully. "Frack!" Yugi cursed. "Fine! I'm going!" Summoning as much dignity as he could, the multi-color-haired boy marched off towards his bedroom. Atem's gaze bore into Ryou, his eyes were full of distaste and scorn.
Ryou watched the scene still amazed he had kept a straight face the entire time. It appeared that Atem had not approved of Yugi's delay.
In Yugi's bedroom he carefully kneeled and let his yami sit on his bed. Atem took a moment to survey his surroundings, he was both confused and unimpressed by the objects and furniture scattered about the room. There was a cluttered feel as every flat surface seemed to have strange items placed atop them in no particular order. The bed he had been placed on was soft and springy but the cloth pattern was foreign to him. It seemed to be a rich and fancy pattern of exotic fish.
He watched as his pale skinned demon fished around in a drawer and withdrew several articles of clothing. The demon approached him once more and held out two pieces of clothing. One was a long robe like garment, it was an earthy red color, while the other was rather like really short pants, and they were blue. Atem just blankly stared at the clothes before turning his gaze toward his demon. There were questions in his ruby eyes, a myriad of questions and no words to speak them.
"Clothes." Yugi spoke softly in Egyptian. He pushed the robe and boxers forward towards Atem. It took several minutes but finally the clothes were taken from his hands and Yugi turned away to give his yami privacy. He heard Atem say something in his own language, and he turned back around to find the Pharaoh dressed in the blue boxers and red robe. Atem was still seated on the bed trying his best to keep all his weight off of his injured leg. Ryou would have to rebind that leg, since the old makeshift cast had gotten wet during the bathroom fiasco. Atem's ribs also needed rebinding, but that was something Yugi could do himself.
Yugi's eyes raked over the Pharaoh with complete lack of subtleness. The modern clothes really complimented Atem's bronzed skin, the red of the robe matching his burning ruby eyes. Yugi felt uncomfortable all of a sudden and he felt a shiver rake through his body. He attempted to cast down his eyes before he got scolded by his yami.
Atem did not miss the longing stare he had received. He also severely enjoyed the blush that now colored his demon's face. It appeared that his demon could get worked up quite easily and it made him curious. Half of the pharaoh wanted to put the demon in its place, show it who was in charge, who was its master. Another part of him held doubt. The longer he interacted with Yugi the less and less he seemed like a demon. In fact he hadn't seen anything demonic happen at all.
"Come."
Yugi heard his yami's baritone voice speak to him. It was simple Egyptian that even Yugi could comprehend. Just as he was told he stepped forward and kneeled before Atem.
Strong hands gripped Yugi's chin and forced him to look up. Violet connected with crimson as both their eyes met in a penetrating stare. There was a challenge in the other's eyes and it caused Yugi to rebel. He fixed Atem with just as severe a glare and refused to break eye contact. For an indefinite amount of time both of them just held the others gaze until finally Atem released Yugi's chin. He murmured several things that Yugi could not understand, and then he sat up.
"So courageous." his Yami complimented. Atem relaxed back on Yugi's bed and proceeded to close his eyes. Just as he was getting comfortable, a sharp protest filled the room.
"What do you think you are doing?" Yugi yelled. "That's MY bed!" the young college student placed his hands on his hips in a huff and stomped his foot. Atem gave him a unimpressed look and rolled over making himself more comfortable. "Something tells me you aren't going to share."
Sorry for the delay. I'm trying my best to have the chapters out in a timely manner. Its just kinda difficult. Please let me know what you think though. R&R please.
