A cup of tea held between two slightly clammy hands, Akefia winced to himself as the sharp rapping noise sounded from the front door. "It is open," he called, closing his eyes and inhaling the scent of his soothing drink. Footsteps rang with obvious uncaring from the maker as to the noise, the room feeling smaller as another body occupied it.

"Hey. I brought your stuff."

"Good, thank you." Looking up with weary, bloodshot eyes, Akefia lightly smiled at his friend, nodding toward one of the three chairs in the cramped kitchen. "Have a seat."

Pushing away some of the wood shavings strewn across the table, Marik obliged, sitting down and setting the large paper bag down as well. "Chicken noodle is what people bring sick people right. I never remember and loaded potato soup didn't sound right. Also I already ate it."

"Heh. Yes. It's chicken noodle." Abandoning the teacup on the counter, Akefia walked over and sat beside him, rubbing his temples. "I appreciate the thought."

"Well, I didn't want you over here by yourself hurling into the toilet. I don't have anything for the night, if you want me to stay with you for a few hours."

"That… would be very nice," he sighed, nodding. Marik could be wonderfully and oddly thoughtful sometimes. "How – ah – did your evening go?"

"Great," Marik grinned, leaning back in his seat and visibly relaxing. "I took Malik since you were sick and—"

"Hold on- Malik?" Akefia blinked blankly. "I literally cannot recall a time you two voluntarily hung out together."

"Right?" Marik chuckled. "I had almost forgotten he was a human being in there. But yeah, once we hit up a bar he loosened up considerably. I even saw him smile once or twice. It was weird~" he continued, grinning. Marik had long referred to his twin brother as being a robot, completely unconcerned with Marik's idea of 'fun.'

Akefia shook his head. He didn't realize it until told otherwise, but he had been hoping subconsciously that Marik would have had a bad time without him. That unless Akefia was with him, Marik would just not have the fun they usually did. He felt oddly disappointed at the truth being contrary, and bitter for feeling disappointed. "Well. Did you just get drinks and chat or…?"

"Nah. We did for a bit, but then of course I got the itch. I wingmanned him a pretty good chick, too. Easily a D cup with hips like you wouldn't believe. I'm still jealous," he chuckled behind his hand, grinning good-naturedly at a still-blank Akefia. "Not that my girl wasn't good too. She was kinda shaped like a pear, you know? Not too big on top but round hips, gorgeous legs, and that ass. I momentarily fell in love," he sniggered, winking at the other and making hand movements to show what he was describing. "Had a cute face, too. Round, soft. At least I think so, this was after a few drinks, mind."

Akefia had neither said nor done anything as Marik talked. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. "Huh… Did you all go back to your place, then?"

"Yep. The whole 'twin' thing seemed to intrigue them. Heheh. Anyway, yeah, Malik's girl went home early in the morning while he was still asleep. He was kinda disappointed~ Mine stuck around for a shower and gave me her number in case I want to hook up again. That was kinda nice, I'm debating it. I mean on the one hand – "

He tuned out. A bitter taste was in his mouth, and he doubted it had something to do with the throwing up he had done just before Marik arrived. Although, he was really starting to feel sick again – maybe he did need to throw up.

"… it would kinda be like with Bakura and – Hey, are you okay?"

Akefia suddenly doubled over, holding his stomach. He only had time to murmur a garbled 'excuse me a moment,' before he rushed to his bathroom, falling to his knees and vomiting into the toilet once more. Panicked, Marik ran after him, hesitating at the door as though he did not truly know what to do now that he was there.

"Uh- Uhm-" he stammered while Akefia retched a second time, trying to hold his hair back with a shaky hand. "I'll – I'll get you water. Yes water," and he was gone, back to the kitchen to fuss over doing something (while also just not wanting to see Akefia be sick – it tended to make him sick as well).

"…." Slumping back against the wall, Akefia shook his head, rubbing at his clammy face. Being sick sucked.

BREAK

Twenty minutes later and he was clean with brushed teeth, rubbing his face as he shuffled to the living room with a fretful Marik at his back. "I'm fine, I told you," he sighed, shooing away Marik's offer for more water (he'd humoured him and had three glasses already) or tea.

"Maybe your soup? That helps right? Magic soup or some shit?"

"Marik. I do not want my soup. What I want is for you to chill the fuck out," he grumbled, plopping himself down onto his favourite couch cushioned seat with a satisfied grunt. "Sit. Chill."

He bit his lip, but did as suggested, lowering himself to the opposite end of the couch, legs folded beneath him. "…."

"…." Akefia rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to die, I just didn't have anything in my stomach and said stomach didn't like that. I am fine."

"Whatever you say," Marik sighed, awkwardly looking elsewhere lest he anger his friend by showing more concern. "Do you want me to put something on the T.V? I'll just keep you company."

Running a hand through his slightly damp with sweat hair, Akefia nodded, eyes closing. "Whatever you want, I really don't care."

Frowning a bit more, Marik nevertheless got up and knelt down by Akefia's entertainment system, rifling through his DVDs and debating with himself over what to put in. A movie would be too short, and he'd have to leave, an unappealing idea given Akefia's state. So an actual show it was. The other didn't seem to own much in the way of television DVDs, and the majority of them looked to be some kind of action drama, or what looked like douchebags in California. (Was that Mark Wahlberg?) But here near the end, this show looked perfect. Light, funny, animated, short, and still sexy and action-y. That sounded awesome right then. Popping open the box, Marik set up the system and set it to play.

Returning to the couch, he sat beside Akefia again, eyeing him somewhat wearily. He still looked just miserable.

Eyes cracking open, Akefia almost chuckled upon recognizing the familiar thickly lined animation of one of his favourite shows. "Good choice," he smirked.

As the opening sequence passed into the opening credits, Akefia grunted and fell to the side, laying his head on Marik's leg. He looked up as the other looked down, and simply murmured, "Run your hand through my hair. … Please. It might help this headache."

Blinking, somewhat confused, Marik nonetheless shrugged and did so, both sets of purple eyes returning to the screen. Akefia sighed as he felt the hand start running through his hair, appreciating the compliance with an odd request. It really did help when he was ill… No one had done it for him since his mother, come to think of it.

Being sick always made him rather sluggish and almost childish. Maybe it was his job that was making him so ill. His demanding job which thrust him into odd physical positions, and unfinished environments. Perhaps he was allergic to the insulation he was surrounded with? No, that can't be it, he'd been with this type of thing before and it hadn't bothered him as much as it did just now. He could call it a bug if he wanted to, but he really was starting to doubt that that was what it was. For now, he'll settle with the 'work' assumption; that was something he could go with. He did just switch to a new job site. Maybe there was an outbreak in the area? Maybe half the construction crew was vomiting into their respective toilets right now. The thought made him feel oddly better. At least he wouldn't be the only one miserable.

If he was still sick in the next two days, he'd have to call his boss and ask. He'd worked enough with few absences; at least he'd get the time to recover without being harassed for it. His work was in mostly finished areas of the building, and mopping up sick in a newly tiled floor was probably something his boss would be unwilling to pay for.

He briefly lamented the lost time he would have working so closely to Marik, something that was sure to not ever happen again. It would have been nice to see him more often. Maybe they could have gotten together after work. Akefia got off first; he could have gone to Marik's kitchen and harassed him playfully. He could have taken a metal prod and poked him in the back and pretended to have been tending to a fire. He could have slapped on some plastic gloves and made jokingly suggestive sounds while preparing the meats with him. They could have pranked Marik's coworkers or sang loudly and off-key to The White Stripes or Michael Jackson. Marik could have come to see him, perhaps. He could have brought lunch through the half-finished building, his coworkers jealous of the free delicious food he would be getting. Maybe he would have walked in on a mostly finished room Akefia was doing some wiring for and thrown his food at him until he got off the ladder and paid attention to Marik. Or maybe... he would have locked the door. Maybe he would have requested payment for the free food he was getting. Maybe Akefia would have pushed him against the door and slid a leg between the other's, grinning and murmuring 'like what?' Maybe Marik would have stolen his lower lip between his teeth as a hand slid down Akefia's chest, grinning, and replying 'I have half an hour'. Maybe they would have tested how strong that door was, or how sound proof the walls were. Maybe—

"Akefia?"

Marik's voice sounded through his thoughts, interrupting them. "Hmn?" Akefia shook his head, blinking a few times as he looked back up. He had just noticed the hand in his hair had stilled; the episode had just finished. He had no idea what it was about. "What?"

"I have to take a piss." He chuckled. "You zoned out a bit there. Want me to bring you anything while I'm up?"

"Oh. No-no that's alright," Akefia sighed, pushing himself back up to allow Marik to stand. "Sorry. Yeah, I'm a bit out of it."

Marik just snickered as he passed, playfully flicking him. "Well get it together, man. I know you're sick, but don't go all zombie on me. I might have to bust your brains in with the butt of a gun and let me tell you, that would totally ruin my day." Grinning, he disappeared around the corner.

Akefia smirked at his back. He really was glad his friend was here. He felt slightly better. His headache remained, but his stomach was less upset, he felt less feverish. Good signs. He sighed and leaned back against his place on the couch as he waited for Marik to return, thinking of texting a work friend or something.

Marik returned, plopping back down beside him, grinning. "You may be feeling sick, but if I'm hanging out here for awhile, I'm gonna need some food. Are you well enough for solid stuff, or want some soup as I wolf down an entire pizza~?"

Akefia chuckled, shaking out his hair. "I think I can eat. Order two pizzas, then. I don't want to fight you for food. It's like trying to take a carcass away from a territorial lion."

"I am flattered." Marik sniggered as he took out his phone and selected a number saved as 'Yummy Pizza Place.' "You know me so well."

Smirking to himself, Akefia sat back in his seat, eyes closing and ignoring the conversation taking place beside him. They had done this enough that for Marik, it was like a rehearsed speech; he was almost not paying attention to the conversation himself. Soon the order was placed, the phone hung up, and the two men back to watching the amusing television show, killing time until it arrived.

Forty-five minutes and a less-than-gracious tip later, they each had an entire box in their laps and a two-liter jug at their hip, tearing into their food like they hadn't eaten in days. As the fourth episode started to run and the gusto with which they were eating eased back, Akefia happened a glance over to Marik. He was like a large five-year-old. Sauce on his face, grease on his hands though a napkin lay to his side, and there might even have been a bit of jalapeño in his hair. Akefia snickered.

"…What?" He blinked innocently, looking over to him after feeling eyes upon him.

"You have a little…." He started, then just bit his lip and snorted. "….Everything on your everywhere."

Eyebrows rising, Marik took stock of himself, looking from his greasy fingers to the budding stain on his shirt. "….. Hey thanks, pal." Without another word or a change in his expression, he leaned over and wiped his hands on Akefia's shirt.

"Hey-!" He laughed, shoving the other in retaliation, who finally started to grin. "My shirt is not your personal napkin!"

"That handprint there says otherwise~" Marik grinned, rubbing his mouth with the back of his wrist. "An odd way to wear a napkin, you know. Most people—Nh-~!" he was cut off as Akefia took that moment to strip his shirt off and throw it at him.

Sniggering, Akefia sat back, placing his half-finished box of pizza onto the floor, a smug look on his face. Marik grinned deviously as he did the same with his 3/4ths eaten pizza, and tossed his shirt right back at him. "Anything for an excuse to take your shirt off, eh?"

Akefia's eyes widened in faux surprise and hurt. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing?" he asked as his pectoral muscles flexed. Marik only sniggered.

"Aren't you sick. Shouldn't you be putting more things on, not taking them off?"

"Piss off. I do what I want." Akefia grinned at him. "Though, I am feeling a bit better now. Maybe what I needed was some food and a day off."

"Usually does the trick for me."

"You never worked," Akefia snorted, but nodded. "Either way, I'm feeling much more like my old self."

"Good," Marik sighed, leaning back into his seat and stretching. "Want me to head out, then? I could bother Malik until I sleep~" he grinned.

"…. Actually, would you mind staying a bit more? I'm liking the company. You can stay the night, I'll take tomorrow off too to be sure I am alright and drop you at work." He hummed thoughtfully.

"What, you want me to sleep on this ol' couch?" Marik asked, an eyebrow rising.

"Marik, after what we do, I think I'm okay with you sleeping in the same bed as me," Akefia snorted.

"Fair enough. Okay, sounds good. Mind if I shower, though? I smell like sex and meat and pizza, I could do with one."

"Yes. Yes you could," Akefia agreed, sniggering as he was hit in response. "Yeah, go ahead. I think I'm going to turn in now, actually."

Marik cracked his back as he stood, stretching himself out. "Okay. I'll go leech your stuff now~" Grinning and licking Akefia's cheek as he went by, Marik disappeared down the hallway towards the other's bedroom and attached bath.

Akefia smirked and sat there another few minutes. He really was feeling quite relaxed. Marik spending some time with him always did make him feel better, especially when he was sick. And, come to think of it, he felt almost completely better. His stomach had settled, his headache receded to almost nothingness, his clamminess fading back to normal warm temperature. A night of good, needed rest should set him straight.

Standing, he left his discarded shirt and started shedding his pants before he even reached his bedroom, turning the lights in his house out as he went. Collapsing on the bed, the muscular man felt like he was melting into a puddle of warm, comfortable jelly. While it felt like only seconds, it was almost a half an hour later that Marik emerged clad only in his boxers, same as Akefia, roughly toweling his hair dry.

The blond smirked at the other lying there, tossing the towel onto the ground. Exhausted fucker. Hesitating only slightly, Marik climbed in beside him, sprawling all out on the bed. "Mmn, budge up, you're taking up more than 30% of the bed. You know well I need at least 70 or I get no sleep. ~" He teased, grinning.

Akefia just groaned. Rolling onto his side, face half obscured by his hair, he cracked open a lazy lavender eye. At the grinning, familiar face, he made a grumbling noise and flopped over on top of the flailing limbs. Marik just laughed and edged himself back onto half of the bed, snuggling himself down into the comfortable mattress. "Night then, 'Kiefers. I work at noon tomorrow, s'metime b'fore then. ~"

Yawning, the blond instantly passed out into sleep. Smirking, Akefia simply stared at his face. Calm, relaxed. Briefly, he wondered how this face would look to him if he didn't know Marik inside and out. He knew the perception of someone's physical appearance changes and reflects what you know of their personality, so beauty models can look ugly and plain people can look stunning. In Marik's face, he saw childishness, innocence, deviousness, mischief, playfulness, a hint of sadism, and handsome features. He saw a completed person, assets and flaws, pulling together to make something… beautiful. Idly, a hand lifted to touch the blond hair, somehow always in spikes. And right then, in that moment, he felt happy.

BREAK

The car door slammed as Marik hopped out, lighting a cigarette and waving goodbye to Akefia as he walked in to work, already a few minutes late. Akefia smirked as he exited and got ready to start up his car, but stopped himself. He was taking today off to be sure it was only a bug and not something more serious that would be agitated by physical labour – but that meant he had nothing to do for the entire day. With Marik gone, he didn't quite know what to do with himself. So he sat there in the parking lot and pulled out his phone. Maybe he could meet someone for lunch. He hadn't done that in quite some time; might make a nice change.

He flipped through his contacts. Allen, no. Anzu, no. (How did he get that number?) Briana, no. Cal, no. Dad. …. His eyes paused at the name, frowning to himself. After a moment's thought he almost violently shook his head and scrolled hard downward. By the time he stopped it and looked, he was several letters down. Jou, no. Kisara. Kisara! He hadn't seen her in months and months. Hell, maybe it'd already been a year. Clicking 'Dial', he sat back and made some well-needed plans.

BREAK

"It is nice to see you again, Akefia. I was surprised when you called, but I am glad to have the opportunity to speak with you again. It has been too long," Kisara said, smiling and tucking one of the many stray locks of her hair behind her ear.

"Likewise," Akefia smirked, leaning back in his seat. They were seated at one of the few restaurants Akefia knew of, across from each other in the booth. Kisara looked as beautiful as ever. Wire glasses perched on her nose, hair tied back in a messy ponytail with stray pieces ever in her face, a baggy hoodie covering most of her hands, the ends of a skirt barely visible below the light blue jacket. There was still a paintbrush in her hair – he wondered if she even realized it was there. "I'm glad you answered. I have nothing to do today, and given recent events, I could use company."

"What about Marik? He is usually around, is he not?" She blinked, lightly turning the page of the menu in front of her.

"He has a job, believe it or not. He's working," he grinned, his menu untouched.

"Oh? Good for him! Where is it that he works," she asked with a smile, slender fingers pushing up the glasses on her nose.

"Just a few blocks from here, the Western Grille. He's one of the cooks."

They paused their conversation long enough to order their food and receive their drinks. Kisara took a sip of her pink lemonade before responding. "Well that is good. And you are still doing – ah – electrical work of some sort, correct?"

He cracked a wry smile. "Of some sort. Yes. I just happen to be taking the day off today, I don't feel too—Well, I'm just being sure I'm not too ill, I'll put it that way."

She frowned empathetically. "I hope you feel better. Being sick is never fun."

"No," he chuckled, idly playing with the coke at his fingers. "And what about you, you had a gallery recently, if I recall correctly."

Kisara nodded happily, suddenly looking more animated. "Oh, yes! It was very nice – I had the Hyogo Gallery west wing! I showcased a good deal of my pieces and sold a number. Seto Kaiba himself bought one of my dragon sculptures for a decent amount! Enough to cover a few month's rent, anyway," she laughed. "Yuugi managed to stop by, too, which got some nice publicity for me. There have been a few talks of getting me a showing at the Gunma Gallery!" She wiggled in her seat in excitement. "I am sorry we have not gotten together more often, I have been quite busy making more and more pieces to keep up so I am not showing the same things over and over," she finished somewhat sheepishly.

"Not at all," Akefia laughed, waving his hand. "That is all very exciting for you, and I'm happy to hear of it. I'm proud you're doin so well."

Their food was set down and they fell into silence. Akefia cut up his biscuits and gravy, Kisara skewered some chicken and lettuce on a fork, and the only sound was the clink of cutlery and the soft garble of conversations in the background. After a small amount of time during which Akefia only prodded his food, he glanced up at the girl. She smiled sweetly at him and tilted her head slightly.

He sighed and dropped his fork, pushing his bangs back against his head as he leaned backward in the booth. "Kisara… Can I ask you something."

"Anything," she frowned, the fork with speared chicken hovering in her hand halfway between bowl and mouth.

"… We've… known each other for a long time, right." He asked, rhetorically.

"Since Primary," she nodded.

"And I'd like to think by now, even with those time elapses, we know each other pretty well."

"I… should think so," she responded again, somewhat carefully.

"…. So let me get your opinion." He paused, seeming to rethink the question, before plunging ahead. "Do you think it is possible to be gay for one single person? Or if you are gay, straight for one single person?"

Her large blue eyes blinked at him, but his eyes were firmly on the food he suddenly seemed so interested in. He glanced up at her only once a piece of gravy-slathered biscuit was shoved in his mouth.

"… Well," she answered, thinking it through. "I think that… Human sexuality is a hard thing to define. Humans like to pretend it is as black and white as 'gay' and 'straight', but there is a good deal of flow between the two. There is much more than simply black and white. We live in a world of colour. There is black. There is white. But there is red and green and aquamarine. Colours mix and flow and glow and change as time goes on. There is bi and pan and a, there is demi and skolio and gyne. People flow between them. Though, generally, they do choose one, it is not out of the question for love to pull through sexual orientation and choose one member of the usually ostracized sex to be attracted to… Love can move mountains, I don't see why it couldn't change the lens through which one can see a person, sexually," she smiled.

Love? Love wasn't what he was talking about, not at all. "Well, I meant—"

"Is everyone doing okay?" the perky waitress asked, smiling at the two of them.

"Yes, fine, thank you," Kisara replied with a polite smile, pushing hair from her eyes. The waitress bowed lightly and moved to ask the next table over. "Out of curiosity," she asked, looking at Akefia. "Why did you ask?"

He opened his mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Instead, he cleared his throat and took a sip of his coke. "Oh, just a debate I had once upon a time. You're a fresh perspective, it was nice to hear something other than the usual 'yes' or 'no.'~"

She smiled at him warmly. "Of course," she hummed, going back to her salad.

Just then, his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out, glancing at it.

'Free tonight? I'll bring booze.'

Bakura. What wonderful timing she had.

'See you at ten'