Ryou didn't live in a bad part of town, but it was definitely isolated. It was a sign of neighbors who didn't talk much, and tenants who preferred their privacy. Marik had offered to drive, but Ryou insisted they take the bus instead. Not Marik's personal choice, but he wasn't going to argue. Anything to keep Ryou from passing out all over again.

Damn, that was frightening.

He didn't have time to think about it right now though. He didn't want to be like Ishizu and start gushing over him and asking if he was alright. All that did was cause fights. Instead he decided to play it off and pretend it didn't happen for a little while. Getting back into a normal pace was probably best for them both anyway. While Ryou struggled with the lock, Marik couldn't help but check out his ass. Ryou always did have a nice one, and he always wore those tight jeans to show it off, whether he wanted to admit it or not. A smile tugged at his lips. He thought about grabbing him, but then decided against it. He had to keep reminding himself that this wasn't the Thief, this was Ryou: an entirely different breed of Bakura.

An ass grab at his front door would land Marik's ass out on the street in seconds.

Finally the door opened, and Marik followed him inside. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting really: a perfectly clean home, modern deco decor, perhaps a fluffy dog would bound up to greet them. None of these happened though, and as they stepped inside it took a few moments for Marik's eyes to adjust to the darkness. Ryou flicked on a lamp and yellow light filled the room. He had heard of people wanting to keep their homes dark for privacy or even for energy saving purposes, but Ryou had blinds up, with curtains, and blankets as well for each and every window. It was intimidating and Marik felt a tiny ball of terror well up in his stomach at first. It reminded him too much of his home underground and his father's paranoia, how he warded off the sunlight like he chased off strangers. At least Ryou wasn't living underground yet, but given his current living conditions that wouldn't take long.

"Wow, this is different," Marik said as Ryou closed the door behind them. "You bottling drugs in here or something?"

Ryou gave a chortle of laughter as he dropped his keys on a side table. "Honestly. If I remember right, you were the one who always wanted to try out the latest concoctions."

Marik's smile faded. Ryou was obviously still pissed about the whole fainting incident, but he didn't have to take it out on him. "Yeah well, I'm clean now. I have been for a while."

Ryou gave a jerky nod, as though to say, Whatever makes you feel better. He'd forgotten how passive-aggressive Ryou could be. He wasn't sure how he was going to convince him to take up the Ring at this rate. He had only just arrived at Ryou's home and already he felt like an intruder. Though he doubted Pegasus was having much better luck. He had to handle Kaiba after all, and compared to that, dealing with Ryou wasn't that bad. At least that's what he kept telling himself.

He followed Ryou into the kitchen, an equally gloomy place. It was very clean, but still looked like there should be piles of cocaine stacked in bags along the wall. "So did someone die recently? Or does your place always look like this?"

Ryou pulled down a pair of mugs, and took a moment to cross his arms and give him a stern look. "Is this how you act as a guest in everyone's home? You ought to know it's damn rude."

Marik dragged a tongue over his lips. He did enjoy it when Ryou got sassy, though he couldn't quite tell if the anger was genuine or not. He might just be trying to give him a hard time. "You never seemed to mind before."

He sighed, "Things have changed since then. I've changed." He turned on the stove and put a kettle on. "People don't stay the same forever, you know."

"Yeah, well, some things don't change." Marik moved a bit closer to him, leaning against the counter and watching Ryou's reaction closely. He wanted to see if Ryou was interested in him still, and the most sensible way to figure that out was to force his attention. He dragged his hands down his sides and slid his thumbs into the pockets of his khakis, making sure that the angle of the counter worked to thrust his hips out. Ryou gave him a confused look, before looking down at Marik's hands. A flush went up his cheeks and he turned away quickly to pull out tea bags from the cupboards.

"I wish you wouldn't do that."

"What?" Marik put a hand out to flick some of Ryou's hair aside. He didn't flinch like he'd expected, and instead just stared at him with that unreadable glare. Despite the other lovers he'd had, and despite his prowess at reading people, Marik could never be sure what either Ryou or the Thief thought. They were both incredibly adept at masking their emotions. It was both impressive, disturbing, and enticing at the same time.

Ryou's gaze never faltered, "I wish you wouldn't act like we're a couple." He started dropping tea bags into the mugs, "You and I never were really together."

How was he supposed to respond to that? Ryou had a way of ripping your heart out and looking adorable while he did it. "We did have a few good times though, didn't we?"

Ryou crossed his arms. "Weren't you here for a reason other than trying to get in my pants?"

"Look I'm not trying to make you uncomfortable, Ryou."

"Then stop it. All you're doing is making me regret inviting you over, and making yourself look like a fool."

"Fine. Sorry, it's just-"

"I know. Trust me, it's difficult for me too." Ryou sighed and clutched his elbows. "To be honest with you, I haven't felt quite right since I lost him. Everything feels off, like the noise isn't quite right or the colors aren't as vibrant."

"It sounds like you're depressed."

Ryou shook his head, "No, I don't think so. It's not quite that. I - Oh, I don't know how to describe it! Every time I try it just sounds stupid."

Marik put a hand on his arm, just his forearm so he wouldn't look like he was trying to feel him up. "Just say it! We're dealing with magic here. Hell, nobody knows really how it works. All we know is what we're handed down. There isn't exactly a guide for dealing with departed spirits."

He smiled, and leaned into Marik's touch. "My mother would have said he was a demon actually. Only demons possessed people. Though she was very religious." Now that he was closer, Marik could feel him trembling. Jesus, it's no wonder he had a panic attack, he thought. He's been thinking himself into circles, probably stressing out way too much.

The teapot whistled and Ryou patted his hand, then went over to pour their mugs. It was odd that Ryou referred to it as losing the Thief. After all, he was possessed most of the time when the Thief was around and completely without control of his actions. Marik wasn't sure how in the world that would be a loss, or entirely why Ryou was so upset over it. He had assumed that Ryou and the Thief had been lovers of some sort. He didn't have the slightest clue how that would work, but seeing how close they were, what else could he assume? All that time he had assumed that Ryou was the victim in the relationship, but now he was starting to see it differently. Perhaps he willingly wanted the Thief to take control. If Marik's nerves were as frazzled as Ryou's were, he probably wouldn't want to come out much either. Ryou passed him a mug, and the steam felt good on his face.

"Come on, Ryou. Tell me what's bothering you."

Ryou paused, "Ever since he left, I feel like something's off."

"Like an evil presence?"

"No, nothing like that. I mean up here," he tapped two fingers on his temple. "I feel like I've lost something and regardless of what I do or who I'm with, it's gone and there's no getting it back."

"I think you just miss him is all."

He slammed the mug down so hard that hot tea splashed out onto the pristine counter. "No, that's not it! It isn't that simple. It's more than just grief, I feel broken! I feel like I don't have all the pieces anymore, like I'm trying to bike down the road on one wheel. Does that make any sense?"

Marik stepped forward and rubbed his back. He could feel Ryou trembling still beneath his touch. His shirt was damp with sweat, and he couldn't tell if he had just started freaking out, or if the sweat was from passing out at the diner earlier. He was terrified Ryou would black out again. "Is there some place we could sit down? Someplace… safe?"

He wasn't even sure what he meant by a safe place, but it was the first word that came to mind. The draped windows, the panic attack, the change of last name: it all pointed to paranoia. Whatever was wrong with him, it was rooted in the fact that he felt threatened somehow. Marik just hoped that his very presence wasn't the cause.

"I'm alright," Ryou whispered, stepping away from Marik's touch. "I want to show you something, or rather tell you something, but I don't think you'll like it."

"We're friends, aren't we?"

Ryou nodded, took his mug, and headed back out of the kitchen. Marik followed, giving Ryou a bit of extra space. He also left his mug behind just in case his friend passed out again. They walked through the entryway hall, with the covered windows, and past a few minimal pieces of furniture, but Ryou didn't stop there. They walked down a dark hallway, and Marik felt his heart skip a beat. He wasn't afraid of Ryou, rather the darkness he seemed content to dwell in. Ryou was a silvery shadow at the end of the hall as he opened a doorway that Marik could just barely make out.

"This is my office," Ryou said and held the door open for him. This was probably the only room that had the windows open and was letting sunlight in, and Marik found himself a bit blinded as he stepped inside. Bookshelves surrounded him. There must have been about ten to twelve bookshelves in all, and on each of them were shelves and shelves of carved wooden figures. In the corner was Ryou's desk for work, the top of it was immaculate except for his computer and a scrap piece of wood with a knife sunk deep into it.

"Wow, I didn't realize you liked to carve so much."

Ryou closed the door behind them, and then collapsed into his desk chair. "I didn't realize either until I lost the Thief."

Marik sat down in a loveseat that had to be pulled away from the wall for all the bookshelves. "Losing him was really tough, wasn't it?"

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back onto the rim of his seat. "Yes. I didn't realize at first that carving was what I needed. I thought there was something wrong with me." He chuckled, "To be honest, I think there still is."

Marik sat up a bit straighter.

He stared up at the ceiling even while he gripped the arms of his chair. His fingers were nearly white. "I would be on the bus or biking around town, and I would see some roadkill on the side of the road. Normally it was pretty fresh, like it had just been killed a day or two before. For some reason I was just fascinated by it. One day while I was biking in, I stopped and just had to stare at it for a few minutes. I picked up a stick and started poking at it. That wasn't enough though. I wanted to cut it."

This had definitely not been what Marik had expected. He didn't know what to say, or if there was anything he could say. He almost wanted to tell Ryou to stop here. He didn't really want him to continue.

"So I went home, grabbed a trash bag and a shovel, and scooped it up. There was an older lady who came up to me as I was tying the bag shut. She told me I was a dear for taking care of it, and that she appreciated that there were some nice kids around willing to clean it up. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just thanked her. What would she have done if she knew I wanted to take it home and carve it up?"

Marik gulped. "Is that what you did?"

"Pretty much. I just wanted to cut on something. I can't explain why. It was just so messy though, and the smell was atrocious. I had tried to do the first one in the bathtub, but even that didn't seem sanitary enough. The second one I had to do in the woods behind the apartments."

All Marik could think of was why the hell he hadn't realized that Ryou was crazy earlier. He looked toward the door, fishing for an excuse he could use to get out of here as fast as he could. All he could think of was Ryou cutting away in his bathroom on some poor rotted bird or something. It wasn't that Marik had never worked with unusual people before. Hell, the Rare Hunters were full of weirdos. He just had never realized that Ryou was one of them. He had to admit, if he had known Ryou had fallen this far off the crazy wagon, he would have probably not have offered to come see him.

When he look back, Ryou was watching him. "This isn't creeping you out too much, is it?"

"No, no. I'm sure plenty of people get the urge to cut up dead things."

Ryou sighed, "Now you're just mocking me."

"How many times have you done it? Cut up some dead animal like that?"

"Only twice. Then I looked into wood carving instead, and well," he gestured around the room. "You see where that has gotten me."

"And does it help?"

"Yes, though I'm still terrified. I mean, I can see this disgusts you. You can imagine how it is for me, slinking around with some dead animal in a sack."

Marik took a deep breath. There was a difference between just being eccentric to being crazy, and between being crazy and being dangerous. There was a crucial piece that Marik needed to know. If the wood carving was enough to satisfy him, then Ryou was just eccentric. If he wanted something more, even if it was just dead bodies, then he was a complete crazy. That was fine, Marik could deal with either circumstance. Crazy creeped him out, but he would still deal with it. But if Ryou wanted to start cutting up living people, that was where he would have to draw the line. He didn't want to work with a man who might potentially stab him in the back at some point. Or someone who was a serial killer in the making. He'd lived with a serial killer in his head before, and had no intention of dealing with another.

He clasped his knees and locked eyes with Ryou. "Alright, this is an important question now. You don't have to answer right away, so think carefully on it. Have you ever cut a person before?"

Ryou licked his lips. "Like intentionally?"

"Yes."

"Well never. I mean, I've thought about it of course. Especially when I get angry. If I get too angry, I end up carving at a piece of wood or something, but sometimes I am tempted to pull a knife out on someone. But I've never…" His eyes got big for a moment, "Oh well, there was one time…"

Marik shifted. One time was all it took. If Ryou had already started killing people, there would be no helping him. He would have to go back to Egypt and tell Pegasus, Yugi, and the others that Ryou was a lost cause. "Tell me."

A blush came up Ryou's cheeks and he sat forward in the roll-around chair, not meeting Marik's gaze. "At Duelist Kingdom, the Thief said we needed Pegasus' Millennium Eye, but then hesitated. He - fancied him, I think, or at least admired his magical ability. So I did it instead."

Marik couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So you're the one that cut his eye out? I thought that was the Thief, not you!"

Ryou gave a slight nod. "I admit, I had more fun with it than I should have. Afterwards I think the Thief was a little wary of me. He asked me lots of questions, like if I had ever cut someone before. He even poked around in my head a bit. I didn't understand his words at the time. He said that I had a darkness in me that could come out if I didn't reign it in. I thought he was referring to my anger issues. That was partly why he was so keen on finding a new body for a while. He thought I was a compromised host. Then we came to terms."

"What kind of terms?"

"Well, um. We grew closer and we realized that we had a lot in common. I enjoy cutting too much, and he enjoyed stealing. If he ever got himself into a bind (which happened quite often), he would let me come out to handle them." Ryou gave the first genuine smile Marik had seen since his arrival. "He said I'm a bit of a natural with a knife. We made a good team."

Already Marik's mind was turning over Ryou's words. He didn't give much information, but already Marik was piecing together important pieces. The Thief had seen the darkness in his host's mind, but decided to stick with him regardless. Once he saw that Ryou would make a useful ally rather than an enemy, he used Ryou's skills to his advantage, while at the same time preventing the madness from overwhelming him. He hadn't realized that the Millennium Ring had the ability to go through someone's mind, but considering that he and Ryou shared one, it made sense that he would be able to travel through and find danger spots. Possibly even help Ryou overcome any deficiencies that would normally have pushed him much farther than simply slicing up bloody roadkill.

With the Thief gone, Ryou progressed down the path he would have normally taken. He no longer had his other half there to help him assuage his desires, or to counter the madness that seemed likely to overwhelm him at this rate. It was as though the Thief's very presence bolstered Ryou's defenses, and without him he was at the mercy of his own mind coming apart at the seams. The spirits of the Millennium Items were supposed to be the other half of their reincarnated alter egos. It made sense that Ryou would struggle to live a normal life after the Thief moved on. It was like losing half of yourself. He wondered if Yugi had the same problem once the Pharoah had moved on, or if he had taken the loss better than Ryou had. Maybe Ryou was just more damaged than Yugi had been.

Marik got to his feet, "I'm sorry, Ryou. I wish you had contacted me, I wish you had let me know that you were struggling like this. I would have come sooner."

Ryou wiped at his eyes. "You seemed so happy though. Why would I want to ruin all that with my troubles? I'm the one who's screwed up, not you."

"Then why not Yugi? You and he are still good friends aren't you?"

"I was afraid of what I would do if I saw Yugi every day. Some nights I was just so damned angry with him for taking the spirit away from me! And you know Yugi, he's such a nice guy. I didn't want to hurt him or anyone else." Tears slid down Ryou's cheeks as he clutched his elbows tight. "I don't trust myself to be close to anyone anymore."

Marik crouched down in front of him and put his hands on Ryou's knees. Ryou stiffened but didn't pull away. "Come with me back to Egypt. I'll give you back your Ring and maybe with the Thief's help we can help clear out all this darkness."

Ryou shook his head, "I don't know. What if it doesn't work? He couldn't stop it before, what makes you think he'll have any luck this time? I mean, that is if he's even really alive. We don't know if that's true or not."

"Yes, but Pegasus will be there too, and he has the Millennium Eye. It's his job was to read people's thoughts. Maybe he could help you. And Kaiba is supposed to be taking up the Millennium Rod. He can use that to extract all the darkness out of you and fling it into the Shadow Realm."

"Ha! Kaiba take up the Rod? Unless you're drugging him, I don't see that ever happening."

Perhaps he had been a bit too optimistic telling Ryou all that, but at this point Marik figured his friend could use all the encouragement he could get. He was angry with himself for even entertaining the idea that Ryou was a lost cause. They were dealing with magic after all, and where the mind came in, the Millennium Items were nearly all powerful. They could strip darkness from minds, clean corruption from the heart, and allow focus and understanding to return. Without them, Ryou might have been on an unending spiral into darkness and madness, but with them, he might still have some chance. Marik had to cling to that chance. If Ryou lost his mind or lost all hope, then the Thief would have to wait until his next incarnation was born. That meant Marik would likely never see him again. His heart skipped a beat, but Marik pushed his fear aside. He would help save the Thief, and Ryou, and the three of them would get back together again as though their separation had never happened. Maybe Ryou and the Thief would even move in with him.

He clasped Ryou's hands in his and pulled him to his feet. "Let's get you packed. I guarantee you won't miss anything here."

Ryou sniffled and gave him another small smile, then wrapped his arms around Marik's waist in a tight hug. "Thank you for not giving up on me like I did years ago."

Marik stroked his friend's messy hair and dragged his hands down his back. He didn't let his fingers trail down his shoulders to the small of Ryou's back because this wasn't the Thief at all, just Ryou, and right now Ryou needed his support, not to be hit on every five minutes. That didn't entirely rule out getting laid, but Marik could be patient. If he wanted a relationship with Ryou, he would have to first be his friend, and Marik was slowly realizing just how little he knew Ryou at all. For the first time he realized just how much he had taken Ryou for granted in the past, something that he intended not to do this time around. If they did ever get the Thief back, he wouldn't be pleased, but he would have to deal with it. Just because he lived inside Ryou's body didn't mean that the boy never should get the chance to come out. Having a relationship with either one of them required a polygamous relationship, which was difficult but not impossible. Marik was pretty sure he could satisfy the two men equally if given the chance.