Bakhura sat on the sidewalk, leaned back against the pillar that supported the gate, absently flicking pebbles and holding his new phone to his ear. "It would probably cost more to ship it than to just sell it and get a new one... Are you really attached to that bike?" he asked, finding a black, pea-sized pebble and flicking it in the direction of the street.

"Actually, I've been thinking about trying a different kind of build. Maybe a rice-rocket is the way to go," Malik replied in a slightly nasal voice; he sounded like he was laying on his back. "I guess this is a good opportunity to try it out."

"And maybe one that can take a passenger more comfortably?" Bakhura suggested, grinning softly and flicking a gray stone that was in the ambiguous range between pebble and sand particle.

"Oh so I'm going to be your chauffeur now?" Malik snorted. "Well in that case, I think you should buy me a new bike. A red one."

Bakhura made a sound between a hum and a laugh. "Are you trying to take advantage of my generosity? I don't know if I like you that much," he said, holding his finger up to see if he'd split the nail on the last flick. There was a little crescent-shaped chip hanging onto the tip by a hair-thin corner. He switched to flicking with the middle finger.

Malik laughed. "I'll win you over with my boyish charm."

"Ryou has boyish charm," Bakhura corrected, grinning to himself. "You have feminine wiles."

"Dick."

Bakhura snickered and then tilted his head back as he heard the chimes start up. "Ah, school's out," he noted.

"So now I suppose you're just going to leave me alone -so very alone- and go play with Ryou," Malik accused, an amused note clinging to the words.

"I thought you were working at the museum today," Bakhura said.

"Yeah, I am," Malik admitted. "So I'm going to go work while you get to go play."

"The time-zones are not my fault," Bakhura reminded him with a chuckle. "And you're the one who got all bitchy about the time-zones, if you'll recall."

"I was three AM!"

"It was almost lunch-time," Bakhura corrected.

"It was three AM!"

"Pansy," Bakhura snorted.

The clamor of students exiting the building grew louder and they started spilling past the gate. The ones coming out the near-side noticed Bakhura seated on the pavement as they came. Most skirted a rather wide perimeter around him, but after a few minutes, one of them broke the bubble of empty space with a loud exclamation.

"Diabound-san! Oh my goodness! I didn't think- I mean- that is to say- are you all right? Why are you down there?"

"Oh, the women are here," Bakhura noted for Malik's benefit, though he was pretty sure Romi had been loud enough for him to hear over the phone. He cast her a cheerful grin and climbed to his feet.

"Well I'd hate to keep you from your fan-club," Malik chuckled.

"We'll call you later," Bakhura promised.

"Oh don't worry about me!" Malik replied. "I'll be fine. Alone. And miserable... Bye."

"Bye," Bakhura said with a snort and ended the call, before turning his attention to Romi. "I'm fine," he answered giving her a friendly smile.

"Really?" Romi asked, looking unconvinced. "I- I'm so glad you came back- I mean- it's nice to see you again, Diabound-san!"

Several more voices called out to him and the peanut gallery started to coalesce rapidly, asking hesitant, indirect questions, some of them looking worried, some excited. They were about half a dozen strong when two of them gasped and they all stared past Bakhura's right shoulder.

He turned his head to look, just as Ryou's hand lighted against the back of his arm. "I need to go to the store today," he said, pausing next to Bakhura as the girls made plenty of space for him to move freely.

Bakhura smiled, feeling it all the way up to his eyes this time. "I can carry bags," he said.

"You can carry one," Ryou corrected sternly.

"Pffffff," Bakhura blew through his teeth, rolling his eyes. The doctor had told him not to lift more than ten kilos, and Ryou was not letting him forget it. "Fine."

"I want to go to the drug store first," Ryou said, starting to walk down the sidewalk and guiding Bakhura along with him.

Behind them, girls squealed and cheered.

...

...

Don't pick up the can of hot bacon grease and put it in the freezer. Wait until it is a can of cool bacon jelly and then put it in the freezer. You're less likely to burn yourself. Or spill grease all over the freezer.

This is the end of the daily updates, my back-log is now gone. I've got a bunny for the next one though, I'll work on it tonight and see how well it comes. The problem is I've got stuff planned out for a month (story-time) down the line, but haven't thought enough about the bridge between here and there.