'Damn it.' The seared teen inwardly cursed his luck as he walked back down the hospital hallway.
It had been shaping up to be a great day- Ryou had stopped by for a lengthy visit, and Dr. Kiyoshi (finally!) had more good news on Bakura's progress.
But then those two tanned dunderheads had to drop by...
Bakura snorted to himself. Normally the bored inpatient wouldn't have minded a visit from his old friends... but with Ryou also there... well, the unexpected Egyptians made it a loud, awkward group. Particularly now that the speech pathologist was adamant that Bakura 'rest his voice' more. Which meant Ryou was the only one of the lighter-skinned pair who was even supposed to speak.
A passing orderly glanced at the brooding teen. He ignored her, as he did with most of the staff.
'Useless gits...' Bakura had been reluctant to leave his three visitors alone. But the d*mned stubborn nurses still insisted that he get his pills directly from their front desk and take them in front of-
"No! Stop!"
Bakura felt his stomach drop when he heard the high-pitched cries coming from his room. Someone was pleading with someone else in a near-hysterical tone.
"No! Malik, please! Don't!"
'Ryou!' Bakura charged down the rest of the hall, ignoring the strange looks from the staff. He threw open the door marked '314' and rushed inside.
Ryou was currently writhing on Bakura's hospital bed, his back on the mattress. He was still calling out for mercy, and tears were streaming down his face. His striped white-and-blue shirt had been pushed up nearly to his neck.
Meanwhile, Malik was crouched over the boy, his fingers dancing over the pale boy's bare chest.
With a guttural snarl, the inpatient grabbed the darker teen by one shoulder and threw him off the smaller visitor.
"Bakura! What-"
Malik's voice faded when he saw the look on his cohort's face. Bakura quickly grabbed one tanned arm and twisted it in a rough hold. The still-unintelligible punk growled a rough warning to his friend: "Dmph tulth Reelo."
"Bakura, wait! WAIT! It's alright!" Ryou quickly pushed his shirt back down and sat up. His voice was still worked up, but now it came across as giggly. The slender teen waved his arms in an attempt to placate the angry hospital charge. "Malik was just teasing me! I let it slip that I'm extremely ticklish, and he was joking! He wasn't hurting me!"
"Yrrl mott herfs?" Bakura's eyes softened, but his grip did not. The crimson-eyed antagonist suddenly felt a strong hand grab his own wrist.
"Let go of Malik- NOW." A voice hissed warningly in his ear. The pale deviant scowled, but let go of the other teen. The bronzed boy sighed and began massaging the feeling back into his shoulder.
"Thanks, Marik."
Ryou noticed a faint flush tinting the larger blonde's cheeks as he replied. "Of course, Malik." But the observance was quickly forgotten when Bakura made a pointed noise and folded his arms. Apparently he was still irritated by the misunderstanding.
"What happened?" Marik gave the room's designated resident a stern look, but Bakura didn't budge.
"Ryou said that he was terribly ticklish the last time he had to be fitted for a school uniform, and I thought it'd be funny to see if that was still true." Malik gave an over-exaggerated sigh. "But apparently some people can't take a joke."
"I was laughing so hard, I started crying- and I think Bakura misunderstood when he heard me asking Malik to stop." Ryou added helpfully.
Marik snorted and gave the mute teen a funny look. "Overprotective much?"
Bakura was dying to flip off the muscle-headed deviant, but settled for merely typing a message on his cell. He held out the phone with a smug smirk.
/Pot, kettle much?/
Marik's face flushed even further, and he quickly shoved the palish arm aside. "No clue what you're typing about."
Before Bakura could reply, Malik suddenly broke into a light sneezing fit. "D*mn, I think we stirred up the dust in the room- cripes, doesn't anyone ever clean in here? Crap, and now my allergies are acting up-" Malik sneezed again, and looked around the sparse hospital room. "Hey Bakura, don't you have any tissue boxes here?"
/No, the nurses are all a bunch of stingy gits who live to make my life even more miserable- they keep the staff supply by the front desk; I've just been nicking them from there./
Malik only blinked. "So where is that?"
Bakura nearly groaned- seriously?- but slowly got up and guided his directionally-challenged friend towards the nursing station down the hall.
Meanwhile, Ryou couldn't help but notice the strange expression on Marik's face. The massive teen kept staring towards the door where Malik had just vanished.
"Um, Marik?"
Two vivid, amethyst eyes turned to meet the visitor's steady orbs.
"Can I ask you a question?"
The larger teen nodded.
"When Bakura was typing earlier... Malik didn't see the message- but I did." Marik's eyes widened a bit, but he didn't say anything. "...um, are... are you, perhaps... infatuated, with Malik- at all?"
The brawny Egyptian didn't respond for a moment. He turned to face the room's only windows, their reflection revealing his wistful expression.
After a few moments of silence his shoulders slumped over and he spoke lowly. "...you can tell?"
Ryou nearly sweatdropped. 'It's supposed to be a secret?' "Oh; um, well, it was just a hunch."
Marik turned back around and gave a miserable shake of his head. "I don't know what to do... he's the only person in the world who means more to me than anything. My first few boyfriends left me, and ever since I've always found it impossible to keep a strong relationship. It's so hard, just watching him every day... I want to say something, anything, but... what if I lose him? What if... I'm no good for him?"
It was a bit of a reach, but Ryou managed to place one pale hand on Marik's left shoulder. He gave a reassuring smile as he spoke to the despondent teen. "Given how loud he is, I doubt you could lose Malik anywhere- and if you weren't good for him, then why would he stick with you all the time? You two live together, go out together- I don't think it's much of a stretch to say you're compatible. In fact, I think you're so tightly bonded that any change to your dynamic seems inconceivable- erm, I mean 'scary.'" Ryou's chocolate-tinted orbs gleamed with honesty. Marik stood, letting the warm words flow through his thoughts. There was a brief silence, then a determined huff.
"You know what? You're right." The bronzed youth suddenly stepped forward, surprising Ryou. "I'm tired of all this uncertainty and moping. I'm going to tell him-"
Ryou opened his mouth, but was shocked when Marik kept on talking.
"-right now!"
"Huh?!" Ryou's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets- was he serious?! "What?! Bu- wait- that's not what I-!- oh, dear." Ryou fell silent as, naturally, Bakura and Malik just happened to step back in through the door.
The duo was distracted, with Malik snickering at a clearly agitated Bakura. "Man, that purple-haired nurse was giving you the stink-eye like no tomorrow! What the heck did you do to get her so-"
"Malik."
"Eh?"
The biggest member of the group suddenly stepped forward and swept the other blonde into tight hug. Marik's vibrant eyes were shining with passion. His chin barely brushed against Malik's shoulder as he spoke.
The slighter foreigner was baffled by the sudden affection, but remained quiet.
"Malik, I'm sorry, but- I have to say this. I need to say this." The taller blonde wrapped his arms a little tighter. "I should've said this years ago, but- it's you. It was always you that I wanted. And I'm sorry that I didn't admit it sooner." The muscular blonde sighed. "I never wanted anything from anyone else. I was frustrated because the one thing I wanted; I knew I couldn't have. I couldn't go after you- I would never be able to live with myself if you rejected me, or worse; if I hurt you." Marik's face grew slightly red. "I... don't know much about keeping a long-term relationship," he removed one arm to scratch his head in awkward admittance, "but, I know that you're the only one who has ever made me want to learn."
For possibly the first time in Bakura's memory, Malik Ishtar's voice was barely even a whisper. "Really?" The shorter Egyptian stared into the other's similarly shaded orbs. "You're- you're not just playing a prank?"
"Really. No joking." Marik leaned back slightly to look down into his treasure's eyes. "Malik-love, I want to be your boyfriend. Will you be mine?"
Although his mind was reeling, Malik managed to grin and replied with a single, "YES." Marik smirked, and he ducked his head to kiss his partner's. "BUT!" Malik teasingly pressed his index finger against his beau's lips. "I have just one rule: No one else."
Marik was confused. "'Else'?"
Malik moved his hands to his hips. "I'm not a toy or a whore. If you want to sleep around, that's fine; just know that I'll be gone before you get back."
Marik opened his mouth, but Malik pressed his finger back against the other's bronzed lips.
"No exceptions. I have too much respect for myself. I won't live in some freakin' love triangle, like that soap opera crap."
The older teen blinked. "I get it- but why is this so important to you?"
The other blonde grinned slyly. "Well... you know me~ I never learned to share with others." He stepped closer to the larger Egyptian. "See, I want all of your kisses, all of your looks, all of your love- besides," Malik leaned down and whispered something into Marik's ear out of Ryou and Bakura's hearing range. And Marik -the King of Cavorting- actually blushed, and even gulped.
The smaller blonde smirked as he drew back. "So- you think you can do this?"
Marik swooped down and grabbed his other half, lifting him up into the air. Malik wrapped his legs around his suitor and stared into his face.
"I will, or I'll die trying." Marik softly promised.
Bakura felt like gagging, but he decided it would hurt his trachea too much. Ryou was staring as though he was watching a very unexpected improv performance.
But Malik just grinned at the corny words, and leaned closer to his partner. The two bronze teens pressed their lips together in a rather passionate display.
The other occupants of the room waited in awkward silence.
…
A full thirty seconds had passed, and the blondes weren't stopping. If anything, the heated duo was only getting more amorous.
Ryou's whole face was almost the color of a tomato, and he kept glancing away to look at the walls.
Bakura angrily held up his phone. He used his other arm to smack his bedside table to get the pair's attention.
/Are you two quite finished? If not, GTFO./
"Aw, seems like Bakura isn't feeling the love." Malik teasingly mused while Marik snickered.
"Yeah, but we should get going anyway- are you ready, Malik-honey?"
Malik nodded and leaned his head against his boyfriend's chest. "Yep- let's go!"
As the pair headed out the door, Malik called back from his perch in Marik's arms: "See you later, Baka-kura! 'Bye Ryou-kun!"
Quick as a wink, the crazy pair was gone, leaving behind a very shocked Ryou, and a bemused Bakura.
There was a moment of silence, in which Ryou struggled to comprehend the sudden event they had just witnessed.
"What- um, what just happened?"
But Bakura was less fazed, and he soon was holding up his phone for Ryou to read. /They're completely nuts- they do really spontaneous sh*t all the time. You get used to it./
"...I see." The passive teen was still staring at the door in stupefaction. The bandaged boy took advantage of this pause to type out a new message.
/You look like you could use an off-brand juice box past its expiration date- join me in the cafeteria?/
The still-bewildered visitor eventually turned to the crimson-eyed patient and smiled. "Erm, sure, I guess. You ready?"
Bakura gave a faint smirk before standing up.
/Of course, Ryou./