Mind Games Chapter 25, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 25: "Rule of Games":

Melvin sat at the table drinking coffee and relaxing.

"Hey, Deman." A snicker came from behind him, and he sighed, not even bothering with a reply.

"Remember that? Demon? De-MAN?" She awaited a response but only got silence from Melvin.

"Does everyone hate me? I mean, come on! FIRST YOU BASTARDS REPLACE ME, THEN YOU HATE ME?" She screamed, but Melvin only continued to drink his coffee, ignoring her.

Until she sat across from him.

"What the hell is your problem? Is it that little tramp? The red-headed bitch?" She demanded, throwing her fist onto the table.

"I bet it is. And just to think, me and you could have had something...Something big." She taunted, but Melvin didn't fall for it, and only rolled his eyes, looking at the newspaper.

"Sure, go ahead an ignore me, but don't deny you didn't feel anything..." She laughed, and stood up, slowly waling over to him.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, slowly brushing them down his chest, leaning down to his ear.

"I think I still remember what you...Like..." She giggled, and was only slapped away from Melvin.

Melvin picked up his coffee, and stood up.

"Don't you remember?" She mocked. Melvin only rolled his eyes again.

"Answer me!" Kyrah snapped, and Melvin turned away, ever so slightly dodging the toast she threw at him.

He left the room only to be followed by her.

"LOOK! YOU'RE GOING TO ANSWER ME!" She yelled, trying to tackle him, only succeeding in falling on her back.

"Fine-" She started to hiss, but stopped.

Melvin saw her too.

Tamara sat, back to Melvin, talking to Bakura and Marik.

All three ignored the scuffle, already used to Kyrah yelling on the mark of each hour.

Melvin smiled, and set his coffee on the coffee table, and sat behind Tamara, leaning forward and wrapping his arms around her, his lips gently gently kissing the side of her neck.

Everyone but Melvin froze, shock running through them.

"M-Melvin?" Marik asked, and looked at his arms.

"Yeah?" He asked, and looked over at him.

"W-What...Are you doing?" Tamara asked, almost a whisper.

"I'm done fighting, I'm done hiding, I've told you this." He smiled, and kissed her cheek.

"Wait...Wait...Hiding? You mean to say that..." Marik couldn't finish the sentence, but Bakura saw it as free game.

"You're screwing each other? You're fucking your mentor, you're trainer, YOU'RE TEACHER!" He laughed, holding his stomach.

"Oh, that's just RICH." He laughed even harder.

"We're dating, yes." Melvin ignored his childish nature. It was immature, and juvenile.

"You two have been hiding this?" Marik asked, a little confused.

"You could say that." Melvin shrugged, and Tamara let out a silent sigh of relief, snuggling deeper into Melvin's chest.

Kyrah scrambled to get up from the floor, fueled with anger.

"Not only did she replace me, but SHE'S FUCKING YOU TOO?" She hissed, and stormed out of the living room.

"But you know what? If it pisses her off? I'm okay with it." Marik added, glaring where Kyrah was a few minutes before.

"So, how long?"

"Hmm?" Melvin raised an eyebrow.

"Have you two been together?"

"We've been training for a few months, she's getting pretty good at fighting."

"No, I meant dating."

"I know."

"So it started then?"

There was a silence, and Marik nodded.

"Acknowledged. If you're happy, I'm happy, Brother."

"So that's why you got all prissy when she partied with us..."Bakura realized.

"It was also because I was assigned to protect her from toxins. Which you subject her to."

"Great fucking job there, she drank one of Ryou's poisons, so it wasn't all our fault, it was more your fault then anybodies."

"Not my fault, I wasn't present."

"Shouldn't you have been?"

"Look, it's in the past now, and my stupid fault, don't blame Melvin." Tamara hissed, and Bakura laughed.

"And now she speaks." Bakura chuckled, and looked at Melvin.

"So, maybe later we can have a bro chat..."

"No." Melvin rolled his eyes, and kissed Tamara's cheek again.

"I'll be back, I gotta' go talk to Akefia before things get really sticky." He let her go and stood up.

As soon as he was gone, Tamara grabbed his coffee.

"So, how long?"

"It's already been answered."

"What have you two been doing?" Bakura pressed, and Tamara laughed, standing up.

"Dating." Tamara laughed and turned away from them, leaving the room.

Melvin sat in Akefia's office, a smile still hinted on his face.

"It's been a while since we've talked, one-on-one, hasn't it?" Akefia smiled, and sat down across from Melvin.

"It has." Melvin agreed.

"Yes, but lately with Kyrah back, it's hard to appease her appetite, and my own." He smiled.

"I'm sure. It's not like we haven't heard it." Melvin chuckled, slightly disgusted with the fact it was true.

"Well, It's a big role to fill." Akefia raised his glass. "Tamara on the other hand...I see difficulty with her and my lover..."

"It's never Tamara's fault-"

"And now you're on her side? What happened to the side lines?" Akefia mocked, but continued. "It is her fault, Kyrah doesn't do anything wrong, Tamara's just jealous."

"I don't think she is, Akefia..."

"And how would you know?"

"You learn quite a lot from training with someone for a few months, and of course, when you're their lover, they talk to you about what's on their minds..."

"Kyrah does, and it's not her fault. And bringing up the fact you trained Tamara? It doesn't do much to effect how she acts around another, Melvin. It's very naive of you to think such."

"I wasn't talking about you and Kyrah, Akefia." Melvin breathed, and Akefia stopped for a moment, a rush of jealousy running through him.

He had almost claimed Tamara for himself, but now he had Kyrah..

Did that mean he was over the spitfire red head?

Not entirely.

"What are you saying Melvin?" Akefia asked, a tone in his voice, and the one tone Melvin expected.

"I'm saying I am Tamara's lover...We're dating, Akefia." Melvin came out and said it clearly.

"How long?"

"A while."

"That's not an answer, Melvin." Akefia growled, anger rising in his voice.

"A few months. And I know from those few months, that Tamara isn't doing anything to provoke Kyrah."

"Then what are you saying?" Akefia asked, and Melvin knew that now, he was in the danger zone. The wrong move, and things would end badly.

"I'm saying it must be like she was with Bakura. They bump heads. It's just a simple clash of two people...It's probably going to simmer down soon." Melvin could only hope.

Akefia calmed down a bit, and nodded.

"Kyrah isn't doing anything wrong, but I'm sure Tamara's just getting in her way...Anyways, you've never been wrong, so we'll wait it out. You may leave, I have paper work to get back to...Oh, and while you're at it, would you go get the mail? There's supposed to be something coming in the mail for me...Package or something." Akefia brushed Melvin off.

Melvin exited the room, and let out a sigh of relief.

"That went well..." He breathed, and walked back to the living room, to find his coffee gone, and Bakura and Marik still sitting where they were before.

"Let me guess, Tamara?" Melvin pointed at the vacant coffee table, and Bakura and Marik nodded.

"Yup." They said in unison.

"Nice." He sighed and walked to the kitchen to get some more coffee.

"Hey." Tamara smiled up at him, a new cup of coffee in her hands.

"Thank you." Melvin smiled playfully and took the cup form her.

"Hey, that's mine!"

"Payback for the one you took that was mine." Melvin smiled, and she frowned.

"I was thirsty..." She mumbled and turned to make another one.

Melvin sat down at the table and drank his coffee.

"So, what's on your mind?" Melvin asked, and Tamara gave him a cautious look.

"That's a little blunt for you."

"Just curious." He shrugged, and took a sip of coffee.

"Nothing much, just wish you would have given me a heads up earlier." Tamara said annoyed.

"Sorry, it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.." He smiled, and reached for her hand as she sat down next to him and snuggled into his shoulder.

"Kind of?" She laughed, and Melvin rested his head on hers.

"Yeah, well...I couldn't help but act on impulse...The sight of you could make any man loose himself."

"Oh, please. That's hardly true. But just so suddenly...You're just tossing the secrets away?"

"Well, it's not healthy to hide things in your life...And honestly, I really kind of enjoy it so far. Getting to sit like this with you, is really, really nice. I'd never get to hold you if we were still sneaking around..."

"What about...Er...The 'Red Jacket'...?" Tamara looked around anxiously.

"What...? Oh, yeah. He's okay with it. Just...Stay out of Kyrah's way..."

"Like I don't try to?" Tamara hissed, and Melvin looked at her.

"I mean if you see her, I want you to turn around, and go the other way. Things aren't looking too well in his eyes...So, be careful..."

Tamara went quiet for a long while, but then she nodded.

"I understand."

"Well, I'm just worried...That's all..."

"The sea's aren't safe?"* A voice called from the shadows, and Allen stepped forward.

Melvin nodded.

"I see you're public."

"Yup." Melvin said, and kissed the top of Tamara's head sweetly.

"Interesting. Sounds risky."
"Not as much as we thought..." Tamara smiled, and sipped her coffee, looking up to Allen and continuing, "So, why are you lurking in the shadows today?"

"The usual. Listening. Waiting."

"Sounds fun." Tamara laughed, and Allen just looked on with a bored expression.

"How does Lady Fire Bird feel about the...Opening?"

"She hasn't said anything, so her vote doesn't tally in the end." Tamara smiled, and snuggled into Melvin's arms some more.

"And if she comes out?"

"We'll let the chips land in whatever way they happen to." Melvin jumped in, and Allen looked up to him.

"Then she'll know to blame the one's who cause the disturbance."

"She will." Melvin said a little dryly.

Akefia walked in with Kyrah, and Tamara's back arched, tingling with an emotion she didn't want to acknowledge.

Akefia's eyes swept the room nonchalantly, simply observing. Kyrah's grew evil, dark, hatred pulsing through, and Allen simply drew in shadow's as they fell upon him, making his presence only slightly detectable if someone knew he were there.

"Look at the happy fucking couple." Kyrah muttered under her breath, and snickered to Akefia who gave a light smile in return.

"I expect your share of chores to be done before there is any slacking." Akefia said, looking past the trio to the back door. "And I want every chore done before I return."

With that, the slut and the boss left.

Allen reappeared, the shadows falling away, and Tamara settled down only a little bit.

"We never had chores before." Tamara spat, and Melvin sighed.

"It's his way of 'punishing' us for going public, Mara. He has to be the voice of power, the one thing controlling us, for her to be satisfied." He said, taking the cup of coffee from Tamara's hand and taking a sip, handing it back afterward.

She glared in a playful way, and got up to start her newly acquired chores.

Melvin stretched on his bed, looking up to the dark ceiling as his arm fell around Tamara.

"You're still awake too?" Tamara said, molding into his side.

There was a warmth between the two, a deeper connection then their earlier moments in their relationship.

"Yeah." He said, turning on his side to face her, his long dark skinned fingers gently touching her soft skin. With his good eyesight, he could see her small smile at his touch.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Only you, my love. What do your thoughts dwindle on?"

"You." She smiled, and Melvin gently brought his lips to hers in a sweet way.

"I kind of like that." He laughed, pressing his forehead to hers.

"Hmm...Well, there's also a little part of me that thinks Allen's always watching us...I mean, shadows and all..."** She said, a light little laugh in her voice.

"Well, I really don't think he'd care at this moment, With him and Isis."

"Speaking of which, are you alright with that?"

"With what? Him and Isis?" He asked, and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"Isis can take care of herself, and she wouldn't really care what I thought anyways." He shrugged, continuing, "I'm not the type to be an overprotective big brother. Sure, I'm protective, but not to the point where I step in and hold her hand every step of the way. She's probably smarter then me. Wiser. Although I am older..." He looked to the door for a moment, only to look back at Tamara lovingly.

"What?" She whispered, a smile on her face. "You sure protect me a hell whole of a lot."

"Yeah, well you get into dumb, stressful situations. I have to." He hugged her, and closed his eyes.

"Time to sleep?"

"Time to sleep..."

Authors Note:

I should clarify, The little stars in the sentences I've posted have a meaning.

For the first one (*): Allen means that things are rough, and not safe. Hence, him listening to their conversation before he entered the room.

For the second one (**) Allen can walk through any shadow, use the shadow portal, realm, listen through them, see them, but what I wanted to say here was that Allen's always watching XD, a little side joke for my own amusement...XD

It's been a long while, hasn't it? Sorry for the delay, I hope what I've written was worth while. I just took a break, a much needed one, and I'm still kind of in that break time. It's kind of like a vacation.