Marik and Bakura were training their kittens to be killing machines, dangling toys in front of them and watching the little furballs attack their prey. Ryou, on the other hand, sat on the floor against the sofa and I laid on my back with my head in his lap. He stroked my hair while I held both of our kittens on my belly. They slept in a little huddle and I couldn't stop feeling how soft they were with my fingers. The memories were hazy, a lot of Marik's memories before I existed were hazy for me, but I remember reaching out and trying to hold the cats that lived in the tombs, but he never let me.

Fucking Rishid. He didn't let me exist. He didn't let me hold the kittens. Fucking never let me do anything. I can see why he didn't want Marik touching the cats. It wasn't allowed, and Rishid would have been the one getting the lash if Marik had disobeyed. But hey, maybe Rishid should have manned up and killed the old man back then. Would have saved me the trouble. I wouldn't have existed then, I realize that, but fuck it. Would've taken one for the team for the principle of it.

But oh well. He didn't. I did. Now I'm here with kittens napping on my belly. Dammit Bakura. Didn't need another reason to love you. I didn't need a reason to remember that Marik and I used to be one person- making me yearn to be closer to him. And we had to stay together now, right? If we didn't, the kittens would get split up. We can't just wreck a family like that.

Family…

I sighed at the thought. Bakura, Ryou, and I had become a family, and the thought of Marik joining that made me jittery with excitement, but the thought of him and Bakura both leaving made the pain ache from my chest to my fingers.

"You okay?" Ryou asked; his fingers were gentle in my hair.

"Mmm-hmmm." I hummed. I couldn't talk about it out loud.

Hey Marik, don't break up the family, and by family I mean all four of us and the kittens. We should all be a giant litter together because apparently I'm affection starved and like the idea of full apartments and crowded beds.

Oh what bullshit. And it was selfish. Marik had a life. A good one. Why would he want to share that? He never did before… fuck.

"You want to watch a movie?" Ryou moved from my hair to my shoulders, rubbing little circles in my always-sore traps. He must have sensed that I was down, maybe he was even running a similar conversation in his own mind. I wouldn't have doubted it.

"Sounds good."

"What movie?"

"I don't know. A romance. One with a happy ending."

I very much needed a happy ending just then. My own story was too uncertain, so I wanted my escape, at least, to be pleasant and assured. I wished there was a movie where four people got together at the end- hint, hint, Marik- but I'd never seen a movie like that. All the movies showed male/female couples, and I suppose that was how all the guys at the gym dated as well. It added to my stress. What if Marik only wanted to date as half of a couple? That seemed to be the norm. You'd think I'd know the answer to that, but the only sense of attraction I ever picked up living inside Marik's mind was for Bakura. I almost chuckled, thinking that if Marik was both vain and Bakura-sexual then maybe Ryou and I had a shot afterall.

"If it's not horror movies, I'm not that good remembering the titles." He glanced to his side. "What's that one you like, Bakura? The one with the baby and the hobbit?"

"He's not a hobbit. Damn, Ryou, I'm taking away your nerd card." Bakura huffed. "Willow was a Nelwyn- and I don't feel like watching that movie."

"Since when?" Ryou scoffed.

"Since, whenever. I just saw it not long ago. I want to watch something else." Bakura furrowed his eyebrows. "How about Vampire Hunter D Bloodlust. That has some horror themes, but the romance is good-"

"Happy ending, Bakura." I grit my teeth.

"That has a happy ending," Bakura argued.

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. Why else would they show the spaceship during the opening credits? It shows that it gets to space. They'll be fine. I'm sure she'll just become-"

"Bakura. Spoilers." Ryou raised a finger to quit Bakura. "Don't ruin the movie for Marik."

But Marik was smirking and not paying attention. "So hobbits are fantasy, right? I remember that from one of my European Rare Hunter's minds. Does that mean your favorite genre is fantasy?"

"Hey look, you actually earned an answer by paying attention." Bakura winked. "And how could I not like the Hobbit? The hero is a thief who steals a ring. That's my kind of story."

"Can we watch that one?" Marik asked.

"It's not a romance." Bakura scratched the back of his head.

"I'm okay with the Hobbit," I said.

"We can watch the only one," Marik offered. "The vampire one."

"Let's stay up late and watch both." Ryou smiled.

"Don't you have to work?" Marik asked.

"Sure, but tomorrow's Friday, so it won't hurt if we're tired one day before the weekend."

"Besides," I added. "Who wants to sleep when there are new kittens to play with. Grab the laptop, Bakura, and set up the first movie."