Of course I won our game, and I laughed the moment I realized I'd beaten Marik's other half, but my mirth turned to concern as he marched towards me. I had no doubt that the entity that loved the darkness so much he chose Kek for a name had changed from the mere shadow he once was, but by how much? True, toward Ryou I saw nothing but kindness, and Bakura was clearly fond of him as well, but the way he marched at me, I expected to see a knife. I really did.

He reached into his pocket. I winced, that sure it was a knife he was pulling out, but it was his cell phone. Kek plopped beside me on the couch, pulled up his photos, and started scrolling through them.

"This is Ducati. He likes string and fish poles. And here's Diabound VII. You can probably guess who she belongs to. She's the sweet one out of the group. Too good for Bakura, I know, but we all got to pick ours first, so it was the luck of the draw for him. Jason hunts toy mice. He gutted the first one, and we had to buy more. Ryou was very proud-"

"Um…" I was still waiting for a knife and very confused.

"Look, playing cards with you was pissing me off, okay? We have to do something else for a bit so I can cool down. Like Fire Starter, you know? Have you seen that movie?"

"No." I shook my head.

Fire Starter? Was he going to set me on fire? Was this how the gods ended up restoring balance to my heart? By making me suffer the same fate as those from Kul Elna? As the ones I made burn after Shadow Games?

"Fire Starter is okay. I liked It better, but I get the girl in Fire Starter. She loses control easily, and has to cool down after using her power so she doesn't burn everyone. I'm like that. Oh, and this little asshole is mine. He's so stupid. Gloriously stupid. Look at this bastard."

Kek shoved the phone in my face to make sure I could see the orange kitten. I tensed at the sudden movement, forcing a smile and nodding at the screen as Kek continued talking.

"He fell asleep in his litter box last week. I just cleaned it, but still, who does that?"

"You have a kitten?" I asked, wondering why in the gods' names they'd let him be responsible for something as fragile as a kitten. Maybe something a little more hardy- a pet rhinoceros might survive Kek easier.

"We all do. Bakura brought them home."

"Do you miss him? I mean Bakura?"

Kek's expression fell. "I miss both of them, Bakura and Marik. It hasn't been that long, but… it feels like a long time."

Without thinking, I reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."

"Keh, thanks."

" Um…" I was in shock. I wasn't going to get stabbed, and he wasn't going to break my wrist for touching him. Bakura had been right about him. "Um, do you have any more cat pictures?"

"Here's Jason drinking out of the toilet, and this one is Asshole Hamyaa stealing a shrimp from my plate." Kek started laughing. "This is his favorite way to sit."

I looked at the picture and started laughing as well. It was a picture of Kek with the kitten sleeping in his hair.

"As long as he doesn't confuse your hair and the litter box."

"I would kill him." Kek flushed, shaking his head. "Figuratively."

"Don't worry. I understood you."

A moment later Ryou and Yugi walked into the living room and we started playing Uno. Dinner became delivery so no one had to stop playing to cook, and I kept finding myself drawing four cards at a time. It was infuriating! It was maddening! It was-

Probably how Seto felt all the time.

I was still angry at how stupid the cards were. For the next game I had them switch the direction so Ryou went after Kek instead. I didn't think Kek had it in him to Wild Draw Four Ryou. And that seemed to work. It was a mild third game, until Ryou dropped down a polite smile and a Reverse card. Kek had been waiting for it, too, because as soon as the order switched I was bombarded with Skips and Draw Twos.

How did he get all those cards?

They couldn't be cheating. Yugi was dealer and I shuffled the last game. I was just… unlucky? At this game?

It didn't make any sense!

How was I losing so much!?

Then I realized everyone was laughing. I looked up and saw Yugi doubled over with his cards pressed to his forehead as he laughed. Of course that made me smile. They didn't even care who was winning or losing. They were just having fun, so although I only won a few times, I tried to join them. After another win, Kek slammed his hands on the coffee table, voice excited and teasing.

"Does this make me King of Uno?"

"Yes!" Yugi slapped his hands on top of Kek's.

"Great! Where's my crown?"

"Let's make you one!" Yugi jumped up and grabbed paper and markers. He passed the paper to Ryou. "Here Ryou."

Ryou nodded, grinning. I don't think I've ever seen Ryou really grin before. He often had a smile on his face, but it always seemed there out of polite habit- in the same way Bakura's smirk stuck around out of facetious habit. But he looked genuinely happy as he folded up the paper in a crown shape and allowed Yugi to write King of Uno in marker colors matching the four card colors.

"You have to let me take a picture," Ryou said as he impaled the crown down on Kek's spikes.

"I knew you were going to say that."

"Let's get both of you. We should make it really funny." Yugi rummaged through some things and pulled out a huge pair of sunglasses. "Wear these, Ryou."

"Okay." Ryou grabbed the glasses and held the cards up in front of him while leaning against Kek. "Is this good?"

"That's pretty good… hmmmm… seems like it's missing something. What do you think, Atem?"

I tapped my chin, thinking about it for a moment. "He needs a glass of wine."

"I have champagne. That'll be even better!" Yugi ran to the kitchen and came back with a glass half full. "There. Anything else?"

"I have an idea." I grabbed the rest of the Uno deck, and Yugi's deck, which was closer, and I started showering both Kek and Ryou with cards.

"Perfect!" Yugi snapped a few photos and texted them to Ryou and Kek.

"Come here, Yugi, let's get a group selfie."

"Okay."

We all crowded on the sofa. I stole the booze so I could hold it up for the first picture, and chug it during the second. Yugi grabbed the bottle and it got passed around during while we snapped photos, and all of us were in a giggle fit by the time Yugi and Ryou put their phones down. Afterward, we sat back and listened to Yugi talk about the craziest customers he'd ever had in the game shop. Ryou chimed in with some of his own bizarre customer stories. Their talk about work made me sit up as something hit me.

"Tell Bakura to change my name at Kaiba Corp!"