I rented a car. It would have been fun to steal Marik's bike, but we were about to go on a massive shopping spree, so we needed the trunk space. Even driving it, I couldn't tell you what kind of car I was in. I didn't really care enough to remember, but it was sleek, fast, and red. Impractical for a single trip to the mall? Yes. Did I care? Pfff, no.

I pulled up to the park where Ryou and I had agreed to meet. He was sitting at a park bench and playing with his phone, but the moment he saw me he started laughing. Ryou jogged over to the car and let himself into the passenger seat.

"I knew it was you right away. Only you would pick something this excessive. Well, I suppose Kaiba would pick out something more excessive, but this is still over the top."

"Hey, I'm a man of elegant tastes."

"It's a good thing I learned how to drive when I had the Ring or this thing would be a death trap."

"Relax." I waived Ryou's doubts away with a swipe of my hand. "I got this."

"If I had 100 yen every time I heard that."

"So did everything work out with Kek?" I asked as I took off down the street. Ryou had texted me why we were going shopping later than planned, and why Marik would be gone longer.

"Yeah, Tristan of all people came and got him. I guess it happened to be his nephew who'd gotten hurt."

"Ouch. That must have been awkward." I winced at the thought. Heh, me, feeling empathy. Who would have guessed that was even possible? The gods were probably laughing it up in the Duat as they watched this drama unfold day by day.

"So? Any ideas what you're buying Marik?"

"Fashion-y things. Probably some boots and a jacket. I'll see what the stores have. I need to get at least one gag gift. Wouldn't want him to take me too seriously."

"Heaven forbid." Ryou laughed. "I'm going to get Kek clothes too, only instead of fashion, I'm going to buy him things he can sweat in."

"Ah. Lingerie. Good choice."

"You know…" Ryou blushed. "I'm not even sure what, if any, kind of dressing up Kek would be into in the bedroom. I should ask, I wouldn't mind some sort of sexy roleplay with costumes, if he wanted to."

"Hey no fair. Why aren't you asking me what kind of sexy outfits I want to see you in?"

I think I said it out of habit more than anything... At least, that's how I wanted to justify it. Although my brain was conjuring the most delicious roleplay where Kek and I could play thieves and Ryou could be Egyptian nobility and-

And Malik would look good dressed like royalty as well-

Nevermind, nevermind, nevermind! This fantasy had been cancelled due to life being a cluster-fuck of a mess.

"I would love to do a sexy roleplay with you, Bakura, but unless you have a permission slip signed by Marik, I'm afraid it simply can't happen."

I laughed at the thought of a sex permission slip. "I'd do that as a joke if things weren't so shaky right now."

"Thank you for having enough sense to refrain yourself. I've gotten myself into enough trouble with Marik on my own. I don't need your practical jokes making it worse." Ryou frowned.

"About that," I glanced at Ryou. "Mind explaining all that? I'm pretty fucking confused about what exactly happened."

Ryou groaned. "I just had the world's most embarrassing conversation with Marik not twenty minutes ago, and now you want me to repeat all that? It was awful enough the first time."

I found a parking space and stopped the car so I could fully turn towards Ryou. "Life's a bitch."

Ryou turned away from me, but I could see his flushed face reflecting through the window glass.

"We, Kek and I, liked the idea, of dating Marik. And you were going to leave anyway, so we figured it couldn't hurt to try because if it worked- well, that would have been nice, wouldn't it have been? But we didn't tell you because we didn't want you to be hurt if things didn't work out." Ryou turned back to face me. "And it didn't, so you're welcome."

"Huh, oh." I swirled the info around in my mind like a wine snob might swish a merlot in their mouth. A few things clicked- particularly some of Kek's behavior, and that weird day where they'd been wrestling on the floor butt-ass naked. "Oooooh."

"Oooooh," Ryou mocked, and I was a little proud of the bitterness in his tone. "Dammit, Bakura, I thought you were better at picking up on these sorts of things."

"I am- when I'm being selfish." I snorted a little laugh. "So I guess that's the grand irony of it all. I was thinking of other people for once in my life, trying to actually be decent-"

"And of course I didn't plan for that," Ryou said, but he'd already lost his bitter edge. His voice was amused now.

"To be fair, it was completely out of character for me, and I'm sorry. From now on, I promise to be as selfish and inconsiderate as possible."

"That's the spirit, Spirit!"

"Ghost puns are dead these days. All the cool kids are into ghost memes."

"I'll be sure to text you a few when you're back in Egypt."

That killed the conversation. We stared out the front windshield, not speaking, but not undoing our seat belts either. It was like we were trying to freeze time by freezing ourselves, and then I'd never be able to leave. Another memory tickled against the back of my thoughts, Marik crying because he would have liked to get to know them better before things had gotten weird.

"I think you accidentally sabotaged yourselves," I muttered.

"Of course we did. We handled the entire situation poorly." Ryou sighed. "If I could do it over again… where are those stupid hour glasses when they'd actually be useful?"

The corner of my mouth twitched up at the reference to my Shadow RPG. "So how did Marik react? After you talked to him. I'm sure he was a little spacy in his head because he's been nervous about talking to Kek, but how did he seem to you?"

"I think well? He said he wanted to finish our campaign before you guys left." Ryou's smile was heartbreaking. "I almost wish you'd just go so I could cry and be done with it."

"Yeah… or suddenly make the campaign 1001 nights themed."

"Ah, what a brilliant idea." Ryou laughed as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Don't tempt me. You know I very well could think up a never-ending campaign story line to add to our current quest."

Ryou leaned over and rested his forehead against my arm. I turned instantly towards his weight and hid my face in his hair. We stayed there, another moment we were trying to suspend in time.

"We need to hurry. I don't know how their talk will go, but I'm sure they'll need to be showered in presents by the time they're done."

That had been the plan from the beginning. Go and load up on gifts so we could smother them after their talk. It was Ryou's plan, and I was jealous that I hadn't thought of it myself. I hated the mall, but it wasn't so bad with Ryou dragging me from store to store. It'd been a while since we'd gotten to hang out, though, and seeing him frowning at gym shoes made me realize how fucking much I missed him, missed both of them.

I bought Marik a faux fox fur coat. Marik was the type of asshole vegan that checked ingredients for gelatin but still had a leather motorcycle jacket, so I could have bought him a real fur coat, but… come on. Of course I wanted to say "faux fox fur" everytime he wore it, and I had full intention of mispronouncing "faux" just so he'd get pissed off and correct me. I also bought him a pair of boots, and myself a pair of thigh highs. Okay, maybe they were meant to be calf high, but on me they went up to the thighs. Fuck it, I know I'm short. Still going to rock the fuck out of those boots on my next date.

After we cleaned out the stores on clothes, Ryou dragged me to the candy store. He bought Kek a mix of random things that he could ration out on cheat days. While he was busy shopping, I picked out a nice box of chocolates to hide in the apartment for Ryou before I left. I almost got busted slipping it into one of Marik's bags as Ryou rushed over to me with a package in his hands.

"I found some Havla. Do you think Marik would like it?"

"I haven't figured out his favorite sweet yet."

"I'll take the gamble. I want to get him something as well. I know today is as hard for him as it is for Kek."

I nodded. "I wanted to get Kek something, too, but I haven't found anything I like."

"There's a few more stores we haven't looked into. I'm sure you'll find something." Ryou flashed that stupid, sweet, aggravatedly adorable smile of his at me and it was hard not to kiss him.

I distracted myself with window shopping, trying to decide what stores were worth checking for a present for Kek. I could have gotten him a six pack of beer as a throw back to Ryou's roses, but I wanted it to be a little… well, I knew he was pissed at me for bailing without a goodbye, and I know a present wasn't going to fix that, but an apology had to start somewhere and that was going to be my first step.

Maybe the toy store was a dumb place to look, but seeing how we were all game fanatics, I figured I might get lucky and find something game-related that would make for a good gift- or at least a funny one. I was searching for games when I walked through the stuffed-animal aisle. I wasn't really paying attention, you could say the idea for a stuffed animal came from above- literally. The damn lion fell off the shelf as I walked by and smacked me on the head. I bent down, picked it up, and studied it. It was sandy, and half mane, and the nose was red and heart shaped, and it was the dumbest idea I'd ever had, but that had never stopped me before, so I carried it to the cash register to check out.

"It's so cute!" Ryou's fingers went straight for the mane. "Oh, and soft!"

I laughed as I watched Ryou stroke the lion. It was pretty accurate. I shrugged.

"It's stupid and he'll probably make fun of me."

"I don't think so." Ryou shook his head as we made our way back to the care with 100 bags hanging from each of our arms. "The flowers were his idea, remember? He has a soft spot for campy romance- just like you do."

"I have no such thing."

"Oh really? I dwell in darkness without you and it went away, then?"

"Godsdammit, Marik. He's such a blabbermouth."

"He didn't know it was from a movie. Well, he does now." Ryou gave me a mischievous laugh.

"Please tell me you didn't tell him which movie."

"Okay."

"Okay, you didn't tell him?"

"Okay, I won't tell you."

"Dammit." I clenched my teeth.

"What's the matter? Afraid he'll see the movie and fall even deeper in love with you after he realizes you're a sap?" Ryou snorted as we stored everything into the trunk of the rental. "I hardly see how that's a problem."

"Shut up."

"Make me." Ryou hummed, ending the conversation by getting into the car.

I glared for a moment. There wasn't much else I could do. Threats become real empty after one loses their ancient Egyptian artifact of dark power and suffering. Being that there was not much I could do about Marik having the information, I got in the car and drove Ryou to the grocery store so he could grab a few things for dinner, and then we were on our way home.

Home.

I still thought of it as home.

The hotel with Marik was like a vacation.

And then we were both supposed to go back home.

Which was not Egypt.

It was Ryou's living room. That was home. That first place I'd ever felt safe after thousands of years of being on guard. Playing games on the floor. Snuggling with Kek on the couch. Shit, my first time with Marik was on the couch. Looking back, how fucking dumb was that? And it was like Kek knew, too, that first night after Marik showed up when he cried in the kitchen. I should have paid more attention to what he was saying, but I didn't think… things hadn't gone as planned from the moment I came back to this world.

Ryou was right. Had I known about them wanting to court Marik- and then Marik rejecting them- it would have hurt worlds more than even now, and it hurt… even now.

And it hurt.

Ryou must have felt the same pinch in his chest. He'd grown quiet again, and was staring out the window. I parked at the apartment and grabbed Ryou's hand. He jerked and turned toward me with wide, coffee-brown eyes.

"Hey, no frowns. It's time for operation 'cheer up the boyfriends'."

"Yes, of course." Ryou flashed me a grin.

It was almost convincing. Not that he could fool Kek any more than I could fool Marik.

We carried everything upstairs and Ryou unlocked the door. We found Marik dozing with his head in Kek's lap and Kek stroking Marik's hair. Not the sight I'd prepared myself for, but a delightful alternative.

"No blood, I'm impressed." I ruined the perfect moment with my big mouth.

"Disappointed?" Marik asked, his eyes still closed as he lay relaxed in Kek's lap. "Unlike you, some of us are mature enough to solve our problems without three thousand years of drama."

"Alas, I have seen the error of my ways. I'm going to go over to Yugi's place right now and lay in the Pharaoh's lap so he can stroke my hair."

"Psh, make sure Ryou gets a picture because I'll send it straight to Ishizu." Marik snickered.

"Her head would explode." Kek rolled his eyes. Then he grinned at Ryou. "Most of those don't look like grocery bags."

Ryou flushed, his eyes flashed with excitement and his grin hardly fit his face. "They're not! I bought you a few things! Let me put the actual groceries away and then I'll show you!"

Ryou disappeared into the kitchen. Curiosity got Marik to open his eyes and sit up. Now it was my turn to grin.

"I might have bought you a few things as well." I went over to him. "Although this one's for Ryou since it was his idea to buy you guys stuff." I winked as I showed Kek where I hid the chocolates. "Make sure he finds that, okay?"

Kek nodded. Then I sat in front of Marik on the couch and handed everything except the toy store bag over. Ryou appeared a few seconds later and dropped more bags onto Kek's lap.

"Oh, but this is for you, Marik." He held out the brick of havla out to Marik. "I hope you like it. Bakura wasn't sure what sweets you liked."

"Thanks." Marik's eyes had gotten glassy when I handed over the bags, and a single tear managed to roll down his cheek as he took the Havla.

Fear shot across Ryou's face. "Oh no, did I pick the wrong thing? Was it improper to buy you something at all? Should I-"

"Calm down, Ryou." Marik laughed as he ran his wrist across his cheek. "I just wasn't expecting to be showered in gifts today." His cheeks grew bright, more of a glow than a blush. "Could… could I have a hug?"

"Of course!" Ryou all but threw himself at Marik.

I had the scoot out of the way to avoid Ryou tripping over me. I figured that was a good time to pass over the lion. I pulled him from the bag and pushed him in Kek's direction.

"Um… "

Good start, Bakura, you're a fucking poetic genius.

Kek took the toy out of my hands and gasped. "It's soft."

"The bastard fell off a shelf and hit me on the head and he reminded me of you."

"Because I've gone soft?" Kek teased.

"You know damn well it's the hair." I scratched my arm. "Look… I fucked up, and ran out like a little bitch the other day and didn't say goodbye, and I know I'm an asshole, and I think sorries are stupid and useless, but- fuck, I really am, though. Sorry. I'll try to find a better way to show it besides a dumb toy, but-"

Kek buried his face into the lion's mane. The little sniffs started soft, but grew to hiccups that made his shoulders twitch. As soon as he started crying we all swarmed him. Marik grabbed his left arm, and Ryou was pressed beside Marik and stroking Kek's hair. I slipped my hands through the toy mane so I could find Kek's hands and lace our fingers together. I also pressed our foreheads together. My throat felt like I'd swallowed shards of glass.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." Kek cursed between little, broken sobs. "So sick of crying. Sick of emotions. It's not fair. I wasn't made for this. It's not- f- How can I be so happy, and sad, and angry all at the same time?!"

Shit!

The glass was too sharp, pierced too deeply. I tried to swallow, but I could feel heat dripping down my cheeks as Kek's sorrow broke me.

"You did run out, and it hurt. The Shadows don't even know! They don't even know how to hurt someone that much! But, despite that-" He sniffed, trying to calm himself, his sobs verging on hyperventilating more than crying. "Despite that… I miss you. I miss you so fucking bad."

I couldn't take it. Almost destroyed the world? No regrets. But this? This. These tears were my fault, and I regretted causing them in a way I never regretted anything before in my entire existence. Ryou, too. His face was buried into Kek's hair and although he wasn't making any noise, the tremble in his shoulders betrayed his crying for what it was.

Even Marik was trying to comfort them. He kept petting Ryou's hair spilling over his shoulder, and he leaned forward and kissed the tip of Kek's scars on his shoulder. He was whispering in what I called tomb-speak, and I wondered if Marik even realized he'd jumped languages, but I couldn't really process it. All I knew at that moment was I had to do something to soothe Kek's hurt, and maybe it was the way Marik had kissed Kek's scars, or maybe it was the memory of mine and Kek's first night together, but in any case, kissing seemed like the only answer.

I pushed the stuffed lion away from his face and let go of his hands so I could lift up his chin. I shoved away the tears from his dark cheeks and kissed the drops my fingers missed. It was just supposed to be his cheeks. That was my intention, but my lips pressed against his hot, hot, skin made Kek sigh, and close his eyes, and tilt his face just right, and instinct took over and my lips brushed over his. It'd been so long since I kissed him, and I'd been missing him too (him and Ryou), and our lips felt welded together, and I didn't want it to end- until a heard a shocked gasp and opened my eyes and saw Marik with his fingers pressed against his own lips.

The reality of what I was doing crashed down and I jerked back, falling and landing on my ass. A sob pushed its way through my clenched teeth and I buried my face in my hands.