We left the teacups on the nightstand. I curled up into the blankets and Ryou slipped behind me, pressing his face against the ankh on my back and growling that adorable, frustrated growl of his. His voice muffled while he vented.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, Marik is so stupid! I know he can't help it, but good gods!"

A single, dry snort of laughter escaped from my nostrils. I knew what he meant. It was like Marik was trying to make things as confusing as possible, but I knew it was really that Marik was confused and projecting that onto all his behavior. Maybe I shouldn't have let him lay in my lap- set better boundaries and force him to verbally challenge them if he wanted to cross them, but… there'd been so much emotional turmoil between us that I really didn't have the strength to say no to something that had been calming and pleasant for both of us.

I looked at the foot of the bed. All four furballs had gathered around our feet. Diabound VII was content to sleep in a swirl of fur. Asshole-Hamyaa was watching our feet for movement, ready to pounce. Jason was watching Hamyaa with the same eager, predatory intent that Hamyaa had for our feet, but Ducati was slowly making his way closer to our hands. We've played this game before. If I'd reach out now, he would run back to the others and scorn me, but if I waited until he headbutted my chin, then I'd be able to pet him until I fell asleep.

"Marik's like a cat," I said. Although maybe I meant 'Marik is like his cat and they're both problematic.' "You have to wait until they feel like it's time for affection, otherwise they bat at you."

"Literally." Ryou's breath huffed as he said the word, but I could hear a trace of amusement in his tone.

"I know Marik. He's not sure if he wants what he wants, so he's going to act wishy washy now. You're just going to have to call him out on it."

"I'm not very good at that sort of thing, but I will try." Ryou wrapped his arm around my stomach.

I sighed and grabbed Ryou's hand, pulling it up over my heart instead of my stomach. He made a small, happy noise against my back and nuzzled a little closer.

"Ow! Hamyaa!" Ryou called out a second later.

"Got your feet?" I chuckled.

"I'm hiding them under the blanket- well, no need. There they go."

Jason had pounced on Hamyaa after Hamyaa attacked Ryou. The two wrestled themselves off the bed and then sped off for their usual game of tag.

"I should get up and make dinner," Ryou sighed.

"Not yet. Stay here. I'm not hungry anyway." I squeezed Ryou's hand.

"I'm sorry your day was such shit." Ryou planted three kisses against my back.

"Can we just order food and eat in bed?"

"Mmmm… that sounds fun and delicious." Ryou let go of me and grabbed his cell phone. "I'll order now, and hopefully you're hungry again by the time it arrives."

"Thanks." I rolled onto my back, ignoring Ducati and peeking at Ryou's phone screen.

"Is yakiniku okay?"

"Yeah, that's a good choice." I grinned against Ryou's shoulder. I knew Ryou would order something that wouldn't completely kill my meal plan for the day, and I appreciated that.

After he ordered, he set down his phone and laced our fingers together. His forehead pressed against mine and I could feel the tension draining from my skull. I exhaled, squeezing our hands together and thanking every god I could remember that I had Ryou beside me. It didn't spare me my complicated feelings towards Marik, and it didn't stop me from missing Bakura, but neither of those things could dampen the love I felt for Ryou either. I kept kissing the tip of his nose until he couldn't stop giggling.

Ducati finally got tired of playing coy and jumped in between us, demanding attention with a little cry. Ryou laughed again, and scritched the crown of Ducati's head until the cat's signature engine purr was rumbling. The doorbell made Ducati and Diabound scatter, and Ryou got up to get our dinner.

I pushed myself up to sitting. I was a little queasy still, but my stomach was also rumbling and I know if I didn't eat tonight I'd fatigue too quickly when I lifted weights tomorrow, so I smiled and ate the carton of food Ryou handed to me. After a few minutes of meat and rice, I started feeling better, and by the time the container was empty I felt somewhat normal again.

"What do you want to do for the rest of the night?" Ryou combed his fingers through my hair and smiled. "Anything you want. Name it, and we'll do it."

"Kill the Pharaoh and drown the world in darkness."

"If you want, but…" Ryou winked at me. "Who will play Uno with us if we kill Atem?"

"Yeah, I guess we can work on our Monster World campaign. I want a different character."

"Should I kill off your old one so you have an excuse to switch out?" Ryou shifted his eyebrows higher as he asked the question.

I faked batted my eyelashes at him. "Would you dear?"

"Of course. I'll make sure your death is gruesome and unnecessarily brutal."

"You're so cruel." I kissed him. "That's why I love you."

"You're so fun." Ryou kissed me back. "That's why I love you."

"Well you-" I broke my own sentence to kiss Ryou again. "Are also adorable, and that makes me love you even more."

"And you-" Ryou giggled from both the compliments and the kisses, but did his best to speak through the onslaught of both. "Are actually one of the kindest people I know."

"Whatever!"

"It's true." Ryou trailed his kisses to my neck. "You're very patient with people."

"Well I have to be because their stupidity makes me honestly want to break their noses."

"Yes, but you don't. I work in retail; I know how hard that can be."

We both laughed, and teased each other with a few minutes of extra kissing before getting up and gathering up our character sheets and game notes.

"Any hints about what sort of character you're making? Or is it a surprise for all of us?"

"I want the sort of character that I'd like to see in a movie, but never get to," I answered. "I'll let you see my sheet when I'm done writing the biography."