Ryou surrounded us with snacks. We had hot salted popcorn, iced coffee, a huge bowl full of cookie dough with two spoons sticking out, crunchy rice crackers, and two boxes of little chocolate and biscuit shiitake mushrooms. He set up the movie, and transformed the sofa into a nest of blankets and pillows. I found myself sinking into the center of it, wrapped up in a soft, fuzzy blanket with Ryou.
It was cozy, and warm, and…
And I was mentally screaming because I wanted to pull Ryou on top of me and suck the breath from his mouth. For the last two weeks I'd wanted to kiss him. Definitely. My mind wasn't so muddled about it anymore. Kek had been right, when he called me out the morning we brought Ryou breakfast. I had wanted to do it myself, but it would have been hypocritical, so I lied and said I was only bluffing to get one of them to do it instead.
The more RPGs we played, the more we texted, the more photos we swapped (kittens for me, Bakura for him), and duels we played online against each other during nights Bakura and I were at the hotel, the more I realized that I didn't want to go home. I'd miss them. Badly. The kind of ache that you only felt when… you were separated from someone you loved.
I told Bakura that tonight, I was going to ask Ryou if I could try and kiss him again. My plan was to cup his face after the movie, lean in, and whisper the question just out of reach of his lips. Before tonight was over I was determined to kiss him.
"Marik, watch this part. This is it." Ryou grabbed my arm, shaking it a little to make sure I was paying attention.
He was in mismatched pajamas, and his hair was a tangled mess, and the rings around his eyes made him look like a creepy, possessed Slow Loris, but the excitement on his face was endearing. I just wished he didn't look so exhausted.
I watched as Madmartigan snuck into the tent after getting smacked with the dust of broken hearts. Before he could rescue the baby, he wandered over to Sorcsha, whispering that he loved her. A moment later she woke up and put a knife to his throat.
"Now this was my kind of romance."
"Here's the line," Ryou said in an giddy voice.
Madmartigan spoke, "You are my sun, my moon, my star-lit sky. Without you, I dwell in darkness. I love you."
I smiled as I watched. It was amazing… that this was what inspired Bakura to write the note that lured me here. Did he see us in this story? Heh, probably. She was threatening to kill Madmartigan, but he responded by putting her hand on his chest.
"Death next to love is a trivial thing… your touch is worth 100,000 deaths."
"You could use one of my kitchen knives to reenact this scene when he comes home, if you want." Ryou buried himself a little deeper into his blanket.
We set the picked-over snacks onto the floor so we could both slouch on the sofa. I snorted at Ryou's suggestion, shifting a little closer to him on the couch.
"Ryou, no."
"It'd be romantic!"
Before I could respond, I watched Madmartigan fall in the snow while trying to get fancy with his sword play. We both started laughing, leaning against each other even more.
"Oh gods, it is Bakura!" I couldn't help but shout at the ceiling. That detail had sealed it in my mind forever.
It wasn't until Ryou sighed and pressed all the way against me that I realized I'd wrapped my arm around his shoulders when we resituated. I did it to get comfortable, but now we were snuggling and my stomach felt like a giant tank filled with restless, electric eels.
"That was the most important scene, but it's still a nice movie." Ryou yawned, his eyes fluttering shut.
I looked down. Ryou was falling asleep against me. Fairy tales aside, I couldn't kiss him if he fell asleep. I used the hand not holding him to brush a tangle of hair away from his face.
"Ryou?"
"Should I move?" He fought to open his eyes to look up at me, but they still looked glassy.
"I'd rather we stay like this." I reached out and brushed my knuckles across his cheek.
It was as good as I was going to get. He was too tired, and I knew he wasn't going to make it through the movie. I sighed, fucking karma. I made them wait, and now I was the one that had to wait for a better time.
Only I was not one to wait. I tried to lean down to him, to kiss him after all, but he had me half pinned against the couch, and the angle wasn't right. It'd be too sloppy, and I'd probably only catch his cheek or the corner of his mouth.
"I'm sorry." Ryou wrapped both arms around my waist so he could nuzzle against my side. "I'm not very good-" he yawned, "-company tonight. I'm going to try and say no to overtime this week so when we game next Saturday I'll be less tired."
"You better." I poked the tip of Ryou's nose. He giggled, and it was pretty adorable, but I realized that his nose didn't crinkle when he laughed or smiled like Bakura's did- even when he used to wear Ryou like a housecoat. "Without you keeping things in check, Bakura and Kek would run rampant across the nine kingdoms."
"Last time they won the world."
"The entire world?"
"Yes. I was so mad. They got into a game with one of the gods. They rolled three Super Criticals in a row without cheating. It ruined the entire campaign, but you should have seen their faces." Ryou smiled, his eyes closing again as he told the story. "They were so happy- our little kings of the world. Their first decree was to make clothing illegal."
"Sounds about right." I rolled my eyes.
"And then…" Ryou didn't finish the sentence. He inhaled, exhaled, and yawned, before growing heavy against my side again.
"Here." I eased him down so that his head laid in my lap.
"Mmm, Marik… we have to watch the movie," Ryou gave another loud exhale.
"I'm watching it."
And I was, but I'd also steal little glances at Ryou as well. The way his hair scattered around him. The way his hand curled into the blanket, as if trying to hold on. The way his lips parted as his breathing slowed. The temptation was too great. I reached down and ran my fingers through his hair. I'd wanted to for a long time. Since Battle City, actually. All that blessed hair. I worked the tangles out enough so that my fingers could glide through without snagging. Ryou gave a slight hum, and that was the last stand he could make before utterly succumbing to subconsciousness.
I didn't mind the quiet, or watching the movie as Ryou slept in my lap. It was soothing. Perhaps a little too soothing. By the time the movie finished, I didn't want to get up to pick another movie. I used the remote to turn off the TV and closed by own eyes, not really sleeping, but enjoying the calmness in the room, and how soft Ryou's hair was between my fingers.
We stayed that way for perhaps fifteen minutes before the door burst open and our little kings of the world tumbled onto the floor, laughing and all but rolling on the carpet with their arms around each other.
"Shhhhh," I pressed a finger to my lips. "Don't wake up Ryou."
"Shhhhh," Kek mimicked me, only he pushing his finger against Bakura's lips, hovering just over him.
Bakura's eyes lidded. I knew that look, and I smirked as I watched them. Kek kicked the door shut, still stacked on top of Bakura.
"I can tell you guys had fun."
"Our boxer lost." Bakura snorted, but it crumbled into laughter. "So we celebrated with sake bombs!"
"Shhhhhh," Kek repeated, obviously for the excuse to have their lips all but pressed together with only his finger separating them.
It was a little too errotic to watch, and Ryou's weight in my lap wasn't helping at all. I exhaled through my nose, still pouting that Ryou fell asleep.
"How did you night go?" Kek lifted his head up to ask.
"It was nice." I stroked Ryou's hair again. "There are plenty of leftover snacks if you want something."
"Fuuuuck yeah." Bakura wiggled out from underneath Kek so he could army crawl toward the sofa.
"Hey, get back here. I was trying to torment you." Kek pouted.
"But Kek… snacks." He sat up, claiming the bowl of half eaten cookie dough and resting it in his lap and he grabbed one of the two spoons.
"Fine. I'll go say hi to Marik instead." Kek growled, crawling to the couch and climbing onto it, so he could sit at my other side. He dropped his head down to my shoulder. "Damn, you're comfortable. No wonder Ryou fell asleep."
"Sooooo-" Bakura grinned, and I knew what he was going to ask before he said anything else.
"Ryou fell asleep halfway through the movie." I sighed, trying to explain that my little romantic side quest had not been completed.
"Swear the gods hate us," Bakura grumbled into his cookie dough. "How you gonna ruin all my drunken four-way make-out fantasies like that, Marik?"
"How did you just say all those syllables without stuttering?" Kek's head rolled off of my shoulder and dropped into the other half of my lap. His laughter tickled my thigh.
"Easy. Just don't pay attention to the words you say and they come right out." Bakura waved his spoon around like the answer was obvious and Kek was simply being ridiculous. He and I laughed at the statement.
"Don't hog it all- share." Kek pouted as he watched Bakura cram about three cookies worth of dough into his mouth all at once.
"Sorry. It's all mine."
"Technically, it's mine." I nudged Kek with my elbow and winked down at him.
"Okay. Fine." Bakura rose up on his knees to offer me a bit."
I accepted it. The dough was soft from being left out. I loaded up the second spoon and stole it from the bowl, passing it over to Kek.
"Yay!" Kek cheer, sticking his tongue out at Bakura.
Ryou muttered something, rolling over on this other side.
"Shhh." I hushed Kek again.
"Shhhhh." He sat back up so he could push his finger against my lips that time. His other hand held the cookie dough spoon out so it didn't hit the upholstery.
I felt my breath catch when his finger brushed against my lips. He grinned, leaning forward and lidding his eyes. My heartbeat quickened. His lips were parted and he was drawing ever closer until only his finger separated us.
I waited- waited- waited- and then he whispered, "I know what you want, but you have to kiss Ryou before I'll kiss you."
And that fucking asshole. That fucking asshole who knew exactly what he was doing despite being six sheets to the wind, leaned right past me and down. He plucked an upside kiss from Ryou's lips right there in my lap. That fucking bastard!
Ryou sucked in a breath, smiling and muttering. "Ten more minutes, Kek."
"Dammit, Ryou." Kek dropped his forehead against my thigh.
"At least he didn't shove you away this time." I laughed.
Kek offered his spoon to me. "Well then, this is the sweetest thing I can offer you tonight."
"That's been par for the night." I muttered. Still took a bite of the cookie dough, though.
"What movie did you end up watching?" Bakura reached for the remote to turn on the TV. I pulled it away from him.
"Hmmm, I wonder which one we saw? I'll give you a hint, I…" I smiled, I couldn't tease him. He looked too cute on the floor with his hair a wild mess and the better half of his attention focused on chocolate chips. I thought about the movie and my chest swelled as I looked at Bakura. "I love you."
Bakura looked up, a questioning look on his face.
"You're my sun, my moon, my star-lit sky as well, Bakura."
A happy, dopey look spread across his face, but then his eyes widened as he recognized the quote. "You bastards."
"What? What movie was it?" Kek glanced over at Bakura, confused.
"It was Willow," I answered.
"Dammit, Ryou." Bakura was visibly flushed from drinking, but I suspected that part of it was a blush as well.
"Bakura? Are we still on a date?" Kek asked, dropping his empty spoon back into the bowl.
"Yeah, guess so. Technically not over until I go home." Bakura shrugged.
"In that case, do you know what I think?" Kek cackled up at the ceiling.
"What?" Bakura asked, narrowing his eyes at Kek because of the crazy laugh. I decided to sit back and see what Kek was up to.
"Come here and I'll tell you." Kek crooked his finger, daring Bakura to come closer.
Bakura had the look of a man who knew he was walking into a trap, but wanted to see if he could somehow get the treasure at the end of the corridor regardless. He set the cookie dough back onto the carpet and crawled toward Kek.
"I think…No, I know..." Kek licked his lips.
"Yeah?"
Kek grabbed Bakura and pulled him on top of him. Ryou was curled up at one end of the couch. Bakura and Kek were taking up the other end, and I was sitting in the middle- a little buried beneath them all, but it was comforting to be crowded together like we were. Kek squeezed Bakura hard, laughing.
"This couch is big enough for all of us after all. I knew it!"