"No, cross the strip over. Yeah, better. Pull a little tighter."
I was trying to learn how to braid hair. Ryou's hair was so gorgeous, and I wanted to braid some of our flowers into his hair before we left for the airport.
"How the hell do you have the patience for dozens of these damn things. We're not even done with one yet and I want to take an hatchet to Ryou's hair."
"Not unless you want to sleep outside, you wouldn't." Ryou jerked his head to shoot me a peeved look.
"Don't move! You're going to knock out the dahlias."
"You just threatened to cut my hair with a hatchet!"
"I wouldn't really." I laughed as Bakura fixed the flowers.
"Are you getting the hang of it yet?" he asked.
"I think so."
"Let me see." Marik crawled over to the foot of the bed and poked his head between our shoulders. "You look good, Ryou."
"Thank you, Marik."
I'd bet money that if I could see Ryou's face he'd be blushing. His sunburn had faded to a dark pink, so his cheeks still looked permanently flustered, but I got them to grow even darker this morning when I fed him orange slices during our breakfast.
"Done." I tied the tip of Ryou's hair as Bakura stuck one last sprig of lavender in the band.
"I'm going to take a picture." Marik pulled out his phone, snapping a few shots.
"May I see?" Ryou reached out his hand. He stared at the picture for a moment, smiling. "It's lovely. Thank you, Kek."
"Hey, what about me?" Bakura shouted.
"Thank you, Bakura." Ryou kissed the tip of Bakura's nose.
We all chuckled at the cute, scrunchy face Bakura made when Ryou kissed him.
"Don't expect me to carry any of your suitcases." Bakura snorted.
"But Bakura." Ryou fluttered his white lashes at him. "I'm still sore from my sunburn."
"Okay, fine! I might help carry one bag."
"Psh, don't strain yourself." I snorted. "I'm strong enough to carry them all at once."
"Or we can just load them onto the cart we used to bring them up." Marik shook his head.
It was the usual chatter as we walked down to the lobby. No one mentioned any noise complaints, so either the hotel had good walls, or we got incredibly lucky. I grinned at the memories of Marik's and Bakura's screams. After checking out, we piled into a cab and drove to the airport. Bakura sat in the front seat, leaving Ryou squished between myself and Marik. My imagination instantly jumped to what Ryou would look like nakedand squished between us. His pale arms slung over my shoulders, mouth straining in a wide O.
I squirmed a bit, figuring it'd be better to wait until we were on the plane before I let my imagination run that wild. Trying to distract myself, I took out my phone and flipped through my own pictures- mostly the cats.
"Miss them?" Ryou asked as he glanced at my phone screen.
"Yes. I'm going to give them double treats when I get home."
"Give Diabound VII triple treats for barfing in Atem's shoe." Bakura laughed.
"It'll be good to see them more often. I don't want Kek becoming their favorite." Marik shot a teasing glance at me as he said the words.
"Too late. I'm already their favorite. They know who spoils them the most."
"It's going to be more competitive with me around more often," Marik said.
"I look forward to the challenge."
"You know…" Bakura peeked over the cab seat. "If you both want to compete for my attention as well- I'm all for it."
My reply wasn't fit for public, so- to spare the cab driver- I texted Bakura on our group chat. Only if you sit in my lap and purr for me.
He glanced over the seat again and winked, making me grin. The rest of the ride to the airport was uneventful. We boarded Marik's ridiculously fancy jet and relaxed in the plush seating. I closed my eyes and titled my head back, no reason not to nap on the trip back to Domino. Ryou rested his head on my left shoulder and Marik on my right.
"Why am I everyone's pillow?" I asked, a slight grin tugging at the corners of my mouth.
"Because you're broad and fun to snuggle." Ryou nuzzled against my shoulder.
"Because you're warm," Marik answered.
"Hey, I want in on this." Bakura sat on Marik's other side. He stretched out across Marik's lap and rested the side of his head against my thigh.
My fingers found their way into his hair, stroking the soft threads of it. They reminded me of cornsilk, and I spend the rest of the flight trying to remember when I'd ever felt cornsilk before. It must have been some half-forgotten memory of Marik's, or something that lingered from his time tampering with the Ghouls' minds, because I knew I'd never shucked corn in my own lifetime. All too soon Bakura was having to sit back up as we were ready to land.
I was excited to get back home, to my own bed, my own kitchen, my own bathroom. Our apartment wasn't near as nice as the hotel suite Marik had selected, but it was home and I'd pretty much spent my entire life there, so it was comfortable. I guess I'd have to get used to a new place once we moved into a bigger apartment, but for today- I just wanted to grab all my kittens and flop on our sofa.
Couldn't help tapping my foot almost the entire ride home. I grabbed most of the luggage before Bakura and Marik could fight over it and rushed to the elevator that would get us to our unit. Ryou walked ahead of me with suitcase in his hand, leaving his other hand free to unlock the door.
"Oh hi guys! I'm glad you made it back safely. How was your trip? I see you got a lot of sun, Ryou."
I had to bit back an angry groan when I saw Yugi on the couch with my cat in his lap and Atem beside him playing duel monsters on his phone. What the hell were they doing here? I knew they were going to feed the cats, but what were they doing here right now?
Ugh.
They're fine. Hell, at this point it'd probably be accurate to say they were our friends instead of just Ryou's, but I couldn't faceplant on the couch with them sitting on it. I had to really contain myself to not snap at them just for existing. Roll will save versus rage.
Ryou, on the other hand, had no such issues. His face lit up when he saw Yugi and he dropped the suitcase so he could sit beside him and scruffle Asshole behind the ears.
"It was great. I have seashells. I'll probably add them to a diorama eventually." Ryou laughed and pressed his own hands to his cheeks. "You should have seen me yesterday. It was twice as bad, but Marik let me borrow some of his oils and they helped a lot."
That smooth little fuck. They way he casually mentioned it, as if we didn't have him begging with ice-cubes pressed against his skin before that point, was pretty sexy to listen to.
"You can get it with just the vegetables!"
I could hear Bakura shouting with Marik's voice right behind them.
"No, you don't get it. Those broths always have meat in them. A little dashi is fine, but I don't want pork fat floating on top of my ramen."
They appeared with the last of the luggage, ignoring us while they continued to argue.
"But that's what makes it so delicious. Marik, why are you like this?"
"Why are you like this? Why do you always have to have the melted fat from an animal corpse dripping down your face three times a day?"
"Clearly, you're forgetting fourth meal and second breakfast."
"You can't just make up meals to be facetious."
"I can too, but someone else made those up. I really shouldn't steal the credit for them." Bakura smirked at his own lame-ass Thief King joke.
"There you are." Yugi stood up, interrupting their - let's face it, their foreplay. "Marik, have you been hiding from me?"
For the swiftest half of a second I could see in Marik's eyes that he was as pissed off about people being in our house as I was. It was nice to know that I had allies in the subtle war of social niceness. Bakura was probably on our side too, but more than anything he looked indifferent. Marik's anger didn't fully register on his face, however, in an instant he put on his brightest "Namu" smile.
"Of course not, Yugi. Sorry, I know I've been in town awhile, but I've been sort of busy."
"You could say I stole all of his time." Bakura purred.
"Two thief jokes in a row? You're losing your edge, Bakura." Atem spoke up, eyes still glued to his phone.
"It's going to be really hard to flirt with Seto during a card game once I shove that phone up your ass," Bakura said.
That made Atem jerk his head up. "Who said anything about-"
"You obviously were." Yugi laughed, but then steered the conversation back toward Marik. "Well, I'm glad you're not hiding from me, then, because I wanted to invite you to a party. It's been years since you've been in Domino. We should catch up."
"Oh, that's sounds… nice, but- uh, you see- we need to look for an apartment, and I have some work to do, and-"
"Sure we'll go." Bakura answered with a grin. A suspiciously sweet one. I didn't trust it.
"We will?" Marik frowned at him.
"Sure we will. I mean, it's been years, and we all have such good memories. Like when you tried to drown Yugi. I remember it fondly!"
"You weren't even there." Yugi shook his head as if that were the only thing wrong with what Bakura just said.
"You're right. I wasn't. I was in the hospital- because those were such good times."
"You were in the hospital." Ryou snorted.
"Anyway, if you really don't want to…" Yugi gave half a pause, looking like a kicked puppy.
"It's fine. Sure we'll go," Marik said, but he hugged himself as he said it.
I don't think it was Yugi he was avoiding- but Atem. In any case, Marik looked like he wanted out of the situation. What was I for if not for helping Marik get out of situations he didn't want to be in? I dropped all my luggage, scooped him up, and carried him towards the kitchen, clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth to signal the cats that it was time for an extra treat.
"Kek! What are you doing?" Marik shouted.
"You need to help me feed the cats."
They chased after me as I spoke. Asshole leapt at me and clung to my pants leg like always. Ha! Yugi can take my couch, but he can't have my boyfriends or my cats.
"But why are you carrying me?"
"To show off my incredible biceps to Bakura and Ryou. Obviously."
Look, I didn't earn twelve levels as a Bard in hardly no time because I was bad at flirting.
"You can't argue with that logic," Bakura said as he walked over to the couch and sat on the arm furthest away from the others.
I set Marik down as soon as we were in the kitchen and grabbed two cans of cat food and the can opener. Asshole jumped onto the counter before I could even open the first can. I scooped him up and dropped him into the nest of my hair.
"Dammit, you know better. Ryou will eat you if he sees you on his counter."
"I appreciate what you were trying to do, but I'm fine." Marik leaned against the fridge, arms still hugging himself.
I divided each can into two dishes and balanced them all at once toward the mat we kept on the floor where the regular kibble sat. Hamyaa scurried down to mewl with the others as I set the dishes down. I watched them fight for their favorite spots. Ducati and Diabound wouldn't budge, insisting on the first dish, so they ended up growling at each other as they shared while Jason and Hamyaa raced to finish their own dishes. I would have mentioned the similarities between Marik, Bakura, and their cats, but I knew he wanted a response to what he was saying instead.
"I know you were fine, but you weren't happy."
"I… don't want to fake a smile and pretend like everything is 100% perfect. I don't hate Atem, but…"
"Then you and Bakura should go on a date, and Ryou and I can go."
"No." Marik shook his head, looking around the kitchen as he worked out his thoughts. "It's… fine."
"Marik."
"The Pharaoh moved on. He's back, but I did what I was supposed to do, and his return doesn't change that." Marik gestured with his hands. "I'm not underground anymore, and he didn't kill- well, we know that- so there's no reason I should avoid Yugi's party just because… of…" He shook his head, as if he wasn't sure what he wanted to say despite the fact that he needed to say it.
"You okay?" Bakura walked into the kitchen, coiled his arms around Marik's waist, and leaned his head against Marik's sternum.
"Of course." Marik smiled, returning Bakura's embrace.
"Would it make you feel better if I stabbed someone?"
"It's not yourself, is it?"
"Hey, I love you, so you get to choose who I stab." Bakura grinned although his face was half buried against Marik's body.
"I'll take a raincheck for now."
"They're gone." Ryou entered the kitchen with the rest of us. "Marik, are you okay?"
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?"
"He doesn't want to go," I answered Ryou's question instead of Marik's.
"That's not true. I want to go. But I. Don't. Want to. Deal. With…" Marik exhaled, slumping against Bakura. "It's hard to explain."
"He's not the Pharaoh anymore," Bakura whispered. "Does that make sense?"
"I know what you're trying to say but…" Marik sighed.
"I mean literally. I got to choose his passcode at Kaiba corp. He's not a pharaoh- he's a pretty nile princess."
Marik broke into peals of laughter. He planted a single kiss onto Bakura's forehead and combed his fingers through his hair.
"You going to wear your sexy boots to the party, Bakura?"
"Actually." Bakura chuckled, break away from Marik to give us each a sly look. "I just got a great idea of what to wear for the party."