I rearranged the bowls of chips on the coffee table for the fourth time. I heard a knock, but it was the back door. That meant Jonouchi or Tristan. Of course I was happy to see them, but that wasn't really the reason we invited everyone over. Ignoring the happy chatting coming from the kitchen, I ran my fingers through my hair.
They were late. Of course they were late. It was obvious Marik didn't want to come. I had wanted to talk to him a week ago, but I could tell they were tired from travelling and weren't in the mood for visitors. I'm not sure Yugi's idea of a party was the best method, but then again, maybe a few beers and some games would be a good way to break the tension. I just hoped I'd manage to get him alone long enough to apologize.
A real apology. Not like the first time. Not an empty 'how awful.'
I've been thinking a lot since that day Ryou slapped me and Bakura dragged me to the shower. I really was a royal twat. I never really considered things from anyone's point of view except my own. My friends. My justice. It never occured to me that there could be anything outside of that. Good and evil was black and white, right?
At least, I had thought.
But seeing how much Kek and Bakura had changed over the course of our first year back, it made me feel like they were leaving me behind. Perhaps I could win at any game I play (except Uno… apparently), but they were winning at something more important, and I wanted to chase after them in the same way Jonouchi chased after Seto and I until he became a true duelist.
I've tried, a few times, to apologize to Bakura. Once the day he asked us to start a gaming company with him, and twice over text. Every time, he avoids the topic. I can see that part of him hates me, will always hate me, but things had become oddly… I dare say amiable between us. He keeps muttering about Resurrection Club. So sure, if that's what he wants to call it, instead of friendship, then I'm alright with that.
I was afraid Marik would be just as avoidant. I don't blame them, for not wanting to think about it, but I have to at least try and give him a sincere apology. Entire generations of his family… ruined… for me.
I told myself it wasn't my fault. I didn't ask for it. I would have never asked for that, but that didn't change the fact that my memories were always going to be carved into his and Kek's backs.
"There you are!" Jonouchi busted into the living room, grabbing me, pulling me against his chest, and messing up my hair.
"How's it hanging?" Honda asked.
"Good." I nodded to Honda as I pried Jonouchi's arm away.
"Beer?" Yugi asked as he walked into the living room with several bottles in his arms.
I grinned. "Let's play a game."
"You know I'm always up for a game." Jonouchi grabbed one of the bottles from Yugi's hands and kissed his cheek.
"Yugi, do we have anything stronger?"
"... maybe." Yugi grinned as he ran to the kitchen.
While he was gone, I scanned the pile of older games from the game shop that we kept piled on a extra table behind the sofa. I saw tiddlywinks and decided that would work. Yugi jogged back into the living room with two bottles of whipped cream vodka, but he skipped to a stop and wrinkled his nose when he saw the box in my hands.
"That old game? Really, Atem, you're as bad as Grandpa. Can't we play something more exciting?"
"We're pre-gaming. Whoever wins takes a shot. Everyone else takes a drink of beer."
"You guys should probably know, I was really good at this game as a kid." Honda grinned.
"How hard can it be." Jonouchi grabbed the box and dumped everything out between the bowls of chips.
They set the chips onto the floor before Jonouchi could cause a disaster and sat around the coffee table. I grabbed the green squidger and scooped all the green winks over to my corner of the table. No one managed to land a wink into the pot on the first try, but Honda managed to sink three on his second try.
"I'm remembering how to play." He dishes a steady chip. Jonouchi caught it too hard with his squidger and sent it flying.
Another round and everyone had at least one wink in the pot, but Honda cleared his area at the beginning of the next turn.
"Ha!"
"Here." Yugi poured Honda a generous shot.
I was more eager to win the second game. Planning my shots before making them. As a result I won the second and third games, although Yugi won after that.
The expected knock finally rapped against the door and I volunteered to answer it before chugging my beer. Swinging the door open, I started when I saw a figure draped in white linen and gold. A royal purple cape fluttered in the breeze. I blinked my eyes at the sight. That… looked like the clothes I wore when-
My vodka-slow thoughts caught up with my eyes. I scowled.
"Bakura? Did you steal my clothes?"
That bitch. That damn bitch. He was dressed like me! My crown and everything! That's- That's sacred artifacts! How dare he!
"Who knows? Check the back of your closet where you also keep your lemon magician girl cos-"
"But how did you even get into my closet?" I cut him off before his could finish, flushing.
"I got a little help from the Thief King."
"But-"
"He means me." Ryou slid into view, showing off his blood red cloak and indigo shenti.
"I hate you both." I narrowed my eyes at them, realizing I was going to need more vodka.
They pushed their way inside, Kek and Marik behind them. Marik wore violet leather pants and a black top he'd slashed horizontally to make the cloth look like so much ribbon draping from his copper chest, which was something I imagined Marik wearing to a party, but Kek. I couldn't really figure out what to make of his new look. He had on dark pink corduroy pants and a paler tank top with pink eyeshadow beneath the kohl lines and pink spikes of hair. His hair was about six centimeters shorter, and thinned enough to the spikes feathered out instead of clumping together.
"Oh my god! Look at your hair!" Yugi ran up to hip, hoping and reaching up. "Pick me up! I want to touch it!"
Kek laughed in his boisterous, hearty way, lifting Yugi up in the air like he was a porcelain doll before spinning him around.
Yugi scruffled Kek's hair. "You look like Pink Spider!"
"Oh man, I love X Japan," Jonouchi said.
"Excuse the fuck out of me! I'm dressed up as your precious godsdamned pharaoh over here! You peasants should be polishing my sandals!"
"Those aren't mine." I squinted at the shining gold gladiator sandals with straps that wove up to his thighs. I wished they were mine. I was going to steal them because Bakura was an asshole and stole my stuff first.
"You're just dressed like that for attention," Honda said.
"Ha! He called your ass out!" Jonouchi finished his beer.
"Fuck you both!"
"You should have told us you were dressing up. We could have made this a costume party." Yugi gave Kek's new hair a few last scrunches before Kek set him down. "We're playing tiddlywinks for shots. Want to play? Or should I just fix drinks to help you catch up?"
"The Pharaoh wants a beer!" Bakur announced into the room.
"The Pharaoh needs a kick in the ass," I muttered.
"I've been saying that for 3,000 years." Bakura smirked in response.
"I'll go steal some beer from the kitchen." Ryou flourished his robe and headed toward the kitchen.
"That's nothing like me," Bakura complained.
"Oh right, sorry. Pun-pun-punny-pun-pun-pun-and~" Ryou spun, shot Bakura with both his fingers before vanishing into the kitchen.
"Wow. His impression of you is spot on, Bakura- or should I say pharaoh?" Yugi giggled.
The vodka made that funnier than it should have been, and I was doubled over laughing. Bakura grumbled something and dropped onto the easy chair. Kek ran up, lifted me in the air, and spun me around next. I shrieked, but I wasn't afraid of him anymore- just surprised. He ran toward the table with a fierce grin on his face, but Honda and Jounouchi pointed at the same time and told him no, so he dropped down the the floor and stared at the colored chips scattered around the table.
"How do you play?"
"Like this." Honda shot five winks into the pot.
"Let me try." Kek grabbed all the pink chips and tried to sink one, but it only flipped to it's other side. The next one landed in Jonouchi's lap. A third bounced off of the rim of the pot.
"That one was close," Yugi said.
"This… is not Uno, and I hate it." Kek overshot a fourth time.
"Who wants beer?" Ryou burst into the living room with his arms loaded with bottles.
"I do!" Bakura raised his hand into the air.
Ryou snorted and avoided him, passing bottles to everyone around the table, and then Yugi and myself. Only then did he toss a bottle toward Bakura.
"You get a bottle of piss, asshole."
My mouth dropped a little, but Bakura only laughed.
"Did you bring one for me?" Marik asked.
He stood apart from the others. His pair was casual enough, but I got the vibe that he'd rather be somewhere else.
"Sorry, I thought you- here have mine." Ryou offered the last bottle in his hands to Marik.
"I'll go grab one." Marik shrugged and wondered to the kitchen.
I figured that would be my best chance, so I dashed after him. I stopped, mouth dropping a little when I saw Marik chugging an entire beer down in one huge swallow.
"Uh, we have vodka for shots?"
"That's okay." Marik gasped, out of breath from chugging his beer in one gulp. "I don't drink that often, so I'd rather stick to beer."
"Is that why Ryou didn't bring you anything?"
Marik nodded.
"Nervous?" I asked.
"Not really," Marik said, opening a second beer, but only holding it.
"Oh."
Well… this was getting off to a good start. I don't know how to segue from small talk to a real conversation, and Marik was being intentionally difficult. I suppose a direct attack would be best. Me acting coy would only prolong the awkwardness already between us.
"It's me. I get it, but there's something I have to say before I leave you alone."
"What do you mean?" Marik asked if he really didn't know.
"You don't want to see me because I remind you of…" I stared down. I needed another beer myself. "Everything."
I walked as fast as I could to the fridge to grab a beer and then hurry to the other side of the kitchen. I didn't want to stand too close to Marik. It would probably make him feel more uncomfortable than he already was.
"Yeah… you do," Marik mumbled. He exhaled, it was almost a growl. Marik paced behind the island counter in Yugi's kitchen. "It's not your fault. It's just- now that you're back-" Marik shook his head, gesturing with his hands because he couldn't quite find the right words. "It's like there's an invisible expectation for me to do something hanging over my head. And I know it's imaginary. You moved on. We did our job. You coming back was between you and the gods, and had nothing to do with the tomb keepers, but still it's like my skin is crawling with some hidden fate, and this is all going to crash down, and I'll be buried alive again. Fuck. I hate it." Marik stopped, resting his hands on the counter and slumping forward.
"I'm sorry you feel that way." I picked at the beer label with my thumb nail. "And I understand why you would, but if anything, I should be doing something to help your clan- not the other way around.
"We're fine." Marik huffed a single, weary laugh. "It's the rest of the world that's struggling. That's why it took me so long to get here after everyone came back."
"I heard. It's amazing, what you do. I'm glad someone's…" I shook my head. "Out there doing a better job than I did."
"I hate to say it, but somebody had to stop Bakura from being an idiot, otherwise Zorc would have destroyed everything. You did what you were supposed to. We all did, really."
"I wanted you to know… I'm sorry." I tore a strip of the label away from my beer, tapping my foot. "I'm sorry. Damn, it doesn't sound right. I mean- I felt bad, during Battle City, when I saw your back, but I felt bad in a… superficial way? It never sank in, exactly what it meant for you, your family, your clan."
"None of the Item holders tended to be adept with empathy," Marik said, but then he smiled. "Except Yugi and Ryou. They seem to be the exception to that rule."
"But it's different now. I'm not a king or a god. Egypt doesn't need a pharaoh, it has a… prime minister?"
"A president." Marik chuckled.
"Yes, a president, and few believe in the old gods anymore, so now I'm…" I shrugged. "Atem."
Marik walked up to me, he stretched out his hand with only the slightest hint of sarcasm in his smile. "Hi, Atem, I'm Marik."
I accepted the offered hand, mirroring his grin. "Nice to meet you."
We both jerked our heads as shouting burst from the living room.
"Uh oh, we left all our idiots in the other room with only Yugi and Ryou to supervise them," Marik said. "Better go make sure they're not destroying any furniture."
We rushed into the living room and-
WHERE DID THEY GETS SWORDS?!
"You vile fiend! How dare you insult my court with your lowly presence!" Bakura stood on the coffee table pointing what looked like a stage sword at Ryou.
"Don't lose your head over it, Kingy- actually, stay still. I'm trying to chop of your head." Ryou winked and licked his blade.
"You've brought mayhem to Kemmet for the last time! Prepare yourself! Our final battle is now!" Bakura cartwheeled off of the table and struck.
I flinched, but Ryou blocked the blow and then side stepped. Yugi, Tristan, and Jonouchi were on the couch, so Malik dropped down the the chair Bakura had sat in earlier. I stood in place, a little anxious for Ryou, although he was handling himself pretty well.
"You're right. This will be our final battle. And when the dust clears- I'll be wearing that shiny crown of yours." Ryou winked.
Bakura parried Ryou's thrust. "Evil can never defeat good!"
"Ha! That's cute! Did your wet nurse tell you that bedtime story when she tucked you in last night?"
I could help but laugh at that, but the sound of metal ringing out still set my teeth on edge.
"Yugi?"
"It's okay." Yugi waived with his hand. "They're from an old cosplay. They probably won't hurt themselves."
"Probably." Jonouchi laughed.
"But Ryou doesn't know how to sword fight!" I protested.
"Sure he does. We took classes later in high school because neither of us liked the gym coach," Yugi said.
"And look at him. He's holding his own. Bakura's not going to hurt him," Marik chimed in.
Ryou cleared this throat, drawing everyone's attention back to their skit.
"As I was saying- your treasure belongs to the people, how dare you hoard it for yourself!"
"You don't want to share it with the people. You want it for yourself!"
"Hey, I'm people, too!"
"This is why Egypt can't have nice things. Because thieves like you ruin everything!" Bakura shouted as their swords clashed.
"No, because kings ruin everything!"
They ground their swords together, and snarled at each other. I leaned against the wall, shaking my head. We didn't sound that bad when we'd fought. I figured Ryou was going to stab Bakura, just so Bakura could give me a long, painful, and most likely embarrassing death.
"Wait!" Kek slid down the stair banister. He ran between them, pushing them far enough away from each other to prevent them from striking with their swords. "You can't do this!"
"Who's this jackass?" Ryou smirked. It sent a shiver down my spine. He was really good at acting like Bakura when he wanted to. I'm glad he didn't cut his hair as well. I'd be having flashbacks if that were the case.
"He's my faithful court bard," Bakura answered.
"Ancient Egypt didn't have bards!" I called out at them.
"Shhhh- I want to see how this ends." Yugi pressed a finger to his lips.
I rolled my eyes.
"Don't you see," Kek continued, resting his hands on his heart. "You're not fighting because you hate each other… you're fighting… because… you love each other."
Jonouchi and Honda leaned back on the couch, laughing their asses off. Honda held his stomach, and Jonouchi slapped his knees. Maybe I was laughing a little, too. Maybe I was also blushing a little. Bakura's so fucking dumb.
"Ha! As if a pharaoh could ever love a scoundrel like me." Ryou half turned, allowing the robe the slip down one shoulder before sending a coy- yet somehow still facetious- glance over said bare shoulder. "Regardless of how incredibly sexy, witting, charming, charismatic, dexterous, brilliant-"
"Just kiss already!" Jonouchi cupped his hands around his mouth like a megaphone.
"What you say is true." Bakura knelt down to one knee. "You, oh glorious King of Thieves! Are the sexiest, wittiest, most charming, most charismatic, most-"
"For the love of the gods, Bakura. If we wanted to watch you stroke yourself for our amusement, we would have handed you a bottle of lube." Marik snorted from his upholstered throne.
Bakura shrugged. "Your eyes are like opals! Your hair- moonlight! Battle cannot make my heart pound near as hard as a glance of your lips. I- hey!"
"Yoink!" Kek stole the crown from Bakura's head and fixed it to Ryou's head instead.
"Ha! I win! You suck, Pharaoh!"
"Betrayal!" Bakura shrieked. "My bard and my thief in league against me! I offered you my love and you only wanted my crown!"
"I never pretended I wanted anything more from you." Ryou smacked Kek's ass. "Come, minstrel, carry me to the throne room where I shall ravage you to celebrate me becoming the new pharaoh."
"Taking a piece of metal off a guy's head and putting it on your own is definitely how overthrowing a monarchy works, so I see no problems whatsoever with this plan despite the fact that the palace is still full of guards and priest loyal to your enemy." Kek lifted Ryou into his arms and moved to carry him out of the living room.
"Thief! Wait!" Bakura toppled over, from one knees to both hands and knees. He clutched his chest with his left hand. "You think you've stolen my crown, but what you truly stole was… my heart. You may think yourself kind to leave me here unbloodied by your sword, but you should know that you've killed me even so." Bakura collapsed.
"He finally shut up!" Honda clapped.
"Ryou, if this is how it ends I'm not sharing any of my vodka with you," Yugi scolded.
I crossed my arms over my chest. I knew they were going to kill me. Not that I wanted an imaginary version of me living happily ever after with Bakura, but I was still mad that their skit was going to end tragically.
"He's dead," Kek said. "I thought betraying him would at least spare both your lives, but I was wrong." Kek set 'Thief King Ryou' to his feet.
"It's not your fault. I should have known a heart that gentle could not survive being broken." Ryou knelt beside Bakura, lacing their fingers together and using his free hand to brush Bakura's unscarred cheek. "Suddenly, this crown has grown too heavy to wear.
Ryou tore it from his hair and fixed it back onto Bakura. Kek knelt on his other side, holding his other hand.
"I come from a far away land, and when I was a child, I heard tales the the kiss of one's true love can call them back, even from the clutches of death."
"But which one of us would it be?"
"I do not know." Kek shook his head.
"There's only one way to find out." Ryou brushed his lips against Bakura's, but nothing happened. Ryou's face dropped. "It didn't work, you should try."
Kek bent low, plucking a delicate kiss from Bakura's unresponsive lips, but Bakura still lay on the floor. I couldn't even see his chest move to breath.
"I don't understand." Kek shook his head. "One of us should have brought him back."
Yugi jumped up from the couch. "You idiots have to do it at the same time!"
That was a little too much for them. They all broke out into a small giggle, even Bakura's face cracked a grin for a moment before 'dying" again. Kek raised his arms into the air.
"I have heard the gods speak! And they have given their wisdom. The pharaoh's heart was two big for a single true love. We must combine our strength- only then may he be revived."
"Then let's us try."
Ryou and Kek lowered down. I realized I was holding my breath, but I couldn't stop myself as I waited for their three-way kiss to end.
Bakura gasped.
He sat up and stared at them.
"You both… brought me back to life? Why?"
"We realized that a king's heart is worth more than his crown." Ryou rested his hand on Bakura's chest. "And if you're still willing to give it to us-"
Kek finished the sentence. "We swear on our own lives to treasure it always."
Bakura twined his fingers with their again, one hand for each of them. When he spoke, his voice sounded raw and emotional.
"It's already yours."
The froze in place. By the stillness I could tell that was the end. Everyone clapped except Marik, but his face was an ear to ear grin. Jonouchi whistled. I hid my face in my hands, cheeks hot against my palms. We should have just stuck to tiddlywinks.