Chapter 1- Shelter
"Ryou…"
Oh…where was he? Somewhere warm…nn…but there was his name, coming from the hazy shadows, trying to wake him. But he didn't want to…he was so tired…
"Ryou!"
Perhaps if he opened his eyes, it would stop…it was worth a try. So slowly he did, eyelashes fluttering until a blur of colors appeared before him. Tan…gold…lavender…and then it solidified, and quite suddenly the blur of colors was now shaped much like a very confused Malik Ishtar. He was with Malik. But why…the memory was as slow to return to him as his consciousness had been. When finally he made sense of his location, he managed a weak smile and closed his eyes once more with a faint murmur.
"M…Malik…I'm…sorry to have troubled you…" This was met with a snort of disbelief, the egyptian unable to concieve that even the ever-polite Ryou could pick this time and occasion to apologize. The boy had showed up at his door almost an hour ago, soaking wet and scarcely still on his feet; and then, even that didn't last long. Ryou had collapsed straightaway and would have fallen hard to the front step if not for Malik's quick reflexes. With a little help from Ishizu, he had brought the fragile youth inside and dried him off some; Ryou now was able to figure out most of this from his unexpected position---laying down on the Ishtars' couch, with Malik kneeling in front of him. And now what could he say? It was just like the pale boy to apologize…and just like Malik to have no response to what struck him as a fairly absurd statement. Relief from the awkward silence came in the form of Ishizu, returning from where she had been in the kitchen, mug of steaming hot chocolate in hand.
"It's no trouble at all, Ryou-kun. Here…if you can sit up, drink this, it'll warm you up." Oh, that chocolate smelled good…slowly the eyes that bore the same hues as that drink opened once more, but all of a sudden sitting up seemed easier said than done. Seeing the boy's struggling movements, Ishizu glanced over to Malik and made a quick gesture with the hand not holding the mug. She received only a blink at first, then Malik looked curiously at Ryou and somewhat hesitantly moved to his side. In a series of actions very unfamiliar to him, he hooked an arm around his smaller companion's shoulders and tentatively helped him to sit. Still exhausted, too weary to think better of it or question whether this would be received well, Ryou let out a soft sigh and leaned heavily against Malik, leaving the egyptian ever more bewildered. Holding someone, supporting someone, these just weren't things he did. Closeness with anyone had never been part of his life, unless the brotherly bond he once held with Rishid counted. Right now, he wasn't sure he liked it, this feeling of tired human weight nestled against him. It seemed as though the position could have held some comfort, if there was warmth to it…but Ryou was still freezing cold, from the snow-white hair brushing Malik's neck to the little feet that had been stripped of their soggy cotton socks much earlier. And so Malik could do little but look to his sister for some aid, some guidance as to what to do in such a situation. His instinct, in any other case, would have been to make some cruel remark and push Ryou away, but the more he thought about it…when he had caught Ryou as he fell upon the steps, that had been instinct as well. He may not have known why the slender boy had shown up at his door and now leaned upon him, but there had to be a reason, and Malik wouldn't turn him away until he at least found out what it was. Besides…and as he thought further, his more practical mind took over…this was Ryou. Bakura's hikari. If he could take care of him for the moment, the dark-eyed yami would be in his debt. This thought was particularly appealing, so for now Malik would play the friend to Bakura's little puppet. It wasn't a hard game, much like the one he had played before the Battle City tournament under his masquerade as Namu, when he…odd…when he had supported Ryou much as he did now. This was passed off as one of those funny coincidences as the head rested on his shoulder lifted and the wide brown eyes blinked kittenlike up at him.
"…Malik…" Offering a hint of a smile down to Ryou, Malik reached to take the mug from his sister and once more offered it to him.
"Drink. It's warm." He needed no second encouragement; in the blink of an eye the shaky hands had wrapped around the mug and were lifting it to soft lips, lips that had faded in color from ice blue to a slightly pinker shade since he had been brought inside. The warmth of the chocolate was a shock to his taste and sent a shiver down his spine. He coughed weakly, lowering the mug for a moment to catch his breath, and Malik responded with a light pat on the back. "Careful…take it slow, Ryou." The gentle words were as sharply unexpected as the heat of the drink, and once more those eyes blinked over at Malik.
"I…" What could he say? Ishizu had seated herself gracefully on the back of the couch, and here was Malik, holding onto him and offering him kindness…it had been a dream, a fuzzy idea when he ran to this place, but to think of it actually happening almost made him blush. Malik didn't really strike him as the warm type, but here he was…and he was in no mood to question it. Another shaky sip of the still steamy cocoa sent waves of warmth through him, and after a while of silently drinking he was able to come up with words for the ones offering all this help. "Thank you, Malik-san, Ishizu-san…I don't mean to be a burden…" Ishizu gave a shake of her head and a smile as warm as the offered chocolate.
"You're not a burden at all, Ryou-kun. Drink up, and---is something wrong?" Ryou's eyes had gone slightly wide, as he now looked down to find himself in a pair of rather loose-fitting jeans and a sweatshirt that was baggy, soft…and not at all striped. Following his gaze, Ishizu laughed softly and reached down to finger the hood on the gray sweatshirt he now wore. "It's Malik's…your clothes were completely soaked, you'd have gotten sick if we left them on you." There was a part of Ryou that was surprised, above anything else, by the idea that Malik owned something that was neither lavender nor skimpy, but this part was pushed to the side as he realized that in order to get into this outfit, his own had at some point been removed. Now he –was- blushing, whether he liked it or not, and Malik just sighed and looked elsewhere. The two of them had agreed…or rather, Ishizu had agreed…that Malik would handle that particular task, being of the same gender as the one having his clothes taken off. At the moment, he'd very much like to think of something other than that, other than Ryou's tiny frame clad in almost nothing…He coughed quietly and quickly changed his train of thought to a more benign topic: continuing his act as a friend and taking care of the boy until his yami came to claim him.
"How are you feeling? You look whiter than usual." Ishizu shot him a very interesting glare at this remark, but Ryou just nodded slowly, "I'm…cold, that's all. Thank you for the use of these clothes…I suppose it was rather stupid of me to run out in the rain that way…." Then he sneezed, a cute mousey little squeak that was soon followed by a second and a third. Malik's expression of concern grew momentarily more sincere as he looked Ryou over, "…Is that all? You sound sick." Oh, now he was being a burden, just as he had feared…he didn't want to be sick, he hadn't intended to catch anything…although as he had said, it hadn't exactly been his plan to go out in such weather. And now, if he got sick, Malik and Ishizu would have to take care of him…and Bakura…Bakura wouldn't be happy at all…He shivered once more, from his thoughts of the yami as much as from the chill that refused to leave his body. Feeling the tremble, Malik hesitantly allowed the arm around the cold boy's shoulders to pull him slightly closer, and Ryou showed his surprise for only a moment before closing his eyes once more and eagerly welcoming the warmth the other was providing. Still uncertain about the closeness, Malik shot a glance to his sister in hopes of getting some hint as to what came next, but found no answers and so took to idly stroking Ryou's shoulder.
After a long while of silence, of this awkward embrace, Malik went to ask Ryou for details regarding his arrival there, only to be greeted with…more silence. It didn't take long to figure out that the small British boy had fallen asleep again, and now Malik would allow himself the mildly irritated sigh he had been holding in for quite a while.
"Now what do we do with him? I'm surprised Bakura hasn't come after him by now." Ishizu smiled in her infuriatingly knowledgeable way and raised a finger to her lips, tilting her head in a gesture towards the sleeper.
"Shhh…Ryou needs his rest now. I'm sure he's sick…just look at him, even he shouldn't be that pale. His lips, the tips of his fingers…they're still practically blue. Shall I go put him in bed…or would you prefer to do it?"
Now what in the hells was that supposed to mean, 'would he prefer to'? As though he had a reason to be the one carrying Ryou to the bedroom…or wait, had she realized what he was up to? Yes…the better he cared for the boy, the more his yami would owe for the services. He couldn't let Ishizu take all the credit. And so he nodded, hooking his other arm beneath Ryou's knees and carefully lifting him. All the way to his own bed he carried the little one, dropping him with a soft thump. Amazing. That had to be the most fragile-looking boy he'd ever seen in his life, especially as he was, in clothes that didn't quite fit and curled up shivering that way. How helpless he was…a thought occurred to him and he leaned down, rearranging the obliviously unconscious Ryou and tucking the blankets around him. He had to stay warm; the longer he looked on, the more he agreed with Ishizu's statement that the boy didn't seem well. Nudging a pillow to rest beneath the feather-down hair, Malik straightened again and stole another, slightly sympathetic glance down at his sleeping companion before walking back out to the living room, where Ishizu had taken a mug of the chocolate for herself and now sat on the couch sipping it.
"You tucked him in? That was nice of you." Malik eyed her a moment, then shrugged and looked back to the bedroom.
"I'm not being 'nice'. Bakura should be here for him soon." When no answer greeted him, he paused and looked once more to Ishizu, a brow perked. "…Won't he?" His sister had nothing to say, then, and Malik found himself cursing her cryptic nature once more as she continued to calmly sip away at her cocoa. The rain danced over the house, Ryou slept, and Malik was once more left to his thoughts.
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(A/N: Not much to say, I suppose. See? Nice long chapter. Or…longer, at least, than the prologue. ^-^ So what do you think?)
