Last chapter, finally. Oh look, it's almost July and it's only Boxing Day.
Ahem.
For those who are disappointed because of how this ends, there's two more fics following it.
WARNING: Slight angst, but not really.
Comments to reviews at the end of chapter.
- - -
Tis The Season
Warnings: Christmas angst. AU. No death ^_^
Pairings: I'm sure you know by now.
/ thoughts /
*italics*
- - -
Chapter Seventeen
Lavender eyes watched the plain white van, dirty with the winter's conditions, pull into his driveway. He was nervous, and Malik just wanted the feeling to go away. He'd never really had someone so close before, actually living with him. The place was big enough though, so hopefully that would give Bakura the space he'd need...
A yawn interrupted his thoughts and he rubbed at his eyes as they teared up.
"Did you not sleep last night?" Rishid questioned from beside him, awaiting their guests. The older man was looking forward to meeting the ones who had restored Malik's lost smile.
Malik only shook his head as he held up a very stuffed envelope. "No. I had to write this for Duke before I chickened out." He explained softly. "I have to meet him in a few minutes too...I hope they don't mind." He motioned toward the slowing vehicle.
Rishid only smiled, "I'm sure I can show them to their room while you're away. I'm sure they will understand."
Malik sighed and ran a hand nervously through his hair, "I hope so." He muttered as he moved away from the front door and toward the exiting passengers.
"Mawik!" Ryou cried out as the small boy ran to him. Instantly all signs of anxiety were gone and Malik was able to chuckle as he picked up the excited boy and hugged him, "Do we weawwy get to wive wit' you?" He asked after squeezing Malik's neck tightly.
Beaming with his own excitement Malik grinned, "Yeah...if you want." He replied, glancing over at Bakura for the last part.
Bakura, for his part looked stunned as he stared up at the house. "You live here?" He questioned, moving to where the Egyptian and his brother stood.
"Unfortunately." Malik muttered softly as he watched the stunned teen continue to stare. "It's too tacky for my tastes and way to big and empty. I hope you guys don't get lost." He shrugged, uncomfortable with the size of the house. Though...maybe it wouldn't be so bad now.
Having come back to reality by the tone of Malik's voice, Bakura turned to look at him. "Did you offer or did Linda ask?" He wondered gruffly, raising an eyebrow in question.
Malik shrugged as he toyed with the letter in his hand as he shifted Ryou slightly. "Linda mentioned that the staff would be stressed so I offered..." He explained, hoping that it didn't anger the other teen. He had been trying to be nice, had he been wrong?
There was a tense moment – at least tense for the Egyptian – of silence, then, "Thanks." Bakura's answer caused Malik to look up and blink in surprise. He really hadn't been expecting that. Bakura's brown eyes turned to lay on Ryou and the harshness immediately melted within them. "We've never...nobody's ever gone out of their way for us." He began to explain, and at this he turned to look at Malik again, "And I don't mean to insult you, but it's surprising."
Malik understood what Bakura meant. They weren't used to kindness, and Malik could admit that he wasn't used to being so outwardly kind either. "You're welcome." He said after a moment, "Both of you can stay for as long as you want. It's not like you'd be taking up much space." He rolled his eyes, causing the corner of Bakura's mouth to twitch in amusement.
"I shall attend to your bags." Rishid cut in suddenly, "Then I shall show you and Ryou to your rooms while Malik goes on an errand." The older man smiled gently as he ruffled Ryou's hair. "You shan't be too long, shall you Malik?" He asked, giving Malik his excuse to leave.
Rishid, what would I do without you? Malik thought as he glanced at his watch, "An hour at the most. Sorry for ditching you when you just got here. We actually weren't expecting you right now." The Egyptian shrugged meekly as he looked at Bakura for a reaction, but the other teen just nodded in understanding.
Linda chuckled, "That's because Ryou wanted to go to the hospital as soon as he got up this morning." She said, bringing over a box. "Now, shall we get you guys unpacked? I'm sure Ryou wants to explore – oh, and before I forget, Bakura Dr. Andrews added something to your list of strenuous activities." She bit her lip, knowing that Bakura was not going to like what she was about to say. She'd purposely waited until they had witnesses too.
"What's that?" Bakura wondered, sick of all the restrictions that were being placed upon him.
"You aren't allowed to carry or pick up Ryou." Linda said quickly and before Bakura could protest she continued, "You can hold him while you're sitting down, but as light as he is, it's better to be safe, alright?" She looked at the teen.
Malik could easily tell that Bakura was not happy with this new predicament and Ryou was pouting slightly too. He wanted to say something that would hopefully make the two feel better, but he had no words to say at all.
"Yeah fine, whatever." Bakura muttered angrily as he shouldered the bag that was on his back, noticeably clenching the strap in his hand.
"Good." Linda was relieved. That had gone over well.
"I'll gonna leave now so I'll be back sooner." Malik announced breaking the silence, setting Ryou down beside his brother. "When I get back there's one more Christmas present you guys have to open." Bakura remembered Linda's letter.
With a wave goodbye, Malik sprinted toward the garage where his motorcycle was housed. The snow had melted off the streets and it was safer now to ride the machine and Malik wasn't going to let this chance slip by. Quickly, he straddled the seat and turned on the ignition. With one press of a button on his key chain, the garage door opened and he sped out into the street.
The world melted away into a blur of colours and the only sound to reach Malik's ears was the wind rushing past him and the dull roar of his bike. He'd missed this sense of freedom, even though he'd only been grounded for about a month because of the snow.
He didn't have to think, he could just feel and like this, out in the open, racing at high speeds, he didn't have to feel anything that all.
Except he could feel that pesky envelope in his pocket...
As soon as he'd finished the letter, he'd called Duke and asked him to meet him at a small café they sometimes visited during the summer. He had refused to tell Duke why they needed to meet, but Duke had promised to come nonetheless.
It took Malik fifteen minutes to reach the café and as soon as his eyes spotted Duke's car, his heart beat faster as anxiety set in, all thoughts of freedom gone. Parking the bike just in front of the black mustang, Malik hopped off. He took a moment to compose himself, trying to calm his nerves before entering the building.
Inside it smelled like coffee and fresh donuts, which was the usual smell. It was familiar and did it's job at calming the Egyptian. Duke was sitting in their usual corner as the blonde entered. Both boys liked this place because it was always quiet and the booths were private. A lot of people came there to talk because it wasn't easy for someone to overhear.
The dark-haired boy was sitting with his back to the door, so Duke hadn't noticed that Malik had entered. He was too busy trying to figure out what was going on to pay too much attention. He only lifted his eyes when Malik sat down beside him.
Jumping for he'd been startled, Duke blinked as he stared at the sudden appearance of his friend. "Wow, you look like shit." He said a few seconds later after realizing that it had been Malik sitting down.
The Egyptian pouted slightly, "Thanks a lot." Malik muttered, "I was up all night..." He looked down at the table, yawning as if to emphasize a point.
"Doing what?" Duke raised an eyebrow as he took in the other's appearance. The pale lavender eyes were slightly bloodshot and dark circles sat under said eyes.
His question was followed by an empty quietness that blanketed them, then, "Thanks for coming." The Egyptian changed the subject so suddenly that Duke became suspicious.
The dark haired boy noticed how nervous Malik seemed, it wouldn't have been obvious to a normal onlooker, but Duke knew Malik, and he let it slide. "You knew I'd come, I wouldn't say no when it sounded so important." Duke confirmed, wishing the other wouldn't look so scared.
"You'd have come anyway. Because I asked you to." Malik pointed out, knowing that Duke would do anything for him.
Duke sighed and nodded, "Yeah, you do have me wrapped around your little finger you know. Between you and Yugi, I have my hands full." He tried to joke, but didn't even get a smile from the Egyptian. "So...what did you need to see me about?" Duke wondered, curious about what Malik had wanted. And keeping his curiosity in check had never been Duke's strong point.
"This." Malik pulled out a thick envelope that had been safely tucked away inside his jacket. Now, he placed it on the table for Duke to take. "I wrote it last night." He muttered, trying to stifle a yawn.
Ignoring the envelope for the time being, Duke blinked, studying his friend, "Is this why you were up all night?" He sighed when Malik nodded, "Did you sleep at all?" He gently wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders and pulled an unresisting Malik toward him so the exhausted teen could lean on his shoulder.
"No." Malik shook his head slowly, the soft strands of gold tickling Duke's neck, "I finished it about an hour ago and as soon as I was done I called you before I could chicken out. Bakura and Ryou just arrived before I left so I haven't had the chance to sleep yet." He mumbled tiredly.
"What could be so important?" Duke demanded, slightly worried, though about what he didn't quite know. He unconsciously tightened his hold on his friend as he rubbed his hand along the length of Malik's arm.
The blonde nibbled on his bottom lip in decision. He could still back out...take the envelope and run...but then, what good would that do? "Remember when I said that one day I'd tell you all about me?" He asked softly, not looking at Duke but still staring at the table.
"Yeah..." Duke prompted, it was a little hard to forget confessing your love and not having it returned.
Malik motioned toward the envelope. "It's all in there. If you want to know, take it and read it, but please wait until I'm gone." He turned and looked up at Duke this time and the Canadian had to wince at the kicked puppy dog look. "I don't want to be around when you find out everything. And promise me you'll call when you're finished."
At this Duke rolled his eyes, "You still need me to call? Malik, if you were to commit murder and needed someone to help you hide the body, you know I'd be there in a heartbeat." He slowly reached out and took a hold of the letter.
Malik smiled slightly, "I know but...just in case. Just call me and tell me if it's the end or not. That's all I ask."
Sighing to himself Duke finally agreed, promising to call even though he knew their friendship would never be over.
Before Malik could get up, Duke grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him into a kiss. The kiss lasted but a minute and it wasn't anything special, but Malik would hold that kiss within his memory for as long as he could because of what it meant. A part of them had just ended, like Malik throwing away his defensive, part of his relationship with Duke was gone now, it meant goodbye.
"I'll always love you Mak, you're my friend first, remember that." Duke whispered against Malik's lips.
"Love you too." Malik promised and pulled away, smiling softly he got up and exited the café. Once outside he took a few deep breaths, trying to fill the slight emptiness that had begun to grow within his breast.
By the time Malik had reached the house, Duke had already started the letter.
Having the entire trek to the room that had been set up for Bakura and Ryou to compose himself, Malik forced himself to focus on the days to come with the two brothers. He was looking forward to it and a small smile crossed his lips and he grew slightly excited.
Finally, he reached the room. It had been a rather large room purposely picked from the first floor. Linda had explained Bakura's condition and they had looked for a room with easy access to almost everything. It was the closest room to the dining room (even though Malik had never actually eaten within the hall) and a connecting room had been converted into a type of living room for the two brothers so it didn't seem like they were confined to their room. There was also a bathroom equipped with everything one would need right across the hall.
From behind the door Malik could hear the familiar giggle of the little boy who'd captured his heart and a smile crept to his lips as he heard it. The Egyptian knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Rishid was the one to open the door (he'd been carrying some of the heavy boxes in), and Malik stepped in. Ryou had been jumping on the bed while Bakura unpacked their stuff into one of the dressers that had been brought in before.
"Mawik!" Ryou giggled as he bounced one last time, this time off the bed and right into Malik's arms as the Egyptian drew nearer to him.
"Ryou!" Bakura scowled lightly, then turned to continue putting away what little they had.
Ryou didn't seem too fazed at his scolding but he did look apologetic. Malik could only smile and ruffle his hair; "I used to jump on my bed all the time too." He whispered to the child, causing Ryou to giggle.
"Did youw big bwotha' yeww at you too?" Ryou titled his head curiously.
Malik chuckled at the memories – inwardly surprised at his reaction. Usually when he thought about Isis or Marik or his father, he couldn't laugh even at the good memories. "No, Marik would always jump with me, then Isis would yell at us." Malik revealed, causing everyone in the room to smile – even Bakura.
"Yes," Rishid began, "Master Marik is an interesting person."
Malik sobered some and everyone easily saw the change, "Yeah..." The Egyptian cleared his throat, "Anyway, when you're done unpacking there's this business of your last present." He reminded them, just as Bakura finished with the last box.
"Yay!" Ryou cheered as he was set on the floor. "What is it?" He wondered as Bakura took his hand and they exited the room.
Malik grinned, "You'll just have to wait and see. We put it in the back yard for now. Hopefully Anubis didn't mind."
"Anubis?" Bakura raised an eyebrow at the Egyptian.
"Yeah." Malik shrugged, "I named him after my guardian."
Smirking at the idea Bakura chuckled, "Won't your god be offended about having a dog named after him?"
"Ah, he'll get over it." Malik grinned as they made their way to the back of the mansion. They came to a set of beautifully placed glass sliding doors with carved wooden siding (and though Malik really had no idea, he was sure his mother would have enjoyed them). Of course when they entered the 'backyard' Bakura found himself impressed.
"Whose garden?" He wondered, eyeing all the flowers and plants that seemed to be running the entire expansion of area.
"Mine." Malik shrugged innocently, "My mother loved flowers and plants." He explained as he walked down the steps of the patio they were standing on. "Anubis!" Malik called and there was an answering bark. Somewhere in the maze of trees and plants a body emerged and the dark brown mass quickly attacked Malik, pushing the Egyptian to the ground.
Barking happily, Anubis finally got off and sat down as his master got up and brushed himself off. Malik tapped the dog's nose, "You had better not greet Ryou or Bakura like that." He threatened softly, "Or I'll have you neutered again." Anubis lowered his head and whined softly. Malik only smiled and shook his head, "Well, go greet Ryou and say hello to Bakura." He patted the pup's head and Anubis barked as he jumped up and ran up the steps toward the two brothers.
Rishid raised an eyebrow while watching this. Maybe Anubis wasn't so dumb after all.
"Anoobees!" Ryou giggled as the puppy sniffed at his face and licked at his hands as the little boy attempted to pet the excited creature.
When he was done saying hello to the child, Anubis moved over to Bakura and started to sniff his feet. Wagging his tail, he looked up at the new teen and began panting. Getting down to the animal's level, Bakura pet the pup's back.
Satisfied that Anubis wasn't going to injure either of his new friends, Malik turned toward the garden, put his thumb and index finger in his mouth and whistled loudly. There was a little bit of rustling by one of the bushes and suddenly a form appeared and waddled over to Malik.
The form – another dog of course – was a deep rich brown, darker than Anubis and it was smaller and more slender.
"Anotha' puppy." Ryou looked at Bakura and grinned; Bakura could only answer him with a smile of his own as Anubis ran back to his playmate.
Lifting the baby up, Malik carried the dog over to the two brothers, Anubis followed on his heels as if to make sure Malik wasn't hurting it. Sitting down so Ryou could see, Malik showed him the puppy dog. "She's a chocolate lab." He explained, mostly to Bakura since Ryou probably didn't care about the differences of dogs.
Ryou immediately got down on his knees and pet the puppy's small head, "What's hew name?" He wondered, giggling as she nipped at his fingers.
Malik smiled at the child as Bakura also sat down, wary from so much standing. "She doesn't have a name yet." He explained, "She's yours, you should name her."
"Ouws?" Ryou looked confused for a moment, then realized that this was their Christmas present. "Weawwy? We get ouw own puppy?" He gasped unable to believe in.
Malik nodded, "Yep. Linda knew how much you wanted one so she went out and bought it for you. She was actually bought about two months ago, but she wasn't old enough to be taken away from her mommy." He let the puppy go and she instantly crawled over to Bakura and plopped down in his lap. Ignoring the surprised look on her 'master's' face, she yawned and closed her eyes, falling asleep within moments.
Malik shot an excusing glare at Anubis, "You wore her out already!" He was met with large puppy eyes as Anubis curled up beside him and also yawned, showing how he was tired from the day's adventure.
"Well..." Bakura spoke up, looking at his brother. "What are you going to name her?" He wondered, petting the sleeping puppy on the back – carefully trying not to wake her up.
Ryou seemed to think. He wanted her to have a great name! Not just a name like every other dog. He turned to the Egyptian, "Mawik, who is Anoobees named afta?" He wondered.
As he played with Anubis' ears Malik smiled, "An Egyptian god."
"Are there giwl gods?" The boy wondered.
"There are goddess'." Malik nodded, having a feeling he knew where this was going. Not that he minded at all, he thought it was sweet.
"Ejyptian goddess'?" Ryou asked and when Malik nodded again he grinned, "What awe some of theiw names?"
Malik tugged at Anubis' ear as the puppy began to chew on the bottom of one of his human's pant legs. "Well, there's Ammit, Bastet...but she was a goddess of cats...um, Hathor, Ausaas, Sekhmet...Selket and Nephthys and-"
"That one!" Ryou declared suddenly, startling everyone and waking the sleeping hound. "Neffthyess." He picked.
Malik smiled, "Nephthys it is then." He watched the puppy go back to sleep, burying her face into Bakura's stomach to hide out any noise. "You know...the goddess Nephthys was Anubis' mother in ancient belief."
Ryou giggled at that as he looked at Anubis, "She can baby-sit you!" At that the puppy made a moaning sound, not liking that idea at all.
Malik smiled as he tapped Anubis on the nose and his gaze wandered over to where Bakura was sitting silently, gently petting Nephthys. His smile softened as he realized how content the other teen looked, just watching the animal sleep.
Briefly, Malik wondered when the last time Bakura had been able to relax was. It didn't really matter though, there would be plenty of time to now and Malik would make sure Bakura did some relaxing.
The Pharaoh growled playfully and jumped on Malik for the nose tap. Anubis prompted Ryou into the game and the three of them quickly moved to the grass so they wouldn't disturb Nephthys or her master.
As the fun and games went on and a warmth, yet rare laugh floated in the air, a lone figure standing by the back door smiled at the scene in front of him, thanking every god and goddess he knew by name for bringing back that laugher and playfulness.
Knowing now that everything would turn out, and that Malik had found happiness, Rishid turned and went inside.
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The End
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NOTES:
I actually didn't mention this before and I should have, Pharaoh Hounds are described to be a light brown colour, though I have my Anubis as being dark brown. I like him being different, that's all. (He's also 'The Pharaoh' here.)
Whistling with your thumb and index finger: I wish I could do that.
My dog is more human than dog. It's hard to explain, but I'll try. He gets jealous of everyone who comes near me, he won't even let my own mother hug me (whenever we do, he tries to get in between us, he won't attack anyone or anything like that though.). He does things for spite too, if he doesn't get his own way with something. Also, when he knows he's done something wrong, or when he wants something he gives his victim these big puppy dog eyes. He's almost three years old damn it!...and it still works every time.
Ammit - Devouress of the Dead. Those who believe that Ammit is a 'god' think again, SHE is a godDESS.
Ausaas - The wife of Harakhti, one of the manifestations of Horus.
Bastet – Goddess of Cats
Hathor – Goddess of too many things. (Depends if you want the original Egyptian goddess, or the Egyptian-turned-Greek goddess.)
Sekhmet – Goddess of War, Vengeance and Chaos
Selket – Goddess of Scorpions and Magic
Please note the goddess Isis wasn't mentioned for obvious reasons.
COMMENTS:
Kira-Kura – I was hoping for the 'warm and fuzzy' feeling with Ryou under the Christmas tree, glad it worked for someone ^_^ and Malik Muse is trying.
Elle-FaTe2x1 – I love horror/suspense movies myself (besides comedy and anime, that's all I'll watch) but I found that Ghost Ship had too much gore to be a horror movie. It was just gross.
Kyrene (once Blood Roses – I'm pretty sure I'm disliked by a lot of people because this story didn't end with Malik confessing his past to Bakura after they'd had a night of hot sex, but...that's what prequels and sequels are for ^_^. I seem to remember you being the one to ask why Malik had confessed his secrets yet...
Monkey Muffin – I get those sometimes too, but with my computer it depends which server I'm using (either Explorer or Netscape). I checked over the chapter and nothing showed up on my screen. And yes, someone really did drive through my workplace. Through our nicest window too. Ah well, less tables to clean.
Shori Musei – See, there's an underside to Yugi and Ryou's relationship that I'm not sure many people caught. I think I'm going to plan something for the sequel so everyone knows what I'm talking about. But before that, I'll finish the prequel. Too many projects and too little inspiration...
Yami Yami Yugi – Pictures of naked Malik please! ^_^ No deaths. Except one in the prequel but that's kind of obvious since she's been dead since the beginning of this fic too! Promise, Malik, or any other important character will die.
To Everyone:
That's it. Well, not completely, but for this story it is. I'm not really sure I like the ending, but then I keep remembering that it's not really the end. Originally I did have it planned so that Malik would confess to Duke about his past and everything, or to Bakura, but then it didn't seem right. I mean, Malik wants to keep Duke in his life and he'll do what it takes to do that. And he practically just met Bakura – I mean, talk about an overload for our poor tomb robber.
And I think the story was drawn out long enough (seeing as how I think a lot of people lost interest around chapter ten if not sooner.)
The prequel will be Duke/Malik and OC/Malik (but the OC is a male, not a Mary Sue and he's far from perfect...trust me. Just giving everyone whose interested a heads up.)
I'll try to have it out soon, I've started it, just need to read through this fic and figure a few things out with my time line.
For those who are disappointed because of how this ends, there's two more fics following it.
WARNING: Slight angst, but not really.
Comments to reviews at the end of chapter.
- - -
Tis The Season
Warnings: Christmas angst. AU. No death ^_^
Pairings: I'm sure you know by now.
/ thoughts /
*italics*
- - -
Chapter Seventeen
Lavender eyes watched the plain white van, dirty with the winter's conditions, pull into his driveway. He was nervous, and Malik just wanted the feeling to go away. He'd never really had someone so close before, actually living with him. The place was big enough though, so hopefully that would give Bakura the space he'd need...
A yawn interrupted his thoughts and he rubbed at his eyes as they teared up.
"Did you not sleep last night?" Rishid questioned from beside him, awaiting their guests. The older man was looking forward to meeting the ones who had restored Malik's lost smile.
Malik only shook his head as he held up a very stuffed envelope. "No. I had to write this for Duke before I chickened out." He explained softly. "I have to meet him in a few minutes too...I hope they don't mind." He motioned toward the slowing vehicle.
Rishid only smiled, "I'm sure I can show them to their room while you're away. I'm sure they will understand."
Malik sighed and ran a hand nervously through his hair, "I hope so." He muttered as he moved away from the front door and toward the exiting passengers.
"Mawik!" Ryou cried out as the small boy ran to him. Instantly all signs of anxiety were gone and Malik was able to chuckle as he picked up the excited boy and hugged him, "Do we weawwy get to wive wit' you?" He asked after squeezing Malik's neck tightly.
Beaming with his own excitement Malik grinned, "Yeah...if you want." He replied, glancing over at Bakura for the last part.
Bakura, for his part looked stunned as he stared up at the house. "You live here?" He questioned, moving to where the Egyptian and his brother stood.
"Unfortunately." Malik muttered softly as he watched the stunned teen continue to stare. "It's too tacky for my tastes and way to big and empty. I hope you guys don't get lost." He shrugged, uncomfortable with the size of the house. Though...maybe it wouldn't be so bad now.
Having come back to reality by the tone of Malik's voice, Bakura turned to look at him. "Did you offer or did Linda ask?" He wondered gruffly, raising an eyebrow in question.
Malik shrugged as he toyed with the letter in his hand as he shifted Ryou slightly. "Linda mentioned that the staff would be stressed so I offered..." He explained, hoping that it didn't anger the other teen. He had been trying to be nice, had he been wrong?
There was a tense moment – at least tense for the Egyptian – of silence, then, "Thanks." Bakura's answer caused Malik to look up and blink in surprise. He really hadn't been expecting that. Bakura's brown eyes turned to lay on Ryou and the harshness immediately melted within them. "We've never...nobody's ever gone out of their way for us." He began to explain, and at this he turned to look at Malik again, "And I don't mean to insult you, but it's surprising."
Malik understood what Bakura meant. They weren't used to kindness, and Malik could admit that he wasn't used to being so outwardly kind either. "You're welcome." He said after a moment, "Both of you can stay for as long as you want. It's not like you'd be taking up much space." He rolled his eyes, causing the corner of Bakura's mouth to twitch in amusement.
"I shall attend to your bags." Rishid cut in suddenly, "Then I shall show you and Ryou to your rooms while Malik goes on an errand." The older man smiled gently as he ruffled Ryou's hair. "You shan't be too long, shall you Malik?" He asked, giving Malik his excuse to leave.
Rishid, what would I do without you? Malik thought as he glanced at his watch, "An hour at the most. Sorry for ditching you when you just got here. We actually weren't expecting you right now." The Egyptian shrugged meekly as he looked at Bakura for a reaction, but the other teen just nodded in understanding.
Linda chuckled, "That's because Ryou wanted to go to the hospital as soon as he got up this morning." She said, bringing over a box. "Now, shall we get you guys unpacked? I'm sure Ryou wants to explore – oh, and before I forget, Bakura Dr. Andrews added something to your list of strenuous activities." She bit her lip, knowing that Bakura was not going to like what she was about to say. She'd purposely waited until they had witnesses too.
"What's that?" Bakura wondered, sick of all the restrictions that were being placed upon him.
"You aren't allowed to carry or pick up Ryou." Linda said quickly and before Bakura could protest she continued, "You can hold him while you're sitting down, but as light as he is, it's better to be safe, alright?" She looked at the teen.
Malik could easily tell that Bakura was not happy with this new predicament and Ryou was pouting slightly too. He wanted to say something that would hopefully make the two feel better, but he had no words to say at all.
"Yeah fine, whatever." Bakura muttered angrily as he shouldered the bag that was on his back, noticeably clenching the strap in his hand.
"Good." Linda was relieved. That had gone over well.
"I'll gonna leave now so I'll be back sooner." Malik announced breaking the silence, setting Ryou down beside his brother. "When I get back there's one more Christmas present you guys have to open." Bakura remembered Linda's letter.
With a wave goodbye, Malik sprinted toward the garage where his motorcycle was housed. The snow had melted off the streets and it was safer now to ride the machine and Malik wasn't going to let this chance slip by. Quickly, he straddled the seat and turned on the ignition. With one press of a button on his key chain, the garage door opened and he sped out into the street.
The world melted away into a blur of colours and the only sound to reach Malik's ears was the wind rushing past him and the dull roar of his bike. He'd missed this sense of freedom, even though he'd only been grounded for about a month because of the snow.
He didn't have to think, he could just feel and like this, out in the open, racing at high speeds, he didn't have to feel anything that all.
Except he could feel that pesky envelope in his pocket...
As soon as he'd finished the letter, he'd called Duke and asked him to meet him at a small café they sometimes visited during the summer. He had refused to tell Duke why they needed to meet, but Duke had promised to come nonetheless.
It took Malik fifteen minutes to reach the café and as soon as his eyes spotted Duke's car, his heart beat faster as anxiety set in, all thoughts of freedom gone. Parking the bike just in front of the black mustang, Malik hopped off. He took a moment to compose himself, trying to calm his nerves before entering the building.
Inside it smelled like coffee and fresh donuts, which was the usual smell. It was familiar and did it's job at calming the Egyptian. Duke was sitting in their usual corner as the blonde entered. Both boys liked this place because it was always quiet and the booths were private. A lot of people came there to talk because it wasn't easy for someone to overhear.
The dark-haired boy was sitting with his back to the door, so Duke hadn't noticed that Malik had entered. He was too busy trying to figure out what was going on to pay too much attention. He only lifted his eyes when Malik sat down beside him.
Jumping for he'd been startled, Duke blinked as he stared at the sudden appearance of his friend. "Wow, you look like shit." He said a few seconds later after realizing that it had been Malik sitting down.
The Egyptian pouted slightly, "Thanks a lot." Malik muttered, "I was up all night..." He looked down at the table, yawning as if to emphasize a point.
"Doing what?" Duke raised an eyebrow as he took in the other's appearance. The pale lavender eyes were slightly bloodshot and dark circles sat under said eyes.
His question was followed by an empty quietness that blanketed them, then, "Thanks for coming." The Egyptian changed the subject so suddenly that Duke became suspicious.
The dark haired boy noticed how nervous Malik seemed, it wouldn't have been obvious to a normal onlooker, but Duke knew Malik, and he let it slide. "You knew I'd come, I wouldn't say no when it sounded so important." Duke confirmed, wishing the other wouldn't look so scared.
"You'd have come anyway. Because I asked you to." Malik pointed out, knowing that Duke would do anything for him.
Duke sighed and nodded, "Yeah, you do have me wrapped around your little finger you know. Between you and Yugi, I have my hands full." He tried to joke, but didn't even get a smile from the Egyptian. "So...what did you need to see me about?" Duke wondered, curious about what Malik had wanted. And keeping his curiosity in check had never been Duke's strong point.
"This." Malik pulled out a thick envelope that had been safely tucked away inside his jacket. Now, he placed it on the table for Duke to take. "I wrote it last night." He muttered, trying to stifle a yawn.
Ignoring the envelope for the time being, Duke blinked, studying his friend, "Is this why you were up all night?" He sighed when Malik nodded, "Did you sleep at all?" He gently wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders and pulled an unresisting Malik toward him so the exhausted teen could lean on his shoulder.
"No." Malik shook his head slowly, the soft strands of gold tickling Duke's neck, "I finished it about an hour ago and as soon as I was done I called you before I could chicken out. Bakura and Ryou just arrived before I left so I haven't had the chance to sleep yet." He mumbled tiredly.
"What could be so important?" Duke demanded, slightly worried, though about what he didn't quite know. He unconsciously tightened his hold on his friend as he rubbed his hand along the length of Malik's arm.
The blonde nibbled on his bottom lip in decision. He could still back out...take the envelope and run...but then, what good would that do? "Remember when I said that one day I'd tell you all about me?" He asked softly, not looking at Duke but still staring at the table.
"Yeah..." Duke prompted, it was a little hard to forget confessing your love and not having it returned.
Malik motioned toward the envelope. "It's all in there. If you want to know, take it and read it, but please wait until I'm gone." He turned and looked up at Duke this time and the Canadian had to wince at the kicked puppy dog look. "I don't want to be around when you find out everything. And promise me you'll call when you're finished."
At this Duke rolled his eyes, "You still need me to call? Malik, if you were to commit murder and needed someone to help you hide the body, you know I'd be there in a heartbeat." He slowly reached out and took a hold of the letter.
Malik smiled slightly, "I know but...just in case. Just call me and tell me if it's the end or not. That's all I ask."
Sighing to himself Duke finally agreed, promising to call even though he knew their friendship would never be over.
Before Malik could get up, Duke grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and pulled him into a kiss. The kiss lasted but a minute and it wasn't anything special, but Malik would hold that kiss within his memory for as long as he could because of what it meant. A part of them had just ended, like Malik throwing away his defensive, part of his relationship with Duke was gone now, it meant goodbye.
"I'll always love you Mak, you're my friend first, remember that." Duke whispered against Malik's lips.
"Love you too." Malik promised and pulled away, smiling softly he got up and exited the café. Once outside he took a few deep breaths, trying to fill the slight emptiness that had begun to grow within his breast.
By the time Malik had reached the house, Duke had already started the letter.
Having the entire trek to the room that had been set up for Bakura and Ryou to compose himself, Malik forced himself to focus on the days to come with the two brothers. He was looking forward to it and a small smile crossed his lips and he grew slightly excited.
Finally, he reached the room. It had been a rather large room purposely picked from the first floor. Linda had explained Bakura's condition and they had looked for a room with easy access to almost everything. It was the closest room to the dining room (even though Malik had never actually eaten within the hall) and a connecting room had been converted into a type of living room for the two brothers so it didn't seem like they were confined to their room. There was also a bathroom equipped with everything one would need right across the hall.
From behind the door Malik could hear the familiar giggle of the little boy who'd captured his heart and a smile crept to his lips as he heard it. The Egyptian knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. Rishid was the one to open the door (he'd been carrying some of the heavy boxes in), and Malik stepped in. Ryou had been jumping on the bed while Bakura unpacked their stuff into one of the dressers that had been brought in before.
"Mawik!" Ryou giggled as he bounced one last time, this time off the bed and right into Malik's arms as the Egyptian drew nearer to him.
"Ryou!" Bakura scowled lightly, then turned to continue putting away what little they had.
Ryou didn't seem too fazed at his scolding but he did look apologetic. Malik could only smile and ruffle his hair; "I used to jump on my bed all the time too." He whispered to the child, causing Ryou to giggle.
"Did youw big bwotha' yeww at you too?" Ryou titled his head curiously.
Malik chuckled at the memories – inwardly surprised at his reaction. Usually when he thought about Isis or Marik or his father, he couldn't laugh even at the good memories. "No, Marik would always jump with me, then Isis would yell at us." Malik revealed, causing everyone in the room to smile – even Bakura.
"Yes," Rishid began, "Master Marik is an interesting person."
Malik sobered some and everyone easily saw the change, "Yeah..." The Egyptian cleared his throat, "Anyway, when you're done unpacking there's this business of your last present." He reminded them, just as Bakura finished with the last box.
"Yay!" Ryou cheered as he was set on the floor. "What is it?" He wondered as Bakura took his hand and they exited the room.
Malik grinned, "You'll just have to wait and see. We put it in the back yard for now. Hopefully Anubis didn't mind."
"Anubis?" Bakura raised an eyebrow at the Egyptian.
"Yeah." Malik shrugged, "I named him after my guardian."
Smirking at the idea Bakura chuckled, "Won't your god be offended about having a dog named after him?"
"Ah, he'll get over it." Malik grinned as they made their way to the back of the mansion. They came to a set of beautifully placed glass sliding doors with carved wooden siding (and though Malik really had no idea, he was sure his mother would have enjoyed them). Of course when they entered the 'backyard' Bakura found himself impressed.
"Whose garden?" He wondered, eyeing all the flowers and plants that seemed to be running the entire expansion of area.
"Mine." Malik shrugged innocently, "My mother loved flowers and plants." He explained as he walked down the steps of the patio they were standing on. "Anubis!" Malik called and there was an answering bark. Somewhere in the maze of trees and plants a body emerged and the dark brown mass quickly attacked Malik, pushing the Egyptian to the ground.
Barking happily, Anubis finally got off and sat down as his master got up and brushed himself off. Malik tapped the dog's nose, "You had better not greet Ryou or Bakura like that." He threatened softly, "Or I'll have you neutered again." Anubis lowered his head and whined softly. Malik only smiled and shook his head, "Well, go greet Ryou and say hello to Bakura." He patted the pup's head and Anubis barked as he jumped up and ran up the steps toward the two brothers.
Rishid raised an eyebrow while watching this. Maybe Anubis wasn't so dumb after all.
"Anoobees!" Ryou giggled as the puppy sniffed at his face and licked at his hands as the little boy attempted to pet the excited creature.
When he was done saying hello to the child, Anubis moved over to Bakura and started to sniff his feet. Wagging his tail, he looked up at the new teen and began panting. Getting down to the animal's level, Bakura pet the pup's back.
Satisfied that Anubis wasn't going to injure either of his new friends, Malik turned toward the garden, put his thumb and index finger in his mouth and whistled loudly. There was a little bit of rustling by one of the bushes and suddenly a form appeared and waddled over to Malik.
The form – another dog of course – was a deep rich brown, darker than Anubis and it was smaller and more slender.
"Anotha' puppy." Ryou looked at Bakura and grinned; Bakura could only answer him with a smile of his own as Anubis ran back to his playmate.
Lifting the baby up, Malik carried the dog over to the two brothers, Anubis followed on his heels as if to make sure Malik wasn't hurting it. Sitting down so Ryou could see, Malik showed him the puppy dog. "She's a chocolate lab." He explained, mostly to Bakura since Ryou probably didn't care about the differences of dogs.
Ryou immediately got down on his knees and pet the puppy's small head, "What's hew name?" He wondered, giggling as she nipped at his fingers.
Malik smiled at the child as Bakura also sat down, wary from so much standing. "She doesn't have a name yet." He explained, "She's yours, you should name her."
"Ouws?" Ryou looked confused for a moment, then realized that this was their Christmas present. "Weawwy? We get ouw own puppy?" He gasped unable to believe in.
Malik nodded, "Yep. Linda knew how much you wanted one so she went out and bought it for you. She was actually bought about two months ago, but she wasn't old enough to be taken away from her mommy." He let the puppy go and she instantly crawled over to Bakura and plopped down in his lap. Ignoring the surprised look on her 'master's' face, she yawned and closed her eyes, falling asleep within moments.
Malik shot an excusing glare at Anubis, "You wore her out already!" He was met with large puppy eyes as Anubis curled up beside him and also yawned, showing how he was tired from the day's adventure.
"Well..." Bakura spoke up, looking at his brother. "What are you going to name her?" He wondered, petting the sleeping puppy on the back – carefully trying not to wake her up.
Ryou seemed to think. He wanted her to have a great name! Not just a name like every other dog. He turned to the Egyptian, "Mawik, who is Anoobees named afta?" He wondered.
As he played with Anubis' ears Malik smiled, "An Egyptian god."
"Are there giwl gods?" The boy wondered.
"There are goddess'." Malik nodded, having a feeling he knew where this was going. Not that he minded at all, he thought it was sweet.
"Ejyptian goddess'?" Ryou asked and when Malik nodded again he grinned, "What awe some of theiw names?"
Malik tugged at Anubis' ear as the puppy began to chew on the bottom of one of his human's pant legs. "Well, there's Ammit, Bastet...but she was a goddess of cats...um, Hathor, Ausaas, Sekhmet...Selket and Nephthys and-"
"That one!" Ryou declared suddenly, startling everyone and waking the sleeping hound. "Neffthyess." He picked.
Malik smiled, "Nephthys it is then." He watched the puppy go back to sleep, burying her face into Bakura's stomach to hide out any noise. "You know...the goddess Nephthys was Anubis' mother in ancient belief."
Ryou giggled at that as he looked at Anubis, "She can baby-sit you!" At that the puppy made a moaning sound, not liking that idea at all.
Malik smiled as he tapped Anubis on the nose and his gaze wandered over to where Bakura was sitting silently, gently petting Nephthys. His smile softened as he realized how content the other teen looked, just watching the animal sleep.
Briefly, Malik wondered when the last time Bakura had been able to relax was. It didn't really matter though, there would be plenty of time to now and Malik would make sure Bakura did some relaxing.
The Pharaoh growled playfully and jumped on Malik for the nose tap. Anubis prompted Ryou into the game and the three of them quickly moved to the grass so they wouldn't disturb Nephthys or her master.
As the fun and games went on and a warmth, yet rare laugh floated in the air, a lone figure standing by the back door smiled at the scene in front of him, thanking every god and goddess he knew by name for bringing back that laugher and playfulness.
Knowing now that everything would turn out, and that Malik had found happiness, Rishid turned and went inside.
- - -
The End
- - -
NOTES:
I actually didn't mention this before and I should have, Pharaoh Hounds are described to be a light brown colour, though I have my Anubis as being dark brown. I like him being different, that's all. (He's also 'The Pharaoh' here.)
Whistling with your thumb and index finger: I wish I could do that.
My dog is more human than dog. It's hard to explain, but I'll try. He gets jealous of everyone who comes near me, he won't even let my own mother hug me (whenever we do, he tries to get in between us, he won't attack anyone or anything like that though.). He does things for spite too, if he doesn't get his own way with something. Also, when he knows he's done something wrong, or when he wants something he gives his victim these big puppy dog eyes. He's almost three years old damn it!...and it still works every time.
Ammit - Devouress of the Dead. Those who believe that Ammit is a 'god' think again, SHE is a godDESS.
Ausaas - The wife of Harakhti, one of the manifestations of Horus.
Bastet – Goddess of Cats
Hathor – Goddess of too many things. (Depends if you want the original Egyptian goddess, or the Egyptian-turned-Greek goddess.)
Sekhmet – Goddess of War, Vengeance and Chaos
Selket – Goddess of Scorpions and Magic
Please note the goddess Isis wasn't mentioned for obvious reasons.
COMMENTS:
Kira-Kura – I was hoping for the 'warm and fuzzy' feeling with Ryou under the Christmas tree, glad it worked for someone ^_^ and Malik Muse is trying.
Elle-FaTe2x1 – I love horror/suspense movies myself (besides comedy and anime, that's all I'll watch) but I found that Ghost Ship had too much gore to be a horror movie. It was just gross.
Kyrene (once Blood Roses – I'm pretty sure I'm disliked by a lot of people because this story didn't end with Malik confessing his past to Bakura after they'd had a night of hot sex, but...that's what prequels and sequels are for ^_^. I seem to remember you being the one to ask why Malik had confessed his secrets yet...
Monkey Muffin – I get those sometimes too, but with my computer it depends which server I'm using (either Explorer or Netscape). I checked over the chapter and nothing showed up on my screen. And yes, someone really did drive through my workplace. Through our nicest window too. Ah well, less tables to clean.
Shori Musei – See, there's an underside to Yugi and Ryou's relationship that I'm not sure many people caught. I think I'm going to plan something for the sequel so everyone knows what I'm talking about. But before that, I'll finish the prequel. Too many projects and too little inspiration...
Yami Yami Yugi – Pictures of naked Malik please! ^_^ No deaths. Except one in the prequel but that's kind of obvious since she's been dead since the beginning of this fic too! Promise, Malik, or any other important character will die.
To Everyone:
That's it. Well, not completely, but for this story it is. I'm not really sure I like the ending, but then I keep remembering that it's not really the end. Originally I did have it planned so that Malik would confess to Duke about his past and everything, or to Bakura, but then it didn't seem right. I mean, Malik wants to keep Duke in his life and he'll do what it takes to do that. And he practically just met Bakura – I mean, talk about an overload for our poor tomb robber.
And I think the story was drawn out long enough (seeing as how I think a lot of people lost interest around chapter ten if not sooner.)
The prequel will be Duke/Malik and OC/Malik (but the OC is a male, not a Mary Sue and he's far from perfect...trust me. Just giving everyone whose interested a heads up.)
I'll try to have it out soon, I've started it, just need to read through this fic and figure a few things out with my time line.