Reviewer Responses: … You know what? I can't actually be bothered. Thanks to: Yami White Rain, Renee the Rabid Squirrel, Kurama no Miko2003, Penny Angel of Darkest Dreams, Amiasha Ruri, Impish Pixie, Marron-chan1, TaleneIsMyYami, Saturn Imp, Starlit Hope, Yume Takato and Blue September for reviewing. Always grateful for feedback, and flattered that you did so.
Got a question asked: why is it so hard for Bakura to tell the Hikaris about Yami? It isn't. I'm being awkward. It's a leftover thing from 'Domination' (that became old hat very quickly, I'll admit) and I was going for tension without much success apparently. Bakura and Yami are quite private about their relationship, stemmed from the secrecy that was necessary at the very beginning of their relationship. It's also a dangerous situation and they most likely both underestimate their Hikari's ability to cope with the whole idea. Yami's also ashamed of the whole 'rape' thing, so he'll be wanting to keep that quiet… To sum up, I have my reasons. They don't hold water, but bugger it, it's getting sorted this chapter so no more worries, eh?
Anyway, read on and I hope you like it. Feedback at the end would be most welcome. Well, you don't have to wait until the end because there's no rule specifying that, but it'll make it easier.
VeilingI've had enough of hitting Yami. I've had enough of punching and piercing and burning and cracking hard objects across him. Zel seemed to pick up on my impending defeat over the final few days, his emergences becoming more frequent and violent. He'd nearly escaped me once, nearly knocked me out more times than I can physically remember and nearly bitten the end of my tongue off. I think it's quite reasonable for me to have enough of putting up with this.
So I chained the little bastard up.
Part of the basement of the house was converted into something of a dungeon a few months ago, entirely my doing of course. Ryou left me to my project as I didn't seem to want to put him or any of his friends in it. I'm sure that he thought that Yami was different story at the time, but to be honest, it's just something that I've wanted to do for a long time. So when everyone was out and I was bored, I'd carry on building my area of 'dungeon'. It was a hobby, a labour of love and ultimately a work of art in the end.
The majority of it is stained or torn from the walls now, but the first thing I put in there are still in place. The shackles are free from the wall by four inches of chain, holding 'Yami's' wrists back close to the floor. He can kneel and sit against the wall, but it's impossible for him to stand. he chooses to kneel most of the time, arms pulled completely straight out behind him as he strains towards us.
Zel's been down here three days now and he's a mess. He's completely cut me off from Yami, something he's thoroughly enjoying mocking me about. His hair's straggled and flat, sweat and grime weighing it down, and his shirt and trousers are torn. His bottom lips been split and the fact that he's been biting at it hasn't helped in its healing. The green glow in his eyes never fades now, even in the dark. It's inescapable.
I guess I put myself in that position though. I could have walked away, ignored the possession for a few hours, gotten a few hours sleep in my own bed, but I haven't. I've been down here as long as Zel has, sitting in a hard wooden chair a little way from him. I don't know why I'm doing it, why I'm tormenting myself by constantly staring at my lover whilst he is chained up and imprisoned within his own mind. I shan't move though.
The chains and shackles were magically fortified when I first brought him down here, as are the pins in the wall. He's not going anywhere. I think I'm waiting for an opportunity, waiting for Zel's hold to break for a few minutes so I can see Yami again, speak to him. It's a mercy he's not aware of the possessions.
It's early in the morning of the third day, or so my biological clock tells me. Zel's watching me as usual, drumming his fingers incessantly on the stone floor but otherwise silent for once. Sleep deprivation makes his form a little blurry, and I draw some energy from the Shadow Realm to pick myself up. It works in a drunken sort of way, the feeling of Dark Magic coursing through me almost enough to make me take more, but I won't. I need to focus, need to be here. Need to bloody eat I think, judging from the noises in my stomach, but so does he for that matter.
We tried to get him to eat. It didn't work out. Yugi's the one who went for it and the experience frightened him more than he was prepared for. He knows it isn't Yami chained up down here, not really. He was saying it aloud when he approached his Dark's shell, but then seeing him act so animalistic, so *insane*… He doesn't come down here often now. Stays in the house a lot, but not down here.
I hear the trapdoor open above and behind me, the room suddenly finding illumination somewhere other than Zel's merciless eyes. My pupils contract painfully at the small difference in light. I prefer to keep it completely dark down here, likely so that I can't really see him.
Footsteps now, Ryou's, and he appears at my side with a mug and a small plate. I catch him looking at Zel's faint outline, his breath shuddering at the quiet clicking noise the creature suddenly starts making as he shifts up onto his knees. I don't like this 'eager' posture of his. Yami used to do it to mock me, although without the chains. Usually when he wanted something that I didn't want to give. Seeing Zel do it is too familiar.
I take the mug from Ryou and gratefully accept the sandwich he's made and brought down, my stomach instantly tightening at the smell of food. Zel starts a keening cry when he sees it.
He doesn't talk as much as he used to now. He's figured out that noises unnerve us more than his words did. Now that's he's trapped down here, he's got nothing better to do with his time than torment us. I can understand that.
Ryou's still staring at him, the fingers holding the empty plate tightening at the corner of my vision. I don't take my eyes off Zel, my voice quiet, smooth and unobtrusive. "Go back upstairs Ryou."
He nods, breaking out of the trance the inhuman sound Zel's making put him into. Backing away slowly, I listen as he ascends the stairs and slowly closes the trapdoor, returning the light to how it was. I can just about make out the mug and sandwich with the light from Zel's face, but it wouldn't matter if I couldn't see them. As long as I don't put them down I can work by touch.
The cry abruptly stops and the following silence is deafening, unnatural. I narrow my eyes at him, well aware that he can see me perfectly, and take a bite from the sandwich.
"Nice?"
I'm not listening to him. He speaks poison. He's yet to get to me and this will be no exception.
"Does it taste good?"
I speak back sometimes. I find it helps keep me sane. Gets me frustrated usually, but frustration is good. Frustration leads to anger and anger makes me focus on him with hatred. And I plan to keep both eyes on him for as long as it takes, or at least until I can figure out an alternative.
"It tastes good. You can have some if you want," I murmur, keeping my voice neutral, emotionless. It was hard to do that at first, but it rapidly got easier. When it sunk in that it's not Yami replying, it got easier.
"No, you taste better. I liked your taste when it flew down little rivulets in my throat. Warm and rich and deliciously you."
I unintentionally probe the roof of my mouth and am suddenly very aware of the ridge of scarring along the end of my tongue. His handiwork. I'm still not sure how it happened. It was when I first brought him down here. I had one arm chained down but he somehow managed to get the other one out of the Hikari's grips. He must have grabbed my head at some stage… It's blurry. Unimportant.
"Warmer than I expected Snow-Drop to be, warmer than *him*."
I can't help but close my eyes at that, my fist tightening around the mug. Zel starts laughing that low, cackling little laugh of his. I want him to shut up. But he never does. Some part of him is always moving restlessly, and if that isn't loud enough some noise is always escaping his throat. I'm vaguely surprised I haven't got a tic from the last few days.
"Being inside him again isn't as fun as it was last time."
I've thrown the mug of tea at him before I know I've let go of it. It shatters somewhere above his head and he starts laughing again, high pitched and heaving.
Breathing in short bursts, I close my eyes to calm myself and try to block out that awful laugh. It starts to worm its way into me, unrelenting and maniacal, and I blindly reach behind me for what hangs from the back of the chair.
The Puzzle's smooth, sharp edges are reassuring in my hand, and I discard the sandwich so that I may hold it with both. It's cold now where before there was always a moderate warmth to be found in it. I immerse myself in exploring it with my fingers, blocking out the laughter effectively now. I've long since memorized its surface, every ridge every seam, but it's comforting to do it again.
"Poor Snow–Drop. The only remnant of his lover: a cold lump of metal. Shiny like his eyes and blood, but cold. So very cold. No body to make it warm, no body to make either of us warm."
Ra, I miss him. Perhaps… Perhaps there's a trace of his essence left in here. It was connected to him even if it isn't now, which I know it's not. That would be enough to keep me together for another day, enough to keep me from killing Zel and subsequently the body he resides in.
Focussing, I slip my mind inside of it. I don't intend to be long and Zel's secure. I can afford this fleeting glimpse.
Traversing this 'space', I feel very little of him but enough to feel reassured. I might mention this to Yugi; this is all having a toll on him. Hell, Ryou's spending more time trying to keep him together than he is with either Zel or me.
I keep drifting, my mental eyes closed to revel in every minute sensation, until I am practically struck by something. Apparently I've found a stream of magic, old magic. Used, discarded, mere memories of old spells and incantations. But's it's almost linear. That's very odd.
Laid out like a trail, it weaves an unbearably faint course through the Puzzle leading to… somewhere. Curious, I follow it. It leads me to what feels like a 'tap' to the Shadow Realm. It's closed, but I could open it easily. I hadn't expected that. I was sure that all connections that the Puzzle had to the Shadow Realm were gone with Yami's mind, wherever that is. I've searched the Shadow Realm for him without luck, and I never came across whatever this leads to in there.
The bigger issue is that if the Puzzle can still access the Shadow Realm, then Yami's body may still be able to. It'd have a tap at least. But Zel hasn't even attempted to reach the Shadow Realm; he's barely tested the magical seals of his shackles. He's been content to stay *here*, in the physical world, chained to a wall underground. He hasn't tried to escape, not really.
What's he waiting for? And what does it have to do with the Shadow Realm? It's all laid out, every access point, but nothing's been touched nor has any attempt to been made. Something's very wrong here.
Ryou, come down here with Yugi. My knife's in my boot. Take it and watch Zel. If he does *anything*, use it.
But Yami-
But nothing. Better he die than be trapped like this forever. I need to check something. I'll be back soon.
No, you have to stay here. I can't guard Zel on my own! Yugi's terrified to come down there, and Yami's more powerful than me. What if Zel can wield that, fight with it?
My physical body frowns at Ryou's uncharacteristic refusal, but I don't have time to reason with him let alone argue with him.
He would've used it already, now get down here and do as you're damn well told.
I don't give him a chance to respond, plunging through the tap into the Shadow Realm in the Puzzle, intending to follow this breadcrumb trail of old spells.
It doesn't lead anywhere. The trail began and ended inside the Puzzle, and now I'm stood in an expanse of darkness with nothing to go on. Extending my senses, I pick up on something to my left. Something familiar… Missed… My knees almost go from the mere touch of it. Yami…
Snapping my head to face him, I feel every line of tension that had accumulated in my face drain away. He approaches me as I outright run at him and then… Ra, I've missed him so damn much. He somehow led me here through the Puzzle; he reached for me as I did for him.
In a heap on the 'ground', I find myself pulling him against me so tight he would suffocate in the physical. He's doing the same to me though, and it's indescribable how good it feels. Moving from his mouth, I kiss his forehead, his neck, his mouth again, all the while touching his face with my hands, assuring myself that he's really here, really with me.
It takes a while to calm down, and when we finally do we don't move apart from each other. Chest to chest, I run shaking hands up and down his spine, his own hands about my waist. "Are you all right?" I ask finally, by voice uncertain, hoarse.
"I was scared." He says it into my chest but hearing it muffled only increases the impact. I hold him impossibly tighter to me, kissing his forehead again.
"I know, I've got you. I'm going to take you out of here. We'll figure something out."
He nods, nuzzling into my throat as he does so. "How long have I been here?"
"Three days. How long did it feel like?" I regretted asking that immediately, but I ignore it and stand slowly, bringing Yami up with me. I need to let go of him to walk but I really don't want to. Not yet, not when I've only just got him back.
"Felt like forever," he murmurs without looking at me, his hands gliding down my back and arms to take my hands. He separates us in the end and I'm grateful for it, but I maintain a hold on his hand as we finally part and I look around.
The entry point I came in through is behind us, so that would logically dump us both inside the Puzzle. Yami can tell what I'm thinking and automatically begins to guide us both towards it. Just as I begin walking though, something brushes at my back, something weak but recognizable.
I twist my neck to look over my shoulder, Yami still walking with me eager to leave this place. That's odd. It's a door. And not just any door; it's the door to my Soul Room. I sure as Hell didn't put that there…
"Yami, hang on a second," I instruct, not taking my eyes off of the door.
Yami pauses, looking towards the door as well before stiffening. "Ignore it, Bakura. It's a trap, no doubt Zel's doing. He's toying with us, like he's been toying with me for days."
It doesn't feel like a trap though. It doesn't even feel like Zel. I know Zel's magic inside out, and I mean that literally, and I don't know what this is but it's *not* his. In fact, focussing on it, it feels like… me?
Yami gives my hand an insistent tug, trying to get me walking back to the 'exit', but I'm still too interested in the door. Releasing his hand, I turn away from him and approach it, reaching it within a minute and tentatively reaching a hand out towards it. The desire to touch it is overwhelming. It's *mine* down to the last molecule, but completely out of context. What trickery is this?
Slender fingers grasp at my wrist when my fingers are centimetres from the surface. Looking to their owner, I see Yami giving me a hard look. After a few moments it softens into something almost pleading. It's a change I've rarely seen in him. Usually, he'd just demand I stop whatever it was I was doing and stick with that emotion.
"Please don't. I want to leave. Take us back, please."
The tone in his voice is unsettling and I'm tempted to heed him, but the door is practically calling to me. My instincts aren't telling me that it's dangerous and I've done stupider things in the past. I can't even begin to imagine what this is, and there's only one way to find out…
/Love, I just want to see what it is/
Yami doesn't twitch, shows no acknowledgement that he heard me through our bond. I wait a few seconds to see if he is composing himself to respond verbally but he remains silent. His expressions remains exactly the same, his grip around my wrist unwaveringly tight.
I reach through the bond to see what he's feeling and something clenches when I don't reach him. The bond's been gone for three days and when I saw him again I was too overwhelmed to acknowledge it. But now, with the thoughts and feelings I'm sending falling into oblivion… A very big warning bell is clanging off in my head.
I'm not sure who this is anymore, but I do know that he doesn't want me touching the door. With no other option immediately available, I fall back on one of my old sayings: if in doubt, disobey.
Not taking my eyes from his, I suddenly jerk my free hand at the door and lay my palm flat against its surface.
Nausea is the first thing to strike me, the world tipping crazily as every sensation I could possibly take in blurs together and seems to smear across the universe. It settles just as suddenly, and I gasp when the comforting warmth of the bond sears through me before settling about my shoulders, hugging at my back. Everything's white and I can't decide whether I'm blind or dead.
/Kill him, love. Kill him and come back to me/
Just how can I trust a disembodied voice when I'm this disorientated? There's no emotion conveyed, no feeling, but I recognize the voice. I don't dare believe though. Not when I'm lost and deeply confused. As loathe as I am to admit it, I feel quite vulnerable right now.
/You said you'd never let anyone hurt me, and I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, but you have to trust me. Please Bakura, kill him/
Even if I did trust the voice, I sure as hell wouldn't be able to do anything it wanted me to. I'm blind and alone in this white void. I can't even tell if I'm still standing. But then…
/Look within. Quickly, search yourself/
I can't very well search my body, as I can't even see it, so I focus my thoughts in on myself. I can't sense anything wrong.
/Harder. Deeper/
If I had a body I'd smirk.
/This is not the time for that, Bakura. Concentrate/
Well that's confirmed that Yami's talking to me. I still can't find what he's making me seek though.
/Let me help. Pay attention/
I don't get a warning before the world I've found myself in turns black with pain and then back again. I caught a flitter of something though, at the outskirts of my vision. For some reason I think it was something my eyes did rather than my environment.
I wonder if this bond is working two-way.
/How exactly do I kill it? I assume you're talking about Zel here/
/Yes, it's Zel. He's weak; we've been fighting for days. You only need to imagine grasping him and killing him. That's all it will take/
Ah, what the Hell. Doing as instructed, I imagine the little shadow I caught earlier taking on a solid form, appearing between hands that I do not have and suffocating from a lack of air that does not exist. My body starts to tingle, the sensation getting worse the longer I do this. I can feel that it's important that I don't give up though, so I exert more power.
There's a scream, its owner unknown, and then everything goes black again. I feel like I'm falling, faster and faster, blindly and disorientating before I land. It's a hard landing, but oblivion welcomes me gently, guiding my mind away with care and subtlety.
It's like peace.
****
The fact that I'm on a mattress after three days in a chair is the first thing that strikes me as my first foray into the world of the conscious begins. It's soft and yielding, matching the sheets and blankets that seem to be gathered about my chest. Everything smells fresh, welcoming.
Invited by such a pleasant atmosphere, I crack my eyes open a fraction and am pleased to see that the lighting is dim. I wouldn't have appreciated bright lights right now at all. Someone murmurs something and a hand pushes my bangs back from my face. I all but purr at the sensation, smooth skin gently caressing my own.
"Hey beautiful."
There's a smile in the words and I think I manage to smile back. Everything's a bit woolly at the moment. I don't even know if this is real, or if what I just wrestled from was… I think I'll just live in the moment for now: keeps things simple. George Lucas got at least *that* philosophy right.
He shifts on the edge of the bed so that I can see him, his hand still dancing about my face. I can't say that the touches annoy me. On the contrary, they're reassuring.
I open my mouth to speak, to ask what the Hell has been going on. I hate being out of the loop and judging by how *relieved* Yami appears, I'm betting that I've been out of the loop for quite a while. He picks up on my thoughts before I can vocalise them, his hand sweeping to my mouth to stop me from speaking. All right, the fussing just got mildly irritating. I'm not going to shatter if I speak!
"You've been trapped, love. Zel imprisoned you in your own mind and bombarded you with illusions to stop you escaping." A small smile, dry and regretful. "He almost did."
Right, I'm speaking whether or not he gags me. "How do I know this isn't another illusion?" Did I really just sound like that? Never mind, it hurt either way. I hate it when he's right, sometimes.
He tips his head to the side and his mouth slides into a thin line, considering. Finally he comes up with something. "Since we were at Theo, the night that Kaiba collapsed, have you used our bond?"
Damn good question actually. It takes me a few minutes to mull that over carefully, but I realize that we've only used it very sparingly. I felt sensation and the odd emotion through it, but the few times there were words they seemed… strained? It felt 'off', but I was too focussed on Zel to notice actually. It wasn't like the bond was broken, or at least I don't think it felt like that… It just felt very underused.
Finally in answer to his question, I murmur that it wasn't often. To be honest the realization has my unnerved. Could what Yami's saying really be true? Could I have been contained? If so, that means that Zel… Oh Ra…
Yami smiles at me soothingly, his hand cupping my check and rubbing the pit of my eye socket with his thumb. "Zel couldn't duplicate it, couldn't copy what is ours when he was weaker. That's why he hasn't tried recently." /So feel it now. Know that it's real/
Warmth and love and a thousand other things surge together and almost through me. Gods, is this what was missing? How could I not… There aren't words. Questions, hell yes, but no words for this, having this back.
Letting me relish the feeling, Yami apparently decides to fill me in before I have to trouble myself with asking. He speak through the bond, much to my immense pleasure. I'm too busy enjoying his presence like this to respond myself.
"It's been a month since Zel too control. It was immediately after I took the seizure from Kaiba to the best of my knowledge, and he's been in complete control since. I've been working against him and managed to weaken him significantly, cutting off everywhere he could run to and making him powerless. His control over you has been more unstable for the last few days.
/I couldn't destroy him completely though; you had to do that yourself. If I tried I'd have ended up killing you both. I managed to mimic your Soul Room and lure your mind into the Shadow Realm to it, hoping that you'd come through it. The bond was connected again when you touched it, and then it was just a case of you killing Zel until I could have you back. And you have/
His hand's in mine now, my fingers grasping his loosely as I try to digest all that. That's an awful lot of information to just *accept*, but with the bond with me now it just all feels right. He's not lying. Ironically, I'm 'finally' free having never known I was trapped. Small mercies.
/You know all about Zel now, then?/
He nods. Something clenches in my chest. I should have been here for him. It's not my fault that I couldn't be- Heck, I thought I *was* there for him. Oi. This is going to take a lot of getting used to.
/Yes, he seemed to delight in telling me as much as possible about himself. There wasn't a lot else for him to do as I had your body tied down after he lashed out the first time. I didn't know what to…/ He shakes his head, dismissing the feeling, and the mental waver in his voice vanishes. /I was soon so focussed on getting you back, it didn't really matter what he said. You're what's important to me now/
/Aw, I feel so loved/
His eyes narrow as he smiles at me. /You are loved, idiot. And you also haven't eaten in a very long time. Shall I get you something?/
I nod, the feeling of my stomach digesting itself suddenly becoming known. I shift a little to try and settle it. Ah, my muscles haven't atrophied or anything annoying. Good. Taking advantage of that merry discovery, I shift myself back so that I can sit up properly. Yami wisely doesn't try to help me, well aware of my somewhat tender pride.
/I make some rice. Back in a bit/ he 'says', reaching out to ruffle my hair a bit. I watch curiously as he reaches out for a cane that I hadn't noticed before. It's black and apparently made of wood, and he leans on it heavily as he stands. I sure as hell hope I didn't do anything to warrant him needing that.
/Something I… He did?/ I'm admittedly nervous about the answer.
Yami twists to look down at me, that reassuring smile back in place. "No, this wasn't Zel. He just tried to suffocate me when I tied your body onto the table. I ended up having to bite your tongue to get away," he says, gesturing vaguely at my head.
Oh yeah, I can feel it. I hadn't imaged that pain then. The scar tissue's quite raised, so he obviously had to bite hard. Hmm.
"No, this," he bites out, gesturing to his right thigh with loathing. "Is from nothing less than a Katana."
"A long sword? How bad?" I know how deadly those things can be. What the hell was he doing fighting someone wielding a Samurai sword anyway? Even I'm not that stupid.
"Bad. Through, actually."
Through? "Through what?"
"My leg. Went through the damn bone as well. Hurt like a bitch."
My eyebrows don't seem to be on my face anymore. "Explain," I demand in a low voice, already planning on using his attacker's sword on them to turn them into something resembling a lollipop.
Perching on the edge of the bed, he rubs at what must have been the entry point of the blade with one hand and fingers the end of the cane with the other. "A group of Yakuza dropped by Theo just after Zel took control of you."
"Yakuza?" Shite, he's lucky to have gotten out with his leg *attached*. Fucking with *the* crime syndicate of Japan is not something one does lightly.
Yami nods at my exclamation, still rubbing at his leg through the material of his trousers. "The Puzzle's helped a lot; it's not too bad now. Everyone else is perfectly fine; they stayed out of the way during the attack."
"Trust you to be the one getting hurt. It should have been completely healed by now with the Puzzle. Why the cane?"
I know the answer before he answers. Stupid pillock.
He looks indignant, like he knows what I'm thinking and is standing by his decision. "I haven't spared my injury enough energy. It was more important to get you back." He raises a hand before I can speak, because we both know I'm going to. "And now that you're okay, I can get back to straightening out the severed nerves and jagged bone. Happy?"
Ecstatic. But I'm still returning to my original query: What would the Yakuza be doing at Theo?
I'd have thought they'd be taking their skim from the place already. Maybe Tony cut them off. That'd piss them off enough to 'discipline' them I suppose. Yami'll know, so I figure I should stop speculating now. "What where they doing at Theo?"
Yami smirks wickedly at me. "Well, it turns out that that *is* your fault."
Come again?
"When I was… attacked there, it turned out to be by some members of the Yakuza. The Dons didn't particularly like you incapacitating some of their members. They found me before they found you though, and once again you attacked one of their numbers and this time you killed them. That's why there wasn't any fuss made by the police over the body found in the park. It was easy to tell from all the tattoos he had that he was high ranking. They followed us to Theo the night Kaiba was there, apparently, and attacked later. You wouldn't remember."
And I bloody well wish I did. Sounds like a fantastic scrap, if you ask me.
"What happened? And I want details: violence appeals to me."
He grins. Aw, he missed my psychopathic nature. That's sweet.
"It was over fairly quickly actually. There were ten of them altogether, and there weren't too many casualties among the dancers and the customers. I, being completely useless with a sword or any weaponry for that matter, ended up doing more Mind Crushes than I want to think about, and Zel did a lot of damage."
I frown. "Zel?"
"Mmm. He relished in the bloodlust, and that's what gave him away. You're controlled when it comes to violence. He was… like a wounded animal." He seems to shiver at the memory and I put a sympathetic hand over his thigh. I've got more right to be pissed though. It was *my* body he was dancing around in like a puppet on strings. Those were meant to be *my* kills, my acts of aggression. I feel so used…
"Anyway, Theo was wrecked and they've spent the last month rebuilding. Tony's not interested in it anymore, not now that the Yakuza are interested in their violent little way, so he's passed the reigns onto Stu. Turns out they're uncle and nephew. I don't know what Stu intends to do with the place, or the Yakuza for that matter, but he wants me to stick around."
Yeah, I can imagine. Having someone capable of turning Yakuza members insane or dead would be a useful asset. "Saw your potential in the protection racket, did he?"
A wry smile, amusement dancing in his eyes. I don't think he knows whether to be flattered or miffed. Whatever. He's going to get paid.
"He was quite accepting of the whole thing actually, surprisingly so. He doesn't know anything about you though. Apparently, people aren't as stupid as we've presumed them to be; they've seen the God Cards in action, noticed the sudden appearance of Mind Slaves a few years ago, the unusual corpses in the morgues. Stu doesn't understand it but he respects it, and doesn't think I'm insane. I just told him that I'm a Warlock, which is essentially true. Far easier than explain 5000 years of history, at least."
Fair enough, but something still isn't quite clicking right here. "And he's totally accepting of all this?"
Yami shrugs and I can tell that he can't quite believe it either. "It seems so. It took some convincing, but he just thinks it's novel."
"I'm still going to want to have a chat with him about you, you know?"
An indulging smile. It's his favourite one to give me. I've given up trying to will it away. "I expected nothing less of you." He reaches out for my face again, tipping his head as he sighs heavily. "It's good to have you back."
"Damn good to be back."
"And when you're strengths up, I think we can illustrate such good returns most enjoyably. Don't you think?"
"Oh, Hell yes."
****
Yes, this chapter is weak, clumsy and staggers into death at the hands of plot-holes more times than I wish to reflect on, but it's done. I've learned my lesson. NO MORE STORY ARCS IN 'EXPERIMENT'. Now I can get back to self-contained-additional-bits-to-add-to-this-multi-faceted-fic. Goody.
Next chapter, the boys are back at Theo under new ownership…
Review and tell me that you missed me! ;p