Borath: Hey all! Chapter 5 and the plot is coming along nicely, dontchya think? Fluff on its way soon for all you fans of it. Um, can't think of anything else to stick here for once. Pachelbel?
Pachelbel: We're making Bakura's life HELL! Just wait! And reviews are very lovingly received *hint hint* And HUGE thanks from both of us to GothicDJ. We loved the long, kind review, and the fact that you've reviewed each chapter! *hug!*
Borath: (Joins the hug-fest) So big reviews are loved. Read it and leave 'em please ;p
Spawn: Chapter Five
Most nights had become painfully predictable for Bakura, a monotonous, satanic routine that he was at the stage of being quite willing to cut out his stomach to end. He would wake at about two in the morning, just in time to make a joyfully mad dash for the bathroom. After a half-hour or so spent hugging the toilet and shivering pathetically, he would usually feel well enough to collapse in a boneless heap on his bed and go back to sleep. The maddening thing about this (or, one of the worst things) was the fact that he got the feeling the baby had absolutely no idea that it was the cause of this. Ignorance is bliss...
On top of that, he was also struck with hunger at inopportune moments. These included being in the middle of the park with only a dubious hot-dog vendor as a food source, and the middle of Ryou's classes at school. It was helpful on those occasions that his Hikari knew about his little condition; he had the sense to stop by a food dispenser when the sound of his yami smacking his head into his Soul Room wall became loud enough to be distracting.
One fine pre-dawn morning, when he was about three weeks along, and with a stomach still a little sore from night sickness, he awoke to the imagined smell of food. These were the times when he felt like a real idiot and damned the baby to even more unimaginable tortures than usual. He tried to ignore the gnawing, grumbling emptiness that seemed to echo around the hollowness in his stomach, and the longing emanating from the leech that had taken up residence somewhere in his abdomen. Except this proved impossible. No matter how determined he *thought* he was not to eat, he still found himself moving into the kitchen and searching for his crackers.
Bakura's attempts to convince himself this little trip and frantic search had nothing to do with the baby vanished when he realized that the dry, salty food necessary to fight off vomiting spells was gone. Not a saltine cracker in the house. None. Even the emergency hoard he kept beneath the sink was non-existent, and after he'd finished licking crumbs from the last box like a starving hamster, not even a speck of the stuff could be found.
Scowling like a petulant child, Bakura leant his back against the cupboard as he contemplated what he was going to do now. The baby was still gnawing away and just the thought of any other food substance made him feel queasy. Unaware of the action, his hand wandered down to rest across his abdomen, his fingers splayed and the tips moving in slow, rhythmical circles.
Well, there was only one thing left. He'd just have to go to the store, in the pitch black and cold, compliments of Ryou's wallet. The same damn wallet that had started this mess by forcing him to return to Malik's Ra-damned apartment and, consequently, leading him to eat the pregnancy potion.
Quality Discounts was the nearest store. Well, 'store' was a stretch considering the condition of the place. Bakura would have preferred to go somewhere else—a week ago, he would have hacked off his own foot before even considering such a run-down shit hole, and that was saying something—but he was too tired to go more than a block away. Frighteningly enough, the thought of settling for stale crackers and expired packages didn't bother him as much as he'd expected. He put it down to desperation for the damned things.
As he walked along, a glowing happiness seeped into his mind from the little corner Tetsuo had kindly given to the baby. It was polluting him, and what made it worse was that it was due to the stupid, insanely simple fact that 'the two of them' were out on a walk. Together. It was a beautiful, sunny moment that Bakura wanted erased from the face of time itself. Ra help him when he was heavily pregnant and had to tolerate feathery touches and violent kicks in addition to these sickly joyful twinges in his brain.
Bakura growled and tried to push away the twit's joy as he stepped into the flickering lights of Quality Discounts and headed for the snack aisle. In here it was literally Hell in fluorescent lighting. Pimply-faced youths scurried around stacking shelves and retiring women who obviously couldn't get laid were blankly manning the tills. The Tomb Raider wanted nothing more than to burn this place to the ground, but it had his precious Saltine crackers in it so it was spared. For the moment at least.
Wandering down the harshly lit aisles, Bakura stuffed his hands into his pockets as he scoured the shelves for his prized crackers. A slightly dented package of Twinkies caught his eye, possibly due to the fact that it was a box dating back to 1968 at the latest. His lip curling in disgust at the item, his eyes widened at the sudden feeling of unbridled excitement from his spawn.
'Oh no you bloody don't. I refuse to put that stone-age crap in my body. Having you in me is bad enough.' He attempted to hammer this thought into the child's tiny mind.
Still, the thought of soft, spongy golden cake and thick, white cream brought a feeling of almost overwhelming longing from the baby. *Almost* overwhelming.
Bakura shuddered. "I *hate* Hostess." The craving became more insistent as he stared at the vintage box. Gritting his teeth Bakura quickly moved on, smirking at the disappointment leaking into his mind from the child. 'Might as well teach the little sod the disappointments of life early on.'
Finally finding his desired saltines, Bakura shoved five boxes under his arm and picked up a sixth. Tearing the pack open with the hopes of filling up on them before he could discover the little maggot liked any other foods that he thoroughly detested, he stuffed two into his mouth and took a moment to savor the sensation of the baby ceasing its incessant begging.
Now, to head back home, hoard away his crackers and aim for another few hours sleep. It was the weekend mercifully so he could continue his with his attempts at sleep for longer than usual.
*~*~*~*
Ryou was very glad it was Sunday. His plans thus far, after having slept in until 10, were now to shower, eat breakfast, and then head over to Yugi's. Except that a shirtless Bakura was blocking the entry to the bathroom, and completely oblivious to Ryou's presence.
Ryou watched the yami curiously, fascinated by the usually gruff spirit's drastic change in behaviour. Although he denied it–and worked damn hard against it-, the baby was changing him. He was so preoccupied with his pregnancy he barely sent a scathing remark Ryou's way anymore.
This morning, Bakura was staring with a rather perplexed expression first at his reflection in the full-length mirror and then down at his stomach. Experimentally, he poked his bare waistline with a single finger. The result of his finger sinking into his flesh was a very agitated frown, despite there being very little change in the spirit's physique that Ryou could see at first glance.
The lighter half of the pair had noticed Bakura working out more than usual with unrelenting determination, but now that he looked, it seemed Bakura's normally solid, perfectly defined muscles (a large source of pride for the rather conceited spirit) were… well, just a little bit smoother. Softer looking. 'Soft' was not a word that Bakura wanted as part of his physical description, as it was already banned from his vocabulary.
"I think that's normal," Ryou murmured, keeping his voice low to avoid startling the other, since such a thing could prove to be fatal. He also secretly didn't want to startle the spirit now that he was in a more 'delicate condition', another word that he daren't breathe around his yami.
Bakura gritted his teeth when he turned to his aibou and the baby practically cart wheeled for joy. Not only was the brat gradually turning him into the Pillsbury Doughboy, it had a soft spot for simpering wimps like Ryou and Yugi. He knew for a fact that the next 8 months were going to be a living nightmare.
"It doesn't mean I have to like it," he growled out in response, glancing back down and poking at his stomach again before rolling his eyes and letting his arms fall slack. "I fucking hate this! I hate this thing's happy little *feelings* seeping into my mind, I hate that it's leaching off me and I hate what it's doing to my body."
Ryou bit his lip and looked down at that. He did feel some measure of pity for his yami as the spirit was obviously very opposed to the situation, but he also felt saddened for him. Bakura obviously didn't appreciate what had been accomplished and if the baby was as happy and loving and he bitched it was, then it most certainly didn't deserve to be unwanted. Ryou just hoped that given a few weeks the idea would grow on Bakura and he would develop some sort of rapport with the baby. He was its father after all.
Hoping to make Bakura feel a little better, Ryou answered, "You don't look any different, really. You're not 'showing', at least not at your stomach."
"What the hell does that mean?" Bakura glared at the hikari.
Tilting his head a bit, Ryou tried to find the words to explain. "It's nothing to be paranoid about. You just look…I don't know, your face looks a little bit fuller. Soft—er, not as…rough around the edges."
Bakura's earlier glare came back in full force. He didn't have time to respond as he would have liked though, further affirming the fact that this was going to be a very, very bad day.
"What are we looking at?" A cheerful, psychotically lilting voice asked before Bakura could properly respond to Ryou's comments. Seconds after that, Malik peered over Ryou's shoulder and studied his non-boyfriend. Having gotten bored and more than a little agitated by the fact that Bakura hadn't gotten over himself and returned for a 'make-up' session, he'd taken the initiative and broken into the house to start things off himself.
Snapping to awareness instantly, Bakura immediately grabbed up his shirt from the sink before Malik could catch on to the fact that his physique was slowly starting to resemble a 'beer belly'. He was actually planning to blame it on that if anyone started asking questions. He would rather be thought of as a slob than have them know that he was pregnant, no matter how much damage that would do to his image and ego.
"No…leave it off…" The blond purred, stepping past Ryou and eyeing up Bakura as if he were a side dish. He took out from his pocket and dropped an unopened Twinkie packet, of all things, onto the counter. Malik's hands were now working around the other's waist, seemingly not noticing the changes that had occurred, nails leaving pink marks where they were dragged across the lightly tanned flesh. Perhaps the little hikari was right; maybe he didn't have anything to worry about, yet.
Bakura's attention was now split between Malik's wandering, caressing, clawing hands and a cellophane-wrapped snack cake. By this time, Ryou had wisely retreated, figuring that he'd rather go over to Yugi's now and shower later than stay at home for 'this'.
It wasn't long before Malik noticed where Bakura's eyes kept wandering. He must have been more sexually starved than Bakura had thought, for he took no offense to it. Instead he snatched it up and offered it to the slightly shorter yami, thrusting it into Bakura's hand when he didn't take it immediately.
"Eat it in bed!" He ordered, before grabbing Bakura's arm roughly and half-dragging him to the bedroom.
Practically thrown onto the bed, Bakura found himself instinctively curling his body slightly so as to protect his stomach from the impact. Frowning and musing over this strange action of his, he didn't even remember Malik's presence until he was bitten rather harshly on his neck. Not really in the mood for what the other was obviously desperate for, he planted his hand on Malik's forehead and roughly shoved him away before ripping open the Twinkie packet and taking a mouthful.
If the baby had a voice, it would have been singing with joy. Choosing to ignore the happiness that he was bringing it, Bakura instead insisted to himself that this was a selfish action because he wanted the Twinkie and now he was getting an immense satisfaction out of it.
That was up until Malik lunged at him and he choked on fluffy cake and gooey cream. "Bloody lay off!" he shouted when he could get an even breath in, glaring at the Egyptian who currently looked very confused and more than a little pissed off.
Crawling up over Bakura with purpose and intent, Malik stared hard into his eyes. "You listen to me; we are going to fuck now and I don't give a shit about a stupid littl-"
He stopped short with wide eyes when his chest reached a point where it was hanging directly over Bakura's stomach, amethyst eyes narrowing and brow furrowed as he focused on the whisper of the magical traces that he definitely recognized from somewhere. Bakura could only watch with wide eyes as Malik shifted and planted his head sideways on his abdomen before he could do anything.
Jerking back as if burned, Malik stared at Bakura with wide eyes, mouth agape and brows lost in his hairline. "You-it-the… You bloody ate Rishid's potion!" he shouted finally, pointing an accusing finger at the pale spirit. He sat back frozen like this as it sunk in before his face cracked and he dissolved into maniacal laughter.
"You stupid prat! I can't believe you did this!" he managed between cackles, holding his sides as he shuddered with the force of it.
"Sod you! This is all your fucking fault so shut up. How the Hell can you tell anyway?" Bakura demanded, worried that if Malik could tell then Yami would be able to tell which would lead to a world of headaches that he really didn't want.
Calming down a bit, although his constantly insane eyes still held a glint of mirth, the Egyptian tipped his at his abdomen. "The spell is still bouncing around in your body, not to mention the fact that that thing is practically pulsating magical energy," Malik stated loudly, jabbing a finger at Bakura.
In response the baby seemed to curl and a distinct feeling of distrust filtered through the link. 'How ironic', Bakura mused to himself sourly. The baby appeared to loath Malik yet practically jumped for joy whenever his Hikari or Yugi were around. Something big and powerful hated him. That was the only way to explain this. Although Malik was annoying the shit out of him at the moment; he had started laughing again for no apparent reason.
After a few moments during which Bakura had crossed his arms across his chest and begun glaring daggers at him, a new thought occurred to Malik and he turned somber instantly, his face becoming serious as his eyes darkened.
"You'd better not be having any bright ideas about keeping that thing," he said firmly, eyes narrowing as he pointed at it again having figured that Bakura wasn't taking to being jabbed too well.
Bakura's eyes widened quite comically. "What?! Of course not! It just turns out that killing the damned thing is a lot harder than you'd think."
Malik seemed to perk up at that. "Really? I'll think of something then! I'm good at killing things. This could be like a little project for me."
Nodding tiredly, Bakura brought up his hand to pinch at the bridge of his nose. He really wasn't in the mood for this. Apparently half a Twinkie wasn't enough to satisfy his little parasite and it was forcefully demanding more, as well as to get away from Malik. "Fine, do your little project. Just piss off and leave me alone for a few days."
Already getting excited as he began to concoct various schemes to destroy the child, Malik wasn't at all fazed by his dismissal. Climbing off of the bed, he made his way out without a backwards glance, leaving Bakura to flop back on the bed and put a hand over his eyes. Pleased with Malik's departure but still less-than-pleased with the lack of Twinkie-intake, the child mentally prodded Bakura.
Sighing, the fearless Tomb Raider bowed to its wishes, figuring that if he stuffed himself to breaking point with Twinkies it might just leave him alone long enough to get a decent night's sleep later. At the back of his mind the baby kept nudging him along, making sure that he didn't get distracted on the Great Twinkie Hunt.
'Persistent little squirt, aren't you?' Bakura thought at it, not quite knowing if it could understand him or not. He quirked a brow with a wry smile as he left the house, tugging on his shirt as he walked. 'Don't lose that. Properly nurtured, it'll be a talent."
*~*~*~*
Two days after Malik left, during which Bakura discovered that he not only craved Twinkies but that he was *addicted* to them (well, to be more precise the baby was), there was a rather firm knock on the door. Before Ryou had the chance to even get up from where he was sat to answer it, the visitor seemingly lost all patience and kicked it open.
"Get your yami here now!" A sharp voice with an irritated undertone called from the doorway. Ryou's eyes widened when he saw Malik getting shoved through the busted doorway by his taller, far more insane yami who stood behind him menacingly with his arms crossed and his eyes practically on fire.
"Don't you dare order him around; that's my job," Bakura said gruffly as he walked into the hallway from the kitchen after returning from another Twinkie run. He stopped in surprise when he saw the two Egyptians there. Malik looked seriously pissed off about something but his yami was obviously the one in charge here.
Yami Malik frowned after a few moments during which everyone remained absolutely motionless and silent. Prodding his Hikari in the back with his own duplication of the Rod, he crossed his arms and smiled with grim satisfaction as Malik rolled his eyes and got down on one knee. Bakura's brows shot into his hairline when the blond produced a small black velvet box from his pocket.
"What the hell are you doing?!" he screeched loudly before Malik could open his mouth.
Yami Malik spoke for him though, biting the words out sourly as he stared firmly at Bakura. "The right thing."
The Tomb Raider crossed his arms and sneered at the other spirit. "And since when did you get all moral?"
"Since this moron got you pregnant," he snapped back, pointing at Malik who was wisely staying silent although he was still on one knee holding up an open box encasing a plastic yellow smiley-face ring. "He's got some sort of commitment to you now and he's going to bloody learn to take responsibility. It's not all maiming and killing in life you know!"
Bakura shook his head slowly in disbelief. "You're insane."
"Not insane enough apparently," Yami Malik replied quietly, looking back down at his kneeling Hikari wondering at which point he'd been around mortals long enough to bring him down to this level of caring.
"Malik? Do you seriously mean this?" the Tomb Raider asked pointedly deciding to sort this headache out sooner rather than later.
Still on the floor, Malik sniffed a little and glared. "No. He's the one making me do this. And he made me eat twelve boxes of cereal to get the damn ring."
"So why the fuck are you going along with it?! I would never marry you, especially with that piece of shit as a proposal," Bakura added indicating to the ring in the box. "Look, I thought you were busy with your little 'how-to-kill-the-brat' project."
"You're planning to kill the Pharaoh again?" Yami Malik piped up with interest, ignoring Malik as he stood and shoved the box back into his pocket. "Why wasn't I informed?"
"No, how to kill the thing Bakura's incubating," Malik corrected sullenly. He brightened an instant later. "You can help!"
Bakura rolled his eyes yet again, already walking towards the door to shove them both out of the house and barricade the entrance shut behind them. "Fine! Bloody help! Just sod off and don't you dare pull this on me again."
As Bakura walked off to leave Ryou to fix the door, a feeling of confusion and bewilderment leaked into his mind. 'No, you're not even going to live long enough to have *one* parent so stop being miffed when the other one leaves. He's a stupid little psycho anyway.'
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Borath: Show us some lovin'! Review! There were many pages here I remind you!