Dream with me

Chapter 9:

The next week, the constant raining had stopped. It was quiet, as Sunday mornings usually are. The excitement and little 'death trip' from last weekend had left Ryou feeling a little... different. Bakura could see the change in his hikari. Well, anyone could. He had become so loud and giddy. Opposite of his normally quiet and calm nature.

Malik on the other hand was keeping to himself. Publishing his book was the only thing on his mind. It was all he talked about. All he thought about. He kept his five notebooks under his left arm at all times. He didn't even take a shower without them. Which made it too soggy to drag around the house anymore, so he typed it all up and had it in a manila envelope that he carried around.

Yes, both the hikari's personalities were changing dramatically. Marik and Bakura were dumbstruck at the sudden change. They consulted each other on the matter. But you know how Bakura and Marik can be. How often do they know the right thing to do?

"I'm tellin' ya, Bakura. It's way too freaky! Malik barely even talks anymore-"

"And Ryou does nothing but talk. And go in and out all day to the beach." He and Marik were sitting in the kitchen at the table. Ryou had gone out to the beach for the second time that morning, and Malik had locked himself away in his and Marik's room.

"This has to stop. I really miss Malik. And Ryou's calls keep waking me up at all hours of the night."

"Calls? What calls?"

"Don't tell me you don't hear them."

He shrugged.

"He gets calls from his new beach buddies at all hours of the night. At midnight last night, this guy named Milton called and asked for him. Twice."

"What did you do?"

"I hung up on him. But eventually Ryou answered the phone and went out. I didn't ask him where he went, but he came back at six this morning and then when to the beach again with a bus load of rowdy nuns."

"Nuns?! Wait a minute, you mean he was gone for six hours with some guy? In the middle of the night?!"

"Relax. I'm sure nothing happened. Ryou's not like that. Besides, I think that Milton guy is straight."

Bakura was about to reply when Malik and Ryou walked into the kitchen. Ryou from the side door and Malik from the living room door. Malik was in a blue bathrobe and Ryou was in a bright yellow t-shirt with light blue jeans.

"Hi, Bakura! Hi, Marik!" Ryou said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Did you say good morning to the flowers yet?"

"..." Malik sat down at the table and put his head down.

"Uh... hi, Ryou." Marik said, then turned around. "Hi, Malik. How are you feeling?"

"I just sent my book to the publisher. He wants to take a look at it."

"Oh. You should be very happy."

He lifted his head up so Marik, Bakura, and Ryou could see the large circles under his eyes. "I'm just tired..."

"Malik, you haven't been sleeping?!" Marik stood up, "What's wrong with you? You can't do this anymore. You've got to sleep."

"I'm too good a writer to sleep Marik. Every time I close my eyes, I get another fabulous idea, then I have to write it down."

"I agree with Malik." Ryou said, cheerfully, "Sleep is no fun. You can't live while you sleep. I haven't slept in a week, and look how great I am!"

Bakura turned to him, "You haven't slept either? Ryou, how do you stay awake?"

"Candy and coffee. And lot's of it! If I'm sleeping, then I'm not living, and I love to live! Live, live, live!" He started to dance around the kitchen table, "Oh, and if anyone wants to join me in Jazzercise class, I'll be there until 3:00!" and with that, he danced out of the room.

Marik shook the visions of Ryou dancing out of his head and turned his attention back to Malik, "Okay, you. Time for sleep."

"To sleep per chance to dream..." Malik said, then his head popped up, "Ooh! That was a great line! I'm getting so good, I can hardly stand it."

"Malik... you need help." Bakura said, "All this drama with you and Ryou is making you both seem like girls."

"Like girls..." He thought for a second, "That sounds like a great title for a book. Quick, someone write that down!"

Marik sighed, "Malik, stop that!"

"Fine, I'll write it down, myself." Malik got up and ran out of the room.

Bakura turned around, "So... who do you think is worse?"

"It's hard to tell. Ryou and Malik are pretty much on equal levels, but on different planes."

"That's very philosophical of you, Marik. Ya get that off a bumper sticker?"

He ignored him, "Alright, I've had enough. It's time for some kind of intervention."

"What do you mean?"

"What do ya mean, 'What do I mean?' I'm gonna straighten him out... even," he swallowed hard, "if it kills me."

"I'll alert the paramedics."

Marik walked out of the door into the empty living room. He looked around, half expectantly, but then he remembered that Ryou had whirled off to Jazzercise class. He then turned into the hallway and knocked on their door.

No answer.

'What am I doing?' he thought, 'I live here, too!' he opened the door and looked over to the other side of the room.

He saw Malik typing furiously at his laptop. His hair was messy and he smelled like printer ink, but he was still going. Five empty coffee cups were on the desk next to his elbow, and he had printing paper all around his chair. He turned around when he heard Marik step in. "..." he starred at his yami for a minute.

"Malik, I-"

"I know, I know. You want me to stop writing."

"Well, you know-"

"You think it's making me lose my mind and not sleeping is unhealthy."

"..."

"You also think that I'm becoming someone else and you don't like it at all."

"Uh, you knew all that already?"

"Duh. Just because I'm dead beat and drained... doesn't mean I'm stupid."

"Well, smarty. If you knew that already, why didn't you stop and save me from this speech I had to prepare on my way from the kitchen?!"

He stood up, "Because of the rush, Marik!"

"The rush?"

"Yes, the rush! The feeling I get after every beautiful line I write. The feeling I get after carefully typing every wonderful chapter. It's magical, mystical... it's almost biblical!"

"..."

"Marik, if you could only feel the sensation of this thing called... writing! Every time your fingertip hits a key... every time you end a sentence! Every time you scroll down so that you can see you can see your next page! Your next adventure!" he sat down on the bed, "Oh, it's all too wonderful to express with words..."

"...Well, I'd say you did a fine job with your selection."

"That was building up for a while."

"I can see that." He sat down next to him, "Listen, Malik. I know you go through your spells of... um, well, craziness. Hell, sometimes you're down right nutty. But you've got to learn to control yourself."

"I know... but it's hard. Writing is so much fun! But it's also hard... My first book has close to 100,000 words. I didn't even know I knew some of those words. I had to keep a dictionary at my side at all times."

"Well, you know the best way to end and addiction, right?"

"No. How?"

"We have to cut you off completely. No more of these intellectual things you're doing. They'll make you stupid. From now on... we can't even let you be around pencil or paper. You'll start getting sick ideas."

"What?!"

"I have spoken."

"Marik! That's not fair!"

"Life is not fair, Malik. You'd have to learn sooner or later."

"Why not later?"

"Because you're having the problem now! End of discussion, Malik."

"You're so... EVIL!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere."

"How can you be so viscous and insensitive?!"

"You're asking me this?"

"Marik!" he whined, "Don't make me stop writing! It's my hobby. You're always telling me to get a hobby... now I have one."

"I wasn't aware at how much you would change once you got your so-called hobby. You don't sleep, you don't eat, and you barely even talk. All you do is type. And I'm sick of hearing the click of each key going up and down all night. Your craziness is even spreading to Ryou!"

"Ryou is just freaked is all. Anyone would be."

"Sure they would, but he's turned into a flower-loving, tie-die wearing, beach going hippy! Bakura is at wits end and so am I!"

"Sounds like you're the one going crazy."

"Ugh!"

Back and forth, back and forth. It went on like this for another half an hour. They had come to an agreement finally... err, more of an ultimatum. Malik was given a choice... he could either stop writing and go back to normal or keep writing and have two black eyes. Malik thought he wouldn't be able to see the paper if he had two black eyes... So, he chose to stop writing.

Marik walked out of the room with a genuine look of contentment on his tanned face. 'Well,' he thought, 'that was easier than I thought. I only got three bruises...'

As Marik rounded the corner Bakura came in through the kitchen door. Not looking where he was going, Marik bumped right into him, "Ow!"

"Watch where you're going, Marik..."

"Right, sorry. But guess what?"

"What?"

"I finally got Malik to stop writing his dumb books. That's one hikari down... did you talk to Ryou yet? Or is he still at Jazzercise class?"

"He came back because he forgot his stretch pants... but when I tried to talk to him about the way he's been acting... I dunno, he switched the conversation on me and we ended up talking about squirrels. By the time I realized what had happened, he was gone again."

"..."

"Well? Aren't ya going to say something?"

"You let your hikari get the best of you!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did. You're going soft, Bakura."

"I am not going soft! He didn't get the best of me..." he pouted.

"Whatever, man... You know what we gotta do, right?"

"No."

"We gotta train you to be more firm with Ryou. That's why you're the yami. You're in charge here. Can you imagine what the world would be like if hikari's started bossing their yami's around? Chaos."

"Chaos?"

"Chaos!"

"Oh my."

"It's time for me to teach you a few things."

"What do you teach?"

"Hikari handling 101. Follow me, Bakura. Class is in session."