A Little More Conversation – And A Lot More Action
In Which People Do Some Talking And…Other Things
Japanese
Ecchi – (Playfully) Pervert/Perverted
Koneko – Kitten
Neko – Cat
Hentai – Pervert/Perverted
Egyptian
Miw-sher – Kitten
Black Crown Game Shop – Upstairs Bathroom
"You know what I really miss about being a guy?" Duke asked as she tried to get her unruly hair into some semblance of its normal style. Why changing genders should change her hair type, she had no clue.
"Having clothes that fit?" Malik asked absently as he squirted out a line of toothpaste on his toothbrush and started scrubbing his teeth. It had been one of the bones of contention that had plagued him for the six and three quarters not-entirely consecutive weeks he'd spent as a girl.
That and that monthly torture that happened to women. Not that he'd ever really thought that women were the weaker sex, but anyone that could stand to bleed for one week out of every four and not go insane had a stronger will than he.
"My dick," Duke said succinctly. "It's been so long since I've seen it." She looked mournfully down at the front of the loose pair of black cargo pants she was wearing – no bulge disturbed the front, since she was still a girl. She sighed morosely. "I'm starting to forget what it looks like."
Rinsing and spitting, Malik held back his chuckles. That had been another thing he hadn't liked about being a girl. "Only two more days until you get it back," he pointed out.
Duke nodded glumly.
Malik turned to his 'girlfriend' and added thoughtfully, "But if you miss it that much…"
Duke cocked one eyebrow in question. "Yes?" she asked apprehensively.
"You could always look at mine." Malik grinned cheekily and canted his hips – clothed in only boxers since he was still in the midst of getting dressed – forward suggestively.
Tapping one finger against her chin thoughtfully, Duke mused, "True…"
As their lips met, Malik smirked into the kiss. He had a feeling that they were going to be late to meet the others at Yugi's…
Kame Game Shop
"Hello, Ryou, Bakura… Glad you could make it," Yami greeted the other yami/hikari pair. Her face was caught halfway between a frown and a smile – a frown because Bakura was there, and a smile because Ryou was.
Bakura shrugged. "Better than listening to her whine about her PMS all day," she said teasingly, shooting her lover a look.
Eyes narrowing, Ryou hmmphed. "It's not my fault I got the short end of the stick gender change-wise." She turned away and folded her arms across her chest in a visible sign of anger.
Yami coughed discreetly, trying to hide a smile. "Yes, well… Joey and Tristan are in the living room. Téa had other plans, and both Mai and Kaiba had to work, so it'll just be the eight of us. I'll grab Yugi and meet you th–"
At that moment, a loud 'RING!' was heard, cutting Yami's words off mid-sentence.
Yami sighed, then continued amidst the loud ringing, "–I'll meet you there once I answer the telephone." She forced a smile before darting off, mumbling under her breath about 'that Ra-forsaken contraption.'
Bakura looked at her lover and inwardly sighed. She shouldn't have teased Ryou; she knew how moody the PMS made her lover.
"Come along, miw-sher, let's go find the others," Bakura said, steering her lover down the hall.
Ryou blinked. "Miw-sher? What's that mean?"
"I keep forgetting that you don't know ancient Egyptian all that well. I think the Japanese translation is 'koneko,'" Bakura answered.
"Kitten?" Ryou asked disbelievingly. "Why are you calling me a kitten?"
Bakura smirked. "Well, you purr just like one when you're happy–" her suggestive tone of voice made Ryou blush – she meant sexually happy, the pervert, "–you like to claw things, my back included–" she shifted her shoulders ruefully; yes, that was another sex reference; Ryou sometimes got carried away during the throws of passion, "–and when you're angry, you hiss like a scalded cat and your hair fluffs up," she finished triumphantly, one hand mussing the snow-white strands playfully.
Luckily, they entered the living room at that moment, saving Bakura from death by one pissed off Ryou-neko.
Unluckily, the two 'girls' in the room still possessed the hentai minds of teenage boys.
The commotion at the doorway caused both Joey and Tristan to turn towards it. They leered slightly at Bakura, as always, but once Ryou came into view, their jaws dropped.
"Wow, Ryou, you look…" Tristan started.
"Yeah," Joey agreed, staring at the white-haired hikari. Ryou looked almost exactly like Bakura – only shorter, and with a larger bust size. Dressed in tight blue jeans and an even tighter T-shirt, it was obvious her new curves couldn't be concealed in her old clothing.
Glaring at the brunette, Ryou said, "I have PMS and only a tentative hold on my control of Shadow Magic. You were saying?" She smiled – more like scowling and baring her teeth – mock-pleasantly.
Tristan gulped.
Joey sighed and shook her head. "You're becomin' more and more like Bakura every day, Ryou," she groused.
Ryou frowned as she flopped down onto the couch, Bakura joining her. "I'm female now, Joey – as are you – so of course I'm more like Bakura. Just like you." She smiled sweetly for a moment before her lips turned downward once again as she added, "But this is one area of mutual understanding I could do without." She closed her eyes, brow furrowing with the incipient headache that she'd been plagued with as of late.
Bakura, for her part, just wrapped her arm around her lover, an unreadable expression on her face.
Unreadable except for the humor dancing in her eyes. "Oh, I don't know…" she drawled thoughtfully. "I, for one, am actually glad this happened."
Cracking open one eye and aiming it in a glare towards her lover, Ryou said, voice sugar-sweet, "Oh, really now?"
"Not to you," Bakura was quick to reassure her hikari. "But to them." She pointed to Tristan and Joey.
The blonde and the brunette stopped arguing about the movie selection and stared, eyes flashing, at the white-haired yami.
A raised eyebrow on Tristan's part was the only response Bakura received for her statement.
It was enough encouragement, however, for the thief to continue with her opinion. "Well," she said to Ryou, pointedly ignoring the other two girls, "if things were normal around here, the Hormone Twins would be sneaking peeks at my breasts all afternoon."
The blonde half of the aptly-dubbed 'Hormone Twins' flushed at Bakura's truthful jab.
"Now that they have their own," Bakura continued. "They can stare at each other's." She smirked cattily at the two girls in question.
Joey and Tristan involuntarily did just that, before turning cherry red and averting their gazes so quickly that it was a wonder their eyes didn't pop out of their heads.
Yaammmiii… Ryou chided his other. That wasn't very nice.
But it was the truth, Bakura countered. And occasionally the truth hurts – or, at least, as in this case, is extremely embarrassing. Mental chuckles chased down their mind-link.
Ryou smiled slightly at the good humor in her other's mental voice. Still…
They'll figure it out soon enough, little treasure, don't you worry, Bakura said. If they haven't already.
Ryou sent her yami an inquiring glance. Nodding at the two 'girls,' Bakura just gave her hikari a small smile.
Raising one eyebrow, Ryou looked at Joey and Tristan – and did a double-take. I see what you mean…
That was the final word – or thought – on the subject of Joey and Tristan's so-far nonexistent love lives, as Yami and Yugi chose that moment to enter the room.
"Malik called; he and Duke will be late. He said we should start without them," Yami said.
The other four occupants of the room were too busy staring at Yugi to hear the former-spirit's words, however.
Surprisingly, Yugi was female again.
"Yug?" Joey sputtered when she saw her friend. "What in da world…?"
Yugi shrugged, discomfited. "It seemed like a good idea at the time…" She rubbed the back of her neck nervously and declined further comment.
Yami just smile a smug smile, reminiscent of the one the cat wore when she'd gotten both the canary and the cream.
Ishtar Residence
Raising her hand, Téa was just about to knock on the door when it flew open. Marik was standing there, in jeans and a T-shirt that read I'm insane, what's your excuse?, a surprised expression on his face.
"Téa?" he asked, as if he wasn't sure of her name. Entirely possible, since they'd never actually 'met.'
He'd mind-controlled her once, but that didn't involve introductions.
She nodded.
"What are you doing here?" he asked curiously.
"I came to see you." And with that, she ducked under his upraised arm – which was holding the door open – and entered the house without waiting for an invitation.
"Come in, please," he grumbled, one eyebrow raised at her audacity.
"Thanks, I think I will," Téa returned pleasantly.
He rolled his eyes and headed into the living room, plopping down on the couch. She followed him, sitting decorously on the chair catty-corner to the couch.
"I wasn't entirely sure you'd be here," Téa started the conversation.
"Huh?" Marik gave her an inquiring look.
Téa shrugged sheepishly. "I thought maybe you'd be hiding while you were…transformed." She was actually starting to feel a bit guilty for shoving those chocolates down his throat. An eye for an eye, a gender change for a gender change… But still…it hadn't been a very nice thing to do.
She hid a smirk. Though it was funny… If she'd ever needed proof that yamis and hikaris were not alike in all ways, the fact that Malik made a fabulous female, and Marik looked ridiculous as a girl would have cinched it.
Marik grimaced in remembrance. "I did – but I turned back to normal last week." He brightened and said happily, "Now I'm free, free forever of being female."
Téa gave him a crafty smile. "Unless I sneak you another one of those chocolates. I saved a few, you know." She wasn't lying about that – she had saved some of those chocolates. One never knew when such a thing could come in handy – but she didn't have any plans to use them on anybody, least of all Marik, any time soon.
Eyes going wide, Marik whimpered. "Damn it," he muttered. "Ra save me from vengeful women."
Shrugging nonchalantly, Téa said, "Hell hath no fury like a woman pissed off."
Marik snorted. "Reminds me of Bakura. She scares the shit out of me."
"Me too," Tea revealed, and they shared a laugh, before falling silent. She stared at the floor, Marik gazing off across the room.
Once he got tired of staring at the wall – and with his attention span, that wasn't long – Marik asked, "So, why are you here, anyway?"
"Like I said, I came to see you," Téa repeated.
"Yes, but why?" Marik stressed. "You and I have never even talked before."
"Unless you count using me as the bait in your duel with Joey," Téa replied smartly.
Marik flushed and ducked his head. "Yeah, unless you count that," he said ruefully.
They were silent for a moment, before Marik finally asked curiously, "Did I ever apologize for that?"
"Ano…I don't think so," Téa said slowly, slightly surprised. She knew Marik wasn't evil anymore, but she hadn't thought it was in his nature to feel remorse for his past actions. He'd been doing what – at the time – he'd felt was the right thing to do. So why would he regret it?
She'd probably never know, but it was nice of him to make the gesture.
"Yeah, well…I'm sorry," Marik said gruffly.
"Apology accepted," Téa said softly, surprised once more. Even if Marik did feel sorry for what he'd done, she hadn't expected him to come right out and say he was. She'd expected his questioning whether or not he'd apologized to be the apology itself.
But then again, she didn't really know him all that well. None of them – besides Malik, Bakura, and maybe Ryou – did.
"Really?" Marik asked cautiously, as if unable to believe it was that easy.
Téa smiled slightly and nodded. "Really."
A slow grin spread across his face. Marik flushed and ducked his head. "Thanks," he said softly.
"You seem surprised I accepted your apology," Téa couldn't help but remark.
Marik looked up and huffed disbelievingly. "In my experience, people don't often forgive the megalomaniacal idiots who try and kill them," he said dryly.
"Megalomaniacal?" Téa asked laughingly.
Shrugging, Marik said, "Well, I did want to take over the world…"
"Which is where the 'idiot' part comes in, I'm sure," Téa said drolly. "I mean, even in Sunday morning anime shows, the bad guy has better goals than to take over the world."
"Are you saying I'm a kid?" Marik asked, one indigo eye twitching in irritation.
"You said it, not me," Téa replied, almost unable to believe her own daring. Back in Battle City, she'd been so afraid of Marik; afraid for her very soul, not just her life. But now, with him acting like any other teenage boy – well, any other teenage yami with all the magic of the Shadow Realm at his command and a Millennium Item to wield – most of his fearsomeness had gone by the wayside.
Marik sighed and slumped back on the couch, folding his arms across his chest in indignation. "I know everyone thinks of me like a kid," he said to the floor, pouting like a five-year-old. "But it's not my fault!"
Stifling the urge to ask whose fault he thought it was – she had a feeling she already knew – Téa gave the mass of humanity sitting across from her in a miserable morass a compassionate glance. "It's not Malik's fault, either, Marik," she pointed out gently.
Marik glanced up from his brooding contemplation of the carpet and looked at her as if she'd just spoken in ancient Egyptian – and he couldn't understand it. "I never thought it was," he said.
Téa blinked. "Oh."
Shaking off his bemusement, Marik repeated, "It isn't my fault. Bakura and the Pharaoh learned about modern times from their hikaris. But I could only come out when Rishid was unconscious – and I didn't have that much access to Malik's mind then. So I didn't learn nearly as much from Malik in the nine years we had together as Yugi did with three, or Ryou with seven. I'm lucky I can understand ancient Egyptian, never mind Japanese or English."
Téa nodded to show she'd understood. She hadn't, however, just been listening to Marik's words. She'd also listened to how his voice softened with affection and yearning whenever he spoke of Malik. And the look in his eyes…
"You miss him, don't you?" Téa burst out.
Marik blinked, startlement laced with fear now in his eyes.
"Malik, I mean," Téa clarified, less exuberantly. She'd thought Marik was angry at Malik for reminding him of his failures – now she saw that he just missed his hikari. And now that Malik had hooked up with Duke, Marik would see even less of him.
Marik fidgeted for a moment before giving a soft, "Hai." He looked away. "It's just…I…" Marik sighed and started again. "Malik and I have always been together. From the time he was eight until that day in the park this spring, we were inseparable – and I mean that literally. True, we almost never interacted until Battle City–" here he grimaced, "–and it definitely wasn't stable interaction…but we were never apart."
"And now you are," Téa said compassionately, finally grasping Marik's motivation for all the gender change spells.
Marik nodded. "It's…he…" He sighed. "He was always there, before. And now Malik has his own life…one I'm not always a part of. But I don't…" He trailed off and ducked his head.
"But you don't really have a life of your own," Téa realized. "Despite having a legal identity now."
Marik nodded. "Malik knows how to be an independent entity. I…it's a whole new thing for me. And I don't like it." He folded his arms and pouted.
Téa hid a smile at the childish gesture. "You may not like it now, but give it time."
"Time," Marik snarled, jumping up from the couch and pacing back and forth in front of it. "It's all about time. Malik never has any time for me anymore – none of them do. And I'm all alone here all day long. It's boring!" he flopped back down on the sofa, glaring at the ceiling.
"Maybe you should try and make some friends," Téa suggested.
"Like who?" Marik asked, looking over at her. "You?" He snorted. "Even if anyone in your group was willing to give me a chance, I would have alienated pretty much all of them with those chocolates."
Téa smiled wryly. "I think they're all a little pissed at you, but they don't hate you, Marik."
"Easy for you to say," Marik said petulantly. "You weren't affected by the spell."
Téa sighed and shook her head. Along with a child's temperament, Marik also had a child's stubbornness.
Time for a new tactic.
"Why did you do it, Marik?" Téa asked.
"Well, mostly, I just wanted to cause chaos," he said, lounging back on the couch, a lazy grin on his face. "But also I was tired of seeing Taylor and the mutt dancing around each other and figured if it worked for Malik and Duke, it might get them together."
Téa's jaw dropped. "You're kidding."
Marik shook his head. "Nope."
"You knew?" she demanded incredulously. "I thought Mai and I were the only ones who'd noticed." She looked rather put out by having her assumption broken.
Marik smirked. "You two, and me…and Bakura and Ryou, and I'm pretty sure when Mai figured it out she told Kaiba…"
Téa mock-grimaced. "So much for my career as an omniscient entity," she said flippantly.
"If you stole Isis' Tauk, you could make a go of it," Marik offered brightly.
Téa gave a crooked grin. "If I tried, don't you think she'd see me coming?" she pointed out.
"Good point."
She laughed. This meeting was turning out better than she ever could have dreamed…
But why did she have the feeling that even when it was over…it wouldn't be over?