Disclaimer – Nope, still don't own them.
Author's Notes – Day three, here it be : ) I'm glad all of you enjoyed the scene with Yami trying to make Bakura take his medicine . . . me and my hikari spent hours discussing that one before it actually got written. I have to admit, it's one of my favorite scenes that I've ever written.
So anyway, here is Day Three. I'm trying to keep this on a once per day basis, posting each day as it passes, but considering I had surgery yesterday which is making it difficult to sit in front of the computer for extended periods of time . . . well, let's just say I'm hoping I don't fall behind or it would ruin my whole timeline.
Well, enough of that . . . here's the next chapter of Twelve Days
Chapter 3 – On the Third Day of Christmas – Three Disturbing Events
Yami was still ranting by the time they got back to the house.
"I can't believe that bastard! He kissed me! ME! That son of a jackal kissed me!" He stormed into the house, throwing his book bag onto the couch before storming up the stairs. "I'm going to go puke . . . and bathe that filth's FILTH off of me!" he snarled.
Yugi stared after him, caught somewhere between amusement and shock. He'd never seen Yami so riled up . . . if he didn't know better, he would have sworn the source was not only Bakura's actions. But that wasn't possible . . . was it?
He retreated to his room, and picked up the phone, intent on talking to Ryou. Something was going on between the two yami's, and it wasn't simply business as usual.
"Hello Yugi," Ryou murmured the minute he picked up. "I suspected you would be calling. How is Yami?" Yugi chuckled slightly, settling onto his bed and staring up at the ceiling as he listened to the shower run.
"Still storming around like he's been violated," he replied quietly. "Bakura?"
"Smug as hell and coughing up a storm . . . when he's not chuckling over what he did," Ryou said in a disgusted tone. "I swear . . . I don't know how I put up with him." Yugi snorted wryly, shifting into a more comfortable position. "But that's beside the point, I'm afraid," the young Brit continued. "What the hell do you think that was all about? Why the hell would he kiss Yami?"
Yugi sighed, shifting back into a sitting position with his back against the wall, his feet dangling off the bed. That was the question, wasn't it? Why would Bakura, who supposedly hated Yami with a passion that hadn't dimmed for five thousand years, have suddenly kissed him? Unless it was some elaborate scheme to get back at his dark. But he didn't think even Bakura would have stooped that low . . . at least, he would have sworn to that if he hadn't witnessed what he had.
"I don't know, Ryou," he said finally. "But it seems odd, even for Bakura. And unless I'm wrong, Yami's not only pissed because of the kiss itself. There's something else there . . . but he's hiding it really well. You don't think . . . you don't think they could actually be growing to . . . like . . . each other. Do you?" Ryou sighed on the other end of the phone, and the sound of the white haired boy shifting his own position came through clearly.
"It seems rather far fetched," he murmured. "But at the same time, I can't really say it isn't likely. I mean . . . that Bakura would EVER kiss Yami is shocking in and of itself. But he's acting really weird too. After you guys left, he got the strangest look on his face . . . almost like he was hurt by Yami's reaction. But he's covering it up really well, also – if that's even what it was." He mumbled something under his breath and sighed again. "The only thing we can really do is sit back and see what happens."
Suddenly, Yugi had an idea. It might not be the safest one, nor the smartest, but he was overdue for one of Joey's patented light bulb's anyway, so he figured – what the hell?
"Hey Ryou . . . let's say we throw them together as much as possible. See what comes up from that." Ryou gasped, and a shocked moment of silence followed before he giggled slightly.
"They'll either kill each other, or end up admitting to whatever it is they're hiding," Ryou said. "I like it. I didn't think you were that devious."
"Neither did I," Yugi replied. "But then again, maybe my yami is finally rubbing off on me after all." They said their goodnights after promising to come up with some ideas and talk about them tomorrow.
Smiling slightly, Yugi listened as Yami finally emerged from the shower, still grumbling about 'stupid Tomb Robbers' and 'how dare he'. Something told him it was going to be a long night . . . but for once, he was looking forward to it.
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Yami bolted upright in bed, panting as he clutched at the sheets covering him, and grimaced as he discovered the mess he had made of them.
He wasn't sure which was more disturbing . . . the fact that he'd had such an erotic dream that the evidence was there in real life, or who he'd had the dream about.
"What in the nine hells of Anubis did that Tomb Robber DO to me!?" he snarled, rising from the bed with a frown of disgust. The dream lingered all too vividly, and he shook his head, trying to clear the images of the thief doing THAT to him from his head. It was no use, and he found himself even more thoroughly disgusted when his body started reacting to those erotic images yet again. He'd never felt so out of sorts . . . not even when he'd lost Yugi to the Seal had he felt so off-balance. What the hell was wrong with him?
Stripping his bed of the soiled sheets, he prowled downstairs and shoved them in the washer before returning upstairs for another shower. This was getting out of hand . . . he'd had erotic dreams in the past, but NEVER of someone he hated so passionately as Bakura! Even Kaiba was preferable to the Tomb Robber!
He scrubbed himself harshly, paying little mind to the water temperature as he tried to sort out whatever was going on in his head. This was simply too much . . . first he rescued the white haired thief from a tree and got a flash of desire when he'd been pressed against him, then he'd spent an entire, not all unpleasant day in the bastard's company and somewhat enjoyed a brief kiss, now he was having dreams! If five thousand years hadn't been enough to break him, this was surely pushing the limits of his sanity!
Snarling to himself, he stepped out of the shower and dried off with a brief, vigorous towel rub before climbing into the leather pants and gold silk he'd brought into the bathroom with him. It was still early in the morning as of yet . . . perhaps he could force the images out of his head with some mindless television. If he got really lucky, Bakura wouldn't need a keeper today, because he certainly was NOT volunteering for such a thing again.
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A groan from the pile of blankets in the darkened room broke the stillness of early morning, one pale hand rising out of the tangled mass to brush the covers aside, revealing a disheveled mass of spiky white hair.
Bakura bit back a curse as certain parts of his anatomy hit the cool air, and suddenly got a whole lot colder. He shook his head, staggering to his feet before making his way slowly for the bathroom, unsure whether he was going to be sick, or simply disgusted.
How could he possibly have a dream so erotic about the Pharaoh!? What the hell was wrong with him! That kiss had been merely a game . . . hadn't it? Growling under his breath, he climbed into the tub after he had run the water, sinking up to his nose in the warm water and letting him soothe the aching muscles his illness had left him with.
This had to be one of the most . . . well, to use one of his 'oh so proper' hikari's words, displeasing . . . things that had ever happened to him. He had enjoyed that kiss. He couldn't deny that . . . the feel of Yami's body against his, lips pressed tightly together, had done some wonderful things to his groin that he REALLY didn't want to contemplate. It wasn't possible that he was actually attracted to that pompous son of a camel . . . was it? And the taste of the Pharaoh . . .
He groaned, sinking even deeper in the water as he realized just where his thoughts were heading again. He was NOT falling for his enemy! It just wasn't possible . . . he hated that bastard! He'd hated that bastard for five thousand years!
The problem was, the more he thought about the problem, the more he began to suspect that his problem really was that he was beginning to feel something for the former Pharaoh. Disgusting as that thought was, it was looking more and more like the only possible answer. Shaking his head in disgust, he rose from the water, dripping wet and shivering uncontrollably as he toweled off and stalked into his room, throwing on a pair of black jeans and a black t-shirt before collapsing in his chair, staring at the wall across from him in annoyance.
This was not going to be pleasant . . . he had two options here, and neither seemed plausible considering the circumstances. He could either shove these thoughts out of his head and continue on as he had – something which he highly doubted was going to be possible anyway – or he could go for it and see what happened. But that thought wasn't exactly a comfortable one either. Yami hated him as much as he hated . . . or rather, HAD hated . . . the former Pharaoh.
Why, of all the people in the world for him to start lusting after, had he chosen the Pharaoh? That's all it was . . . it had to be. It was lust, pure and simple. No complications, no added problems . . . he was after Yami's body, and that was it. He wouldn't allow the other thought – that he might actually be developing feelings for the tri-haired annoyance – to take root. That was just too preposterous. There was no way he could be falling in love with that asshole.
Was there?
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Yugi and Ryou were once again on the phone, after spending the night in contemplation of the possible developments between their yami's. Neither had come up with any answers . . . but they'd gotten some rather interesting clues that morning.
The washer running off-balance had awoken Yugi first thing this morning, as well as the shower running for the second time in twenty four hours for his dark. He'd gone down to rebalance the load while Yami was in the bathroom, grumbling under his breath about spirit's who didn't learn how to run a clothes washer properly. He'd been startled considerable to find Yami's bedclothes the only items in the tub of the machine . . . and that, of course, had him wondering just why his dark had thrown the items in there first thing in the morning anyway.
It seemed Ryou had experienced a similar circumstance at his house as well . . . Bakura had stormed up the stairs from his basement bedroom, sheets and blankets in hand, shoving them into the washer and turning it on before returning to his room. What had intrigued Ryou about the whole thing was the minor blush that had stained his dark's face when he noticed the smaller boy watching him, one eyebrow raised in curiosity.
If Yugi was correct in his suspicions, both yami's had been through an uncomfortable night. But what had triggered such a simultaneous event? Talking it over with Ryou, they could only come up with a single thought – the kiss the two had shared the day before.
To test the theory, they determined that asking questions would be the best way to go about digging up more information . . . or rather, their yami's reactions to certain questions. Giggling slightly, they hung up with each other after promising to meet each other in the park at the usual time.
Yugi sat for several minutes, simply staring at the phone as he thought things over. It did really seem like the Tomb Robber and the Pharaoh were beginning to have feelings for each other, which made sense in a sort of twisted logic. After all, they were the only five thousand year old individuals on the planet, which made them uniquely suited to each other. Thing is, those five thousand years had been spent hating each other, so what had caused the sudden turn around?
It was intriguing, and slightly disturbing. His dark, in love with the Thief King. But, was it love? Or was it simply hormones over-reacting to five thousand years of celibacy? It was an interesting dilemma. Rising from his bed, he made his way down to the kitchen after collecting his book bag and all his homework from his desk.
Yami was already puttering around in the kitchen, but his aura was strangely disturbed as he worked at the stove. Yugi examined his dark carefully, not entirely pleased with the signs of stress his other was showing. It did, however, lend a certain weight to his current considerations, however . . . what reason would Yami have to be disturbed so much first thing in the morning, unless he'd had a dream that didn't sit well with him. He could guess what the dream had been about, and unless Yami had taken to dreaming about Seto Kaiba (he shuddered at that thought), there was only one other person in the world that could have his dark so tense.
"Doing laundry a bit early in the morning, aren't you Yami?" he said, settling down at the table. He tried not to snicker when his usually confident and unshakable dark jumped as if he'd been shot, before turning to him with a bland expression plastered on his face. That wasn't fooling Yugi however . . . Yami's eyes literally were windows to his soul, and right now they were showing a surprising amount of consternation and wariness.
"My apologies, aibou," Yami murmured after a moment before turning back to breakfast. "I wanted to get them into the wash so that I could put them in the dryer before I opened the shop today. I suspect I will be terribly busy and was afraid that I may not have the time to do it later on." He could tell from the look in those amethyst eyes that his aibou had not bought into that excuse, but it's the only one he was willing to offer.
After waking so early in the morning, he'd spent the last two hours gazing at the television, unfortunately seeing absolutely none of it as he mulled over the current dilemma. The fact that Bakura, of all people, dominated his thoughts was not a pleasant prospect at all. If only he could remember his past . . . if he could have done so, than perhaps he could have better maintained a hold on the anger and disgust he felt towards the former thief. Unfortunately, he only had his recent memories since Yugi had released him to go upon, and those were not proving adequate, especially not in light of his nemesis change in demeanor since becoming separated from his young hikari.
Admittedly, Bakura was still an asshole, and a sadistic prick, but he was no longer after the Millennium Items. At least, not so far as Yami had seen thus far. Considering that he now held three of the items in his possession, he'd been very careful to keep an eye out for a certain thief, but so far Bakura had made no move to try to claim those items for himself. That in itself had been a strange, albeit welcome, change in the white haired spirit.
Of course, now that he had to actually live WITH Ryou, rather than living as him, he'd become a bit nicer towards the youth. He still considered him weak, and was still rather harsh with the young man his aibou was becoming, but he no longer threatened the boy, which was a relief to all concerned parties. He avoided everyone else as much as possible in their small group of friends, but that was minor. Yami often did the same, feeling uncomfortable in their presence. Being five thousand years old did have a tendency to make one stand out in a group of teenagers.
All in all, Bakura had become a somewhat likable individual, which only made it more difficult to continue to despise him. The fact that his mind and body were now noticing just how desirable the former thief was only added weight to the wrong side of the equation, especially in light of current circumstances.
"Bakura's feeling better," Yugi murmured behind him, and he tried not to startle at the sudden mention of his current preoccupation's name, as well as hide the relief that washed through him at the statement. The last thing he wanted was for his aibou to know that he'd actually been worried about the thief.
"Good," he said shortly, scraping the scrambled eggs out of the pan before taking the utensil to the sink before the stuff could dry and stick. "Then Ryou won't need to find someone to baby-sit him today." Yugi smirked at the off-handed tone . . . Yami wasn't fooling him, and he suspected his other knew that as well as he did. But that was fine. This was one game Yugi was determined to win. Yami needed someone other than him in his life, and Bakura would fit the bill quite nicely . . . if they would both simply cooperate. But nothing was ever that easy with the yami's.
'There is something there,' he thought to himself, smiling down at his plate as Yami made his way to his own seat. 'We just have to get them to admit to it.'
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Bakura made his way slowly into the kitchen, not quite sure which he was dreading more . . . the beginning of the whole damned day, or the look his hikari was bound to give him. It was unfortunate that Ryou had seen him with his soiled bed clothes earlier . . . but so help him, if the boy said anything about it, he was going to beat the shit out of him without a single regret.
Surprisingly, Ryou did neither of those things. What he did say, however, nearly froze the usually unshakable Tomb Robber in his tracks.
"Yami was asking how you're doing," the boy said conversationally, his elbows up to suds in the sink, doing the dishes before school. "And Yugi made a suggestion . . . if you're feeling a bit better today, Yami could use some help in the store. Christmas season has been pretty busy over there, and he could use a hand." He turned at the silence, and nearly giggled at his yami's shell shocked expression.
The Pharaoh had been asking about him? That was Bakura's first thought, and the warm feeling that went through him from it nearly threw him for a loop. He shook that off and continued on to the next thought before that one went further than he wanted it to, and he was forced to head back down stairs.
"Why would I want to go over and help that jackass?!" he snarled finally, settling into his chair at the table. Ryou sighed . . . of course Bakura was going to be difficult about this.
"Because he came over here to watch over you yesterday, and from the looks of it, you gave him a hard time. The least you can do is go help him today," he said. The thief snorted, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance. "Unless you want to admit that he's a better man than you." Ryou heard the chair scrape back across the floor, and smiled at the evidence of his barb hitting home. If you couldn't get Bakura to do something the nice way, a prick to his ego always did seem to work.
"Fine, brat," he growled. "I'll go. But don't expect this to happen too often." He stormed out of the room, leaving Ryou to grin over the sink and wonder what Yugi would think of his little plan. Forcing Yami and Bakura to actually work together would have to do something . . . he just wasn't sure what.
He went to the phone to give Yugi the change in plans, grinning at having out-maneuvered his dark. Who said the Thief King was best at playing mind games?
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"He's WHAT!?" Yami said, his voice level rising with his pique. "I do NOT need that thief's help! He'll be more a hindrance than anything . . . I'll have to keep an eye on him all day to make sure he doesn't STEAL anything!" Yugi propped his hands on his hips, glaring at his dark, who was just as happy to glare back with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You're being unreasonable," the boy growled, his voice dropping into a tenor that made it eerily similar to his dark's. "He won't steal anything . . . there's nothing of massive worth in the store anyway! And you'll be manning the cash register all day, so there's no chance of that. For Ra's sake, yami, you were complaining just the other day that you couldn't wait until I went on Christmas break so you had some help!"
"Help is not something I readily associate with the Tomb Robber," Yami snarled back. Of course, he wasn't going to tell his aibou what he did associate with the white haired thief, because sex and beautiful were on the top of that list, and he still wasn't comfortable with that fact. To be honest, that was the main reason he didn't want Bakura anywhere near him at the moment. He was afraid of what he might do, or worse yet, say to the man who'd been his enemy for over five thousand years.
For that matter, what exactly did one say to a man like that? He couldn't very well just come out and say 'Hey, Bakura, I know we've hated each other for five thousand years, but let's put that all aside and fuck each other's brains out'. And telling Bakura that he'd suddenly developed a desire for him was just as impractical . . . the thief was notorious for turning shit like that around on a person. He'd rather just avoid the Tomb Robber entirely until this strange whim passed. That was what it had to be after all . . . merely a whim, his five thousand years of celibacy finally catching up with him.
"He's coming over to help, and that's final!" Yugi said, dragging him back to the current argument. "This is my grandfather's store, and you can't handle it alone! You never listen to me! Stop letting your damn pride rule our life!" Amethyst eyes widened as he realized he'd said too much, and he clapped his hands over his mouth as Yami staggered back, crimson eyes wounded. Just like that, he'd hit the heart of the entire problem between them, and had brought back memories they both wished they could forget.
Yami's will to protect him was often too strong, and if Yugi didn't agree with something Yami felt was necessary in order to keep him safe, the former Pharaoh simply ignored it. His pride was another problem . . . he couldn't bear to lose, no matter how small or large the stakes were. Thus the events in America, when Yugi's soul had been taken. Because of that, Yugi's trust had been shattered, and they'd only begun to rebuild it again . . . and now he'd gone and ripped all the wounds right back open.
"Yami . . . I . . ." he whispered, reaching out to his dark only to wince when Yami straightened and moved away abruptly.
"You've made your point, aibou," he said, his voice choked. "My pride is once again getting in the way. I will bow to your wishes . . . Bakura will help me in the store today." He glanced at the door as there was a resounding thud from the outside. "I will be in the store, getting ready to open. You had best go answer the door." With that, he walked away, leaving Yugi to stare after him, amethyst eyes glittering with tears. He gathered up his books in a hurt daze, before opening the door and slipping outside.
Ryou instantly knew something was wrong, and shielded Yugi from his dark's eyes as best he could.
"Yugi, what's wrong?" he whispered. Yugi merely shook his head.
"Later . . . I'll tell you later," he said, his heart in his throat. "Yami's . . . in the shop, Bakura." With that said, he started off toward school, his shoulders slumped sadly. The two white haired male's shared a look before Ryou started off after the smaller boy, leaving Bakura to stare after them, considering.
What had the Pharaoh's hikari so upset, he wondered. Shrugging his shoulders, he walked into the kitchen and shut the door behind him. It wasn't his problem. Whatever was eating Yugi, Ryou would get it out of him. The store lights were on, and he could hear sounds of movement from within, so he headed in that general direction. If he had to help the damn Pharaoh, he might as well be about it. The faster they got started, the faster he could get away from the enigmatic former spirit and whatever strange feelings he was developing for the idiot.
He was somewhat startled to find his nemesis perched upon the stool behind the counter, his head resting in his hands, shoulders slumped wearily forward. He stopped for a moment, stunned . . . he'd never seen the Pharaoh look so beaten. It made him curious, and it also brought a strange pain to his heart – the one he could have sworn he'd got rid of.
As if sensing he was there, the crimson eyes rose to meet his gaze, and he was astounded by the pain in them. Was this really the man he'd hated for so long? The man he'd thought so callous as to condone the slaughter of an entire village to create the Puzzle around his neck? He watched as the pain drained away, leaving the steel gaze that he knew all too well, the game face falling into place to hide the pain . . . a form of protection that he was intimately familiar with.
"Bakura," he said, rising off the stool stiffly. "Thank you for coming over to help. I'm sure it wasn't exactly something you were eager to do." The thief shrugged, putting away this new glimpse into the former Pharaoh for later consideration.
"I had nothing better to do," he replied, crossing pale arms over his black clad chest. "It got Ryou off my back." Yami snorted slightly, but made his way out from behind the counter.
"Well, until we open the only thing that needs to be done is stock the shelves. I'll show you where everything is." Bakura almost didn't catch that statement, stuck on the fact that Yami was wearing some VERY tight black leather pants. He'd never really noticed just how good the Pharaoh looked in that stuff. And the gold silk of the shirt brought out the golden streaks of hair even more.
He shook his head rapidly, white hair flying as he shoved THAT particular thought completely out of his head. The last thing he needed to be doing right now was admiring the way the leather clung to certain areas of Yami's anatomy . . .
Instead, he followed the other spirit into the backroom, and tried to keep his mind on more mundane matters.
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"Yugi, talk to me," Ryou said, finally catching up to the diminutive duelist. "What happened? You were fine when we were on the phone earlier . . ." Yugi sighed, raising tear filled amethyst eyes to the warm chocolate of his friend.
"I let my mouth run away with me," he replied quietly. "I brought up what happened in America. I didn't mean to . . . or maybe I did. I just don't know. You should have seen him, Ryou! It was like I had just shoved a dagger into his heart! I thought we'd come to terms with this, and Yami has been much better lately . . . why can't I just let that whole mess go?" He shuddered slightly, wrapping his arms around himself.
"Oh, Yugi," Ryou whispered, draping a comforting arm around his friend's shoulders and hugging him slightly as they walked. He'd heard about everything that had happened . . . Joey and the others had filled him in entirely. He'd spoken at length with Yugi about it afterwards, trying to help his friend mend the breaks in his relationship with his yami, and they both had thought that it was done and in the past. "I'm sure it will be all right. Yami still carries a lot of guilt over what happened, and you're right that his pride does often get in the way of doing the right thing. But he's never willingly put you in danger . . . you know that."
"I know," Yugi murmured. "But I hurt him, Ryou. I hurt him, and I don't know how to make it better. It feels like everything we've accomplished since we came back just fell apart again. What am I supposed to do?" Ryou shook his head sadly, giving the shoulders another comforting squeeze.
"I don't know, Yugi . . . I don't know," he said, and that was all that could be said.
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The day went rather fast, but Bakura was almost relieved when it neared time for the hikari's to return from school. A day spent with Yami had been a serious strain . . . not by being near the Pharaoh himself, but by keeping himself aloof and egotistical, especially when several young girls came in expressly to flirt with the former spirit. He'd had the almost uncontrollable urge to lay claim to the lithe, tri-haired man right there and then, and damn to hell whatever consequences came from it.
He'd caught himself just in time, excusing himself to disappear into the back room, where he struggled to regain his hatred and anger at the man. Unfortunately, he hadn't quite managed to accomplish it . . . the hatred was harder and harder to summon now, and the anger, while still there, was more directed at Yami for not showing any signs of the same attraction rather than anything that had occurred between them before now.
He smacked his head into the wall, hoping that the headache would help him get himself back to rights. What the hell was wrong with him?! Lusting after his body was bad enough . . . but now there were even stronger feelings coming into play, making him increasingly uncomfortable. That glimpse of a wounded soul that he'd gotten this morning had stuck with him all day, wreaking havoc with his attempts to keep his distance.
There were giggles from out front, igniting a rather hard to ignore fire within him. He stalked back out of the storage room and froze as he beheld Yami giving one girl a gentle hug before pushing her out the door. Red-brown eyes narrowed in anger and he stalked towards the lithe figure, thoughts of maintaining his distance completely forgotten.
Yami smiled slightly, watching the girl's blush and giggle as they walked down the snow covered sidewalk, casting quite a few glances back towards the shop as they did so. It never hurt to flirt with the younger patrons . . . it kept them coming back to buy more, which was all to the good. And those had been the last customers in the shop for now, so hopefully he could get a little downtime.
He had to admit, Bakura really had been a big help today. While he had dealt with the customers, the thief had dealt with keeping the shelves stocked and all the minor other annoyances that came with running a game shop.
Thinking of the thief brought him to wondering where his fellow spirit had gone to. He'd disappeared rather suddenly about ten minutes ago . . . A hand landing on his shoulder and spinning him around gave him the answer, and he was ready to snap the Tomb Robber's head off for manhandling him like that . . . until he got a look at the red-brown eyes. For once, they weren't completely filled with hatred – there was anger there, but strangely enough it wasn't directed at him. He didn't have very long to wonder at it though, because Bakura shoved him back against the door, bringing their bodies flush with each other before he leaned forward and claimed his lips in a brutal, possessive kiss.
The crimson eyes flew wide, staring into the blood-tinted chocolate of the Tomb Robber in shock as the thief ravaged his mouth hungrily. A tongue flicked lightly over his bottom lip, teeth nipping at the soft flesh, and he gave in to the silent entreaty, opening his mouth to allow entrance to the other. He barely held back a moan as Bakura plundered the recesses, sagging slightly back against the cool glass of the door as one pale arm wrapped tightly around his waist, bringing him into even closer contact with the muscular body of the former spirit as his eyes closed.
His mind simply shut down, his body going on autopilot as a fire shot through him, pleasure seeping into him from the intimate contact he'd been trying to deny wanting all day long.
Bakura growled softly with pleasure as he felt Yami give beneath his hands, the lithe, delectable figure going soft against him. He'd stopped thinking about five minutes ago, and now he simply wanted . . . wanted Yami beneath him, with him, wanted HIM! He ran his tongue across the roof of Yami's mouth, teasing and tantalizing the other's tongue to join in the intimate dance. Pale lips left the warm cavern to trail over golden skin, tongue flicking out to caress the fluttering pulse at the base of the slim neck before trailing nips over the silk covered collar bone. He returned to the soft lips after a moment, gratified when Yami began to return the play and fight him for dominance of the kiss.
"Bakura! Yami . . . we're back!" Ryou called from the house behind the store. Red-brown eyes shot open at the voice, and he barely got a warning before Shadow Powers knocked him back, leaving him prone against the counter as Yami straightened, the Eye of Horus glowing on his forehead as crimson eyes stared down at him.
Yami was panting, struggling to regain his control as he glared at the prone thief. What the hell had that been about? And why did he want nothing more than to forget Ryou and Yugi were back and go back to what they had been doing? Had he finally lost his mind?! He pressed his hands against the cool glass at his back, shoving away from it and stalking into the back room without so much as a word to the pale haired thief, who was slowly getting himself straightened out as well.
Ryou came through the door not a moment later, Yugi trailing silently at his heels. They were met by a thoroughly peeved thief, who took one look at them and growled before stalking past them, grabbing his coat, shoving his feet into his shoes, and leaving. The white-haired hikari raised an eyebrow in curiousity, watching his dark storm out of the house as if the hounds of Anubis were at his heels. Had they missed something?
"Yami?" Yugi called, wondering where his dark was.
I am in the stockroom, Yugi, came the silent reply. Amethyst eyes narrowed thoughtfully . . . was it just him, or did Yami seem a bit flustered at the moment?
Bakura just stormed out of here in a huff . . . he sent. Yami gave the equivalent of a mental sigh, unease and guilt flickering through the link. 'Curiouser and curiouser', as the saying went . . . what did Yami have to be guilty and uneasy about? Unless it was about this morning . . . Can we talk? Ryou said he'll mind the store for a bit . . . He sensed Yami's reluctant acquiescence to his request and nodded to Ryou before joining his other in the storage room.
He was surprised to find Yami sitting on one of the unopened boxes of cards, flushed and somehow drained.
"Yami . . . about this morning . . ." he began softly. The crimson eyes rose to meet his, and he couldn't help going over and dropping to his knees before his dark, crying slightly into his lap as he wrapped thin arms around his other's waist. "I'm sorry! I was just trying to help, and I didn't think about how much you dislike Bakura . . . I didn't mean to say that, really I didn't! You just made me so mad . . ."
"It's okay, Yugi," Yami replied, his voice equally as soft as he ran long, tan fingers through his aibou's soft hair. "You were right . . . I needed the help, and Bakura provided it. I was simply being unreasonable, as you said." Yugi relaxed beneath his gentle touch, the tears slowly drying as he listened to his yami in both his mind and reality, hearing the echo of truth in the words through their link. "I do allow my pride to get in the way of what I should do, and I apologize for that, little one. It is a very hard habit to break."
"I know," Yugi whispered. "And you have been doing better. I was out of line with what I said this morning . . . forgive me?" Amethyst eyes arose, meeting the solemn garnet gaze before Yami smiled somewhat crookedly, leaning forward to lay a soft kiss on his forehead lovingly.
"Always, aibou," he murmured. Yugi lay his head back down in his lap, and he simply enjoyed the silence and the simplicity of the moment. After the events of the day, all he wanted now was peace in which to think.