Dread and the Fugitive Mind
Part 7.
"Bakura, wake up. It's time to go," a smooth, deep voice roused the yami from his peaceful sleep. Opening his eyes quickly and wondering how he could've allowed himself to just fall asleep as he had, Bakura relaxed a little at seeing Seto standing over him. The brunette's hair was a little ruffled as though he'd just woken up himself, his dark blue eyes still sleepy-looking.
"Hn," the yami muttered tiredly, sitting up and taking a glance around the room. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the cabin apart from Seto, so Bakura deemed it safe territory for now. He didn't question the fact that Seto was one of the three people in the entire world he didn't need to be on his guard around, the other two being his hikari and Marik. Which bought up the question…
"Where is Marik?" Bakura asked as he stood up and stretched, trying to make the question sound like he wasn't really asking something and he didn't really care anyway. He knew that Seto was an expert at reading people and would see right through him, but he also knew that the CEO wouldn't call him on it.
"He'll be back soon, he went to tell everyone he'll be lighting the fire in ten minutes." Seto explained, running his fingers through his hair to smooth it down a little.
"Great. This is going to be exactly my idea of fun," Bakura muttered sarcastically, wandering over to the kitchen area to make coffee.
"Grin and bear it, I suppose. Personally I'd rather read a book, but I wouldn't want to disappoint Marik. He seems quite excited about it." Seto smiled a little.
"That probably has something to do with him getting to light a fire," Bakura grinned, the smell of fresh coffee doing wonders for his mood. He poured himself out a cup and then poured one for Seto, handing it to the brunette over the counter separating them.
"Thanks." Seto took the cup, fingers brushing Bakura's for a moment. The yami raised his gaze to the deep blue one staring back at him, trying to read the CEO but only getting as far as admiring his sapphire eyes before the door swung open.
Startled, Bakura almost dropped his cup but caught himself, splashing the hot coffee over his hand. It wasn't hot enough to do more than sting a little, but his sharp, hissed breath of surprise had Seto by his side in an instant. The brunette took the cup from him and placed it down on the counter before taking his hand and wiping the liquid off gently with a tea towel.
"You ok, 'Kura?" Marik asked, coming over to lean against the counter and peer over to make sure the thief wasn't hurt.
"I'm fine," Bakura replied distractedly, watching Seto's fingers running over his pale hand, checking for burns. It hadn't even been that hot, he wondered why the CEO cared so much.
"It looks alright. Does it hurt?" Seto asked.
"No." Bakura took his hand back slowly as Seto let him go, his skin still tingling from the brunette's touch. Neither Seto nor Marik had asked why he was so jumpy yet. He knew they'd want to know eventually, but for now he was grateful that they were leaving it alone.
"Well, shall we go?" Marik suggested now that the little drama was over, looking forward to sitting around the campfire a lot more than his two companions were.
"If we must," Bakura sighed, looking put-upon. Marik just laughed and jumped easily over the counter, grabbing Seto and Bakura's hands and pulling them out the door like an excited child.
XxXxX
The whole thing wasn't actually as bad as Bakura had been expecting. Marik got a roaring fire going within minutes and Malik and Ryou set up a stereo with an extension cable so they had music playing. Otogi had taken care of bringing out plenty of drinks, and Yugi, Jou and Yami were in charge of the food. They'd bought out pretty much everything it was possible to cook by holding it over an open fire on a stick.
He didn't even have to socialise much, either. Seto had picked the most secluded log-bench for them to sit on. It was on the opposite side of the fire from everyone else, which suited Bakura just fine. He was sitting between Marik and Seto, joining the CEO watching the Egyptian yami trying to toast marshmallows.
"Perhaps if you held them above the fire they'd stop bursting into flames," Seto suggested helpfully.
"I'm not eating that." Bakura eyed the remains of the marshmallow Marik was holding out for him dubiously.
"It's fine! There's absolutely nothing wrong with it!" The tomb keeper insisted.
"It's charcoal." Bakura pointed out, taking the incinerated former marshmallow and dragging it down the tree just behind their bench, leaving a thick black line. "Look, you can draw with it."
"He has a point, it could pass for a lump of coal." Seto agreed, laughing at the look on Marik's face, which was almost a pout.
"Here, let me bloody well do it." Bakura took one of the thin sticks and skewered a marshmallow, held it over the flames for a few moments then shoved it in Marik's mouth.
"Mmmph!" The tomb keeper laughed through a mouthful of marshmallow. "'S good, you're cooking tonight!"
XxXxX
On the other side of the fire, Yami ignored the fun going on around him for a minute and watched Bakura through the fire. The thief and Seto were both toasting marshmallows – it looked like they were trying to find out how many they could make Marik eat before it killed him. It was the smiles on their faces that annoyed Yami. Seto smiling was rare enough, but even Bakura looked like he was enjoying himself for once.
The pharaoh frowned, sipping his drink and staring at the ghostly tomb robber through the flames. It annoyed him that Seto and Marik had Bakura all to themselves. He wondered what they had that he didn't and what the thief saw in them.
Turning back to his friends, Yami gave them his full attention again, deciding that he'd just have to catch Bakura alone sometime soon and ask him about it.
TBC