The El Kababgy was a well-known restaurant in Luxor. Located on the Nile near the famous White Palace resort hotel, it was always crowded and rarely intimate. It was an odd choice for a dinner engagement that was supposed to include an explanation of whatever clandestine affairs Marik and Odion were involved in because of Wajdi Muizz, and as annoyed as Bakura was with Marik's behavior over the past week, he couldn't help but be curious as to why this dinner had been arranged. He arrived a little before seven dressed in a suit and tie and carrying a bouquet of white lilies. He was ushered to a large table by a maître d' who thankfully spoke English. A few minutes later the Ishtars arrived. Ishizu and Rashida both wore elegant Egyptian dresses and Odion and Marik were wearing western suits and ties. Marik looked thoroughly uncomfortable and Bakura wasn't sure if it was the suit, the circumstances, or a combination of the two.
As they approached the table, Bakura rose from his seat and handed the lilies to Ishizu. She smiled and blushed and thanked him in a very demure way that was decidedly out of character for Ishizu. She took a seat opposite Bakura, with Marik between them on Bakura's left. Odion sat on Bakura's right and Rashida sat beside him next to Ishizu.
"Thank you for coming, Ryou," Marik said quietly, and Bakura realized it was the first time in a week Marik had looked and spoken directly to him. He wasn't sure what to say in response, so he merely nodded his head. Marik held his gaze a moment longer, a strange expression in his eyes, and then he looked away.
The dinner was one of the most bizarre evenings Bakura had even experienced. All of the Ishtars were behaving oddly and Bakura had the eerie feeling that he was taking part in some sort of drama for which he alone had been denied the script. Ishizu was acting quiet and shy where she was usually commanding and regal. Odion and Marik took turns telling stories about their family history, half of which Bakura knew for a fact were lies. Marik had been raised in an underground tomb and hadn't seen the light of day until he was ten and Odion and Ishizu had conspired to sneak him away from his father and his duties as the heir to the Tomb Keepers, so stories about trips to the beach and boating on the Nile when they were children were pure rubbish. When they weren't telling him about their family, they were asking about his: his father, his prospects for the future. Again, it felt like he was playing some scripted role. Ishizu had met Bakura's father years ago and they all knew that Bakura had no real plans for the future beyond working in the museum and staying in Luxor until he felt it was time to leave.
When the waiter came to ask if they wanted dessert, Odion said, "Ryou, we would be honored if you would join us at our house for dessert and coffee. Ishizu makes the most wonderful umm ali."
Bakura could not for the life of him picture Ishizu in the kitchen baking anything, so obviously this was part of whatever role he was supposed to be playing. Perhaps in the privacy of their house, away from the eyes of whoever they thought might be watching their little drama, he would finally get his explanation.
"Yes, of course, I'd love to," he replied.
They drove back to the Ishtar's house in silence, Odion and Bakura in front with Marik and the women in the back. When they entered the front door and closed it behind him, Ishizu leaned against it with a sigh. "Well, that was the most uncomfortable evening of my life." She looked at Bakura and smiled. "Bakura, thank you for your patience with us. I think it's high time you had an explanation." She gave Marik a pointed look and he scowled at her.
"You're the one who came up with this whole plan, including the timetable," Marik snapped peevishly.
"But I'm not the one who got on the wrong side of an idiot like Wajdi and hasn't been forthright from the beginning," she said darkly, and Bakura was relieved to see her acting more like herself.
"Yes, yes, good night sister," Marik waved impatiently.
Ishizu gave Bakura another smile. "Good night Bakura, and thank you again for your patience. If you're still speaking to my brother after tonight, we would love to have you over again under less… trying circumstances."
"Thank you, Ishizu," Bakura said, still thoroughly confused.
"Good night, sister," Marik repeated emphatically, and she nodded.
"Good night," Odion said and Rashid came over and surprised Bakura by giving him a small hug.
"Don't be too angry with Marik. He didn't mean for any of this to happen," she said. "We all enjoy your company and would like to see more of you."
Bakura didn't know what to say to this. "Th-thank you," he stammered, blushing.
Ishizu, Odion, and Rashida filed out of the room and Bakura looked at Marik expectantly. "I take it I won't be getting any umm ali this evening," he said dryly.
Marik chuckled nervously. "No. My sister can tell you from memory the words to every prayer said over a Pharaoh's grave and every ingredient in a proper Egyptian embalming ritual, but I'm certain she hasn't the first clue what goes into umm ali."
"Then let's get right to the part where you tell me what the hell is going on, shall we?"
Marik sighed. "Come into the study. We can have more privacy there."
He led Bakura to an elegant room with leather furniture and bookshelves lining the wall. Closing the door behind them, Marik motioned for Bakura to sit down on the couch. He himself remained standing, fidgeting nervously. He pulled at his collar, loosening his tie, and then finally pulling it off in irritation.
"I feel like an idiot in these clothes," he complained.
"Marik," Bakura said impatiently, "I believe Ishizu indicated you have something to say to me?"
"Easy for her to say. She only knows half the story," Marik growled.
"Which puts her half a story ahead of me."
Marik sighed again and looked at Bakura—really looked at him properly—for the first time in a week. "Ryou, I'm so sorry about all of this. I… shit." He put his hand to his forehead in frustration. "I don't know where to begin." Then he looked up at Bakura again. "The thing is, Ry, I'm really attracted to you. I've been attracted to you since you got off that train two months ago. And then I got to know you better and, well, the more I get to know you, the more attracted I am to you. I really like you. I like you a lot."
Bakura's eyes widened and his heart started thumping a little harder, but he also felt his irritation rise. "And how exactly does that translate to walking out on me and then avoiding me for a week?"
"Actually, that's two different questions with two completely different answers," Marik said, finally sitting down on the opposite side of the couch from Bakura. "I'll answer the second one first because it's easier to explain. You are not completely unaware, I assume, that this isn't England or Japan. My feelings for you aren't exactly… encouraged here."
"I know that," Bakura replied. "I assume that's why you wanted us to leave Kul Elna and go back to my apartment."
"Yes, but I'm not sure you know exactly how risky it is. If we were discovered we could be arrested and held indefinitely. Threatened and tortured. Some men are even forced to undergo hormone 'therapy' or some such nonsense," Marik said. "There aren't any laws against homosexuality per se, but they'll use debauchery and lechery laws, anything they can come up with if they think you're a sinner. Like there's anyone who isn't, the hypocritical bastards," he snorted.
"Now of course, I grew up here and even after spending the first ten years of my life locked underground, I learned pretty quickly as a teenager how to get by. I'm something of a rebel anyway, what with the way I dress and all the jewelry I wear. I'm sure you've noticed I don't exactly fit the norm of the good Muslim man, and of course, we weren't raised Muslim anyway. We were taught the ancient Egyptian beliefs which were, ironically, far more liberal than modern views of sexuality. Because of Ishizu's position, our family commands a lot of respect in Egypt, even if we aren't Muslim. But that only goes so far, and if I'm ever caught, I don't think even Ishizu could get me out of trouble. But frankly, sometimes it's just worth the risk," he said, giving Bakura a meaningful look.
Bakura didn't know what to say, so he was grateful that Marik continued. "But then came Wajdi," he said, spitting his name like a curse.
"Yes, who is he and what was that all about at the museum? You had words with him a couple of months ago at one of those nightclubs when I first arrived, too."
Marik nodded. "He and I… well, we went out a few times. He was nice enough at first, but got very clingy and possessive and I broke it off pretty quickly and, well, that didn't sit too well with him. When he saw me at the club with you he was just being catty and I thought it would be fine if we stayed away from the places he frequents. But apparently he saw us, that day…"
"In Kul Elna?" Bakura cried.
"Oh God no, not in Kul Elna. We would be completely screwed if he actually saw anything," Marik shook his head. "No, he has a 'friend' who lives in your building. He saw us go into your apartment together. So the next day he came looking for me at the museum and lo and behold, there you were. I was coming to arrange a time to talk to you about what happened the night before when I saw him there with you, coming onto you in public, and I was furious, Ry. Not jealous, understand. It was pretty obvious you weren't interested. It's just it was so damned dangerous. And then he started making insinuations about you and me, right in front of Ahmed. That's when it hit me: I wasn't just putting myself at risk, I was putting you at risk and I wasn't sure you even knew what the risks were. I was so stupid, losing my head at Kul Elna like that. Anyone could have seen us. You were in danger and it was my fault. That's when I lost it. I threw him against the wall and said the first thing that popped into my head. I told him you were in love with Ishizu and that I was at your apartment because I was arranging for you to begin courting her."
Bakura choked. "What?"
"I know, but it's the first thing I could think of. Of course, Wajdi knew it was crap, but I wasn't trying to convince him, I was trying to convince Ahmed and anyone else who might have heard his accusations. I told Wajdi that he would not be allowed to insult a family friend who might actually be able to bring the family out of our embarrassment at not having found someone for Ishizu to marry, blah blah blah. Actually, it's a pretty good cover story and explained all the time we spend together quite nicely and as long as it all looks good on the surface, no one is going to go digging a lot further, certainly not on nothing more than the word of sleazebag like Wajdi against the honor of Ishizu Ishtar. Odion showed up then and figured out what was going on pretty quickly and we kicked his ass out of the museum. Then I went straight to Ishizu and told her everything. She's the one who concocted this whole ridiculous dinner plan. She wanted to make it look good, make sure lots of people saw us in public with you bringing her flowers and Odion and I being the dutiful brothers protecting her honor."
He sighed. "She thinks quite highly of you, Ryou. She was really angry with me for not being up front with you sooner and giving you a chance to decide for yourself if the risks were worth it. She told me I should stay away from you for a week, let Odion do some of the arrangements so it looked more proper. That's why I've been avoiding you this week."
Bakura shook his head. "So Ahmed and everyone else at the museum thinks I'm in love with your sister. And that you and Odion approve."
"Yes."
"So is she in love with me, too, or is my heart to be broken by unrequited love?"
Marik snickered. "I'll let you decide how it ends. You can tell Ahmed tomorrow that she's madly in love with you but that you decided she just isn't your type for all I care. I just wanted to make sure you were above reproach so that if Wajdi comes around again he can't impugn your reputation. I don't care if he drags me through the mud, but he will not touch you," he said darkly.
Bakura swallowed. "I'm flattered, Marik. Not just that you would go to such lengths for me, but that your whole family would. But you still haven't explained about what happened at my apartment. Why did you walk out like that? I… I thought we'd connected. That we… oh hell, I don't know."
Marik closed his eyes. "This one is harder, Ry. Do you understand what happened when we were together that night?"
"I'm rather inexperienced thanks to the bulk of my adolescent years spent battling the invasion of the psycho spirit from hell rather than finding cute young boys to date, but I'm not an idiot, Marik," Bakura said peevishly. "You kissed me, I kissed you; I can work out where it was going from there."
"That's not what I mean," Marik said softly. "When we were kissing and then all of a sudden it was like I was a part of you. That's how you put it, anyway. I could see through you and you through me."
"Yes," Bakura breathed, shivering at the memory. "That was bloody brilliant. Wasn't it?"
"No," Marik moaned, "you don't understand what happened. Do you remember much of Battle City and our… association there?"
"You mean our darker halves working together? I remember bits and pieces."
"Ry, when I had the Millennium Rod, I used it to control people. I actually went into their minds and controlled them. It was nothing short of mind rape. I did it to my Rare Hunters. I did it to that moron Bandit Keith. I did it to Joey Wheeler and Téa Gardner just to fuck with Yugi and the Pharaoh. In a way, I did it to Mai Valentine, although it wasn't exactly the same thing. Actually, it was worse," he said, looking ashamed. "But anyway, I did it to you, too, Ryou. Not my darker half. Me." He patted his chest for emphasis. "I did that to these people, some of whom actually consider me a friend now in spite of it. That's why when my darker half took over completely I was able to use Téa to talk to my sister and to bring you back from the Shadow Realm after you'd lost to Yugi. It's why I was able to appear to you when you dueled my darker half. Because I'd already laid the groundwork. I'd already opened the pathway into your mind giving me free access."
Bakura considered this. "So that's why we were able to connect like that."
Marik gaped at him. "Connect? Do you understand what I'm talking about here? I violated you. It wasn't enough that you had one psychopathic nutjob invading your mind and your body, I had to do it, too. It was like fucking gang rape, Ry, that's what I did to you. And then the other night when you were upset, when you were hurting and you needed comfort, I did it again." Marik wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, the same gesture he'd done that night, Bakura remembered. He slid closer to Marik on the couch and took both his hands.
"You're wrong, Marik."
"I'm not wrong," Marik insisted.
"Maybe not about Battle City, but we're not talking about Battle City, are we? All those things you said to me at Kul Elna, they apply to you as well. 'The past is gone. Understand the past as a part of who you are today, but that's all that matters. What you do today.' Your words, not mine."
"But that's just it. I did the same thing to you all over again. In the present, here in Luxor in your own apartment," Marik said miserably.
"How can you not see that it is not the same thing at all?" Bakura asked, dumfounded. "How can it be an invasion if I wanted you there? Marik, why do you think it didn't happen until we were kissing? I wanted you. All of you. And there you were. It was the most amazing feeling I've ever had. I would do anything to feel that connected to you again."
Marik stared at him. "Even now? Even after everything that happened this past week, the risk I put you through?"
"What if I happen to think the risk is worth it, too?"
Marik leaned closer to him. "I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't leave again."
Marik's lips met his and Bakura melted against him, winding his hands into Marik's soft, blond hair and pulling him deeper into the kiss. Marik moaned and before Bakura knew what was happening, Marik had pushed him back on the couch and was on top of him, body pressed against him, tongue working feverishly on his. Bakura arched his back and Marik moaned again.
"God, I want you, Ry."
"You have me," Bakura murmured in reply, and then he was lost again as he felt Marik's mind mingle with his until he could no longer separate what was him and what was his lover.
"You have to leave," Marik said reluctantly as Bakura lay curled up with him on the leather couch in the Ishtars' study, his head on Marik's chest. "You can't spend the night here. People will notice and there will be no logical explanation for it."
"I know. Just a moment longer," Bakura said, nestling against Marik more tightly.
Marik sighed in mock exasperation. "You're probably one of those snooze-button people. 'Just five more minutes….'"
"Guilty as charged." He looked up at Marik. "So what happens now? How do we continue to see each other without anyone getting suspicious?"
"Well, as the only living blood relative of my sister, I grant you permission to continue courting her."
Bakura raised his eyebrows. "And what does Ishizu have to say about that?"
"Ishizu is a woman," Marik said dismissively. "She has no say."
Bakura snorted. "Meanwhile, in the real world where she owns you…."
Marik laughed. "It was her idea. I already told you, she really likes you. She told me she would be happy to continue the ruse. I think her exact words to me were 'if you didn't completely screw this up, you idiot, and he still wants to see you….' To be honest, she gets a lot of shit for being single, but she's too invested in her work to want to date anyone. If she had a regular suitor, one who didn't actually expect to end up married to her, it would save her a lot of grief, at least for a while."
Bakura nodded thoughtfully. "So how exactly would that work?"
"Well, this being Egypt, you can't just date a woman. A respectable woman like Ishizu would never be alone with a man and respectable brothers like Odion and myself would never allow it to happen. You will be invited over to dinner… with the whole family. You may be allowed to be seen in public with her… if Odion or I are there as well. And, of course, as her only blood brother, my concern for my sister is my first priority. She is a person of standing here and you are a foreigner with no prospects. We're willing to look past that because you are a family friend and your father has connections here, and frankly, the fact that Ishizu has not yet married is getting to be an embarrassment to the family and she doesn't have any other prospects. However, understand that I will have to spend a lot of time with her suitor to make sure he is worthy of her."
"A lot of time?" Bakura repeated suggestively.
"Hours of time every day. I must know you inside and out before I will consent to giving you my sister's hand. There is no sacrifice I'm not willing to make for my sister's honor," he said seriously.
Bakura giggled. "Inside and out, eh? Who knew that Egyptian courting practices would make dating a woman actually sound like fun?"
Marik chuckled and kissed him. "Seriously though, Ry, you have to go," he said, then kissed him again.
"That's not exactly helping your argument," Bakura breathed.
"I'll see you first thing tomorrow morning at the shelter," Marik reminded him.
Bakura propped himself up on his elbow and looked at Marik. "You know, I've been thinking. As much as I love helping those children, maybe there's something else I should be doing. I… I think I'd like to find some refugees to work with instead. People who have survived ethnic cleansing, who lost their homes, everything they owned."
"People like the villagers of Kul Elna," Marik finished for him.
"Yes."
"You can't change what happened thousands of years ago," Marik said.
"No. But maybe I can find a way to make enough of a difference for one or two refugees that there won't be enough hate left to turn them into another King of Thieves. Today."
Marik looked up at him. "I think that's a brilliant idea, Ry."
Bakura smiled and gave Marik one more kiss before getting up, wincing as he peeled himself off the leather. "Next time perhaps we can use your room? Or my apartment?"
"Whatever you'd like. Need a ride home?"
"Oh, I think that would only lead to no good," Bakura grinned. "I can walk."
"Are you sure?"
"Quite sure."
The walk home was exhilarating. It was finally close enough to winter that the evenings were actually brisk and Bakura felt refreshed by the time he reached his apartment. He went to bed thinking of his evening with Marik and of finding a refugee shelter where he could help out.
When he awoke the next morning, it was the first time in months where he didn't taste blood.