Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter. Hope you enjoy this one just as much.

To those wondering why Malik referred to a king by his first name, it's because Ryou and Malik have known each other for a long time and I think it would probably get really tiring if your best friend kept referring to your brother as 'His Majesty' all the time. Malik wouldn't call Yami by his name to his face, but when he's with Ryou he does.


Chapter 2 – Meeting

"Marik, leave the poor girl alone," Bakura said as Marik tried to chat up the girl sitting next to him.

Marik ignored his friend and leaned over to put his arm around the girl. The next thing he knew the girl was gone and there was a red handprint on his cheek. Bakura laughed at the dumbfounded expression on Marik's face. "I told you to back off, but did you listen?"

Marik glared at him then took a long swig of his drink. "That was just a practice. Now I'm ready to charm any girl off her feet."

"Oh really?" Bakura asked, smirking.

"Of course," Marik replied, smirking back.

"I bet you can't get the next person who walks through that door to kiss you – and I mean kiss – tongues and all," Bakura said, motioning towards the entrance.

"What happens if I win this little bet?" Marik asked, looking interested.

"If you win I'll buy the drinks for the rest of our stay here. How does that sound?"

Marik grinned widely. "Deal!" he said excitedly, shaking hands with Bakura.

Marik lifted up his glass and, just as he had drained it, the door opened and two figures walked in. The first was a boy with shoulder-length blonde hair, a tanned face and lilac eyes. The second was a pale girl with soft brown eyes, and had her hair covered by a dark blue headscarf. Marik turned to see that Bakura was wearing a wide, wicked, grin. "Go on," Bakura said gleefully, "charm him."

"You mean her, don't you?" Marik asked, looking uneasily at the two who had taken a seat at a table not far away from the bar and, therefore, them.

"I mean him. Remember, the deal was the first person to walk through the door – not the first girl."

"I hate you," Marik said quietly as he got up and made his way over towards the lilac eyed blond.


Their escape from the palace had gone well. No-one had recognized or challenged either Ryou or Malik. Secretly Ryou had hoped that they would've been caught, but no such luck. The whole way Malik had had a tight grip on Ryou's wrist. Ryou wasn't sure whether this had been to stop him from running off back to the palace or to stop someone running off with him!

Finally they arrived at the tavern and took a seat near the wall, out of the way. When they sat down Malik seemed to become more relaxed. That was, of course, until he saw a man with spiky blonde hair and lilac eyes make his way towards their table.

"Wow, he's hot," Malik said as he watched the man approach.

Ryou turned to look at him. "I thought you were straight," he said, surprised.

"Nope, I'm bi," Malik replied, smiling.

"But what about when you helped me dress for that…" Ryou trailed off as he saw Malik's smile turn into a smirk. "Malik!"

Their conversation was suddenly brought to an end by the stranger with blonde hair sitting down at their table next to Malik. "Hi there," Marik said casually. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Don't worry, you're not," Malik said, smiling innocently.

"My name's Marik. Want to dance?"

"I'm Malik, and I'd love to."

They both stood up and moved to where the tables had been cleared to make a dance floor and began to groove along to the music. Ryou watched them quietly, starting to feel a little insecure without his friend. Suddenly, someone sat down in the seat Malik had been occupying moments ago. "Hi there; mind if I keep you company?" a tanned man with short white hair, mahogany eyes and a double-crossed t scar over his right eye, asked as he sat down.

"No," Ryou replied quietly as he stared at his new companion.

"If Marik's dancing with your friend then he'll be busy for awhile. I'm Bakura by the way."

"Ryou," Ryou said softly as he shook Bakura's hand.

Ryou couldn't help but stare at Bakura – there was something enchanting about his eyes. Bakura also couldn't help but stare at Ryou – she had the most beautiful doe brown eyes and porcelain skin. "Isn't Ryou a boy's name?" Bakura asked curiously.

Ryou looked down and blushed. "Well…err…erm…"

Bakura noticed Ryou's blush and decided to change the subject. "So, are you and your friend a couple?"

Ryou's head snapped up at the question. "What? No!"

Bakura smirked at how adorable Ryou was with her cheeks aflame and her eyes wide.

Ryou saw Bakura's smirk and looked down again. "What I mean is, we're just friends," he said quietly.

Bakura couldn't help but feel elated at Ryou's shy statement. Even though Ryou was wearing her headscarf and cloak, Bakura could tell that she was very beautiful. Her skin looked so soft and smooth that Bakura had to restrain himself from reaching out and stroking her cheek. Her lips were a soft pink that made them totally kissable. And the great thing was that she didn't already have a boyfriend! Bakura was more than ready to change that fact though.

"Do you live round here?" Ryou asked, shyly looking up at Bakura.

Bakura shook his head. "I'm a traveller; my friend and I only stopped to rest and get a drink."

Ryou felt strangely disheartened at this. It was bizarre, he had only met Bakura a few minutes ago but he already didn't want him to leave.

Bakura saw Ryou's disappointed expression and made a stab at what was causing it. "We'll be staying here for awhile though; there's nowhere we need to be," he said, watching Ryou's face carefully.

Ryou smiled as he looked back up at Bakura. Bakura mentally congratulated himself for being a genius. "So, can I buy you a drink?" Bakura asked, smiling cheerfully.

Ryou looked down, once again embarrassed. "I don't drink," he said quietly.

Bakura blinked, trying to comprehend what he had just heard. "If you don't drink what are you doing in a bar?"

"Malik said that it was disgraceful that I was sixteen and had never been drunk once. He wanted to rectify my sinful crime," Ryou replied, the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile.

Bakura laughed. "I agree wholeheartedly with your friend." Bakura sighed. "But it seems your friend is currently occupied with other matters." He glanced over to where Marik and Malik were getting dangerously close to one-another. "It seems the task of getting you pissed falls to me."

Ryou stared at him in alarm. "That's really quite alright; there's no need…" But Bakura wasn't listening, in fact, he had already ordered the drinks by the time Ryou had finished his sentence…


4 glasses of alcohol later…

Ryou was officially drunk. Bakura had been drinking as well but (since he was use to it) was reasonably sober. Malik was still with Marik, blissfully unaware of what was happening.

Ryou leaned forward, tilted his head, and looked up at Bakura. "You have pretty eyes," Ryou said drunkenly.

Bakura grinned. "You have pretty eyes too, Ryou," he returned, moving his face closer to Ryou's.

Ryou giggled. "Bakura, are you flirting with me?"

"I am," Bakura replied, his grin widening. Ryou giggled again. "Ryou, would you take off your headscarf? I'd like to see what you look like without it."

Ryou nodded and clumsily undid the scarf. Beautiful white locks tumbled down her back, gently framing her face. Bakura stared, totally transfixed by the angel in front of him.

Ryou giggled, then leaned forward and pressed his lips against Bakura's. Bakura was stunned and could only blink in shock. Ryou giggled at the look on Bakura's face. Ryou thought Bakura looked cute when he made that face.

Finally Bakura snapped out of his trance and smirked at Ryou. "You kiss good," he said seductively.

Ryou smiled innocently. "Want another one?"

Bakura nodded eagerly. Ryou stood up and moved to sit sideways on Bakura's lap. He put his arms around Bakura's neck and Bakura put his arms around Ryou's waist. Ryou leaned down and he and Bakura began to kiss passionately.

As time moved on, so did Bakura. He ran his tongue over Ryou's bottom lip, smirking as Ryou moaned softly and complied with his wish. As Bakura's tongue explored Ryou's delicious mouth thoughts like 'she's a great kisser' and 'I bet I got my kiss before Marik did' ran through his mind. He really should've had a competition with Marik, that way Marik would be paying for the drinks. Ah well, kissing Ryou rocked with or without free booze.

Unfortunately Ryou was forced to break away for air, finally ending the kiss. When they could both breathe again Ryou asked, "Bakura, do you want to know a secret?" Bakura nodded and Ryou giggled as he moved his lips close to Bakura's ear. "The secret is: I'm not a girl."

Bakura blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I'm a boy," Ryou replied, still giggling.

Bakura's eyes went wide as he stared at Ryou. "But… Why are you in a dress?" he finally asked.

"Because Malik said it was the only way I could sneak out of the palace," Ryou replied, smiling cheerfully.

"The palace? Why were you in the palace?" Bakura asked, trying hard to work out whether Ryou was just drunk or whether he was telling the truth.

Ryou giggled. "I'm the prince, silly, where else would I be?"

As Bakura tried to process this information, Ryou leaned forward and captured Bakura's lips in a drunken kiss.


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