Fish Out of Water
Chapter 2: All Those Funny, Shiny Devices
-
A wide yawn cut the air, mingling along with the squawks of the seagulls floating above on the ocean currents. Bakura laid back in one of the folding chairs he had found by the pool back at his uncle's beach house, a sigh of content escaping him.
This was what he had needed.
A beautiful day with lots of sun and not too much wind, the temperature in the high 80's…
Bakura kicked off his sandals and pulled off his tank top, nudging his black sunglasses down over his eyes. He had finally figured out how to work the boat (after assistance had been offered from local fishermen) and found a decent spot on the ocean, throwing the nets he had found attached to the side into the water. Placing his arms behind his head, he tilted his face towards the sun, relaxing back into the chair.
So now… he waited and enjoyed.
-
Ryou looked around carefully, making sure that there was no one in sight, before kicking his multi-colored tail and moving quickly off the palace perimeters. If his parents were going to force him into a relationship with someone he didn't want to be with, he just wouldn't be around for them to make him do anything. He had come to the decision before he had gone to sleep the night before, planning on leaving before anyone had awakened.
His plan was in motion and working so far; nothing could stop him. He didn't know where he was going, exactly, but he would know when he got there.
"Ryou!"
The sudden voice made the young prince freeze, his body becoming numb with the thought of being caught, even if the tone was hushed. Looking below him, he saw that it was only Malik and relaxed slightly.
"Where do you think you're going?" The blonde questioned as he drew closer.
"I'm leaving." He replied defiantly, "I don't know where I'm going, but it's away from where they force me to conceive when I don't want to, with women I don't want to."
Malik nodded in understanding, "I'll come with you then."
Ryou shook his head, about to argue, when Malik held up a finger and began in a mock- serious voice, "As your royal guardian, Ryou, I am bound by duty to -"
The smaller boy laughed softly, swatting at the tanned finger, before turning and swimming off, "Just shut up and come on then."
-
Malik let out an exasperated sigh, allowing himself sink slightly in the turquoise water and letting out a groan, "My tail hurts… how far have we gone?"
Ryou pushed a white bang out of his face, adjusting the pearl bracelets he wore right after, "I don't know, but pretty far if you're sore."
Lavender eyes lazily scanned the water around them, looking over the schools of fish making their way through the small currents. He shooed away one curious fish that had begun to nibble experimentally at Ryou's large fin, the prince not noticing.
"What are you looking at?"
The second boy didn't answer, only started for the surface, a few yards above them. Malik followed, soon breaking the surface after his friend and looking around.
"Hey, look at that…" Ryou pointed straight ahead, making Malik squint to see what he was motioning towards.
"Looks kinda like…" He trailed off, searching his memory for the right word.
"A boat!" Ryou smiled widely at his friend, before submerging himself once more and starting off towards the white lump on the horizon.
"Ryou, wait!" Malik called, trying to keep up with the energized prince.
"There must be humans on the boat too!"
The blonde didn't like how excited and enthused Ryou sounded about this…
Finally catching up with the white – haired boy, Malik broke the surface again, finding them both a few feet from the large boat. It rocked gently on the waves, the platinum – haired male noticing a thick rope trailing down into the water, but dismissing it as soon as Ryou started to move closer on investigation. A heavy feeling began to collect in his stomach as he watched the prince run his hand over the white surface and look up.
"Did you hear that?" Ryou whispered, still looking up.
"Hear what?" Malik moved closer, straining his ears to hear over the breeze and birds above.
"Shh, listen… I think someone's moving up there!"
The two listened, jumping when the brown rope stationed behind then began to slowly move, the round crane it was attached to groaning above them. They were about to move, when it stopped, catching their attention again. Cursing drew their eyes to the side of the boat again, curiosity getting the better of them both.
"A human?" Ryou's green eyes lit up at the word and Malik shook his head disapprovingly, the two quieting down again to listen.
"Fucking… fish… I hate fish… he's lucky he has such a nice house…" Grunting and more cursing followed the sentence, making both merboys look at each other in slight confusion. "Argh, WORK, DAMNIT!"
Ryou jumped at the shouted words, but grinned wildly none-the-less, now knowing it was a male.
"I've heard about humans," He whispered to the blonde, "Someone once told me that they have a whole bunch of stories and myths about us! You know, like we're some sort of mythical creature or something."
Malik nodded, looking up at the birds that had begun to circle the boat above them, "Yeah, I've heard that too. I've heard that humans are terrible things though… like, Atemu told me once -"
"The shark? You talk to a shark now?"
"Shut up," Malik laughed, "He's not so bad. Anyways, he told me that if I human ever catches a mythical creature," He gestured to both of them, "They'll take them to some huge place they call a research center… and they'll perform horrible experiments on the poor creature."
Ryou stared at him with a mix of curiosity and horror, "Really?"
As Malik nodded, a loud squeak split the air, followed by the shrill squawks and flapping of the seagulls above, as well as a deep grunt from the body on the boat. Both heads snapped to look skywards, seeing the metal pole that was connected to the rope in the water was dipping down towards them, the circular hinge making an attempt to turn.
"What's that noise?" Ryou's eyes darted from the hinge to the rope, his hands covering his ears.
"It's coming from that round thing!" Malik winced and used one hand to point towards the hinge, the other covering his ear as well.
Ryou noticed that whatever the rope was attached to was stuck on something under the water.
"It's stuck!" The white – haired boy looked towards his friend, before diving under and following the length of rope. Noticing that Malik had followed him, he called back, "If it doesn't get free, the human's boat will tip!"
"This is a bad idea, Ryou!" The platinum – haired boy shouted back, "Just let him fix it himself!"
The young prince turned to face his friend, a frown on his face, "If that was you up there, would you want help?"
Not waiting for a response, Ryou turned again, spotting what looked like a net and the silhouette of a figure next to it.
"Hey!" Malik suddenly rushed past the prince, heading straight towards the figure, "Atemu, is that you?"
Another tanned figure looked up from the net he held in his grasp, golden bangs wavering in front of his face, "Malik?"
"Atemu, let go of it!" The blonde settled next to the crimson – eyed male, pulling on the rope.
"You're going to tip the boat up there!" Ryou added, trailing a few feet behind and pointing up towards the surface.
"It was stuck on something." The shark replied, grabbing one of the fish trapped inside and holding it between his teeth, giving one last tug on the net, "I wash tryhing to geht it loosh."
The net suddenly sprang free and Atemu and Malik were both knocked back, the rope immediately springing upwards.
Emerald eyes widened drastically, the wind being knocked out of him as he found himself suddenly lying on his stomach, the water rushing against him and the fish below him squirming and wriggling to free themselves.
"Malik!" The young prince gasped to breath and clawed at the netting, the water moving too fast for him to take in any oxygen, "MALIK!"
"Ryou! Ryou, hold on!" Malik kicked his yellow fin as hard as he could, trying desperately to catch up with the net that held his best friend captive. He heard cursing coming from Atemu as he moved beside him but didn't pay attention, only focused on the spot where the net had disappeared out of the water.
Ryou could feel himself becoming dizzy as the water seemed to rush against him faster. The motion was suddenly gone and he felt his body gasping as his lungs kicked in again, the gills behind his ears closing. A gust of cold air covered his slick body as he left the water, feeling his form shivering as well. The last thing he remembered was a sharp jolt as he stopped moving upward, swaying back and forth in the wind as his eyes closed.
-
Bakura felt himself loose his balance and slip onto his back as the boat tilted backwards, the net finally emerging from the water and bobbing slightly as it wavered in the ocean breeze. A scowl formed on his lips as a spray of water from the fishing net covered him, and he proceeded to wipe the liquid from his eyes as he got to his feet. Cursing as he saw a small hole quickly getting large on the side of the net, Bakura quickly grabbed a hold of the rope attached to the crane. He pulled on it until the straining net was positioned over the wet deck and let the fish drop down, the hole ripping open further and spilling its blue and silver contents over the polished surface.
Letting out a sigh of relief, the teen leaned forward against the rope he still held, closing his eyes. At least they spilled into the boat…
The sound of shallow breathing caught his ears, making his eyes snap open.
What the hell…
Letting go of the rope, Bakura looked over the mound of fish that were still in the sagging net. Stepping to the side, his eyes widened slightly, his feet slipping out from under him again as he let out a shout. Landing hard on his backside, the white – haired boy scrambled backwards a few feet, staring at the body that lay motionless, back against the side of the net.
Exhaling a shaky breath, Bakura slowly climbed back to his feet, carefully stepping over the twitching fish and making his way back over to the knotted rope. It seemed to be some sort of girl, judging by the length of white hair that was pressed against the net.
Taking the chance that the thing wasn't going to snap at him and take his hand off, he quickly untangled the girl, jumping back when "she" slid down the mound of fish and out onto the deck a few inches.
"Jesus christ…" He breathed, staring down at "her" fish-like body. He moved back next to "her", gently turning the body over. Noticing the lack of chest, a small grin came over his lips, "Whoa… definitely not a chick…"
He looked over his new catch, taking in the smooth, pale skin that covered the young male's flat torso, melting at his waist to purple scales and a red strip that shimmered in the sunlight, long ventral and pelvic fins splaying out against the wet deck. Moving down onto his tail, Bakura couldn't help but reach down to run his fingers against the large purple and crimson colored fin. He jumped slightly when the two smaller fins at the base of his tail twitched and retracted his hand, the sound of birds filling his ears again.
"Ryou!" A sudden voice split the air and Bakura turned towards the side of the boat, "Ryou, are you okay?"
The teenager stood up, quickly making his way to the side and gripping the edge with tight fingers, peering down into the water. A boy sat in the water looking up at him, his black and magenta hair falling onto his shoulders.
"Malik, get down!" He suddenly called.
A tanned body abruptly landed on the side of the boat with a thump and held onto the metal tightly, struggling to pull his body higher, "Ryou!"
Lavender eyes widened, spotting a different white –haired boy staring over at him, pulling a long, black eyepiece from his eyes and settling it back into his hair.
"Give him back, you monster!"
Bakura watched in disbelief as the golden-tailed boy attempted to make a grab for him, but missed, instead slipping back down into the water with a yelp. The second male with the darker hair was gone after that and Bakura shook his head, the birds catching his attention again.
Looking up, he saw that the seagulls were coming back in hopes of grabbing one of the free fish lying on the boat. Cursing to himself, he quickly moved back to the male laying on the deck and scooped the merboy into his arms, finding him to be lighter than he expected. Nearly slipping again, Bakura made his way back to the small cabin, placing the boy back down in the shade. Noticing that he was shaking slightly, the older male looked around blankly for a moment, his mind on too many things at once.
-Warm the kid up.
-Save the remaining fish from the stupid birds.
-Get the hell out of the water.
Blanket.
A blanket would have to be the best option at the moment.
Bakura just about threw himself into the small cabin, lifting up the side bench and grabbing the wool blanket from inside. Quickly throwing it over the slumping fish boy, Bakura ran as fast as he dared towards the squawking seagulls, giving the ones he could catch a swift kick, before quickly figuring out that he was in a losing battle.
Growling under his breath about how much he hated boating now, the white – haired teen jogged past his new catch again and into the cabin, switching the battery on and starting the engine. Without waiting for it to warm up, Bakura pushed the throttle upward as far as he could, hearing the engine roar and the boat take off underneath him, leaving the birds behind.
-
Docking his uncle's boat as quickly as he could without seeming to look suspicious to the other boaters around him, Bakura soon came up with a plan as to how to get his new merboy back to the beach house for further inspection, without anyone prying into what he had caught.
Slipping his sandals on and grabbing his black shirt, Bakura took the blanket off of the still unconscious boy, carefully curling him inside of it, before taking the edges and bringing them together so he could hold it closed. Straightening, the teenager spotted the fisherman who had helped him earlier and shouted out to him, "HEY, EARL, C'MERE!"
As the man left his own boat and came closer, Bakura slung the blanket over his shoulder, trying to look as innocent as possible. He began walking past Earl, while speaking quickly at the same time, "Hey Earl, listen, I kinda need you to do me a favor, see, my load broke and I have to get these fish home for my uncle, so you know Uncle Ken, right? Ken Shataki? Yeah? Great, he told me to ask you to take the fish down to his storage in town, you know, Ken's Fish… thing? Yeah, so, if you could do that, he would seriously appreciate it, thanks!"
He gave a small wave and a large grin, turning around and all but running to his red car. Opening the side door, he carefully placed the bundle in the blanket in the passenger's seat, shutting the door again and moving to the driver's side.
-
Twisting the white knob, the hot water stopped flowing and Bakura stepped away from the cylinder-shaped tub, turning to the thick blanket bunched on the floor. Gently pulling the material away, mahogany eyes roved over the creamy skin of the merboy again, his expression changing to one of slight concern when he saw how dry the purple and red scales were becoming.
Frowning, Bakura slipped his arms around the slim body, carrying him over to the lukewarm bath he had prepared. Letting the body settle gently against the back, he had to restrain himself from removing the white – haired boy from the tub as he slipped completely under the water.
Leaning against the porcelain edges, he stared down at the smaller male, still not quite believing that he was actually staring at a creature that was supposed to only be legend. Reaching into the water with one hand, his fingers caught the small shell that floated from the necklace around the merboy's neck, before letting it go and trailing his fingertips along the flat stomach of the boy, running the backs of his knuckles over the healthier – looking scales.
Retracting his hand, he gave the sleeping boy one last look, before grabbing the soaked blanket from the floor and dragging it from the bathroom. How was he supposed to explain that to the maids…
-
Emerald eyes slowly cracked open, blinking hazily as his mind tried to turn the light surroundings above him into familiar objects. As his senses came back to him quicker, Ryou began to panic slightly, feeling both of his arms press against something hard on either side of him. Giving an experimental kick with his tail, he found that the top of the water was only a few mere inches above him. His body thrashing on its own, he attempted to calm himself soon afterward, Ryou quickly sitting up and gasping deeply as his torso broke the surface.
He gripped the sides of whatever he was sitting in with tight fingers, wide eyes frantically searching the room he was in for any signs of danger. Finding none, the small prince calmed a bit further, grasping only one edge of the hard surface he sat in with both hands, looking around the area with now curious eyes. So many objects he had never seen before littered the room he was, all perking his interest and curiosity further with each passing moment.
His attention was drawn to the sound of someone coming closer to the room he was in and he pushed himself back slightly, eyes trained warily on the closed door. His muscles tensed when as he watched the gold circle on the door turn, a tall male stepping into the room and closing the opening behind him.
The two stared at each other for a long minute, suspicious green eyes targeted on curious mahogany.
Bakura took a small step forward, stopping again when he saw the boy sink lower in the tub. He couldn't help the small grin that came to his lips; he was going to have to treat him like a child in order to get closer.
"Look now…" He held up a hand in an innocent gesture, keeping his eyes connected with the emerald gems across from him. "I'm not gunna hurt you."
White bangs dripped down into the forage – colored eyes, narrowed slightly in distrust.
The human took another step forward, the merboy sinking anther few centimeters.
"I'm not gunna hurt you." He repeated, "Do you think it's okay if I came to sit by you?"
There was a silence for a moment, before a slight nod of the wet head was given, the grin on Bakura's face becoming a bit wider. He moved slowly, sitting down on the edge of the tub.
Ryou backed away as far as he could without taking his eyes off the human, which wasn't all that far at all, more so just sinking lower in the warm water.
"You look cramped in there, now that you're awake…" Ryou shifted slightly as the man began to talk to him, "Is it a tight space for you?"
The young creature looked hesitant to speak, so instead only nodded his head again.
Bakura thought for a moment, before snapping his fingers, making the boy below him jump with a surprised splash.
"Whoa whoa whoa!" The older male stood again, holding his hands up in defense, "Chill out, sorry, didn't mean to scare you!"
Ryou pressed his hands against the side of the containment he was currently in. He watched as the human drew closer to him once more, shrinking away when a hand reached for him.
"C'mon now…" The man was leaning against the containment again, his hand gently stroking white locks, "I told you, I'm not gunna hurt you."
The prince sat in silence, muscles tensed and unmoving.
"That water out there's tropical, right?"
Ryou looked up again, nodding for a third time.
"Great," Bakura started to back away, "Stay here, I'll be right back."
Sitting alone once more, he listened as the human's footsteps faded away, before looking around the room once more. He wondered briefly what he had gotten himself into and what would happen to him, before a loud dripping sound caught his attention.
Looking at where his tail fin hung over the edge of the tub, he saw something that made his eyes widen in curiosity.
"Oh, shiny!" He cried, moving his tail away and taking a few minutes to rearrange himself in the tight space, until he was sitting on his tail and able to use his hands freely. Taking another few minutes, he went about investigating the long, silver object that hung over the side of his temporary prison. Tapping it he was delighted when the shiny thing made a hollow, pinging noise, a large and childish smile plastered to his face.
Seeing how the human hadn't returned, Ryou moved on to the two round knobs on either side of the shiny object he had previously been fascinated with. After tapping those as well, he gripped one, giving it an experimental twist. His grin becoming impossibly large, he watched as water began to slowly trickle out of the shiny tube, turning the knob harder.
He sat back, watching as more water gushed out. His smile began to fade though, when he felt the water he sat in quickly dropping in temperature. Looking down at the liquid, he watched as it began to spill over onto the floor below, his eyes widening.
Too cold!
Fumbling to figure out which direction to turn the knob, Ryou shouted out as even more water poured out, his body beginning to shake as the water turned completely cold.
Giving up, the young prince did the next best thing he could think of in his state of panic.
"Make it stop! Human! Make it stop!" He cried loudly, pulling himself desperately over the side of the tub and falling the foot or so to the floor. Thrashing around again, Ryou flipped himself onto his stomach, his hair falling into his face as he pushed himself up, only to slip on the wet tile.
Bakura heard a thump come from his room and felt his stomach drop, turning his attention back to the maid he had finally tracked down. She was giving him a hard time with doing what he had so nicely requested the first time, playing 20-Questions and repeating that this was Mr.Shataki's home.
"Listen to me!" He pointed to himself, running on his last straw of patience, "Mr.Shataki… left me… this house for the summer. So just do it and don't question me! I want tropical water in the pool, not chlorine!"
Without waiting for a response, Bakura turned and quickly made his way into his room, his stomach twisting further as he saw water flowing out from under his bathroom door. Pushing the door open, his eyes widened.
Rushing to the tub, Bakura turned the water off, immediately dropping down next to the merboy.
"Hey! Hey, are you alright!"
Hearing his voice, the creature pushed himself up, before slipping again and flopping ungracefully onto the human's knees.
"Human!" The soft voice immediately grabbed Bakura's attention, feeling icy hands press against his bare stomach.
"Jesus, you're freezing!" He quickly pulled the boy into his lap, getting little resistance as he laid the other back into the crook of his arm. Rubbing his shoulder, Bakura tried to warm his catch up, pulling him tighter to his own body.
Standing up, he was careful of the red and purple tail hanging over his arm as he jogged past the doorway, settling the creature into the bed he hadn't bothered to make earlier that morning.
"I know it's not water, but don't move, you won't be here for long and you'll be warm." He placed the blankets over the trembling boy, giving terrified green eyes a reassuring smile.
Moving out onto his balcony, Bakura peered down at the pool, seeing a few of the men who also worked at the house standing around the pool.
"HEY!" He called down, "Hurry it up; my uncle doesn't pay you for nothing!"
Ignoring the grumbling, he walked back to his bed, sitting down next to the lump under his blanket. Lifting up the covers, he peeked below, smirking lightly at the innocent - looking face that stared back at him.
"Warming up?" He asked, pulling the blanket down enough to view the others head.
The merboy nodded slightly, looking away as the hand began to pet his hair again.
"So…" Bakura searched for something to start a conversation with, "Do you… you know, converse at all? Or was 'human' all I was going to get from you."
Emerald orbs met his again at the question, a faint smile making his lips twitch upward.
"I converse." He whispered.
"Will you smile for me first?" Bakura mentally kicked himself. Flirting with a half – fish boy he had just caught? Brilliant…
Ryou stared up at the human looking down at him, the hand in his hair stopping its relaxing motions. He could feel his face becoming warmer and looked away.
"Shy, huh?" Bakura chuckled, ruffling the hair under his fingers, "That's okay. You think the pool will be big enough for you?"
His large tail kicked off the blanket that covered him, his body becoming a bit too warm. He sat up a bit awkwardly on the shifting mattress, aware of the eyes that watched his every move. "I have never seen your 'pool'…" He glanced out towards the open balcony, towards the ocean.
Bakura frowned slightly, taking the merboy's distracted moment to look over his body again. He couldn't believe how easily the creamy flesh and shining scales melded together, those long, purple pelvic fins twitching slightly in the air every so often. Tearing his eyes away from the long, scaled body, he looked up, a pair of white pearls surrounding each of his slim wrists, moving past the pale chest, his gaze landing on the spiraled necklace he had noticed earlier.
"Where'd you get that?" He gestured to it.
Ryou pulled himself from his thoughts, looking down at his necklace. He smiled slightly, before looking up, "Mother."
Bakura pulled his legs up, crossing them Indian-style and gesturing again to the other's scaly lower body. "You gunna be okay without water for a little longer?"
Nodding, the merboy pulled his tail a little closer to his body, "As long as I'm not in the sun… I can be out of water a little longer. If I am though… I need to at least be by water."
The elder boy nodded and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, looking over the other male curiously again, "Do I get to know your name now?"
Ryou shifted onto his side slightly, leaning against one hand, "Do I get to know yours?"
Bakura laughed, mentally noting that the boy seemed to be mimicking his movements to a degree, which led to the thought that he was finally relaxing a bit.
"A trouble maker and a smart ass?" The elder cocked his head to the side slightly, grinning, "Not a combination I would expect out of a sweet looking creature like you."
Ryou looked away, making a face, "Appearances can be deceiving."
Another laugh came from the human, making Ryou's features shift into another smile. He liked this human… he wasn't threatening and he was awfully handsome…
His eyes wandered down the bare torso of the male and he could feel his flush returning. He wore some sort of beige article on his waist that spread partially down his lower body, curving out into the two limbs he had tangled under his body.
"May I see?" He asked suddenly, pointing to the appendages he lacked.
Bakura blinked in confusion for a moment, before understanding, "Only if I get your name first."
"Ryou." Said boy watched in fascination as the legs were uncurled and stretched out in front of him, the owner leaning back against his palms.
"Ryou, huh…" Bakura ran the name over his mind a few times, "I'm Bakura and… you do know that you're not supposed to exist, right? I mean… you know, half human, half fish and all."
The smaller boy never looked up from the leg he had lifted up and was currently examining, running his fingers over the bottom of Bakura's foot and examining each toe individually.
"You do know, Bakura, that you're supposed to be a monster. What with all your…" He paused, trying to remember the right words, "Research centers and lab… labor…ories…"
Bakura laughed again, in a mixture of the finger brushing against the middle of his foot again and the struggle to pronounce the word. "Laboratories?"
"Yes, those." Ryou continued his investigation, setting down the leg and scooting closer to move his hand up the other's calf, before meeting the beige – colored material. Frowning slightly, he pushed it up, revealing Bakura's knee, running his hand over it and then pulling it up so that it bent. Doing the same thing to the other leg, Bakura watched in his own curiosity as the merboy settled himself between his parted legs, swift fingers trying to push his cargo shorts up his thighs.
He could feel himself swallow hard, his curiosity to see what the new creature would do next keeping him from telling him that that was enough exploring for one day. When his shorts weren't able to move any further, the merboy seemed to become a bit frustrated.
"I want to see how you split!" He finally looked Bakura in the eye again, a pout on his face.
The elder male could feel himself turning a dark shade of red in sudden embarrassment. It wasn't like him lose his cool and he knew it, making his mind scramble to find the right words.
"You can't see how I split! I mean… I don't split, I just… I don't know, you're making it sound weird!" He finally fumbled, a shaky grin on his lips.
Ryou pouted harder, leaning forward slightly and gripping the rough material on the other's hips. "Please?"
Bakura had to restrain himself from giving in, the thought of such a beautiful creature just sitting between his legs a tantalizing idea. He tried his best to ignore the ache that had begun under the smaller hands, begging to be released and paid attention to.
He shook his head, swallowing again.
"Not… right now, okay. Maybe sometime later, yeah?"
Ryou continued his pout for a few more moments, before the sharp ring of the telephone on the side desk made both of them jump.
Bakura quickly pried the other's fingers from the front of his shorts and untangled his limbs from around the slim body, finally crawling over and bringing the still – ringing object to his ear.
"Yeah?"
The merboy watched in fascination as the human picked up the terrible sounding device and seemed to be speaking to something inside… perhaps it was a pet that needed attention? And it lived in the long object, possibly… though, that did seem rather ludicrous…
"Awesome, tell you what, for doing that, you and the rest of the staff can go home early, 'kay? Leave the place to me." Bakura was silent for another few moments, before agreeing to something else and then setting the strange device down.
He turned back around, finding curious green eyes staring up at him, a surprisingly short distance away.
"What?"
Ryou's gaze flitted down to the phone and then back up, "A pet in need of attention?"
Bakura blinked stupidly for a moment, "Wha… what?" He then laughed, figuring out what the boy was talking about. "A pet? No, no, no, see, that's a phone. You can communicate with other people over it."
"Oh." The white – haired boy tilted his head slightly, taking in this new information.
Standing up from the bed, Bakura wandered away into the bathroom, commenting (mainly muttering to himself) on how cold the water was that still flooded the floor. He looked out one of the windows for a moment, before a grin came over his face and he came back to where Ryou was watching him again.
Scooping the small creature into his arms again, Ryou let out a squeak, immediately clasping his hands to the human's shoulders.
"Where are we going?" His voice seemed a little hysteric, "Research center? Laboratory? Experiments?"
Bakura's brows furrowed in confusion again as he carefully made his way down the staircase, "What? No, of course not! Geeze, I wouldn't give you to those creeps in a million years, so don't worry. You're safe with me, kid."
Ryou seemed to relax a bit after that, his fingers loosening slightly and his back becoming less rigid. "Where then?"
"The pool; you're gunna stay there instead of that cramped tub. Sound okay?" Bakura looked down with a friendly grin.
Nodding slightly, Ryou looked away as a set of doors were opened behind him. His eyes widened when he saw the body of water in the middle of the ground, a smile suddenly on his lips.
"Water!" He struggled to get into the liquid and out of Bakura's arms, said boy trying not to drop him on the pavement.
"Whoa, hang on!" The elder man trotted to the edge, dumping the merboy into the deep end with a splash.
He watched the purple and red form sink lower, before his tail kicked out, sending the shadow out towards the wall. Bakura smiled slightly, taking a seat on the edge and dipping his legs into the warm water. Looking around for the merboy, he didn't see the shadow until it was too late. A body was suddenly in his lap, covering a good portion of him with the liquid, followed by two arms wrapping around his waist.
Bakura cocked a brow down at the smiling male, a questioning look in his eyes.
"Happy to be back in water?"
Ryou nodded, his smile faltering slightly as he noted that the human's hair had an orange tint to it. "You're not going to leave me out here all alone, are you?"
The elder man tilted his head slightly, hesitating for a moment, "…Of course not, I'll stay out here with you."
The smile was back at those words and Bakura couldn't help but grin back as well. He couldn't remember the last time he had been in such a good mood for so long.
"Come in with me?"
The request brought him back and he let himself be gently pulled into the water by the arms around him, taking his black sunglasses down from within his hair and placing them on the cement. Turning his attention back to Ryou, he found him to be back underwater, his scales brushing against his legs. He pushed away from the side, treading water for a moment, before starting towards the shallow end of the pool. He smirked slightly when he felt a fin against his thigh, the smaller albino breaking the surface silently next to him.
Bakura moved at his own pace, while the merboy disappeared and reappeared around him, grinning the entire time. He finally touched his feet to the bottom, nearly tripping when Ryou moved in front of him again, but smirking none the less. He sat down on the stairs that lead into the water, enough so that it only came up to mid-chest. Ryou mimicked his action, taking a seat next to the human.
The two sat in silence for a bit, before Bakura felt a weight lean against his shoulder. Glancing down, he smirked slightly, seeing Ryou pressed against his side, eyes closed.
"Tired?"
A small grunt answered him, making his smirk grow slightly. Bakura carefully slipped up another step, enough to lay his upper body on the ground and not drown himself, a yawn escaping him. As he curled himself into a comfortable position and laid his head down in his folded arms, he felt the water shift around his waist again, the feeling of another body settling next to him.
Cracking open his eyes, he watched as Ryou scooted closer and took the same position he was in, a small smile on his lips as he nuzzled his head into his own arms. Letting out a soft sigh, he whispered, "Thank you."
Bakura yawned once more, closing his eyes again, "Yeah, sure thing, kid."
It wasn't even eight, but he was damn tired.
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To Be Continued
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Cloaked Vampire: How was that? This was 17 pages, people. SEVENTEEN. That's… wow, 10 more pages than I normally write a chapter. It better have been halfway decent. Please, let me know in a review. I need the feedback to continue.