Thiefshipping (Yami no Bakura x Marik Ishtar)

(I suck at writing slash pairings. But I will do my best.)

Waking up was an unpleasant experience. A throbbing head, dry mouth, and the world spinning as he turned his head – he couldn't remember the last time he had had to deal with such sensations. It was over three thousand years, now.

"Are you sufficiently awake?"

The female voice was tight, clipped, and very unnatural, as though her throat were constricted. Yami no Bakura turned his head to the voice without getting up. Anzu sat beside his bed, hands folded in her lap, and eyes dull and empty.

"Marik," he acknowledged, sitting up. "Since when do we do business through your mind slaves?"

"Since the situation called for it," Marik-possessed Anzu said. "I am...a bit challenged, at the moment. My darker half has taken control of my body."

"And so, I have to deal with Anzu, then," Bakura said. "Well, I can't say I'm too disappointed."

Marik glared at him with Anzu's eyes. Bakura just grinned. Marik was just so touchy; it was amusing to watch him get worked up over Bakura's words. The better to manipulate the Egyptian boy.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Bakura. I'm going to need your help. Now that you're awake, would you be so kind as to allow me to switch from Anzu's mind to yours? It will be easier to talk when I'm not limited to this feminine body."

Bakura let a smile grow across his face.

"I had no idea you wanted to be inside me so badly, Marik," he said, quite enjoying the shocked and uncomfortable look that passed across Marik-Anzu's face.

"You –" Marik said.

Bakura laughed, cutting him off.

"You won't get far if such a small thing can fluster you so badly," Bakura said. "Go ahead; don't mind my foolery. Switch minds."

After one last glare, Anzu's eyes fluttered shut, and she slumped into her chair. The ticklish feeling of Marik's consciousness filtered into Bakura's mind, like an itch at the back of his brain. An ethereal shape formed at the foot of the bed, and all Bakura had to do was shift his eyes into the spiritual plane to see the ghostly form of Marik Ishtar.

The bronze-skinned boy sat at the foot of the bed, or at least, his projection did. His arms were folded across his chest, golden bracelets gleaming, and shoulder length platinum blond hair dropped neatly over his sharp, violet eyes.

He thinks he's in control, Bakura said. A pity that I'll have to correct him eventually. He's so very entertaining.

"So, are you quite ready to continue this conversation?" Marik said.

"Of course, of course," Bakura said smoothly. "You needn't get your pretty little head in a flutter. I am here to help, so long as the proper price still holds...?"

"The Millennium Rod is yours if you help my destroy my other half," Marik said, eyes narrowing at Bakura's jab. "That has not changed."

Bakura stood, grinning. Perhaps there was something in his smile, but he caught the barest glimpse of a shudder passing across Marik's face.

"Then, let us be off," Bakura said. "Wouldn't want to wait too long to rescue the damsel in distress."

Marik glared at him, irritated.

"You had better stop toying with me, Bakura."

Bakura glanced back over his shoulder, sending Marik a dark, easy smile.

"Or what...little Marik?"

The flicker of apprehension in Marik's eyes made Bakura smile even wider, and, on that note, he slipped into the darkened hallway.

A/N: I like this pairing a lot, but what I hate about yaoi pairings is that, overall, they tend to be way more sexual and erotic than het pairings. I have nothing against same sex relationships, but I just hate that the fans try to portray them so erotically. I wouldn't think it was right for a het pairing, so I wouldn't think it was appropriate for a slash pairing either. Anyway, this one ended up bordering on the erotic, despite my hopes it wouldn't. It's just so hard to keep them in character and follow the pairing at the same time. But I enjoy it when Bakura messes with people heads. It seems like his major hobby. X3 Next up is Tendershipping (Yami no Bakura x Ryo), another popular slash pairing. I used to like that one...not anymore, though. Oh well, we'll see what I can do...