I'm sorry this is so late, but, you see, I've been trying to write some of my own short stories to get published… that and schoolwork, working on the Girl Scout Gold Award, the Christmas Play, and relaxation time so that I don't have a breakdown is occupying my time immensely…
I think this chapter will make up for the wait though XD
Oh! Also, take notice of the story cover that I made earlier today - do you like it? :D
Chapter 35: Pure, Honest-to-Goodness Love…? (This chapter is dedicated to LadySunami – a wonderful, imaginative human being; extraordinary beta; awesome advice-giver/conversationalist; and a great friend of mine =) Hope everything is going well for you, Link Fairy! XD)
Bakura had to stand outside for a minute and just stare at the tent that he and Marik were going to be staying in. When Pegasus said "luxury tent," he meant luxury tent. It was black and made out of thick material, obviously meant to keep the sunlight out for Bakura's special condition, and was the size of two large tents put together. The front opening was held down with zippers, Velcro, and string, and there were flaps over all the windows with the same "locking" mechanisms that you could access from the inside as well as the outside. Bakura hadn't even seen the inside yet, but judging from what he's seen so far it looked like a very nice tent that would actually be enjoyable to stay in. He definitely wouldn't have to fear burning to death, which he had been slightly worried about.
Of course, the tent itself wasn't nearly as important as what - or rather, who - was inside it at that very moment. Bakura smiled to himself as he held a hand up to his lips again, tracing them gently with his fingers before chuckling and baring his fangs. If drinking his blood put Marik in the mood for kissing, of all things, then by all means he'd do it again.
I mean, it's not like Marik's blood was the most savory substance on the planet, or anything like that.
Bakura opened up the tent and walked inside, immediately bumping in to the very person he had wanted to see in the first place. "Marik, why are you -"
"You did this, didn't you?!" the Egyptian demanded angrily, turning to him with an embarrassed, red face.
Bakura creased his eyebrows. "What are you talking about? What did I do?"
"That!" Marik exclaimed, pointing behind him.
Bakura raised an eyebrow and looked over his friend's shoulder, almost immediately trying to hold back a grin. In the center of the tent was what appeared to be a queen-sized bed with royal blue bed sheets and fluffy pillows. But it was the rose petals covering the bed that made Bakura want to laugh, those combined with the white candles strategically placed around the tent as well as the black stereo on top of a little round nightstand right next to the suggestive bed. There were also drapes on either side that looked like curtains to frame the scene, being held back by flimsy little strands of ribbon that could be easily taken away to cover up the sight of the bed.
Pegasus, could you be more obvious?
"Marik," Bakura began, smirking and shrugging nonchalantly, "I promise you I don't know who is responsible for all of this, but perhaps the idea isn't -"
"D-don't play games with me, Bakura!" Marik stammered, knowing that he did not want him to finish that sentence. "Who else would do this beside you!?"
Bakura smirked. "Well, I kind of hoped you might."
Marik ground his teeth and clenched his fists, his face still red. "Don't try and trick me again! I've had quite enough of all this tonight!" He gestured to the lavish bed when he said "this" to show what he meant.
Bakura chuckled. "Trick you?" he asked incredulously. "What, you think I tricked you in to kissing me? You did that on your own!"
"W-well… I… I… Ugh!" Marik groaned, blushing more and digging his hands into his hair. "I don't know, okay?!" was all he offered, at a loss for words. Okay, yes, maybe - maybe - he had kissed Bakura "on his own," but it was the vampire's fault in the first place! If they had never kissed, or if he had never tasted his blood, or if they weren't Blood Packs, or… if being drunk from didn't feel so good… or if kissing him didn't have to be so enjoyable either… Ugh!
"Well," Bakura's low, seductive voice interrupted Marik's jumbled thoughts, "would it be possible for me to be able to trick you again…?" he asked as he leaned in, bringing a hand up and running his fingers down Marik's neck, over the bite wounds that had been there only moments ago…
The touch sent shivers down Marik's spine and he started breathing heavily. Yes, yes, yes! his body screamed as he leaned in to the fingers, his eyes glazing over with want. Before he could stop himself he kissed Bakura again, closing his eyes and moving his arms around Bakura's neck to keep him there. The vampire just smiled into the kiss, closing his eyes as well. However, as soon as he tried to put his arms around Marik's waist, the fidgety boy broke away again and turned away from him abruptly, pacing back and forth and pulling at his hair. He ground his teeth and screamed quietly as the red in his face inclined. "How. Do. You. Do that?!" he demanded, ceasing his pacing to glare at his friend. It had to be some sort of trick, it had to be! He had been bitten by Bakura before and it had been slightly enjoyable, but not something that made him act like… like… that! Not something that made him want to kiss him! What was different now?!
Bakura started laughing and he covered his mouth to try and block the sound, but also because Marik was a dang good kisser when he wanted to be. "Marik, I'm not "doing" anything!" He smirked and walked towards him again, watching with delight at the sight of him freezing to the spot. "You're the one kissing me," he said before leaning down to whisper in to his ear, "All I'm doing is touching your neck…" He kissed Marik lightly over where he had bitten him before to prove his point, but did not expect Marik to grab his arm and twist it in such a way to make him flip over on to his back. He blinked up at the ceiling dazedly a couple of times before looking at Marik and grinning at the flustered state he was in.
"D-d-don't do that!-!" he said, his hand placed firmly over his neck and his face practically in flames. Whatever the trick was, it seemed inexplicitly linked to where Bakura had bitten him, so all he'd have to do is protect that area and he'd be fine! Yes, yes, he'd be perfectly… utterly… surely… fine…
Unless, of course, he was just using the bite as an excuse to kiss Bakura.
… No, no, that couldn't possibly be it…
Marik looked down at Bakura, his face still in flames and his hand still clamped tightly over his neck. The vampire just smirked up at him, his fangs poking out over those tempting lips… If Marik was being honest with himself, he wanted nothing more than to pick that boy up off the floor and kiss the living daylights out of him (pun intended). However, he was not being honest with himself, and so he rationalized all of those feelings away by telling himself that it was late, he'd had a long day, he was still lightheaded from blood-loss, and he was still confused over his feelings… Still hopelessly confused… All of these, these things he was feeling for Bakura right now were just a combination of exhaustion, stress, confusion, nerves, and nothing else. Definitely nothing else…
"I'm sorry about that," Marik finally said after his face calmed down. He held a hand down to Bakura, but didn't have time to react when the vampire's smirk widened and he pulled the hunter down to the floor, directly on top of him.
"And I'm sorry about that!" Bakura said happily before wrapping his arms around the Egyptian's neck and batting his eyelashes playfully.
Marik blushed again and tried to stand up, but was blocked by Bakura's tight grip. He ended up placing his hands on either side of the white-haired boy's head and staring at arm's length in to his dark brown eyes. And that smirk, with those little, mesmerizing fangs poking out… directly over those lips. "You, you, you…" Marik stuttered, already feeling his dissolve not to kiss him again weakening as his arms wobbled and threatened to collapse if he kept staring any longer.
It didn't help when Bakura raised a hand and started stroking his hair slowly, as if he wanted to be sure to touch every single strand of hair on his head. "I, I, I, what?" he whispered teasingly, puckering his lips ever so slightly. It went without saying that he was enjoying this scenario; seeing Marik like this made him feel much more confident that he did like him, and that he just didn't want to admit his feelings.
Besides, he hadn't realized how enjoyable kissing could be until the other boy started kissing him first.
Marik's eye started twitching, and Bakura almost felt like laughing at the torn expression on his face. It was obvious he was battling between rolling away or giving in and kissing him again. "You, you, you," Marik repeated purposefully this time, the words tinged with annoyance before he ground his teeth and leaned in to breathe heavily over his lips, "drive me crazy."
"Right now that seems like a good thing," Bakura whispered back just before Marik rested his forehead against Bakura's.
"I'm not saying that's a bad thing…" the Egyptian mumbled quietly, blushing bright red. Why the hell did he say that?! Of course it was a bad thing! Acting like this, it was… it was… nothing he'd ever done before! He wasn't used to it, this feeling; his heart pounding, the blood rushing to his head (and other parts of his body), the fluttering feeling in his stomach, the want to shorten the distance between their lips… it wasn't natural!
"Oh, really?" Bakura asked with a smile. He lifted his head up just enough to have their lips brush past each other, and immediately tightened the grip in Marik's hair and closed his eyes when he felt Marik kiss him again like he'd hoped.
The kiss remained brief though; soon Marik rolled off of him and stood up, his back turned to Bakura as he crossed his arms tightly over his stomach, blushing like mad. He felt heat all over his body, especially below his waist…
He remembered when his mother had taught him the "birds and the bees" (why the hell it was called that Marik still had yet to find out). She had said that it was normal, to feel like this… especially during his teenage years, when his hormones would just be starting and settling and adjusting to his body… But he had never really felt, this, during his teenage years, like his mother said he would. Although, he had never really had much time for relationships of any kind anyways, which probably had a lot to do with it.
But still… his mother had told him everything; from "French kissing" to STDs to pregnancy to homo/heterosexuality to sex to how to keep calm in situations like this… But he had never thought he'd be in a situation like this! Especially not with a boy, although he found he was okay with this fact, though he knew it was a big deal for some people even if he wasn't sure why, exactly. Currently he just wished he had paid more attention to those lessons… But he had never had to worry about this sort of thing before! He had actually managed to push these uncomfortable lessons about his body out of his mind before Bak…
Kissing Bakura… it had been pretty chaste before, nothing like this… He didn't need to worry about anything more than the slight fluttering in his stomach, but now he had to worry about his hormones taking control like his mom had warned him might happen. And he wasn't even a flippin' teenager anymore!-!
He covered his mouth and closed his eyes. If he kissed Bakura again, he wasn't sure what would happen next, or if he could control himself… No matter what, he couldn't…! Even if he wanted to, and he really, really wanted to.
Besides, it wasn't him thinking, it was his hormones… right? He remembered his mom briefly mentioning that sometimes they made you feel things that you wouldn't normally feel with a clear head… So, all of these kisses weren't really him, they were just his body…
That "fact" did not make him feel any better.
Bakura, meanwhile, just stared at Marik, feeling pretty much the same things as him - the heat, the slight dizziness, the pounding, the want - but he really never had the "birds and bees" talk. His thoughts really didn't evolve past just kissing the boy, which he was very content with. He felt this need to get closer to him though, to be flush up against him… but that's still where it pretty much stayed, since he had never really learned much of anything else. To him the word "sex" just meant a private act done between two people (and sometimes toys, whatever the hell that meant) that was supposedly embarrassing to talk/think about, but he wasn't sure what this "act" was - no one ever told him and he had never bothered to find out. And when Ryou learned about this in school Bakura really couldn't have cared less; he figured he didn't need to know. After all, it hadn't really proven useful information to his life so far. That is, up until now, he supposed… perhaps he would look it up on the internet later. Anyways, thanks to this naïveté, he figured sex was just more private kisses or something, though that thought never made much sense to him either.
He sat up when Marik shuffled over to his suitcase that was laying a few feet away from the bed on the right side. He took out his drawing notebook before turning around to look at his friend but chickening out at the last second and glancing at the floor next to him. His face was still red as he held up the book and said weakly, "I-I want to draw now… so I may as well illustrate your books…"
Bakura stared at him for a second before standing up and stretching his arms over his head. "Well, give me a second then…" He was a little disappointed that this special kissing session had ended, but by the look on Marik's face it was evident he just wanted to be alone for a bit.
"Thank you…" he said gratefully as Bakura went over to his own bags that lay on the left side and took out his computer. The vampire just smiled over at him and shrugged before running a finger casually over his fanged lips, effectively causing Marik to blush again and turn away. He heard Bakura chuckle and swore to himself; Damn it!
"Here," Bakura said, suddenly in front of Marik with an open laptop that held a long word document on it. "Illustrate anything you want."
Marik stared at the words, already getting picture ideas in his head. He smiled, knowing that this would take his mind off of… previous events. He looked up at Bakura as he took the laptop and smiled. "Gladly," he answered.
Bakura stared at him before laughing a bit and leaning forward to peck him on the lips. "You have no idea how cute you look right now," he whispered, not knowing that that simple peck caused Marik's world to be filled with want once more. Not to mention that "cute" comment that made him horribly embarrassed.
"I-I'm not cute…" he argued quietly as he used up most of his strength to keep his head where it currently was.
"I-I beg to differ," Bakura said, stuttering on the word "I" on purpose. He smirked when Marik glared at him, and just because he could, he kissed him again before standing up and putting his hands behind his back, smiling innocently as Marik put a hand up to his lips with his eye twitching again. "If you'll excuse me," Bakura said as he turned around and started walking to the other side of the tent, "I'm going to apply more sunscreen. Wouldn't want me accidentally burning in the morning." He stopped suddenly and turned to Marik, showing off his fangs as he said, "Of course, if I did get burned, I could have your blood, right?"
Marik blushed a little more as he stared at Bakura, moving his hand from his mouth to his neck. "… Yes…" he managed to say confidently.
Bakura smirked. "Excellent."
Bakura typed another sentence on his laptop while Marik slept in the bed, which Bakura was still a little mad about. After Marik's eyes started drooping repeatedly while drawing he said he was going to bed, and when Bakura had innocently offered to sleep next to him he had glared and said, coldly I might add, "No."
What happened to New York? Back in America they slept next to each other for the past few days, so what was different about France? Marik had even threatened to rip his fangs out if he even got close to the bed! And he looked pretty serious about it too…
He might just be mad at me for "tricking" him, Bakura thought with an eye roll. Believe me, Marik, if I could "trick" you like that, I'd be doing it much more often. Although what got the vampire the most was that he even refused his offer to snuggle with the kitty him; he had thought Marik loved cats! He crossed his arms and pouted at the sleeping figure. What's gotten into him all of a sudden?
"Hmm…" Marik mumbled in his sleep. Bakura smiled to himself; he always enjoyed it when Marik talked in his sleep, he usually said things that didn't make any sense. "Bakura…" the Egyptian mumbled quietly, his eyebrows creasing ever so slightly. "Stop it…"
The white-haired boy froze, staring at him. Well, that was a coherent sentence, but what was he doing in his dream? Whatever it was, it seemed to be something Marik didn't like. He stood up and walked over to the sleeping boy, peering at him curiously. He took a step back when an arm lashed out to the other side of the bed, as if he had meant to hit someone there. The blonde then retracted his arm and curled up into a ball, his face relaxing again. Bakura stared at him before biting his bottom lip. It looked like he went back to a more still state of sleep… but what had dream Bakura been doing? "I don't want to stop…" he mumbled quietly, hoping his words would go into his subconscious and induce more sleep talk. Unfortunately, Marik just kept his dreaming expression even after Bakura waited a few minutes. He was about to give up and go back to his computer when, to his surprise, Marik's eyebrows creased again and he blushed slightly. "Stop…" he groaned, curling up even more.
"… No…" Bakura whispered, tilting his head to the side. What could Marik possibly be dreaming about? The red on his face made him think that he might, just might, be dreaming about kissing him… but the emotion seemed a little off for that. That might be thanks to his dreaming state, but something still seemed wrong to Bakura in this situation.
"You know I'm… afraid of heights…" Marik mumbled, dropping the last word into near silence. Now Bakura was even more confused; what the hell was going on in Marik's head?! He couldn't ponder this more as he saw Marik turn on his back, laying his arms out flat against either side, as if he was flying… Was dream Bakura trying to tell him to fly or something?
"You have such weird dreams," Bakura mumbled to himself, crossing his arms.
He froze again when Marik's face turned into a smile and a laugh escaped his mouth. "Yeah yeah…. Love you too… weirdo…"
Bakura's eyes widened. That certainly caught his interests! Bakura found himself smiling; they say dreams are sometimes things that you wish would happen, right? So perhaps Marik would like to hear those three little words come out of his fanged little mouth. How wonderful to hear~. With this confirmation, telling Marik "I love you" should be a synch! Well, that's what he thought, anyways, but when he actually considered saying the words out loud to the boy a pit of dread appeared in his stomach. Oh come on, why could the dream him say it when he was still unable? This was completely unfair! It's not like he had never said them to him before either; another time when the blonde was sleeping he had said those same words to him! He scowled to himself and held a hand up to his forehead, disappointed with himself.
"Stop…" Marik mumbled again, frowning slightly. Bakura turned his attention back to him. Now they were at "stop" again? "Put those… teeth… away…"
Bakura had to cover his mouth to block his laughter. So, he was dreaming about being bitten? That seemed to fit.
Marik let out a slight groaning sound before his face relaxed again and he turned on his side, breathing easy. Bakura simply chuckled a bit before going back to his computer and opening up a little document entitled "My Journal."
Marik woke up very lazily, blinking his eyes open and yawning once he realized he was awake. It was still dark around him though, which made him wonder what time it was before his tired brain reminded him that they were residing in a black tent, which would therefore block out any and all sunlight. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. If he remembered correctly, he had been having a very enjoyable dream, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what it was about. He always hated it when he couldn't remember his dreams, especially if he remembered how he felt during one.
"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," a familiar voice reached his ears, and despite the heavy sarcasm and annoyance it still made him smile.
"Morning, 'Kura-Kitty," he responded back easily, yawning before opening his eyes and seeing Bakura sitting against the bed with his laptop in his lap and his eyes staring at him.
Bakura crossed his arms and looked away. "You don't have the right to call me that anymore."
"I used to have the right?"
"Of course."
"Well, that's news to me." Marik chuckled before stepping out of bed and sitting next to him, but he still wouldn't look him in the eyes. "Oh come on, you're still mad I made you stay out of the bed?" he asked with an eye roll.
"You threatened to rip my fangs out."
"… Yeah, sorry about that," the hunter replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his skull.
The tent was silent before Bakura turned to his friend. "Why were you so against me sleeping with you last night, anyways? We've done it before." Bakura was surprised to see Marik blush - hard. Was it something he said?
"You phrased it like that on purpose," Marik accused, covering his face with his hands and trying to block his mind.
"Phrased it like what?" Bakura asked, confused.
Marik turned to him with a glare so fierce that Bakura swore he saw fire in his eyes, but then the blonde shut his eyes tight and held a hand up to his right eye while grinding his teeth. "You… know…." was all he said. He sounded strained, as if he was concentrated on something else.
Bakura just creased his eyebrows. Something seemed really off with this behavior, but the vampire couldn't place it. "Marik, are you all right?" he asked tentatively, putting a hand on his shoulder.
The touch seemed to calm him down; his face relaxed like when he was sleeping and he lowered his hand, sighing. "Yeah, I'm fine…" he muttered before leaning against Bakura and slipping his hand in his. He looked up at his friend and smiled wryly, "Sorry…"
"… Why are you sorry?" Bakura asked quietly, tightening his grip on Marik's hand. He didn't know how to respond to this; first he was positively furious at him, and then he grabs his hand? What is going on?
"Because…" Marik said, hesitating at the end before shutting his mouth and frowning, obviously deep in thought. "For so many things…" he stared at Bakura, worrying his lower lip slightly. "I, um, haven't really been telling you everything about me…"
"… What, and you think I have?" Bakura asked, slightly amused. It was his understanding that it was practically impossible for someone to know everything about a person, but that wouldn't stop Bakura from trying. It seemed like Marik was about to tell him something major though, and it worried him slightly; what kind of secret could he be keeping from him?
Marik laughed a bit before his face turned more serious. He straightened his posture and looked forward, letting go of Bakura's hand. "… You don't know all of the reasons why I left home…"
"There's more than one?" Bakura asked, slightly surprised.
Marik nodded, an uncomfortable expression flashing for only a moment before his face returned to the serious mask. "Yes… there's, um…" he paused, as if trying to remember just exactly why he left home - if you could call his life a home. "… three reasons."
"Three?" Bakura repeated, scrunching his eyebrows together. "Well… what are they?"
"You already know one," Marik began, taking a deep breath and looking at him. "I want to make this world safe for you…" he said quietly. He tightened the grip on his hand almost protectively before realizing his mistake and blushing slightly. "I, I mean people like you, er… yeah, you know what I mean."
Bakura blinked for a second before realizing why Marik was clarifying his sentence. Then he smirked and said, "Go on…?"
Marik glared at him for a second before sighing and coughing slightly. "There's, also a… ritual…"
"What do you mean?"
"… Every first born male has to go through it," Marik said, looking down at the ground and releasing Bakura's hand. His eyes grew out of focus, as if he wasn't paying attention to this world anymore… "In the vampire hunter clans… we have to… when we're off on our own, when our father's clan is passed down to us…"
"… Marik," Bakura said quietly, almost afraid he'd scare him if he spoke too loud. "You're speaking in riddles." He bit his lip when Marik didn't even seem to hear him. What could this "ritual" be? Whatever it was, it seemed to cause him nothing but pain. But what was to be expected from his home life, he supposed? Usually "rituals" were not very comfortable anyways…
Marik's vision flashed with what he's heard of the ritual. A sharp knife, tearing into fresh, pure skin… blood everywhere, pain so strong you can taste it; a pungent pang on the tip of your tongue as tortured sounds barreled past it. The pain carving away a promise… the Promise to rid the world of vampires, no matter how long it took, no matter how many generations had to devote their lives to such an impossible task… no matter if the son didn't want to. His back would be marred with this twisted Promise, just before he would start his own family of vampire hunters - continue the Ishtar clan…
"It won't be that bad. I've built you up to handle pain - why do you think I hurt you so much?"
Marik shook his head slightly and forced himself to relax, finding that he had tensed up during his thoughts. "I suppose we put ourselves through this to feel like we're important…" he muttered, not noticing when Bakura's ears perked up to listen better. "But how can carving something so… wrong into our backs possibly make us feel anything but hate?" He scowled, thinking about how stupid this all was. Kill all vampires? Forget the fact that they're not even evil monsters like his dad thinks: it would be impossible to kill them all! They'll always be alive because they can spread the "disease" - they can make more descendants. And some are clever, they won't be caught easily; you could think you've destroyed them all and there will still be those intelligent, hidden ones… but if they're intelligent - if they've survived for so long without being discovered or killing anyone - can they really be a danger? According to this ludicrous Promise: yes. But that's all it was; a ludicrous promise, like when a child promises they'll be a superhero when they grow up. They want to, heaven knows they want to, but it's impossible.
"Did you say carve?" Bakura interrupted his thoughts.
Marik turned to him and blinked, trying to focus on his probably overly-confused friend. "Yes… my dad would have to carve it in my back…"
"… What's "it"?" Bakura asked quietly.
Marik took a deep breath before reaching under the mattress behind him and pulling out his drawing journal. He flipped to a page close to the back and stared at it for a minute before scowling and showing him. "This…"
Bakura stared at the detailed picture with a mix of fascination and disgust. It was obviously a person's back, but it was horribly marked with bloody scars and writings; the blood dripped down from each freshly cut wound, making his own back start to itch. The scars spelled out ancient symbols, some painfully clear and contrite and others blurred, as if it wasn't clear what was written there exactly; there were only some of these hieroglyphics that Bakura couldn't recognize, most of them being blurred. The wounds also displayed pictures of all the Millennium Items, but one sentence stood out above all the rest, and not only because it was the clearest of them all; roughly translated, it read: "I dutifully promise to rid the world of all blood-sucking monsters and to pass on this important role to my descendants."
Before Bakura could read anymore, Marik closed the book with a resound whap and just glared at his usually precious journal. "This was supposed to be carved into my back…" Marik said, his voice taking a very biting edge to it. Bakura could have sworn he saw the gold chains on his arms glow faintly, but he assumed it was just a reflection of some sort. "Then I would marry, and have children, and teach them each and every which way to murder…" His grip tightened on his blue journal as he ground his teeth, feeling familiar anger rise to the surface of his thoughts. He closed his eyes, a flash of his demon rising on his lids just before he could feel a cool touch on his tightly wound hand. He snapped his eyes open and glanced down, seeing pure pale skin on top of his killer hands.
"Relax, Marik," Bakura said, his face filled with worry. "You don't have to do that, remember? That's why you're here…" He honestly had no idea what to say to him - what was there to say? He had heard about "tribes" and things like that carving, tattooing, or doing other such things when they pass on a certain right or something equally important, but the idea of Marik going through so much pain when he had gone through so much already… it didn't sit right with him, not at all, especially seeing the fear and anger that danced across his face as he glared at his journal.
Marik reached his other hand over and put it on top of Bakura's before smiling at him, anger slowly ebbing away. "Yes, I know… but can you imagine how many people went through this same thing?" He tightened the grip on Bakura's hand so much that it actually started to hurt, much to the vampire's surprise. "How many people must have went through this torturous process just to become a "certified" murderer? How many people were like me, not wanting to kill anyone but feeling like they had to because of the depiction on their back?" Marik scowled, his face turning completely into one of anger as he almost crushed Bakura's hand. The vampire ground his teeth before bringing his hand out of the death grip and rubbing it slightly, looking back at his friend nervously. He remembered something that Isis had told him once, about how his jewelry would be able to give him strength… looks like he uses it unknowingly while he's mad. I know Marik, she had said, and he'd hate himself if he ever hurt you or anyone on accident.
"Marik," Bakura said calmly, trying to see if his attitude would rub off on him. "Calm down…" Crap, what else can I say?!
The hunter turned to him, still scowling, but then he cringed suddenly and brought his hands up to his head. He could feel that thing inside him just waiting to come out; hovering on the edge of his subconscious, biding his time until just the right moment came to take over… What was wrong with him?! Why couldn't he just control -! … No, if he starts thinking about that he'll just get angrier, he needed something happy - something to eradicate the anger right out of him, but the nearest thing he could think of was…
"Hey, Bakura?" Marik asked through clenched teeth; he hadn't heard him say "calm down" earlier. "Can you do me a favor…?"
"… Sure, what is it?" he asked, at this point knowing it'd be useless to try and decode what was running through his blonde friend's head.
"Give me a hug…"
"… What?"
"I could really use a hug right now."
"… Suuuuure," Bakura said, just a little skeptical at this point; what the hell was going on this morning?! He reached over and hugged him nonetheless, since there was a slightly desperate undertone laced in his fury-ridden words.
Unfortunately, Bakura's tone just before the hug came set Marik off; what, did he not trust him?! Was asking for a hug really that freaking difficult?-? He seemed incredibly eager to do more than just hug last night!-! Because of these anger-ridden thoughts, right before he hugged his friend in return his mind was pushed back, leaving that monster in control of his actions.
"Thanks, 'Kura," he mumbled, grinning to himself. The Eye of Horus glowed brightly on his forehead, glinting off the Millennium Rod he had quickly grabbed from his pocket before hugging the pale boy. Electricity sparked through his hair in rivulets, signifying the return of anger.
"No problem…" Bakura answered back curiously. He was still wondering what was wrong with him; the change between personas didn't seem that odd to him currently, considering how he had been switching emotions so rapidly before.
Marik chuckled maliciously to himself before unsheathing the Millennium Rod; the quiet noise didn't disturb Bakura too much since he often heard many strange, "quiet" noises with his enhanced hearing, and the hunter knew that. He also knew that since Bakura didn't feel like he was in any danger, he wouldn't be aware of any around him…! Even if he started showing signs of psychosis right now, he would just think "Marik" was having some kind of panic attack or something…! Yes, yes, now was the time!-! Once he was rid of Bakura there would be no one to send him back!
"I think you'll find it'll be a problem in a minute…!" Marik muttered, barely concealing his excitement as he raised the Rod. All he had to do was plunge it into this foolish vampire and he'd be gone…! Say Sayonara, Bakura!
"You know, you're acting very strange," the white-haired boy said as he backed up a bit to look at Marik's face with a raised brow.
"Yes, well -" Marik began with a grin, but once he saw how much worry was held in those deep, brown eyes… his head started to hurt. No, he thought to himself as he dropped the Millennium Rod to the dirt with a muffled, "thunk." No! You've got to be kidding me!-! I was so close! He pressed his hands into his eye sockets and let out a horrendous scream, scaring Bakura somewhat as he noticed the glowing eye and the electricity running through his hair. The Egyptian stood up, still pressing his palms into his eyes as if wanting to pop them out, his body shaking as one being tried to stay in while the other tried to push out. He started stepping disjointedly, his body being split in half for control. He let out another scream before, suddenly, he stopped. He stopped shaking, he stopped moving, and he stopped screaming. He lowered his arms slowly before looking down at Bakura, completely exhausted.
"Marik!" Bakura exclaimed when the boy started to fall down. He quickly stood up to support the boy, who just smiled up at him weakly. "What the hell is wrong with you this morning?-?"
"Well, um…" Marik started, but his mind was a complete blank as to what to tell his friend. He really did not want to get in to the whole, "Oh, yeah, well, you see, I kept pushing back all of the pain and hatred and sadness and crapy feelings that I felt and they combined with these soul fragments that were in my jewelry and it formed another, more-sinister me that so far seems to just want to kill you and then I don't know what he'll do next!" talk. But what else could he tell him? He hadn't gotten enough sleep? No, Bakura wouldn't buy that; he had functioned on less sleep before. He was feeling unstable because of his past? That was probably the closest he could get to the truth without actually telling everything… but then Bakura might know there's more than he's letting on… He was just a very emotional person in general? Bakura would probably tease him about that for a bit and then they could move past it, so… he decided to go with that one.
Much to his gratitude and pleasure though, Bakura supplied an explanation for him all on his own.
"… Is this some sort of payback for last night…?" he asked quietly, almost as if he didn't believe it himself.
Marik's entire body rattled with loud, crackling laughter as he quickly stood up and held his ribcage in place, closing his eyes tightly as the sound escaped from his lips. If he had seen Bakura jump back from surprise, he would have laughed even harder. "Y-yeah!" he managed to say, wiping his watering eyes. "P-payback!"
The Egyptian continued laughing as Bakura just stared at him, completely dumbfounded at this point. Recapping the events that just happened, Marik's emotions changed as follows: happy, angry, scared, sad, angry again, and now he was laughing. This wasn't normal, even if this behavior actually was payback, which he was finding hard to believe based on Marik's reaction to that proposition. The laughter seemed especially out of place considering how angry he had been just moments ago, as he told him about that grotesque ritual… Speaking of which, he could now understand the timing of Marik's decision to hunt for the Millennium Items. He had said "when our father's clan is passed down to us", which probably translates to once he learns everything there is to know about vampire hunting that he would receive this "promise" so he could start his own family of vampire slayers. It was probably the best decision to continue learning everything his father would teach him so that he knew what he was up against. If he had left any earlier he might be dead or recaptured right now out of pure ignorance and/or naïveté, and if he stayed any later he would suffer even more pain and perhaps even feel like hunting vampires was something he had to do now.
He had always known Marik was smart, but the fact that he was able to think beyond the realm of "I want to get out of this horrible place as soon as possible!" when he was, most likely, still a teenager was astonishing to Bakura.
"Okay," Bakura said after a few minutes of listening to Marik's boisterous laughter. "Yes, yes, I'm hilarious. Can we please get past this now?"
Marik took a deep breath before trying to compose himself, breaking into giggles a few times before managing a happy grin at his vampire cohort. "Sorry… Maybe I'm still tired."
Bakura rolled his eyes before leaning down and picking up his journal, staring at the picture still laid out on the page. He opened his mouth to say something about it, even if it was just to acknowledge the fact that he had heard and understood him, but he couldn't find the right words to say… Eventually he just handed it back to him and looked at him, saying quietly, "I'm sorry, too…"
Marik stared at the book before taking it from him and closing it, throwing it carelessly on the bed before smiling at his friend. "Don't be. At least I still have a clear back." He took a deep breath before he noticed the Millennium Rod that still lay on the ground… behind Bakura. He walked over to it and picked it up as if it was something repulsive, grimacing as he thought how he had almost killed Bakura with this thing… it would've been yet another death to add to the total, only this one would've been worse than all the others. "Here," Marik said as he offered the Item to the kind it was made to kill. "I want you to have this." I want you to take this from me…
Bakura stared at him, confused. "What? But you've always been the one to hold the Millennium Items. Well, except for the Ring of course -"
"I know," Marik interrupted, "but… that was because I didn't trust you before, but now I'd trust you with my life." He grinned before grabbing Bakura's hand and placing the Rod's sleek gold into the cold skin. "Or, in this case, the Rod."
Bakura continued staring at it, wondering why he was suddenly being given this. It couldn't just be a matter of trust - Marik always had good reasons for doing anything, as he was finding out. Was he trying to test him or something? See if he wouldn't go off on his own with the Rod in possession and commit murder or something stupid like that? No, Marik did trust him - of that much he was certain. No, no matter how much he thought about it, Marik giving him the Rod out of the blue like this made no sense. Although his behavior this morning also did not make sense, so maybe he was just looking too much into this. Or something's happening to Marik that he should be very, very concerned about…
"Marik," Bakura finally said, handing him the Item back. "I can't take this, it's yours."
"Mine? I like to think of it as ours -"
"Marik," Bakura said his name again, creasing his eyebrows. Something was definitely wrong if he was saying something like that. "What's going on?"
The Egyptian's face turned serious as he stared at Bakura. For a long time he didn't move or say anything, then suddenly he pushed the Millennium Rod back to him and said, "Sometimes it's not good to ask questions," in a clearly guarded voice that said it was not going to let any more information on the subject come through.
Bakura stared at his friend before taking the Rod and holding it against his chest, never once taking his eyes off Marik who held the gaze steadily. "The fact that you won't tell me worries me more than anything." He scowled before tacking on, "You're the one who just said you'd trust me with your life."
Marik sighed and looked away, guilt etched into every crevice on his face. "I know, but…" he paused, obviously trying to think of what to say next. "Well, let's just say… some things are better left unsaid?" He offered, glancing up at Bakura, already knowing that would not satisfy him.
Bakura tightened his grip around the cold metal in his hands before frowning. "Why can't you tell me?" he asked, trying a different approach.
Because I don't want you to know how messed up I am, Marik thought to himself. Because I know you'll just worry about me and there's nothing anyone can do to help me; it's my fault. I need to handle it alone, because I don't want to drag you down with me. But I can't tell you all that… I can't… He felt his throat tighten, choking any possible words he could have said, though that didn't really matter since he had no idea what to say in the first place.
"Aw, geez," Bakura said suddenly, frowning and hugging Marik, much to his surprise. "I'm sorry, don't cry… please."
Marik held a hand up to his face and found out that he was crying. How could he have not known? He hugged his friend back tightly before saying, "Sorry…"
"Don't apologize when you're like this!" Bakura almost yelled, biting his tongue soon afterwards. Damn it, why did he have to start crying? Why couldn't he have gotten angry, or start joking, or anything else! He couldn't handle crying! "I'll just take the damn thing if it means so much to you, just cheer up for goodness' sake!"
Marik laughed a bit. "Thanks, 'Kura." He patted him on the back and then separated, stretching and yawning. "Anyways, we should probably go get some breakfast."
Bakura's eye started twitching. Stop playing with my emotions! he felt like yelling at him. He wasn't used to feeling so much in such a short time span, and it was starting to drive him mad.
Marik took one look at Bakura's twitchy eye and bit his lip before kissing him on the cheek, much to his surprise. "Come on," Marik said again, smiling when he saw Bakura calm down, even just slightly. "I'm hungry. Your sunscreen's on, right?"
Bakura nodded. "You're not going to change out of your clothes?"
"They're the ones from yesterday, so nah."
Bakura shrugged before looking down at the Rod in his hands and sighing. Where am I even going to carry this thing?…As a matter of fact, how did Marik carry this thing? "Marik," he said, stopping his friend from opening the tent. "How do you carry this?"
"Oh," Marik said, laughing. "I forgot. Um, well, I just kind of slip it in my belt loop and then it shrinks."
"… It shrinks?"
"Yeah, and then when you need it again it grows bigger. Just like your Ring, right?"
Bakura scrunched his eyebrows together. "The Ring doesn't change size…" At least, I don't think it does…
"It doesn't?" Marik scratched the top of his head. "Oh, well… this does. Give it a try!" He smiled before giving him a thumbs up, making Bakura grin at the gesture. He looked down at the gold Item once more before deciding to put it in his pocket instead, since he said it shrinks. He was surprised to see that he was right, and that soon he could feel it changing its shape and minimizing enough to fit in his pocket comfortably.
"Huh, what do you know," Bakura said, staring at his pocket with disbelief.
Marik chuckled. "It's a cool trick, right?" His stomach growled just then, making him laugh sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm really hungry, so can we…?"
"Of course," Bakura said, still amazed that the Millennium Rod could shrink. Well, he supposed it made sense in hindsight, since he couldn't really remember seeing Marik carrying it anywhere noticeable and yet always having it when need be. He hesitated for a second when he thought of something. "Where do you put it when you're wearing your pajamas?"
"… So, what do you think Pegasus has for food?" Marik asked, not answering his subject and opening the tent up. "He'd probably have everything, don't you think?"
"Marik, you didn't answer my –"
"I kind of like eggs, do you like eggs?"
"Marik –"
"Come on, slowpoke!" Marik called as he ran out of the tent, laughing a bit.
Bakura rolled his eyes and followed him. Is today going to be a day where he doesn't answer any of my questions?!
As soon as Marik opened the back door to Pegasus' kitchen, he was met with a finger to his lips. "Shh!" the excitable, one-eyed man said. "A very important game is happening right now!-!"
Marik and Bakura peered from behind his shoulder to see Yami and Kaiba seated at the kitchen table holding Duelmonster cards and glaring at each other sternly.
"You're not going to win this one, Yami," Kaiba said, as serious as always.
"We'll see, Kaiba," Yami said, picking up a card from his deck before smirking and placing it down. "I play Swords of Revealing Light, and use Dark Magician to attack your life points directly."
Kaiba bared his teeth angrily. "Fine. Just remember, as long as I still have life points, this duel's far from over."
Yami nodded, but when Kaiba looked down at his cards again he rolled his eyes.
"So," Bakura whispered to Pegasus, "what's going on?"
"Well, Kaiba's terribly competitive," Pegasus explained in a hushed tone. "So, every week he challenges Yami to a duel. The poor boy hasn't won one yet, so he gets very angry, whereas Yami is starting to get annoyed with dueling him so much." Pegasus turned to look at the two at the table before saying, "I fear that Yami may grow to underestimate Kaiba and lose because of that if this continues."
"Well, that's nice," Marik said, taking a step forward. "Can we eat breakfast now?"
Pegasus laughed. "Right, right. I'm sorry, yes, go ahead. Make whatever you want, we already ate."
"Why didn't you come get us?" Marik asked as he stepped inside and started searching through the different cabinets.
Pegasus looked over at Bakura with a grin. "Oh, I didn't want to disturb you, in case you were sleeping or… something."
Bakura scowled and narrowed his eyes at him, which only made the man snicker and turn back to watch the card game. It was then that Bakura heard the pitter-pattering of quiet-to-human-ears footsteps and wondered who it could possibly be; everyone he knows of was in the kitchen, weren't they?
Soon, he noticed a small, raven-haired boy peek behind the corner, staring at everyone with wide, blue eyes. Bakura blinked at him, wondering who he was. Where did this kid come from?
Marik was the second one to notice the boy, as he turned to smile at him, a box of cereal in hand. "Hey there," he said gently, walking over to him and squatting down to his eye-level. "Who're you?"
He gave a bright smile, whispering, "I'm Seto's – er, Kaiba's brother."
Bakura smiled a little and walked over, squatting down next to Marik. "Nice to meet you," he said.
The young boy gave a cute little giggle, making Marik smile brightly and making Bakura chuckle. Kids really are cute, he thought.
"Did you just wake up?" Marik asked.
He shook his head. "No, but as soon as breakfast ended Kaiba told me to stay in the room…"
"Why?" Bakura asked, creasing his eyebrows.
"I don't know…"
"What's your name?" Marik asked.
"I'm –"
"Mokuba!" Kaiba exclaimed, standing up and slamming his palms down on the table while glaring at his brother. "Go back to the room. Now."
Marik and Bakura looked at each other as they stood up, both wondering why Kaiba was so adamant about Mokuba being in the room.
Mokuba just frowned. "But Seto –"
"No buts. Room, now."
"Why?!" Mokuba asked, stomping his foot. "I wanna talk to these two! They look fun!"
Kaiba scowled and threw down his cards. "I forfeit the duel, you win," he said regrettably before walking over and grabbing Mokuba by the ear, much to his displeasure. "You and I need to have a little talk."
"Ow!" Mokuba yelled once Kaiba started walking down the hall. "I don't understand what the big deal is!-!"
"I'm not letting you associate with those types of people," Kaiba told him sternly.
"What? You mean fun people?!"
"Don't argue," was the last thing heard before the door closed behind them.
Pegasus sighed, tearing everyone's attention away from the scene that just played out. "I was afraid that would happen sooner or later…"
"Why doesn't Kaiba want us to talk to his brother?" Bakura asked, confused.
Marik crossed his arms, glaring at the door they were behind. He had a pretty good idea of why he didn't want them talking to Mokuba, and he was furious about it.
"It's… nothing to worry about," Pegasus assured, waving his hand in the air. "You boys are hungry, right? Although I suppose Bakura would be the exception to that."
Bakura shrugged and took the cereal box out of Marik's hand. "I'll make you something, don't eat this boxed crap."
"But I'm hungry now," Marik argued, taking the box back and walking to the table.
"Oh, Marik," Pegasus said, patting him on the head. "Don't you know that good food is worth waiting for?"
"Yeah," Bakura cut in, smirking. He was a little surprised that Pegaus was on his side, but the other white-haired man's real motives were quickly revealed.
"I have an idea!" the ex-Eye holder exclaimed, smiling brightly. "Why doesn't Bakura teach these two cooking-impaired boys how to prepare a proper meal, and Marik and I will go for a walk in the beautiful meadow outside?"
Marik's stomach growled just at that moment, so he pointed to it and said, "Do you hear that? Just give me something to eat – I've eaten bark, plastic, poison for goodness' sakes, and even leather before. Cereal is like a culinary delight for me."
"Why would you eat poison on purpose?!" Yami asked him, hopelessly confused as to why anyone would do that.
Marik swore under his breath before glaring at the ceiling. "Part of my dad's training; to build immunity? It doesn't matter, I'm – hey!" he exclaimed when Pegasus grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards the back door. "I don't want to go for a walk!-!"
"Well I do!" Pegasus told him, pouting. He leaned in to whisper in his ear, "I need to talk to you about something."
Marik stared at him for a minute before sighing. "Bakura?" he called weakly, glancing at him, "Whatever you make better be delicious."
Bakura, who had heard what Pegasus had whispered, frowned and replied, "Of course."
When the two left through the door, Bakura turned to Yami and glared at him. "Hey, what's Pegasus up to?"
"Beats me," Yami replied, shrugging.
Bakura snarled and crossed his arms. He better not tell him anything…
Marik and Pegasus walked through a well-worn path surrounded by tall grasses and colorful flowers, with only sparse amounts of trees. Both boys found themselves enjoying it, even if one was just a little hungry. Though he reminded himself that he had went weeks without food before, so he shouldn't really complain. Maybe he had gotten a bit too spoiled, actually, since he'd been with Bakura.
"So," Marik asked after awhile, looking at Pegasus who was staring avidly at a butterfly fluttering about. "What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Oh!" the American exclaimed, smiling and looking at him. "I was just wondering how you and Bakura were doing."
Marik raised an eyebrow and gave him a confused look. What an odd question, why wouldn't they be doing fine? Unless he meant… No, he couldn't mean like that, right? "Why didn't you ask him yesterday?" he finally asked.
"I did."
"… Then why are you asking me, too?"
"Because that's his perspective. Now I want yours."
"Why do you care?"
"Is it a crime to care?"
Marik groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "We're doing fine," he finally answered. "I'm not really sure what you want me to say."
"Everything's stayed the same?" Pegasus clarified, grinning. "No, deeper feelings, I guess?"
Marik stopped walking and stared at him, narrowing his eyes slightly. "If you're trying to tell me something, just say it."
Pegasus sighed and resumed looking at his butterfly when it flew in front of his face again. "Very well. Do you love him?"
Marik felt a shiver go through him at the word "love." He said it so nonchalantly, too! Continuing his walk and avoiding the man's gaze, he said, ""Love" is such a strong word…"
Pegasus grinned. "Da-Nile's not just a river in Egypt, Marik."
Marik smiled weakly. "Exactly how long have you been waiting to use that line?"
"Quite a while, but that's not important!" Pegasus answered, clapping a hand on his shoulder and spinning him around to look in his eyes. "The pun still raises a point – stop being in denial."
"I'm not in denial!" Marik answered. When Pegasus raised an accusatory brow, Marik grinned and added, "If I was, I'd be all wet."
Pegasus gave a short laugh before covering his mouth. "Okay, I have to admit, that was a good one."
"Why, thank you." Marik chuckled and started walking again, but Pegasus was still not satisfied.
"You never did answer my question…" he said airily, as if he wasn't talking to anyone.
Marik sighed and crossed his arms. "It's complicated."
"How can what you feel be complicated?"
Marik laughed and looked at him. "Oh come on, you can't tell me you've always known exactly how you feel about everything, can you?"
"Well, I suppose," Pegasus gave him that much, "but usually it was only me being in denial that complicated things. Or if I was confused. Are you confused?"
"Bingo!" Marik pointed at him and smiled. "Confused. I think that's the perfect way to describe it."
Pegasus smirked. "Well then, let me help sort your confusion!"
"Crap…" Marik sighed and looked up at the sky. He… he really was just confused about everything. Every time they kissed, he always just felt mixed up. Sure, he enjoyed it a little – okay, maybe more than a "little" –, but he just wasn't sure how he felt. He liked Bakura, sure; he was a great friend and he was really helping him out with his goals. He enjoyed hanging out with him, even if they weren't really doing anything. He found himself more often than not simply enjoying hearing Bakura talk to him, even if it was sarcastic and slightly insulting. But all of those things… that didn't mean he "loved" Bakura, did it? No, that just meant they were great friends… right?
See? I really am just confused, Marik told himself. About how I feel towards Bakura and… everything, else…
… No.
No, I'm not.
… He, he really did like Bakura. That much had been evident for awhile now, hadn't it? It's not like he only liked him because he liked kissing him either – their relationship hadn't progressed that way. They started out as partners, then became friends, then best friends, then… whatever the hell they were currently. Maybe a "Cuppul!"
He liked Bakura because… he's him! He loved his personality, every single detail of it; how he could act so confident one second and so emotional the next, how he always knew what to say and his sarcasm, and how even when he was flustered he still tried to act cool. He loved that smirk of his, and how he had a soft spot for children even though he said he hated humans. He loved seeing him progress from the psychopath he met in the beginning to the person he was now, and he positively loved the fact that he had most likely caused the change.
In retrospect, he simply loved Bakura; every little strand that made up his being.
So what was holding him back?
"It looks like you've just realized something," Pegasus interrupted his thoughts, smiling. "Would you mind telling me what it is?"
Marik looked at him before blushing slightly and turning away. "Okay," he started, pulling on one of his bangs, "maybe I do… like him –"
"Love."
"What?"
"Say you love him. Because "like" is such a weak word."
"… Throwing the opposite of my words back at me?"
"It's twice the fun of regular word-throwing!"
Marik sighed and took a deep breath. "So, maybe I do…" he swallowed before saying this next part quietly, "love him…"
"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that?"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Maybe just a little."
Marik grumbled to himself before saying really fast, "MaybeIdolovehim! Okay?!"
"Don't slur your words together, Marik dear."
The young adult's eye started twitching at that point. "I'm not saying it again."
"Well, you're going to have to tell him eventually, aren't you?"
"Who says I have to?" Marik asked, turning his back to the man and walking ahead. "We're doing just fine right now, I don't see why –"
"What is wrong with you two?!" Pegasus exclaimed, pulling at his hair. "I mean, come on! Be a man and tell him! I promise you only good things will come of it."
"How would you know that?" Marik snapped, turning back to face him. "What if Bakura doesn't like me the same way, huh?"
"I wouldn't worry about –"
"What if it's only me that's gonna make this relationship weird?!" he interrupted. "Right now we're doing fine as friends! I don't wanna mess that up! Do you want to know how many friends I've had in my lifetime? Not a lot, and do you know how I lost most of them?! Through death – murder – and I don't want to lose the longest friend I've made!-!"
Marik was taking deep breaths at the end of his spiel, and Pegasus just stared sadly at the hunter. Looking from Marik's point of view… he supposed he could understand why the boy had been in denial for so long.
Soon, the blonde turned his back to him again. "Now I'm even hungrier. Can we go back now?"
"… Marik," Pegasus said softly, "when I had the Eye, I noticed a certain memory of yours…"
"… Oh, great," Marik said drably, "which one of my horrifying memories did you have the pleasure of witnessing?"
Pegasus stared at him for a bit before asking, "When are you going to tell Bakura about her?"
"Who?" Marik asked, creasing his eyebrows together. Pegasus didn't say anything at first; he just waited until he saw the boy's eyes light up in remembrance. "Oh. Her. Never, if I can help it."
"I think you should tell him some time –"
"Why?!" Marik asked, turning on him and glaring. "Why do you keep meddling with my life anyways? None of this is your business!-!" He felt anger shoot up his body and straight to his eyes and ears, causing him to go temporarily blind and deaf. He took a step back as he closed his eyes tight, covering the sockets with his palms in a desperate attempt to keep it away. Damn it, why is it so easy for him to appear?! Why can't I just calm down!
"Marik?!" he heard Pegasus' alarmed voice come dimly to his ears. "Marik, what's going on? What's wrong?"
"Nothing… I can't… handle!" he replied, but he couldn't tell if he whispered or yelled the words.
Pegasus bit his bottom lip as he stared at the boy, unsure of what was going on. While he may have peered into the boy's mind before, the other being inside him hadn't taken such a permanent form and so he didn't see or even notice him. "This is what happens when you keep everything to yourself, you know!" he said finally, simply just to say something. "You lash out and break down!"
It took Marik a few seconds before he digested his words. After he thought about them for a few minutes, his eyes and ears stopped hurting and he calmed down slightly. Sinking to his knees, looking completely drained, he stared into space pitifully. "What are you saying?" he asked quietly. "That if I don't want to – what'd you say? – "lash out and break down," that I should just tell everyone my feelings?" He focused his eyes enough to recognize that he was looking at a pale white lily. Pale white, like Bakura's hair and skin… He had always found white to be beautiful. Pure… unlike the crimson that so stained his memories.
"Well," Pegasus said, squatting down to look at him, though Marik didn't meet his gaze, "you don't have to tell everyone your every feeling, but major ones like this…? They're good to let out somewhere. Everyone needs an outlet."
Marik still didn't look at him. "An outlet?" he echoed. "But wouldn't drawing be one?"
"Yes. But do you draw out your feelings, or only try to draw happy things to drown out the negative ones?"
"…" Marik sighed and sat down on his legs. "What does an angry picture even look like?"
"Whatever you want it to look like."
Marik looked up to the sky and just thought for a moment. What Pegasus was saying related very well to what he already knew; he had a hard time letting his feelings out. All of the pain, suffering, fear, anger, etc. he had tried to hide inside himself, which caused nothing but problems. He didn't know how to express those feelings in a "positive" way, and since he's grown up doing that maybe this tendency to keep everything inside grew to include any type of strong emotions. Like love, for example… It would make sense, wouldn't it? After all, losing every single friend you've ever made might cause a person to go slightly insane, and eventually they'll guard themselves from what they think is the inevitable pain of loss by never getting too close to begin with. Yes… what if he had started to block every single strong emotion? Except happiness? Since happiness is light and airy, and makes you feel like smiling even if everything's going wrong. If happiness was the only emotion he embraced with open arms, it was no wonder why he had no trouble expressing that one. It was a no-brainer as to why he acted "childish" and "bubbly" all of the time. Or, tried to, at least. And, while happiness is all fine and dandy, a person needs more…
They need the other emotions, too.
Drawing anger? How to start? Should he also draw fear, and pain, and guilt? But won't that make him feel terrible? Of course that was the point, wasn't it? To feel those emotions, and upon feeling them to let go of them. Sure, they might come back later in a different form, but if he learned to take them one at a time…
He tilted his head back down to look at the lily again, thinking to himself, If I'm going to start "expressing" myself, I guess the first step would be to admit that I…
I love you, Bakura.
Marik stood up and stretched, smiling slightly to himself when he saw Pegasus follow him hurriedly, a nervous expression on his face. "Well, Pegasus," he said, smiling. "You've convinced me."
"… Excuse me?"
Marik laughed a bit before clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You've convinced me – I'll tell him. I'm just… not really sure how or when, I guess."
Pegasus' face lit up and he hugged him. "Marvelous! Simply marvelous~!" This went much better than the talk with Bakura!
"I'll do it after our date today."
"Wait, you're going on a date?!" Pegasus asked, eyes widening. Huh, I guess they didn't need my help after all!
"Oh, me and Bakura aren't going on one," Marik clarified, smiling weakly and scratching the back of his head. "You see, we're going on a double date with these two girls I met yesterday –"
"WHAT?!"
That seemed like the perfect way to end this chapter XD You can just imagine how upset Pegasus is by hearing that they're going on a date with someone other than each other.
Oh yeah, and Marik admitted that he loves Bakura. FINALLY, am I right? XD
I'm so sorry to not even have gotten to the date yet, but this chapter was already getting so long ^^" (ThatandIhaven'tupdatedinmonthsandIfeltbads oIdecidedIshouldatleastpostt hismuchnow.) Heheh, and I'm still having a hard time deciding which scene is my favorite XD
*coughs* Anyways, darlings, I hope you enjoyed this! And, if you did enjoy it, please leave a review so I can smile like an idiot while I read it, if it's not too much trouble.
I LOVE YOU ALL~!
~~~{REVIEW REPLIES}~~~
iLOVEyourstories: You… are such a sweetheart!-! Thank your for your reviews; they mean so much to me… *sniffs and smiles with happy tears in my eyes*
On to the actual reply now – I'm happy that I made you happy by updating~! (I should really do that more often *glares at self in a mirror*.) Haha, every time someone says couple now? How fantastic XD I wonder what attacks "Cuppul" would have, hm? *chuckles*
Yay! I wanted so much for Pegasus to be a win XD I have so much fun writing him~ Heehee.
Well of course I would reply to such a nice and loving person like you! I try to reply to everyone if I can, because they're taking the time to read and review a piece of my work =) Haha, I don't really think I'm an "effing legend" though *blushes and giggles* And I laughed so hard when you implied that I'm better than Justin Beiber XDD Lmao, ohmygosh that made my night.
I'm so glad you don't mind "when" I update… TT_TT I always worry about that *sighs* And it's "pressurize" but you got it close enough.
R-really? You idolize my writing skills?! … LET ME LOVE YOU. You make me so freaking happy! =3 I hope you have a nice day/night/afternoon as well!-!
Lots of infinite love back,
Annzy B. =D
SilverCoffeeBoy: Heehee, yes, Marik finally kissed Bakura XD *chuckles* Only nothing "really" happened in the tent :P THIS IS A T-RATED STORY. XD Lol, sorry.
You shouldn't like those girls :P And maybe they have the Items, maybe they don't… I'LL NEVER TELL, MUA HA HA HA HAAAA! And you're right about one of the girls getting too close to Marik and/or Bakura and causing the other to be protective/jealous XD Heehee, can't wait to write it~
More twisting of the plot?! YOU GOT IT.
I'm sorry I didn't update soon though… I hope you liked this chappie anyways ^^"
Thank you very much for reviewing! =)
WS: Bromance, huh? Hm… nope, that never crossed Marik's mind XP You see, he never really heard that term before because he never really had a bromance before, you know? So it wasn't really information that pertained to him, and it's not a very "common sense" term if you only know the bare-n-bones of relationships.
Labyrinth Runner/MadRayTer: Hey girl! Haha, cool new screenname XD I'm glad you have more time now! And that you understand I don't have a lot of time… TT_TT
Really? He just stared at you when you told him about Santa being knocked out with a chair? XDD Lmao, what a way to make people think you're absolutely nuts. *chuckles* Hope you get more ammo soon XD
Thank you for your reviews and all of your support for my stories! =)
Guest(s?): (I'm not really sure if each "Guest" review [out of three] is one person or a group of people, but I'm going to respond to you as one person for now.)
I'm sorry for no updates, okay?! I, I have a life… *sniffs*
Oh, really? Thanks! Now I know what sake is. I'll try and put that in the story if I remember. Or maybe when I rewrite that chapter.
Third time?! Holy – how can you read the same story three times?! *was never one to even re-read a story once* Geez, sorry for making you wait so long ._.
Thank you for the reviews, guest(s)! I wish I knew who you are/were so I could thank you properly TT_TT