"Where does the time go?" Jonouchi 'bawled' into his hands as Marik rubbed his back and nodded in solemn understanding.
"I know, I know," he purposely cracked his voice before quickly turning away with a quick apology. "I just, I just need a minute! One minute you're saving them from quicksand and the next they're off running with some bad boy!" He threw his face into his elbow.
"Quicksand, what?!" Atem gaped, unsure how he should feel as the list grew from sand to a nest of scorpions, cobras, tomb raiders, and thieves. He looked at Terry who was not refuting any of the claims for being true and it only made him realize once again just how strange of a person she was. That just makes her hotter though, geez the fuck is wrong with me?! He quickly looked away to try and quell the sudden stir of emotions inside of him.
"That was like one time and I was like seven!" Terry groaned. "Don't make me talk about Layla!" She puffed her cheeks, her words unheard as Marik lamented on about how his little girl was now a young lady.
"You think they'd just be running from thugs forever!" Jonouchi added, the two throwing their arms around one another as they cried in mutual anguish.
"Oh good grief," she threw her head back with a hand rubbing down her face. "I swear, are you trying to make me look worse or what? I ran from thugs like once here!"
"What do you mean once here?" Atem raised a brow at this. "Mostly the need to stress the here." He scowled, Marik and Jonouchi suddenly done with their fake sobbing fest.
"Oh she's run from all sorts of shady characters in Egypt! You need a trouble magnet? No need to look for any better, she's the best!" Marik scoffed.
"Excuse me? I am the best? What about you Mr. I-want-to-handle-justice-myself? I was saving you from shit all the time!" She scowled, resting her hands on her hips.
"We're not talking about me! We're talking about you." Marik lightly brushed off. "Those are unneeded details!"
"Yeah, just like Layla?" She raised a brow at this, Marik freezing before looking at her.
"Yeah, just like Layla." He scowled, the two glaring at one another in some silent staring contest before Marik gave in. "Alright, alright, we'll stop! Party pooper," he threw his hands in the air as Jonouchi snickered.
"Looks like she's got you beat too huh?" He clapped a hand on Marik's shoulder. "Welcome to the club, of course Yami here is the pres." He winked at his friend who scowled and flipped him off. "And that's a yes," he laughed. "Alright, as much as I would love to continue this but we do have to head back. Mr. Sharif is waiting for us." He pointed his thumb over his shoulder in the direction he and Marik came from.
"Oh, yeah! We better head back. Thanks for taking such good care of our little hellion Terry-berry!" Marik smiled, throwing his arm around her. "We'll see you tomorrow?"
"Is that even a question to ask?" Atem scoffed, tomorrow a school day.
"Well, a little birdie once told me a certain someone had a knack for skipping class and the habit is still sorta there when he gets all cute and embarrassed. Just wanted to make sure there's no running away." He spoke with a slight lilt at the end.
"Get off my dick, I'll be in class. I've been going to class just fine even with you're embarrassing ass hanging all over the place!" Atem snapped at Marik who laughed.
"Aw, do I get under your skin? Sorry, but you're not my type and I know you have your own little cutie." He winked at Atem who wrinkled his nose in disgust at even thinking there was even an iota of interest like that.
"Sorry to break your heart but I never was interested in you." Atem rolled his eyes as Marik placed a hand over his heart in mock hurt. "Anyway, I'm going to school tomorrow." He assured, turning to leave but stopped and turned back. In a few short steps he walked over to Terry, grabbed her arm and yanked her towards him. Cradling the back of her head in his other hand he kissed her once more and nipped at her lower lip lightly as he pulled away. "Night," he winked at her.
"Me too, me too!" Jonouchi teasingly grinned but quickly ducked behind Marik to avoid anything that was possible to be thrown at him.
"Kiss my ass," Atem rolled his eyes and started to walk back home with the sound of the two singing to Terry. He knew her face was probably as red as a tomato right now and as much as he wanted to see it he knew he would never leave if he did.
"Terry and Yami sitting in a tree," the two sang, holding hands as the hopped around Terry. She covered her burning face in her hands as she tried to get them to stop singing so loud, knowing they would probably not completely stop. "K-i-s-s-i-n-g!"
"C"mon guys, my dad's waiting!" She groaned aloud, wishing this torture would stop.
"Alright, alright, we'll stop! Honestly though, how are you?" Marik snickered, resting a hand on her head. "Are you okay with all this?" He asked in a more serious tone.
"Yeah, I am." She softly answered after a small pause. She was not hesitant, but it was the first moment she was allowed to process everything. "Very okay with it an answer?" She laughed, it clear how very new she was to all this.
"Very okay is an answer," Jonouchi nodded his head. "If he tries or does anything you don't like, you let us know. Yeah, he's our friend and all but you're our Terry and we'll kick his ass for you if you find you don't have the heart too. Us guys, we need a swift boot to the ass sometimes you know?"
"Thank you, both of you." With that said, the trio headed home for the evening. Her father was happy to see his daughter and the two boys home safe when they finally returned. Him and the two elder Ishtars had started to worry if some trouble may have found them when it was getting late but Rishid was the voice of reason to calm both Ishizu and Aslan. Terry's still slightly red cheeks had set off some false alarms as the elders fussed over her health thinking she may have caught something again but she was quick to deny and assure them all was well though her face only gre redder at the attention and insisting on knowing what was the cause of her redness. Jonouchis and Marik watched, laughing at her expense until the attention was turned on them for taking their sweet time getting ready to get her. Terry, being the ever bleeding heart, jumped in to save the two but stating that she was perfectly fine and they were just teasing her for being out so late.
The next morning, Terry was up and preparing breakfast with Ishizu as Rishid helped with setting the tables. Aslan watched silently, sipping his coffee to hide the small smile at that grew when Marik and Jonouchi came trudging to the table. They were still battling with the remnants of sleep that begged them to return to bed and just rest their eyes a little more. When he first moved here, Aslan was a little worried that Terry would have no one to spend time with but not the house was full with such lively and different personalities. In a way, they made up their own quirky family.
I wouldn't change a single thing about this. He thought to himself as Jonouchi glanced at the chore table that was posted on the board for this week. He mumbled something about groceries and fumbled for his phone to put in a reminder before plopping into his usual seat while Marik hardly moved from where he half lay on the table. He watched as the others carry on as if they had no need for sleep ever.
"How does she do it?" He muttered, shaking his head as he forced himself to sit up.
"Who do what?" Jonouchi asked, looking over to see Terry and Ishizu. "Terry?" Marik nodded. "Yeah man, beats me." He sighed. "I can barely function before I get food in me. Has she always been like this uncle?" He turned to Aslan, the habit of calling Mr. Sharif that rubbed off on him by the Ishtar siblings. Not that Aslan minded, he preferred it in fact.
"Always been like what?" He raised a brow and glanced over at his daughter.
"Such a morning person? Then again, she's kinda just like you...so I guess like father like daughter?" Aslan pondered over this a moment as he recalled Terry growing up. She was always such a quiet and well mannered child in general, though as she got older she became more enamoured and energetic about things.
"She's always been like this, I suppose she gets it from me." He chuckled, not really sure if this was nurtured or nature since she never really spent time with her mother. It had been a while since he last thought of his ex-wife. It was not so much of a bad split, but it was painful. She simply no longer wanted anything to do with him the moment Terry was born. He never hid it from her, but he never went in-depth in detail with her.
"She's not like her mother?" He asked, Marik tensing a little at this as he looked at Aslan who smiled on as usual.
"She has her mother's sense decision. When she decides to do something she just does it." He laughed. "If she made a decision, she will go through with it without any hesitation. She has her internal drive from her, not that I don't have one. I tend to mull over things a little more and plan. She has that too, but her time in planning is a bit...on the short side. That is from her mother and I don't think it's a bad thing, so long as someone helps her balance a little more. Which, I'm not sure if you've both been able to handle that all too well." He chuckled, the two avoiding eye contact with him as they try to pretend as if they had no idea what he was talking about.
"What's going on?" Terry's voice had them jumping out of their seat as the food was brought to the table.
"Nothing, nothing, just trying to wake up." Marik quickly said, grabbing a roll and stuffing it in his mouth as Jonouchi dove into the omelettes. Terry is a bit confused by this, but they seemed to be ok, so she simply let it be.
"Come and sit, no need to worry too much." Aslan chuckled, pulling out her seat out a bit for her. Giving a small shrug, she took her seat and joined them for breakfast.
"So, excited to see Atem today?" Jonouchi looked up as Terry choked on her juice. Marik was quick to avoid choking on his bite of food, looking to find a red faced Terry.
"Why wouldn't she be excited to see him?" Aslan raised a brow at this, noting her reaction. "He is her friend after all."
"Oh not just a simple friend anymore." Marik mumbled more to himself but jumped at the swift kick to his leg and glared at Terry who was now glaring at him.
"Yami is...Atem yes?" Ishizu asked, frowning a little as Terry gave a quiet nod and it all suddenly became clear to her. "Ah, so that's it! You needn't worry too much uncle, I'll handle this for you." She quickly cut it to save Terry.
"Needn't worry about what?" He frowned as Rishid just shook his head.
"He's a great guy, honest! Well you know that, you met him." Jonouchi piped in. "He's interested in-ow!" He scowled at the swift kick that now met his leg.
"If you keep this up we'll have to run to school and it looks like you both may have trouble keeping up." Terry cleared her throat, instantly silencing the now pale face boys who now focused on their food.