Author's Note: Surprise! Merry Christmas, ya filthy animal.

Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! Rated M. No lemons – that does not mean other things may happen. Stay tuned. It's to be determined.

In case you haven't realized – I update weekly!

Bon appetite!

Bakura stared at the museum floor as he walked through in silence. He resisted the urge to fidget in any sort of manner. He flicked his eyes over to the scowling Egyptian woman walking next to him. Ishizu stared ahead with blue eyes as cold as ice. People normally moved out of the way of Bakura when he walked due to his threatening presence. Now, the visitors seemed to scamper out of the way of the Egyptian historian who made her way silently through the exhibitions. Afraid to do anything to upset the annoyed woman, Bakura settled for the uncomfortable quietness.

The day after the call from Jounouchi, Bakura had called Marik briefly. The teen seemed exhausted and stressed by finals, asking Bakura for another couple of days before he could resume researching the Puzzle. Bakura was fine with that – it gave him time to do research on his own as well as space to figure out… things. He wasn't sure what possessed him, but he then asked if Marik had any plans for his birthday. Immediately afterwards, he regretted asking. What the hell was he doing?

To his immense relief, Marik told him he had plans with his brother that morning, but nothing for that afternoon since he would be done with finals. Bakura could work with that. They made tentative plans to hang out in the afternoon with no researching involved. When Marik inquired as to what, Bakura told him it was a surprise. Marik was thrilled by the prospect. Of course, when Bakura said "surprise" he actually meant "absolutely no clue," but those were minor details at the moment. What mattered more was Bakura had the afternoon to hang out with Marik on his birthday. He intended to make the most of it.

But before he could do that, Bakura had to make a more difficult and terrifying call to Marik's elder sister. After a wince-worthy, painful start, Bakura explained that he needed to check out the new additions at the Domino museum. He was sure the only reason she didn't refuse was because this was a work-related reason and that she hadn't forgotten about Bakura's threat. Despite her disgust and distrust of him, she didn't want him spilling her secrets. Bakura knew that he was safe from her so long as he kept that secret.

Regardless of keeping her secrets, Bakura felt anything but safe walking next to the museum curator at the current moment. Bakura shoved his hands into his pockets as he looked at the exhibits, watching as they progressed through Chinese to Aztec to Roman history, passing through each era as they approached the exhibition on Ancient Egypt. Bakura wasn't sure if breaking the silence was even a good idea at this point. He couldn't tell if silence was preferable to talking to the angry older sister.

Ishizu didn't let Bakura make that choice, however. "Did you ever speak to my brother about what I mentioned?" Bakura blinked before stealing a glance at Ishizu. She didn't look at him but stared forward, her face intense and focused. After a moment, Bakura nodded. "I did. He told me everything." He heard Ishizu snort next to him, as if disbelieving. "Everything? Somehow I doubt that." Bakura snapped his head back towards Ishizu, glaring at the small smirk on her face.

"Is it so hard to believe that Marik actually trusts me?" He gritted his teeth as he saw Ishizu roll her eyes. "He told me how your father died and why he wants to meet Yami. I get it. I'm not bailing on this mission." Ishizu flicked her eyes over to study Bakura, who met her steady gaze. They walked silently for a few moments as they studied each other. Ishizu returned her sight ahead of her. "He didn't tell you about before our father's death? Did he tell you why I left? Why Odion stayed?" Bakura furrowed his brow. How was this all connected to Marik's desire for revenge? Odion and Ishizu were never mentioned.

She gave a soft sigh, which dripped with condescension. "Then you still don't really know everything. I guess you don't know Marik as well as you think." Bakura wasn't sure why that comment pissed him off as much as it did. He shouldn't care that he didn't know Marik as well as his sister did. He was just his friend after all. Perhaps that was why it bugged him – he was just friends. Bakura narrowed his eyes, trying to resist the urge to snap back at Ishizu. He quickly failed at suppressing that impulse. "Perhaps you don't know Marik as well as you think you do." He wasn't sure where he was going with this but Bakura was tired of planning. It was time to take a page out of Marik's book and act impulsively.

Ishizu glanced over at Bakura, clearly not impressed. "Oh? What makes you say that?" Bakura chewed on the inside of his cheek, thinking of his next words. "What's Marik's favorite band?" Ishizu turned her heard, looking rather surprised by the question. "His favorite… band?" Bakura didn't turn his head but he let his eyes slide over towards Ishizu. "Or how about his favorite movie? What comic books has he read? What's his favorite place to hang out in town? Where's his favorite ramen shop?"

Ishizu blinked, at a loss of words as her composure faltered. Bakura smirked, finally turning his head to glare at the pompous woman. "You've known Marik all his life, but honestly you've never gotten to know him. Why do you think he never wants to hang out with you? You pushed him away when he was younger and he hasn't forgotten that." Bakura let out a dry laugh as Ishizu glowered at him. "And I'm the one who doesn't know him. You abandoned him. And you think you can just walk back in and think everything is hunky-dory? What kind of sister does that?"

Bakura was broken from his thoughts as he felt pain flash across his face, his head snapping to the side. He blinked for a moment as he connected what caused the sting on his cheek. He turned his head to stare at Ishizu, her hand still held up. She was glared at him, her expression twisted in fury and unapologetic for slapping the albino. Bakura ignored the odd stares others now gave them, resisting the urge to strike back. Bakura wasn't known for being polite – he was known for getting even.

The only reason Bakura hadn't struck back was the odd look Ishizu gave him. She was angry, yes, but she seemed defeated and scared. Almost as if she knew that Bakura was right but couldn't say anything to justify her actions. She took a deep breath, glancing at her hand almost as if now realizing what she did. She lowered it as she blushed slightly. I swear every time I see this woman, she attacks me. What the hell is her problem? Ishizu took a step forward to lead them, no longer walking next to Bakura. He didn't mind though, instead settling for glaring at the back of her head venomously as he followed.

After a few moments, he heard her sigh before speaking softly. "You really know nothing." There was no smugness to her voice. In fact, Bakura was surprised to hear a tone of sadness and… disappointment? Bakura watched for a moment, unsure what to make of their confrontation. His sense of pity for the woman quickly vanished as he remembered the sting across his face. She can't pull shit like this and honestly expect me to be understanding towards her. Crazy bitch. The sooner he got to the Egyptian exhibit, the sooner he could get away from Ishizu.

They walked in silence until Ishizu led him to a large room. "Here are the new artifacts." Ishizu stated as she turned on one of the lights. Bakura looked around, not seeing any exhibits. In fact, the only thing he could see was something on the wall. He walked up closer and raised an eyebrow. "You brought me to look at a giant rock?" Ishizu didn't look at Bakura but instead stared up at the stone tablet. "This is the most recent item we've received since you last were here."

Bakura snorted, annoyed. How the fuck is a rock going to help with this? He stared at it, trying to make sense of the drawings. After a moment of study, he realized the tablet was telling a story of a duel between two individuals. The two men fighting seemed to be sending a dragon and a sorcerer to fight each other. Bakura noticed three other figures up at the top that looked like dragons of some kind. How is this a clue though?

That's when Bakura spotted the Item on the side of the Tablet. There was the Key, the rather odd Item in the bunch. Bakura looked around, now noticing the Item in the man's hand. He would have missed it if hadn't caught that distinct eye that seemed to be on all the Millennium Items. The man fighting with the dragon held the Millennium Rod in his hand. The shape was rather distinct and clear that it was difficult to mistake it for anything else. The Items are involved? How are they related?

He stared intensely at the Eye at the end of the Rod, trying to make sense of what clue Jounouchi was referring to. Where was this clue to help him solve the Puzzle? Bakura blinked as he stared at the Eye, the realization dawning on him. The Eye. The Items resembled each other in the sense they were gold, but more defining was the Eye that seemed to be found on most of the Items. The Puzzle… it'll also have the Eye on it. It seemed logical to assume that, since Bakura didn't have much else to go off of.

With that in mind, he focused on the triangle above the fight. The eye was at the center of what looked to be an upside down pyramid. He glanced down at the man fighting, trying to find a Millennium Item on him before noticing the same upside-down triangle around the man's neck. Bakura blinked for a minute a smiled. There it was – the clue he had been looking for. He ignored Ishizu as he turned around to leave the museum. Finally, something he could work.

He now knew what the Puzzle looked like.

The next few days, Bakura spent his time creating different sketches of what the Puzzle looked like. He wasn't sure how much of a difference this would make, but was surprised to find that it really did. He found links and articles discussing the legend of the Sennen Pendant, a lost artifact that was thought to have been broken or destroyed. Apparently it had belonged to a long forgotten Egyptian king.

Though the name was different, Bakura was sure this was the same Item. Rumors about the location and passing on of the broken pendant were spread about. It was now a matter of figuring out which of these leads would be useful. Bakura felt invigorated, pleasantly relieved by the ease in which information seemed to now be available. The task went from being impossible to doable. More than that, Bakura realized he was close to finishing out this case.

But before Bakura could do that, he had a birthday surprise to figure out.

He told Ryou about how he got the afternoon cleared to hang out with Marik, resigning himself to giving his brother the details of his personal life. It wasn't enough worth the effort of withholding information – Ryou would nag him until he got what he wanted. Bakura turned down making dinner for the two of them – that seemed a bit forward to Bakura. Bakura suggested watching a movie on Netflix and hanging out. However, Ryou quickly explained that's not what people mean by "Netflix and chill."

Bakura finally figured what he was going to do to surprise Marik. He gathered groceries the night before, planning on going into Marik's apartment the following morning. The teen mentioned that he was going to go out with Odion that morning, leaving the apartment empty. This would give Bakura plenty of time to make Marik smoothies for his birthday. It was simple, not too difficult for Bakura to figure it out, and a guaranteed success given Marik's affinity for the fruity beverage.

On Marik's birthday, Bakura walked over to Marik's apartment, backpack loaded and hands grasping bags filled with fruit. He paused a moment as he shuffled about for his key – something that was provided to him after he broke in the first time he discovered Marik's interest in making art. He dumped his backpack on the couch as he moved to the kitchen, pulling out the blender and other kitchen tools to start making smoothies. He stared at the mass collection of fruits in front of him. Now, what's Marik's favorite?

Bakura had just started to putting raspberries into the blender when he heard a noise in back. Bakura froze, unsure if he had imagined the noise. He reached for the knife next to the cutting board, not yet moving. He heard the noise again as Bakura was sure he wasn't alone in the apartment. He took a deep breath, careful not to make any noise as he now more firmly gripped the knife. He heard the soft noise approaching him in the kitchen, Bakura now bracing himself…

"Fluffy?"

Bakura snapped around, staring at Marik who was in his pajamas. The teen- or rather former teen- looked like he had just woken up. Bakura stood there, knife in hand, as he gaped at Marik in confusion. His sleepy companion didn't seem upset, but instead tiredly pushed his bangs out of his face with one hand. He covered his mouth as he yawned with the other, his large black t-shirt slipping off his shoulder. Marik crossed his arms across his chest and stretched ever so slightly. Bakura noticed that Marik wasn't wearing any makeup.

"Bakura, what are you doing here? I thought we weren't hanging out til this afternoon." Marik squinted his eyes open, his lilac irises bleary with sleepiness. Bakura swallowed hard as he stared at Marik, struggling to find the words to say. He had no idea why, but Marik never appeared as attractive as he did now. It was strange – he was used to seeing Marik dressed up, hair and makeup done, looking his best. But something about Marik appearing so natural and casual, relaxed and comfortable in a t-shirt and sweatpants, no makeup, messy hair, that Bakura found incredibly endearing. Dare he even say it, he found Marik looking rather… cute.

Bakura shook his head, trying to brush off the warm feeling that was growing in him every time he saw Marik. He was just happy to see him. So what if he lov- liked him? So what if he wanted to run his hand through Marik's hair and pull him close into a warm hug… No. Stop thinking with your penis. Smoothies. Think smoothies. Not Marik. Don't talk to him about it. You'll look like an idiot. Ryou's wrong. Just focus on smoothies. Bakura turned back around to avoid facing Marik. "Well, I was going to surprise you with smoothies while you were out with your brother. Fat lot of good that did, though. I thought you said you were going to the movie theater and then grabbing lunch with Odion today?"

Marik raised his arms above his head as stretched. "We were going to. But I wasn't feeling well this morning, so we stayed back so I could take a nap. I guess Odion went out for a bit while I was a sleeping." Bakura cocked his head slightly to the side, studying Marik. He didn't look sick, other than the fact that he looked like he just woke up. Bakura closed the gap between the two of them, placing the back of his hand on Marik's forehead. "Do you have a fever?"

Marik looked dazed for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Don't think so. Honestly, I think it's just my lack of sleep catching up with me after finals. I didn't get much rest." Bakura nodded his head, dropping his hand to his side, realizing that perhaps he had been a bit forward towards Marik. Shit, what if Marik reads into that? Bakura watched for a moment, trying to gauge Marik's reaction. To his surprise, Marik just looked over his shoulder. "So… how are those smoothies coming along?"

Bakura glanced back, sighing at the fruit that he had yet to touch. "They're not. I hadn't even started when you came around." Bakura turned back to look at Marik before turning his eyes to the floor. "If you want, you can… I don't know… you want to make your own smoothie? If not, I'll make them and you can pick whichever you want. I don't really care." Bakura crossed his arms for good measures, as if trying to convey to Marik how much he didn't care.

Bakura gritted his teeth as he Marik chuckling at him. "You're such a softie, you know that? Let's make some smoothies." He glanced back up to say something to Marik but realized that he had already walked past Bakura and started cutting up mangos. Right. Calm down. Bakura joined Marik, occasionally which fruits he wanted to add. It wasn't long until a dozen different smoothie combinations sat in cups at the kitchen table, Marik looking rather pleased by their work.

"And now we drink!" he declared, grabbing one that looked like banana and perhaps peach. Bakura couldn't keep track of every combination they had tried. He shrugged and grabbed one that look fairly safe. He raised it up. "To your birthday." Marik clinked his glass with Bakura before sipped through the straw. Marik had a thoughtful expression before putting the cup down and trying a different smoothie. Bakura rolled his eyes as he continued to sip his drink, watching with mild interest as Marik tried various smoothies with varying reactions.

"Hey Bakura." Bakura raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Marik took a sip before glancing over at Bakura. "Thanks for doing this. I kinda thought it was weird at first, but… this was a lot fun. I'm going to gain 10 pounds from drinking all these smoothies, but it'll be worth it." Bakura blinked before a small smile grew on his face. As he saw Marik watching him, Bakura quickly turned the smile into a smirk. He turned his head to glare at the wall. "Well, it's not like I wasn't going to do nothing for your birthday." Marik snorted, not believing his tough guy act.

Bakura was broken away from his staring contest with the wall to see Marik right in his face. Bakura took a step back, suddenly freaked out by the close proximity to his crush. "The hell?" He blurted out as Marik just raised an eyebrow. "Can I have a sip?" Marik asked, nodding his head down to the smoothie in Bakura's hand. Bakura blinked, forcing himself to calm down as he held out his drink for Marik to take. To his surprise, Marik didn't take the drink from Bakura's hand, but instead leaned forward and used his tongue to navigate the straw to his mouth, never breaking eye contact with Bakura.

Bakura couldn't look away as he watched Marik drink his smoothies, his maroon eyes locking with lavender eyes. Bakura knew he had to be gaping stupidly like a fish, but he didn't care. All that mattered in that moment was the fact that he was inches away from Marik's face. Marik puckered his lips as he took a drink, Bakura's stomach giving a lurch as he watched. Bakura held his breath, suddenly unable to breathe. He watched as Marik finished drinking, lips coming up and smacking as he released the straw.

Bakura was suddenly very aware of his racing pulse and the heat that flooded his face. Marik's expression didn't change, but he tilted his head, not yet moving away from Bakura. "That was quite a treat. Want to try one of mine?" Bakura blinked before snapping back to attention, as Marik smiled and took a step away. Bakura realized what Marik was asking as he reached to put his cup down on the table. As he did that, Marik turned back around with the cup. Bakura was so focused on maintaining what little composure he had left that he didn't see Marik turning around with a drink.

The two cups smashed into each other as Bakura suddenly felt the cold, icy drink splash down the front of his shirt. He blinked down in confusion, pulling the shirt away from his body. He felt distant from the whole situation, his mind still a fuzzy haze of figuring out the last minute of his life. He looked up to see Marik with a blush spread across his cheeks, his expression mortified. "Shit! I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going!" Bakura blinked for a moment, his mind confused for a moment. He finally smirked and shrugged. "It was an accident. No big."

Marik watched Bakura for a moment before looking away, his face still red from embarrassment. He certainly changed his tune quite quickly. Was I imagining that back there or… "Okay… Well if you want to borrow one of my shirts- I mean, I can wash your shirt and you can wear my clothes until-" Marik started stuttering, Bakura raising an eyebrow. He felt more confident and less like a crazed admirer as Marik became flustered. Bakura nodded, taking off his shirt.

"You don't have to make up an excuse to have me shirtless in your kitchen, you know." Bakura gave a snarky grin as he teased the blushing youth. Marik was staring at the floor, not looking up at Bakura until the albino held out his shirt to him. "Could I throw this in the wash then?" Marik blinked for a moment before taking the shirt, sighing. "Yeah, I'll take care of it. It's just-" Marik stared blankly ahead, his lips pinched as an embarrassed and rather worried look crossed over his face. Bakura dropped the smirk as he studied Marik. "Just what?"

Marik looked up, as if realizing he had said those words out loud. He opened his mouth to speak, unsure what he was going to say. Bakura waited, now more curious about what Marik was going to say. Marik looked up into Bakura's eyes, his lilac almost searching. Finally, Marik sighed as he walked by Bakura. "It's just… this didn't go like I had planned." Bakura's eyes creased, puzzled by Marik's remark before glancing back. A sudden chill brought his attention back to his lack of shirt. He saw Marik leave the apartment, most likely to throw his shirt into a washing machine. Bakura walked into Marik's bedroom before closing the door.

What. The. Hell. Was. That?

Bakura sat down on the edge of Marik's bed, his elbows resting on his knees as his fingers clenched his hair. Bakura forced himself to take a few breaths, absolutely baffled as to what the fuck was going on. Sure, Marik and Bakura teased each other about being bachelors but this… Marik completely took it the next level. Was he crossing the line? Was he being intentionally flirty? Or was Bakura misinterpreting Marik's actions? It certainly didn't feel like Marik was just teasing.

What the hell is my life? What is Marik trying to pull? Bakura ran his fingers through his hair, scratching at his scalp. He knew he had romantic feelings for Marik. And even though Marik knew that Bakura liked him more than he let on, the albino was sure that Marik couldn't know about his crush. Their relationship was the same as it always been – snarky harassment. They would tease and flirt and snap at each other, but never maliciously. At least, not as often. Sometimes Marik was an idiot and deserved it.

But this… this felt completely different. If Bakura didn't know any better, he could have sworn that Marik was actually flirting with him. No jokes, no teasing – actual god damn flirting. But that couldn't be right. Marik was the least subtle person he had ever met. He had no sense of boundaries (most of the time) and blurted out incidental innuendos all the time. Why on earth would that change now? He must have just overstepped the boundary this time without realizing it. But if it was intentional…

Bakura dropped his hands to his side as he stood up. He thought back on his conversation with Ryou the other day. His brother had told him if he was serious about his feelings towards Marik, then he should just come out and say. He shouldn't beat around the bush – just say what had to be said. Bakura had dismissed the advice, thinking he could figure out a way to know if Marik was interested without having to do the embarrassing task of telling him. But now, Bakura wasn't sure. Perhaps Ryou had a point.

I've had to spell out most things to Marik so far. Do I really have to spell this one out too? Knowing Marik, he was very dense when it came to basic human interaction. He had to be very direct on a lot of topics – perhaps he had to be direct here too. But how would he even say it? Should he even say anything? It's not like it's the end of the world if he doesn't ask Marik. They could continue being friends. Why risk putting his own feelings and their current friendship on the line only to be shot down rather ungracefully by Marik? He knew it would be safer to not take the risk at all.

But then, Bakura would regret not taking that chance at all.

Bakura was lost in thought, trying to figure out how he might tell Marik about his feelings with his ego intact. He walked over to Marik's dresser, opening up drawers until he saw one filled with t-shirts. He sifted through, growling in frustration as he saw all of them appeared to be a size too small. He snorted at a lavender top, one that look surprisingly good on Marik and matched his eyes, but would look stupid on the albino considering it. He spotted a fitted black t-shirt crumpled up at the bottom and grabbed it.

As he pulled out the t-shirt, a glint caught Bakura's eye. His rehearsed conversations running through his head came to a half as he glanced over at the piece of metal in the drawer. He stared for a moment before reaching down to figure out what caused the glint. His eyes widened as he pulled a knife out, a familiar wooden handle. He examined the blade, noticing the scratches at the base as Bakura's breath caught in his throat. He knew this weapon – this was the blade he lost in his scuffle with Rex and Weevil.

Why was his knife in Marik's dresser?

Bakura's initially reaction of confusion quickly turned to anger. He had been searching for this knife for weeks – why the hell did Marik hide it from him? Was this his idea of a practical joke? This knife was incriminating evidence against him – if Marik had been careless and left the knife somewhere, someone else working against them could have used this against Bakura. Sure, he missed his favorite knife, but he really wanted it back so that it couldn't be used to reveal his involvement in the double-homicide case.

Bakura looked over the blade, noticing that it had been wiped of all blood and fingerprints. He narrowed his eyes as he carefully put the knife away in his pocket, thinking carefully about his new discovery. This couldn't have been incidental. There was no way this was just a coincidence. But if Marik found his knife, why had he hidden it from him? Why hadn't he said anything? Had Odion known about this? What did Marik hope to accomplish from keeping the knife? None of this made sense, even for someone as baffling and bizarre as Marik.

… I'll confront him about this later. But not today. It's his birthday. Can't be too much of an asshole today. Bakura sighed as he tossed on the t-shirt, saving this conversation for later. He ran a hand through his hair, annoyed at how complicated his life was becoming. Let's stick to the basics. Birthday party today. Puzzle and knife tomorrow. He heard the faint sounds of the TV playing in the other room. Bakura took that as his cue that Marik had gotten back from throwing his shirt in the laundry.

Bakura cracked the door open quietly, figuring he could give Marik his gift now. Before he even started to walk down the hallway, he heard the front door fly open and loud footsteps enter the apartment. Bakura quickly made his way down the hallway, worried momentarily about the intruder until he heard a familiar voice. "Marik! You're okay." Bakura stopped, pausing in the hallway before he came into view of the living room. He realized that Odion had just gotten home, though Bakura was surprised by the shocked tone in the elder brother's voice.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be?" Marik seemed just as puzzled as Bakura. "You ran off while we were waiting in line at the movie theater. I wasn't sure where you had gone." Bakura furrowed his eyes. What? That didn't make sense – Marik told him he hadn't been feeling well today and that he didn't go out today. Odion was saying that they had made it all the way to the movie theater. Something was off. Apparently, Marik felt the same way as Bakura, as he sounded rather confused when he responded.

"What are you talking about? We didn't go out today. I wasn't feeling good so I went to take a nap instead." Well, I sense one of these stories isn't right. What's going on? He heard the silence that fell between the two brothers. He heard Odion start to speak, very slowly and cautiously. "Marik, that's not what happened. You were excited to go see your first movie in a real movie theater. We got through the entrance and we went to grab popcorn. We were there. Don't you remember that?"

Bakura wasn't sure what it was about Odion's response, but the cautious and almost fearful tone worried the albino. This didn't sound like the calm and collected Odion – in fact he sounded rather hesitant, as if afraid to argue with Marik on this issue. It was awkward hearing the two brothers fighting on something that seemed so trivial. Do Ryou and I sound like that when we fight? He heard an annoyed huff from Marik, his frustration growing.

"No I don't. I was here the whole time. Odion, what kind of joke are you playing at?" Bakura blinked, noticing that Marik sounded a bit off. He wasn't sure, but something about his vocal inflection and the way he almost growled the words made his voice sound quite different. It was unrecognizable, but there was something rather off-putting about it. Bakura started to feel very uncomfortable for listening in on their fight. Well, this awkward.

After a few moments of silence, Odion finally backed off. "Nevermind. Forget I said anything." Bakura almost breathed a sigh of relief for the two. He heard footsteps heading in his direction as Odion approached the hallway. Not wanting to get caught eavesdropping, Bakura started walking, appearing as if he just came down the hallway. Bakura nearly ran into Odion, mumbling something resembling an apology as he went to step around him. He caught Odion staring at him as he passed by. Bakura wasn't sure, but he felt like Odion knew he had been listening in.

He stepped into the living room to see Marik sitting on the couch, drinking a smoothie. There were several smoothies sitting on the table in front of them. Bakura rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for Marik to turn his attention away from the movie playing on the screen. He recognized the movie as one of the Harry Potter movies, but which one, he had no clue. He thought back to make smoothies with Marik, to Marik's strange advances on his, to changing his shirt, to finding his missing knife, and eavesdropping on Marik and Odion fighting.

This was one fucking weird birthday.

Well, it's Marik's birthday. I shouldn't even be surprised at this point.

"Hey Fluffy," Marik called out as finally noticing Bakura standing in the living room. Bakura grunted before glancing over at his bag next to the couch. "I got you a present." Marik's head snapped over to Bakura, looking surprised. "A present?" Bakura rolled his eyes as he walked over to sit next to Marik on the couch. "Yeah. A present, gift, cadeau – whatever the hell you want to call it. I got you something. So… here. Happy birthday." Bakura dug up the wrapped present and tossed it onto Marik's lap, suddenly self-conscious. He stared at the wall, aware of Marik watching him.

Finally, the youth started to open up the present, Bakura watching him from the corner of his eye, curious to see Marik's reaction. As Marik pulled off the wrapper, he held up the cards with a look of surprise. "A card game?" Bakura bit the inside of his cheek, suddenly worried that this was a bad gift. He crossed his arms as he leaned back into the couch. "It's a card game called Duel Monsters. It used to be big when I was younger and I guess the game is making a comeback. I know you like games so I thought you might like this. I thought maybe… I don't know; we could play if you want."

Marik didn't say anything, just perusing through the cards, reading the different artwork and descriptions. After a moment of silence, Bakura sighed. Shit. This was a bad idea. He doesn't like it. Damn. Bakura was just about to tell him he could get a refund for Marik to choose a game when he felt a hand grab his arm. He glanced down to see Marik grasping his arm, a large small on the younger man's face. "This is cool! Thank you! Do you have a deck? How do you play? What are the rules?"

Bakura paused for a moment, feeling Marik release his arm as he looked over the cards with a childlike eagerness. He smiled happily down at his new gift, curiosity and excitement beaming from him. Bakura smiled at Marik's ecstatic reaction. Well, what do you know? I didn't fuck this up after all. He chuckled as he reached into his bag. "I have my old cards from when I was a kid. I think the rules are the same, but I'll need to brush up to. Wanna duel?"

Marik nodded as he reached to pull the table up closer to the couch. Bakura got up and pulled a chair to the other side of the table, his old deck in hand. Bakura leaned over to search the opened box that Marik had placed down. "You might want to use this placemat to get used to the game set-up to start. Now just a warning – just because you're new at this doesn't mean I'm going easy. So if I kick your ass at this, don't be mad."

Marik just laughed, placing his deck down on the field. "Right. If Bakura acts like an asshole, don't be shocked. Just another typical day dealing with the great Thief King." Bakura glared at Marik, but the youth just laughed at his expression. Bakura couldn't stay annoyed with Marik, chuckling along as he placed his deck down on the table. Today had been weird as hell, but it hadn't been all that bad. He got to share smoothies and play games with Marik.

Honestly, Bakura couldn't think of anything else he would rather be doing. Dare he say it – he felt happy. He always felt the need to stay on guard around people, never feeling truly pleased. He reveled in his own success at the demise of others, but there was something genuinely refreshing each time he hung out with Marik. Every time, he felt like finally breathed a fresh breath of air. Like he could let down his guard and just be himself, an unpleasant grump. But he didn't feel unpleasant. He didn't feel like a grump.

Bakura felt like himself, completely at ease and happy in the company of Marik.