Author's Note: My apologies – I was going to post this yesterday, but the last 24 hours have been rather hectic what with my roommate needing to go to the ER and having to put down my cat of 15 years.

It's been rough. But I'm getting by.

I hope you guys enjoy.

"Bakura, why did you change the encryption on this?"

"Wasn't good enough."

"We need that to protect us from bots!"

"Bots aren't going to be your problem. It's thinking human beings who'll trace them afterwards that's going to be a bigger problem."

"Well do you have a substitute?"

"Not yet. Working on that now."

"Then don't remove it until you're ready to set it up. What if some hackers decide to test the waters now?"

"Then they'll receive a lovely little virus, courtesy of Bakura. Are we done now?"

Bakura's supervisor made an unsatisfied noise, but said nothing more as he left the albino. Bakura watched the older man go, glaring at the back of his head. He didn't particularly care for direct supervisor, who appeared almost obsessed with catching Bakura messing up somewhere in his job. He had been rather annoyed when Kaiba hired Bakura with seemingly no previous work experience or education to show. So the fact that Bakura had stuck around past the trial period and had made it a full month definitely irked the man.

Bakura smirked to himself before returning back to his computer. It had taken a bit of time to adjust to the environment at Kaiba Corp. Not shockingly, Kaiba was a hard-ass who was always breathing down everybody's neck to get stuff done. Bakura was no exception to this obsessive behavior and had gotten himself into several yelling matches with the CEO. His coworkers were rather dumbstruck that their new albino coworker was unafraid to use some rather choice words to describe their boss.

Regardless, Kaiba knew that Bakura was a good asset to the team. He had a good instinct, and Bakura could appreciate Kaiba's decision to hire him despite his rather sour and moody disposition. Most of the other techs typically avoided Bakura when they could, letting the albino to act as the resident hacker. Bakura was somewhat the outsider in the department as he had no educational backing outside of his less-than-legal work in computers previously. However, this shady affinity for crime served as a boon in his job.

The benefit of being a former criminal meant that Bakura was familiar with the ways he would try hacking into a server. He knew what techniques and tricks to use, and as a result, he used that knowledge to build his own software defense. It wouldn't serve him any good if the hacker got hacked himself. So most of the time, Bakura hung around and tested different ways to hack and bring down the security server. Well, after he explained that he wasn't actually going to do it this time.

Bakura didn't mind work – in fact, he found it rather enjoyable. For the most part, he was left to his own devices as he experimented, almost like a trial and error situation. His supervisor was a bit of a hard ass, but not nearly as much of a pain as Kaiba was, who liked hounding his employees to make sure they were working. Outside of that, Bakura was usually working alone, much to his relief. Most of his coworkers steered clear of their sharp-tongued new coworker.

Most of them.

"Bakura! Your supervisor was looking for you!" Bakura groaned softly, trying to ignore the bratty voice that now entered the picture. "I already talked to him, Hawkins. Now go away." The blonde hair girl huffed at the dismissal, glaring at the back of the albino's head. "Not with that attitude I'm not! That's no way to talk to your best friend!" Bakura resisted the urge to roll his eyes and focused instead on his program. Rebecca Hawkins was another tech at the firm and had built this intense desire to become friends with the disagreeable new programmer, much to Bakura's horror.

"Piss off Rebecca." Bakura muttered, still not turning to look at the blonde. Rebecca decided to force her way into Bakura's line of sight, the short girl placing her fists at her waist. After several long moments, Bakura finally flicked his eyes towards her before immediately returning them back to his computer screen. He was vaguely aware of the midget pouting even more. Rebecca had one of those ridiculously young faces – she looked like she was still middle school and not in a good way. Her childish antic certainly didn't dissuade Bakura from this opinion.

"No need to be so rude Bakura! If you keep that up, you'll never make friends here." Bakura let a small smirk grow on his face, still not looking in Rebecca's direction. "Yeah, that's kind of the point." Bakura hadn't joined Kaiba Corp for its work friendly environment after all. His hand shifted from holding up his head to slowly drag his fingers down his face as he heard Rebecca keep talking. "Why wouldn't you want to make friends? I think you'd like the people around here if you gave them a chance."

"Don't feel like it."

"You gave me a chance and look at us – we're bosom buddies!"

"Sure we are."

"I don't understand how you can be grumpy and mean all the time. Doesn't that get lonely?"

Bakura hadn't meant to think about Rebecca's words, but just the mere mention of him being lonely sprung up thoughts of Marik. He quickly dismissed the thought before Rebecca could realize what impact her words had on him. "Not in the least. I enjoy my solitude." Bakura thanked his lucky stars that Rebecca just crossed her arms and huffed some more. The last thing he needed was for Rebecca to try giving him some speech about he shouldn't be such a grumpy bachelor and should go out and meet people. I don't particularly care for getting lectured by teenagers.

"Well you should get out more at least." So much for avoiding that lecture. "I know! You should come out to my house this weekend." Bakura let out an audible groan, making his growing annoyance well known to those nearby. "That's a hard pass." He growled, trying to tune Rebecca out. "No really! It'll be fun! My grandpa's turning eighty-three this Saturday. It won't just be family – all my friends will be there. It's going to be a blast." Bakura rolled his eyes – Rebecca's grandfather was a former cop. Like hell he was going to show up at this party.

"Fuck no. Now fuck off." Bakura muttered, ignoring the indignant cry from Rebecca as he returned his focus to his program. After several minutes of talking to the albino and only getting grunts as response, Rebecca finally seemed to get the message as she wandered away to find her new target. Despite those moments in the day, Bakura rather enjoyed his work. Sure, his coworker was a real pain in the ass, but there were worse things to get stressed about. He sighed as he leaned back, taking a quick sip of his smoothie as he studied his screen.

Bakura took a sip of his soda before sticking it in the cup holder, picking through his fries. He found the easiest way to avoid his coworkers during his lunch break was to leave the building altogether. Most would avoid him, but Rebecca insisted sharing meals was an excellent way to bond. Bakura said "fuck no" to that and decided to avoid the midget and eat his lunch elsewhere. He traded in his motorcycle for a small car, which hardly was an issue with his last payment from Yami.

Bakura sighed, enjoying the silence as he sat on in his car eating his lunch. Work could be really stressful between Kaiba, his supervisor and his nagging coworker, so these quiet moments in the car were desperately needed. Yet despite all the things worth complaining, Bakura smirked to himself as he found himself enjoying this new life. It was nowhere risky and insane as his criminal lifestyle, but there was something challenging and gratifying nonetheless about his new job. He had something to do instead of wasting time around. That counted for something.

Bakura heard his phone start to buzz as he glanced down. Everyone wants to fucking talk to me. Bakura prayed to any deity who would listen, begging that Rebecca hadn't somehow managed to get his number and decided to call him to figure out his location. He suspected that would be a bit too stalker-ish for her, but he could never tell how seriously she took friendship. He glanced down at the number, not recognizing it. Crap. What if it is Rebecca? Bakura sighed as he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hello? Is this Mr. Bakura?" The albino raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the voice. It didn't sound like Rebecca, although the voice was female. In fact, it didn't sound like anyone he knew. "This is him." Bakura stated cautiously, unsure where this would be going. "Oh, hello sir. I'm Dr. Anzu Mazaki from the Domino City Psychiatric Hospital. I'm calling about Mr. Marik Ishtar." It took Bakura a full five seconds for those words to sink in as he sat frozen, almost disbelieving what he had just heard. Doctor… hospital… Marik.

"W-What about him? How is he?" The questions blurted out as if the spell was broken. Bakura hadn't so much as mentioned Marik's name out loud in weeks, almost as if it had been taboo. He had been trying to put that part of his life behind him. Now, here it was right in front of him, looking to pull him back in. In some ways, it was a relief. He gripped the phone a little as he listened to her response, his relief and concern growing in tangent.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I've been working with Marik for the past two months and the progress has been very slow." Bakura swallowed as he took a deep breath. While he was glad to get news about Marik, this was not the kind of news he wanted to hear. "What's wrong?" Bakura wanted to get to the source of the issue fast. "Well… Marik hasn't wanted to talk or attend his therapy sessions. It's mostly his alter, Namu who will talk nowadays. Marik is shutting himself off and withdrawing."

Bakura nodded his head slowly, his eyes narrowing. Part of him wasn't surprised by this news. Shadi had told him that Namu was becoming more dominant and Marik more paranoid during the trial, but Bakura had assumed things would get better once Marik was committed. Now Dr. Mazaki was calling to tell him that they have made very little progress. Shit… What if Marik can't get better? Bakura didn't like the idea of thinking someone was incurable, but he didn't know how DID worked. What if Marik couldn't be helped?

"… Well, what can we do for him? Why call me now?" Bakura had to wonder why the hospital was calling him now after all this time. He was honestly shocked they had his number – he technically wasn't family and after his last… discussion with Marik, he figured that was considered a falling out. Who would have given his number out? He was fairly certain it wasn't Ishizu who would do that.

"That's what I wanted to talk about. Shadi put your number down as a former friend of Marik. He mentioned the two of you were close before the trial and Ishizu confirmed that. I was wondering if you could try talking to him." Bakura furrowed his brows, considering the option. He hadn't let himself hope to see Marik after the shit show that went down at the detention center. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more Bakura realized it would probably be a bad idea.

"I… don't know. We didn't exactly leave on the best of terms. I may have wronged Marik in the past and his alter ego got real pissed with me. So I don't think Marik wants to talk to me. It would be better to try Ishizu instead." Bakura explained, his heart clenching as he turned down the opportunity to speak to the young Ishtar again. He knew it would only hurt them both. Dr. Mazaki, however, didn't drop this issue. "Ishizu tried to talk to Marik. That was the one time we saw more of an emotional response from Marik than any other time, but he has since refused to see her. Or rather… Namu doesn't want to see her."

Bakura raised an eyebrow, not sure what to say. Namu was more dominant and in some ways, it surprised him that Namu wouldn't want to even see Marik's family. But then again, Marik's other personality was paranoid and aggressive – even Odion was terrified of him. By the sounds of it, Marik is starting to become as distrustful as his other personality. That thought worried Bakura, knowing that Marik would turn away his sister. "What makes you think Marik will want to see me then?" Dr. Mazaki didn't say anything initially, but he heard her sigh after a few moments of silence.

"It's less about Marik wanting to see you and more about letting him know there are people there for him. Usually the support of family and friends is one of the bigger motivating factors to help our clients, and I think Marik would be receptive to that, but… I also understand if you're still angry with him and don't want to see him." Bakura chewed on his lower lip, the realization dawning on Bakura. He leaned his head back as he closed his eyes, a wave of exhaustion hitting him as he felt a burden being released that he hadn't realized he had been bearing.

"… When do you want me to come in?" Dr. Mazaki murmured a soft thank on the other end of the line. "Well, you work during the week, right? If that's the case, perhaps you can come in on Saturday after lunch? It wouldn't be long, just a quick visit to start and we can see how it goes from there." Bakura nodded before realizing that the psychiatrist couldn't see him do so. "Right. Okay. Sounds good." The albino made a mental note as Dr. Mazaki gave him a time and place before hanging up.

Bakura held the phone up to his head for a moment before sticking back into a cup holder. He leaned forward to rest his arms on the wheel. The last few weeks had been for Bakura in helping him clear his mind and start fresh. He felt a rush of worry and confusion flood his mind as he realized he would be seeing Marik again. He knew it was reckless, but he still agreed to meet him. Bakura closed his eyes as he pressed his head against the wheel, not sure what to expect on Saturday.

Bakura inhaled deeply, cigarette smoke burning his lungs. He held it for a moment before releasing, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. His eyes fluttered open as he stared out the car window, studying the hospital from across the parking lot. He arrived early. Of course he did. He barely knew what he was going to do with himself beforehand so he figured he might as well make his way out to the hospital.

Bakura had mentioned his plans on Saturday to Ryou, who offered to come with him. Bakura, although he appreciated the gesture, declined the offer. Part of him really wanted the support of his brother with him, but he also felt his throat tighten up as he thought of Namu attacking him last time. He didn't want to get Ryou involved in this situation, not when it could turn violent.

Bakura sighed as he glanced down at his phone. It was still a few minutes early but Bakura figured it would be better to go in than roll around anxiously in his car for god knows how long. He took a deep breath as he put out the cigarette, taking a moment to try composing himself. He grabbed the bag in the seat next to him as he pushed open the car door. He had made a detour on the way over that was probably stupid, but he still made it anyway. He figured he could at least try.

Bakura made his way across the parking lot and entered the hospital. Bakura glanced around at the brightly lit room, the white walls coming off less as clean and more as sterile in his mind. The room was for the most part empty, as he noticed the doors separating this room from the rest of the hospital where the other residents most likely resided. Bakura spotted the receptionist and made a beeline towards the young lady sitting behind the desk. She noticed the albino coming her direction as she sat up, a placid smile growing on her face.

"Hello, how can I help you today?" Bakura's hand tightened around his bag as he glanced around. "Yeah, I'm supposed to meet with Dr. Anzu Mazaki at 1:30." The young lady blinked for a moment as she sorted through a clipboard, muttering softly under her breath. Bakura chewed on his lip as he peered over the desk to see what she was looking at. "It's okay Kagome! I got this!" The two looked up from the clipboard as a young woman with short brown hair ran into the atrium.

Bakura blinked as his eyes settled on the young woman. She was wearing an ever-fashionable navy pantsuit, a ruffled white blouse underneath. Dr. Mazaki took a moment to brush a hair that had fallen out of place back behind her ear. Bakura wasn't entirely sure what he had expected when he saw the psychiatrist, but for some reason, he had imagined that she was in her 30s. This woman appeared to be no older than himself.

Bakura was pulled away from his thoughts as Dr. Mazaki bowed politely. "Hello Mr. Bakura, it's nice to meet you. I'm Dr. Mazaki, but you can just call me Anzu. Shall we?" She gestured to Bakura to follow her down the hallway she had just come from. Bakura shook his head as he bowed quickly and followed Anzu down the hallway. He slipped past her as she held the door open, noticing that she eyed the bag in his hand. Bakura glanced down before focusing his gaze at the wall. How am I going to explain this one?

"So Bakura," Anzu started, the two walking side by side. "What is or was your relation to Marik exactly?" Bakura didn't look over at Anzu but sighed, keeping his focus on the hallway ahead of him. "Boyfriend. Or rather, ex-boyfriend. I guess. Not really sure. He tried to choke me so I guess that would signify we're over." He noticed Anzu pause momentarily, as if taken back by this revelation. Choking someone was never a good way to end a friendship, let alone a relationship. I hope this doesn't change things.

The silence grew between the two as they got on the elevator. Bakura decided to break the silence, leaning back against the wall as she shoved a hand into his pocket. "So what exactly is the game plan here anyway? You and I will talk to Marik? Or just me? What's going down?" Bakura tried to hide his nervousness, careful to appear bored and uninterested. It was sheer stubbornness and pride that kept him from turning tail at this point. Anzu glanced down at her watched before looking back up to the doors.

"Well, the plan is pretty basic. I've told Marik that we have a guest who is coming to visit, since I didn't want to just drop this on Marik and surprise him. It would more than likely stress him out. I didn't tell him it's you though, because I wasn't entirely sure what his reaction would be. I'm going to go in first to see how he's doing and let him know that you're here. Then, the floor is yours. It doesn't have to be long – just say whatever it is you want to say. Does that sound good?"

Bakura didn't reply but nodded. It was only as Anzu was describing the situation that it really started to sink in that he was actually going to talk to Marik. He forced himself to take a few deep breaths, trying to go over in his mind what he wanted to say to Marik. It was at that point that Bakura wasn't even sure what he wanted to say. The albino wasn't given much time to think as Anzu interrupted his thoughts. "May I ask what's in the bag?"

Bakura turned his head down to look at the bag still held in his left. "I, uh… I got something for Marik. Some stuff that I know he enjoys that I thought he might like. I don't know what the hospital policy on gifts and junk though…" Anzu just smiled lightly, glancing down into the bag to study the contents. Well, she can tell me if this shit's allowed. So that'll work. After a few moments, Anzu looked back up. "I don't see anything that would be problematic. That should be fine."

Bakura didn't realize it, but he started nodding as he bit on his lip, his worry starting to show. He felt his heart skip a beat as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. He reminded himself to walk forward as he followed Anzu onto the floor. They walked down a hallway that was painting white with no pictures anywhere. Bakura thought the place looked sterile and foreboding, but shook the thought. They passed a series of doors with numbers on the outside. It took Bakura a moment to realize that these doors were the patients' rooms.

They stopped in front of a door, the number 309 to the left of the door. Bakura felt his palms grow sweaty as he glanced around the hallway. Anzu sorted through a ring of keys, taking a few moments to settle on one. She grabbed a walkie-talkie off her hip that Bakura missed before. "Hey, Yuki, can you meet me outside of Marik's room? Thanks." Anzu quickly requested the other counselor's help before glancing back at Bakura to smile, almost as if asking if he was ready.

Like hell I'm not.

Before Bakura could think of backing out, a gentleman wearing a sweater vest joined the two of them. If the he had to guess, Bakura would say this was probably another shrink. Anzu, thankfully, answered his question. "Sometimes Marik can be a bit rowdy… This is just to be safe." Bakura understood that by rowdy, Anzu actually meant violent and destructive. Because Namu is fucking psychotic. This is a bad idea. Fuck. What the hell am I supposed to do?

Anzu knocked on the door, calling to the individual inside. "Hey, Marik? How are you doing?" There was no response, but from Anzu's expression, this was nothing new. She lowered her hand that held a key in it to the door handle. "Marik, I'm going to come in now, okay?" There was no response again, so Anzu made her way unlocking the door. She paused a moment as she turned to Bakura. "Could you please wait outside a moment?"

Bakura nodded, nervously cracking his knuckles with his thumb as he watched Anzu enter the room. She left the door jarred slightly open so Bakura could glance into the room. He watched Anzu exit his line of sight, focusing his attention on the surrounding inside. Aside from a dresser and a bed, Bakura didn't see Marik anywhere inside. He apparently was inside as he heard Anzu start talking again. "Hello Marik, how are you doing today?" He heard a soft noise, but whether it was words or not, Bakura couldn't tell.

Anzu continued her one-sided conversation. "I see you didn't clean up your room. Marik, you were supposed to do that. Don't you remember what I said about today?" Bakura blinked rapidly, desperately trying to read the situation but unable to do so. He wished he could hear Marik so that way he knew it was him in here. Despite the lack of verbal response, Anzu clearly was communicating with Marik in some way. "You have a guest today. An old friend who wanted to see how you were. Can I let him in?"

Bakura glanced around, looking for escape routes. This was it. He was about to meet Marik and he couldn't do it. He couldn't go through with this – he wasn't ready. Marik hated him, so what was the point in trying to do all this? Before Bakura could back out, Anzu peaked her head out the door, gesturing Bakura to follow. "It's okay, you can come in." Bakura found himself internally debating to step forward or backward. He couldn't tell which one was more difficult to do.

Anzu helped Bakura make his decision as she offered her hand, gesturing for him to take it. Bakura wasn't sure, but something about that offered hand helped him. Perhaps Anzu knew how difficult this was for him, for both him and Marik. She knew that this was a long shot, but she still trusted Bakura. She trusted him to help Marik after all that had happened. And maybe it was that faith and goodwill that convinced Bakura to take that step forward.

Bakura took a deep breath as he passed the threshold, finally seeing the room in its entirety. Aside from some clothes crumpled on the floor and some torn pages from who-knows-what on the desk, the room looked almost unlived in. The room was starkly white like the rest of the building, which still irritated Bakura. All of these details were glossed over as Bakura focused his gaze on the figure standing by the window. Bakura swallowed as he saw Marik for the first time in months.

Marik wore a plain, white baggy t-shirt with jeans. His hair had gotten longer, though it was now dirtier and rather dull. If Bakura had thought Marik looked tired the last time he saw him, it was nothing compared to how he looked now. Bakura could tell that Marik had lost quite a bit of weight, at least ten pounds. His cheeks seemed hollow as the shadows on his eyes seemed like a permanent fixture. In spite of his sorry appearance, Bakura felt his chest clench as he struggled to breathe, his mind rushing with confusing thoughts.

Bakura studied Marik's appearance, still unsure whether this was truly Marik or Namu. He glanced over his shoulder to Anzu, who stood back against the wall watching. "Is he…?" Bakura started to ask quietly, flicking his eyes over to Marik who still stared out the window. Anzu reached up to tuck a piece of hair back behind her ear as she looked back at Marik. "I'm not entirely sure, but I believe it's Namu here today." Bakura nodded, not wanting to reveal the twinge of disappointment he felt.

He turned back to look at Marik, startled to see the youth staring back at him. Marik (or Namu as Bakura realized he had to keep correcting himself) studied him, his expression a careful mask. Bakura knew that Marik would not be the one to break the silence, so he decided to do it for them. "Hey Marik. How've you been?" Even in his head, Bakura knew the question sounded lame, but he still asked it. He wasn't surprised when Marik didn't reply but continued to study him instead.

At this point, Bakura really wasn't sure how to proceed. He took it as a good sign that Marik wasn't attacking him. That was an improvement from their last encountered. That still didn't give Bakura any sense of where to go from here. Now that he was in the room, he found he was less terrified and more confused. He wasn't entirely sure how he could help Marik, but he had agreed to come here for that purpose. Well… I'm here… now what?

Bakura thought about what he wanted to talk to Marik about, and what he didn't want to talk about. As he gathered his thoughts, he noticed that Marik wasn't watching him. Instead, Marik had turned his attention back to the window, but was stealing glances not at Bakura but at Anzu. It only took a moment for Bakura to pick up on this. Part of him knew this could be a bad idea, but part of him understood Marik's concern. Bakura had never felt so in control and completely out of control.

He turned his attention to Anzu, who stood quietly against the wall watching the two. "Could you give us a moment?" Anzu blinked, almost as if surprised by this request. She furrowed her brow in worry as she voiced her concern. "I don't know if… We should have someone keep an eye on him in case he…" Anzu blushed as she struggled to avoid sounding accusatory or cruel towards Marik. Bakura smirked, putting on an air of confidence. "I can handle this. I just need a few minutes is all."

Anzu bit her lip as she slowly nodded, reluctantly agreeing to Bakura's request. She looked between the two men briefly before staring at Bakura. Bakura just smirked, shrugging slightly as if to indicate that everything was fine. Anzu sighed as she stepped outside, leaving the door cracked slightly. Bakura didn't particularly care – at least Anzu wouldn't be staring down her patient and it would give the two the time they needed. Bakura dropped the smirk as he studied Marik in a more serious manner.

Marik didn't move from his position as he continued to stare out the window, though Bakura could tell from his stiffened posture that Marik was all too aware of his presence. Bakura glanced around as he wandered from in front of the doorway to lean against the desk. Marik avoided eye contact as he narrowed his gaze, refusing to acknowledge Bakura. The albino just shrugged to himself as he settled into his spot, placing his bag on the ground as he continued to watch Marik in silence.

"So what's new?" Bakura knew this was a lame attempt at a conversation, but he still tried. As expected, Marik didn't say anything, content to glare out the window. Bakura just shrugged as he continued to talk out loud, filling the space between them. "I guess life's not too shabby on my end. I've quit the business and decided to try something new. Computer programming of all things. Coworkers are a pain in the ass, but the work is enjoyable. Being paid to hack a company never hurts either."

Bakura stared ahead, not looking at Marik as he continued to ramble on. Truth be told, Bakura wasn't sure if Marik was really listening. "I'm also taking classes now. I never actually finished high school, truth be told. So Ryou- um… well Ryou's my twin brother." Since half the world knew about his twin brother, it only made sense to fill in Marik about this. Better late than never. "Ryou convinced me that it might be worth it. So I'm taking two night classes to test the waters and see how I like it. Hopefully get an actual diploma too. That'd be nice."

When Marik still did not reply, Bakura decided to glance over in his direction. Not surprisingly, Marik was glaring out the window, avoiding eye contact. He wasn't sure, but Bakura suspected that this was Namu and not Marik here today. In all honesty, he couldn't tell for certain – it was hard to differentiate the two when Marik wasn't talking. Bakura let out a small sigh before glancing down at the bag on the ground. "Hey, I got you a present."

Whether intentional or not, he saw Marik twist his head slightly, almost as if surprised. Marik caught the motion and quickly forced his head back towards the window. Bakura resisted the urge to smirk as he grabbed the bag and placed it next to him on the desk. He dug through and pulled out a box. Marik finally caved as he turned his head slightly to see what was brought in. "I'm not sure what you have for games here, but I thought you might enjoy this." Bakura placed the Pop-Up Pirate game on the desk, not yet meeting Marik's eyes.

Marik – surprise, surprise – still didn't say anything. At this point, Bakura hadn't expected him to, but some verbal response would have been nice. Bakura dug back into the bag as he pulled out a sketchpad, pencils, erasers, paints, canvases, and other sorts of art tools. He crumpled up the bag as he finished, looking at the pile of art supplies. "Um… ta da. I thought you might want to get back into your art. Dr. Mazaki didn't seem to mind, so if there's anything else you need, just let me know."

Bakura shoved his hands in his pocket as he looked around the room to avoid Marik for a moment. Part of him felt incredibly stupid about this and Marik's silence was not helping the situation. Fucking kid. I've gotten use to him being noisy all the time that when I finally get some goddamn silence, it freaks me the fuck out. Bakura was drawn away from his thoughts as a movement from his periphery caught his attention. He glanced over to see Marik now facing him, his lavender eyes boring into him.

Bakura swallowed but didn't look away, his own dark maroon eyes dark with confusing thoughts. They stood there in silence for several moments until Marik broke away eye contact, choosing to stare at the desk. Bakura could see from his narrowed expression that Marik was deep in thought, as if conflicted. Bakura bit his lip as he turned away, staring at Marik's bed as he tried to gather his own thoughts and finally put to words what had been eating at him for weeks.

"Marik… I'm sorry."

The words sounded strange and even foreign coming from Bakura. Perhaps it was because Bakura had avoided trying to resolve his issue with Marik. He had assumed that this was over and that there was no hope for them in the future. However, with that phone call earlier this week, Bakura realized that perhaps he couldn't make everything right, but he could at least damn well try. For Marik, it would be worth trying to make it happen. Marik could ignore him or not accept his apology, but at last Bakura would attempt to make amends for the past.

"I'm sorry. I hadn't meant for you or Odion to get hurt. I hadn't meant for it all to end up like this. I'm sorry I used your insecurities and manipulate your feelings to make my point. I wanted to keep you safe, but that didn't justify my actions. I hurt you and broke your trust… And I'm sorry." Bakura closed his eyes, knowing that if he looked over at Marik, he would start rattling on and lose his composure. He could feel his own hands start to shake as he gripped the end of the desk.

Bakura swallowed, not caring if Marik responded on not. His nerves ate away at him, but Bakura knew that he wasn't done talking. "I'm not just apologizing to you, Marik. I'm sorry for you too, Namu. You're a part of Marik and although you disagree, I want what's best for him. I'm sorry for what you two have been through. I'm sorry about your father and how he fucked up you and your siblings. I'm sorry that your father wasn't a father to you. I'm sorry that you lived such a life where Marik had to make you to make safe. That shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry that you had to bear his suffering and pain, and you should never had had to go through that."

Bakura wasn't entirely sure, but he heard something, almost like a sigh. He flicked his eyes open as he glanced out the corner of his eye. Marik had walked away from the window, careful to keep his face out of view of Bakura. The albino just watched as Marik sat down on the bed, his back to Bakura. Marik didn't say anything, but he could see his hands clenched as he took a deep breath. Bakura wasn't sure how to take this, then again, Marik was completely unreadable.

He heard a soft knock as Anzu's voice called out softly. "Hey Bakura, Marik? Everything okay in there?" Bakura snorted as he smirked, glancing over at the back of Marik's head. "Yeah, we're not dead." In some way, he knew Marik wouldn't attack him. It was sad when Bakura considered that progress of all things. He waited a few more moments, wondering if Marik would actually speak to him. After no response, verbal or physical, Bakura knew this was his cue to leave.

"Well… it was good seeing Marik. If you don't mind, I hope to visit again. You can let Anz- Dr. Mazaki know if that's okay." Bakura started to leave the room, knowing he wouldn't get an answer back. He glanced over his shoulder before exiting. "I hope you get back into art. The world always needs some less shitty art." Bakura stepped out of the room, allowing Anzu to briefly pass him. If he had to guess, he suspected she was doing damage control to make sure nothing terrible had gone down.

Anzu joined him outside as she closed the door. She sighed softly before smiling at Bakura, walking back down the hallway. The two walked in silence until they reached the elevator. It was only inside that Bakura finally voiced his concern. "Is he always that quiet?" Anzu raised an eyebrow at that question, almost bemused by that remark. "No. Actually, he's usually quite profane, crude or just making threats. I've never seen him so reserved and solemn. I think it's a good thing."

Bakura snapped his head around, giving a disbelieving look. Marik had given him the cold shoulder the entire time he was there. Bakura hardly considered that a sign of progress. "Did he like your gift?" Anzu inquired as they got off the elevator. Bakura just shrugged, shoving his hands into his pocket. "Don't know. He didn't say. He mostly just stared at me or at something else in the room." Anzu chuckled at this, a smile growing on her face.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me that's a good sign," he muttered under his breath. Anzu was definitely at the end of her rope if she was feeling hopeful about this. She chuckled lightly before looking back at the albino. "Well yeah. Namu has always been quick to let me know if he hates stuff. Marik, not so much." Bakura resisted the urge to roll his eyes again when Anzu's response finally sunk in. If what she was saying was true, then that would mean… back in the bedroom… Marik was…

"Thank you for coming in. It might not have looked it, but I think it was really helpful having you in today." Bakura nodded, stretching his shoulders back as he stepped out into the atrium with Anzu. He spotted the receptionist from earlier playing something that looked suspiciously like Minesweeper. "Yeah, sure. Well, let me know if he wants me to come visit or something." Anzu giggled, almost patronizing in her tone. Bakura was fairly certain that if it weren't for their mutual concern for Marik, he would avoid this woman at all cost in public.

"You know, you don't have to wait for him to tell you to come visit. Just let me know if you want to come in and I can arrange it. I suspect Marik wouldn't want to put his pride on the line and let you know he enjoyed your company." Bakura snorted as he turned away. He was fairly certain that it was less 'keeping his pride in tact' and more 'hating his fucking guts' that drove Marik to not acknowledge Bakura. He raised a hand as farewell, indicating he heard Anzu but wasn't going to act on that knowledge.

… Well… maybe I'll visit again…