Sweet In Disguise

Written By OtakuChild

Disclaimer: Yugioh is not mine, and neither are the name brands of candy and anime mentioned in this chapter. It should be painfully obvious that I don't own Coca-cola.

Yowza.

I do realize that it's been almost three years since I've written anything having to do with fanfiction. Life and work and school just sort of got in the way, and before I knew it, one very loyal and very awesome fan emailed me about my writing, wondering where it had gone. It gave me the jump start I needed to dig up what I had and start writing again. I had always intended to finish the stories I started. I still do. So hopefully, if I keep my fingers crossed, I'll be able to keep writing, with no distractions. I'm sorry that it's taken so long.

Chapter Six: Sickened

Malik woke up, and immediately felt a sense of grogginess and vertigo. He fell back on the bed.

"I feel horrible..." he muttered.

"What? Are you regretting the kiss?" Marik said nosily.

"I said NOTHING to you about that!" Malik screeched. "And how do you know? What's it to ya, huh?" He leapt out of bed, and started jumping around in a fighting stance. "Put up your dukes! Come on! Let's go!"

Marik simply stood there, watching his hikari with a raised eyebrow. Malik continued to hop around, but was hit by another wave of dizziness. He lost his balance and started to fall.

"Malik!"

Marik ran towards him, catching him. Malik opened his mouth to say something, but started to gag. They made it to the bathroom just in time for Malik to start throwing up into the toilet. Marik waited patiently for Malik to finish, then flushed the toilet.

"I don't feel well..." Malik moaned, trying to stand. He did, with much labor, and wobbled towards the stairs in a haze.

"Oh no, it's back to bed with you," Marik said, and picked up Malik, carrying him back to his room and tucking him in. Malik was too fatigued to argue.

"I'm going to the store to get you some medicine and some soup. I'll be back soon." He fluffed Malik's hair and went to the living room. Malik heard a jingle of car keys, and then a door open and shut. He closed his eyes, to try and sleep, but the gagging started up again. He crawled to the bathroom, dragging his comforter with him, and stayed there, retching every so often.

"Ryou!"

Bakura knocked feverishly on the door. "Let me in! I need to get my wallet!"

"NO! Go to the ATM for money!"

"But my debit card is in my wallet!" Bakura shook the doorknob.

"Then go inside! That's what people did in the seventies, you know. Let me be!"

Bakura kicked the door. "What is the matter with you? I STILL need my card! They make you swipe it!"

Ryou had been reading a rather dirty email from Marik, and had made sure to lock the door. He hastily saved it, and closed the windows of the computer. "Fine! Come get your damn wallet!" he snapped, unlocking the door to the den.

"Bakura looked at the empty computer desktop. "Geez, locking the door just to use the computer. One would think you're looking at porn or something."

Ryou flushed at how close Bakura had guessed his actions. "No..." he lied. "I just like my privacy. That's all."

Bakura paused for a minute. "Whatever..." he dismissed. "Anywho, I need to run a few errands before I go to Malik's house, so I need my card. And my license." He picked up his wallet and went whistling out the door, shaking his keys. "See ya later, Shortysqueak."

Ryou gave Bakura the finger, and retreated back into the den. He reopened the browser window, and continued reading his letter.

Bakura walked to the front door of the Ishtar residence, whistling nonchalantly, a small bouquet of Calalillies in his hand. He rang the doorbell, but to his surprise, nobody answered. He glanced towards the driveway, and saw Malik's motorcycle, and his car, so he knew Malik was home. He knocked again.

"Malik?" He called.

No answer.

Bakura felt sick pang of worry build in his stomach. He picked the window lock and slipped in through the living room.

"Malik?"

He heard a noise which he couldn't identify.

"Malik?" he called again.

He heard retching coming from the upstairs bathroom. His eyes widened, and he placed the flowers on the table before dashing upstairs, to find Malik lying on the bathroom floor, with the fluffy white comforter, eyes closed, face flushed and sweaty, hair sticking to his forehead. He could tell Malik had been throwing up.

"Malik! Oh my god!" Bakura rushed to Malik's side, and held him up. "You...what happened? Have you been drinking? Are you sick?"

"Mrfgh..." Malik had given up on making any coherent speech.

"Where's Marik?"

"Sssstoooooorrre..." Malik's eyes were fluttering, threatening to roll back into his head.

Bakura felt his forehead. "You've got one hell of a fever. Come on, you need to get into bed." He picked Malik up and took him back into bed, tucking him in. Malik just lay there, not responding.

Bakura tore through the kitchen looking for anything that might help Malik. He found Ibuprofen, and ginger tea. He sighed sadly, and set about brewing the tea. He took the ibuprofen to Malik. He found Malik buried under the covers, trying to sleep.

"Here," he said, handing a glass of water to Malik. "Think you can keep this down?"

Malik mumbled an incoherent reply.

Bakura helped him take the medication, and gave him a pot to throw up in, and finished fixing the tea. He brought the tea to Malik, and found him sleeping soundly. He decided not to wake him, and went back downstairs, looking for food that Malik could possibly keep down, and worrying. To his pleasant surprise, he found a variety of fresh vegetables and some chicken, and decided to make him chicken soup. He was chopping carrots when the phone rang. He rushed to pick it up, fearing the ring might wake up Malik.

"Hello?"

"Bakura? Oh, thank the gods!" It was Marik on the other end of the line. "How's Malik?"

"Bad," Bakura replied. "I found him in the bathroom, throwing up like there was no tomorrow. He was burning up and couldn't form speech. He's in bed now, sleeping, and I gave him some tea and Ibuprofen."

"I'm so glad you stopped by," Marik said. "I...he just started retching, and so I went to the store to get him some medicine and soup. But now I won't be able to, because I got called into work."

"You're kidding!" Bakura said. "Why would you get called in? On a Sunday?"

"Apparently there was some problem with the programming of one of the games we tested last week, so now I've been called in to fix it. One of the younger programmers snuck in an invincibility code or something like that. Kaiba's not amused. Anyways, I'm so worried about Malik, I'm glad you're there to take care of him."

"I'm glad I decided to come over and see him," Bakura said. "I wonder what could have happened to get him so sick."

"I don't know," Marik said. "But I'll need you to stay the night, I won't be home until that code's been fixed. Kaiba's livid and he's threatening to fire people."

"Okay," Bakura said. "Keep me posted."

"I sure will."

They said good-byes and hung up. Bakura finished the soup, and was stirring it when he heard loud coughs coming from Malik's bedroom. He turned off the stove and headed up to see Malik. Once again, he found him buried in covers, as if trying to hide from the rest of the world.

"Malik?" Bakura said quietly.

"Mmmph!" Malik burrowed deeper into the covers. He did not want Bakura to see him like this.

"Come out, please!"

"No! I look awful, I just know it!" More burrowing.

"You know, even Cindy Crawford doesn't look like Cindy Crawford when she wakes up in the morning."

"Cindy Crawford isn't sick!"

Bakura let out a sigh. "Come on, how bad could it be?" He took Malik's newfound energy to argue as a sign that he was feeling slightly better.

Malik poked his head up, and Bakura felt a pang. His hair, normally shiny and sleek, was disheveled and frizzy, from thrashing in his sleep. Dark circles had formed under tired, drooping lavender eyes, and his nose, which Bakura secretly thought was very cute under normal circumstances, was red and puffy, and, Bakura realized, probably very sore. Malik let out a miserable sniffle. He felt stuffy, and hot, and his nose was sore from wiping it so much. He still felt dizzy, and his muscles ached. The fact that the boy he was quickly becoming attracted to was seeing him like this made him feel even worse. A fit of coughs tore from his throat.

Bakura quickly put down the soup and rushed over to Malik, rubbing his back in small circles in an effort to soothe the coughing. Eventually the coughing subsided, and Malik snuggled back under the covers.

"Here," Bakura said, bringing the soup over to Malik. "I brought you some soup."

"Marik's home now?" Malik asked.

"No, no, he called, and said he got called into work, so he won't be home until late, he said."

"Oh." Malik sat up a bit. "Then how did you find soup? We don't have any soup."

"I made it from scratch," Bakura said. "That canned supermarket crap does nothing for sickiness anyway."

Malik took the soup, and took a small bite. His eyes lit up.

"Hey! This is yummy!" he said happily.

"Don't scarf it down," Bakura said. "You'll throw up again."

"But it's yummy!" Malik said.

"It won't be so yummy when it makes a U-turn up the esophagus highway," Bakura said.

Malik burst into snuffled giggles, and quietly ate his soup. When he was done, he set the bowl aside, and leaned into Bakura, who was sitting on the bed next to him.

"You're so awesome," Malik said quietly.

"It's nothing," Bakura said, pulling Malik closer to him. "I'm glad I came over when I did."

Malik let out another stuffy sniff. "I hate that you're seeing me like this though."

"Malik, people get sick. Sick happens, with all the germs floating in the air. You should see Ryou when he gets sick. He rarely does, but when he does, it's nasty."

"Yeah, he sounds like a bullfrog over the phone." He burst into giggles. "It's creepy."

"Imagine hearing that in person," Bakura said.

The giggles turned into a full laughing fit, which evolved into a coughing fit.

"Oooh, take it easy," Bakura said, gently rubbing Malik's back to help ease the coughs, which eventually died down. "I'll be right back."

"'Kay," Malik replied. He lay back down and snuggled under the warm, fluffy covers of his bed. Bakura came back a few minutes later with a spoon, and a small bottle.

"Okay," Bakura said. "The directions on this bottle of cough syrup say-"

"NO!" Malik dove under the covers completely, hiding his head. "No cough syrup!"

"Malik-"

"NO!"

"But you're coughing!"

"But it's icky!"

"Do you really want to keep coughing?"

Malik poked his head out. "No."

"Then you have to take it!"

"NO!" He dove back under again. "Nononononononononono!"

Bakura crept up to the bed, and leaned in close. "How about..." he crooned.

"There's nothing you can say or do or bribe me with to make me take it," Malik proclaimed stubbornly.

"...I'll cook you a romantic candlelight dinner and scatter rose petals on the table if you take this cough medicine."

Malik flew up out of the bed covers. "Gimme!" He squeaked.

Bakura passed the bottle of medicine and spoon to Malik with a grin. Malik took the medicine without complaint.

Bakura continued to take care of Malik the rest of the day, and well into the night. It was well past midnight when Marik finally made it home. He went upstairs to check on Malik, and found both boys zonked out, Bakura kneeling next to the bed with his head resting on a pillow, and Malik cuddled into the covers, the fingers of his right hand woven through Bakura's hair. Marik grinned and silently left the room, not wanting to disturb them, and went to bed.

Bakura stayed the rest of the week, leaving only to go to work and run essential errands, always returning straight to Malik's side afterwards. When Malik was healthy again they made plans for their third date, and Bakura went back home, giving Malik a shy kiss before going to his car.

A week later, Bakura was nervously pacing around in circles in his kitchen when he heard a knock on the door.

"It's open!" he called out, flying to the sink and busying himself with arranging the plants on the windowsill.

Bakura heard the door open and close, and the sounds of a grocery bag getting set down. Malik skipped into the kitchen and glomped Bakura.

"Hiyeeeee!!!" he said happily, giggling madly.

"Hello Pretty," he said. He turned around to hug Malik, and exchange a few kisses. "Where's Ryou?"

"Out with Yugi and company, he's sleeping over." Bakura gave Malik an Eskimo kiss.

"Something wrong?" asked Malik.

"No," replied Bakura. "Why?"

"You were rearranging dead plants on your windowsill."

Bakura turned back around to see that the plants he was fidgeting with were indeed dead, and from the looks of it, had been for at least a month.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "They are dead. Quite dead. Not alive anymore. Well..it's Ryou's fault, it's his job to water them."

"That's funny, he says it's your job." Malik absentmindedly twirled his earring. "Anyway, I brought the popcorn, it's the extra-buttery kind. I didn't know what kind of candy you liked, so I got Rolos, Brite Crawlers, Strawberry Puffs, Buncha Crunches, and a bunch of assorted minis. It's all on the table."

"That's fine," Bakura said, leading Malik to the living room. "I got Coke, and...let's see...I've got Angel Sanctuary, Evangelion, Bleach, Full Metal Alchemist, FLCL-"

"Evangelion! Yes! Let's watch that!" Malik's eyes lit up.

"Okay." They popped the popcorn, and Bakura shut off the lights and put in the first DVD. They sat in silence, eating candy and popcorn and drinking coke.

"Is it safe?"

"Yeah, Malik will be over there for quite awhile. Who knows, he may even spend the night."

Ryou walked into the Ishtar residence, and was greeted with a passionate kiss from Marik.

"Do you really think he'll put out?" Ryou asked.

"No, not that, but they're watching movies, they may stay up late, and he may sleep over...I've missed you, Beautiful." He ran a hand down Ryou's pale cheek.

"I've missed you too." Ryou kissed Marik again, pulling him close.

"You ready?" Marik smirked.

"Nervous," Ryou replied. "We've never done it at your place before."

"Don't be nervous, the door's locked, the phone's disconnected. Nothing but you, and me, and candlelight."

"Then yes, I'm ready," Ryou whispered.

Marik picked up Ryou and carried him to his bedroom.

By now Malik was absorbed in the anime, but Bakura couldn't concentrate on it at all. He kept shooting sideways glances at Malik. Malik had quietly noticed, and when Bakura looked away, tossed a piece of popcorn at him. Bakura leapt up.

"Oy! Hey! Oh...wow..um...popcorn..." he stuttered, fidgety. "Yum."

"What's with you?" Malik asked. "You've been twitchy all night."

"Twitchy?" Bakura shifted on the couch. "I'm not twitchy no, you think I'm twitchy?"

"You just jumped forty feet in the air!"

"Oh..." Bakura slumped down. "I did, didn't I? Yes, suppose I am a bit twitchy then..."

"You are quite twitchy." Malik took a sip of coke. "That's not like you. You're not twitchy."

"I'm not twitchy?"

"No, not normally."

"Yes, yes...good point, yes."

"See, there you go again, all twitchy." Malik scooted closer to Bakura, who froze, rigid where he was, eyes wide.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Malik asked. "Is your ass on fire or something?"

"No!" Bakura stammered. "I mean, no, it's not, but...I..."

He leaned in and gave Bakura a soft kiss. Bakura smiled and kissed back. He took advantage of Malik's distraction to snake a hand around his waist and tickle him.

"Hey! Damn you!" Malik shrieked. He lost himself in a fit of giggles. Bakura was quite pleased with himself. Malik lunged at Bakura and gave him a soft kiss.

"Oh, mmmmmm..." Bakura felt himself melt. In a flash Malik was gone. "Hey!" He snapped open his eyes. Malik was giggling, running into the kitchen.

"Can't catch me!" He grinned.

"Like hell I can't!" Bakura took off after Malik. He chased the blonde around the kitchen island twice, and down the stairs to the basement. Malik ran into the laundry room and shut the door.

"Hey! Let me in!"

"No!" Malik giggled.

"You just trapped yourself, you know." Bakura couldn't stop grinning.

"Um...no I didn't!"

"Yes you did! You haven't even seen all of the house yet!" I've got you now, my pretty...

"You lie!"

"I don't lie. I'm going to get you, and I'm going to tickle you till you can't see straight!" He thought for a moment. "Ye gods, that was lame."

Malik started laughing hysterically. He heard the door click, let out a gasp, and leapt into the dryer, fitting his small, flexible frame in with some ease, but felt cramped nonetheless. He heard the laundry room door swing open.

"AHA! Hey...wait a minute...where did you go?" Bakura scanned the room but the Egyptian was nowhere to be found. "...Malik? Where did you go?"

Silence.

"Well, there's no window for him to climb out of..." Bakura murmured to himself. "...Malik? I'm serious, where are you. Are you in the closet?" He opened the linen closet

but found it empty. He sauntered over to the washing machine. "You can't hide from me forever, you know..."

The dryer door flew open and Malik took off in a flash.

"Hey! How did you...?" Bakura stared after Malik in bewilderment. "No matter, I'm going to get you!"

He continued to chase the boy up the stairs, back into the living room, over the couch, around the dining room table, and up the stairs to the second floor. Malik skidded to a halt, finding himself at a dead end.

"Uh-oh..."

"You've nowhere to go now."

Bakura stood at the end of the hallway, blocking the entrance to the stairs. He took slow, deliberate steps towards Malik, who started giggling again and found himself unable to stop.

"Um...heeeheeee..."

"You can't go anywhere, Malik. What are you going to do when I get you, hmm?" Bakura smirked.

Step. Step. Step.

"Hyah!" Malik opened the door at his end of the hall and darted in, and realized it was Bakura's bedroom. "Oh no! Shit!"

"Haha!" Bakura ran after Malik. Malik took a few steps and realized he could go no further.

"Gotcha!" Bakura's strong arms wrapped around Malik and held him snugly. Hands started to tickle.

"Aaaaaaaaaah! Nononononono!!" Malik wiggled and laughed, trying to get loose, but Bakura would not let go. They wrestled until Malik tripped on the bed and they both fell on the fluffy black comforter. Malik rolled around to face Bakura, heart pounding.

Bakura swallowed, suddenly nervous again. They stared at each other until Bakura swallowed his shyness and gave Malik a quick kiss. Malik gave Bakura another kiss.

The two continued to kiss, each becoming longer and passionate than the last, until the game of tag evolved into a full-blown makeout session. The kept at it for what seemed like hours, until they started to get sleepy. Malik snuggled up to Bakura.

"Mmmmm..."

"I agree..." Bakura murmured. "I like making out with you."

Malik burst into giggles again.

"What? You're fun to make out with, ya know." Bakura ran his fingers through Malik's hair.

"Yeah, so are you. I could make out with you all day."

"Maybe we should try it sometime." Bakura smiled. He felt on top of the world. He had honestly thought Malik would lose interest after a couple dates, but had been pleasantly surprised to see that when he wasn't acting drunk and stupid, the two had amazing chemistry. Bakura decided that his days of getting wasted were over. He'd found something wonderful in Malik, and he wasn't about to let it go. He felt a bit sad, wondering when Malik was going to go home, unless...

"Would you be offended if I..."

Malik raised his head. "If what?"

"...if I asked you to stay with me tonight. Just to sleep. That's all."

Malik smiled. "I wouldn't be offended at all." He rolled off Bakura.

"I'm glad." Bakura walked over to the dresser and pulled out two pairs of pajama pants, tossing one to Malik. "There's a spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet, and Listerine."

Malik went into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth. He went back into the bedroom but didn't find Bakura, so he just collapsed on the fluffy bed, and snuggled into fluffier covers and closed his eyes, not really sure of what to expect.

Does he talk in his sleep? He wondered. If he does, what does he say? Does he just sleep? Oh GOD! Does he snore? He can't snore. No! I hope he doesn't snore. This will never work out if he snores. It just...won't. Maybe if I snuck a breathing strip on his nose in the middle of the night or something...

He heard Bakura walk into the room and click off the light, then felt him get into bed and pull covers.

"Well, I don't know what you're going to do about covers but..." Bakura rolled over dramatically, pulling covers off of Malik.

"Hey!" Malik rolled back over and grabbed them back. "I had them first!" The blonde rolled back over, and Bakura rolled with him, so that he was on top of Malik.

"Hey!"

"Is that all you can say?" Bakura grinned.

"You're fucking heavy!" Malik squirmed.

"I knew you had a wider vocabulary."

"You're squishing me."

"You don't feel very squishy."

"Bakura!"

Bakura rolled over, and took Malik with him, so that Malik was on top. "Is this better?"

"...yeah..."

Bakura started to tickle Malik.

"Aaaaah! Not again!" Malik started to giggle hysterically. He lost his balance, and fell over and off of Bakura. "Oof!"

They looked at each other, grinning. Bakura trailed a hand down Malik's cheek. "You're so pretty."

Malik felt his cheeks grow hot. He felt all brain functions shut down. "I...um...er..."

But Bakura had expected no reply. "C'mere," he murmured, and pulled Malik close, so that Malik's head was resting in the crook of his neck. "Good night," he whispered.

"Night," Malik mumbled, already half asleep.

Bakura couldn't sleep. He didn't want to. He felt perfect, complete. He wished that the moment wouldn't end, but he eventually found himself drifting off.

The last coherent thought he had before he went under was that he was absolutely, positively sure that Malik was the one he wanted for life.

It is done!

This chappy, anyway.

I'm so sorry I left this little ficlet hanging. I am determined to finish it, no matter how long it takes. :) I don't go back to school until January 12th, so I'm hoping to get a few more chapters hammered out. I'm also having formatting issues. It won't let me indent, and I'm not sure why. This one came out better than the HTML file, but I'm still not all that thrilled with lack of indentation. Bear with me as I try to fix it. Anybody have any ideas?

So, yesh, you know the drill, read and review and all that, please! Ja Ne!