I'll go over the chapter for spelling/other such mistakes later.

: Chapter fifteen – Fixing Dishes, Breaking Hearts :.

"As wonderful as it is standing in front of your apartment, Ryou, I kind of have to use the John." Jounouchi said, shifting uneasily from foot to foot; doing the international, "I have to pee" dance.

But Ryou just stood there, staring blankly at his door, eyes glazed over. It was like he wasn't even there -- not mentally anyway. But suddenly he jerked and blinked, shaking his head and fishing into his pocket, having snapped out of his little daze. But as to what had awakened him was muffled yowling from inside of the apartment and the harsh sound of claws streaking down the door.

This paused the brown-eyed blonde's dance and he made a confused and curious face. "I didn't know you a cat,"

"I don't," Ryou deadpanned.

Jounouchi's expression doubled in intensity, the confusion overtaking the other. He opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off.

"Princess!" Mariku cried, clawing at the door from their side. "Mommy's here, Princess!"

Everything stopped when he'd said that.

"I think… he's got his genders confused," Yuugi said, sounding unsure. Then he remembered how Mariku had previously revealed how he liked guys. Liked as in gay-man-lust like. Maybe he really did have his genders confused…? "Or, uh, he thinks he's female."

Crap.

He totally just said that out loud and hadn't meant to.

Yami sighed and shook his head, his fingers pressing against his temples. "I doubt it," he began, blinking open his eyes and gazing down at the other. "He's usually scared of women."

…

How exactly did one reply to a bomb-drop like that?

"Princess," Mariku said, sliding down the door until he was lying on the floor. His voice had been forced as deep as it would go, and sounded out of breath.

Jounouchi made a sound, clenching his legs together. "Oh, God, don't ever do that again," he whined, having been scared by the way the voice sounded -- it reminded him of something from a horror movie --- namely one about demonic possession. He half expected Mariku's head to start spinning. It almost, quite literally, made him almost lose control of his bladder, too. "Ryou! Open the door or I'm going to pee in a plant!" he shouted, eyeing a fake tree at the end of the hall, set there for decoration.

Though it had felt like hours, it had only been a few seconds, and the pale human had just gotten his keys out and into the lock. But before he opened the door, he turned to Jounouchi, giving him a look.

"Um… the toilet's broken," he informed, not sounding exactly happy about that. The blonde wailed and ran past Ryou, heading towards the end of the hallway.

Ryou sighed and opened the door, gasping and almost falling as a blur shot in-between his legs. Mariku let out a cry and chased after the feline. "Princess, come back! Mariku is sorry!"

They both disappeared down the stairs.

Ryou, Yuugi, Yami, and Bakura only spared a second's glance at the tanned male before going inside the apartment. Yuugi was actually startled at the state of his friend's home. There were clothes strewn everywhere and bits of food, some empty plates, clumps of dust… What the hell had happened? How was it physically possible to mess a place up this bad without meaning to?

The white-haired teen stepped inside and turned, holding out his arms. "Welcome to my humble, white-trash home." He said monotonously.

Yuugi swallowed. "Ryou, I'll help you clean up," he said softly, pitying the other.

Ryou's eyes suddenly started watering and he looked torn between self-pity and being touched by his friend's offer. "You're such a good friend. You're my best friend, Yuugi."

…What had he just gotten himself into?

Jounouchi walked back over to them, zipping the fly of his pants. "Hey, uh… you guys probably don't wanna touch that tree over there."

---

Mariku was panting, quite out of breathe from having chased his pet all the way into downtown Domino. He really had no idea where he was, except for that the buildings were taller and more grouped together, and there were hundreds more people bustling about. His violet eyes darted from side to side, and he started when he saw the very end of a black tail disappear from view behind some trashcans. He grinned and crept over, squeezing in behind the metal trash-dispensers. But his cat was gone, and he made a face, quite disappointed. Why did Princess have to run away? Was he mad at Mariku?

He peered out from around the trashcans and looked up at the large building before him. It seemed to be the back-end of the place, since it looked very plain and less clean that it would have if it were supposed to be presentable. There was a door that most likely was where the people came out to dump their garbage back here. But the tanned male jerked back out of sight as the doorknob turned and the door itself opened, someone exiting with a black plastic bag.

He heard the sound of padded feet making their way towards him. He held his breathe and slunk down lower, silently sliding over even further out of sight. Luckily there was a wall that he was able to press up against and keep himself from view. The person who opened up the lid to the furthest can away from Mariku was obviously not paying much attention, for she looked like she was deep in thought. Mariku watched her carefully, noticing that her skin tone was almost identical to his own. She had long, silky black hair and the most vivid crystal blue eyes he'd ever seen. Seth's were just… cold-looking. Her's were warm and kind.

He liked her already.

But from what he could see of her, she was very beautiful. Even though he felt absolutely nothing for women, he had no problem admitting that.

The woman suddenly gasped and looked down at her feet, startled and eyes wide. But they instantly softened and she let a smile spread over her face. "Hello… where did you come from?" she asked, her voice lined with a slight accent. She bent down, and when she came back into view, she was holding a cat -- the very one that Mariku had been searching for. He resisted the urge to move forward and grab him and cuddle him into his arms.

Princess meowed softly, pressing his head against her neck in a loving manner, and she laughed lightly. It was a pretty laugh. "I bet you're hungry, and came back here for some food!" she said to the cat, turning and walking back towards the building she had come out of. "Well, I'll be sure to fix that," But whatever else she had said, she was too far away to be heard, and it wasn't long before the door was shut behind her.

Mariku stayed put for a long moment, before he finally stood up and made his way to the door. He hesitated, then looked down at his shirt (even though it wasn't really his shirt, but Ryou's father's shirt), and smoothed out the wrinkles. Then he lifted his hand and knocked.

There was a pause in movement from inside, before he heard muffled footsteps. The same woman opened the door a crack, frowning. Who would be coming in the back way to a museum? Her eyes widened a bit, as though she both couldn't understand what was in front of her, and recognized it.

Mariku smiled dashingly, and lifted his shoulders a bit, like he was about to have to explain something that was bothering him, but he was trying not to show it.

"Hello, ma'am," he said, tipping his head forward slightly in respect. She blinked, and looked a little bashful at the gentlemanly show.

"May I help you" she asked looking up into Mariku's face. It was like she was studying him.

The blonde made a somewhat self-abashed sound and rubbed At the back of his head. "Actually, yes. My --" he dug through his mind for the word that the humans had called it, "--cat has run away, and I thought I saw him come over this way."

The other seemed to swell up knowingly, and nodded, stepping aside. "Yes, I found a cat by the trash outside. I wasn't sure if he was a stray or not. It may be yours," she said as Mariku entered. It seemed to be a hallway that branched off to many different rooms. She slipped around him and shut the door before moving into the first room on the right, and reappearing with the animal in her arms.

Mariku gasped, and held out his arms. "Oh, there he is!" he exclaimed, looking relieved and excited at the same time. He took the feline and held it to his chest before looking up at the woman gratefully. "Thank you so much, uh…"

Her eyes widened a bit, "Oh!" she said, before she bent her head down just barely. "Ishtar Isis," she introduced.

"Bahir Mariku," he replied back, setting his pet down and bowing low, like he would for royalty. "It's been a pleasure getting to see such a beautiful, kind woman, even if only for a second," he said smoothly, causing Isis to blush lightly. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart for helping me regain my lost friend," he continued as he came back up from his dip.

Both lapsed into silence, Mariku smiling handsomely down at the other, and Isis flushed and unbelieving as to what was going on. This was like something out of one of those silly girl-movies! And it was really happening to her!

But their moment was interrupted at the door at the very other end of the hall burst open, and an all-too familiar voice cut through the silence. "Hey, sister, the shipment from Arabia just came in, and…" But the voice grew silent, its owner staring in horrified, unbelieving shock, though it barely showed on his face.

Mariku grinned. "Hello. Are you the beautiful Isis's brother?" he asked, voice silk.

Malik dropped the heavy-looking box he was holding, ignoring the horrendous shattering noise that the action brought forth. "What the hell are you doing here!" he demanded, pointing accusingly at the one who looked very similar to him.

Isis, meanwhile, gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands. No, Malik could not have just dropped the priceless items that she had spent so much money on to bring to her museum. Because that would mean that those one-of-a-kind items were gone forever, broken and unable to simply be repaired.

Mariku stepped forward, walking down the hall calmly towards the other, who took a step back, like the pointy-eared man was going to attack him at any moment. But just as he stopped, so close to the younger's body that each could feel the heat that the other gave off, the taller simply bent down, opening the box and looking in its contents. He saw a mass of chipped porcelain and glass, with intricate designs over them, each unique in a way of its own.

"I can easily fix this with the right type of glue," he confirmed, turned back to look at Isis who looked so relieved she could have possibly fainted. Malik stood completely still, unsure emotions shining in his eyes. What was this fag doing here? And what had he been doing to his sister to make her blush like that? And more importantly; WHY IS HE HERE? …Yes, he did have to repeat the same question twice. It was just that demanding.

Having calmed down, and finally letting the exhaustion of the day catch up to her, Isis nodded thankfully. "Yes, glue," she murmured, jotting that down mentally. Absently, she addressed her younger brother in a slightly snappish tone. "Malik, go get our guest some tea." And she walked back into her office again in a distracted way.

Not only was Malik shocked and appalled, but he had absolutely no reason to disobey his sister. As far as she knew, this retarded homo was the African Prince Charming, for the gods' sake! She would only get mad at him for not doing as she asked… He bared his teeth. "Yes, sister," he hissed, and gave Mariku a very fake, and a very, very sour smile before he too exited the room.

The off-worlder smirked, watching the other until the door was closed completely and Malik was lost from his view.

Isis came back into the room in what could have been either mere second or a few minutes -- the exact time had been lost to Mariku. He had been carelessly picking up the shattered pieces of history and placing them on the floor, organizing them into the place that they should have been. He had almost completed half of one of the plates when Isis leaned over his back, staring in awe at his quick work. She watched him a few seconds more before she spoke up.

"You have a very amazing talent, there," she said quietly, her face tinting pink as Mariku moved to take the small bottle of special glue from her hand and brushed it with his own. He didn't seem to have noticed. He had started to unscrew the cap when the woman put in her thoughts once more. "Perhaps you should do this on a table…? I wouldn't want that to get stepped on, or for you to be hit if someone open that door," she explained.

This made the tanned male blink, before he turned his head towards her and smiled at her over his shoulder. "Ah! And you think ahead as well. There aren't enough women around like you, but we desperately need more!"

She smiled at his words and set her hand over her mouth to hide how much it elated her. She was about to return the flirted compliment in different words to Mariku himself, when the door opened, just missing hitting already beat-up box that contained the fragments of glass that needed to be fixed. In an instant, the glue bottle hit the tiled floor, and Mariku had turned around, facing whoever it was who opened it, and sprung.

Malik screamed.

Isis' eyes were once more widened and her hand had yet to leave the cover of her mouth. Mariku had grabbed Malik's leg at the conjunction of the knee, and held fast there, having lifted the other's leg against his own thigh, keeping the foot raised in the air. His other hand had woven around Malik's back, keeping him from falling back as he lost balance from having his body pushed backwards. He somehow managed to only spill a little of the tea. He stared up into Mariku's face, his own showing confusion and fear. What the hell was he supposed to do, now!

"L-let go of me!" he yelled, starting to struggle, but Mariku gave him a jerk and moved his body to the side before he let go. He stood tall and wore a self-confident grin on his lips. But Malik was still shaken. "What the hell was that for!" he finally demanded, shifting the plate that held three small and fancy cups of tea.

But Mariku only continued to smirk at the shorter male before lifting a hand into the air as though he were about to explain some complicated theorem to him. "Well, if you will kindly look down, it will clear things up a bit."

Glaring, the fiery teen shot his eyes to the floor and nearly slapped himself.

Yeah, that would have been just peachy if he had crushed the precious bits of broken treasure into unfixable dust. He was sure his sister would have oh-so willingly and eagerly forgiven him for that one. And now that made Mariku look even more amazing, since he had not only offered to clean up the mess Malik had made, but now he'd also saved the mess from being stomped on by the boy who'd caused this in the first place. He growled.

Isis raced over and gently took the tray from her brother, turning and thanking Mariku sincerely for all of his help. "I'll go put this in my office, and then we'll move these things there for you to work on." But just as Malik bared his teeth, and started to bend down to pick up a piece of the chipped porcelain, hoping that he might be able to fall and "accidentally" stab Mariku in the heart or something, Isis turned to him, giving him a look of slight irritation. "Malik, why don't you just come sit in my office and have your drink?"

…

Ouch.

The fire in Malik's eyes shot up about five thousand degrees and he grumbled under his breath, staring down the damnable drink that Isis know had in her possession. The said liquid was almost the shade of blood, though it held a bit more plum coloring to it. Well, at least he got to be a lazy ass… but it was still a damn low blow! He turned his hateful eyes upon the male that, in his mind, caused every bit of grief known to existence and muttered a bit more before he stormed over to his sister's office and threw himself roughly down into a chair and crossed his arms, pouting.

Isis turned to Mariku and gave him an apologetic look. "I'm very sorry about my brother… I don't know what's gotten into him."

Mariku just watched Malik's back until he turned into the room, where he turned to the woman before him and smiled, waving his hand at her. "I wasn't insulted; don't worry." But then he changed his expression and leaned down, setting his fingers around the edge of the rim of a tea cup, his face coming very close to Isis'. "But he might just be jealous… that I'll snatch away his pretty sister from his side?"

Her blush increased. What was she supposed to say to that? And especially when he was so close, and, and…

But he was out of her personal space before she could even finish her thought, sipping the sugary tea. It was hot, but not too hot so it burned him, but it certainly left a strange sensation down his throat. His eyes closed at the taste and he smiled as the rim left his lips. "Delicious," he complimented before setting it back down on the tray, and watching in an amused manner as Isis turned, walking down the hall in a dazed manner.

He almost, almost felt bad about pulling her around like this, but…

Trailing off with that thought, Mariku knelt, taking up the glass gently in his hands (and after grabbing the glue), setting it back in the box before he lifted that up and started towards where he assumed the woman's office was -- since both she and her brother had disappeared in it. But as he entered, he noticed something that made his lips lift upwards once more. But he said nothing and just eyed Malik as the teen lifted a cup to his mouth, purposely ignoring him and making it painfully obvious he was doing so. He waited until he knew the other was in the process of taking some tea into his mouth before he said, "You know, I drank out of that from the exact same spot."

Malik choked and spluttered, trying to deal with having sucked the liquid down his windpipe. Mariku grinned, seemingly very proud of himself.

Isis disregarded what was said, not really caring, nor did she really pay attention to it in the first place, and gently took the box from Mariku, setting it on her desk, moving some papers and documents out of the way and to a safer spot. "Here… you can work at my desk. I'll--"

But she interrupted very rudely by the phone. Mariku jerked at the sudden noise, but no one really noticed, since Isis went to answer it, and Malik was still choking. He still wasn't used to that damn sound…

After the elder Ishtar hung up, she sighed in an overworked manner and muttered something too low to hear before she re-laid the situation out loud for the rest to hear. "They're having a problem with the new shipment; they think we've gotten a few wrong items, and missing a few of the ones we ordered." She gave one last glance at Mariku, her eyes lingering on his figure, before she made for the door. "It shouldn't take long, but… Well, I'll be back. Thank you again."

And she was gone.

The door was now closed, since Isis had shut it to give him privacy to work, just in case the hallway became crowded because of this new dilemma. This pleased the spiked blonde, though he didn't really show it as he went to work. Malik coughed pathetically in the background. Silence lapsed between them. The younger of the two had set the cup he had had the misfortune to drink from, and glared distastefully at it. He gave another couch. "I bet you spit in it, you sick freak." he hissed, though it came out sounding pathetic; cracking as though he'd been weeping recently. He fell silent after that, feeling like he would just sound even more stupid than he already was. He wiped the tears from his eyes that had gathered when he was having his 'ohshitI'mchoking' fit.

Mariku glanced up through his bangs as he worked. "Oh? Would you have liked it if I had?"

Malik shot him a disgusted face. "Fuck, no!"

The alien stared blankly; having no idea what the word "fuck" meant, though he assumed it wasn't a very nice word. He snorted softly and let his eyes drop back down to what he was doing. "I get the feeling you don't like me," he said, like he really had no idea he had ever pissed off the other. Malik growled, sounding very much like a cat that was being prodded and wanted to be left alone.

"After you're done with that, I want you out."

Mariku raised an eyebrow, though it was hard to see from under his hair. "Oh, you have nothing to worry about, there…"

"Good."

It didn't take very long for the task to be completed, but Mariku didn't leave. He just leaned back in his chair and stared straight ahead at Malik, who looked very uncomfortable having eyes on him. On the desk, the plates sat drying and looked as though they were undamaged (except naturally by time, of course).

The younger Ishtar's mind went back to how Isis and Mariku had been flirting. Hadn't he said he was gay, though? Then, why…? Well, he thought distastefully, maybe he just went for anything he could get. He had sweet-talked his sister and made her flush and accept him with open arms.

But he wasn't fooling Malik.

Mariku continued to eye him, his look holding something that Malik wasn't sure he wanted to know about. He glared. Mariku wasn't leaving like he was supposed to. The Egyptian's eyes narrowed.

"What, are you going to hit on me, too?" he asked with venom in his voice. The other just smirked.

It all seemed to happen so fast and so slow at the same time; Mariku stood up from his chair and crossed the room, leaning down over Malik's own, his arms on either side of the teen, trapping him in his seat. The human's eyes were wide and the previously buried fear resurfaced and gripped him, causing his joints to freeze up. His breath hitched.

Mariku held his mouth almost against the other's cheek, hot breath hitting his skin. "Well, if 'hit on' is the phrase you humans have for 'trying to seduce someone'… then the answer is yes." he said quietly, smirking wider at Malik's visible shudder.

The earthling was terrified now. He felt like a little child who was lost in a dark place with no help in sight, and there were monsters in the shadows, waiting for him to even try to move -- for they would devour him alive when he did. He wanted so desperately to call out to his sister for help, but his voice was gone, and he knew that she probably wouldn't be able to hear him anyway. He was pressed back against his chair as far as it would go, trying to become part of the cushions and leave this horrible situation behind.

One of Mariku's hands left the chair arm and began to dig its fingers up under Malik's shirt, gaining access to the other's bare skin. Malik's face was pale everywhere except for his cheeks, which were as red as his dark skin would allow. He tried so hard to beg the other to stop, but all he managed was a cracked "st".

Pressing himself even closer, Mariku continued to let his hand move upwards as he whispered into the terrified teen's ear. "Do I smell good?" he asked, though in this position it seemed more like a demanded answer.

Malik was shaking now, but somehow managed to turn his head away and regain his voice. "You smell like you haven't bathed," he replied, but it sounded weak -- especially to his own ears. It was true, though; the other smelled like dust and sweat.

Mariku made a small sighing sound. "That's too bad…"

Malik only had a second's notice before he was being kissed. Scared tears sprung up into his eyes and his hands gripped the chair arms until his knuckles were pale. But he still couldn't find the strength to force the other away.

'Oh, gods, he's going to rape me… Sister, please come back, see him for what he really is and help me! Stop him! Oh, someone, anyone, please stop him…'

He could barely remember a time he'd felt so defenseless. And when he found a memory, it seemed too foggy and hard to bring up.

After what must have been forever, the kiss ended and the body oppressing him was gone. Malik blinked open his watery eyes and looked up fearfully at the taller male. Mariku was currently gathering up his animal -- which had been in the room the whole time, apparently -- into his arms. He stood up straight and walked to the door, opening it and glancing back over his shoulder at Malik, giving him the most horrible look the teen had ever seen. But truly, it was just a promise that this wouldn't be the last of this kind of situation. And right now, that was the most horrible thing. For Malik. Mariku seemed to have enjoyed himself a lot. He licked the taste of the sweet tea from his lips and seemingly vanished around the doorframe.

Malik stared blankly at where the other had been only seconds before. His eyes looked different from the fiery ones he had only a mere half-an-hour prior. The tears that had gathered around his lashes were pushed over as more crawled out. With a sob, he wrapped his arms around himself and curled into the closest thing to the fetal position that he could. He set his head on his knees and cried.

Isis came back at this moment, entering the room and blinking, looking straight at her desk. "Where's Mariku?" she asked, sounding disappointed. She had come back early to check on him, and he wasn't even here! But… the plates looked perfectly fine again, and that lifted up her spirits. But still, she had wanted to pay him for his work, or something---

Her thoughts were ripped away from her and thrown into oblivion as she heard a sound that she hadn't heard for years. Her head snapped to the side and the sight that caught her vision made her heart freeze. She rushed over and wrapped her arms around her brother, kneeling down beside him and hugging him close. "Oh, Malik, what's wrong? What happened?" Worry was evident in her voice as she questioned him, but Malik could only moan and weep even harder, his shoulders shaking. He shook his head at the question, trying to find the words, but not really wanting to say them at all.

Isis didn't know what to do. What the hell happened while she was gone? She pulled her brother closer and held him, shifting them both so that his head was on her shoulder.

He wrapped his arms around her and continued to cry.

.: Chapter end :.

Yeah, I kinda get the feeling that that wasn't the kind of man-on-man action y'all were expecting. XD But yeah. Everything is slowly moving into place! I'm not really sure how I'm going to end up binding the plot together, but… Hey, I'll figure something out!

But yeah. Don't worry about Malik! He'll be fine. Really.

But, um. Basically… Malik really thought he was going to be raped. And he was so scared that after the kiss was over, he cried because he was relived it hadn't happened, and the fact that he had been molested like that in the first place.

Thank you so much for you patience with me, guys! I love you all. I'll make a whole long list of the people who reviewed in the little extra thingy at the end of the story. I'll be putting out-takes and other such things that didn't quite make it into chapter there. So you'll get so read some really random crap for fun after everything's said and done, okaaaaay?

END RANDOM DRABBLE VOMIT BLAH.

And for those of you who were wondering, which I doubt any of you really were or anything, but yeah. The tea that Malik had made was karkade, "a traditional Egyptian tea, consisting of brewed hibiscus flowers and copious quantities of sugar." God that information off of Google. Sounds good -- I wanna try some. O:

Sorry for the downbeat ending, guys! I suck, I know. But tell me what you think! (I bet you're disappointed, huh? Heheh… oops.)

-Cecilia