…

The prince asked her who she was, and where she came from, and she looked at him mildly and sorrowfully with her deep blue eyes; but she could not speak.

…

One would have thought that Pegasus was a kind man, what with his ever smiling face and kind demeanor and all. But you know what they say, don't judge a book by its cover. With that said, all assumptions about Pegasus were wrong. They were all wrong. That man was nothing but a sadist! Forcing them to practice non-stop like that, as if they were not living beings but machines—bloody hell! How Bakura managed to survive ten years of working like that was beyond him. But at least the man finally decided to give them a break, not that Bakura was actually going to rest. No, he was going to hunt down a certain dumb, blond Egyptian. Ever since that talk with Anzu, the idiot had been avoiding him like the plague. It would have been all right if he was subtle about it but no. Every time Bakura entered a room, Malik left, hastily might he add. Whenever he finally succeeded to corner him, his partner always managed to get away. He said it once and he'd say it again: Bakura Touzoku hated the day he taught the boy how to be as slippery as an eel. It was a great skill but an annoying one when used against him. Malik could go and hide and run away as much as he liked, but if there was one thing that would never change, it was the fact that Bakura always got what he wanted. And he wanted Malik's head. Well not really his head per se, more like what was going on inside that pretty, little head of his. With those thoughts in mind, Bakura proceeded to hunt for Malik.

Heart beating as fast as his mother's Celtic drums, he looked for any signs of Malik backstage; he checked the loo, the studio, the backstage, heck he even went out of the theater just to check the idiot's favorite shops but he just couldn't find him. Only when Pegasus announced that break was almost over did Bakura decide to pause his hunt. Looks like today wouldn't be the day after all. A dejected groan escaped him as his entire body slumped over the velvety chair that had hundreds of doppelgangers in the theater.

Well look who decided to show up, Bakura thought with a scowl as he caught sight of his favorite blond passing through the doors with a certain grace only he could do. He smirked in his seat as Malik moved towards him and handed Bakura a cup while taking a seat next to him to enjoy his own drink. Bakura leaned back and stretched his legs with a pleased sigh to fully enjoy the calming aroma of his tea. Holding the cup snuggly in his hands, Bakura closed his eyes and inhaled the heavenly, citrus, cologne-like scent.

"Figured you needed one," Malik mumbled more to himself than his companion as he took a sip of his chai tea. Movement caught his eyes causing him to glance down at Bakura who seemed to have managed to curl himself up on the chair. He then gave Bakura a tired look when he raised an eyebrow at him. "Anzu and the others told me," he said in response, causing Bakura to immediately scowl at him. "Oh please, as if you running around like a mad man isn't enough cause for worry," he scoffed before taking another sip of his tea. "It's as if they think I'm your guardian…"

Bakura tore his eyes away from Malik's face and turned to look at his tea with a conflicted expression. He shifted on his seat, his tea remaining untouched. "…I was looking for you."

"Well here I am now," Malik replied after gulping down the rest of his drink, watching Bakura open his mouth only to close it again repeatedly with his infamous poker-face on. Bakura's hesitance to say what was on his mind was taking its toll on Malik's patience, and yet he remained silent. His charisma really must have been something because a simple encouraging look was all it took for Bakura to speak up. That, and the fact that Malik was starting to make a move to leave.

"I didn't mean to keep it a secret," he hurriedly whispered. "She wanted both of us to tell you but then things got in the way and then shit happened. Then you started acting weird when I told everyone about it and dammit Malik talk to me." Bakura glared at Malik with his face flushing bright red. If this was any other occasion, he would have celebrated; this was one of those rare times that he had managed to stun Malik into silence. However, his silent gaping was not helping Bakura's nerves and he swore if he didn't say anything soon—

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw Malik trying in vain to stifle his laughter. Watching him filled him with so much ire that his fists clenched tightly on his seat, imagining that it was Malik's slender neck. Thankfully for both of their sakes, Malik managed to compose himself and gave Bakura one of his dazzling smiles. "I know," he said in an equally hushed tone.

Pleased at the turn of events, Bakura allowed himself to relax and smile back at Malik. "Good."

With those words said, the two enjoyed the comfortable silence they'd learned to enjoy in each other's company.

"Ishtar! Touzoku! Just because you're the leading actors doesn't mean you get to laze around! Get back in here!"

The two flinched at their adviser's harsh tone before looking at each other and sharing a laugh. Looks like some things just didn't change.

I'll probably end up updating this everyday now so- peace out!