A/N: Nii...I don't have much to say. Marik's gonna be a sad little yami so...yeah...nii...
Disclaimer: All I own is the cafe waitress girl.
Chapter 5: Café
"Coming!" Ryou called. He removed his apron and hung it up, trotting to the door. He knew that Bakura would be coming home soon complaining about the rain, so maybe the ringer of the doorbell had been him. Ryou unlocked the door, opening it with a wide bright smile. Standing there with an umbrella was a teen a few inches taller than Ryou, a nice smile on his face as well who definitely was not Bakura.
"I thought it'd be nice if we took a walk." he offered simply, green eyes sparkling. Ryou gasped a bit, blushing. He giggled, however, and tugged on his boyfriend's arm.
"But it's raining!" he said, trying to pull him into the apartment. The raven-haired teen just laughed.
"That's the point!" he said excitedly, pulling his arm back to bring Ryou closer. Ryou giggled again, and hugged Duke tightly.
"Duke, you're so strange…" he murmured, snuggling up to the game maker. Duke just grinned and kissed Ryou's head.
"But you love me. And since you love me, you'll come for a walk in the rain with me." he stated eagerly. Ryou sighed, pulling away.
"Fine. Let me go get my coat." he said, giving up and running to his room. Duke smiled, waiting for his white-haired angel to return.
"Dammit, Bakura. You're heavy for a scrawny guy." Joey mock-complained as he glanced down at the albino in his arms. Bakura, more asleep than awake, tiredly stuck his tongue out. He was soaking wet and being carried...at the same time. That was not a very good combination for him. He had one arm loosely around Joey's neck, the other resting on his stomach area. They both gained the same looks as they had at the restaurant, but this time there was more staring than just a bunch of quick look-overs. Bakura badly wanted to growl and snap at the nosy idiots, but at the moment was too worn-out to do anything.
"Then why're you carrying me?" he muttered. Joey grinned.
"Cuz I wanna." he said. Bakura sighed, relaxing more in Joey's arms. When Joey had first picked him up like this, he had a flashback of him and Marik, but stopped fidgeting only when he realized being carried by Joey felt more okay than by Marik. The memory hurt him, but he concluded that it probably hurt Marik more from his actions that morning. He sighed, resting his cheek against his arm. "So…about you and Marik…"
Ah, perfect timing.
"What about me and that psychotic bastard?" Bakura questioned back bitterly. Hey, he held grudges, okay?
"I mean…whenever I bring him up you get all stiff and cold and bitter. And yesterday you wanted to completely avoid the topic. What'd he do to ya?" Joey inquired, looking down at Bakura worriedly. Bakura stared back up, and turned his head sharply to the side, sending little droplets of water from his hair to the puddle-mottled ground.
"Nothing of your concern." he muttered. Joey slowed down to nuzzle his nose in Bakura's wet hair.
"If it's about you it's definitely my concern." he replied softly. Bakura couldn't help the small blush that came to his cheeks. "Plus ya told me you'd tell me at the park. Remember?" Joey added, grinning. Bakura groaned, falling limper in Joey's arms, hanging his head back and dangling his arm dramatically.
"But Joey!" he whined. That's right. The Great Thief King Bakura just whined like a child. Joey chuckled, picking up speed when he spotted a small café.
"No buts, Bakura. You are gonna tell me what happened between you and Marik. Even if it means kissing you in that café right up there."
Bakura blushed again. They hadn't mentioned that little, ahem, event since it, well, happened. He grumbled a 'fine' and returned to the position he was in before his Drama Queen act. He looked at the café, and his face dropped and paled of all blood.
Marik had had absolutely no intention leaving the house after that morning's 'activities'. But, seeing as he was staring hopelessly into a Mocha, had done so anyway. Okay…so grabbing Bakura and trying to make out with him for everyone to see wasn't a very good way of showing his love for the yami. He cursed himself each time he thought of it. Those sinfully tender lips…that wet, slippery tongue…the strong pale body writhing beneath him…the look in those gleaming, heart-shattering ruby red eyes…
He sighed, taking one long gulp of his coffee. The waitress looked on, pitying the Egyptian from afar. That had been the fifth coffee-like drink in one hour's time. She even remembered him muttering, "Why'd I order this? I hate this stuff…" a few times.
Poor guy. Must've got dumped by his girlfriend. She thought sympathetically.
Marik nibbled on the foam cup. He was going to leave in a second, but he just wanted to see if the rain would pass in that second. It didn't, and he sighed mournfully, snatching his umbrella and standing up. He nodded a thanks to the waitress and walked out, throwing the cup in the trashcan. He opened his umbrella as he opened the door, taking a step to the left before stalking on home.
He failed to notice the pair of wide, blank crimson eyes staring at him along with a scared brown pair.
Bakura's breath hitched in his throat as he watched the other yami walk in the direction he and Joey were walking…or, rather, Joey was walking. Joey's jaw dropped, and Bakura had to close it for him when it looked too much like ogling for him to stand. The blond blushed at Bakura's actions, grinning goofily. Bakura sighed, and looked at the ground, raindrops still splattering down upon it.
"You can put me down now." he said quietly. Joey didn't question the hushed tone, having a good guess why. He set Bakura down gently, blushing when his hand grazed over his butt. Bakura didn't seem to notice; he was only staring at Marik's back. Joey looked at Bakura, and 'innocently' brushed his hand against the tight ass again. Bakura, again, paid no heed. Joey inwardly grinned, doing this over and over again from pure curiosity alone.
Needless to say, they were getting very, very strange looks now.
Just when Joey was thinking about groping the albino, Bakura looked over his shoulder, indifferent. Joey froze, suddenly very much scared.
"Joey…why the hell are you feeling me up?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. Joey blushed furiously, and stepped back, waving his hands frantically, his words coming out loud and incoherent. Bakura rolled his eyes, and grabbed Joey's hand. "C'mon."
With that, he dragged Joey inside.
Marik sighed again, waiting at the bus stop. He was thinking about Bakura again, telling himself that the yami was not staring at him right this moment, no matter how much he wished it true. His ears twitched when he heard loud stammering, and his eyes widened a bit when he heard a familiar voice say, "C'mon." Marik turned his head in time to see a blond, whose name he remembered as 'Joey', being pulled into the café he had just left. He didn't get to see who was dragging him, and played back the scene in his mind. His eyes widened.
There had been a death-white hand grasping Joey's.
Marik was just about to race back in, but the bus pulled up. He knew that there wouldn't be another one for an hour, and he particularly didn't like the rain. He smirked a little bit as he boarded the bus.
That was one of the many things he and Bakura had in common.
Joey shook his head wildly once they got in, sending water in all different directions. One direction happened to be in Bakura's face when said yami turned to face the blond at that exact time. He glared at Joey, who grinned at him again. Bakura sighed.
"You're gonna wanna hit me for this, but, you do act like a dog." he said bluntly. Joey growled. Before he could argue, Bakura gave him the 'shut up' look. "Don't argue. It'd be too big of a mood swing for me to handle right now."
"Mood swing?"
Bakura led Joey to a table and sat down, looking up at him. "Yes. First it was, 'Hey! Let's feel Bakura up!' and that'd be too weird to go straight to, 'He called me a dog! Oi!'." he explained. Joey blushed, not replying as he sat down in front of Bakura. "After I tell you about Marik and me, you tell me why you even thought about doing that." Joey nodded, his face still red. "So, first off—"
"Would you two like some coffee? You look cold." a waitress asked kindly, smiling. Bakura noticed the pity in it. He shook his head and studied her while Joey ordered. She had violet eyes. Like Marik's, but girly and bright…actually, more like Malik's…only…no eye-liner…and more girly. He sighed when she left.
"What the hell was Marik thinking? He doesn't even like coffee…" he muttered. Joey looked at Bakura.
"I saw his face. He looked pretty down." he said. Bakura stared at the table top, sighing again.
"I'm just glad he didn't see us. That was close."
"Yeah."
"Here's your drink, sir." the waitress said, handing Joey his drink. Joey smiled.
"Thanks." he said, and looked back at Bakura. "So, what—"
"Um, I'm sorry, but, do you know that man that just left? I heard you two talking and I just thought it sounded like him…" the waitress asked shyly. Bakura looked at her, seeing the sadness in her eyes.
"…Yeah. We know 'im…" Bakura said softer than he was speaking earlier.
"Oh, really? Can you please tell me why he's so sad?"
Bakura and Joey stared at each other, and they sighed in unison.
"It's a long story. Don't bother with it." Bakura told her. She sighed, pouting a bit. Bakura was now convinced that if she were male and Egyptian, she'd be Malik.
"Okay. Just…just please make sure he's alright. It bothers me when people look so helpless and I can't do anything about it." she pleaded. Bakura had nothing to say to this. Joey, thankfully, did.
"Hey, no prob, miss!" he said, grinning his silly, trademark grin. The girl smiled, giving a small bow.
"Thank you. Coffee's on me!"
Joey smiled as she trotted off. "She was nice."
Bakura blinked slowly, and looked Joey in the eye. "She's a girl version of Ryou in her manners and a girl version of Malik in her looks." Joey stared at him.
"She doesn't look like Malik…" he trailed off. The girl had pale skin, shining lavender eyes, long black hair, and absolutely no eyeliner. Bakura shook his head.
"You've never seen him pout." At this, Joey snickered.
"Maybe I should hang out with you guys more. I'm already likin' you a lot." he said, winking. Bakura blushed a bit, and rapped his fingers on the table.
"Do you wanna hear about mine and Marik's ordeal or not?" he muttered. Joey nodded, staring at Bakura intently while he sipped whatever caffeinated drink he had gotten for free. Bakura sighed. "Okay, well, it all started at Battle City…"
The beats made by the rain on his umbrella soothed him as he strode down the sidewalk. He loved music, so the drumming sounds of the drops let him smirk just a little. Marik turned a corner, and came face to face with emerald eyes. The owner of them jumped back with a screech while the doe-eyed boy next to him giggled. Marik blinked.
"Um…hey Ryou…" he greeted, cocking an eyebrow at the hikari's boyfriend. Ryou giggled again, bowing.
"Hello again, Marik." he said, smiling. Duke was now hiding behind Ryou.
"Some great protector you're being, Devlin." Marik noted. Duke glared, not straightening up at all.
"You're psycho!" he protested. Ryou sighed, smiling. Marik rolled his eyes.
"Duke, he's one of my best friends. You can come out now." he comforted. Duke thought about it and slowly came out from being incognito. Marik would have usually snickered and teased the game maker about this, but the sad frown was still set on his features. Ryou noticed and looked worriedly at Marik. "Marik, is it about this morning?"
Marik nodded a bit, and looked at the ground more than the couple. Duke, confused, looked between the two. Ryou put his hand on Marik's arm, smiling warmly up at him. Naturally, Duke got jealous and glared at Marik warningly.
"I'm not going to steal him away from you, Devlin. Don't worry." Marik's deep voice formed half-hearted words. Duke hmph'd while Ryou blushed and smiled at Duke. Said hikari looked at Marik again, squeezing his arm.
"Don't worry. You two will stop fighting soon." he said softly. Marik forced a smirk. Ryou had no idea what was really going on…no clue at all…
"Yeah…one can hope…" Marik said in an equally tender tone. Ryou smiled, and let go of Marik's arm. Duke was wide eyed at the situation before him. Soon, Marik made his farewells and left Duke and Ryou alone again. Duke stared at Ryou.
"You guys tamed him." he said, awed. Ryou giggled, and kissed Duke's cheek.
"No we didn't. And if he was 'tamed', credit goes to Malik."
Duke chuckled, and kissed Ryou's lips. "Like your angelic presence didn't do a damn thing." he said sarcastically. Ryou smiled, blushing. He was used to Duke calling him his angel. Most of the time it was 'kitten', but angel worked, too.
"I wonder what Bakura's doing…" Ryou wondered once they had begun walking again. Duke shrugged, wrapping his arm around Ryou's tiny shoulders protectively.