Huge shout out to the awesome reviewers I've had! I love you all.
BTR Chapter 8
She had never been inclined to have more than one beer before her daughter died. Honestly, if you had asked anyone before that they would most likely say her husband was the one with the problem. But now, she didn't even have anyone to ask. People tend to leave you alone if you drink enough.
With a final heavy gulp of her beer, Mrs. Jounouchi belched and threw it at the garbage can. If she noticed when it missed and shattered against the wall, she didn't care. Her head was lolling from side to side and the television was increasingly harder to focus on; her vision was so blurred that she barely noticed the person standing in her way.
"You make a better door than a window, Katsuya." She struggled against the alcohol running through her blood to sit up straight in the recliner, annoyed that her son refused to listen. "Move!"
"You're pathetic." Mrs. Jounouchi gasped at the person's voice – a much deeper voice than that of her son – and used all her strength to center her eyes. She'd learned awhile ago that there were certain things you never forgot when someone left. Their smells and silly things they said and the sound of their voice will always be with you. When she succeeded in focusing her vision, her drunken brain ignored the obviously threatening stance of the intruder.
She could have cried when she saw her husband standing in front of her.
"S-s-"
"Shut up." He strode angrily towards her and captured her throat in a death grip. "You don't get to say my name."
Mrs. Jounouchi whimpered and weakly clutched the hand around her neck. Even sober she wouldn't have had the strength to fight him off. Through watery eyes, she took in the blonde mop of hair and hardened brown eyes of her husband. His beard was scruffy and even through his blazer she could see the rolls of fat that had accumulated over the years. He was radiating fury.
"That boy could have been amazing," he growled. "Our son could have ruled. And why isn't he? Why is he stuck in this ungodly plain?"
She shook her head, unable to comprehend what he was rambling about. Especially when his grip tightened and black spots blinded her oxygen deprived eyes.
"Because of you. You're the most pathetic mortal I've ever known. And I knew Judas."
Moments later Mrs. Jounouchi exhaled for the last time, but not before she watched yellow scales erupt from her husband's skin and a split tongue flicker out of his smirking mouth.
Serp stood back to admire his work. He had been waiting patiently for Jou to visit his mom one last time so he could finally kill the mortal who bared his son. Jou was now the only proof left that he was ever topside during the 500 years of banishment. With a satisfied hiss, Serp shimmered and then vanished completely, leaving the strangled body of Mrs. Jounouchi watching Daytime television until her neighbor would come checking on her two days later.
Malik's stomach had never been so twisted in all his life. Excitement and anxiety combined inside him like a tornado; he wasn't sure if he needed to puke or scream. Something told him that one would inevitably lead to the other.
Breathing raggedly, he slid to a halt next to Kaiba who stood slightly closer to the door than Jou and Bakura. At the sight of Marik he felt the screaming creeping up to him sooner than anticipated. Malik's eyes widened as he stared, unsure what to say or do. Marik appeared just as conflicted and a little relieved, but as far as his boyfriend could tell wasn't seriously injured or otherwise unhealthy.
"What brings you here?" Kaiba's voice was as calm as Malik's head was spinning. Marik drew his eyes slowly away from studying Malik – who had been too busy taking his love in that he didn't realize he was being watched back – and squinted at his friend.
"Yami texted me. He said something happened and you needed my help." Malik swallowed the sound of Marik's voice, savoring it for the first time in what felt like millennia. "What's wrong?"
Behind them, Jou sniffled but stubbornly denied any crying when Seto started back to comfort him. Instead, he rolled his shoulders and neck with a forced smile for Marik.
"I'm glad you're safe, pal." Marik nodded his head once in recognition before Jou journeyed to the kitchen for comfort food. Seto dipped his head towards his friends, then curtly pivoted to trail after Jou.
"Wait, so which one of you is the puppy?" Bakura called. As he shouted (and snorted at the bird he was promptly flipped) he repositioned himself inconspicuously between Malik and Marik; although he'll never admit it, having someone between him and his boyfriend put Marik somewhat at ease and he silently thanked Bakura.
They stood in silence for a moment before Bakura spoke in a much more serious tone. Malik bit his lip, tensing his defenses against his friend's powerful wave of distraught.
"Yuugi passed out almost five hours ago now and we can't wake him up." Marik's eyebrows twitched in surprise.
"Is he in the hospital? He's still alive, right?"
"No hospital; and he's alive, yeah, but…" Bakura trailed off as Ryou slinked up to him from the hallway to Yami's room and hugged his side, placing a tired head on a comforting shoulder. "Yami thinks it was some kind of dark magic."
Marik retained his poker face, but his muscles tensed subtly and he strained his ears. He had no idea if he was even ready to exist in the same room as other people let alone fight a battle with them. And that was inevitable if magic was involved. He glanced worriedly at Malik, but turned away shortly after taking in the struggle on his boyfriend's face.
"What can I do?" Bakura shrugged.
"I honestly don't know why Yami texted you unless it was for moral support." With an incredibly obvious shift of his eyes towards Malik, Bakura leaned forward to kiss the top of Ryou's braided hair and was met with a very painful (even if unintentional) head-butt when the shorter boy jerked to stand straight.
"Wait, Yami texted you?" He spoke directly to Marik, anticipation painting his tired eyes.
"…Yes?" Marik lifted his winter coat to pull his cell phone out of his back pocket, find the text, and show it to Ryou. "See?"
"Something's happened. Malik needs you." Bakura read out loud over Ryou's shoulder.
"Malik was fine though he was helping Yami with research up until you got here so I don't-"
Ryou gasped and threw the phone back to Marik who only barely caught it. Instinctively, Malik hurried to his side to be sure he was unharmed. No one commented his sudden halt halfway to Marik, but it did not go unnoticed.
"Watch it." Marik grumbled at Ryou. "I don't need any more broken technology."
"He knew you were the only distraction that was good enough to get Malik to leave him alone with Yuugi." Unaffected by Marik's grouchiness, Ryou nabbed Bakura's hand and started running for Yami's bedroom, leaving Marik and Malik behind. "He's going to the dream world without anyone!"
Malik refused to make eye contact with Marik and instead swiveled to follow his friends, but his boyfriend caught hold of the gray sweatshirt (Marik's gray sweatshirt) he wore to stopped him. When a strong wave of regret and love washed over him, Malik sobbed dryly and pulled away arms crossed, still facing the hallway he was about to venture down.
"You came because you thought I needed you?" He spoke so softly that Marik had to lean forward to hear.
"I told you I would." He stepped closer, recoiling when his advancements were met by Malik edging away to keep distance between them. "I didn't before because-"
"You didn't want to blow me up." Marik snorted. Try as he might, Malik would never be able to hide anything from him. He knew every subtlety about the boy he'd fled a country for; how when he crossed his arms it meant he did not want to be touched and how his voice quivered right before he came. The small fidget of his boyfriend's feet told Marik that Malik was fighting every flight instinct he had just to find out answers, and he respected that. He would reveal exactly what it was that had him so very reluctant to stay in the house with everyone while they figured out their powers.
"Well yeah that and," Marik sighed. "You being here makes it worse."
Malik's eyes filled with tears as he felt his own words replay in Marik's head for what was probably the millionth time. Then, with all his strength Malik pushed Marik's emotions out of his mind as he had been learning to do for all their friends. He felt anger fuel his heart instead. Anger that Marik had the audacity to throw their fight in his face. Anger that he had had to learn how to contain everyone else's emotions on his own. Fury that Marik could play it cool even in such a maddening situation.
"Well you weren't here and I didn't get killed." Fully aware of the inevitable response from his boyfriend, Malik stepped down the hallway thinking that if Marik wanted to throw words around, he could play that game. "So I guess you don't need to protect me anymore."
He covered his mouth with his hand, breathing deeply when Marik's overwhelming heartbreak chased after him. His resolve was weakening – he couldn't keep out such powerful emotions completely. His boyfriend was marching behind him, both shocked and devastated that Malik could say such a thing. After Egypt…
"Baby."
After everything they'd done for each other and all the times he'd proved he would shield Malik from even the biggest of evils, it was desolating to hear such a slight. Fortunately, Bakura's shouts from the bedroom ended their squabble prematurely.
Malik shook his head and steadied his emotions before walking into the large bedroom to see Bakura shaking a supposedly sleeping Yami and Ryou frantically flipping through the old book where Malik found the dream world. He strode forward to separate Bakura from his unconscious best friend.
"Didn't we already figure out that doesn't work?" Malik put his hands on Bakura's shoulders and gently guided him away from Yami. By the door, Marik watched sadly the rage on their white haired friend's face drain into panic.
"He said he would wait," Ryou cried, flipping more pages angrily. "There is nothing in here about getting them back!"
Bakura threw the bits of Yuugi's sweater that hadn't burned at Ryou and scoffed, rolling Malik off of his shoulders. He stood glowering above Ryou who had opened the book on the floor because of Bakura's frantic behavior.
"Of course there isn't! You can't just give an idiot a way to do something idiotic and then walk away, Ryou, what were you thinking?"
Ryou slammed the book shut and stood up furiously, glaring back at Bakura.
"Don't you dare blame your cousin's stupidity on me, Bakura." Their features grew red as they continued to bicker, much to the headache of everyone else in the room.
"Enough!" Marik ordered. "Bakura, you and I will go downstairs to the storage cupboard and see if there are any recipes for waking someone from a deep sleep. Malik, you and Ryou stay here with these two. Keep an eye on them; be on the lookout for any physical changes like lower body temperature."
Ryou raised an eyebrow at Marik's taking initiative. Out of the four of them, he wouldn't have been his first choice for leader. But it was sound advice, so with a final harrumph in Bakura's direction Ryou made his way over to Yuugi's body and lifted his friend's hand with his own, nose up at his boyfriend.
Bakura scoffed and threw his arms up in the air at Ryou.
"Can you believe him?" He hissed. Marik was brought to a halt in the middle of the hallway by Bakura, who had obviously become overwhelmed by the need to vent about his boyfriend in lieu of the absence of his friend.
"You threw bits of sweater at him."
"Whatever. He was behaving like a moron." Immediately regretful for saying it, Bakura caught the next words in his throat and opted for awkwardly crossing his arms and clearing his throat. "So what do we do now?"
Marik stared at his friend like he was a five year old struggling to grasp the alphabet.
"You and I go down to the storage cupboards and scout for the recipe like I just said."
"Wait, seriously? Why do you get to tell everyone what to do?"
Marik's face fell flat, clearly not interested in an argument, and he gestured towards the stairs.
"Do you want to fight me or do you want to fucking walk tomorrow?"
Bakura paused for a moment as if contemplating, but after one final glance back at Yami's bedroom he sulked passed Marik who let his arm fall and walked behind him.
"So the fuck kind of scarab crawled up your tan ass?"
Yami had no idea where he had gotten a sword from, but he wasn't complaining. If it hadn't appeared there was no way he would have been able to fight through the terrible, demonic versions of his friends to where Yuugi hung on a cracked concrete wall. Apparently shape shifting was not an inter-universally applicable gift. He stood on the balls of his feet to reach the chains binding Yuugi, loosening them with surprisingly minimal effort. Where they were strong and new before they were now rusted through, making them easier to snap than a carrot.
"They got older," Yuugi swayed against Yami's chest when the first cuff broke in a mercifully short amount of time. "Every time you sliced someone, the rust spread and the cuffs got weaker. Where'd you get that sword, anyway?"
"Uh," he glanced down to the sheathed metal against his hip as he worked on the second cuff, thinking how bizarre a medieval weapon looked with the jeans and plaid shirt he was wearing. "I guess you dreamed it for me so I could be your knight in shining armor."
Yuugi smiled sarcastically at Yami's cheesy wink. But as the second cuff fell, he was grateful for someone standing in front of him to stop him falling onto the cold floor.
"I got you, babe." Yami cradled the smaller boy's head against his chest. "That's it, Yuug. Rest your head against my manly bosom."
Yuugi chuckled tiredly against Yami and leaned his full weight into the other boy. When he felt Yami lift a coat from his shoulders and wrap it around him, Yuugi's eyes widened and he stepped back, swaying a bit from the dizziness in his head.
"Don't touch me. Please." Yuugi waved his head from side to side as he continued backing away from Yami until his back was once again touching imprisoning stone. "You'll just leave like everyone else. I know it's pathetic, but even Jou is better off with Kaiba and no one wants me around. I can't go with you, anyways, I'm too tired."
The young one's eyes filled with tears and he tightened the almost too big jacket over his shoulders. His knees shook. Yami noted with a grimace of worry that the usual fierceness Yuugi cradled was missing, replaced with a broken and passive person whom he barely recognized.
"Please," Yuugi pleaded. "Just go now and spare me the heartache that will come when you leave me."
Yami's eyes widened. This was why his image was missing among the others. He'd assumed it to be because of the connection they shared; that whatever it was about him which temporarily kept the nightmares at bay also stopped him from being involved in them. But this, he never expected. Yuugi was stopping himself from attaching to Yami because he knew that if Yami ever left him, it would be the last straw. If they fueled their potential and ever disintegrated, Yuugi wouldn't recover. After losing almost everyone he cared about, taking a blow like losing Yami would be the end of his resolve.
He'd crumble.
"Yuugi, there's a reason I wasn't part of this nightmare. I can't tell you exactly what it is, but I can tell you that I am not going anywhere." He stepped forward and stroked the side of Yuugi's face with one strong hand, the other dangling next to the sword. The conviction and love in his eyes calmed the shaking of Yuugi's body, though he continued whimpering quietly. "And you have to trust me right now."
For every bit of promise in Yami's eyes, Yuugi looked back at him with confusion and a tiredness that could only be classified as desperation for sleep. He was terrified of trusting him but knew that if he didn't they may both die. That wouldn't be very fair, would it? Yuugi thought once more about Jou and Seto ignoring him for what felt like days and Ryou almost raping him just to prove that he never loved him. His small hands wrapped around the one against his face as it contorted with sadness.
"Yami," he whispered. Saliva gathered on his tongue, making the words feel damper than if he hadn't been crying. "I'm-"
Yami pulled Yuugi's face towards him with the hand that was still grasping his hair and kissed him with everything he had. Yuugi's death grip on the hand loosened and he instead dug his fingers into the fabric of Yami's shirt, desperate to be as close as possible because this kiss was warm and love and the shadows around them didn't seem quite as dark when Yami hooked an arm around his waist and sucked on his bottom lip.
They separated only by their lips, keeping a hold on each other and locking gazes. Yuugi swallowed a lump in his throat and kissed Yami slowly, more gentle and enticing than before. He secretly loved the sound their wet lips made when they parted.
"Okay," he conceded. "W-what do we do?"
"Well," Yami's voice rose as he spoke. He surveyed the ominous shadows around them and circled back to Yuugi with a sheepish smile. "I protect you until the others save us."
Yuugi rolled his eyes and slowly worked his arms through the jacket sleeves with a weary groan.
"Idiot."
"There's my little game."
"You are one heartless son of a bitch! Your cousin and my best friend are lying unconscious under risk of a demon attack and you're still going to work!"
Kaiba rolled his eyes as Jounouchi once again started guilt tripping him about going back to work for one business meeting. He stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom with the collar of his deep blue button down shirt popped trying to decide between a white or black tie. His boyfriend's angry face glared over his shoulder at his reflection and seeing the crossed arms and clenched jaw, Kaiba sighed and pivoted around with one tie over each shoulder to regard Katsuya with tired eyes. Jou's glower barely softened and he willingly stepped forward to accept his lover's hand on his cheek.
"Aren't you worried at all?" He asked quietly, more for the assurance that he wasn't alone in his nervousness than anything.
"Of course I am," he replied. "But if my company goes under, then what? Then I can't finish school, Mokuba can't finish school, and our lives go to shit. I, for one, refuse to let a bunch of power-grubbing demons run my life."
Jou growled angrily, knowing there was no arguing with someone like the youngest CEO in Japan. He reached his left hand up to pull the white tie from Seto's shoulder and fasten it around his neck. With a short-tempered peck to Kaiba's cheek, Jou doubled back to the adjoined bathroom. Kaiba turned to the mirror and his eyebrows rose appreciatively.
"An Eldredge? Pup, I'm impressed." He slowly moved backwards to sit down on the bed and put on his shoes, elevating his voice so Jou could hear him from behind the closed bathroom door. "It's only one meeting, you know. Another company wants to buy out a portion of Kaiba Corp and obviously I'm not going to let that happen."
He rose to don his coat, fanning out the collar and smoothing down the chest pockets. He'd be the first to admit he looked damn good. When the knob of the bathroom door jiggled, Kaiba took a gander back to continue conversing with Jou. However, when he saw his pup decked out with a semi-unbuttoned flannel shirt and jeans that hugged his rear then flowed straight down, words were suddenly hard to come by. Sure it wasn't the fanciest outfit, but damn if Jou didn't make it work.
Reason #35 to be together: we a good lookin' pair.
"What?" Jou asked. Without breaking stride, he snagged a jacket off the back of the desk chair – one that was definitely Seto's – and started towards the door. "I'm going to check on Yuug and then I'll meet you in the car."
Kaiba shook away the daze he was in (God when did Jou get those veins on his forearms and why were they so distracting) and followed his boyfriend into the hall.
"What makes you think you're coming with-" Kaiba was cut off by Jou swerving around and slamming his body into the wall like he used to when they fought in school and holy shit was that really only a month ago?
"Yami went after him and I know that if anyone is going to save him, it's your cousin." Jou was breathing heavily, fists clenched in Seto's collar. The taller boy ran his hands soothingly over the forearms that he had been admiring only moments ago, not threatened at all by the blonde who had him pinned to a wall. "And keep in mind that if anything happens to him while we are gone, I will kill you. But I can't let you go out in a magic infested world alone. Gotta be around to kick ass for you, ya know?"
Kaiba moved his arms down to pull Jou close and kiss his forehead. Jou wrapped his arms around Seto's neck and hugged him tight.
"I love you."
"I love you, too, asshole."
"This is stupid." Bakura grumbled. For the fiftieth time.
No the literal fiftieth time. Marik has been counting because he decided that however many times Bakura grumbled 'this is stupid' he would give him that number of stab wounds. He was really going to enjoy it.
"It won't get any less stupid if you keep bitching about it, Fluffy." Bakura rolled his eyes as he continued crushing up mint leaves over ice for the spell to wake Yami – and hopefully Yuugi, too.
"You and your boyfriend need to quit fucking calling me that before it catches on."
As soon as he snapped, Bakura's eyes widened and he regretted referencing Malik at all. Before he could say anything, Marik raised a hand to attempt to quiet him. He continued flipping through the pages of one of the many leather bound books for more information on where exactly their friends were, desperate for a distraction.
Unfortunately for him – and honestly even more unfortunate for Bakura, because he was the one testing Marik's patience – his white haired friend did not appear to be interested in dropping the subject.
"Look, it'll be okay. Kaiba told us what happened; what your power is. You did the right thing. I mean if that was me, I wouldn't want to be around anyone here until I could control it." He abruptly flinched away and crossed one arm to hold the opposite elbow, his hand waving as he spoke. "You can control it, can't you?"
Marik snorted.
"I've been in here with your constant bitching for forty-five minutes now and everything is still intact, so I'd say yeah."
"Oh, good." Bakura sighed in relief. "…Hey, hold up-"
"Got it!" Marik slammed his hand down on the table next to his book and leaned forward, the edge of Malik's stolen t-shirt under his coat brushing against the edge. "Dream Sorcerers. It says all but one was wiped out 1600 years ago in a battle with…King Arthur? Are you fucking kidding me? What do we need Excalibur now?"
Bakura hurried over to read for himself and gaped at the intricate artwork on the page. A being apparently made of sand was depicted on the left side of the page with swirling black smoke drifting from his fingertips, constricting King Arthur's head in its elusive grasp.
"No, wait," he pointed to the right page where a paragraph of information was written in elegant script. "It says the Dream Sorcerer can use your nightmares to trap and torture you for information before he absorbs your dreams and kills you. That must be what happened to Yuugi. If we can pull him back out of the dream and into reality – well if Yami can find him there by the time we wake them up – then maybe that breaks the spell. No Excalibur needed."
Marik sighed in relief. He pulled out his cell phone and texted Malik to bring Ryou over from the bedroom so they could recant what they'd found.
Bakura continued reading the passage and studying the visage of the sandman's victim; Arthur's eyes were glazed over and black goo oozed from his tear ducts and out of his ears, almost like the sandman's curse was filling him to the brim. He wracked his brain trying to remember anything his mother had told him about nightmares, but other than the typical maternal comfort he came up blank. He gritted his teeth when his eyes caught sight of a small admonition at the bottom of the page.
Be warned. One mustn't awaken the dreamer lest the sorcerer one also seeks.
"They're coming." Marik tossed his phone onto the table and placed one straightened arm next to the book, the other resting on Bakura's shoulder. "Anything else in here?"
"Yeah," Bakura huffed. "If we do find a way to wake Yuugi up, it will bring the Sorcerer with him. Which I guess means breaking the dream doesn't kill the Sorcerer. And no way can we could contend with someone of his level. We're not ready."
Isis' living room flashed before Marik's eyes.
"Definitely not." He slowed his nodding head and stared at the remnants of the mint leaves where Bakura had been standing. "But we would have Yami. So then it'd be okay, wouldn't it?"
With a shake of his head, Bakura sighed through his nose and wrapped his fingers around the table's edge.
"We can't wake him up until we find a way to kill the sorcerer; who knows what kind of condition the dream left him in."
"Bakura," Marik observed the angry stance of the boy. One he knew was because they had to leave his very best friend trapped in a world filled with unknown evils without being able to help.
"Shut up." Bakura gripped the edges of the table until his knuckles appeared whiter than his hair. Marik continued, still trying to wrap his head around it.
"It's Yami. He'd be fine." He said. "We can't just lea-"
"Shut up!" Bakura flung his arm into Marik's stomach, throwing the other boy backwards a few feet. His breathing was harsh and if he grinded his teeth together anymore they might distort to dust. "I know what it means, but it says so right here in the book, okay? So unless you want to try blowing up a high level demon and risk not only our lives but the lives of Ryou and Malik, then just shut the fuck up."
"Kura."
The arguing boys snapped their heads towards the door at the sound of Ryou's voice. He stood cautiously at the frame's edge, nervously twiddling with the end of his braid. His large brown eyes shined with sympathy and shock. Behind him, Malik stood far enough away that his angry eyes and clenched jaw were the only repercussions Bakura's immense anger had on him.
"Ryou," Bakura breathed out. Marik rose to his feet rubbing his sore lower back. "How long have you been there?"
Ryou walked forward, glimpsing up at Bakura sadly. He vaguely noticed Malik's struggle to remain at the door and not help Marik stand, but as he watched Bakura's eyes harden against impending emotion he couldn't be bothered with his friend's trouble.
"Don't do that," he warned. He lifted his hand to hold Bakura's cheek. "Don't shut me out."
Bakura sighed. He stood tall and strong against Ryou's imploring gaze.
"We can't wake them up." Marik murmured. He pointed to the open book on the table. "It'll bring the sorcerer with them."
Ryou glanced at the book and back up at Bakura, eyes wide and unbelieving.
"So?" He scoffed. "We need to get them now. Their bodies are already getting cold – we just had to tuck them in when Marik texted us."
"He's right," Malik said through clenched teeth. His body shook slightly as it clung to the doorframe and beads of sweat rolled down his skin. "We have to wake them up; who knows how long they can last in the dream world before their bodies die. Now, Bakura, could you stop being so angry I've got enough on my plate."
They all jerked towards the door aiming to comfort him when he held up a hand. Bakura worked very hard to avoid mentioning that Malik and Marik had the same way of saying "shut up and stop what you're doing," but he managed to keep his mouth shut.
"Don't. Just take the awakening spell and get them back. I'll stay here and see what I can find to help in the meanwhile." Ryou nodded at his friend's words and gathered the supplies to wake Yami and Yuugi, relieved to be actually doing something to help their friends. Bakura stayed where he was and raised a sassy eyebrow at Marik, silently knowing exactly the conversation they were about to have.
"I can't leave him down here alone under threat of imminent demon attack." Bakura shrugged his shoulders. Marik was bound to start excusing himself from the fight with something like Malik, but he deflated when Bakura saw through his ruse. Everyone in the room knew that in the library with warding spells was the safest place. "I'm not ready. We might all be blasted into dust!"
"What do you want me to do? You've got the best chance against him."
"Take your dagger and kick his ass! I'm –"
"Oh hold the fuck on." Bakura swiveled sharply away from his friend and whipped out his cell phone, dialing Kaiba's phone number. "Goddamn sand dollar can't just blow a demon up without bitchin- yeah, hey Kaiba. Way to answer my texts."
Malik gestured towards Ryou, pleading for him to tell them what the hell his boyfriend was doing, but he only shrugged and shook his head. Bakura rolled his own way; sometimes you got to go along for the ride and other times you just had to stand back and watch the show.
"Well you need to get home so we can wake up Small and Smaller and simultaneously probably vanquish a demon. Marik can't blow him up." Marik scoffed, knowing Bakura was only repeating what he'd just said but too prideful to accept it in such terms. "What, like Sam and Dean? Ay-hello?"
Bakura extended his arm and stared at the phone.
"Bugger hung up on me." He regarded again his confused friends and shook his head, as if remembering what he was actually doing. "Alright, Ryou and I go set up the spell, you two check down here for amulets and salt and bring them up to us ASAP. Kaiba will be here by then. And just so we are all clear, I hate it when you sandstorms tell me what to do."
Without bothering to assess the undoubted awkwardness of Marik and Malik working together, Bakura picked the rest of the herbs they'd need from the table along with his dagger and exited with Ryou to prepare the spell in the same bowl Yami had used earlier. The younger of the two waved with an overly cheerful smile on his face.
"You guys are wimps!"
"Oh my god, they really are perfect for each other," Marik chuckled to himself.
Malik watched them go before releasing a deep breath he was holding. Bakura's anger at almost leaving Yami behind was the strongest emotion he'd felt since Marik left; much trickier to block out that a duller feeling. He twisted to Marik to say they should start searching and was surprised to find the boy's eyes already on him.
"We need to finish our conversation." Malik rolled his eyes.
"We need to bring them the amulets. Salt is in that trunk," he pointed to a large, oak chest behind Marik. "Make yourself useful."
Marik clenched his fists, but retrieved the large bag of rock salt anyway while Malik reached under the herb shelves on the other side of the room and found an old, rusted box with protective sigils carved into the sides.
"I still will never understand how salt words off demons." Marik plopped the heavy bag onto the table in the middle of the room where their books were still spread out. "Pepper could at least make them sneeze. The fuck does salt do?"
He was blatantly ignored by the other who was walking up to him fiddling with a dusty, ancient looking box. As Malik fought to open it and get the amulets from inside, Marik studied his face and the way his pink tongue peeked between his lips when he focused too hard. He'd missed little things like that the most over the past week and his heart twisted when he realized that Malik wouldn't kiss him in victory when he finally opened the box.
The possibility that after everything, Malik might finally have gotten enough of him was terrifying. What if this fight ended it all for them and Malik never even understood why Marik left or that he never wanted anything but to be with him?
When he finally managed to pry open the lid and scoop out the chains, Marik took in the pride on his boyfriend's face and promised himself they would never be separated without Malik knowing how loved he was.
"Here, we have these. Let's get up-" Malik dropped the box of amulets onto the table in front of him when Marik suddenly captured either side of his face and pulled him forward, sealing their lips with all the love and longing he held. Fuck he missed this. He hesitated a moment too long before he pushed Marik away. "Seriously? Now?"
Disappointed and angry at Malik for not getting swept up in their kiss, Marik gathered the salt again with a downhearted glare.
"Feelings are your forte, baby, not mine." He shrugged. "All I know is that when we kiss I still taste the next 60 years of my life, and I won't let that go just because we had a fight."
With that, he made his way to Yami's bedroom with his boyfriend following, stunned. As they neared the room, the Egyptians quickened their steps until they were almost running. Ryou and Bakura were yelling so loudly they could be heard down the very expansive hallway.
"Bakura, just stop." Ryou shouted. His pleas were more than unanswered. "You just said earlier that it isn't worth the risk. You have to slow down."
"Slow down?" Bakura reeled. Ryou flinched at the tone of his voice. "You felt their skin, Ryou, it's ice cold. I said that before I realized my best friend would die. They need to wake up now."
"But the amulets-"
"Fuck the amulets!" Bakura struck a zippo from his back pocket and lit a stem of spearmint over the now melted ice, then dropped it into the bowl. "Excitare, qui somnium vidisse se."
They waited anxiously, staring at their friends from either side of the bed; Ryou stood above Yuugi while Bakura was bent over into Yami's face, checking for any sign of life.
Nothing happened. Bakura shook angrily until he finally raised his eyes to Ryou, defeated.
"I'm sorry, Ry-"
"It didn't work?" Ryou interrupted. Before Bakura could answer, Ryou was shocked by a piece of rope constricting around his neck and yanking him upwards. As he trembled, a voice that sounded how sandpaper tastes hissed into his ear.
"Oh boy, did it work."
Kaiba stared at the incredibly bizarre CEO opposite him with a clenched jaw and fingers clasped in front of him. His sleeves had long ago been rolled up to his elbows and his tie was loosened, signifying that he was not only fed up with the meeting, but his temper was now stoked enough that he didn't care how he looked. Behind Kaiba's swivel chair, Jou sat on the window seat on his laptop, obliviously searching for information about alternate planes like the dream world, trying to save his friends. The increasingly frantic state of his boyfriend plus Kaiba's phone buzzing for the third time with a text from Bakura telling him to come home meant that this dick-cheese facing him (with the audacity to ramble on endlessly about the "improvements" he'd make to Kaiba Corp) was very, very close to being ripped a new asshole.
"If you need to answer that, Kaiba boy, please do," he drawled. Kaiba smirked.
"It's fine. This meeting won't be lasting very much longer, Pegasus." Hearing the deathly tone in his boyfriend's voice, Jou spied from behind his computer screen and watched as Kaiba drew himself up to his full stature which, even sitting, was very intimidating. The strangely pale man with long white hair didn't seem wary, though. In fact, he almost looked amused. His one good eye winked towards Jou, who cringed.
Delicious.
Kaiba's eyes widened when he heard Pegasus' voice. He'd seen the wink at Jou, but he never thought anyone would be stupid enough to actually hit on his boyfriend. And especially not in front of him.
Pegasus' serious lack of recognition of who exactly Seto Kaiba was really pissed him off. Who the fuck did he think he was talking to?
"What did you just say?" Kaiba's voice was terrifyingly low. Pegasus raised an eyebrow at him.
"Nothing, dear boy. But I'm so glad you've decided to sell."
Confusion fleeted across Kaiba's features, but was quickly replaced with a challenging glare.
"Oh no, you misunderstand." He rose to his feet, prompting Pegasus to follow. They glowered at each other as if at any minute someone would deliver a fatal blow. "I'm not selling. You are. I'll be taking 51% of Industrial Illusions, if you would."
Pegasus chortled, annoyingly smug.
"When pigs fly."
"If I'm not mistaken, you flew in this morning all the way from America. So that takes care of airborne swine. Now if you wouldn't mind," he gestured towards the door. "We're done here. I'll fax you the paperwork tomorrow."
Jou chuckled loudly behind him, poorly masking his laughter behind one hand but successfully catching Pegasus' attention. The older man glanced back to the blonde boy and made a mental note to remember him vividly.
I'd pound the laughter right out of that one.
Lacing his fingers together, Kaiba straightened his arms to crack his knuckles. That was all the warning Pegasus had before Seto Kaiba's right hook met his now very broken jaw and the elder CEO was sent flying.
Ignoring Jou's protests, Kaiba pressed the intercom button to alert his secretary of Mr. Pegasus' need for an escort out of the building, then snatched his phone, coat, and boyfriend and strutted out of the building, importance and general badassness rolling off of him.
"The fuck was that?" Jou screamed as he was unceremoniously dragged to the car. Kaiba pushed Jou into the passenger seat and threw his coat and phone into the other's lap. Then he walked to his own seat, started the car, and peeled out of the garage.
"I figured out what my power is." He watched the road carefully, avoiding Jou's eyes.
"What, clocking people for no reason?"
"He was thinking terrible things about you."
"I don't care, you can't just…wait, thinking?"
"Yep."
"…So, you're telepathic?"
"Impressive word, pup. I'm surprised you knew it."
"Fuck off."
"I'd rather fuck you."
Jou sputtered and grew red, angrily folding Seto's jacket over his arms and squeezing the cell phone in his hand.
"That's what this is? Some weird, jealous rich-boy thing?" Kaiba rolled his eyes at the assumption (even though it kind of was two billionaires vying for the same "possession," which was Jou in this case).
"Yeah, kind of how you pee on a fire hydrant to let the other mutts know that's your territory."
Unfortunately, Jou wasn't able to chew Kaiba out before his phone started vibrating.
"Bakura is calling you." Without reading the caller ID, Kaiba snatched his phone from Jou and supported it with his opposite ear and shoulder so he could reach out and hold his angry boyfriend's hand in his. Jou accepted haughtily.
"We're on our way." The car was silent while Bakura communicated everything, but Kaiba's face dropped further and further as he listened. "Wait for us. Tell the sand dollars to raid the cabinets below where you found the herbs for protective amulets and place them around Yami's room, then salt the windows and doors. Oh my g- yes like in Supernatural."
Kaiba hung up the call and tossed his phone back at Jou, gripping his hand tight. They sat in silence for a few minutes before the blonde finally spoke.
"So, reading minds is cool."
Ryou felt his breath being constricted by the rope around his neck and clawed desperately. Bakura was surrounded by black spots and getting blurrier the longer Jafar had a hold on his wind pipe. The unnatural shade of blue creeping along Ryou's pale skin mocked Bakura, taunting him for not saving Ryou fast enough.
"Put him down and I might kill you quickly."
Jafar's loud, diabolical laugh echoed through Ryou's oxygen deprived brain like a church bell and he cringed violently. Even if any animals were nearby, he had no way of asking for help with his quickly depleting coherency.
"Do you think I'm stupid? You have no powers, you can't threaten me." Bakura's smirk grew defiantly psychotic at Jafar's underestimation. He reached slowly into his belt and withdrew his blade, teeth now shining through his lips.
"I may not have magic. But if you think I can't take your eye out from here, you're dead fucking wrong." He twirled the blade between his fingers to emphasize his skill. Jafar curled his sandy lip dangerously, but loosened his hold on Ryou without letting go completely. His victim gasped for air and fought his light headedness to stay vertical; his feet knocked into the bed and his vision momentarily failed as his body collapsed onto his knees, landing him next to the still unconscious Yuugi. Once he could see that Ryou was weak enough that he couldn't fight back, Jafar released his rope completely and viciously seized Ryou by his hair, throwing him to the floor where he continued to struggle for oxygen. Bakura growled and tightened his hold on his knife but didn't make a move. The sandman appeared far too smug to not have a plan, and Bakura would be damned if he played into it without analyzing the situation first.
"No matter," Jafar stood up straight; dignified. He brushed off his robes and the way his eyes lit up made Bakura want to vomit. "I'm not here for him. My prize is far more beautiful."
He gazed longingly at Yuugi's sleeping form and smiled.
"So delicious. All that pain and anger bottled up in such a tight little body. I've never had such a fun victim." He glared venomously at Yami. "Your friend the knight, however-"
"Back up." Bakura enunciated strongly, threatening Jafar's life without so many words. The demon's arms extended above Yuugi, as if he intended to scoop him up and shimmer away.
Just then, the bedroom door exploded forcefully, knocking Jafar to his hands and knees and giving Bakura the opportunity to run across his friends on the bed and kick the fallen demon in the stomach, pushing him across the room. Jafar's body was surprisingly solid for being made of sand. With is dagger still at the ready, Bakura knelt down to feel Ryou's pulse, his eyes watching Jafar with an unwavering determination.
When he got a pulse, Bakura collared his boyfriend's shoulder and shook it. Marik and Malik circled the unmoving Jafar in salt to keep him trapped, then moved to the other side of the bed by Yami, standing prepared.
"Ry, come on." He shook harder. "I need you to wake up."
Silence answered him.
Across the room, Jafar's dark chuckle erupted once more only more menacing than Bakura thought possible; like he his inhibitions were quickly fading from his consciousness, leaving only a mad man in their wake.
"Aw, is the little Pocahontas tired? Why don't we let him rest?"
He waved one sandy hand and Bakura, flinging him into the wall above Ryou and holding him there by his neck. Marik and Malik attempted to sprint for him, but Jafar held up a warning hand.
"Enough." Jafar rose to be completely on his feet, his sedimentary skin moving on its own along his body as his eyes grew more and more feral. He ogled wildly at Bakura. "Fuck orders. I'm going to kill all of you and take the boy. And I'll start with the one you like so much."
Bakura watched horrified as Jafar summoned a ball of electricity in his hand and aimed it at Ryou. He screamed at Marik and thrashed against his invisible bonds.
"The fuck are you waiting for? Blow him up!" No one seemed to notice Marik's eyes trail up from the bed, but he managed to worry Jafar with his confident smirk. The biggest advantage to fighting creatures that had been locked up for 500 years was surely that they were so excited to use their magic they forgot about how to actually fight. Always be ready to defend, go for the weak spots, and keep your eyes open. Marik licked his lips through his smirk and chuckled slightly with anticipation of what was about to befall the demon who tried to steal Yuugi.
"He doesn't have to." Malik reassured his friend on the wall and gently hooked Marik's arm, pulling them slowly away from their side of the bed. "Yami's awake."
"Yuugi, do you see that?" A shivering Yami pointed off in the distance towards a bright light. He lifted Yuugi's hand and started walking towards the mysteriously warm, welcoming source of light. "It smells like mint…"
The tired boy tried to open his eyes at whatever Yami saw, but it was too bright. He was already so exhausted, how could Yami expect him to be able to behold something so dazzling?
"Just tell me." Yuugi pulled Yami's arm closer to his body trying to fight off the almost unbearable cold that settled over them after the nightmare versions of his friends were destroyed. Whoever had them trapped here seemed intent on isolating Yuugi until he welcomed the frostbite and begged for death. He clearly didn't count on Yami.
"It's home." He guided Yuugi closer, a smile on his face. "Let's go."
Jafar stared at the massive Black Panther on top of him with sheer terror. His entire body screamed in pain and he could feel some drywall underneath him digging in all the wrong places; he attempted to wiggle free, but a might roar in his space ceased all movement. Even the sand on his skin stood still.
"My wall!" The demon shifted to contemplate the new arrivals, still riddled with shock from the blow. He remembered someone saying that annoying knight was awake and then the next thing he knew a great wildcat was running with all its might and tackling him through a wall. "The fuck, Yami?"
Still in the bedroom, Marik and Malik poked their heads through the jagged hole in the wall with amazed expressions on their faces. They were so intrigued by the damage that they failed to notice Bakura helping a struggling Ryou up to them.
"He apologizes," Ryou rasped out. He leaned almost completely on Bakura, bruises already decorating his collar. "But it was the fastest way to get him out of the room."
Kaiba huffed.
"Well then, by all means. Take it down to the foundation if you want."
Yami snarled suddenly when Jafar attempted to use their apparent knack for distracting themselves with conversation to push him off. Instead, Yami sat all of his weight down on the sandman and growled again.
"You think you've won?" Blood was rapidly filling his mouth and showering Yami when he sputtered. "You have beaten me, yes. But now they know where you are. And trust me, they are on their way."
With a final threatening growl, Yami shifted so his human body was straddling Jafar, the sword from his excursion still attached to his hip. He drew it deliberately, watching the flash of the blade reflect the fear in Jafar's eyes. Yami raised the hilt above his head so the tip of his sword was directly above the demon's heart.
"Bring it."
It took all his might to shove the blade down through Jafar's most vital organ, so he wasn't prepared to fall on his ass when the demon turned to sand below him.
They all stayed quiet. There were so many problems and questions floating around that no one had any idea which to tackle first. Except Jou.
"Yuugi," he breathed out before leaping through the improvised door and racing to his friend's bedside. "Hey, buddy. Wake up, now."
They watched Jou shake Yuugi's shoulders, but were unable to see either boy's expressions. Yami decided to stay back in case Yuugi didn't remember the dream world. Didn't remember their kiss. Everyone held their breath, waiting impatiently. Minutes passed and just as Jou's tears were about to start falling onto his friend's face, Yuugi sat up and took a deep, gasping breath as if he hadn't experienced oxygen in years. No one could retain their sighs or cheers of relief.
"Yuug!" Jou clamped his arms around Yuugi's shoulders and pulled him close, kissing the top of his head over and over. Malik bounded to them, burying his head in a very confused Yuugi's shoulder.
"It's good to have you back, love." Ryou whispered, still using Bakura as his crutch. "How are you feeling?"
Yuugi's eyes trailed down to the comforter in front of him where his hands picked at the fabric. He shrunk into himself, effectively removing Malik and Jou from his personal space. They leaned back, perplexed. Yuugi had never been one for unnecessary physical contact, but his friends were always exempt from that rule. Hugging was never a problem before. Ryou rotated his neck to urge Yami forward.
"What happened in there?" The sword-wielder shook his head, denying answering. Instead, he etched forward, praying that Yuugi at least remembered their kiss. He stood with the others around the bed and expressed worry for Yuugi he'd temporarily ignored in favor of murdering the son of a bitch who put him there in the first place.
"Are you alright, little one?" Yuugi peeped behind his blonde bangs at Yami, and then shook his head slowly. "What is it?"
Bright blue lights suddenly began growing in the air around them, surrounding their vision and warming them from the cold. Soon they attached themselves to everyone and started to grow even bigger. Yuugi stared at Yami with sadness.
"I want to go home."
8,746 words! Please review!