It was Sunday night. Dinner was done, the plates, knives, and forks had been thrown into the dishwasher, and the setting sun peeked into the kitchen through a tattered curtain, winking against the plastic coverings of the Duel Monsters cards scattered all over the table.

"Go," Bakura said, unblinking. For the past half-hour, he had hardly moved a muscle, making only minimal movements to grab his cards and throw them onto the field. His face was so rigid that Marik was afraid it would crack if he actually smiled.

Marik threw Gravekeeper's Jackal Guard on the field, and watched Bakura's face turn even more stone-like. Marik had the spell card Necrovalley on his side of the field, which increased all Gravekeeper monsters' attack and defense points by 500, giving his Jackal Guard 2,000 attack points. Bakura merely had the monster Sangan out on the field, with only 1,000 attack points, and they were not so evenly matched this time. Marik had 3,200 life points, while Bakura only had 1,500.

"You look so uptight," Marik remarked, smiling. "I wonder if it's because you're preparing yourself for what will be your fourth loss in a row." His smile turned cat-like. "And what comes after that."

Bakura didn't even bother addressing that statement.

"I assume you're attacking me for 1,000 life points?" he asked, not looking up as he wrote in their new scores.

"Yes," Marik said leisurely. "Your turn."

Bakura picked up a new card, his eyes flickering as he examined it, and Marik wondered briefly about the card's contents. His gaze fell from Bakura's face, to his pale neck, to the t-shirt slung loosely over his chest, and would have fallen lower had the table not been shielding the rest of him. Marik lingered on the realization he'd had the day before, when he'd felt Bakura's smooth skin under his fingertips, and heard the hitch in his breath. The way Marik had hooked his fingers inside of Bakura, the way Bakura had gritted his teeth all through last night's movie with what Marik suspected was a huge hard-on. Despite Bakura's protests, Marik thought that he'd enjoyed being dominated. He was almost entirely sure of it. He just needed another turn, so to speak, to be certain.

"I use De-Spell," Bakura said suddenly, and Marik frowned when he realized his Necrovalley was now off the field, meaning that his Jackal Guard was back to 1,500 attack points. "And I put Spirit Shield on my side of the field."

Marik examined the new card curiously. When your opponent declares an attack, remove from play 1 fiend or Zombie-Type monster in your Graveyard and negate that attack and end the Battle Phase. Interesting, Marik thought. But what good would it do if Bakura didn't have any Fiend or Zombie monsters in his Graveyard—

And then it him suddenly. Bakura did have Fiend and Zombie monsters in his Graveyard. Plenty of them, in fact. Marik thought back to the last several turns, when Marik had effortlessly wiped out most of Bakura's monsters: Pyramid Turtle, Goblin Zombie, Mezuki, and most recently, Sangan. He'd thought it was funny that Bakura had equipped his deck with so many zombies for this duel, when the additions weren't helping him at all.

But now Marik saw Bakura's strategy. Although Bakura was wide open for attack, Marik's battle phase would end for the next four turns anytime he tried to attack, since all Bakura had to do was remove Pyramid Turtle or Sangan or Mezuki from his Graveyard to stop Marik from attacking. He wouldn't be able to do a single thing to Bakura's life points.

"Interesting," Marik finally said, pursing his lips. "Are you done?"

"No," Bakura continued, still as rigid as ever. "I put this monster in defense mode, face down. And now I end my turn."

Marik sat up a little straighter in his chair, and his heart beat a little faster. He couldn't afford to let his guard down now. He drew a card, examined his entire hand, and realized he didn't have a single monster to play.

"I attack your face down card," he grumbled, knowing that doing so was useless because Bakura would just negate it.

"I remove Sangan from play to negate your attack and end your battle phase," Bakura said. "My turn."

Marik had to admit that he was momentarily fascinated. Bakura had been completely focused and alert the entire duel, betraying neither smirk nor frown. He'd clearly re-arranged his deck since last night and was examining every card carefully, weighing the pros and cons of each. Marik realized that it must have been the previous night's loss that prompted such a strong determination to win.

Suddenly, Bakura flipped up his face down card, revealing Zombie Mammoth, and placed it into attack position. The card's special effect read: Destroy this card if you do not have a Zombie-Type monster in your Graveyard. When this face-up card is destroyed, inflict damage to its controller equal to its original attack.

Marik glanced at Bakura, confused. "But you do have zombie monsters in your Graveyard. Why would you play this?"

Finally, the corner of Bakura's lip curved upward. In response, he played another card unfamiliar to Marik.

Creature Swap. Each player selects 1 monster they control and switches control of those monsters with each other.

"I switch my Mammoth for your Jackal Guard," Bakura said, looking directly at Marik. "Since you don't have any zombie cards in your Graveyard, the card is destroyed on your side of the field, making you lose 1,900 life points. I attack you with your own Jackal Guard for 1,500 life points, for a total of 3,400 life points. That means—"

Bakura's voice faded as the points slowly added up in Marik's head. He ran over the numbers several times, as if the math could lie to him, somehow. Thirty-two hundred minus thirty-four hundred was negative two hundred. He had negative two hundred points. Negative two hundred.

"You lose," Bakura finished.

Marik opened his mouth a few times, trying to think of something to say. For a moment, he just sat in his chair, shocked, while Bakura put away their cards. It shouldn't have come as a great surprise, since Bakura was a great duelist, and Marik had been pushing his luck the past several days, but still. He'd lost. He'd lost the duel, and much more importantly, he'd lost the bet.

Bakura glanced at Marik, trying to discern the reactions his face was currently betraying, but the only thing he really felt right then was elation. He'd held himself carefully rigid the entire game because he'd wanted to be prepared for the worst of it. He'd wanted to stay neutral, because after the last three duels, anything could have happened.

But that wasn't an issue anymore. He'd won. Won, won, won. And there was only one feeling flitting and scrambling around in his chest right now.

"Ready?" Bakura asked, poised to head into the bedroom.

And now it seemed that their dispositions had switched, because Marik was the rigid one. He said nothing, but merely brushed past Bakura and stormed across the apartment toward the bedroom, while Bakura followed.

The door slammed shut behind Bakura, their clothes fell to the floor without a word- as usual, Marik kept his shirt on- and Marik threw himself on the bed, lying on his back.

"Are you going to flip over?" Bakura asked as he carefully climbed up on the bed, eyeing Marik up and down. He'd seen him nearly naked plenty of times by now, but there was something distinctly different this time. Marik was very far from being hard.

"Hell no," Marik said. "I'm not letting you fuck me like some kind of dog. Now get on with it."

Bakura recognized the resistance. It was the same thing he'd experienced the first time Marik had fucked him.

Bakura opened the lube bottle and coated his fingers liberally, and then sat closer to Marik. "I'm going to stretch you."

Marik said nothing, so he took that as a sign to proceed. He started with one finger, slipping it into Marik's asshole slowly, and was surprised at the clenching warmth around his finger, resistant but sucking him deeper all at the same time. Marik turned his head against the bedsheets, fixing his gaze on the far wall and biting his lips, while Bakura watched his face the whole time.

Bakura slipped in a second finger and saw Marik's eyes widen slightly, before he closed them, and turned his head farther against the sheets. Bakura's heart beat faster. He pushed deeper, mesmerized by the elastic softness around his fingers, and felt himself grow harder.

"I'm good," Marik said, turning his face back to Bakura. In the dimness of the room, his eyes were nearly black. "You can start now."

Bakura removed his fingers and coated his cock with more lubrication. His entire body was hot; he slipped his fingers leisurely over his own dick, getting harder still at the thought that he was finally going to fuck Marik.

How long had he been waiting for this? How long had it even been since their duel? The anticipation hovered in his fingertips, coursing through him, flaring up.

Finally, he guided himself toward Marik and pushed inside. The angle was strange, so he grabbed one of Marik's legs and wrapped it around himself, while he still straddled Marik's other thigh, and then he pressed into him again.

"Ah," Marik winced, and then turned his head to the side again, as if embarrassed by his own reaction. He clutched the bedsheets at either side of him, and seemed to force his body not to squirm as Bakura slipped in deeper.

Finally, Bakura had gone as far as he could go, and started to slide back out. If he had to describe the feeling, he would have nothing substantial to say because that's all it was— feeling. It was wet and slippery, stretching and clenching and sucking and still awkward because Bakura's hand kept slipping on Marik's thigh while he moved in and out, and Marik kept looking at everything but Bakura, clearly not turned on at all even though Bakura had been at this for a few minutes already.

Bakura adjusted his angle, grabbed Marik's hips fervently, as he thrust harder. He watched Marik's face for a reaction, but found only a pair of pursed lips and eyes clenched shut. He wasn't sure why he cared, but he wanted something more out of this. He wanted a pair of parted lips and half-lidded eyes, or at least some indication that the pleasure wasn't only his own.

He started to adjust again, even out the pace to make it less sharp, grip Marik's thighs less tightly, but suddenly he was climbing fast, riding on a thrust that stroked every part of his cock, until every inch of his skin trembled with the effort of holding himself back, and finally, he came. He breathed hard and fast as he continued thrusting, emptying out what felt like every part of him. When he looked down at Marik, he finally caught his eye, and noticed that he also looked a little winded, catching a shallow breath. And when he glanced down, he realized that Marik had grown slightly hard.

But Bakura hadn't lasted long enough for Marik to really enjoy it.

Finally, he slipped out and rolled off of Marik, flipping over to lie back on the bed and catch his breath. Marik stood up slowly, padded across the bedroom and put on his boxers and jeans.

Bakura watched him the entire time, wondering why his heart was still racing long after his breath had evened out.

The next night, Bakura had wanted to bet again, but Marik had declined, saying that he didn't want to bet on a work night again. He'd explained that he really didn't need the extra stress of worrying about losing a bet to Bakura when he knew he'd have to get up early the next day and face a stressful shift at work. He hadn't told Bakura that he'd also spent his entire day at work feeling like he wasn't walking quite right and being paranoid that someone would notice. Still, the rest of his point stood. His shifts at the museum were nearly agonizing for him, and he always dreaded it when he knew he would have to go back the next day. He didn't need the additional worry of having to submit to Bakura sexually the night before if he lost their game. Besides, he liked having an additional week to try to improve his strategy in order to make sure that he didn't lose next time.

Bakura had acquiesced without much protest, possibly because he was so satisfied with how their last duel had turned out, and had agreed to wait until the weekend to bet again.

After the way their last game had gone, Marik wasn't much in the mood to play Duel Monsters that night, even just for fun. When he'd found out that Bakura had never seen Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever, he'd dragged Bakura into the living room and insisted that they watch it together.

As the movie ended, Marik grabbed the remote to switch off the TV, and then turned to Bakura.

"So? What did you think?"

"Well, I'll tell you," said Bakura, "the entire movie was worth watching for that one single scene."

"Please tell me you're talking about the gym scene where-"

"Of course," said Bakura. "They're all locked in the gym, everybody's got the flesh eating bacteria, the floor is literally completely covered in blood, and then those two kids at the front are just making out with each other right in the middle of all of this carnage-"

"And then they totally vomit blood right in each other's mouths!"

"Yes.Yes, that was so awesome." Bakura paused. "Still, it wasn't as good as the original."

"Well, not many things are as awesome as the original Cabin Fever," Marik said. "I mean, in the original, the part with the squirrels-"

"And what the girl says on the dock!"

"And the sex scene-"

"Best sex scene in a horror movie ever."

"Best sex scene in any main stream movie ever. And the joke at the end, with the gun-"

"That was set up at the very start of the movie-"

"Yes. Funniest thing ever," said Marik. "Seriously, it's not even fair to compare. Cabin Fever 2 wasn't even directed by Eli Roth."

"Yeah, it's not a true sequel," said Bakura. "That's why I didn't bother to watch it before now."

"You know, a lot of times I feel like I should have more respect for Eli Roth," said Marik. "After all, he pretty much invented the torture porn genre. But when I first watched Hostel, my immediate reaction was 'not enough torture.' That was literally all I thought, because half the movie is just taken up by these naked girls jumping around to techno music, and how do I care about that? I don't, so get to the torture."

"Well, you have to remember that Hostel was essentially the first torture porn movie," said Bakura. "You can't expect it to be as advanced as later developments. And Eli Roth is no Wan and Whannel."

"Well, who is?"

"Yes, exactly," said Bakura. "Nobody can measure up if that's the bar you're using. But Hostel 2...you should give it a chance. I know you've seen it, but you enjoy it more when you re-watch it and really try to appreciate what it's doing. Sure, it has the same problems as the original Hostel, where the torture doesn't really start until the last half of the movie. But when the girl turns it around and brutally kills her captor and then gets the tattoo, you can't help but love it."

"Again, you just like movies that have vengeance."

"And again, so?" said Bakura. "And you can't say it's not cool when she escapes and takes her revenge on the lady that put her there. And then the child gang plays soccer with the lady's disembodied head? I laughed so hard."

"I admit, that was pretty hilarious," said Marik.

"Yeah, I know."

Marik was silent for a moment. Finally, he said, "You know, it's nice to have someone to talk to about this stuff. One time, my sister noticed that I had the fire extinguisher scene from Irrevésible favorited on my YouTube account, and she went into some big lecture asking me why I wanted to fill my mind with that kind of trash."

"Maybe because that scene is totally awesome?" said Bakura. "The way he keeps twitching after his face has already been totally annihilated and the guy just keeps hitting him."

"I know, right?"

Marik paused, looking over at Bakura. There was silence for a moment as their eyes met, and then Marik suddenly felt uncomfortable and looked down at his hands, which were twisting in his lap.

"Well, it's late and I have work tomorrow," Marik finally said. "I'm going to take a shower and get to bed."

Bakura nodded, and Marik heaved himself off of the couch and left the room without another glance at Bakura.

The rest of the week passed by fairly uneventfully, with Marik going to work during the day and then spending his evenings with Bakura, sometimes dueling him for practice, and sometimes watching movies with him.

Then it was Saturday night, and that meant it was time to bet again.

Marik's palms were sweating as he picked up his cards.

"So, for the bet tonight," Bakura said, picking up his own cards. "I thought we'd raise the stakes again."

"What?" asked Marik, his eyes widening.

Raise the stakes? Again? he thought. What the hell could Bakura be thinking now?

Bakura looked at Marik and smirked.

AN: Happy New Year! Thanks for reading, please review!