"When the world ends
You're gonna come with me
We're gonna be crazy
Like a river bends,
We're gonna float
Through the criss cross of the mountains
Watch them fade to nothing
When the world ends
You know that's what's happening now
And I'm gonna be there with you somehow"
~Dave Mathews Band, "When the World Ends"
Ryou made lunch. As he cut vegetables, he realized that most of the time he spent in control of his own body was either in the kitchen or working on their Monster World campaign. Ryou knew that fact should bother him, but it didn't. It was like being awake during your favorite parts of the day while sleepwalking through everything else; he rather enjoyed it.
Marik sat at the kitchen table, watching Ryou prepare their ramen.
"So," he asked, "why is this stupid hair tie important to you?"
"Because Anzu gave it to me," Ryou answered while slicing carrots.
"Which one was that?"
"The one you controlled on the blimp."
"Oh." Marik's gaze clouded for a moment.
His attention returned back to the moment when Ryou started speaking again. "I have to keep track of it because I'm supposed to give it back to her the next time I see them."
"You don't seem the type to flirt with girls."
"Would you get jealous if I did?"
Marik frowned at the table, drawing on the wooden surface with the tip of his finger. "I suppose I don't really have any claim on you or Bakura."
"Oh." Ryou scraped the carrots to the side and prepared the shitake mushrooms. "Too bad. I think you'd look cute jealous, and I kinda like possessive boys."
Marik snorted. "Well, guess the Ring was a good Item for you."
"Yes, getting possessed is a bit like I'm the protagonist in a horror movie." He gestured to Marik's ponytail. "But Anzu wasn't flirting with me when she told me to keep her hair tie." Ryou sighed, remembering the day before. "I was saying goodbye. Bakura and the Other Yugi were fighting and I realized it was better if I let them be. I can't stop the Pharaoh and the Spirit from hating each other, and I always feel like a burden when I'm with the others, but despite all that, Anzu told me to hold on to her hair tie and give it back the next time I saw them. Don't you see, Marik? It's like a magic spell, a promise that no matter what happens between the Other Me and the Other Yugi - I'll always be able to go back to them as a friend."
"Here." Marik pushed himself away from the table. He walked into the kitchen and unwound the tie out of his hair. Ryou reached out his hand, combing through Marik's freed hair. Marik replaced the circular, black cord around Ryou's wrist.
Ryou smiled. "Maybe some of the white magic rubbed off on you while you wore it."
"I doubt it."
Ryou leaned in closer to Marik, closing his eyes half way and breathing through his mouth. Marik seized the invitation and kissed him, wrapping his arms around Ryou's back – the upper section to avoid his bruise – and squeezing him hard. Marik reached for Ryou's pant-button, but Ryou stopped him. "I don't want the noodles to get soggy. They should be done."
Who cares about noodles? Host, you're an idiot.
Ryou repressed his laughter, not wanting to explain to Marik what he thought was funny. After they ate, Marik stood and stretched. "I need to run to a store and get a computer if I'm going to help you with your game."
Ryou nodded. "I'm going to stay here and get some writing done for the campaign."
Marik left and Ryou washed and dried the dishes, brewing himself an extra cup of tea that he took with him over to his laptop. He scanned through several folders and opened up a new document.
I want to make your mother's spirit an NPC and put her in a side quest.
No.
Didn't you want this to be as accurate to your memories as possible? Your mother was there. How can I avoid a detail like that?
Leave it alone, Host.
Bakura escaped the conversation by hiding deep in their subconscious.
Ryou chased him, closing his eyes so he could sense the Spirit's presence in his mind. You can't hide every time you start to feel something! Ryou screamed in his mind.
Leave me be.
No. Not anymore. It's too late to pretend we hate each other.
Leave me alone right now or I'll stab your other hand through a game board.
Do it, but I'm not letting you run away.
Last warning.
Bakura!
Ryou blinked. He was in his soul room and standing in front of him was the Spirit. His hair was as white as Ryou's only shorter and his skin was darker than Marik's. Ryou reached out and traced the scar on the Thief's cheek. "How did I . . . I didn't even know we could meet like this. I mean, I've heard Yugi talk about doing this with the Pharaoh, but I didn't think we could do it."
"That's because we shouldn't be here at the same time. You're supposed to be a tool for my revenge and one does not speak to objects."
"I know you don't think of me like that." Ryou dropped his hand and stared at the floor of his soul room. "Maybe you used to, but not anymore. Just like I used to think of you as a monster, but you're not. I've seen everything you've remembered – you're a person like the rest of us."
A growl from outside Ryou's soul room shook the walls and ceiling. The noise brought a dark, sinking feeling with it and Ryou pulled the Spirit against his chest in a protective embrace out of reflex. "But that is a monster, isn't it?"
Bakura looked up, as if he'd see something, but there was only the ceiling. He didn't push himself away from Ryou's arms, but he did whisper, "this is why we shouldn't be talking. We're pissing him off."
Ryou gave a single nod of his head. "Good. I want to piss him off."
"Shut up. That's not a sliver of darkness like what's in the Rod or the Puzzle. That's Zorc Necrophades, the very essence of the Shadows."
"I know. I remember him from our first Monster World campaign." Ryou reached out with his right hand and held the side of Bakura's face. "I hate him. You think this will get him mad?"
Ryou sucked on the Spirit's bottom lip. Bakura muffled a surprised noise when Ryou's mouth started pulling against his. Another growl shook Ryou's soul room. The Spirit held Ryou's shoulders for a moment and then pushed him back. "Stop that. I don't want to deal with an angry, dark god."
"And I don't want to be a useless, little, white Go stone. I want to fight him, Bakura."
"You've got a lot of level grinding to do before taking on that boss battle." Bakura snorted.
"Good idea." Ryou slammed the Spirit against the wall, tugging at the shorter, white strands and biting the Spirit's throat. Ryou bucked forward and upward, stealing gasps out of the mouth of the former Thief King.
"What . . . are you?"
Ryou laughed, outlining the Thief's ear with his tongue before answering, "I'm grinding. Let me know when you level up." Ryou lifted Bakura up against the wall, spreading his brown legs out wide. He didn't wear undergarments beneath his waist-wrap and Ryou could see his erection lifting above a silvery patch of pubic hair.
"You're crazy," Bakura growled, but he wrapped his legs around Ryou's waist.
Ryou ripped the cloth away from Bakura's midsection, stroking and rubbing his hand against Bakura's cock while sucking on Bakura's nipples.
"You're crazy." At this point, he was panting.
Ryou smiled and switched to Bakura's other nipple. "Between you and Marik running around my head, how could I not be crazy?"
Bakura gave in, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the wall of Ryou's soul room. He grunted as Ryou worked. Ryou knew what to do from all their hours of auto-erotic experimentation, and it only took a few minutes of sucking and pumping before the Spirit moaned and panted and spilled over Ryou's hand. After the orgasm Ryou kissed Bakura, slow and suavemente. Their lips barely touched.
Outside, the darkness slammed against the walls of Ryou's soul room, attempting to rent the protective shell apart, but Ryou didn't heed the vibrations or noise. He stayed calm, kissing the corners of Bakura's lips and flicking the tip of his tongue in and out of Bakura's mouth. Bakura gasped as if he couldn't breathe. His fingertips reached under Ryou's shirt and explored each of the five scars from the Ring hung around their neck.
Another crash shook the room. Ryou felt fat sweat-drops drag across the sides of his face and down his collarbone. The air felt stiff and heavy in his lungs.
"Stop," Bakura whispered.
"No." Ryou spoke through his kisses, lighting his lips on Bakura's and pulling away to speak and then kiss him again. "What good am I? What good is a White Wizard if I can't heal either Marik or you?"
The roars outside changed from anger to something darker. Ryou panted, feeling the impact against his soul. His hair hung loose and damp against his shoulders and his shirt stuck to his skin. Another roar and Ryou had to lean against Bakura for support.
The Thief smiled, staring at the ceiling once again. "You two idiots aren't worth all this trouble."
"Bakura?"
"It's time for you to go, Ryou."
Ryou felt Bakura push against his chest. He stumbled backwards, shocked by the sudden realization that he was out of his soul room and back in his body.
Marik let himself back into Ryou's apartment. When he stepped inside he noticed Ryou pacing, his face sweating and fevered.
"Ryou?" Marik asked. "What's wrong?"
"It's my fault," Ryou muttered and paced. "I didn't care because I wanted to fight the damn thing, but Bakura protected me again and that stupid bastard locked me out of my own subconscious." He snorted. "Never thought I'd be angry for him shutting me out of my soul room."
Marik shut the door and went to Ryou, holding him still and looking in his face. "You're not making any sense, Ryou."
Ryou looked at Marik, his brown eyes round and lost. "Marik, if Zorc takes complete control over Bakura again he'll go back to the way he was at the beginning." Ryou blinked tears out of his eyes with his pale lashes. "I can't. I can't go back to black outs and being all alone."
"Who's Zorc?"
"The destructive power sealed in the Items, but mostly in the Ring."
Marik nodded as if he already knew what Ryou was telling him, but it'd been the first time he heard a name associated with the darkness that inhabited the Millennium Items. Marik grabbed the hair tie from Ryou's wrist, pulling Ryou's hair behind his head and tying it in place. "I don't see why you're worried. What's another god to Bakura? Slifer, Ra, they defeat him, but he just stands back up and dusts himself off."
"This is different. It's not another Shadow Game, it's the Shadow."
"Doesn't matter. He'll be back in three minutes."
Ryou sniffed, drying his eyes on the back of his hand. "I hope you're right."
"If I'm wrong, I'll make you sushi." Marik thought about the statement for a moment and then added. "But if I'm right, you have to make me sushi."
Ryou chuckled, still rubbing his eyes. "Deal."
As a thief, Bakura was familiar with the chase. Merchants, guards, the Pharaoh himself – Bakura knew how to dash through narrow alleys or escape into lands too desolate to be followed into. Inside the Ring, Bakura and Zorc were little more than thoughts; nonetheless, Zorc chased him through the artifact and the Thief controlled the chase as easily as if Zorc were another mere guard. He used his memories trapped in the Ring – of his first battle against the Pharaoh – to hide from the darkness chasing him.
As he jumped from one thought to another, Bakura caught glimpses of himself fighting the Pharaoh. The rage returned, making his hands shake and bile wash against the back of his throat, but with so many personal memories recently returned to his mind, Bakura realized he'd lost not just his ba and ka, but himself after gaining control of the Ring. Once he'd put the relic around his neck, Bakura kept his need for revenge for the crimes against Kul Elna, but forgot every particular of the village he was attempting to redress. Bread, beer, stories told at night with stars poxing the indigo sky, his mother's belly swelling as Tiy grew inside her, his father teaching him to wrestle, his grandfather teaching him his first games, the smell of ozone before monsoons, the taste of dates, the sounds of wild dogs hunting in the moonlit dessert, the subtle details that compiled together to create a unique life in the same way that notes could be combined in order to create a unique song; everything was wiped from his mind after the Ring touched his skin, everything except his hatred for the Pharaoh. A new anger birthed in the Spirit, directed at Zorc. He agreed with Ryou; it wasn't good enough to be a useless, little, black Go stone in a game played by Necrophades and the Pharaoh. They needed to fight Zorc as well. They needed to become the DM's instead of game pieces.
Bakura exited the Ring, leaving Zorc to hunt for him in a maze of broken, lost memories and Shadows. Ryou's relief smothered him as soon as their minds reconnected. Although in the same body, he could tell Ryou hugged him as if he were another one of Ryou's dumb friends. He opened his eyes and saw Marik staring at him.
Bakura grinned. "Did you miss me?"
"No." Marik frowned, trying to mask his look of concern. "I said you'd be back in three minutes and it took you close to four. I almost had to make sushi because of you."
"What?"
In the back of his mind, Ryou spoke fast and panicked. I didn't think you'd come back. I thought only a shell would return and we'd have to find you all over again.
Bakura sighed, repressing his thoughts with action. "Will both of you shut-up?" He grabbed Marik's collar and used his thumb and forefinger to unbutton Marik's shirt.
"But Bakura." Marik winked as Bakura undressed him. "I thought we were going to work on your game? I even bought a laptop."
"I told you to shut up." Bakura pulled the maroon shirt away and licked along Marik's collarbone and up his throat. This time, Bakura didn't suppress the moans sifting from his mouth as he pinched the smooth skin of Marik's throat with gentle bites. Once Bakura saw the noises as a sign of weakness, but Ryou had shown him what they truly were – cries of defiance.
He felt Marik's pulse quicken against his tongue. Marik's ruddy-colored nipples grew stiff as Bakura's caresses and purrs aroused him. Marik dug his nails into Bakura's shoulders as Bakura sucked on his throat, careful not to bruise the spice-colored skin.
Marik buried his face in Bakura's hair, inhaling and moaning. "You still smell like the park, like sunshine."
"You taste like the air before a storm."
"Bakura, I'm going to fuck you."
Bakura closed his eyes. "Take what you need, Marik."
Marik jumped to his feet, hoisting Bakura in his arms and carrying Bakura like a white-porcelain doll into their bedroom. As he lowered Bakura onto the bed, their gazes intertwined. Marik stripped Bakura's pants away from his waist and legs and then removed his own pants. Marik searched under the mattress until he found a dong as Bakura removed his t-shirt. Grabbing the lube off of the night stand, still sitting next to the book he started the other night, Marik lathered the bright purple phallus with clear lubrication and situated it inside Bakura. As he fucked Bakura with the dong, he bent forward and sucked Bakura's erection.
Bakura arched his back and pressed his head into the mattress as warmth spread across his lower body. He let both his and Ryou's cries pour interchangeably from his throat. He tried to breathe in time with Marik's movements, but his breath forced itself in and out of his lungs in shorter, quicker gasps.
Marik tossed the toy onto the carpet and pulled Bakura's legs straight into the air. Marik gelled himself slick with lube and pressed himself inside Bakura, who held his breath as the sensation of Marik filling him overran all other senses. Marik continued to hold Bakura's legs up, Bakura's ankle's resting on Marik's left shoulder. Marik leaned his head against Bakura's shins as he pulled in and out of Bakura's body.
"You feel really good." Marik's yellow hair bunched against Bakura's leg and Marik leaned against him. Stray segments fell into his face but he didn't brush them away.
Light forced into the room through the slits in the blinds. Bakura watched Marik's face in the fading daylight. Despite his young age, crows feet scratched at the corners of Marik's eyes and frown lines creased the corners of his mouth, but his expression was beautiful because it was real and not another one of the masks that Marik always wore.
Marik spread Bakura's legs,one ankle now resting on each shoulder. Marik leaned forward, shifting the angel of his penetration. Bakura gasped and held his breath. The new position struck nerves high in Bakura's body that Marik normally only teased. Bakura raised his ass above the mattress to help Marik pound against the right area. Each thrust felt damn near orgasmic and Bakura's legs twitched against Marik's shoulders.
"Shit. Ahhh!" Bakura hid his face with a pillow to mute sounds too loud for an apartment.
Marik smacked the pillow away from Bakura's face. "No you don't."
Bakura bit the side of his hand in another attempt to censor his moans.
Marik pulled his hand away, lacing his fingers with Bakura's. "I want to hear you scream."
Bakura gasped out words, unable to speak sentences. "Marik. Neighbors."
"Fuck them. I want to hear you scream." Marik adjusted his hold on Bakura's legs so he could thrust faster.
Bakura shouted, Ryou's cries a haunting echo to his own each time Marik assailed their prostate. Bakura's cock twitched, a vein in the center pulsing with each jerk of muscle as precum welled around the tip.
Marik spit in his palm and used his saliva lubricated hand to rub up and down against Bakura's shaft.
"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!" Bakura shouted, his pelvic floor muscle convulsing around Marik's cock. Bakura couldn't breathe as he ejaculated, his body trembling in spasms. When his orgasm passed, Bakura's chest heaved as he fought to pull ragged, torn gasps of oxygen into his lungs. His face felt hot enough to blister his skin.
"Flushed is a good look for you." Marik panted as he continued to move.
"Marik, fuck me."
"Aren't you finished?" Marik teased.
"Not until you come inside me."
"Soon, Bakura."
Minutes later, Marik ejaculated into Bakura. He crashed on top of Bakura's chest, his heartbeat punching into Bakura's ribs. Bakura circled his arms around Marik, around his neck to avoid the scars on his back. Bakura held him as they fell asleep and continued to hold him after Marik's nightmares began.