Ryou's stomach twisted into knots the next morning. He'd woken up first and lay in bed worrying over the events of last night as he waited for Duke to wake up, but as soon as Duke showed signs of waking, he felt the urge to run. He just wanted to get out before Duke could see more of his skin or touch another inch of him. Before Duke had a chance to melt him even more and twist Ryou's heart around his little finger.

Now's my chance, Ryou thought, gripping the edge of the blanket with both hands and holding it under his chin. I should just go right now, before he wakes up. He still wasn't moving, though. Duke yawned loudly and began to stir.

"Good morning," Duke murmured, rolling over and reaching out for Ryou.

"Look at the time, I've gotta get to class, I should go get ready—" Ryou blurted out impulsively, starting to pull away.

"It's Saturday," Duke teased, blocking Ryou's escape wrapping around him and cuddling close. "And you already finished your exams."

"You have to get ready for work," Ryou gasped, trying to maintain composure despite Duke's hand on his thigh, kneading him into the preliminary stages of bliss.

"I've still got time." Duke placed his warm lips on Ryou's neck, making his heart skip a beat. "I always have time for you."

Duke was moving in closer, and Ryou knew that if he wanted to stop this, he needed to do it now.

"Wait." Ryou held Duke's shoulders firmly, hoping it would disuade his advances. By now, Duke was awake enough to see that something was off.

"What's wrong, Ry?"

Ryou swallowed hard, trying to keep a level head, even as he avoided looking directly into those emerald eyes.

"Duke… Maybe this is a stupid question, but what does this make us?" Before he even gave Duke a chance to answer, he rushed to explain himself: "I'm a really sentimental person, and I can't get involved with someone outside a relationship, or else things start getting all screwed up in my mind, and—"

Ryou stopped talking when Duke leaned closer to him and kissed him gently, wanting to put him at ease. "Ryou, I'm in love with you. I have been for months, but I didn't want to stop you from growing. You needed to stand on your own, and I didn't want to stop you."

Ryou was speechless and breathless at once. He knew he ought to say something, maybe an I-love-you-too, but his ears were too full of his own heartbeat for him to think clearly. Duke didn't seem at all bothered by this; he'd always been a man of action anyways. He kissed Ryou again, this time letting their lips linger. Duke shifted over Ryou, keeping the blankets snug around him to protect Ryou from the draft of cold air.

"You should get ready for work," Ryou murmured, starting to blush.

"I still got time." Duke kissed Ryou's neck, flicking his tongue tip across the tender skin.

"You're going to be late." Ryou couldn't resist touching Duke's chest, daring to gently pinch one hard nipple.

"I'm the boss." Duke nibbled Ryou's collarbone, and Ryou's hands coasted up Duke's shoulders to rest on his upper back.

"It's... morning." Ryou's protests were growing ever weaker the longer Duke ravished him.

"So what?"

Ryou bit his lip and tried to find in his mind a reason for them to stop. Maybe he felt uncomfortable because he'd never had a relationship before, but there was something that felt wrong about being intimate first thing in the morning. It conflicted with his structured, from-a-distance understanding of intimacy inside a romantic relationship.

"Do you really want me to stop?" Duke murmured, his lips soft against Ryou's chest. Lidded, liquid brown eyes met sparkling green ones.

"I want to say yes," Ryou answered with blunt honestly. "But… I don't know why." Ryou licked his lips, starting to feel anxious. "It's not because I don't like you, because I do. I like you a lot. I… I love you. It's just, this is going so fast, I haven't had the time to adjust, and… I don't know. It's throwing me off." Ryou's nervous breathing was quick and shallow, and Duke lifted himself up on his forearms and shifted up to kiss Ryou softly.

"Breathe with me, baby." Duke's whisper tickled his new lover's cheek. He sprinkled Ryou's face with kisses like a light misting of rain, and Ryou did the same. Pressed together as they were, it wasn't hard to breathe in sync with him. It didn't take long for Ryou to feel at ease, if a bit light-headed. Duke pulled his legs up under him and sat up, the blankets falling off his shoulders as he did. Something had caught his eye from between the curtains covering the window behind his bed. He tugged one curtain open and grinned.

"I can see Yugi's house from here." He looked down to see Ryou starting to blush. "Come on, take a peek."

"I have the same view from my window, Duke; I'm pretty sure I've seen it before." Ryou tried to roll out of bed, but Duke wasn't going to let him escape so easily.

"Oh, come on, it's a lovely view."

Ryou, weak with affection, let Duke persuade him into kneeling on the mattress in front of him, holding the headboard for balance as he peeked out the window. Duke's hands rested on the windowsill, forcing him to lean close enough that Ryou's back tickled his chest. Ryou could feel his face turning red he slightly leaned into his body; there was something nice about the way they fit, and he couldn't deny that.

"Look, there's Yugi!" Duke exclaimed suddenly, pointing towards the distant game shop below. "Hi Yugi!"

Ry squeaked and jerked backwards, bumping into Duke with enough force to knock them both down. Ryou landed on top of Duke with an "oof!" as the other started to laugh.

"I was just kidding!" Duke laughed merrily, though, thoroughly amused by Ryou's reaction.

Ryou rolled off of him and the bed, standing so he could pull his boxers on. He glanced down at Duke to see him smiling stupidly back.

"You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, but don't make a habit of that, or you'll give me a heart attack." Ryou had picked up his crumpled shirt and was about to leave, but the small mark on Duke's neck made him stop. He had done that. Duke was his, and he definitely liked the sound of that. "You should get in the shower before your employees start wondering where you are, boss."

Duke laughed and sat up, pecking Ryou's cheek before saying, "Fine, you win." He stood and walked to the bathroom naked, Ryou's cheek growing warm from the touch of his lips. Ryou gently touched the spot where he'd been kissed, trying not to let himself be carried away by the flood of mixed feelings rising within him.

"When is Bakura coming over again?" Mokuba asked his brother as they sat together at breakfast Saturday morning. Kaiba didn't eat much for breakfast—his coffee was enough for him, but this was a way for him to spend more time with his little brother, which made it worthwhile.

"I have a short business trip to California in a couple weeks, so when I see him this week, I'll ask if he can come over to stay with you."

"Cool!" Mokuba took a big bite of his waffle. "What do you guys even talk about when you meet for coffee?"

"A lot of things," he answered with an indifferent shrug. "He does most of the talking, usually."

"And you just sit there and listen."

"Yep." Kaiba turned a few pages in his newspaper to the continuation of the article he was currently reading.

"Why?"

"Because I find intelligence soothing." Ryou Bakura was no genius, but he was sufficiently thoughtful, attentive, and retentive for Kaiba to acknowledge him as intelligent.