*** So it looks like this will update on Thursdays. ***

Ryo played often. He clipped his nails until they bled. The spirit noticed and spent that entire hour screaming at Ryo for being careless, so the next time Ryo tried a strand of hair instead of nail clippings. When the spell worked just as well, Ryo switched - he had more than enough hair - while his nails grew back.

Except for mutterings about revenge, Ryo never could get the spirit to talk much when he had the Ring. Now Ryo was determined to understand the spirit as a person, to know what food he liked and what he loved or dreamt about when he slept.

They stayed away from the television screens. Most nights they sat in the kitchen and played Duel Monsters while Bakura spoke in a quiet voice. The first nights Ryo had to drag the stories out of Bakura's mouth, but the more Bakura spoke the easier it became for him until the words flowed from his parted lips like fresh cream pouring out a tipped pitcher.

Bakura liked spicy food, anything heaping with garlic. He dreamt of ghosts. Sometimes they burned in golden fires and sometimes they spoke to him, either way Bakura hated to dream. Of love he wouldn't speak, but Ryo already knew what, rather who, the spirit loved, so he didn't mind avoiding that conversation. Ryo also knew it hurt the spirit to be three minutes away from Marik, but too far away to see or touch him.

"If I told him about you, he would come over. I'm sure of it."

"Don't," Bakura said the word as if it would break his jaw. "It's better for him to forget me. An hour . . . isn't enough."

"I wish you could stay longer."

Marik seemed happy, if not bored, around campus; however, when his gaze accidentally caught Ryo's there was a longing and a grief buried under the lilac of his eyes that broke Ryo's heart to see.

The more Bakura spoke the calmer he seemed, as if finally telling his story allowed some of the old wounds to heal - at least enough to scar.

Ryo sighed, wishing he didn't have to hold salt water in his mouth. He didn't fear Bakura. It was the possibility of other spirits that concerned Ryo . . . one dark entity in particular. They had to be careful never to give Necrophades a chance to slip back into the world. That they played at all was selfishness on Ryo's part - to risk so much for a mere hour of time, but it was all he could do to ease Bakura's suffering, and he'd continue to do so as long as there was magic to do so.

"Why do you even waste all these nights here? Don't you ever go out?"

"I play MMORPGs with my old friends, and I hang out with Yugi and them sometimes."

"Yeah, but don't you ever date?"

Ryo frowned. That was his least favorite topic. "I used to date a lot, but most people just want to sleep with me. I want a relationship, not a bed-buddy, only the people who'd date me are all too nice for my tastes."

Bakura snorted. "I have trouble imagining anyone being too nice for you."

"As a friend? No. But to date I'd want someone to take me out to see a horror film, or who wouldn't be afraid to walk past a graveyard in the middle of the night."

Bakura smirked. "Or help you summon dark spirits from the abyss at 3 am?"

Ryo nodded. The spirit was being sardonic, but Ryo was serious in his answer.

Bakura chuckled, shaking his head. "You're nuts."

Ryo started to reply on his phone, but a text interrupted him. His eyes rounded as he saw Marik's name appear on the screen.

Bakura noticed the change on Ryo's face. "What is it?"

Ryo showed him the message. A simple question, "are you awake?"

Ryo answered, "yes."

Bakura leaned over Ryo's shoulder as they waited for Marik's response.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you, nm."

"Marik tell me." Ryo typed into his phone. He felt Bakura's fingers digging into his shoulders and wondered if Bakura was aware of how hard he gripped.

"I really am awake." He sent the additional text as an afterthought.

It took awhile for Marik to respond. Ryo imagined him struggling between talking or trying to deal with the problem himself.

"It was just nightmares. I was having a panic attack. I'm fine now."

"Liar," Bakura snapped at the phone. "Does he text you often?"

Ryo had to switch over to his convo with Bakura before he could answer. "Only for homework or if Yugi's meeting us somewhere."

"He's upset," Bakura clenched a hand into a fist and closed his eyes. "Dammit."

"Want his apartment number?"

Bakura stared at the message for a long time. "No. Seeing me for twenty-three minutes will only hurt him."

Ryo swapped back to his text messages. "Why don't you come down and drink a cup of tea?"

"Thanks, but I'm fine."

"You'd be doing me a favor. I'm bored."

Bakura crossed his arms over his chest as he read. The shadows hid his face, making him look sinister instead of concerned. "He's so damn stubborn."

After another long pause, Marik's answer came. "All right. See you in five."

"You're staying, right?" Ryo asked Bakura through typing.

Bakura put his hands on Ryo's shoulders. "I told you, that'd only hurt Marik more. That's why you have to end the game, and don't let him know we ever played."

"But you still love him!"

Bakura clenched his teeth. Hate glinted in his dark eyes as he read Ryo's message – he hated the thought of something as vulnerable as love. The look in his gaze reminded Ryo of how street lights made broken glass sparkle in an alley. Nevertheless, the emotion was mild, almost endearing, compared to the hate he'd once carried for the Pharaoh, so Ryo pushed further. "Get mad if you want, but you know it's true. You loved him then. You love him now."

Bakura's expression hardened, and for a moment Ryo remembered the spirit who tried to kill his friends, but the image broke and Bakura dropped to his knees on the cool, linoleum floor. "Dammit, Ryo, why do you think I've been avoiding him? Dead is dead. I'm dead. It doesn't matter . . . how I feel."

Ryo spit the water out on Bakura's clothes, knowing Bakura was right about Marik. "There has to be something we can do."

"If you knew a better way to bring me back – you would have done it already."

That was also true. Ryo closed his eyes to help contain his emotions.

"Talking like this is dangerous. Finish the game."

"I'm sorry." Ryo sniffed.

Three, hard knocks echoed from the hallway.

"Ryo," Bakura hissed.

"I win. I win. I win." Ryo poured the water on Bakura's head.

He ran to the door and opened it. "Hey, Marik."

Marik nodded, he had his hair knotted behind him and only wore black sweats and a white hoodie. A duffel bag rested on his shoulder.

"Come in. Sit down. Make yourself at home."

"Okay," he said, eyeing the dim living room like it was closing in on him.

Ryo winced, remembering how much Marik hated the dark. He turned on the overhead light. "Sorry."

"Thanks," Marik muttered, staring at the floor as he stepped into the living room.

"I still need to put the kettle on. Sorry, I'm a bit scatter brained."

"Your t.v. is snowy."

"I dropped the remote. Hit input until it says hdmi 1 and that will fix it."

Marik stared at Ryo. "You weren't really awake, were you?"

"Yes I was."

"The lights are all off."

"I was sitting in the kitchen."

"It's dark in the kitchen."

"I was sitting in the dark."

Marik blinked at Ryo. "Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. I was thinking."

Marik looked hesitant. "Really?"

Ryo smiled at him. "Let me make some tea. Then we'll talk. Please, sit down. I'll only be a moment."

Ryo busied himself in the kitchen. He didn't bother turning the lights on. He knew his apartment and the light reflecting from the living room was all he needed. He set the kettle on the stove and searched his fridge for a snack to serve when Marik's voice made him jump.

"You made this doll look like him." The light from the refrigerator lit Marik's hair a strange, gold color. Ryo watched as Marik picked the doll up off of the floor and traced the features on its face.

"It's dark in here, Marik. Go back to the living room. I'm almost done."

Marik didn't seem to notice the darkness. "Why? Why does this doll look like him?"

"I miss him." Ryo told as much of the truth as he dared. "We were playing an imaginary card game."

"You and the doll? In the dark?"

"I know it's stupid, but I couldn't sleep."

The light hurt Bakura's eyes. That's why they played in the dark. He was a possessed doll and didn't exactly perceive things as he had in Ryo's body.

Marik toyed with the doll's hair. "Why couldn't you sleep?"

"I have nightmares that's he's in the dark and it scares me. I know they're just dreams, but they still bother me."

It was the truth, and those dreams compelled Ryo to spend five years researching summoning spells and games in order to bring Bakura back – to see if he was okay – although now Ryo knew Bakura wasn't okay. He didn't talk about it, and he acted brave each night Ryo banished him back to the Shadows, but Ryo knew.

Marik pressed the doll against his heart. "That's what woke me tonight. It's always dark. It's cold, but it burns like fire. No, worse, the darkness burns like the knife on my back during my initiation. I can't scream because the dark's in my throat, or see because it's in my eyes." He shook his head. "But it's not Bakura in my dreams – it's me. My other half. I should have . . . never . . ."

Marik broke. His sentence died; his eyes unfocused. He blinked, a lost look in his eyes. They didn't refocus until he noticed the cards on Bakura's side of the table. Marik smirked as he saw the traps and spells and possessed doll cards like Dark Necrofear and Cursed Twin Dolls. Marik's expression morphed from amused to serious and he sat down and picked up Bakura's hand while clutching the doll to his chest. Marik contradicted Dark Necrofear, male instead of female, golden instead of dark, but at the same time that's what the image of him sitting with Bakura's doll made Ryo think of.

Marik's head jerked up. His eyes blazed fever-bright in Ryo's direction. "He was here."

Ryo shut the fridge door, covering them both in deeper shadows. "What do you mean?"

"Fuck you, Ryo. This isn't some Duel Monster tea party you have set up. He was here – playing with you."

"Marik, that's impossible."

"I'm not stupid, Ryo."

"He used to be in my head. I'm just good at imagining his moves."

"I used to be in your head and his. He was here. I want to talk to him. Bring him back."

"Marik-"

"Now, Ryo!"

"I can't!"

"Please," the plea shook from Marik's lips, a ghost of sound and nothing more. "Please. I . . . I never got to say goodbye."

"Then pray to him, because he's dead." Ryo smeared two tears off of his cheek.

"You used the doll somehow. Didn't you?"

"He doesn't want to see you."

A strangled noise curdled in Marik's throat when Ryo said the words. He stared at the doll. The air conditioner kicked on, and it added an eery depth to the silence between them. Marik cleared his throat. "Too bad, I want to see him."

"Please, don't do this to me," Ryo begged.

"Don't do this to you? Ryo, I . . . I-"

"I know, Marik. I know. But he says an hour isn't enough time."

"Please." Marik shut his eyes. "Let me see him just one more time. Let me say goodbye."

"You couldn't. You have to hold salt water in your mouth. You can't speak."

Marik held the doll tighter to his chest. "That will have to suffice."

Ryo ran his fingers through streamlets of snowy hair. He couldn't take it. The sadness in Marik's face, the sadness in Bakura's face. He couldn't let them stay apart no matter how angry Bakura would be. "It has to be three a.m."

"Then tomorrow night?"

Ryo turned on the kitchen light; he needed the light. The kettle whistled and Ryo poured two cups of tea for himself and Marik. He sat on his spot, staring at Marik as he slid one of the two cups across the stained, maple surface. "Will you follow the rules?"

"Of course."

Ryo shook his head, a headache eating his right temple as he sipped on his tea. "You can't half-ass follow these rules, Marik. You have to follow them to the letter, Marik."

"I will."

Ryo shook his head again. "This isn't a slumber party game. We're summoning Bakura's spirit from the Shadow Realm. It's dangerous. You had the Rod. I had the Ring. If either of us fuck up, we can be possessed by the evil that inhabited the Items. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Marik nodded, his expression calm and calculating much as it'd been during Battle City only older.

"I'll print out the rules. You can memorize them tomorrow before we play. We have to do it here. He's been here before so it'll be easier to catch the right spirit. You can't talk, so write a short letter before we play. I have to be here in case anything goes wrong."

"Thank you, Ryo."

Ryo exhaled. "But if I'm here, I have to play as well. That means I'll need to summon a second spirit for my own game."

"Okay."

"You don't understand. I can't summon a random spirit. It's far too dangerous. I have to call back a specific spirit so Zorc can't possess the doll."

"But the Pharaoh isn't in the Shadow Realm."

"No, he's not. Your other half is though."

Marik paled. "Ryo, that's too dangerous."

Ryo snorted. "He'll be easy to deal with. As long as we keep the salt water in our mouths, the spirits we summon can't hurt us."

"Hurt you? He'll kill you."

"I'm more afraid of what Necrophades would do to me. Your alter ego is a kitten compared to him." Ryo forced a smile on his face. "Don't worry, Marik. It's a game of Hide and Seek. While you're saying goodbye to my other half, I'll be playing a game with your other half."

Doubt flicked behind the purple irises.

Ryo sighed. "I promise I'll be okay as long as you follow the rules."

A hint of smile curved on Marik's lips. "This means a lot to me."

Ryo swished hot tea in his mouth, trying to wash out the salt taste from before. "I can't help it. I'm a hopeless romantic."

Marik looked sheepish, toying with the doll's hair again.

Ryo stood up and took the doll from Marik's hand. "Sorry. We have to burn this one."

"Burn him? Why?"

"Once a doll becomes a vessel, it's easier for other spirits to latch onto it. You have to burn it. We don't have school tomorrow, so I'll have plenty of time to make replacement dolls for us to use." Ryo stepped away, stopping and looking over his shoulder. "Oh, one more thing – when you play, you have to call the doll by name. I need you to give your other half a name for me to use."

"Me? Why?"

Ryo shrugged. "You created him. Isn't it only proper that you name him?"