The three of them stood there for a moment, staring at each other in awkward silence. Some of the softness had left Ryou's face since last Marik saw him, but otherwise he looked the same. After some time, Ryou balled his hands into fists. "Oh quit being stupid and give me a hug." He threw his arms around Bakura.
Bakura released the breath he'd been holding. He stood stiff as if he'd expected Ryou to stab him. Marik accepted his hug with a little more poise.
"It's good to see you guys," Ryou said.
Bakura snorted.
"How was your flight?"
Bakura snorted a second time, but Marik answered. "It was fine. We hit some turbulence, but nothing severe."
Ryou tilted his head, staring at Bakura. A smile crept onto his face. "Hey Bakura, you want to help me do something horrible to Yugi?"
Bakura smirked. "Maybe."
"So this is what I was thinking." Ryou spoke as much with hand gestures as with words as he laid out his plan. "Yugi runs the game shop now and his part time help called in, so he asked me to help him out for a few hours today. I thought it'd be really funny if you barged in screaming and acting like a psycho while I pretend to be scared and hide behind the counter." Ryou laughed at the thought of his own plan.
"That's a horrible idea." Marik scowled. "He doesn't know Bakura's back and it's better we keep it that way."
Ryou scratched the back of his head. "Actually . . . he does."
Bakura rolled his eyes. "Really, Ryou?"
"Not me!"
Marik winced. "Dammit, Ishizu."
Ryou chuckled. "Yeah, every time she brings Bastet to visit. Ishizu likes to brag about both of you."
Bakura slapped his forehead with the palm of his hand. "That annoying woman. How dare she say nice things about me behind my back."
Ryou shrugged. "So . . . are you in? Maybe we can get your wicked reputation back."
Bakura chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, thinking. "This plan of yours is obviously going to come back to bite me in the ass somehow – but I'm in."