Okay so shorter chapter today because I think I still might be a lil high after last night (it's legal here and I'm 23 so nothing bad going on, dw) and I haven't quite finished the next bit because I went back to flesh it out a little, and it's definitely going to need some fully sober editing lmao. BUT everyone's fav is here!

CW: Mentions of murder (Malik's dad), mentions of D.I.D./Kek being a system, Isis being overbearing, assisted living mention

Kek arrived, as always, unannounced, loudly, and entirely too early for Malik to have any desire to deal with. He'd gone in to work early to get some more work done, and it wasn't even seven when his twin practically kicked in the door.

"'Sup, bitch."

"You break it, you buy it." Malik didn't look up from his computer. There was another colloquial phrase that he just couldn't figure out.

Kek glanced over at Ryou's desk and dragged the chair out to slump into it. "Another collab? How many times have they cried so far?"

Malik paused, looking up. It had been two weeks, and, "Zero."

Kek's eyebrows arched. "Damn. Either you're losing your touch, or you've met your match."

"He's competent." Malik turned back to the notes, tapping his pen against his screen as he scanned the paper. "That's all."

Kek stared at him for a moment before kicking the edge of Malik's desk and standing up. "Right, let's go get breakfast. I'm fucking starving."

"Go eat then." Malik jotted down a note for a translation further back in the tomb, but the one he was looking for still remained elusive. "I'm working."

"You're not getting paid for another hour and a half." Kek leaned over Malik's desk until his nose was practically touching Malik's cheek. Malik grimaced. "Come on. I came all the way from Osaka."

"Not my problem."

"Don't make me tell Rishid."

Malik paused. He wasn't meant to work early, and Kek knew it. He usually got some leniency from Kek and was always encouraged by Isis, but Rishid had no issues kicking Malik out of the building for the day to discourage him from that extra hour of work. "You wouldn't."

"Oh?" Kek pulled out his phone. "Try me."

Malik groaned and dragged his hands down over his face. "You're such a dick, Kek." He saved his progress and closed his laptop. "Fine. I'll go to breakfast with you."

"Great." Kek brightened and tucked his phone back into the pockets of his loose jeans. He'd actually put some effort in, apparently, because there wasn't a single oil stain on them and he wore a belt, and had even tucked in his Vertigo t-shirt to appear a touch more respectable. His hair was still in those ridiculous spikes, but he'd grown out of whatever phase he'd had as a teenager where he straightened his hair, and now his hair spiked up in tight coils of blond afro with only minimal parting.

"You're looking well," Malik commented as they walked to the elevator. "What's the occasion?"

"Didn't want you bitching at me for coming in with oil stains." Kek stuck out his tongue as Malik hit the button for the lobby. "Double-checked the jeans and everything."

Malik rolled his eyes and reached up, flicking Kek's nose. They were the same height, give or take a centimetre, but Kek's hair made him appear taller, while Malik's heels always gave him an extra inch or two. Kek whined and covered his nose.

"Why?"

"Because." Malik stepped out of the elevator as the doors opened. Kek followed, still rubbing his nose. "Where do you want to go?"

"There's a vegan acai place down the street," Kek grumbled.

Malik hummed but nodded, leading the way as though he had been there before. His entire family was varying levels of vegetarian; while he ate fish and Isis and Rishid occasionally indulged in cheat days for kofta, Kek was ardently against eating any form of creature that had ever lived. He wasn't quite vegan but preferred vegan restaurants, purely because he knew he could eat something at them.

The restaurant was quite nice, actually. Just open, the barista gave them both a tired wave and offered them menus when they sat in the plush armchairs by the window. Kek rattled off an order for both of them in Arabic to her, and they chatted for a few minutes until Malik ordered a quad over ice. He was far too tired for this. He could force himself through it with work, though as Ryou had said, it wasn't exactly healthy, but social interaction before nine was going too far.

When the barista left to get them their breakfast, Malik turned to Kek. "Why are you here?"

Kek fidgeted. He was never a good liar. "I wanted to take a day off and see you and Rishid."

"Kek." Malik's voice held a warning tone. "What's going on?"

Kek's shoulders slumped. "Isis asked me to check on you."

Malik rolled his eyes. "Of course. What was it this time?"

Kek's brow furrowed. "That's what I don't get. She said it was because you asked her opinion on a few translations."

"Are you-" Malik had to lower his voice. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

Kek shook his head. "She insisted something was wrong because of it."

"They were colloquial phrases that we hadn't come across, and she knows more about village life around Kemet than I do, I- fuck!" Malik dropped back into the couch. "I thought I was doing the right thing asking her." She hadn't been much help either, simply giving a vague suggestion and telling Malik to trust himself.

"Hey." Kek leaned in. "You did. She's just... She's Isis."

"For fuck sake." Malik rubbed a hand over his face and breathed out through his fingers. His face burned. "I- I was trying-"

"Do you need to go?" Kek asked. "We can go somewhere else. Your place or outside or-?"

"I'm fine," Malik hissed.

Kek nodded slowly. "Okay. Just know we can go if you need."

Anyone else and it would have annoyed Malik even more, like they were placating him so he wouldn't crack and kill someone, but it was Kek, and he faced the exact same thing whenever he showed any emotions. Possibly even more so since the D.I.D. diagnosis, even though Malik was the one who had killed their father.

Malik took a few more steadying breaths and nodded. "I'm okay," he finally said.

Kek nodded too, relaxing back into the couch. The barista returned with their orders, and Malik took the time to do one of his breathing exercises while she set out their food. By the time she left, he had managed to cool the heat rising to his face.

"I'm okay," he said again. "You didn't need to come up."

"I did." Kek leaned in, scooping up a mouthful of food with a spoon rather than his fork. Malik more delicately picked at it, taking manageable bites. "You actually asked Isis for help rather than obsessing over some dumb drawing for weeks to figure it out. I wanted to see what caused this healthy turn."

"I'm healthy."

"Physically," Kek agreed, "sure. You go to the gym, you eat relatively okay… but mentally and emotionally? You're worse than I am, and that's saying a lot."

"I mean…" Malik shrugged. "Aside from Rishid, you're the most stable one in the family."

"Okay, that's not because I'm exactly stable though, that's because you and Isis both need a lot more therapy than you go to." Kek pointed at him. "And because Rishid is insanely good at processing his emotions."

"That's true," Malik chuckled into his coffee. He took a sip and winced at the taste, but refused to add sugar. He'd forgotten when ordering, and if he added any now, it would just sink to the bottom, leaving a mushy hill of pure sugar at the very end of his drink.

"So?" Kek prompted. "What brought on the self-care?"

Malik sighed. "Honestly?" Kek nodded. "The guy I'm working with. He's brilliant, academically speaking, but chaotic. I watched him spill coffee on himself twice in ten minutes, and his notes are impossible to read, but… he corrected one of my translations." Kek winced. "Yeah." Malik poked his acai bowl. "I had a breakdown in front of him and… he didn't run away. Or he did, but he ran away with me. We went to a café for the rest of the day because he said I wasn't fit to work, and… he was right."

"Whoa, wait." Kek leaned in, hands on the table, his grey-speckled lavender eyes wide. "He managed to convince you to skip work?"

"Only for a few hours," Malik insisted, but Kek was already laughing.

"Holy shit. Holy shit, Malik, that's fantastic!" Kek's shoulders had completely relaxed. "You actually took a break."

Malik's lips quirked up. "I guess so."

"No, it is." Kek reached over and put his hand on his brother's arm. "Seriously. I'm proud of you."

Malik fidgeted, glancing away. Taking breaks wasn't something that should make someone proud. Gods, how fucked up was he? That taking an afternoon off was what made his brother so excited? "Thanks, akh'."

Kek pulled his hand back and returned to eating. "I'll talk to Isis-"

"I'll do it," Malik decided. "I know you hate being a go-between for us, and if she was worried, she should have come to me in the first place. I'll handle it."

"Thanks." Kek gave him a sheepish smile.

"So you're really up just for the day?" Malik asked.

Kek chewed slowly and swallowed. "Well… yes." He looked into his bowl. "I also came up because I'm looking for an apartment."

Malik blinked. "What?"

"I got a promotion at work," Kek explained, "but they're relocating me to Domino."

"Kek…" Malik's voice softened. "You know you could move in with me if you wanted. Or Rishid."

"Nah." Kek shook his head. "Let's be real - we'd kill each other within a week, and anyway, I'm thirty-one. I should- I should be able to live on my own." He gripped his spoon tighter. "And I don't want to cramp Rishid's style. I think he's going to ask his partners to move in with him soon."

Malik smiled. "I thought I was imagining that." He kept his voice soft. "I hope he does. He deserves it."

"He does." Kek nodded. "So no. But thank you. I'll- I'm making enough money for rent and bills here. Maybe not in a high-rise like yours, but in mid-Domino, somewhere near the shop. I'll be okay."

Malik chewed his lip. "Okay. But there's no shame in passing up the promotion to stay in Osaka."

"I know," Kek mumbled. "I want to try, though. Just… don't tell Isis? Not yet, anyway."

Kek had lived with them, briefly, when they all first moved to Japan but had ended up quickly falling in love with Osaka on a weekend getaway and had moved into an assisted living apartment block. Isis had been against it, but the assisted living had swayed her.

"Of course. Hey." Malik leaned in to nudge Kek when he didn't react. "This is your life. Not hers."

"I could say the same to you." Kek gave him a tight smile.

"I'm working on it." Malik returned it. "But it'll be… good to have you closer. I miss you."

Kek's expression softened, eyes crinkling as his smile grew more genuine. "I miss you too. And Rishid. I'm looking forward to it, honestly. I'm just… nervous."

Malik nodded. "I know the feeling." He got it before every big life change, and for some reason, it was beginning to come back. "That usually means you should do it."

Kek nodded and finished his food. "Yeah. You're probably right."

Malik glanced at his watch and downed the end of his coffee, leaving half his acai bowl unfinished. "I should get back. It's almost half eight."

"I'll walk you," Kek decided. "I want to meet the absolute unit who dragged you out of the office."

Malik snorted but paid for their food and didn't object when Kek followed him back up to the office. Ryou was already there. He had listened to Malik, on wearing colour, and donned a two-tone green-and-cream floral blazer with an emerald shirt and cream pants. He stuck with converse though, but his various styles that always seemed to match his outfits were growing on Malik, however outrageously gaudy they happened to be.

"Morning," Ryou greeted, holding out a plastic cup with an iced coffee. "Quad over ice with two sugars. I'm surprised I beat you today."

Kek peeked out from behind Malik's shoulder with a wide grin. "You didn't. I just stole him for a while."

Ryou's eyes bulged, and he almost dropped the cup. "Oh! Hello, I'm so sorry. I didn't see you. I'm Ryou Bakura."

"Kek Ishtar." Kek draped an arm around Malik's shoulders, and Malik shrugged him off with a grimace. "So you're the one who's finally managed to pull Malik away from the books?"

"I guess so." Ryou smiled. "Though it didn't seem to work today. What time did you say you got here, Malik?"

"I didn't." Malik walked over to his desk and sat down. It was half five, but neither Kek nor Ryou needed to know that.

"I dragged him for food," Kek said, "so he shouldn't be too grumpy."

"Fuck you."

"Food intake doesn't matter," Ryou said, looking over at Kek. "He's always grumpy."

"Maybe I wouldn't be if your work was better." Malik frowned at Ryou, who simply laughed.

"We both know my work is the best you've seen in years, or I wouldn't still be here."

Kek grinned. Malik rolled his eyes. "Your notes are atrocious."

"So you've said." Ryou counted on his fingers. "About eight times now. And yet you can read them." He turned back to Kek. "Like I said, food doesn't matter."

Kek snorted. "I like you." He glanced at Malik, grin growing. Malik flushed and ducked his head to turn on his computer and hide his reddening face. "And Malik does too, even if he's a bitch."

"You're a bitch," Malik shouted back.

"Clever." Kek snickered.

Ryou laughed too. "I like you, and Malik, too. But you should probably go, so he doesn't burst a vessel. All the blood stains would make translating from photos even harder."

"Ugh, good point." Kek gave Malik a two-fingered salute. "See you later?"

"Yeah, yeah." Malik sat back in his chair. "Send me the apartment location and I'll drop by to see it with you after work." Kek brightened and nodded, waving to Ryou before leaving the office. He left the door open a crack. "Close the door!"

Kek cackled as he ran down the hall and Malik cursed.

"Asshole." He stood up to close the door himself.

Ryou snorted, shaking his head. "I like your brother. He's funny."

"Yeah, he can be," Malik huffed, "when he's not being a total dick." He raised his voice for the last part, knowing Kek heard him from the increased laughter. "He might be moving so you may see him more often."

"Oh, wonderful." Ryou clapped his hands once. "He can help me force you to take breaks."

"I already take breaks," Malik began, only for Ryou to cut him off.

"Proper breaks." He smiled as he sat down at his own desk. "He obviously cares a lot about you."

"Yeah." Malik held his cup tighter. "I know."

Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment and I'll do my best to see you tomorrow!