I am praying this actually posts because FFN has fucked shit up again.
Bakura transported the two of them back to a spot down the street from the house. It was out of any direct line-of-sight of any passers-by.
"Can I ask something without you thinking I'm stupid?" Marik asked as they began making their way down the sidewalk.
"Kinda hard, Tomb Keeper. You're dating the one person on the face of this planet that makes me think you are nothing but stupid."
Marik scowled, but otherwise ignored the remark.
"Why don't you transport us directly between places? Like this morning and just now. You take us down the street a ways, then transport."
"It gives the illusion that the people inside the house are 'normal'," Bakura explained.
"Oh. So is that why even though you didn't want to be seen by your neighbors, you didn't just appear inside the flat?"
Bakura stopped dead in his tracks, the expression on his face stating that the idea hadn't even occurred to him.
"Sonofa-...how the fuck did you think of that and not me?!"
"Um…so there wasn't a specific reason?"
Bakura scowled, clenching his fists as he started walking again.
"Shut up."
"I'm not going to pick on you for it. I just thought with how long you've been around..."
"I've had a lot on my mind…" Bakura grumbled through a clenched jaw.
"Okay…sor-ry. Wasn't trying to piss you off…" Marik said with a bit of an attitude.
Bakura growled in irritation as they passed through the barrier surrounding the house.
Marik rushed up to the front door, quickly opening it in anticipation of who would be waiting for him on the other side. He was extremely disappointed to see only Atem, who was hunched over the table staring at a papyrus scroll while writing something down in a notebook off to the side.
"Where's Kat?" he asked.
Atem pointed behind him with the pencil in his hand without looking away from the scroll.
"Garage. If she asks you to hold a light for her, run. Apparently there's a way to do it wrong."
"Let me guess, you couldn't keep it from moving where she had it pointed?" Marik asked knowingly.
"Apparently so. Lesson learned. Another thing I learned is that I haven't the slightest clue as to which tool is which. I do know that my former wife can embed one into a wall from across the room when she gets angry enough."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me," Marik said casually.
"It shouldn't," Bakura said as he walked in and shut the door. "Hell, she can do that without being pissed off."
He walked over and glanced down at the open scroll, then at the other scrolls that were littered across the table. "What are you doing?"
Atem sighed, put down his pencil, then rubbed his eyes while sitting up and straightening his back. He then looked over the scattered mess on the table.
"Katrina said that Yugi has expressed interest in learning about magic. She suggested that perhaps I could teach him. He'll obviously have to go through the same methods I went through, seeing as he doesn't have magae. I'm simply translating the basics so he can study and approach them at his own pace."
Bakura picked up the notes Atem had been writing.
"Okay. Makes sense. Just one problem."
"What?" Atem asked irritably.
"Make that two problems," Bakura said while studying the notes closer.
"Are you going to tell me, or just keep pointing out that I must have made some sort of mistake?" Atem said with a scowl.
"Well, first problem, I don't think you took into consideration that hieratic has letters and syllables that don't exist in modern languages. The directions are fine, but when it comes to the spellwork…unless you plan on teaching the proper pronunciations, he's gonna be saying a lot of it wrong. Second issue kinda goes with the first. You need to find some way to show enunciation. Enunciation is just as important as pronunciation. I'm certain even you are aware that doing either incorrectly can have various undesirable results."
Bakura dropped the notebook back onto the table.
Atem folded his arms on the table and dropped his head into them with a groan of exasperation.
"Really, Bakura? He's trying. Did you have to tear apart all his hard work?" Marik berated.
Bakura glanced casually towards him. "Tomb Keeper, I once recited an incantation incorrectly and turned a man inside out. Wasn't what I was going for, but I found the results rather amusing," he stated with a grin and a shrug. "However, I don't think Yugi would share my level of amusement if he unintentionally did the same. I also don't think the Pharaoh would enjoy knowing that the reason for said results were because he forgot to take certain things into account. I'm simply being helpful."
"You? Being helpful?" Marik said while laughing sarcastically. "Bakura, you've finally lost it, haven't you?"
Bakura stared boredly at the Tomb Keeper. "I just can't stand ineptitude. If he's gonna teach the kid, he needs to do it right."
"Whatever," Marik said while rolling his eyes. "You can keep 'helping', I'm going to check and see if my girlfriend has made any headway with her car."
"Good luck," Bakura said sarcastically.
Marik placed his school bag by the bottom of the stairs, then opened the door to the garage. Kat's hips, shoulders, and head were moving along to the rhythm of the song that played loudly from a nearby wireless speaker. Every now and again she could be heard quietly singing along as well. She appeared to be in the final stages of putting the engine block back together.
Marik looked at the rest of the vehicle. It looked nearly finished. There were just a few missing parts that needed to be placed beneath the hood.
"Wow, you work fast," he commented aloud.
Kat shrieked in surprise, jumping as she did so and transfiguring unintentionally, the tool that had been in her hand seconds before clattering loudly on the ground. Her feline form stood rigid with tail and ears alert, and fur bristled. After a moment had passed, she relaxed, her ears falling as she looked over at the Tomb Keeper standing in the doorway.
"That's interesting," Marik stated with a brow raised in amusement.
Kat transfigured back.
"You startled me," she said while looking away in embarrassment.
"Should I have knocked first?"
Kat turned off the music connected to the speaker.
"No. Kura usually tries to startle me on purpose. He thinks it's funny." She brought her gaze up and smiled lightly. "But I do the same to him, so it's kinda fair."
Marik chuckled. "So, can I come in? Or do I have to worry about flying tools…"
Kat shrunk, appearing embarrassed again. "I'm guessing Atem told you about my little tantrum earlier?"
"Tantrum? Is that what it was? From what I gathered, you simply asked him to hold a light and maybe just hand you tools when you asked for them."
"Pretty much. He was complaining about being bored, so I made the mistake of saying he could give me a hand," Kat replied while fidgeting with her arm. "I forgot that he's pretty clueless about this stuff. Also, every mechanic knows that you should never ask a non-mechanically inclined person to hold a light. It's just common sense."
"Well, it looks like he somewhat found something else to do," Marik said as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Somewhat? All he had to do was translate some scrolls," Kat stated, appearing mildly confused.
"According to Bakura, he's doing that wrong too."
Kat placed a grease covered hand over her face, sighing in exasperation. She then lowered her hand and walked into the house, Marik stepping aside so she could do so.
Atem and Bakura were sitting side-by-side discussing the best way to indicate proper pronunciations and enunciations.
"What if I write in a phonetic translation below, and indicate which part should be enunciated. That should cover things."
"Hmmm…I suppose that could work. You would have to start over though. You didn't leave room to throw something like that in. What about putting a mark next to the spellwork and having a separate sheet for referencing? It's a bit inconvenient, but it saves the trouble of having to rewrite everything. Anything beyond this point you could indicate more directly, unless you think he would find it easier having the separate reference sheet all throughout? You were in his head, not me, so I would assume you know which method would work better for him."
"Actually, the separate page is a great idea!" Atem said earnestly. "That way he can see the words, and learn by sight which parts aren't pronounced in a traditional sense and be able to spot common areas of enunciation. Should I also write the hieratic so he can learn to spot familiar words?"
"Couldn't hurt," Bakura replied with a casual shrug. "If anything he'll learn hieratic and be able to read more complex incantations without need for a translation."
Kat walked up behind them, staring back and forth in confusion.
"I thought you said Kura was criticizing him?" she whispered towards Marik, who had come to stand beside her and appeared just as puzzled as she was.
"He was," Marik whispered back.
"You know, I feel very left out," Bakura commented while glancing back at the two. "There the two of you are, talking about me, and I'm not even a part of the conversation. That's incredibly rude."
"Why are you being nice?" Kat asked warily.
Bakura pretended to be offended. "Did you just use that horrid 'n' word in reference to me?"
Kat hesitated, appearing confused for a second. "I thought that was 'normal', not 'nice'? Did I get it confused again?"
"Nope. They're both very bad. Taboo to mention, even."
"Are you sure?"
"Depends, how would you like it if I told someone you had a 'nice and cheery' personality?"
"What are you talking about? I'm delightful," Kat said with a playful grin.
Both Bakura and Atem burst into laughter.
"Why are you laughing?" Kat asked Atem in irritation.
"You are not, nor have you ever been 'delightful'," Atem replied in amusement.
Kat knit her brow into a tight scowl. "I was 'delightful' enough that you spent an entire week listing off reasons I should choose you over Mal."
"A week? It only took him a week?" Marik asked in astonishment.
"Only? That was one of the longest weeks of my life!" Atem interjected.
"It was one of the longest for me too," Kat commented unenthusiastically. "I'm starting to think I only said 'yes' just so you would shut up."
As Atem opened his mouth to retort, Marik grabbed Kat by the shoulders and directed her towards the stairs.
"How about we just leave them be? They're getting along, we'll go do our own thing," Marik said, attempting to keep the peace between his girlfriend and her ex by offering a distraction.
Kat smirked flirtatiously towards him. "Wanna help me get cleaned up?"
"Pass." Marik stated bluntly as he continued to direct her, and headed up the stairs. "Those hands of yours always find their way into my hair, and I am not dealing with the headache of trying to wash out engine grease."
"Awww," Kat said while hanging her head dejectedly.
"You can do anything you like after you're cleaned up."
"Anything?" Kat asked, stopping to look down at the other two from over the railing.
Marik's face (and heart) fell. "I said 'anything', not 'anyone'."
Kat contemplated on her next choice of words.
"So…no inviting extras?"
"We're not having a three-way," Marik said, scowling.
"What if I just watch?"
Marik stood there, flabbergasted, with his mouth agape.
Bakura and Atem had similar expressions on their faces from where they sat down below.
"Did she just…?" Atem questioned, uncertain if he was hearing things correctly.
"I think she did," Bakura answered, just as astonished.
"Abso-fucking-lutely not," Marik finally replied to Kat's question. "I'm only having sex with one person, and right now I'm no longer in the mood."
Kat glanced at him for a moment then averted her gaze, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. She then walked into her room and closed the door behind her.
Marik sighed, uncertain as to what exactly had prompted that kind of idea into his girlfriend's head in the first place.
"Hey, Tomb Keeper. Would you perhaps reconsider the three-way thing? I'll let you have first pick on entry point."
Marik glared down at the elemental that was staring with a hopeful expression up at him.
"NO."
There is an important message regarding if it becomes necessary to switch to AO3 on my Profile page. Please take a moment to look at it, as I don't want to leave a mile long message about it here.
Heads-up, if you want a sneak preview of the next chapter, AO3 already has it in their latest chapter grouping. This grouping is four chapters while the next will only be two, so to keep consistent with my posting schedule over there they got the earlier chapter this time.