A bit of PoV swapping and some small time-skips. Small mention of how Imhotep and Kat deal with the hunger they experience due to their 'Isfet'.
A series of melodic chimes roused Marik from his restful sleep. He rolled over as best he could without disturbing his girlfriend to shut off his alarm. An arm slithering around him and pulling him back told him he hadn't done a very good job at not waking her up.
"heru nefer, sehedj-ib," Kat said happily to her boyfriend, greeting him in the old tongue.
"Good morning to you, too, habibty," Marik replied. "This is a nice change," he added with a smile.
Kat responded by placing her lips on his. After several moments of passionate make-out, Marik reluctantly pulled away.
"I still have to…shower…before…school. You can have…as much of me…as you want…when I get…back," he managed to get out between the repetitive interruptions of Kat's lips on his own.
Kat pulled back, her smile and happy demeanor quickly replaced by something else as she slowly sat up and looked away.
"What's wrong?" Marik asked.
"I'll be leaving before you return. There's…something I have to do," Kat replied quietly.
"Oh," Marik said despondently. "Um, well…it's not like you'll be gone all evening, right?"
Kat hesitated before answering. "No…" She turned to face him, a small false smile painted on her face. "I'll see you close to sunset."
Kat's sudden strange behavior worried Marik. "Habibty, is everything okay?"
"Everything is fine. We'll talk about it when I see you later tonight," Kat replied, her false smile still in place. "Need help with your shower? I'm sure you can spare a few extra minutes," she said playfully, obviously attempting to distract from the topic.
As worried as Marik was, he could tell prying would get him nowhere this morning. Besides, Kat appeared willing to talk about whatever it was that was bothering her, just at a later time.
He smiled, then reached over and playfully pulled Kat in close. "Okay. You can help me wash up, but you're only allowed to help in certain areas. The hair is off-limits. I have a very specific routine that I follow."
"Wash twice, lightly condition once?"
Marik groaned a bit. "I can't help that I have naturally oily hair. The first wash breaks up the dirt and oils, the second removes it. If I over-condition, it just makes my hair look oily again. My method keeps my hair looking soft and smooth without having to use a bunch of extra products."
"Um, hello?" Kat said while lifting a section of her own hair. "You think this shit is easy to take care of? Don't even get me started on the fact that I can't cut it, because it just immediately grows right back! You see these split ends? Yeah, stuck with them."
"That sucks."
"That is a massive understatement."
"Alright, come on. We're not getting anywhere sitting here bickering about hair problems," Marik chuckled while leading Kat off of the bed.
Marik quickly rushed around the room as he got dressed, cursing himself for giving in to the temptation of shower sex.
"Dammit, I'm gonna be late!"
He gave Kat a quick peck before grabbing his bag, rushing out of the bedroom, quickly turning around to grab his phone off its charger (he'd vowed to never forget charging it again), and back out and down the stairs. His eye twitched at the sight laying beside the table. He was already running late, and was counting on Bakura to get him to school without the 'appearing normal' detour.
Bakura, however, was sprawled out on his back, and open-mouthed snoring. Atem was not far away, curled up across two cushions with a comforter wrapped around him. The scattered remains of what appeared to be a chess match in progress made it obvious they had been playing the game when they both fell asleep.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Bakura! We're gonna be late!" Marik shouted.
Bakura groggily raised his head, groaning at being woken up. "Pipe it down. We've got lots of time." He let his head drop back onto the hard floor with a loud 'thunk'.
"Oh, really?" Marik said in annoyance. "FYI: First period starts in ten minutes."
Bakura lifted his head again, appearing confused. "What?"
"TEN. MINUTES." Marik repeated.
Bakura's eyes suddenly shot open. "Shit! Why didn't you wake me up sooner!?"
"Don't you have a fuckin alarm of your own?"
"No, I don't!" Bakura shouted as he quickly ran upstairs to change.
He came back down in record speed, skipping the stairs by hopping over the railing. He'd barely placed his hand on the Tomb Keeper as they vanished out of the living area and reappeared on the school roof. Both ran down the stairs, barely making it to their seats as the bell sounded.
"Ehhhh….do I wanna know?" Joey asked as the two heaved sighs of relief.
"No," Marik replied exhaustively.
Atem groggily stirred from the yelling and shouting going on. He'd barely opened his eyes when Marik and Bakura vanished in front of him.
"What was that all about?" Kat wondered aloud from the balcony above.
Atem rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Something about being late," he said as he stretched.
Kat stared down in confusion at him. "Did the two of you fall asleep playing chess?"
Atem sleepily glanced over towards the table and knocked over pieces. "It appears that way."
Kat made her way down the stairs, wearing only a short kimono-style bathrobe and her hair wrapped in a towel.
"You are aware that you are not alone, yes?" Atem questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Kat glanced down at her attire, then over to Atem. "So. It's not like you haven't seen what's underneath."
"While that may be true, do you really think that after the other day you should be strutting around in such a tempting manner?"
"If it tempts you so much, you have a room that offers privacy. I have no qualms with you doing whatever you feel is necessary to yourself, and I care little if you are picturing yourself with me, or another."
Atem scowled at her crude suggestion as she walked past him on her way to the kitchen. He couldn't help but lean back just enough to look under the backside of her robe before she passed through the kitchen door.
"Hope you got a good look, because it's all you're getting!" Kat shouted from the other side of the door.
"If I have to use my imagination, I would have preferred a frontal view!" Atem shouted back with a light chuckle.
Kat came back out moments later, carrying a cup of coffee…and the front of her robe undone. "Better?" she asked as she walked past.
Atem craned his neck as she continued to walk past, leaning as far over as he could to continue taking in the quickly fading view, falling over onto his side in the process. He propped himself up casually on one elbow, and smirked as he watched her robe flow back as she made her way up the stairs, revealing yet another angle for him to admire.
"I have no objections to you standing in one spot," he stated playfully as he reached down to re-adjust himself.
Kat lifted her mug and took a sip while waving tauntingly as she vanished into her room and shut the door.
"That woman is going to be the death of me for a second time," Atem said to himself as he casually shook his head. He lifted himself, comforter and all, off the floor then proceeded to make his way up the stairs. He stopped beside the first door and knocked lightly.
It cracked open, a sapphire eye peeking through the crack.
"Take care of it yourself. I was kind enough to let you look," Kat said sharply.
Atem sighed in exasperation. "I understand, and I'm not asking for your…assistance. My knock was for another matter."
Kat waited for him to continue.
"Well?" she said irritably when he didn't.
"Were you still planning on taking me over to visit with Solomon today, or should I find other means of transportation?"
Kat took in and released a deep sigh. "Give me about an hour…unless, of course, you need longer?" she said teasingly.
"I think an hour should be plenty," Atem replied with a smirk.
"True. You never did take too long," Kat said with a smirk of her own.
Atem's face fell. "Why were you blessed with a beautiful body, but a mean spirit?"
"I could ask the same of you."
Atem raised his brow in a piqued manner. "Oh? Does that mean you still enjoy what you see?"
Kat rolled her eyes and closed the door in his face.
Atem chuckled then went to his room, debating if he should ignore, or take care of, the 'problem' that had arisen as he closed his own door behind him.
A little over an hour later, Atem found himself staring boredly out of the window of Kat's purple car.
"...everything should be okay, but I'll ask Kura to keep his ears open just in case…"
Kat had been going on and on since before their departure about how everyone would be occupied elsewhere today, and that even with a barrier in place around the game shop, that there was still that small chance that someone could sneak through and…Atem wasn't certain what else was said beyond that because he had tuned her out.
"...Atem…ATEM…"
He turned his head, pretending to have heard every word she said. "Don't worry. I won't leave the 'safety' of Solomon's shop," he said boredly.
"I asked if you remembered everything you wanted to bring with you?"
Atem unenthusiastically lifted the messenger bag on his lap. "I made sure to put it all in here last night. If I've forgotten anything, I guess it just gives me a good excuse to come back another day."
"Gods, can you sound any more miserable?" Kat asked in annoyance.
"I'm sorry. Since my resurrection, life hasn't exactly been the greatest," Atem replied irritably.
The car slowed to a stop in front of the Kame Game shop. Kat placed the vehicle into neutral and applied the parking brake, then stared ahead for a long moment.
"I'm sorry things changed. I tried so hard, for so long, to keep as much as I could the same for you…but in the end, I failed."
Atem quickly noted his former wife's despondency. "Katrina, I did not mean-" He paused, choosing his words carefully. "I hope you don't think that I am ungrateful for everything you've had to endure because of me. You've spent the past five-thousand years trying to bring me back. I've seen the great lengths you've gone through to accomplish that goal, and I admire the dedication you gave to me, even though I was not deserving of it."
Kat turned her head slightly to glance over at him. "Really?"
Atem smiled softly while nodding. "Absolutely. You were like the goddess, Isis. Your beloved was slain, and you went to great lengths to bring him back."
Kat looked straight ahead and down again. "Yes, but I was not loyal…and in the end, my beloved is now without his wife by his side."
Atem placed a reassuring hand on his former wife's shoulder. "Katrina, look at me."
Kat glanced back at him again.
"I was not a loving husband. A loving husband would have been more focused on you. I would have seen, much sooner, the things I see now."
"And what do you see now?" Kat asked.
"That there is someone much better suited than myself when it comes to making you smile," Atem replied. He half-forced a smile on his face. "The way you are with Marik, it makes me both sad and happy at the same time. I am sad that I cannot do that for you, but I am happy to see you like that once again."
A small smile formed on Kat's face. The sight of it brought a bit of joy to Atem in knowing that he could still bring any sort of smile to her face.
"You should be going. Solomon is probably wondering why you're still sitting out here," Kat stated.
Atem nodded. He opened the door to exit the vehicle, then hesitated for a moment as a random thought-idea entered his mind.
"We should all go out sometime. Tomorrow perhaps?"
Kat looked at him in a questioning manner. "What do you mean?"
"We should all go out," Atem reiterated. "You, me, Marik, Yugi and Imhotep…maybe invite Téa, Joey, and Tristan…and I suppose Bakura and Malik if they want to tag along. We could wander the mall and the arcade for a few hours. Just…go out and have a bit of fun. Worst case scenario, Kaiba tracks me down and demands that I duel him right then and there."
This prompted a smile and a laugh out of Kat.
"Alright. Sounds like a plan. I don't have anything to do tomorrow until later in the evening. Mkhai and his raid schedule," she said with a chuckle as she rolled her eyes. "We can do lunch at the food court, then go from there."
"I'll inform Yugi and his friends. I'll leave Marik and the other two to you."
"I'll inform Imhotep as well. He'll be dropping off Yugi then heading out once school is finished."
"Oh?" Atem said in confusion. "He won't be here?"
The smile on Kat's face vanished as she shook her head. "No. He's like me and has to go 'out' on a regular basis."
"Ah, I see," Atem said in understanding. He'd known the purpose of her fangs since not long after he'd awakened with his first host. "So you will be 'hunting' together, I take it?"
Kat shook her head again. "No. Im's not as preferential as I am. His prey tends to have spent more years in a cage than free. They often look forward to the release he brings."
Atem thought for a moment, trying to decipher what Kat meant. "Death row?"
Kat nodded.
"It is not for me to judge," Atem stated. "But if he must feed, then I can think of no better solution."
"That's our line of thinking," Kat said while nodding in agreement.
"What about you? You said you wouldn't be with him. Do you still…how did you word it? 'Cleanse this world of those whose hearts are filled with absolute Chaos'?"
Kat nodded. "I cannot sit idly by and let their kind wander about freely," she said bitterly.
Atem sighed heavily, reaching out to place his hand across that of his former wife's. "I know it's not something that I have to worry about…but please be careful."
Kat smirked and looked at him in amusement. "You're right. It's not something you have to worry about. No mortal weapon or attack can harm me. Maybe temporarily incapacitate if they get lucky, but that would only add to the suffering they will ultimately endure."
"Katrina, I mean it. You might be an all-powerful immortal being, but one of these days someone is bound to come after you…and possibly those you care about."
Kat removed Atem's hand from atop her own. "I pity anyone foolish enough to attempt such a notion."
"As do I," Atem said in agreement. "Just promise me that you will be careful?"
"As careful as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs," Kat stated with a grin.
Atem furled his brow. "Isn't the saying supposed to go 'As nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs?"
"Yes, which is why the cat must be careful. A rocked-on tail is quite painful." Kat said knowingly.
Atem shook his head in exasperation before lifting his gaze to his former wife one last time. "I'll see you later tonight?"
Kat nodded her head.
Atem opened his door. "Alright. I'll see you then." He exited the vehicle, and watched as the purple car drove away.
Yup, Kat's a bit of a tease, but obviously Atem knows this and isn't exactly the most well-behaved himself (he did try peeking after all).
Small get along moment between these two. Don't expect it to last.