Early this week due to unplanned scheduling conflicts.

TW for post crime-scene cleanup and body dysmorphia.

Marik shifted into a more comfortable position on the bed. Malik had taken Kat nearly two hours prior, and had yet to return. He should have asked to go with them.

He glanced towards the bathroom door. Malik had specifically told him to not open the door, and he hadn't…yet. Did whatever lay beyond explain why Kat had been so distant earlier that morning? He knew that she'd gone out, and for some reason didn't want him back until later…at least that was what Malik had told him after they'd left earlier. When Marik tried to get more information from Malik on what he'd meant, the Ishtari had changed the subject entirely and distracted him by asking about the motorcycle shop that he and Kat had visited.

Things between the two Ishtar's had been going pretty well, too. Marik had temporarily forgotten about Kat's strange behavior, and Malik seemed to be enjoying himself…until it got later into the evening. That's when Marik noticed Malik constantly checking the time and glancing out the window. As sunset approached, Malik dragged him out of the shop and to a secluded location.

He'd never forget the look on the Ishtari's face as he watched the sun slip below the horizon. The Ishtari's body had stiffened, his eyes wide with fear. Marik had watched the elemental stare off as if looking for something that only he could see, and his eyes widened even further just before he'd grabbed Marik and transported them back to the house. Malik had shouted at him to stay put, then rushed up the stairs. Had it not been for the extreme amount of panic in the Ishtari's voice, Marik would have ignored him and followed.

Then there was the shouting of Malik trying to get Kat to snap out of whatever trance she'd been in. Bakura had arrived with Atem about this time, and had bombarded him with questions that he didn't have answers to. Malik had come down not long after and vaguely explained the situation.

He'd been given the go-ahead to go upstairs after that. Seeing Kat wrapped up in the blankets while shaking vigorously was something that both looked and felt wrong. To him, she was strong and lively...but in that moment she looked so vulnerable. He felt this overwhelming urge to hold her and keep her safe from whoever, or whatever, had put her in that state. When Malik had arrived to take her away, he almost didn't let go. Now he was starting to wish he hadn't.

He glanced over at the closed door again. He wanted to know what lay beyond it, but would opening the door be considered betraying Kat's trust? Would she become upset if he saw whatever it was she didn't want him to see? Malik had said not to look unless Kat had given the okay, and Kat had said they would talk about it later, so…that was kind of the same thing, right?

He bounced the idea back and forth a few more times before giving in to the temptation. He swiftly crossed the room and extended his hand towards the handle, but the moment his hand came to rest on the knob… he paused.

Was he ready to see what was on the other side? Whatever it was, he was certain it wouldn't be pleasant. Why else would Kat have acted the way she had that morning? She'd plastered on a smile simply for his benefit and then distracted him. Even Malik had taken him away from the house and kept him distracted throughout the afternoon, most likely at Kat's request.

Marik lowered his hand from the knob. Looking wouldn't be right. He could wait until whenever Kat returned.

"If you're going to actually open it, I would suggest closing your eyes first."

Marik quickly spun around at the sound of Kat's voice coming from behind.

"I didn't-…I wasn't-"

Kat held up a hand to interrupt him. "If you want to look, then look. I'm just giving you a heads-up because I have an idea of how you feel about the sight of blood in general."

Marik blanched. "Blood?!"

"Like I said before, I'm not afraid of the thing inside of me, I simply hate that it exists. But it is what it is, and regardless if I hate it or not, I've found a way to make it useful." Kat said as she tossed an envelope onto the bed. "I don't have a good way to explain how, so maybe these photos will do it for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mess to clean up."

Marik wasn't certain what to make of Kat's behavior as she walked past him and into the bathroom, re-closing the door behind her. She hadn't seemed upset or angry. If anything she appeared calm, yet sad. He looked at the envelope on the bed. She said the pictures inside would help explain things?

He walked over and picked up the large yellow envelope, then lifted the top and pulled out the first picture inside. At first he was a bit confused at what he was looking at. As he pulled out some more photos, he wasn't sure what he felt more: Absolute horror, or a hatred that went beyond the hatred he once felt towards the former Pharaoh.

Marik vehemently threw the envelope to the ground as he rushed to open the closed door, forgetting entirely what was on the other side.

"Please tell me you killed the bastards responsible for doing that to those kids?!" he shouted as he stepped inside the bathroom.

Kat didn't look up to answer him. "Why do you think I have this mess?"

Marik's stomach churned a bit as the sight, but the range of emotions he currently felt helped to keep the nausea at bay.

"Since you're in here, and obviously not as bothered by what you see as I thought you'd be, would you mind helping me keep this bag open?"

Marik nodded and grabbed the black bag, holding it open so she could throw her blood-soaked apparel in it, then tied it up for her. He watched as she retrieved a bucket and cleaning supplies from beneath the sink, filling the bucket with water and bleach.

"Did you want help?"

Kat shook her head. "I've got it. You don't have to stick around if it makes you uncomfortable."

Marik glanced at the smeared marks on the walls that made it obvious that Kat had used the wall as some sort of guide on her way to the shower. The footprints down below confirmed that she'd had some difficulty walking straight.

He walked over to look under the sink and found a second scrub brush, then proceeded to start on the marks on the wall.

"What are you doing?" Kat asked.

"Helping."

"Why?" Kat asked, sounding slightly annoyed.

"Because I can," he replied. "Besides, I'm not bothered by the sight of blood. I'm only bothered by the idea of…" He tried to quell the flop his stomach made. "...the fact that it was mine." He still didn't have the stomach to say the implied words in-between.

There was silence between them, with only the sound of scrub brushes on tile keeping the room from becoming eerily quiet.

"I still don't understand," Kat said quietly after a few minutes. "How can you be calm and okay with this?"

"I don't have to like everything about you, but I can accept that it's a part of who you are. I'm sure there are things you don't like about me," Marik replied without removing his focus from a particularly stubborn spot between a group of tiles.

"Like the fact that you're annoyingly perfect?"

This caused Marik to chuckle. "You flatter me. I can only wish." He stopped fussing with the spot on the wall and crouched down in front of his girlfriend. "Listen, I'm not any more perfect than you are. I might not have as much blood on my hands as you do, but the fact remains that I have committed my own share of horrendous acts. You've found a way to at least make what you have to do serve a purpose. I just did the things I did because I was acting like a spoiled brat on a head-trip."

"See, it's you saying that kind of stuff that makes you perfect in my eyes," Kat said while looking at him fondly. "You know the things that need to be said. Even though our experiences differ, you still understand. While this confuses me, it also makes me l-..." She quickly stopped and looked away. "...like you all the more," she added quietly.

Marik's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't missed the quick pause and rephrasing, and was almost certain he knew the words that had almost been said. It made him smile and feel giddy inside.

"How about we finish up here, then you can spend the rest of the night telling me how 'perfect' I am," he said in a flirtatious manner, trying to distract her from the discomfort and uncertainty she was currently displaying.

Kat kept her gaze averted while forcing a smile. "Sure."

Marik stood and went back to scrubbing the smears on the wall. He decided to try a different diversion.

"Malik mentioned something about everyone hanging out tomorrow. Sounds fun. I'm actually looking forward to it."

He glanced from the corner of his eye to judge her reaction. Kat was still sitting in the same position, only this time she was cradling her head in one hand.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

No answer. Instead she winced as if in pain and was now cradling her head in both hands.

"Kat?" he asked in concern.

Marik dropped the brush from his hand and quickly knelt down beside her.

"Do I need to call for someone?" he asked worriedly, grabbing her by the shoulders in case he needed to help snap her out of something like Malik had earlier. This proved to be a mistake.

Marik found himself pinned against the wall by a single claw-extended hand, slitted eyes the color of blood scowling up at him.

"What the hell?! This isn't what we agreed upon, snake!" he shouted irritably.

Apep blinked in surprise, then released him. It then began to study its borrowed hands.

"Forgive us. We were not expecting to be thrust into this situation. We simply reacted upon instinct," it said as it continued to study the rest of its borrowed body.

"Not expecting? What the hell does that mean? Bring back my girlfriend!"

"We cannot. We did not wrest control like before. Our vessel is…" It cocked its head while appearing to internally search for the answer. "That is odd? Our vessel should not be nearly as drained of magae as she currently is. Even so, that does not explain what we are doing in her place."

Marik pinched the bridge of his nose. "So, what you're saying is she pretty much passed out and you somehow got thrown in control, right?"

"Yes," Apep said, appearing annoyed. "And here we thought we had spoken in a simple enough way."

"Whatever. Go sit out on the bed. Do not move from that spot. I'll finish up in here. Maybe I'll get lucky and you'll be gone by the time I'm done."

The serpent smirked in amusement. "We are here. It would be a wasteful opportunity if we left too soon."

Marik groaned loudly. "Didn't you just eat?"

Apep grinned wickedly. "Yes, we did. It was quite the delicacy too. But there is always room for a little more."

"Just go and sit on the bed," Marik said while waving the Serpent of Destruction possessing his girlfriend out the door.

Apep did as instructed while Marik set to finishing up the last bit of mess left in the bathroom.

A little over a half-hour later Marik was finally finished with the bathroom…he hoped. He'd spent a bit longer scrubbing at the black grout because he couldn't really tell if all the blood was gone or not, and decided to err on the side of caution.

After he'd disposed of the bleach water from the bucket, put everything back beneath the sink, and washed the bleach residue from his hands, he went out to make sure Apep was still waiting for him in the room.

"Ohmygo-...for the love of-...what are you doing!?" Marik asked in irritation as he spotted the serpent inspecting the curves of its naked borrowed body.

"We are trying to figure out what makes our vessel's body so appealing to you. It does not have scales or anything that shines in the light, and it is oddly shaped with these things on its chest. How does she not fall forward?"

"Please put her clothes back on."

Apep looked at him in confusion. "Why do mortal beings feel the need to cover themselves?"

Marik covered his face with both hands as he tried to not lose his temper with the serpent that wanted to devour the entire world.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked in annoyance as he brought his hands down and away from his face.

The hurt expression that looked at him and was quickly replaced by one of anger was not something he had expected from the snake.

"There is nothing wrong with us! We are perfect!" Apep shouted.

Marik quickly raised his hands in apology. "Okay, sorry. Poor choice of words."

The serpent growled low while narrowing its eyes. It grabbed the long tee that Kat had been wearing off the floor and hastily put it back on. Marik had hoped maybe the serpent would do the same with the shorts Kat had been wearing as well, but it disappointed him by sitting on the foot of the bed instead. It huffed loudly as it crossed its borrowed limbs and looked away while bitterly pouting.

Marik tried to apologize further. "It's just a phrase people use. I didn't mean anything personal by it."

Apep continued to pout. "We are…not perfect. If we were…we would not have been abandoned by the one that created us," it said in a despondent tone of voice.

'Great,' Marik thought to himself. 'A snake with abandonment issues.' He leaned against the dresser, standing opposite of the serpent. 'I guess since it's not going anywhere, I might as well talk to it. Maybe that will help it go back into hiding.'

"You'll have to clarify which story is true. I've read too many different versions."

Apep gave him a side-eyed glance. "There are multiple tales about our creation?" it asked in confusion.

"Yep. The most common one is that you were created from Ra's umbilical cord upon his own creation."

Apep made another growled sound. "It was not upon his creation. It was after he removed us from his body and cast us aside. Before that, we were unthinking, unliving. Ra is a god of creation. He creates from what he touches…and we are his first creation."

"He 'discarded' his first creation? What an ass," Marik commented.

"Your choice of words are ineloquent, but yes."

"So, he made you then just walked away?"

"Not at first," Apep said while lowering its head. "Ra emerged appearing as you first saw him. We did not. We first appeared as our serpent self. He is our creator, and we wished to honor him by taking on a mortal guise as he did. He seemed pleased at first."

"I'm sensing a 'but' coming…"

Apep nodded. "He did not like our form. He said it was 'wrong'."

"What did he think was 'wrong' about it?"

The serpent appeared to think inwardly. "We find it difficult to explain, but perhaps a reference we have found in our vessel's mind will help clarify? Assuming you know what a 'Ken-Doll' is?"

"Unfortunately I do," Marik replied unenthusiastically. "And let me guess, Ra wasn't pleased with the fact that you weren't a boy or a girl?"

"Mostly that we were not 'she'. We are his first creation, his opposing counterpart…but we are not opposite of him in every way. He is light and creation, we are dark and destruction. Because we are not what we should have been, he cast us aside and created the goddesses Hathor, Sekhmet, Bast, and Satet to act as his consorts."

"You weren't what he wanted, so he decided to make a harem instead? That's pretty fucked up."

"Yes, that does align with what we have thought at times," Apep said in agreement with a small chuckle.

Marik gave the serpent a curious glance. "Did you just laugh? And not in a 'I'm going to kill you and destroy the world' kind of way?"

"Does this surprise you? Did you think us incapable of emotions aside from hatred?" it asked earnestly.

"Honestly, I never thought about it."

Apep sighed, sounding a bit let down. "As to be expected. We are Apep after all. We are meant to be despised and hated simply for existing. We are darkness and destruction. Both are concepts that all mortals carry within, yet when found in any that are not themselves, they fetter and spit on it."

Ever since Marik had been bitten by a snake as a child, he'd feared and hated them, but at this moment he kind of felt bad for the one sitting across from him.

"Sounds awful," was all he could think to say.

"We are accustomed to it," Apep said despondently.

Marik tried to think of a way to change away from the awkwardness of the conversation.

"So, um…since you won't be destroying the world as soon as you're free, what do you plan to do?"

Apep stared blankly at him. "Do?"

"Yeah, you said you would hold off until after I was gone from this world. You'll obviously have some time to kill, so to speak. I know you said something about returning 'home', which I'm not entirely sure where that is, but what else do you plan to do?"

"Home is…is…" Apep looked as though it were struggling internally.

"You don't know where 'home' is?"

"We have…apparently forgotten. Maybe it is no longer there? We are uncertain."

"So, you have no clue where you're going or what you're going to do for a few decades?"

Apep dropped its head low. "It appears that way. We have never thought of anything beyond obtaining our freedom and devouring this world."

Marik thought for a moment. "You said you can appear human, right?"

"Yes, but the body is wrong."

"Forget what Ra told you," Marik said while waving in dismissal. "You should use that appearance and enjoy this world before you destroy it. You know, get a closer look and gain a better appreciation of your feast."

"We can do this?" Apep asked with earnest curiosity.

"Why not? Humans have this weird obsession with just staring at their food before they eat it. We even go so far as taking pictures to show other humans."

Apep appeared to think about his suggestion.

"That sounds like an odd thing to do, but we like the idea. However, we would have to live as mortals do, would we not?"

"Well…yes. You can't have people running in fear. It would ruin the whole experience."

The serpent continued to think.

"Would you show us how?"

"How?" Marik asked in confusion. "You mean how to act and live as a human?"

Apep nodded its borrowed head.

"Um…uh….oh, what the hell…sure," Marik said reluctantly. "Just one question though. Why me?"

"We are uncertain what you mean by 'Why me'."

"Surely there is someone else out there that you could learn how to be human from?"

Apep shook its head. "Aside from the Boy of Shadow, no. None have ever spoken to us unless it is to spew taunts and curses at us."

"Wow. That sounds…lonely."

"We have never known anything else. We have been hated since our creation."

"No wonder you want to devour the world," Marik said under his breath.

Apep suddenly grabbed its head.

"What's going on?" Marik asked in concern.

The body fell forward and collapsed onto the floor. Marik rushed over immediately and knelt beside it, picking it up in his arms while gently trying to shake it awake.

"Hey, can you hear me? Is everything okay?"

Sapphires fluttered open, to Marik's relief. Kat looked around in confusion.

"Weren't we just in the bathroom?"

"Oh, uh, you kinda passed out," Marik said quickly, trying to figure out how he was going to explain the gap in time.

She looked down. "Why are my shorts off?"

Marik glanced over to where they were still lying on the floor.

"You got some blood on them. I didn't think you wanted it on the bed."

"Oh. But then why didn't you take off my shirt?"

"I didn't get that far."

"Oh."

He really hated having to lie to her like this, but unfortunately his tongue was still tied as far as anything involving Apep went…quite literally.

"Listen, why don't you take off the shirt, I'll be right back with a wet rag so you can clean up the rest. You still have a bit on your knees."

Kat nodded, obviously still trying to piece things together. Marik hoped she wouldn't try to stand and follow him, because then he'd have to try to figure out how to explain the already cleaned bathroom. He left and returned quickly, and helped her to clean up. He then helped her into the bed that he'd fixed all the blankets on while she was away.

Kat sat quietly for several minutes before she spoke up.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure, anything."

"Don't lie to me. Just tell me my Isfet took over. I'll understand."

Shit.

"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." Marik said apologetically.

"Did it hurt anyone?"

Marik shook his head. "No. It stayed in here the whole time. No one else saw or heard it."

"And you? It didn't hurt you?"

"I'm still in one piece aren't I?" Marik said with a small chuckle.

Kat wrapped her arms around his side and snuggled into his chest. "You know, you make it difficult to not say certain words."

Marik looked down and smiled playfully as he wrapped his arms around her in return. "Oh? And what might those certain words be?"

"The ones that I will never carelessly speak again in the way in which I am currently feeling."

Marik had to push her away at that point so he could look her in the eyes.

"Currently feeling? Are you trying to say what I think you're trying to say?" he asked with a knowing grin.

"You'll never hear me say it," Kat said in a pointed-yet-casual manner.

"Oh, I'm sure I will. I spent several years strategizing a plan to defeat your ex. I think I can wait for you to say 'I love you'."

"In case you forgot, you didn't defeat him."

"I could have."

"I don't think so."

Marik brought his face in close so that their noses were touching.

"I could have if someone hadn't interfered."

"You can't even beat your sister."

"She cheats."

"No, you just suck. I saw your deck. You would have never won."

"What happened to 'perfect'?"

"You said it yourself, you're not 'perfect'."

"I bet I know something that I am 'perfect' at…" Marik said playfully.

"Oh, and what's that?" Kat asked just as playfully.

Marik took a deep breath in as he sat up straight, then let it out as he lay down and rolled over with his back facing Kat. "Not telling. Goodnight."

"Hey, you can't do that!" Kat laughed as she pounced on top of him.

Marik laughed as he tried to bury his head beneath a pillow in a playful attempt to avoid Kat's affections. He felt the weight on top of him vanish. He peeked his head out, only to be greeted by a dark, furry face and a loud 'mau'.

"That's cheating," he playfully scolded.

The face and body attached shifted and became that of his girlfriend again. "All is fair in love and war."

"So which is this? Love? Or war?"

Kat placed a kiss on the tip of his nose, then crawled back on to her side of the bed, lying down with her back to him just as he'd done to her. "You'll never know. Good night."

"Oh, it is on."

Would like to note that 'Ken-Doll' reference is the only way Apep knew how to explain things. That is not how the I actually view those who are Non-Binary.