I apologize for nothing that occurs (or doesn't) in this chapter :p
Atem made his way up the stairs, stopping only to glance at the white, furry beast that lay facing the door next to his. He said nothing as he walked past and into his own room. He'd seen that look in Bakura's eyes before. It was far too reminiscent of back when they had both taken turns kneeling at Kat's side when she had been sick. It was the only time he could recall actively seeing the thief's gentler side.
He grabbed the folded blanket from the foot of the bed and carried it back out to where the elemental was lying in his transfigured form.
"Would you prefer something softer to lay on?"
Bakura's eyes shifted away from the door as he narrowed them at Atem. He stared for a moment, then stood and moved aside so that Atem could lay the folded blanket on the floor. He looked warily at the blanket, then up at Atem, before laying down on it while huffing loudly.
"You know there's nothing any of us could have done, right?"
Bakura made a low, grumbled 'ar-rar rar aruff' as a reply.
Atem raised a brow. "I'm going to poorly translate that as 'I know, now go the fuck away'."
Bakura happily wagged his tail.
Atem shook his head, then proceeded back into his room, closing the door behind him.
Atem woke to the sound of water running in his bathroom. He groggily sat up, feeling a bit surprised that he'd managed to fall asleep at all. He wondered if it was because he knew that there was someone just on the other side of the door?
Something on the nightstand caught his attention, and upon closer inspection he was surprised to see the Millennium Ring just laying there. He glanced over towards the bathroom. The elemental using his made sense, as it was the only one available that didn't involve possibly walking in and seeing things he probably didn't want to see…or maybe he did? It was hard to tell with Bakura.
What didn't make sense was why Bakura would have left the Ring somewhere that wasn't within his immediate grasp. The running water implied that he was probably in the shower, which explained why he didn't have the object around his neck…but why not just leave it on the bathroom counter?
He heard the water shut off and a few moments later Bakura came walking out with a towel hung loosely around his hips, drying his hair with another.
Bakura paused in drying his hair to look over at Atem.
"You can stop staring. I already know it's scrawnier than my old one."
Atem blinked and averted his gaze. He hadn't even realized he was staring.
"It looks just fine."
Atem mentally facepalmed almost immediately. He could only imagine how the thief was going to twist his words.
"You're full of shit, too," Bakura said while walking over to the bag he kept stashed in the corner of the room.
Atem scowled. "I give you a compliment, and that's what I get in return?"
"You don't compliment people like me. You say what they want to hear and hope they believe your lies."
"So you don't trust me to speak the truth?"
"Nope."
"But you trust me with the Ring."
It wasn't a question on Atem's part, it was a statement.
Bakura hesitated in rummaging through his bag, cast an over the shoulder glance in Atem's direction for a long moment, then returned to searching through the bag.
Atem groaned in annoyance. "I wish I could understand what goes on in that head of yours."
"No, you do not."
"Why not? I already know that at least half of it is filled with the various methods with which you plan to kill me. The other half can't be much worse."
Bakura stood up straight, dropped the clothes he had picked out, then turned and made his way across the room where he quickly straddled himself atop Atem's lap. His face was tightly scowled as he brought it in close to Atem's.
"Are you really sure you want to know what the other half is thinking?"
Atem swallowed hard. He was certain that, even though all the color had drained from his face, his cheeks were most definitely a shade of red. Bakura was far too close for his liking, and the way he currently felt in regards to that closeness wasn't something he liked either.
Bakura leaned in even closer (which Atem hadn't realized was possible).
"Don't keep me waiting, Pharaoh. I want an answer."
Atem found himself struggling to process not only what was currently happening, but the range of conflicting emotions he currently felt.
Was Bakura simply messing with him? Would Bakura really stoop so low as to attempt seduction just to get to him? Or had Bakura finally lost his mind?
Atem swallowed hard again as Bakura gently placed his fingers on Atem's face, lightly tracing a thumb over Atem's lower lip.
Bakura leaned in closer still so that his cheek rested against Atem's. "I'm still waiting for an answer," he growled quietly, his breath hot against Atem's ear.
Atem still couldn't formulate words. His heart was racing, and the ability to breath had become difficult. He barely registered that all the blood that had vanished from his face had begun to accumulate elsewhere.
After another long moment passed with Atem still not saying anything, Bakura took in and released a deep sigh, sitting up straight in the process.
"That's what I thought."
He then began to remove himself from Atem's lap, but Atem quickly shifted, grabbing hold of Bakura's wrist as he did and flinging the elemental roughly onto his back and pinning him down. Atem hovered over top afterwards, breathing heavily.
"Try that again, Thief, and I'll kill you in your sleep," Atem said harshly.
Bakura quickly recovered from his shock, his eyes narrowed seductively at the one hovering over him, a sadistic grin spread across his face. "I look forward to it."
Atem narrowed his eyes. He wasn't certain what Bakura's angle was, but he wasn't going to let the thief play his head games.
"Atem, can I ask you a qu-...ohmyfuckinggods…nevermind… it can wait."
Atem's head fell forward in defeat. Of course his ex would come barging in at this particular moment.
Kat tried to subtly close the door while whispering 'sorry'.
"So…I'm getting some mixed signals here. Are we doing this, or…? I mean, cause if we're not, then this is just awkward and embarrassing for the both of us," Bakura asked in confusion.
Atem was once again left unable to speak. He released Bakura, then moved into a position of sitting on the edge of the bed with his face buried in his hands.
"Okay then…awkward and embarrassing it is…"
Bakura exited from the opposite side of the bed, grabbed the clothes he had dropped, then walked into the bathroom and shut the door.
Immediately after, Atem heard what sounded like Bakura leaning against the door and sliding down it, accompanied by a very loud 'Fuck! I'm such a fucking idiot!'.
Atem removed his face from his hands and looked in bafflement at the closed door. Was it possible that there was no ulterior motive behind the thief's behavior other than what was clearly laid out in front of him? Atem shook his head. That made absolutely no sense. This was Bakura. The immortal demon that wanted to kill him. Then again….this was Bakura. Since when did anything he'd ever said or done make any sense?
Atem had to know, and right now he felt compelled to do something that he was certain would come back to bite him. He stood and crossed the room, then placed a light knock on the bathroom door.
He heard the sounds of someone shifting their weight on the other side of the door, along with Bakura clearing his throat. There was a brief pause before the door cracked open.
"Gotta wait your turn, Pharaoh. This room's booked for the next ten to fifteen," Bakura said nonchalantly.
"It doesn't take that long to get dressed," Atem stated.
"No, but me and ol' Rosie are having some alone time, if you catch my drift."
Atem knew exactly what he meant. "No you're not. I can hear everything through the door," he said, calling Bakura out on his obvious lie.
"Well, maybe we were planning to, and you just interrupted," Bakura fired back in annoyance.
"Open the door so we can talk."
"Ummmm….no."
"Open the door, Bakura."
"Nope."
Bakura tried to shut the door, but Atem pressed his weight against it.
"Why were you trying to seduce me?"
Bakura removed his weight from the other side of the door, which caused Atem to fall forward onto the bathroom floor.
"You wanted to know what was going on in my mind. Surprise!" Bakura said sarcastically.
Atem raised himself into a sitting position. "So, let me get this straight? Half of your mind is ways to kill me, the other half is ways to seduce me?"
"It's not so much the 'seduction' part as it is the 'bend you over and make you scream my name ' part."
Atem's face was drawn tight in mass confusion. "I would ask what is wrong with you, but the list of what isn't is much, much shorter."
"I'm surprisingly not as complex of a person as you seem to think," Bakura stated. "My mind consists of 'Kill the Pharaoh', 'Fuck the Pharaoh'...which now has duplicate meanings, 'how long before this person becomes annoyed'...followed closely by 'how long before this person gives up and storms off', and my personal favorite…'is this edible'. Nine times out ten the answer is 'yes' to that last one. The other 'one' is usually because even I'm not that stupid….well…except for that time Kat dared me to swallow a piece of radioactive material…"
Atem continued to stare in bafflement. "You're being completely honest…"
Bakura crouched down before him, and Atem was glad that the towel around the elemental's hips was still in place.
"You want 'honest'? You and I hate each other, that's a fact. Why? That part eludes me. Where there should be a memory to explain it, there's a big ol' question mark. Each and every fucking time I try to dig and search for an answer, I get a splitting headache. I'm already over trying to figure it out, and I'm done trying to figure out this other fucking thing that won't leave me the fuck alone."
"And that thing is…?" Atem questioned warily.
"In case it isn't obvious, I'm a very emotionally challenged individual. I don't do the 'feelings' bullshit very well. Kat's an exception to that, but only because…well…it's her."
"Are you going to get to the point some time this century?"
Bakura tapped this thumb while averting his gaze as he appeared to think.
"Ah, fuck it," he grumbled. He then turned his gaze back to Atem. "I'm already bored with life, I have an itch that needs scratching, and I find you tolerable."
"You want to have sex with me…because you find me tolerable?" Atem asked slowly, still trying to figure out the enigma that was 'Bakura'.
"You make it sound like there has to be more?"
"I'm just-...it's you….and me…"
"You can't tell me you don't have an itch? Five-thousand years of getting cock-blocked doesn't go away from a single drunk encounter. I'm simply proposing that we help each other out in that area. It'll all stay behind closed doors. Out in the open, I'll still be an ass and make death threats. Sure, people will snicker and say shit, because they enjoy dredging it up, but they don't have to know about what goes on when they're not around. Oh, and it's not like this is an exclusive deal or anything either. You find someone else to fuck, fine by me. Ol' Rosie isn't my preferred partner of choice, but she gets the job done."
"I'm surprised you're actually considering this versus just hiring a prostitute."
"They charge too much and they just fake it. Plus, healing from venereal diseases isn't exactly fun. I don't mind scratching my balls when they itch, but I don't enjoy scratching them to the point that I actually wish they'd fall off."
"That doesn't sound pleasant," Atem said in disgust.
"It's not. Obviously, I'd rather take my chances with someone who fucked half the palace staff."
Atem scowled. "It wasn't 'half'," he said defensively.
Bakura rolled his eyes. "Okay…I guess it was closer to five percent."
"Was it really that obvious?"
"Am I clinically insane?"
"I'm not certain what the correct answer to that is…"
"According to my medical degree…yes."
"You have a medical degree?"
"Multiple, actually. Shocking, I know. So, casual partners, yea or nay?"
Atem sighed. "I don't know. It's…not something I expected."
"Listen, I know I'm not much to look at anymore, and I don't do the feelings bullshit…but I'm not rough…unless that's what you like. And as shocking as it may seem, I don't force my partners to do anything they aren't comfortable with. I do have standards."
Atem hesitated before answering.
"I need time to think about it."
Bakura stood and stretched. "Fine by me. It's not like I have anything better to do than wait around. Right now I'm just riding the free alias given to me, which means a few more years of high school, then maybe university if I feel up to it. I figure I've got about a decade…maybe two if I'm lucky, before I have to change identities again. Aside from that, it's just lots of boredom."
Atem remained on the floor, still trying to process and contemplate over everything.
"Um…so…uh…I guess I'll get dressed out in the other room," Bakura said awkwardly.
Atem quickly stood. "No, it's alright. I'll leave," he said while walking past the pale elemental.
After the door had shut, Atem just stood there. Was he seriously considering taking Bakura up on his offer? Was he really that desperate? He wanted to change from how he used to be, but wasn't this kind of a step backwards? If he really wanted to improve himself, shouldn't he be considering the idea of finding someone to be in a stable relationship with, instead of something casual with the one person who obviously wanted to end his life?
He walked over and sat back on the bed, shaking his head in disbelief. "I must be out of my mind," he said quietly to himself. "I've been back less than a week, and I'm seriously contemplating a casual relationship with the Thief, of all people."
Atem shook his head again, then decided to push everything to the back of his mind to deal with later. Right now he needed to get ready for the day. He stood and went to the dresser to search for some clothes, praying that the rest of the day wouldn't be any stranger than this morning had proven to be.
I know I said these two were gonna be a slow-burn, and guess what? They are sloths. I am currently on the WiP draft of chapter 100 (omgwtf?) and the only progress they've made is...well...hate can be a love language...right? One plus: time-skips are a thing at this point! No more 10-chapter long 'days'!
Don't forget, if you follow me on Tumbler ( Sesshy380), you can see snippets of future chapters along with other things I'm working on. Also, I am always willing to answer any questions you may have in regards to any of my works! Just make sure before following, that your profile has something other than the default icon with 'Untitled' below it, or else I may think you are a bot and block/report you (these are easy changes btw). Adding a single post like 'I'm here to read fanfiction' helps too.