It wasn't uncommon for the spirit of the ring to be quiet. He usually was, when inside of their shared apartment. When there were no games to play, no people to annoy, and no shows or movies to watch, the spirit had nothing to do and was therefore quiet. Yesterday however, was a different kind of quiet. He was taking occasional glances at Yami Marik whenever they were in the same room, something he hardly ever did, making his usual silence awkward and uncomfortable.
It wasn't uncommon to find the spirit of the ring asleep in a weird place. On the floor in front of the balcony's glass door during sunny days, in the bathtub, or underneath his own bed. Yesterday, however, Yami Marik had caught the spirit asleep on his bed. Curled up like a cat directly in the center, so, even though Yami Marik was tired from whatever odd job he'd done that day, he couldn't move the spirit. He slept on the couch instead.
Finally, it wasn't uncommon for the spirit of the ring to not really want to be touched. He tolerated it on colder days and nights, but on regular days he would reject most physical affections Yami Marik wanted to give him. Yesterday, however, he seemed to crave the others' attention. He was constantly getting in the way of Yami Marik's tasks. Disrupting his dishwashing to ask a stupid question, hiding his phone so he couldn't answer any calls, and stealing his robe for some reason! Yami Marik still hasn't gotten that back.
And now today, while Yami Marik was doing laundry, he caught the spirit watching him from the corner of his eye. He was hiding behind the doorway, and holding a small box.
Occasionally the spirit would shuffle around, but his eyes never strayed from his housemate. With a sigh Yami Marik turned to the spirit, who then ducked behind the wall. The sound of the spirit's light footsteps ever so slightly resonating through the hallway as he ran off.
This was getting ridiculous. Clearly the spirit wanted something! The box just proved that! It likely wasn't a proposal of any sort. The box was wooden and too informal for the spirit's tastes. It had to be something else, like another lock box that he was going to lie about being unable to open.
Walking back inside the apartment, Yami Marik quickly found the spirit sitting on the couch. Box still in hand, a disappointed expression painting his face.
"Hey," Yami Marik began, "do you want something? You've been acting strange."
The spirit jumped upon hearing his voice, and shuffled over to one end of the couch. He placed the box on its arm and patted his lap.
"Put your head on my lap." The demand was harsh, sudden, and completely unexpected.
"What?" That's what the spirit wanted? That was what had caused him to act weird all day? A damn lap pillow?
"I-" he swallowed "I want to clean your ears."
The spirit opened up the box to reveal an ear cleaning kit. He pulled out one of the picks, a mid length bamboo stick with a fluffy end, and patted his lap again, an embarrassed, bright pink blush had spread across his face.
Still in shock, Yami Marik laid down across the couch. He placed his head on his partner's lap, staring at the quiet TV in front of them.
The spirit's legs are nice. Sure they were thin, but they had just enough meat to be considered plush and comfy. The subtle warmth radiating from him only added to the coziness.
The spirit shuffled his feet, "Can you turn to face me? I want to get the difficult side out of the way first."
Yami Marik obliged. It wasn't like it was a difficult task. Although, now that he was facing the spirit's lower belly, he just now realized how close they were… and how good the spirit smelled. Even if he didn't really do anything special to smell so good. He didn't use cologne or any sort of perfume, and he hated a lot of strongly scented soaps, which led to the spirit usually smelling very light, like clean laundry, or on some occasions, such as today, like powdered sugar.
A soft massage to his right ear brought Yami Marik back to earth. The spirit was just rubbing his ear, but the area around it as well. Forming gentle circles and just overall creating a very soothing feeling on his temple.
"I'm going to use the pick now." The spirit softly voiced.
Yami Marik nodded and closed his eyes, nuzzling closer to his boyfriend. The end of the pick scraped the outer shell of his ear. Scratching off any clumps or debris that had built up. When the outer shell was finished, the fluffy end of the pick went in and wiped anything left over.
The actions repeated for the next area of the ear. Scraping, scratching, and removing any bits of clumps, debris, and wax. The spirit sometimes runs his free hand through the spiky strands of Yami Marik's hair, causing further pleasure and bliss for him.
"It feels nice, doesn't it?" the spirit says idly. A soft groan was the only response he received.
Snickering, the spirit moved the pick into the inner area of the ear. Just not completely inside. He slows down the scaping and scratches and makes every stroke more meticulous. The pick leaves every now and then, likely due to having too much wax in it, and then returns to continue its job.
"Alright, right sides done. Roll over so I can get the other side."
Yami Marik did exactly that, relishing in the plushness of his partner's lap. The spirit's work on this ear was more gentle than the other one. If that were even possible. Each stroke felt like it was designed to lull him to sleep. The petting of his hair was certainly helping with that.
All of the rubbing, scraping, and scritches from the pick felt like absolute heaven. Each time it entered the deeper areas of Yami Marik's ears felt like an itch he never knew existed was being scratched away and replaced with the euphoric feeling of cleanliness.
After many enjoyable minutes, the spirit had finished cleaning Yami Marik's ears. He wiped the pick clean, but didn't put it back in the box. That particular pick was disposable, and he wasn't all too comfortable with putting it back with the clean tools. So instead, he placed the pick and the box on the coffee table. He'd throw it away later.
"Hey," he said, "did you fall asleep?"
Yami Marik gave no verbal response. He merely groaned and rolled over onto his back so he could look the spirit in the eyes.
"Why'd you want to clean my ears anyway?" he asked.
The spirit blushed lightly. Clearly he didn't expect this question… somehow.
"I-i just felt like it," he answered, "you also don't seem like the kind of person who knows you're supposed to clean your ears. I was completely right."
"HEY! My ears weren't that dirty!" The former personality shouted, though he still didn't get up.
"Tch, yes they were. It's never taken me that long to clean out mine or Ryou's ears…" he paused for a moment before muttering out, "but if you ever want them cleaned again, I can do it for you since you obviously can't."
Yami Marik thought for a bit, then grinned. "Well, since you're offering…" He poked the spirit's cheek, which then led to him cupping it in his hand.
"You didn't have to be so annoying yesterday if this is all you wanted y'know."
The spirit held the other's hand on his face, and nuzzled into it. "I apologize, I didn't know how to ask."
Yami Marik snorted, and sat up slightly. Leaning on his right elbow and moving his hand behind the spirit's head.
"You're really stupid sometimes."
Right when the spirit was about to make a retort, his head was pulled down and his lips made contact with Yami Marik's.
The kiss was soft, gentle, and short lived. Because as soon as Yami Marik licked the spirit's lips, he was thrown off the couch, and by extension, that lovely lap.
The Spirit quickly stood up, his face washed over with embarrassment and a bright, cherry red blush.
"I'm never doing anything for you again!" He shouted and then stormed off to his room.
As Yami Marik watched the spirit leave, he slowly stood up, saying a few curses and rubbing at his hip. He sat back on the couch and switched the TV's channel.
"Dumbass is so gonna do something for me again." He kicked his feet up on the coffee table, and waited for the spirit to come back with another stupid idea.