#i really think kaiba would struggle at parties

[winkle-pickers]

somehow this party doesn't suck anymore (this one's 4 @wistfulclown my bestie in stubbornship 💙)

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 19: Yugi and the Only Neck Accessory He Didn’t Really Want to Wear

Been busy! Hopefully stuff will open up soon as I’m taking a hiatus on a different quarantine project and will be finishing painting the entire roof of my car this week? One can hope. Sanding the rust off the whole top of a car takes a long time it turns out?

Also, fun Yugioh fact, I recently painted a book cover for an author who is older so she’s never seen the show, and she looked at my tumblr, saw my Duke Devlin fanart and was like “That’s him. That’s my main character. OMG. You captured him perfectly!” and I was like “Ma’am that is Duke Devlin, hence the single dice earring on his lobes there, but we can work with this.” and now a spiritual Duke Devlin is on the cover of a Wuxia-style fantasy trilogy on the Vella. Had to give him a top knot and delete the eyeliner for Wuxia reasons but uh, that’s just Duke.

So long story short, fanart can get you work, don’t even worry about posting that stuff online because most people don’t even know it’s fanart anyway and older ladies freakin love it.

Back in Yugioh, the team was doing their best to navigate a map through the woods and they do about as well as they normally do.

And inside Tristan lifted up the floorboards and was like “I found the only way out, this is it, this is the only way.”

And they ended up in something that has a color scheme I would actually associate with a jungle. Finally. We have finally left California (in order to go to another Hell.)

Youknow, when we went to California, we visited Hell, and when we went to India, we also took a stop at the nearest death destination. There’s just so much death on this show and sometimes I forget because there’s been a ghost in our party for so freakin long it’s been normalized.

(read more death imagery under the cut)

Joey freaks out at a flock of crows and reveals in this episode something I never realized about him before.

Like I’m not always the perfect observer as I’m sure you’ve noticed, but I love that this is canon for probably only this episode, but I will never forget it for the entirety of this series.

You go on hating birds, Joey.

Bro was like “Maybe it’s a deep cut about Mai Valentine because she’s a harpy lady” but eh...pretty sure we spent like an entire season of Joey telling us that Mai was a good experience? Would be incredibly funny if immediately after all of S4, Joey was like “You know what? Screw Mai, guys.”

So my thoughts...it’s probably just a literal bird experience. Like I had a friend who hated deer because once she went to a petting zoo, got some pellets to feed the deer, but her finger was sticking up, so when the deer came over to nibble on some pellets her finger went up it’s nose by accident. She was so disgusted by this event that was entirely her fault, that she brought up how much she hated deer basically whenever we saw one.

So like...maybe Joey fed a bird wrong at a petting zoo. I can see him getting bit by a parrot because he was too Joey Wheeler.

But now that we’re in a graveyard neighborhood, Pharaoh decides to hop out because there’s a lot of ghosts here and he needs to practice socializing with his peers.

So that’s just a Yugioh monster doing the ostrich dance, right? Like this is a meme from like 2010 but on Yugioh in 2003(4?)

Good to see the Ostrich dance here in the land before Vine.

So they pull out their Pokemon to do some antics, Tea looked like she was about to do something useful, and Yami does a yump across time and space to get her as far away from playing (not)cards as quickly as possible and y’all...sure was a position these animators animated.

Holy crap.

And I was going off about that scene last season where they woke up in the same bed like...

...have these two been together this entire time? Like together together?

They’re like...way more comfortable than you’d figure they’d be considering Yugi nearly passes out every time he gets a hug. But Yami just like....How long has this been going on? As long as Joey’s fear of birds?

Like obviously this show would never cover what the hell Yugi may be thinking about this overreaching move here, because we’re gonna gloss right over that, and just run away up a flight of stairs. No one mentions this ever again. Which is mind blowing for an anime to do. I think in most anime I watch, the kids would be like “ahh ahhhh I bumped into a booooob!” like it does for I want to say every other episode of My Hero Academia. But in Yugioh, they saw that low hanging fruit and they were like “we expect a higher level of maturity out of our audience. Now here’s a fleet of ostrich dancing tree monsters with faces for crotches.”

They decided to sprint up this flight of stairs, and it enough of a slope to deter the monsters who are only unbalanced weird legs.

I want us to take a moment and admire this background painting. I can’t unsee the rocks that are all the same size, just piled on top of eachother. Did Alexander the Great just plop rocks here--or was the mountain made up of tons of similarly shaped boulders?

Like there’s a lot of nice bg’s in this arc, don’t get me wrong, but this one...I’m just trying to wrap my head around the logic of it.

At the top, they meet a pantheon, that is immediately blocked by this wall, because if this arc had a tagline, it’s “Yugi gets inconvenienced every 4 seconds.”

Bro was like “Clearly they would have pushed it over if Tea wasn’t slacking off” and like...she is actually. Look at her. Only used one hand? Slacker.

Joey was disappointed he couldn’t push over a massive wall, and the team decided not to analyze how much Joey Wheeler thinks of his own strength and instead fixate on these statues.

Usually in anthro characters they kinda look birdlike but act human. But what about an anthro that’s just a bird? Like human torso, but can turn his head 180 degrees? Yugioh made me ask this question.

And then Joey was like “wait, there may be a solution that isn’t just to use brute strength!”

Youknow it is a bummer that Kaiba couldn’t witness Joey own a dragon while he himself only has a robot jet dragon. Although, the jet is probably faster, stronger and overall...better than this baby dragon. It would have been great for Kaiba to witness Joey under-utilize this dragon and forget he has it for like huge swatches of the episode.

And then Grandpa pulled some body horror out of nowhere.

Wow.

I mean that is really gross.

I guess Grandpa can’t use Blue eyes, because Kaiba ripped it up, Grandpa can’t use Exodia because Weevil tossed it off a boat, and grandpa can’t use the card that’s just a building because...it’s a building.

So instead Grandpa has a bunch of meat and bones that look like something out of Doom. It’s probably from a more obscure Konami property, but I forget which.

I’ve seen Tristan hold back Joey in this hold, first time it’s been Tea.

So much shipping in this episode, it’s wild.

It’s also wild how low my standards are for what could possibly be shipping when it comes to Yugioh because of how freakin tepid all of these characters are, which as I’ve brought up before, I really don’t mind.

So Yugi decides that because Grandpa was folding his arms like one monster and it made a gem light up or something, to just do the video game thing and use the giant ass statues as clues.

Why was this arc not a video game? Like parts of it really feel like it was meant to be.

So Yugi falls down a hole, where the walls cave in like it’s that dumpster in Star Wars but like...it barely phases him.

Also...Yugi might be able to see in the dark. It’s never been brought up but like...the more I think about it...has Yugi ever struggled to see without the lights on?

After Joey disappoints everyone, he confronts death.

And Pharaoh and Yugi decide to solve the puzzle of “how do I get out of this trap dungeon room” which, honestly, is probably what they’re doing every time they hang out in the brain pyramid.

So they summon their mascot monster, and surprisingly the show decided its ability to fly cannot help them out here.

Kuriboh manages to become enough of a doormat to push Yami up to the stone and they end up in a set of weird cuts that ended in this?

Like seriously it was like flashes of light and then they were just...up here like this.

Hey like...

Alexander the Great, my man...

Were you planning to put that stone in the middle of a exhaust vent hoping someone would touch it? Because there’s no way anyone would rationally have done that. You would need to fly to do it. This is the world’s worst DM.

Like Yugioh pulls a lot of fantasy nonsense but this arc is a lot more like a “it’s a kid’s show, just go with it.” arc than most of them. It’s not a bad vibe, necessarily, it’s just not the vibe I’m used to.

So once I witnessed maybe the most boring conversation I’ve ever witnessed about corn (this was on a twitch stream, by the way, a guy was playing an interesting game, and then a guest came on and started talking about corn and plants for 2 hours) and they would not shut up about how all taxonomy is wrong because there are no such thing as trees and how all animals are labelled incorrectly, and then they started comparing it to like all sorts of mushrooms and phytoplankton as you would if you clearly got a little bit high before dumping your corn knowledge on a twitch stream.

Anyway, after that bizarre experience I suffered so I could learn how to play an obscure video game, I think I can safely say, that while I know everyone here thinks a bird can’t be a dog. If you’re a high biologist: a bird is absolutely a dog. Apparently you can just do that if you’re the most boring biologist alive and no one will argue with you because to do that would involve talking to you. We’ll just say a bird is a dog and no one can fight me or I will talk about the corn book that this guest on this twitch chat was thinking about renting from the library about the different types of corn mutations inherent in freakin Indiana. Therefore, Joey’s fear of birds and dogs is same.

So they use Dark Magician to save them from the statues, and Yugi busts into the pantheon again because they got to open this casket before a time limit that I kind of forgot about, tbh.

And inside the casket, is...this thing!

(enjoy this line on the bottom of the image I don’t feel like fixing it)

And you may say to yourself...it looks like it’s just floating in mid-air, that’s silly, and so I want to introduce you to the next panel where you can see that it is...quite literally...just floating in the air like a video game.

and it just slurps itself onto Yugi before he can be like “nonono.”

Wasn’t there some horror movie where you were stuck in some sort of body brace that slowly tortures you (was that Saw?) This has that vibes. Like man that looks uncomfortable to wear over a jacket and two belts and a collar that is another belt.

That and I...I gotta appreciate that Yugi popped his collar while wearing body armor and chunky necklace. What 00′s fashion appreciation right there.

Bit like...this isn’t breathable, right? Like Yugi’s gonna finally take this thing off and his jacket will just be completely soaked in sweat?

Anyway, that’s it for this post, next week we’ll see if Yugi can walk through a doorway in that thing.

Also, I can’t bring up the ostrich dance without sharing the vines of my generation

[zigzagzoom94]

Hey! Do you like tabletop rpg actual-play shows that are equal parts audio drama and improv comedy? You should check out the criminally underrated DnD podcast 'Dice Funk'. It manages to combine the comfy vibe of good friends chilling out together cracking jokes with some legitimately interesting worldbuilding that examines existing DnD lore and conventions to put its own spin on them.

 Each season is a self-contained storyline with new characters so you can jump in at whichever one sounds interesting (you might get spoilered for some stuff 'cos the PCs have a tendency to make world-altering decisions that still have big repercussions, even with the substantial timeskips between seasons, but otherwise they limit any references to earlier seasons to non-essential easter eggs to keep things accessible).

 Personally I started with seasons 3 & 4 and they served as a good introduction to some recurring concepts like "the World of Forms".

 Below the Read More I'll break down each season so you can see what appeals to you:

Season 1, "Stoneroot": A noir-esque black comedy that follows a trio of varying levels of competence attempting to solve a simple missing person case that spirals wildly out of control.

 I kind of think of this as the 'Here There Be Gerblins' of the show since it's the only season with a different GM so it has a pretty different feel to the rest of the show and takes a bit longer to find its feet.

 Personal Highlight: One of the PCs rolls a 3 Intelligence, leading to a running segment where that player brings up monsters from the Monster Manual and asks the other players if they think it has a higher or lower Int than that PC.

 Season 2, "Lorelai": A more lighthearted romp in which a cast of interplanar travellers explore the world trying to figure out the cause of a catastrophic flood and put a stop to it. According to the creators this was conceived as a cross between 'Princess Bride' and 'LoZ: Wind Waker' but morphed into more of a "moist Undertale".

 Personal Highlight: The first time the GM has to portray a mysterious entity making deals with lower life forms he decides to portray them like a wheeling-and-dealing used-car salesman and it honestly made every scene they're in a delight.

 Season 3, "Ilium": The party are trapped in a strange city that people can enter but never leave, taking whatever jobs will make ends meet. Inspired by 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Twin Peaks', this series places a lot of emphasis on how the supernatural elements affect people's normal lives and uncovering the many dark secrets these characters hold.

 Personal Highlight: The GM wrote a custom "Wild Magic" table for the party sorcerer with some absolutely buckwild shit on it. I was on the edge of my seat every time it was rolled.

 Season 4, "Valentine": A cyberpunk urban fantasy with near-future technology levels in which the cast struggle to make ends meet while doing shady jobs for uncaring megacorporations. If your familiar with DnD, this season's based on 'Shadowrun'. Probably the season most explicitly about how capitalism sucks.

 Personal Highlight: One of the PCs is a wizard who uses yugioh-esque trading cards to cast their spells instead of a spellbook. I did not anticipate being so invested in their rivalry with not-Kaiba and neither did the player.

 Season 5, "Markov": If you love unlikely found families then this is the season for you! It's a space-faring sci-fi story in a galaxy reeling from war with the colonialist Mind Flayers, setting the stage for a lot of political turmoil. If you're familiar with DnD, this story's based on 'Spelljammer' and absolutely riffs off of a lot of the bizarre ideas that setting introduced.

 Personal Highlight: The Son Gun. I will not elaborate on what this means but you'll know when you get to it.

 Season 6, "Purgatory": The season opens on a group of mortals who have just been resurrected and tasked with taking up the mantle of the Furies; interplanar assassins who traverse the various afterlives dealing with whichever god-like entities threaten the balance of power between the planes. If you've played 'Planescape: Torment' or are familiar with the city of Sigil you know what to expect.

 I honestly think this might be the best individual season of 'Dice Funk'? Everyone's really firing on all cylinders.

 Personal Highlight: King Badass has my heart. Y'all can't claim to support himbos and then not be supporting my favourite dumbass bae.

Season 7, "Wormwood": After all the previous seasons deconstructed a lot of elements of classic DnD ("what's up with certain species automatically being evil?", "isn't delving into a dungeon to murder its inhabitants and steal their stuff kinda colonialistic and messed up?", "how would access to magic actually affect the way a society functions?", etc.) this seasons brings this all together by having the closest set-up to a conventional DnD adventure. The world is post-apocalyptic and draws a lot of elements from the 'Dark Sun' setting.

 Personal Highlight: Two of the PCs are a cult leader and his follower and I thought I knew exactly what direction that storyline was going...then it absolutely surprised me.

 Season 8, "Grendel": I can't comment on this one yet since it's only just started but so far it has had a very cosy, 'Animal Crossing'-like vibe with a focus on a small community, in contrast to previous seasons' much higher stakes.

[saijspellhart]

Hi! How about Blindshipping with prompt 22? With their friends just found out about their relationship

22. A kiss that is leading to more, but is interrupted by a third party. (Blindshipping)

And, I thought I got an ask with 14. But it seems to have vanished from my inbox. So if someone sent 14. This covers that as well.

14. A kiss so desperate that the two wind around each other, refusing to let go until they are finished. (Puzzleshipping)

Warning: Spicy

Atem thought he was dying. The way his heart kept stuttering and his breath kept failing. A clear sign of oxygen deprivation was the pulse that kept pounding in his ears, and the way his hands were shaking. He stared at himself in the mirror, and wondered how he was going to face Yugi again. He looked absolutely wrecked.

All night had been like this.

All night Yugi had been at his side. Holding his hand at the mall while they had walked among their friends. It was a gesture between best friends, he’d assured himself. Nothing more. But you’d think it was a lie the way his nerves lit up like one of Kaiba’s blinky hi-tech consoles at the mere contact.

After shopping for a gift for Joey’s sister, their group had wandered into the arcade. Their group always found their way into the arcade.

Joey and Tristan had split off to play a racing game. Bakura and Malik had settled into a fighting game, and Teá had taken on the crowds surrounding the DDR machine. Meanwhile Duke and Ryou had found a table to snack on pizza and flirt over dice. Ryou was always hungry, so the pizza was a given, but Atem noted how Duke never even touched a slice. He was too busy talking dice, and being obvious in how he mooned over Ryou. Not that Ryou ever noticed. Maybe soon though.

But that had been the least of his concerns.

Yugi had slipped a hand into Atem’s pocket, groped around, and it was everything Atem had not to whine.

The sheepish grin his light had given him could have melted an ice cap. Yugi had extracted a bill from Atem’s pocket and held it up.

“Want to play with me?” He’d asked, those begging eyes doing terrible things to Atem’s chest.

Atem had about swallowed his own tongue.

“What?” He’d just barely managed to rasp out.

“Metal Slug,” Yugi clarified. And for the first time Atem had noticed that Yugi was pointing to an arcade cabinet with his free hand.

“Of course,” was all Atem had said. Not what he’d wanted to say, but it was the only appropriate words his mouth could form in the moment.

They’d crowded around the arcade machine, fingers mashing buttons, and hands working the joy-sticks furiously. Their elbows bumped, shoulders brushing, and laughter mingling. Atem remembered feeling breathless, light headed. He had wondered if the arcade was stuffier than usual, and after a half an hour he’d wanted to go run his head under some cool water.

Yugi had kept looking at him, smiling. It wasn’t any different than it always had been. But for some reason it had felt different to Atem. It had felt different for months now.

He couldn’t place his finger on why, but those looks had started to make his stomach churn. Heart pound, veins burn. They made his throat constrict.

And then Yugi had placed his head on Atem’s shoulder when they’d lost their last life and exhausted the last of their quarters. It was such an innocent gesture. Just a friend slumping against their best friend, and nuzzling their face into that best friend’s shoulder.

And circling their arms around said friend’s waist.

And suddenly Atem hadn’t been able to breath anymore. He’d placed the most platonic arm around Yugi’s shoulder and patted him fondly.

It had been fine. It was normal. They were normal.

Then they’d all gone to the theater to see a movie together. The thought of sitting between Bakura and Joey had crossed his mind. It would have been far less agonizing that way. But as it turned out, some wretched teens had snuck into the theater, and there hadn’t been enough seats for everyone in the end.

The smaller members of their group had taken to sitting on laps.

Ryou had taken Bakura’s lap until the Yami had kicked him off, citing “a bony butt.” So, Ryou had nearly sat on Tristan’s lap before Duke caught his wrist and dragged him onto his.

Atem swore blushing had commenced, but it had been a little too dark to be sure.

Then Malik had taken that opportunity to occupy Bakura’s newly vacated lap. Apparently Malik’s butt was not as bony as Ryou’s because he had not been kicked out.

And Yugi—bless his tiny little body, and damn his squirmy little hips—had crawled into Atem’s lap without so much as an invitation. He’d settled into place, head nestled against Atem’s shoulder, and it was a wonder he hadn’t heard the traitorous heart hammering violently against his ribs.

The movie had been torture. He didn’t even remember what it was about. All his focus had been on Yugi and his constantly shifting hips. He’d shut his eyes and focused so acutely on not reacting.

Calm. Calm. He was calm. This was fine. They were fine. Just friends.

And then Yugi’s nose had brushed a particularly sensitive spot on his neck. Traced a line just below his ear, and that breath had ghosted so tortuously over his jaw.

Atem had had to clap a hand over his own mouth to keep from keening.

And that was how the night found him in the men’s restroom now. He’d practically dumped Yugi off his lap and rushed out of the the theater.

Thankfully all the movies were in session, and the bathroom was conveniently vacated.

He had the privacy to collect his shattered composure. Piece together his broken thoughts, and will away the painful tent in his leather pants.

“Friends, friends, just friend. Best friends,” Atem whispered over an over like a mantra. He shoved his hands into the running water from the tap, and dragged wet fingers through his sweat-soaked spikes.

The effect made him look like a colorful soggy lion. Hair messed up, spikes drooping, and blonde bangs frayed.

Fan-tucking-fastic, his outsides were finally starting to match the mess of his insides.

“Atem?”

He jumped so badly he about crawled onto the bathroom counter. He couldn’t even recall hearing the bathroom door open, so lost to his own thoughts.

“Y-Yugi!” He managed to choke out, his lower back pressed so painfully into the sharp edge of the counter.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes!” The declaration was probably too strained, too sudden and loud.

Yugi was giving him him weird looks. So it definitely was.

“You don’t look so good,” Yugi pointed out, taking a step forward, but pausing again when Atem flinched. “Did I...did I do something wrong?”

“What? Aibou, no. No.” Atem was gesticulating, waving hands while he spoke. He never gesticulated—unless it was during a game, and he was jabbing fingers about—and Yugi knew this, and it was a dead giveaway that something was indeed wrong.

The pained look of doubt and disbelief darkened Yugi’s features, and made Atem feel wretched.

They were best friends, former soul mates, and his relationship with Yugi meant everything to him. He’d seen the way crushes, and romantic attraction could foil those friendships, and create a rift in relationships. He wanted to die before spoiling the closeness that he shared with Yugi.

And so he kept his traitorous heart to himself. He cursed that his feeling had become something other than platonic. That everyday he lived a lie, telling himself that things were just fine, and normal, even though he burned inside at every touch.

He owed Yugi everything. And he was determined to suck it up and not ruin everything. Even if it meant lying.

“It’s not you-“

“I tried to kiss your neck in the theater, and I’m sorry!” Yugi suddenly blurted out, eyes shut, and fists balled at his side. A furious blush stained his cheeks, nose, and ears. “I’m making things weird between us, and I’m... sorry.”

Words were not finding Atem. His heart had almost certainly stopped. His knees had given out and he was barely holding himself up with his arms braced against the counter. His brain ceased functioning. Atem.exe had quite literally stopped operating.

A tear slithered down Yugi’s red cheek. It was soon followed by a second on the other side. “You’re my best friend, and I’m ruining it because I love you. And everything I do is selfish because to you it’s just friends, and I should want that too, but instead I want you.” He dragged his wrist over his face, mopping away the tears. “I’m really sorry.”

“Yugi...” but the name only came out as a throaty whisper.

Yugi made a choked noise. Clearly struggling not to start sobbing. He was sensitive and cried easily. Something he hated about himself, but shouldn’t. It was something Atem always admired and adored about him. There was a kind of strength in being attuned to your emotions and being able to express them. Atem still struggled to express himself. But it was Yugi that had awakened his humanity again after 3000 years of being detached from it

About to break down, Yugi spun on his heel and started for the door.

Atem snapped his arm out and caught his wrist. The both of them froze.

“I have wanted you for months.” He tightened his grip on Yugi’s wrist as he said this. “And I thought it was me ruining everything. Please don’t cry.”

Yugi broke into a sob and the next thing Atem knew his light had thrown himself into his chest.

Shaking brown arms wrapped Yugi in a crushing embrace. And this time there wasn’t anything held back. Smaller arms snaked around to grab fistfuls of leather at Atem’s back, and for the first time it felt like their hearts were bared, vulnerable, without a guard.

Atem buried his nose in Yugi’s hair and let himself inhale. “I. Thought. I was dying. All. Day.”

“Why?” And there may have been the slightest lace of amusement.

“Because you kept being you. And touching me, and holding my hand, and squirming in my lap like some erotic dancer, and all I wanted to do was kiss you. So. Damn. Badly.”

“Oh,” Yugi mumbled against his collarbone. “So, you did notice.”

Atem’s body went rigid.

“The lap thing...” he breathed. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

A small nose traced the line of his collarbone, eliciting a shiver. “Maybe.” Yugi said, sounding coy.

“Oh Ra.” Atem hugged him closer. “Do you know what you did to me?”

“...no?”

“Then allow me to demonstrate.”

Atem bent and brushed his lips against Yugi’s ear. The hands at his back gripped harder at the leather, and he heard the sharp intake of breath. A chuckle escaped his chest, and he moved to place a kiss against the side of his neck.

Little by little he moved down Yugi’s neck, a kiss here, a lick there. He delighted in the tiniest noises the actions elicited. Everything slow, deliberate, careful. Then a nip at the corner of Yugi’s jaw that caused him to tremble from head to toe.

This game was fun. Atem traced his nose back over Yugi’s ear, breath ghosting, then kissed the two piercings at the top. His light mewled. Very fun.

“P-please kiss me!”

Atem turned his head to oblige, but Yugi already closed the distance between them.

There lips met, and his world clicked into place. This was right. And everything before had been so wrong.

He tilted his head into the kiss, lips moving gently, following his light’s lead. When Yugi’s lips parted, Atem’s followed in kind.

Atem sucked a deep breath through his nose, and groaned when Yugi’s tongue slipped down his throat. A small hand found its way into his hair, yanking, the other hooked around his shoulders.

And then Yugi was climbing him.

It was fortunate he was still next to the counter, or he would have lost his balance. Yugi was off the floor, into his arms, and kissing him so fiercely his toes curled.

Atem’s left hand grabbed Yugi’s ass and hiked him closer, making them both groan from the sudden delicious friction. His right hand gripped his lower back, clawing at the material there, and returning the favor from earlier.

He wouldn’t let go. Couldn’t. Not when he’d yearned this for so long, and now his Aibou was hot and wanting him, kissing him. They were so wrapped up in each other the rest of the world fell away. Nothing mattered but those lips on his.

They slumped against the bathroom counter, Atem’s back supported while Yugi continued to straddle his hips. And they kissed, breathless and starving, a desperate release of all the pent up desires they’d kept hidden for months.

Yugi ground his hips down, making Atem moan. Then he did it again, and Atem broke the kiss to gasp.

The painful erection was back, and he was wearing the worst pants in the world.

In that moment Atem hated leather.

Yugi moved again, and Atem bit into that pale neck to muffle his next undignified noise. There was going to be a mark.

“Aaaatem!”

When Yugi rolled his hips once more, Atem met them with a thrust of his own. It sent them both gasping. Again they moved, then again. Finding a rhythm in meeting the other, a grinding friction, between broken kisses.

“Ah...ah...Gods, A-Aibou,” Atem moaned, dragging lips over his cheek. It felt so good. Agonizing in the leather, but so so good.

Yugi practically rode him through the clothes. Atem took his lips in another open-mouthed kiss. The pain and pleasure became tight in his groin. Tension mounting, his balls clenched, just a bit more, another trust, another grind, a little more and he would...

“What the bloody hell are you two doing in here?”

The door to the bathroom bounced off the wall with the force it had been thrown open.

Atem and Yugi stopped dead. Both men snapped their head around to see Bakura standing in the entrance of the men’s restroom.

“What? What are they doing?” asked a more nasally voice. A second later Malik poked his head over Bakura’s shoulder. “Gross! Get a room guys.”

Atem’s grip loosened, and Yugi slid down his front—both of them wincing from the friction—until feet met the floor once more. Neither stepped apart though, because things were still obviously... up.

Bakura started chuckling, deep dark and from his chest. It echoed through the restroom most eerily. “Consummating your relationship in a public restroom, Pharaoh? Really, I thought you had more class.”

“I-we weren’t-it’s not-“

“I would have done it in the projector booth, personally,” supplied Malik unhelpfully. He tried to squeeze around Bakura who was still taking up the entrance.

But Bakura grabbed his shoulder and dragged him backward before he made it two steps. “Let’s get out of here, Malik. I need a drink. A real one” He nodded at Yugi and Atem adding, “and you two are disgusting.”

“But I need to pee still!” Malik clawed at the doorframe in vain.

They watched him get dragged out of the room, the door swinging shut with their exit, and cutting off the rest of his protests.

Several moments passed in silence, and the situation seemed to crash down on them.

Yugi tentatively glanced up at Atem and worried his bottom lip. Whatever spell had overtaken them before was quickly dissipating in the wake of that intrusion.

“Uh...did you want to finish the movie?”

Atem blinked down at him with a lost expression.

“I have no idea what the movie was even about.”

They finally stepped apart, and another silence passed while they made a half-hearted attempt righting clothes. Neither looked at the other. Atem lamenting the circumstances of their first, second, third kiss, and Yugi realizing he’d been ready to just give it all up in a public restroom.

Finally Atem grabbed his hand and their eyes met again. Something wordless passed.

“Do you want to go home?” Yugi asked.

“Gods yes.”

~0000~

So not all their friends caught them. But Malik will most definitely blab about it to everyone else. Don’t you worry.

You didn’t so much get a drabble as an entire oneshot for this prompt. So... hope ya’ll like it. Feedback is delightful.

[cartoonus-maximus]

Okay, so this is an unfinished story I found while digging through some of my older files. I was in high school when I wrote this, and I think it really shows in a lot of ways.

It was a YGO vampire au, with tones of found families and some light puzzleshipping, tendershipping, and bronzeshipping. There’s a fair amount of OOC-ness, but I don’t think it’s any worse than the majority of fanfics written by younger authors.

Anyway, here’s the unedited snippets of the story if anyone wants to see some of my earlier writing. (Or get inspired for your own vampire aus. No judgement here.)

“Blood-Brothers” circa 2012? I dunno, but I was in high school.

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Atem, Bakura, and Malik are vampires, while Yugi, Ryo, and Mariku are their donors. These three blood-suckers are not just friends – they are also blood-brothers, vampires who were all sired by the same creature, Gozoburo.

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idea for later: Seto was pursuing Gozoburo and finally found him after he'd already killed a younger couple. Seto summons Atem, Bakura, and Malik, and the four of them successfully kill their sire. Afterwards, the dead couple's child, Mokuba, is found, and Seto takes the boy home with him to Kaiba corp.

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Prologue:

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Long ago, in a place now known as Ancient Egypt, there was a man. This man was named Gozaburo, and he is important to the story because he has always had a bad habit of kidnapping and killing people.

This is his nature, for he is a vampire.

Once, back in the days of Egypt's great rule, there were four boys who fell victim to him. They were the royal prince, Atem; his cousin, the priest-in-training, Seto; the runaway slave, Malik; and the orphaned thief, Bakura.

But these children were not to be eaten and killed by Gozaburo. No, Fate had something special in store for those four boys.

Over the course of time, Gozaburo forgot about the children who's lives he had destroyed, and the four boys were on their own to live their lives as best they could.

One, by name of Seto, went his own way, not desiring to be too close to anyone else, but the other three stuck together, calling themselves 'brothers in blood.' These three blood-brothers were named Atem, Bakura, and Malik.

And they have one goal that they wish to accomplish: to track down and destroy their sire.

Many centuries have past since their story began. And now is the time to complete their journey.

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Chapter 1: “Drinking Party”

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Malik perched comfortably on the side of a building, occasionally sticking his nose up and sniffing the air. @#$%! Why did he have to be so @#$% weak that he couldn't he get the scent?

It had been two weeks since he and his blood-brothers had left their previous location in the Middle East in search of their quarry, and three days since they had come to the small city of Japan called Domino.

Two long, strenuous weeks during which Malik hadn't had anything to eat... anyone to eat. Oh sure, occasionally Bakura would sneak on ahead, claiming that he was scouting the area when he was probably only drinking a 'Bloody Mary' as he called his pretty little victims, but Malik couldn't sneak away. Atem would always notice and call him back, needing to borrow the strength of his brother. Malik, being vicious but loyal to a fault, was always more than happy to lend his strength to the other, even though he was quickly starving.

Wasting away to nothing, that's what he was doing. He would starve, and wither away to a pile of ashes and die. But, then who would take care of Atem...? Who would remind Atem to feed regularly? Oh forget it; Bakura would take care of him. Bakura could always needle Atem into listening to him, the silver-haired and silver-tongued devil. Brother Baku would...

“Nothing?”

Coming out of his thoughts, Malik flexed his wings slightly and craned his neck to look at his blood-brother who stood just on the ledge of the building's roof above him. “Not a single thing, Atem. With so many scents in the air, I can't distinguish his from the rest!”

Atem frowned as he looked down at the claws on his hands, as he were considering getting them polished. “I'm still unclear as to why he wanted us to follow him. Why has he led us on like this? Ever since he turned us all those centuries ago, our sire has played us in a constant game of cat and mouse. Toying with us, messing with us...”

He shook his head. “Gozaburo must be stopped. He has taken too many lives already, and I am not going to stand by and watch him destroy any more.”

Malik watched as his blood-brother walked away from the ledge. With a tired sigh, he turned to follow. Why did he have to be so loyal?

“Do you suppose Bakura has found us a meal yet?” Malik asked hungrily.

Atem shrugged silently, his mind on other matters.

'Prince Brother Atem must be really, really hungry!' Malik thought to himself. Atem had some strange ethical dilemna that seemed to prevent him from drinking human blood. He would deprive himself of the life-giving liquid for many weeks, sometimes months, at a time, to the point when he became extremely weak and was on the verge of death. Whenever that happened, either Bakura or Malik would bring him a human, often an evil one, and push the mortal against him.

When they did this, Atem seemed to lose his mind, becoming even crazier than Malik was. It was scary to see the cool and collected Atem completely lose it like that, but it seemed to happen very frequently... every few years or so.

The two vampires went back inside the building they stood on top of. Since the building was abandoned, they had moved in and made themselves very comfortable, claiming certain rooms as their own personal territory and setting up their resting places. Being Egyptian vampires, they each slept in a sarcophagus, not a coffin.

They were soon joined by their third blood-brother, the one known as Bakura. He came 'bearing food...' that is, he was carrying three humans in his arms.

The humans had a sort of glassy-eyed, hazy look to them, since Bakura had put them under a trance to keep them from struggling, but that look left their faces the instant Bakura dropped them to the floor.

“Where did you get them?” Atem asked with a slight shudder for what he knew he was about to do.

“I took them from the prison, after reading their personal records. They are each wanted for murder, rape, and the like.” Bakura grabbed one of the frightened humans by the hair, looking on in disgust while the man began screaming and cursing in Japanese. “They are to be executed in the morning anyway, so I thought we could at least put them to good use!”

Throwing the man he held (who was rather a large man) away to the salivating Malik and ignoring the immediate bloodbath that occurred, Bakura reached for another. “Oh, here's one you'll like, my prince! As I recall from his record, he took advantage of a small girl and then beat her to death with a brick and stuck her remains in the freezer! I think he sounds perfectly delightful!”

Atem felt his muscles tense and become hot as he lunged at the man angrily. “Is this true?!”

The man stared up at Atem's face, too scared to form words with him mouth.

“@#$%! Do you have no heart?! Do you have no shame?!” Enraged and hungry,  Atem lost all control of his instincts and his body. He sank his fangs into the man's neck and began to claw, tear, and drink away all of the man's life.

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When Atem woke up many hours later, he found that he was covered in blood. Malik and Bakura each lay nearby in similar states; Bakura was sitting up and licking the blood off of his arms in a cat-like manner, while Malik was still asleep, a human femur clutched between his teeth.

“I see the prince is awake and ready to start the night,” Bakura teased him. “Admit it, you feel better now that you've eaten again.”

Atem sighed. It was true, he felt better right now than he had felt for the past three months. If he intended to continue his manhunt of Gozaburo, he really would need to drink blood more regularly... as much as he detested the notion.

He looked around, realizing that there was nothing left of their victims aside from the pile of bones that surrounded Malik. “Bakura, where are the remains?”

“Well, I drank my fill and then gave the rest of him to Malik, who practically swallowed him whole, the poor, starving devil.” Bakura cocked an eyebrow at his blood-brother in an amused fashion. “You were so enraged and so ravenous, you single-handedly devoured the entirety of that one I brought specially for you. Blood, bones, muscles, organs... It was most impressive, I assure you.”

Atem began to shudder and he felt sick.

“Oh, it's not the end of the world, Atem,” Bakura told him, almost as if trying to give his brother comfort. “We all do it at some point or other... In fact, you've done that sort of thing more than any of the rest of us.”

When he got no answer, Bakura sighed. “Listen, my brother... I don't really understand this feeling of guilt that you often have after feeding, but I'm not going to argue with you about it. But, if it makes you feel better, he deserved it. His victims are all avenged... just like we will be when we find Gozaburo.”

Atem nodded and looked away. After a minute, he slowly stood up.

“I am going to clean myself off,” he explained when Bakura looked at him, an unspoken question in his red eyes. “And then, I'm going to go search some more.”

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Chapter 2: “Shadows and Games”

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Atem flew through the night air, his powerful wings beating rapidly, his sharp nose smelling the air almost frantically. Still nothing.

Not Gozaburo, his sire, and not Seto, his cousin. Where were they? Where could they possibly be?

He searched all around Domino all night, but he found nothing.

No scent. No trace. Nothing. Just nothing...

Heaving a sigh, the exhausted vampire landed in an alley behind a shop. He would just rest for a few minutes, he told himself. They sun would be up in an hour or two, and he would need to get back to his sarcophagus before that happened.

“I'll see you later, 'Jii-chan!”

Atem looked up with some surprise when a person stepped through a side door of the shop out into the alley. It was a boy, probably in his early teens. He wore the uniform of one of the local high schools, and he was carrying a bag full of trash, clearly intended for the trash can that Atem was perched on. And he smelled really, really good...

Atem felt his feeding frenzy coming on again.

The boy opened his mouth to scream, but fell silent when the vampire lunged at him.

“Sssh!” Atem hissed, pressing his hand over the boy's mouth. After a moment, he removed his hand, and was greeted by a torrent of Japanese from the boy's mouth.

“Who are you?! What are you doing here?! You're not going to hurt me, are you? Are you?!”

'His voice sounds nice,' Atem thought to himself, grabbing the boy and pulling him into a tight and sudden embrace. 'Rather gentle, and innocent, and childish...'

The boy let out a small yelp as the vampire sunk his fangs into the skin of his soft, tender neck. Atem sucked at the blood, drinking deeply.

Atem felt the boy relax against him, as many of his victims did in response to his bites. Something to do with vampire's fangs having a paralyzing affect, or something like that. So long as he didn't claw or tear the boy's skin, he knew that the child would remain quiet and peaceful like this.

His blood tasted so sweet and heavenly! Not like those criminals that Bakura always brought home... this taste was wonderful, and it felt oh so good...!

Atem forced his mouth away when he heard the boy whimper. Had he hurt him? He honestly hadn't meant to. He was just... still kind of hungry... and the boy looked so sweet...

“Are you alright, little one?”

The boy stared up at the vampire, his eyes a little glazed over, but fear still existing in them.

Atem sighed. There was that accursed conscience again! Why did he need to feel guilt like this? Why did he have to have a heart?

He petted the boy's hair softly, trying to comfort him, as he licked at the wound to close it up. “I am sorry, little one.”

The boy stared up at him, his face somewhere between fear and wonder. “I've never heard of a vampire who apologized for biting someone before...” His violet eyes widened suddenly. “You bit me! Does that mean... am I dead? Am I going to become a vampire like you are?!”

Atem couldn't help but chuckle at the boy's innocence. “No, little one. You are still very much alive. I did not deplete you of your blood; I only took a little bit of it. No, you are still a human, young one.”

“Oh, good!” The boy smiled. Atem couldn't help but notice how endearing his smile was. “If I died, who would help 'Jii-chan with the Game Shop?!”

“Game shop...?” Craning his neck, Atem looked at the sign above the shop door, noticing it for the first time. His understanding of the Japanese language was rudimentary at best, but he could read the word 'game' now that he examined it closer.

“Yes! Grandpa runs the Kame Game Shop, and I help!”

He smiled gently at the boy, who was jumping up and down in excitement. “Do you now?”

“Oh, yes! And I love it! I love playing games! More than anything else in the world, actually!” The boy giggled. “My teachers all say that I should focus more on my homework, rather than playing games, but I don't care what they say! They're all a bunch of bullies anyway!”

Atem openly laughed at the boy's eagerness. “What is your name, little one?”

The boy looked up him shyly. “I'm Motou Yugi. You can call me Yugi if you like.”

“Well, Yugi, my name is Atem, and I would like to thank you for letting me rest here for a bit. I would love to stay here and talk with you some more, but I really must be going home.”

Yugi pouted in disappointment. He didn't have any friends in school and, considering how nice this vampire seemed to be, he was very much enjoying Atem's company. He brightened quickly, though. “Would you come back and visit me tonight? 'Jii-chan will be in bed, snoring! We can play games together!”

Atem chuckled slightly. “I … would like that. Alright, Yugi, I'll come back tonight.” He then flexed out his wings, took a running start down the alley, and was up in the air and gone within mere moments.

Yugi smiled broadly, glad to have made a friend. Even if it was a vampire who had just bitten him.

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Chapter 3: “Playing Games and Telling Stories”

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True to his word, Atem returned later that night. While he knew that he should be searching for his cousin some more, he had promised to visit the boy and he never went back on his word.

Besides, a part of him wanted to see this boy again; the young one seemed to love games, even as much as Atem did, and he was willing to forgo sleep to stay awake and play games with a vampire.

Atem landed lightly on the roof above the shop, peering in through a window that was wide open and had lights on inside it.

“I've returned, little one.”

Yugi looked up from a puzzle he was fiddling with, smiling and eagerly throwing the pieces he was holding to the floor. “Oh, good! I was getting sick of this puzzle! I could be working on it for a millennium and I still wouldn't get it!”

Folding his wings in as close to his body as he could, Atem slid through the small window, temporarily losing his balance and landing upside-down on Yugi's bed.

Yugi laughed quietly, then rushed over to help the vampire to his feet. Soon both of them were settled on the floor facing one another, sorting through a variety of games that were stashed beneath the boy's bed. Monster World, Dungeon Dice Monsters, Duel Monsters, Capsule Monsters, and a variety of others were hidden under there somewhere.

“You seem to like games with monsters, little one,” Atem remarked. “Do you have a favorite that you wish to play tonight?”

“I like Duel Monsters, but I don't really care what we play.” Yugi smiled shyly. “I'm just glad that someone wants to play a game with me...”

“Don't you have any friends at school who enjoy playing games?”

“... no.”

Atem felt his red eyes widen as he turned to stare at Yugi, completely forgetting the cards he had been shuffling. “None of your friends enjoy playing games, you mean? I know my brothers get bored with the games I play with them very quickly, but – ”

“That's not the problem. I just... don't have any friends.”

The vampire stared, wondering how such a caring young boy could not have any friends. He shook his head and placed a smile on his face, hoping it looked friendly and inviting enough. “Well, Yugi, why don't you and I be friends? I could use the distraction of games to keep my sanity, and my brothers are seldom very helpful in that regard.”

Yugi beamed up at the vampire, apparently pleased with that idea.

Long, strategic hours passed, and the two game-players hardly noticed. They played game after game, talking and laughing and beating one another and having a wonderful time.

“You mentioned having brothers,” Yugi said, finally feeling comfortable enough to ask the vampire questions.

“Well, we aren't really related, but that's what we call each other.” Atem stared off into space for a minute, wondering how best to explain it. “We were not born brothers, but Fate chose to throw the three of us together anyway. My blood-brothers – Malik and Bakura – and I, as well as my cousin, were all taken captive by a strange man. He disguised himself as a friend of my father's, but nothing could be further from the truth.”

Putting the Monster World figures back into their box, Yugi moved so that he was sitting beside Atem, listening to the story intently. Atem wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulders, holding the child flush against himself. Yugi snuggled against him comfortably.

“As it turned out, the man was really a vampire, and an enemy of my family and our country. We lived in Egypt, you see, back when it was a thriving nation and considered to be the heart of civilization. This man believed that if he could gain control of Egypt, then he could gain control of the world.

“He kidnapped three young boys, planning to turn them into vampires and force them to destroy their own homeland – a thief, a runaway slave, the prince, and a priest-in-training. He bit us all and turned us into vampires... except for my cousin, the priest-in-training. My cousin fought so much and he was so strong, that the vampire only managed to half-turn him, and he became a half-vampire.

“No matter what the man tried, though, he couldn't control any of us. We fought against him and betrayed him every chance we could. Eventually, we all escaped him.”

Atem sighed and smiled dryly at Yugi, who was staring up at him in fascination. “It's a very long story about what happened after that, but the short version is that my brothers and I have chased our sire all the way to Japan, and that we intend to find him and kill him for the acts of horror and the crimes that he's committed. Also, we know that my cousin is somewhere around here, and I would like to find him.”

Yugi was tilting his head back and looking up at the Egyptian vampire with evident interest. “So, you just spend all your time searching for these two people? That sounds boring... But, I suppose I would do the same if I had any missing family members. I just have 'Jii-chan, and he's always around.”

Atem noticed that Yugi was starting to yawn, and the boy was having difficulty keeping his eyes open. “It's late, and you are tired. I should be going, little one.”

“I'm not tired,” the boy argued, ruining his statement by yawning halfway through.

The vampire chuckled, very much amused by the human youth. “Yugi, I really do need to be going, and you need to be getting to bed – it's not good for your kind to spend so many hours awake and so few asleep.”

The boy crossed his arms, trying to scowl and failing miserably. “But I don't want to! I want to stay up and play more games with you!”

Atem sighed good-humoredly. “Get some rest, little one. I promise that I will come visit you again some other night.”

Yugi frowned, but finally nodded, climbing into bed just as soon as the vampire had left.

Yugi snuggled down under the blankets, a smile on his face. He had made a friend, one who enjoyed playing games just as much as he did, who was willing to come back and spend time with him again.

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Chapter 4:

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(Atem will start feeding off of Yugi, and they will make it a permanent arrangement.)

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Atem kept his promise, and he came to visit Yugi the following night, as well as the night after that. Soon, he was spending every night playing games with the small mortal, each one enjoying the company of the other.

Bakura and Malik would often tease Atem, making fun of him for befriending a human child. But he only smiled and ignored them. Even on the nights when the three of them were supposed to be out hunting for prey, Atem couldn't prevent himself from going to visit with Yugi instead.

This was no small concern for the other two.

“You can't just starve yourself, Atem,” Bakura told him one night, catching him before he went out the window. “Look, you're malnourished enough as it is! Leave the boy alone for one night and come hunting with us.”

The other paused, then shook his head. “I can't, Bakura. He already spends all day alone, with no form of companionship aside from his grandfather, and I can't bear the thought of him being alone all night, too!”

Bakura's face darkened considerably, and when he spoke again his voice came out in a disgusted hiss. “Fine! Then go play with your little toy, and don't come running to me when you die from lack of nourishment!”

With that he turned and stalked off, leaving Atem to sit on the windowsill watching after him. Malik, who had been sitting on the floor nearby the entire time, sighed loudly and rolled his eyes.

“Looks like you made Bakura mad,” Malik commented.

“Bakura's always mad! He'll get over it!”

The other vampire looked over to gaze at Atem curiously. “What is it about this boy exactly that compels you to go visit him every night? To the point where you will refuse to come hunting with us?”

Atem froze on the window ledge for a moment, staring off into space uncertainly. “I... I do not know.”

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But, he was so hungry...!

Before Atem knew what he was doing, he had pinned Yugi down to his bed, his red eyes gazing at the boy's neck and nowhere else. His eyes and nostrils were filled with the view of Yugi's pulsing veins, the scent of his blood, his mind filled with nothing but the thought of tasting the boy again...

Yugi cried out in fear as the vampire's hungry mouth came in contact with his neck, teeth slicing through the tender skin and releasing his blood. But, as Atem's paralyzing ability kicked in, Yugi's eyes began to droop and he became quiet, his breath eventually started to come in short gasps.

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Chapter 5:

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At school a few days later, a certain Seto Kaiba will smell his cousin's scent on Yugi. He will offer to help Yugi out with his homework, acting overly friendly and being sure that he'll get his own scent on the boy, and even stopping by the Kame Game Shop after school. He will purposefully leave a trail of his scent behind him as he heads back towards his own hideout, but will make the scent stop after awhile, so that Atem will only be able to follow for a little ways. Atem will come to visit Yugi again that night, smelling his cousin, and taking off to find him.

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Chapter 6: “Blood Rush”

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Atem frowned. He'd had Seto's trail! He'd had him... but now it was gone again. Why did his cousin have to be so good at covering his tracks! Seto was almost as good at it as their sire was – a disturbing thought.

The Egyptian vampire prince put his nose in the air again, breathing deeply and searchingly.

Malik was a bit unnerved; he was so used to being Atem's nose, eyes and ears. In the past, he'd often been Atem's wings and legs as well, since Atem would starve himself for such long periods and would become terribly weak. But, ever since he'd started feeding off of that human boy he'd befriended, Atem had become very strong and was more than capable of doing everything himself.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bakura could see the evident strain on Malik's face, and he cast a smirk towards his blood-brother. “Relax, Malik. The prince is a big boy now, and he doesn't need you to hold his hand anymore.”

Malik frowned, but didn't respond to his brother's joking. He was distracted by a sudden scream coming from a few streets down, his keen vampire hearing tuning into the sound with ease.

“Please... leave me alone!”

Leaping from his perch, Malik took off in the direction of the voice. “Trouble.”

“Are you @#$% kidding me?!” Bakura whined from somewhere behind him. “Are we @#$% heroes now?!”

Soon all three vampires could plainly see the source of the commotion: a young boy with long, white hair had been cornered in an alley by a group of thugs. The boy held a knife in his hand, but he clearly didn't have the confidence or will to use it, and he wouldn't last in an actual fight.

“Just leave me alone...” the boy whimpered pitifully. “... please...”

The thugs only laughed as they closed in on him.

A hiss on his curled-back lips, Atem swooped down at the group of thugs, clawed hands extended and grasping at the men. The other two vampires stayed back for a moment longer, just watching as their normally so subdued companion was suddenly taken over by a bloodthirsty rage.

“Why would you attack a practically defenseless boy?!” Atem asked, holding two of the thugs up in the air as he hovered for a moment. “Why do some people have to be so completely heartless?!”

The two criminals didn't give him an answer. Instead, they began to tremble and whimper every bit as much as the boy had been.

The other members of the gang tried to escape out the front of the alley, but they were cut off by Malik's broad wing span.

“Going somewhere?” Malik asked with a sneer.

One of the crooks pulled a gun out of his belt and took aim at Malik, but his hands were trembling so much that he could hardly manage to fire the shot.

Bakura laughed from his perch on the wall beside them. “I wouldn't,” he told the man with the gun. “You see, bullets don't work so well on us. It will only serve to make him mad. Tell me, mortal, have you ever seen an angry vampire?”

“Well?!” Atem yelled wrathfully at the two men he held. He let them drop to the ground, where they landed on their backs, and he swooped down to stand over one of them, pinning the man to the ground. “What do you have to say for yourselves?!”

In a sudden display of either courage or stupidity, the man replied by spitting in Atem's face, something the vampire really didn't appreciate.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Atem impulsively leaned forward, his jaw suddenly becoming hooked around the man's throat. The man let out a scream as the sharp teeth ripped into his flesh, the claws scrabbling and tearing into his back.

The thugs were still hemmed in by Malik, but they quickly realized that, while there was only one vampire, there were many of them. So, they devised a new strategy.

Bakura watched in amusement as the gang raced to attack Malik all at once. They thought that they would overpower him, since their strength was in numbers.... but Bakura knew they would learn the hard way.

Malik simply laughed at the little onslaught of humans, merely grabbing the first one that came into range and deftly biting into the man's arm, listening to the screams and drinking deeply. After a moment, he threw the empty shell to the ground, laughing and letting the blood drizzle down his face and neck, staining his shirt.

“Well then... who's next?”

“Wait, my brother!” Bakura called as he jumped down to join the feeding frenzy that was quickly taking over the alley. “Don't forget about me! I'm starving up here, and you two are having a drinking party without me!”

Atem actually laughed at his blood-brother's comment. “Well, Bakura, you're more than welcome to these lowlifes. I'm afraid I've become rather accustomed to Yugi's blood, for I haven't any longer the stomach for such disgusting garbage as these.”

Bakura was eager to stand off against one of the thugs, who drew a knife and acted as if the small sliver of metal could possibly defend him against the blood-sucker.

It was mere seconds before the human lay down before him, Bakura happily licking the man's blood off of his fingertips. Looking up and coming back out of his bloodlust, he could see that Atem was sniffing the air again, searching for Seto's trail, while Malik was drinking every drop of blood out the one body that he'd managed to keep, complaining something about his victim being 'too small and unhealthy to provide proper nourishment' or something to that affect. The remaining members of the gang had fled and were nowhere to be seen.

“Well, that takes care of them...” Bakura wiped the blood off his lips as he turned to find himself staring at the boy who's life they had just saved, who had shrunk against a wall as far away from them as possible. “Now, what have we here...?”

The silver-haired vampire began to walk towards the boy, who immediately shrank back and began to whimper and beg.

“Please... please, don't hurt me...”

A cruel comment on the tip of his tongue, Bakura managed to bite it back. The boy looked truly scared, and he certainly wouldn't help matters by opening his big fat mouth. Someone would have to come comfort the boy...

Looking around, Bakura saw that Atem was already wandering off, probably having picked up Seto's trail again and hoping against hope to find his cousin, and Malik was currently busy dealing with the remains of the bodies they'd left in their wakes. Great. That meant Bakura was the only one to take care of the boy... wonderful...

“It's okay... I'm not going to hurt you...” Taking the knife from the boy's hand, Bakura gently touched the boy on the shoulder, hoping that it was a soothing touch. He was too tired to hypnotize the boy, so he would have to do this the old-fashioned way. “It's alright, you're safe now...”

The boy stared up at him with wild eyes for a moment, tears beginning to trickle down his cheeks. Oh great, he was leaking.

“There's no need for tears, you're safe,” The vampire pulled the boy into an intimate embrace, holding him tightly. He rubbed his hands up and down the boy's back soothingly as the child cried on his shoulder. “No one is going to hurt you, I promise.”

Bakura looked the boy up and down, noting the many knife cuts that he'd received from the gang, most of which were still bleeding.

They smelled delicious...

The boy let out a small cry as the vampire began licking and sucking at all the cuts that showed on his arms and face and neck. His tongue was rough, and he wasn't at all gentle, and his grip hurt, but the boy didn't fight him.

Bakura licked his lips happily when he was finished tending to the boy's injuries; this kid's blood tasted sweet and salty, and it was so much better than any blood Bakura had ever drank before! Even the two or three mouthfuls he'd managed to lap up from the cuts were enough to make the blood-sucker feel full of energy and determination. Heck, he even felt almost... happy.

The boy was staring at him with wide chocolate-brown eyes.

“Oh, relax,” the vampire told him, being uncharacteristically sweet and gentle. Unable to prevent himself, he ruffled the boy's pale hair in a friendly fashion. “I'm not going to hurt you. Haven't you figured that out yet? What's your name, kid?”

“R-Ryou... Bakura Ryou.”

“Really? Hey, we have the same name: Bakura.” He gave another, hungry lick to a gash on Ryou's arm, then smiled at the boy sweetly. “Don't worry about those morons, they won't give you any more trouble. Here, I'll take you home, so I know you get there safely. Like a bodyguard. That's a good idea, isn't it?”

Ryou was still staring at him, as if unsure whether to be afraid or not.

Malik walked over to see what was going on, using one of his claws as a toothpick and removing a sliver of skin from between his teeth. “What's up, Baku-Baku?”

He was surprised when the nickname didn't get a rise from his normally aggressive blood-brother. Instead, Bakura threw his arms around the human boy's shoulders and almost hugged him, a strangely happy looking smile on his face.

“This is my new friend Ryou,” Bakura explained softly as he licked at a small scratch on the boy's cheek, making the poor little human look very uncomfortable. “I'm going to take him home, so no one else will hurt him, because he's so sweet and wonderful!”

Malik wasn't sure if he should laugh, cry, or scream, so he let out a strange noise that sounded like a combination of the three. “Ah.... Ryou, was it?... Did he... drink some of your blood?”

The boy nodded nervously.

This time, Malik just laughed. “Drunk! He's drunk! He's stoned on your blood! You've got him buzzin' buzzin' buzzin' like a bee with your hemoglobin! Intoxicated! Under the influence! Drunk, drunk, drunk! He's--”

“Not so loud, Malik,” Atem ordered him, appearing out of nowhere. An amused smiled passed over his face as he took in the scene before him. “Alright, well... Malik, I'm going to need you to come with me, and.... I suppose, Bakura may do whatever he wishes.”

“Don't worry,” He added when he saw the alarmed look on Ryou's face. “He won't hurt a hair on your head... certainly not in the state he's in now.”

The human boy glanced down to the vampire that was now leaning and rubbing against his shoulder, purring softly and looking very much like a contented kitten. Looking back up, he saw that the two 'sober' vampires were already flying off through the air.

Ryou sighed to himself, causing Bakura to fret and worry over him and question whether or not he had inadvertently harmed his new little pet. This was going to be the strangest night of the boy's life, and he knew it.

.

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Chapter 7:

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Atem's nostrils flared every once in a while as he sliced through the inky blackness of the night on his powerful wings. Running on a regular supply of Yugi's blood had made the vampire prince stronger than he'd been in quite some time, if not ever, and it heightened his senses considerably. Even while in the air, he could smell his cousin's tracks.

.

(Atem and Malik go searching for G and S, and they do find Seto, but they lose him again. Seto does allow Atem to follow him, but Malik gets lost in the middle of all the mess, while Atem and Seto manage to have a long talk. Anyhoo, Malik is left out cold behind the Egyptian Museum of Domino.)

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Malik's body collapsed, his knees buckling under him, and he landed in a crumpled heap in the alley behind a large brick building.

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Chapter 8: “The Vampire's New Pet”

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Cries of delight filled the air as Ryou was carried through the night sky by unnaturally strong arms. He had been scared out of his wits when Bakura had first scooped him up and proceeded to carry him through the air, far above the skyline of Domino, but he had since settled into the vampire's arms and begun to enjoy himself.

“Having fun, my pet?” Bakura asked, the hiss of his voice holding a slight teasing aspect to it.

Ryou couldn't help but wonder if it was at all dangerous if a vampire started calling him pet names.

The albino boy pointed his finger down towards a particular building. “I believe that's my house down there.”

Nodding, Bakura swooped down, landing gracefully on his feet and gently setting Ryou down beside him. He followed along behind the little human boy as he began to make his way home, watching over 'his pet.' He didn't exactly feel good about leaving Ryou alone, though; for some reason that he didn't quite understand, he rather liked the boy and wanted to keep an eye on him.

And he wanted to taste more of this boy's delicious blood...

Bakura hung back as the boy went into the house, sighing as the door closed behind him. He didn't take off quite yet though, choosing to wait and watch for a few moments more, and he was glad that he did.

Soon, muffled cries were heard from inside the house. Ryou's cries. “Father, no! It's not like that, I swear!”

Snarling, the vampire jumped into the air, his powerful wings carrying him through a closed window. Shattered glass flew everywhere, zipping through the air as if confetti had been thrown into the air to announce the vampire's arrival.

Ryou was curled up on the floor in the fetal position, and an older man, presumably his father, was standing behind him and kicking him repeatedly.

Ryou was reduced to crying and whimpering again, begging his father to stop. But the man just kept beating him.

“Traitorous brat! You're nothing but a useless, worthless, piece of – oof!” The man was soon on the floor, a silver-haired vampire snarling where he had stood a moment before.

“What was it you were about to say?” Angry words were hissed out from between fangs and sneering lips. “Let me think... you were about to call your son a 'piece of @#$%,' right? I dimly remember my own father calling me that on many occasions.”

“What the—oh, @#$%!” The man on the floor cried out as he got a look at his assailant.

“What's the matter, mortal?” Bakura asked, reaching down and dragging the human man back to his feet, making direct eye contact as he held the man up in the air by the front of his shirt. “So used to bullying your wimpy son, who's so small and weak-willed that he won't fight back? Not ready to stand up to someone your own size?”

“Please, don't hurt him, Bakura!” Ryou whimpered from the floor nearby. Getting onto his hands and knees so he could crawl, the boy scuttled across the floor and latched himself onto Bakura's leg, holding onto the vampire with all his might. “He's my only family! Please, don't hurt him, Bakura! Please!”

Bakura glanced down at the boy, snarling. “Does he do this to you often, Ryou?”

The boy didn't answer right away, only clinging harder.

“Well?! Does he?!”

Looking up at the vampire, Ryou finally managed a nod.

“I'm willing to guess how often,” Bakura muttered, turning back the man he held in front of his face. “My own father used to beat me, before his rather untimely demise, and it seems like he did so... quite frequently. I'll assume you're no better, are you?”

The man barely responded, staring at Bakura and stammering out a few sentence fragments in Japanese.

Bakura hissed vehemently through his teeth. “I loathe your kind with every fiber of my being, you son of a @#$%, and nothing would make me happier than to slit your throat clean open here and now, but...”

He glanced down at the boy who still clutched at his ankles, gazing up at him with tears trailing from chocolate-brown eyes.

He sighed before continuing. “I suggest you thank your son, foolish mortal, for it's he who saved your life tonight.”

With that, Bakura dropped the man to the ground. Leaning over, he plucked Ryou from his leg and pulled the boy to his feet, wrapping his arms around the boy tenderly. “Come then, my pet. Let's look at your wounds.”

Ryou looked down at himself, noticing that his father's kicks had reopened some of his cuts from earlier, which Bakura was eying eagerly. Embarrassed and completely flustered by the entire situation, Ryou raised his left arm and allowed the vampire to lick at one of his bleeding injuries. He couldn't help but enjoy the attention that the vampire gave him though, and he ended up leaning into Bakura's arms, allowing the blood-drinker to take from him what he would.

His father stood up from the floor, taking in the scene and not liking it one bit. “What the @#$% do you think you're doing?! Encouraging a @#$% blood-sucker to feed off of you?! Next you'll be begging to become one them, coming down on your own kind and devouring them! You treacherous little--!”

“That's enough!” Bakura snapped suddenly, holding his hand up as a warning. “I thought that perhaps you'd be smart enough to change your mind about your behavior towards your son after what I said earlier, but clearly it's not enough for a mortal to be defended by a vampire only once.”

Ryou yelped as Bakura suddenly scooped him up in his arms again, as if to carry him off. Which he was intending to do, the boy quickly realized.

It only took seconds for Bakura to get out the broken window and into the air, his wings carrying the two off them into the night.

Ryou began to wail, realizing that he was being carried off and not knowing where or why.

“Don't cry, my pet,” Bakura said with an unnaturally soft voice. “I am not kidnapping you, nor do I intend to harm you in any way or form. I just...”

Stopping and hovering in the air, he looked down at the frightened boy he held in his arms. “Look. I like you, Ryou. You remind me very much of myself when I was your age... and I want you to have a better life than I did.” Sorrowfully, he locked his eyes onto Ryou's, red staring deep into brown. “I don't want you to be hurt all the time like I was. I want to protect you from the pain.”

Ryou nodded, angrily swiping at the tears on his face. So many times in his life he had been hurt by others and wished for a savior to swoop in and rescue him; this wasn't quite what he had in mind, but it was close enough for him. “Where are you taking me?”

“I'm going to take you to my home. Well, at least, it's the place where I'm living for the moment. My brothers will be there, too, so it won't be too quiet or anything. But, you'll be safe there. No one will hurt you.”

Ryou was quiet for a moment, then almost shuddered as he asked a question. “You mentioned your own father having an 'untimely demise...' Did you … kill him?!”

Bakura almost laughed as he shook his head. “No, don't be ridiculous. Even vampires do not devour their own families! No, it was not I that killed him... he was murdered before my very eyes, by the same beast that turned me into a drinker of blood.” He scowled for a second, then shook his head and smiled almost fondly at the boy he was carrying. “But, that's nothing you need to be concerned about.”

Nodding again, Ryou sighed and lay his head against Bakura's chest, surprised when he felt the vampire lightly kiss the top of his hair. Soon, he began to enjoy himself again as Bakura swooped through the sky. Cries of delight filled the air as he was carried through the night sky by unnaturally strong arms.

“Having fun, my pet?” Bakura asked, the hiss of his voice holding a slight teasing aspect to it.

Ryou wondered again if it was at all dangerous if a vampire started calling him pet names.

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Chapter 9: “So How Was Your Night?”

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Atem thought long and hard about everything that Seto had told him as he flew through the air, heading for home.

Seto had said that he knew where Gozaburo was, that he was keeping right on their sire's tail, that he was waiting for just the right time to attack.

He'd said that he was using Atem and the others as a distraction, mostly. He knew that Gozaburo was more interested in the three of them than in him, so he was simply biding his time, watching and waiting for just the right moment.

Then he would attack and kill their sire once and for all.

Atem frowned, lost deep in thought for a moment, but was soon brought back to reality by the pain and weariness in his body. He had been going nonstop for several hours, and his body was not used to doing this much activity within the span of a few months, much less in one night. He wanted more than anything to curl up in his sarcophagus and go to sleep.

Maybe he wouldn't get up again for the next three weeks; the thought sounded appealing to him.

He landed on the roof of the abandoned building that he and his blood-brothers had claimed as their home and went inside, momentarily wondering if Bakura was back yet. His question was answered when he went into the main room that the brothers tended to gather together in.

The room was filled with many broken pieces of furniture that had been left behind by the original occupants as well as Egyptian antiquities that the vampires had brought with them; pieces of jewelry and figurines of Osiris and Anubis were scattered around the otherwise dusty, dingy room.

Bakura sat on the floor in the middle of the room, holding a young boy in his arms. The boy was asleep and didn't move for the most part, except to occasionally whimper or clutch at the vampire.

“It's only a dream, Ryou,” Bakura whispered softly, his clawed hands stroking the boy's white hair in an oddly caring fashion. His soothing words lulled the boy back to sleep. “You are perfectly safe, my pet... no one is going to harm you. I'm here.”

He glanced up at Atem. “I'm not certain if this boy is at all capable of having a good dream... it seems that he only has nightmares.”

Atem walked closer and looked at the boy for a moment, and then up at Bakura. He smirked lightly, but said nothing. He was very much amused that Bakura seemed to be so attached to a human boy when this same vampire had mocked him for befriending Yugi.

Bakura sighed. “Look, he reminds me a lot of myself when I was younger. And when I went to take the boy home, I learned that his father treats him the same way that mine did.”

Atem frowned; he knew that Bakura's father had been an abusive bully, and, considering how the vampire had responded to Ryou earlier, he wondered how Bakura reacted to this man who was just like his own predecessor.

“In the meantime,” the silver-haired vampire continued, changing the subject so that he was no longer in the spotlight. “Tell me what happened with you. I smell the priest's scent on you; I want to know what happened.”

Atem explained all, doing his best to leave out any detail that he found too personal. He was also very careful to keep his voice quiet, so that he wouldn't wake Ryou up.

When he was finished, Bakura gaped at him in silence for a moment. “So he's... stalking our sire?”

“I suppose you could put it that way.”

Bakura shook his head in frustration and growled. “Your cousin is an idiot. Does he really think that Gozaburo is really going to ever let his guard down? Does he really think that our sire could not sense his watching eyes?! That is the single stupidest thing I've ever –”

He cut himself off when a he heard a small cry come from the boy in his lap, who was blinking and staring up at him owlishly.

“We didn't mean to wake you, young one,” Atem apologized quickly. “Bakura and I were talking and I suppose we got a little carried away.”

“Go back to sleep now, pet,” Bakura whispered, smiling gently at the boy. He touched his hand to the boy's cheek, offering some tender comfort.

Ryou blinked a few more times, then nuzzled back into Bakura's lap, soon drifting off to sleep once more.

Atem watched as Bakura began to stroke the boy's hair again; it was the first time in a very long time that he had seen Bakura appear to be happy... in fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had seen that. It made him feel very glad that Bakura had found Ryou.

“I guess this is how you must feel about that Yugi boy, isn't it?” Bakura mused aloud. “Hm, it's no wonder, then, that glowing smile you always come home with when you go to visit him. I can't help but wonder though... will Malik ever find someone that means so much to him?”

At that comment, both vampire's furrowed their brows and looked around curiously.

“Say... where is Malik, anyway?”

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Chapter 10: “Five Days Later...”

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Mariku sighed loudly as he headed for the back door. What the @#$% was Shadi's problem anyway? Not allowed to smoke in the stinkin' museum... What kind of a rule was that, anyway?

Of course, if his sister caught him smoking at all, inside or outside of the building completely devoted to ancient Egypt, she would have his head on a pike. And then she'd kill him. And probably ground him.

Eventually she would take pity on him and resurrect him, but then she'd spy the cigarette again and kill him again.

The boy slipped out the back door, lighting the small cylinder and raising it to his lips as he stepped out into the alley.

Immediately, his eyes widened and, for a moment, his mouth couldn't make up its mind what to do with the cigarette – should he spit it out or swallow it whole?

In the end, he managed to pull it out with his fingers, allowing his jaw to drop. His panicky mind began to think of possible escape routes, but his feet refused to budge.

Why was there a vampire lying unconscious in the alley?

Mariku stared, his face a combination of wonder and fear, debating in his mind about what he should do about it. The vampire was bound to wake up sooner or later, and then what?

Deciding to play the hero, he picked up an old, broken mop that was sticking out of the museum dumpster. Wrapping his hands around the broken length of wood and holding it over his head, he took a step towards the blood-sucker, intending to stab the stick straight through its chest to kill it.

But he hesitated. The vampire had the tanned skin of an Egyptian, along with a multitude of jewelry very much like the gold trinkets that Mariku wore, and he had bushy, blonde hair.

Mariku realized that he and the vampire rather resembled one another.

Lowering his stick, he moved to sit beside the creature of the night, reaching out to softly touch the vampire's hair with his fingers.

The vampire awoke upon feeling the boy's warmth, a clawed hand reaching up with lightning reflexes and grasping the thin wrist.

“... human...”

Mariku let out a small shriek upon hearing the vampire's hiss. It wasn't so much that the vampire seemed threatening in any way or form as it was that Mariku had never heard one speak before. He was taken aback a bit by this sudden occurrence, and tried to wrench his wrist loose.

“Let go of me, filthy blood-sucker!”

The vampire did, almost immediately.  “... strong... little human...”

“Hey, I am not little!” The boy shouted, fully riled by that remark. He was shorter than most boys his age, as well as incredibly thin, and he was very sensitive about his appearance. Even though this vampire was easily two or three times his size, that didn't mean that he could make any comments on Mariku's stature.

'It,' not 'he,' Mariku reminded himself. Vampires were monsters and were not human and thus had no right to be called by name or gender.

“Now c'mon! Get up and go away! The sun's coming up and I don't want any stinkin' blood-suckers around while I'm smoking... or any other time, for that matter!”

The vampire in question paid very little attention to the boy's ranting. His interests seemed to lie entirely in any portion of Mariku's skin that showed from beneath his tight clothes.

Mariku noticed this. “What are you looking at, anyway?”

Red, inhuman eyes continued to gaze longingly at his skin. “... thirsty... need... blood...”

“Oh, no! I'm not letting you drink from me!”

The vampire gazed at him for another moment, seeming to be lost in thought. It was strange, Mariku realized; the vampire possessed so much strength and prowess, it should be able to lunge at him and tear him to shreds in an instant. However, this vampire didn't. It seemed to want to, but it didn't.

He soon realized why that was. “You're weakened. You probably haven't drunk any blood in awhile, and it's weakened you. Is that why... you're here? And not leaving? And not attacking me?”

The vampire didn't answer. Only continued to look longingly at the boy. “... please...”

Mariku frowned, his mind a roaring mass of confusion. He didn't want to feed his blood to a vampire. He didn't want the vampire to die right in front of him. He wanted to help the blood-sucker. He wanted to run away from it as quick as possible and have nothing to do with it.

“Oh, to heck with it!” He suddenly screamed, giving in and making up his mind on the fly. He reached into his pocket and fished out his Swiss army knife – a gift from Odion on his birthday – and suddenly swiped the blade across his forearm. Droplets of blood began to trickle out.

“You can drink a little bit of my blood,” he told the vampire, who was staring at his arm with such longing it was disgusting. “But you can't have all of it, understand?”

The vampire nodded weakly. “Won't … drink … all. Promise.”

Mariku snorted, picking up the dropped shaft of wood and holding it with his free hand. “Yeah, like I'm gonna believe you.”

Snarling, he thrust his bleeding arm in front of the vampire, who almost immediately grabbed it and wrapped his mouth around the cut.

Teeth grazed his skin, and Mariku tried not to shudder. A part of him was secretly pleased, though, to see the content and peaceful look on the vampire's face.

“How long have you been here?” the boy couldn't help but ask. He was so very curious about this blood-sucker, and his curiosity would not be ignored.

The vampire paused for a moment. “Since... since Tuesday night... or was it Wednesday morning?... It all runs together, you know.”

Mariku felt his eyes bulge. “Wednesday was five days ago! It's currently very, very early on a Monday morning!”

The vampire stared at the boy, his face somewhere between confused and alarmed. “Five... days? And yet... you're the first human to find me... why is this?”

The boy frowned, lost in thought, occasionally being distracted by the vampire's tongue probing his self-inflicted injury in a hungry fashion. “Ummm, well... I only work here once a week. And I'm the only who ever uses this exit, I think – it's the only way I can sneak a smoke without Shadi or Ishizu or Odion or anyone else blowing a gasket at me.”

The vampire nodded, studying the boy closely. “You're Egyptian, aren't you?”

“Yes.”

Another nod, this one more of satisfaction. “I am from Egypt myself. My name is Malik.”

“I'm... Mariku. I work here at the Museum of Egyptology.”

The vampire's eyes lit up, and he laughed. “How I'd like to go through that museum with my brothers, just to see how many things they've got wrong!”

Mariku frowned. “Hey! We are very particular about our facts, and we do all sorts of research beforehand!”

“Whatever,” the vampire rolled his eyes. He seemed concerned when he looked up at the sky, where the sun's rays were beginning to peak through the staggering darkness. “Tell me which way is North, and I'll leave.”

Mariku pointed his finger, and the vampire left, apparently just strong enough to fly.

Mariku wondered where the vampire stayed during the day, and whether or not he would be back again.

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Chapter 11:

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Malik will leave before the sun rises, but he will return the following evening to talk to Mariku in the museum. When Malik gets back to the hideout, he is momentarily confused when he sees that Ryou boy walking around the place, perfectly comfortable. Bakura sneers at Malik and says that he doesn't have to explain himself and drags Ryou off to his bedroom.

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(Seto is the fourth blood-brother, but he is only half-turned and is a loner who tends to do things his own way. He used to be an Egyptian High Priest and he is Atem's cousin. When trailing Gozoborro, Seto finds the house of G's most recent victims, two parents and a child. It's too late to save the parents, who already lie on the floor dead, but Seto takes care of the little boy, who's name is Mokuba. Seto brings the little one home with him, calling him 'little brother' and 'Mokie.')

.

(Pegasus is an older vampire, an old enemy of Seto's. All of his usual employees, Kemo, Croquet, are all vampires as well, and Duke Devlin is his little half-vampire assistant.)

(Pegasus has little Mokuba kidnapped from Seto to get Seto's attention, and he also attempts to kidnap Yugi to get Atem's attention... however, he ends up capturing Yugi's grandfather, which still achieves what he wanted anyway.)

(So, Seto and Atem set out to rescue their friends, Yugi, Bakura, and Malik all going with them. Ryou and Mariku stay home.)

.

(At a later point, I want Ryou to go grocery shopping, picking up food for himself as well as steak for the vampires, and paying for it all with money that Bakura gave him earlier. When he's shopping, he runs into his father, Rashyo, who starts bullying him and calling both him and the vampires horrible names. Ryou sticks up for the vampires and leaves as quickly as possible, collapsing back in Bakura's bedroom in tears. Bakura comes along and holds the boy, offering what little comfort he has to offer.)

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.

With a sharp cry, Ryou collapsed face-first onto the little cot in the corner of the 'bedroom,' promptly curling up into a ball and tucking his knees under his chin. Tears began to slowly trickle down his cheeks as he thought about everything that his father had said to him.

Every word spun around in his head, making him dizzy and nauseous, becoming louder and louder and crueler and crueler with each minute. His stomach hurt terribly, and he could no longer see through the fog of tears.

The door opened and closed, another person entering and walking over to the cot. Probably Bakura.

Ryou became aware of the vampire sitting down on the cot beside him. A strong hand pressed itself on his back, right between his shoulder blades, and began to rub gentle circles.

Bakura didn't say anything, and the silence itself seemed to speak for him.

“I saw my father...” Ryou whispered through quivering lips.

Silence for a moment. “How did that go?”

Every single word that his father had said flew through his mind, and Ryou felt something inside him break. He began to sob angrily, not even stopping as he was lifted and pulled into Bakura's lap, the vampire's arms wrapping around him tightly, his wings folding down and draping around the two of them as a cocoon.

“He – he said so many horrible things!” the boy stuttered a few minutes later. His tears had begun to slow, allowing his voice to become usable again. “He said that you vampires were nothing but evil parasites, and that you were only going to hurt me later down the road. That-that I'm stupid for trusting you...”

The other frowned, his grip on Ryou tightening instinctively. He didn't know what else the man had said to Ryou, but it was clearly enough to bother the boy. It was enough to make him wonder.

.

“Your father's right, you know,” Bakura whispered quietly.

The boy frowned, blinking his eyes harshly to get rid of his tears, turning to stare up the vampire in confusion. “... What do you mean?”

Bakura's lips tugged into a mock smirk. He wrapped his fingers around the boy's neck, the tips of his claws teasingly trailing over the bite marks on the side of Ryou's neck, showing where the vampire had been. “I am a parasite. And you are my host.”

Ryou frowned. “I always thought of our relationship as more of a symbiotic one.”

“And how do you figure that?”

“Because... I feed you, and you protect me,” the boy said slowly, his lips pursing together as he thought through his wording. “You give me a safe place to live, and you give me freedom. And, even though you drink my blood, you never actually hurt me. … These are things I never had before.”

The vampire frowned, his grip on the boy tightening. “Like I said, you are my host. You belong to me, and of course I'm going to protect you.

.

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(Joey Wheeler, Tristan Taylor, and Tea Gardener are all humans that are being held captive by Pegasus and are rescued by the Brothers. Other vampires who work for Pegasus will include Bandit Keith, Mai Valentine, and Duke Devlin. Mai and Duke will turn out to be really nice and will end up helping the brothers.)

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Malik snickered, very amused by the sight of Bakura being so sweet and caring towards the human boy.

Bakura growled. “What?”

“Nothing, it's just... the high and mighty tomb robber! The king of thieves! The proud ruler of Hell... wrapped around the pinky finger of that silly little fluffy-haired boy!”

Bakura's jaws snapped at Malik, as if to bite his brother's nose off. “It's not my fault if Ryou is more tolerable than the rest of you idiots! And besides – he tastes better when he's happy!”

Malik was leaning back against a wall, laughing uncontrollably. “Really? Maybe I'll have to try him sometime.”

“You will not lay a hand on him, do you hear me?!” Bakura was seething by this point, and he was breathing heavily through his clenched teeth. “If you so much as touch a hair on his head, I will personally stake you straight through the heart! Understand?!”

“Y'know, Baku, it's funny to see you being so protective.”

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[rainstormcolors]

Rivalship for the meme if you haven't been asked already. :,D

Thank you! Obviously these areonly my interpretations. And I wanted to be thorough in my answers.

-

What they watch during movie dates and what kind ofsnacks they get from concessions.

I don’t think Seto watches much television or movies. What happensis Yugi turns something on and leans against Seto, who’s busy on his laptop andyet still here in the room and on the sofa in front of the TV system. I thinkYugi has pretty broad tastes in movies and also likes shonen anime. He tends toavoid slapstick movies and shows though because those annoy Seto. But it’s warmand cozy there on the sofa together.

-

Which one gets in to a fight with the other’s parents.

All of Seto’s parents are six feet under. Yugi has hisgrandfather, mother, and a largely absent father. In the case of Sugoroku, Iactually take the idea of him being forgiving towards Seto, with him in turntaking the idea of trusting Yugi’s judgement. In practice I think Sugoroku’sand Seto’s exchanges would be on the curt side but it would generally be congruent.Yugi’s mother isn’t defined in canon well but I get the idea she might be a bitnosy. Seto is not a sociable person but I think he’d tolerate her for Yugi’ssake. I’m fairly sure Yugi and Mokuba would be friends and enjoy spending timetogether. I don’t really imagine there’d be much discourse honestly.

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What kind of street performance they’d put on to raisemoney if they were stranded somewhere.

I like the-cryptographer’s idea of Seto finding a streetvendor and showing them how to improve their business, balancing their budgetsand demonstrating tactics to make more sales. I feel like on the Yugi side, hemight offer little services for free in the hope of garnering tips (since helooks so harmless and seems so friendly and also because this is an anime world,he might get a few takers).

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How they’d be as parents if theyhad-a-kid/someone-forced-a-kid-on-them.

As I’ve said before, I think Seto would be profoundlyuncomfortable at the notion of having and raising children. I think he��d bedeeply and darkly afraid of becoming Gozaburo, and likewise be terrified of hisown lingering emotional struggles when faced with the notion of raising achild. Comparatively, I have the idea that Yugi would hope to have children.He’s so down to earth, warm, and social. I think he’d want to have a family.And he might bring the topic up with Seto a few times, but as he realizes just howuncomfortable the subject makes Seto feel he’d drop it, and instead findhappiness in spending time with the children of his friends and Mokuba.

So how does a child come into their care? I can only thinkof one very tragic circumstance, and this child would be the orphan of Mokuba.(Comparatively, if it was Jonouchi’s child who was orphaned I feel Shizukawould be the one to take them in.)

There would be a period of bleak depression and transitionfor all three parties in this, but I think Yugi and Seto would make a verygenuine and heartfelt effort to raise this child. Yugi would be a warm parent, instigatinggame and movie nights, probably a bit too soft on discipline. Seto would strugglewith how much pressure and discipline to apply on the child (his damnGozaburo-complex…) and I think he’d end up on the softer side with these thingsas well, but have times where he’ll lose his temper and have to abruptly leavethe room to calm down. Seto would be a quieter parent than Yugi, and he’llforever be a workaholic, but he’ll share meaningful moments and gestures (this is his dead brother’s child). Ipicture Yugi and the child deciding to bake a cake for Seto’s birthday, Yugiand Seto bringing the child to the park on the occasional weekend. There’s achance a maid or chef or butler might be involved in raising the child as well.I think Mokuba’s child—really Yugi’s and Seto’s own child—would be wellloved and well cared for in the end.

-

Who would cause the most trouble during a camping tripand how.

I don’t think these two would go on very many camping trips.It’s hard to come up with a scenario where they would. I feel like Yugi mightgo off with Jonouchi, Honda, and Ryo on a camping trip for a few nights andbring back a pinecone to give Seto, telling him about all the antics and how brilliantthe stars in the purple-black sky were.

Maybe Yugi and Seto would take the occasional walk through aforest though, see the glowing silver sky between the bare branches, or watchthe birds flitting through the emerald leaves. Yugi might recount a story fromhis childhood and Seto would listen as spots of sunshine shatter through thecanopy over them.

-

What they would give each other as both a serious giftand a troll gift.

In the beginning, it’s Yugi who gives little gifts from timeto time. Bringing snacks, bringing two new packs of Duel Monsters cards and givingone to Seto for them both to open one at the same time.

Seto might bring Yugi to a tailor to have a high-qualitysuit fitted for him “to make you properly presentable for business,” but reallyit’s a gift.

Generally, I think it would be small gifts exchanged, withthe gesture itself being the truly meaningful thing for the both of them (Isuppose that’s the case for most of us out there).

-

Who moves in with them as an unfortunate third wheelroommate.

I actually picture the scenario as more like Yugi and Setogo on a vacation somewhere only to discover Jonouchi and Honda “just so happen”to also be vacationing in that exact same place at the exact same time as them.And Jonouchi and Honda crash the vacation on and off, but Yugi and Seto alsostill have their alone time together. Yes, Jonouchi and Honda did this onpurpose but they aren’t actually trying to sabotage anything. They just thoughtit’d be fun and funny.

Yugi’s friends and Mokuba’s family may stay overnight at thecouple’s home from time to time. Jonouchi and Honda might be teasing about it(in a playful way) while Anzu and Ryo would be very polite and courteousguests.

-

How they feel about handholding and sudden kisses in theear-cheek vicinity.

I firmly believeSeto despises public displays of affection. They make him uncomfortable, feelfar far too exposed. In private however, Yugi gives tender touches and it’s notunpleasant at all. It might even be rather nice.

-

Who’s always snapping photos and who’s pack-rattingclutter.

Yugi is the guilty party for both, though “always” is toostrong of a word. He’ll take surprise photographs of Seto to play-annoy himsometimes. He’ll keep a scrapbook of when Seto and Kaiba Corporation arefeatured flatteringly in the media. Seto rolls his eyes to all this, but insidehe’s charmed.

Yugi collects games and some memorabilia, while Seto doesn’tbother with small material items too often. Except–! Except for Duel Monsterscards! Yugi really can’t fathom why Seto needs 36 copies of Hyozanryu.

-

Who hogs the bathroom in the morning and who causestoothpaste related drama.

I feel like the two are about even in their bathroom timeand maintenance. They’re both the type to keep the door shut, to keep thecounter tidy without being neurotic about it. Yugi might be a bit messier whileSeto returns things to their exact place, but it’s not a big deal. I kind ofhave the idea that if they lived together, given Seto’s mass of wealth, theirhome would have multiple bathrooms so hogging isn’t a problem either.

-

What their matching costumes were for that one party.

Seto is a stick-in-the-mud asshole who refuses to dress in acostume (well, a real costume anyway… those spinney trench coats with oversizedshoulder pads that Seto doesn’t wear anymore…). Yugi might dress up in a simplecostume; I don’t see him going all out with it. But if Yugi gets it in his headthat they must be dressed up as a couple, I think he’d steal one of those oldspinney coats, draped to the floor and sagging from his shoulders. (Seto mightthink, “You look ridiculous,” but then have a realization of just who used towear that coat all the time.) Yugi would joke to his friends, “He’smid-twenties Seto-kun, and I’m teen Seto-kun.” And at some point Seto mightintentionally step on the coattail as an awkward half attempt at flirting.

-

If I think they’d get married and why or why not.

This is in the realms of longterm Rivalshipping. I don’tthink the idea of marriage is too present in Seto’s mind in this case. I thinkin time it might appear in Yugi’s mind however, that idea of declaring theirbond to the world. I think Yugi envisions marriage with a romantic lens and assomething to mark the significance and depth of their relationship. For him it’sabout the symbolism, not the legalese. Yugi might bring up the subject a fewtimes, and eventually Seto may agree to it to make Yugi happy and it’s not likemuch will change anyway. It would be a small private ceremony; friends andfamily only. I think Yugi would understand this is more for pleasing him thananything else and yet he’ll glow because thisis still a gesture of love.

-

Who has over a thousand unread emails in their inbox orfive hundred icons on their computer desktop and how the other reacts to thisgross mismanagement.

Seto is a CEO of a mammoth corporation, so I think it’s fairto wager he has a lot of crap on his computer. Yugi doesn’t care; Yugi doesn’tknow what half of those icons even are.

-

What their hidden artistic talents are and howappreciative the other is of these talents.

They have pretty blatant creative talents within canon: bothare/aspire to be game creators. Seto is very good at drafting blueprints, and Ithink sketching blueprints for things he doesn’t actually intend to build mightalso become a coping mechanism for him to clear his head and heart on theharder days. And Yugi collects these discarded blueprints, and he thinks they’rea kind of wonderful treasure. Maybe Yugi writes short stories sometimes and he’skind of embarrassed and thinks they’re not very good, but Seto reads them andhe can see the reflection of Yugi inside them, the honest emotion and thosethings that really mean something to Yugi, and Seto thinks there’s something ofvalue here even if he can’t say so aloud. But Yugi notices how Seto alwaysreads what Yugi shows him, and how Seto will tell him to cut the crap when he’sdown-talking his own stories.

-

What they consider each other’s most attractive qualityand/or their favourite thing about the other.

I think Yugi admires how headstrong and goal-oriented Setois, how hard he strives and how many things he’s accomplished, how despiteanything else his creations have brought so much joy and so many personalconnections to the world.

I think what I hope for Seto, inside or outside of aromantic context, is to understand that Yugi does see him as a person ofworth—not monetary worth, but emotional worth. To understand that he meanssomething to someone else. (That knowledge can get a person through a lot.)

For Seto, I think he has trouble even comprehending how Yugican be so warm and kind, and it’s something so alien and powerful to him. It’sa strength he doesn’t have, and he can’t say it aloud but it’s beautiful to himhow Yugi is the embodiment of it.

[austerre-moved]

It was usually her, she thought, asleep in bed when Seto came home from a midnight trip to the office, and HIM who had slipped away in the middle of the night when she would not notice his absence. Today, though, it was her turn to stand in the doorway of their room, silently drinking in the sight of him reclined against their pillows. Even in sleep, he sometimes looked to be frowning – now was one of those moments, and it only strengthened her belief in her choices.

As quietly as she could, Natalie slipped into the room, setting the stack of reports that she held atop the bedside table. In them, he would find confirmation of the completion of several projects – the reason she had left, last night, like a thief in the dark. She’d been working on speeding up their progress all week, behind his back. It hadn’t been an easy task, as he was so stubbornly determined to do everything himself, but she had the benefit of organizing his schedule, to keep him away from anyone who would spoil the surprise. With any luck, he hadn’t noticed what she had been doing, and the work that had been completed would be enough to soothe him into staying home. She knew that he didn’t like to; he was always so concerned about the work that needed to be finished while he was away, it distracted him from the goal of actually relaxing. This, though, would leave him hard pressed to find a justification for going into the office – and it wasn’t as if Mokuba hadn’t taken over for him before, while he was away on business. Natalie had worked tirelessly to ensure that Mokuba’s day ran smoothly without them, and the younger Kaiba was more than happy to take care of things during the day. He would be meeting them for dinner, of course, but until then, Seto would be relaxing. ( Whether he wanted to, or not. )

A day off was not the only gift she had for him, though. Beyond the meal she planned to cook for him and Mokuba both that evening, she aimed to try to work the tension out of Seto’s shoulders. She would have arranged for a professional to come, but thought perhaps it would be nicer for them to not have to swear them to secrecy, as they did all outsiders who entered their home. She didn’t want him to have to deal with the world, or their prying eyes, or keeping their secret. She just wanted to help him to RELAX.

She wanted to fill their tub with water and bubbles and slip in beside him, soaking away his stress and eating strawberries like they were in some vomit inducing chick-flick. She wanted to show him the post on twitter that requested the fan gifts that he had no use or desire for to be sent to the various orphanages, in lieu of gifting anything to him. She wanted to walk the property and hold his hand and listen to him talk about anything at all – his dragons, his brother, his precious few favored memories…

She wanted to give him a day where HE was all that mattered. Not the company. Not winning. Not his reputation or taking care of his brother or even having to give HER attention. Just… him. She suspected he hadn’t had a day like that in quite some time.

There were, of course, physical gifts. He would find the first in his office the next day, where she’d installed some of the hologram projectors from the latest duel disc. He would have company there, now, in the form of three tiny blue eyes – programmed like cats, they were sure to at least momentarily entertain him as he worked. The second, she was still tentative to actually give. It was cupped within her palms, a tiny box that protected precious cargo. The ring inside was not meant to tie – she didn’t have the courage to propose to him, not even close. She did, however, want to give him something to wear, perhaps as… as a promise, of sorts. A reminder. Something that he could see on his hand and remember that, no matter the harsh words that were printed in response to his own harsh personality, no matter the way he felt about himself or thought that he deserved… She loved him. And nothing was going to change that.

It was a simple design, admittedly. A twist of silver that resembled his dragon’s crest, with a ribbon of blue across it’s face. The notable detail, though, was the engraving that lay within the band, hidden where none could see. She had struggled with what to write, wondering if she should leave anything at all. Her name seemed possessive, and their initials seemed corny. ‘Always’ was overdone, and their anniversary did not fall on his birth date. For days, she struggled to decide, but in the end realized that if it was meant to show he was beloved… then that was exactly what she would have written.

The looping script of her own writing seemed dainty upon the sturdy band, but still yet bold and clear. Beloved, simple, and sweet – and true, no matter what fights they got in, or what his insecurities said. She was worried he wouldn’t wear it, admittedly, but… there was naught to do but to give it to him and find out. First, though, he needed to wake up.

Their usual alarm was set to go off shortly, so she didn’t feel bad for sitting down on his side of the bed, running her fingers gently through his hair to wake him. She was glad to see his frown disappear at her touch, and hoped he hadn’t noticed she was gone. As his bright eyes fluttered open, she smiled down at him, pressing a soft kiss upon his lips.

“Good morning, birthday boy… Don’t get up. Your schedule is mysteriously empty, today. I heard the VP was going to run meetings this morning, since all this work got done last night.” She nodded toward the stack of folders, and smiled once again. “I… have a gift for you, though. Even if you’re going to refuse to spend the day with me.”

With great care she lifted the box, pressing it into his hands as she realized she didn’t quite know how to explain it to him. Cheeks flushed faintly pink, she pulled her hands away from his, brushing hair behind her ear with a shrug.

“Happy birthday, my love. I… don’t know if it’s your style, but… I wanted to give you something to wear that would match most of your clothes. As… a promise, I guess. Of… how I feel.”

Tentative, she reached forward and clicked the lid open, her hand lingering upon his as the ring was revealed.

“I know you sometimes wonder why… but I love you, Seto. And whenever you think I might stop, or change my mind… you can have this, to remind you that I won’t. It’s not an ENGAGEMENT ring, a-and you don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it! But… I hope you will. And I hope that you’ll spend the day with me, because I left literally nothing for you to do at the office today and Mokuba is already going there after breakfast, and I’m trying REALLY hard to guilt you into it. Is it working..?”

                      majority of the world looked forward to a birthday, whether their own, or another’s. it was meant to be a day of joy and celebration, commemorating having survived another year, and in some cases, marking the beginning of something new. to anyone else, it may have been special— but seto kaiba was known to be out of the ordinary, for reasons outside of his sometimes bizarre fashion choices.                      his birthday was nothing special to him. he viewed it as a day no different from the other 364 of the year, besides the day he would begin filling out applications with a number one digit higher than the previous year, next to the designated ‘ age ‘ bracket. if anything, it soured his mood even more than usual, given it resulted in the grim remembrance of how he’d spent this day as a child. whereas others were given birthday parties, friends and family members invited to the monumental event to shower the birthday child in gifts and sugary confections, he had spent his, parentless and friendless, in an orphanage too full and hectic to care for individual days of birth.                 ——– and when gozaburo had slithered his way into the picture, loneliness turned into crippling resent. he came to hate his day of birth, deeming it a burden more than a blessing, as gozaburo was known to be increasingly abusive on that particular day, as a way of reminding the still young birthday boy that the world was a cruel place, and birthdays, just like every other day of the year, were meant for work. gifts came in the form of academic tasks - and ‘ birthday lashings ‘ were certainly a tradition, but not in the conventional sense.                                    he spent more time on those days crying behind a house plant, ignoring the concerned voice of an even younger mokuba as he called out for his troubled brother, than he did celebrating what should have been a momentous occasion.

                                  so, when natalie roused him awake a few moments early that morning, he thought nothing of it. truth be told, he hadn’t even remembered what day it was until she softly told him ‘ happy birthday, ‘ and even then, he stared at her bleakly, dread overtaking him alongside a fierce disinterest for whatever she had planned. ‘twas not that he was ungrateful for the things she did for him on occasions like this, just as he never turned mokuba away, despite the youth knowing his brother was hardly the type to celebrate, or accept gifts, but… he just couldn’t bring himself to slip on a mask, simply to hide how he truly felt for a day cloaked in misfortune, or to bother attempting to wash away the bitter taste that still remained on his tongue, despite being in his twenties, now, instead of his early teens.                      “ empty? “ there were a slew of questions he was tempted to throw her way, but he hadn’t a clue where to even begin. how— WHEN, w h e r e… ? ? ? she had been by his side the entirety of the week, as per usual, and while mokuba was more than acquainted with the tasks his older brother oft fulfilled, there was no way the small child had successfully completed them within the span of one week.                     not without his obsessively observant brother realizing the work was getting done under his nose, at least.                          already, he was shifting to rise from the bed, but the pressing of her palm against the chiseled exterior of his chest barred him from successfully doing so. a glance is shot towards the stack of folders she briefly gestures to, and for a moment, he can do naught else but stare at the thick collection in utterly raw bewilderment.                                  all of this, simply so he can enjoy a work-free birthday. what type of crazed fools was he RELATED to ? ? ?                     god cards above, and then there were gifts— because of course. mokuba likely had his own collection to all but force upon the ceo at a later time, but first, he had to get through natalie’s. he would stomach it, solely because she was one of two people he absolutely hated upsetting, if he could help it, and as he took the box from her, crinkling his brow in silent confusion, he cast his gaze towards her awaiting expression, hoping she would reveal the contents of the box to him, or provide some explanation as to what, exactly, she had dared spend money on.                   “ you know i hate gifts, nat… there was no reason for you to… “                             ——– and yet, his statement drops off, lost to a sudden case of speechlessness as he gazes at the glimmering ring. in one measly second, she has managed to take his breath away - funny, because stereotypically, was it not the male who was supposed to warrant such a reaction from the female? there he sat, though, staring at this heartfelt gift, with not a single word to say in response to it. try as he may, the words just wouldn’t come to him, the thrumming in his ears amplifying in volume the longer he scans over the individual detailing.                   no, this wasn’t his style… hadn’t been, more specifically, but… it was, now.

                                     “ … as if this wasn’t bad enough, you had to go and say something like that… “ hopefully, she doesn’t take his statement the wrong way, for the tugging of his otherwise straight-lined lips into the most genuine of grins should be a dead giveaway that he speaks of her gesture fondly. he carefully removes the ring, turning it over between his thumb and index to examine its features in closer detail— and the more he gazes at it, the wider he smiles, seemingly forgetting it’s his birthday altogether. “ this is your handwriting, isn’t it… ? “ he’d always loved the way she wrote things, not that he ever told her. expensive as this had to have been ( and oh, how he hated EXPENSIVE gifts the MOST ), she had still managed to put a bit of herself into the small, circular jewelry, and of course, a lot of him. his favorite colors, his sense of style— it was all there, captured in this small piece of jewelry.                          again, it spoke of how well she knew him, and how much effort she put into pleasing him, when so many others would have given up on him by now.                              the box is placed atop the nearest nightstand, the ring slipped upon his finger and adjusted properly. it fit perfectly, as he expected, and for a moment, he couldn’t help but to trail his opposite finger over it— admiring it, still, even several minutes after the reveal. “ it’s funny… “ he began, looking at her now, that smile still dedicated in its effort to remain plastered on his face, “ … i usually hate things like this. i usually hate everything, everyONE, but you… i wholeheartedly believe, nat, that just like this ring, you were made for me. “ there’s a faint huff of laughter, then, as he leans over to press a kiss to her cheek, then a second, then a third, before he shifts slightly to capture her lips in a kiss far longer in duration. “ i love you… “ he utters breathlessly, pulling away almost hesitantly in order to rise. “ can you stay here a moment? i promise, i’ll come back. “                         she hasn’t a choice— he slips from her side anyway, making sure he looks somewhat put together before journeying through the doors of his joined office. no doubt, she can hear the way he fumbles with the drawers of his desk, unlocking the bottom most one with a key only he possesses. nay, he has no reason to tug open this particular drawer majority of the time, the things he deems valuable locked away elsewhere, but this was… different from his dueling cards, and the documents that basically made his way of living a possibility. this, he had tucked away for some untold amount of time, well hidden and well preserved.                            call it cheesy and cliche, but he was quite tired of detesting his own day of birth, struggling to let go of things in the past and putting forth no effort to change things to make them better for the future.                   now, he figured, was a good a time as any to conquer this annual, depressing tradition.               “ don’t laugh. just… listen to me for a few minutes. “                           he urges her to the edge of the bed, his form towering over her as he remains standing— not to seem imposing or threatening, but his reasoning will be revealed in due time.                              “ i don’t think i ever told you of my adoptive father… at least, not in intricate detail. he is a large part of the reason i despite my birthday, and why i always try to make mokuba’s birthday a memorable day, if only to cancel out the negative from our childhoods. for years, i convinced myself i would never come to love someone, and in turn, that they would never come to love me. i made myself so purposefully undesirable, because i was afraid to get close to someone else - i’ve been hurt so many times in my life, nat… it was easier to be an asshole than it was to be friendly, yet somehow… somehow, you broke through all my defenses, and achieved the impossible. “ dare he laugh, as he remembers their rocky beginnings? the roller coaster that had been their relationship, and sometimes, still was? of their arguments, of takeshi, or their petty, spiteful, vengeful matches against each other…                        indeed, he dared laugh, because while they had been sour moments at the time, it spoke volumes of how far they had come, and how much she had put up with, in regards to him, and how much she was willing to continue to put up with.                           “ you… are my gift, every morning i wake up. i never know if you realize the way i smile at you from afar, or how you distract me with your sheer beauty without even having to try. i have nightmares of you leaving… of me LOSING you, somehow. i have nervous breakdowns, in private, when my mind gets the best of me, and i start thinking of all the ways i could possibly screw up something so damn good, and how CLOSE i’ve gotten to doing so on so many occasions… but you always seem to prove to me, in the biggest ways, that you’re here to stay. that my nightmares and panic attacks really are just products of my chaotic mind… the very one only you can put at ease. “                     he’s nervous, and he hopes she can’t tell— by the gods, though, it’s practically written all over his face, in the way he can’t bring himself to look at her, and the anxious tugging of his lips between his teeth. even now, as he slowly lowers himself to one knee, tugging out a velvet wrapped box from behind his back, he wouldn’t be surprised if she could hear the way his heart HAMMERED beneath his chest, threatening to burst through at any given second. there is no going back, now, as he tugs the box open with the same hand that wears the ring she has given him, to reveal a ring of his own. thick, and practically drowning in platinum diamonds, a large one at the center, with miniature ones rounding the ring itself.                            “ i still don’t know what you see in me, natalie arrington, and i still think you deserve so much better than whatever i have to offer you— but i don’t want you to find better. i realize that now… i realized that forever ago, honestly, but i was too afraid to let my emotions get the better of me. i was afraid of feeling weak, and vulnerable, and ridiculous, but… if that’s what happiness is… if that’s what LOVE is, then i am perfectly fine feeling weak, and vulnerable, and ridiculous, if it means i get to be with you. so i ask you this, on my birthday… on a day that, despite me hating gifts, i am once again reminded of what a beautiful, pure, marvelous gift you are, to me… i ask you, princess… will you marry me? “

[the-cryptographer]

You may choose between Trustshipping or Angstshipping for the meme, if you'd like!

I’m sorry. If you give me two options I’m gonna probably always pick both. Hope you don’t mind :’D

Under the cut:

Isis/Seto.

What they watch during movie dates and what kind of snacks they get from concessions.

Isis is probably the one that actually likes avant gardefilm, and the most obscure foreign films, and really quiet personal dramas.Seto finds all of it utterly boring, but he tags along anyhow and, ifeverything goes according to plan, he falls asleep within the first half hour,and Isis gets to enjoy the screen, her junior mints, and Seto’s adorablesleeping face. And Seto wakes up refreshed from his power nap so it was awin-win for everyone.

Which one gets in to a fight with the other’s parents.

Everyone’s parents are so dead. But let me say Isis andMokuba get along stunningly well, but Seto and Malik are always at each other’s throats. It probably starts with mild irritation from the way Battle City wentdown, but then it starts magnifying. Both Malik and Seto are rude and failedtheir anger management classes after all, so small infringements on eachother’s space start to add up, and then eventually the worst of both of themstarts to show, and Isis becomes the battleground for their possessiveness, andnow they avoid so much as being in the same room as one another. Seto andRishid also don’t get along great, although not nearly as bad as Seto andMalik. They both make super stern faces at each other, and don’t say anything,and refuse to break eye contact for five minutes, until finally one of them hassomething else that requires their attention. And it seems to everybody theydon’t get along, but really on the inside of their head they’re like ??? andcompletely unable to interpret each other, and both of them are wondering ifthey did something to offend the other but neither can think of anything. Badat communicating bros.

What kind of street performance they’d put on to raise money if they were stranded somewhere.

Isis had the necklace in canon, of course, but I wonder ifshe’s a skilled cold-reader? I can see her being good at something like that.She recruits Seto to help her set up a stand for palm reading, and gives reallyvague but good advice and puts on a bit of a show and completely charms thepeople walking by. Seto is really grumpy about it – first of all fortunetelling is BS, and second of all Isis is totally playing up her ‘exotic’foreignness. But then Isis tells him to buzz off – what would he know aboutbeing foreign in Japan/France, or being a cave-dwelling Egyptian with anunusual phenotype, and she’s only doing this so they can afford a room for thenight so he can suck it up and be appreciative of her amazing skills pls.

How they’d be as parents if they had-a-kid/someone-forced-a-kid-on-them.

Emotionally distant parents… haha. Unplanned (or at leasthalf-unplanned) trustshipping baby is actually one of my favourite headcanons.Somehow they overlooked something obvious~Anyhow, Isis is a little better at being soft, compared to Seto, and definitelybetter at being attentive. I wouldn’t call her understanding, exactly, butshe’s not really going to hold what she doesn’t understand against you – if youget me? She’s also more physically affectionate – kisses to the brow, andwashing the kid’s hair in warm water, and sleeping cuddled next to baby. But,otherwise, they’re both kind of inclined to do the same kind of parenting jobs– handling the soft-quiet moments before bedtime, and being a unified wall ofice when they need to discipline. And, anyhow, they’re both really into theircareers, so I think they’d hire somebody to take care of the kid in themornings – feed breakfast, and pack lunch, and drive to school. They kind ofsplit the evening shift between them then.

Who would cause the most trouble during a camping trip and how.

See, unlike Seto and Jounouchi where I could imagineJounouchi dragging Seto out on a recreational camping trip (sort of) againsthis will, I can’t imagine either Seto or Isis going camping unless there wassome reason they needed to gocamping. Maybe they’re visiting some remote archaeological site, and Setocouldn’t get clearance to fly the Blue Eyes jet in. Or there isn’t a place toland the Blue Eyes jet and Isis refuses to jump from a moving plane, lmao. Ormaybe they’re stuck in virtual reality or (netherworld) Ancient Egpyt or somefantasy AU or are just stranded in the middle of nowhere after some traumaticevent? Since they are comrades in ‘can this be over already?’ they worktogether with terrible efficiency. They are neat and direct and to the pointwhile setting up camp and making meals and packing up. Neither idly causestrouble. I think the worst of it is maybe that Isis isn’t quite as athleticallyinclined as Seto, or rather her stride is much shorter, so while they’re walkingthere’s a moment where she’s exhausted and fallen quite a bit behind, andSeto’s like ‘what’s wrong? hurry up.’ And Isis, who is kind of embarrassed thatshe’s struggling is finally tired of sucking it up and is like, ‘can we restfor half and hour,’ except it’s not really a question. And then Seto is like,‘Hn,’ kind of annoyed, but they both sit so Isis can catch her breath and eatsomething.

What they would give each other as both a serious gift and a troll gift.

I think Isis likes gift giving type traditions, so she mightinsist upon it until it actually makes it through Seto’s skull. Isis puts a lotof thought into getting beautiful wood carvings and vases and other home goods,and Seto just thinks all of it is terrible trash, lol. Comparatively Seto buysher things like leather wallets and purses and dresses without thinking, andIsis actually cherishes them, lol. Eventually I think both of them happen uponbetter methods though. Seto finds the Metropolitan Museum of Art Store magazineand actually gets a clue. And Isis starts to buy him books instead – not everyone is a winner, but Seto enjoys at least half her picks so~Would- Would either of them buy troll gifts? Isis might buy Seto sillykeychains with little kites or blue eyes just for fun. But even that’s not thattrolly.

Who moves in with them as an unfortunate third wheel roommate.

MALIK.

How they feel about handholding and sudden kisses in the ear-cheek vicinity.

Handholding: no. not casually at least. Sudden kisses: inpublic – no. in private – one of the few joys in Seto’s life. Soooo, sameanswers as for JouKai. But Jou kind of is disposed towards casually touchingSeto anyhow though in a way that Isis is definitely not – ie. clasping Seto’sshoulder, pushing Seto in one direction or another, dragging Seto somewhere bythe arm. Isis and Seto are one of those couples who never touch each other inpublic at all, and you think they must be really frigid with each other in privateand are only together for cerebral reasons. But actually that’s not true atall, it’s just they’re just not… touchy-feely.

Who’s always snapping photos and who’s pack-ratting clutter.

Mokuba is the one with the camera. If it wasn’t for him andtheir other friends and the Kaiba Corp security cameras, there would be nophotographic record of either of them, lol.And Isis is the pack rat, I guess. She’s collected too much artwork and toomany artefacts and too many things from the museum store. A lot of it justspends time collecting dust in storage. It’s all very nice clutter though. Her and Seto are both very obnoxiously upperclass, so their house is all minimalist and everything in place.

Who hogs the bathroom in the morning and who causes toothpaste related drama.

Isis probably takes longer in the bathroom since she wearscosmetics and all, but I’m not sure either of them is a bathroom hog. And Isisboops Seto on the nose with a gob of toothpaste and then kisses it off and Setowas experiencing whiplash with the way he went from being furious to charmed inzero seconds.

What their matching costumes were for that one party.

They went to that one party as a couple of obscurehistorical or literary figures – so obscure even I have no idea who. Literallynobody got it except Malik, who thought it was dumb.

If I think they’d get married and why or why not.

Maaaaybe? In an emotional sense, I think Isis would want tobe married to Seto more than the other way around. I don’t think it’d be amake-or-break issue for her, but she might end up feeling him out on the topicinstead of the other way around, so long as there wasn’t an outside factorinvolved. Like, going with unplanned pregnancy, Seto might suck up hisreservations and suggest marriage first out of a sense of responsibility and I’m not gonna not give my child my name.And if immigration and citizenship became an issue that could be resolved withmarriage, I don’t think Seto would rule it out as a practical solution. Itdepends on where they’re living too – I think the name thing would likely be anissue with Isis too, but if they’re getting married in a place like Francewhere they don’t have to share a name and entry into the koseki isn’t an issue,it seems more likely. But, then, I’m not always sure these guys have a typicalkind of relationship that they’d understand through marriage in the firstplace. I don’t typically think Kaiba’s interested in living outside Japan, andI don’t typically think Isis is interested in living outside of Northern Africaor Western Europe – and there are lots of circumstances where it might happenanyhow, but sometimes I think they’re a kind of friends on the phone and acouple while in town kind of ship. I’m not sure either of them would feel theburdening NEED for a constant romantic or sexual relationship in their life, sothey might be satisfied with that kind of thing. Maybe when they’re old andhave more free time they want to be closer, so they move in together somewherein their sixties or seventies, but by that point who cares about marriage?They’ve got their own thing going on~ There are so many ways this could go…

Who has over a thousand unread emails in their inbox or five hundred icons on their computer desktop and how the other reacts to this gross mismanagement.

Kaiba more so than Isis, but their emails and computerdesktops are both disaster zones. Their actual desks are also disaster zones –paperclip explosion. They’re both kind of annoyed with each other about it, butreally they’re more annoyed with themselves about it. I think Isis catches onthe hypocrisy sooner than Seto, but they both learn quickly that attacking thestate of each other’s desk means attacking their own organisational failure so…

What their hidden artistic talents are and how appreciative the other is of these talents.

Isis encourages Seto’s singing A LOT. And Seto’s reallyembarrassed about it and secretly a little flattered.

What they consider each other’s most attractive quality and/or their favourite thing about the other.

Isis is so elegant. And it’s a perpetual mystery to Seto howIsis can manage people and be so in-charge while also not being a screamingbanshee. That Isis can get people to do what she wants while being so kind andcomposed is a crazy skill, and he doesn’t get it but he can get behind it. AndSeto’s belief in his own agency and self-worth and in his ability to be thechange he wants to see in the world and all that literally saved Isis fromdespair in canon. I don’t really think there’s anything about him that Isiscould possibly admire more given the amount of personal significance that heldfor her. Shit, I love this ship so much. This might be how you feel aboutrivalshipping. I want Isis and Seto to be friends so, so badly. He utterlysaved her, and I don’t think he even recognises or realises the inherent worthin himself for having grasped the life and the future she’d lost in his hands,and throwing it back to her. I want him to see and to know how precious andcomplete that gesture was – that he cannot be a failure so long as he’s savedsomebody. gdi, let them be friends!!!

==

==

Malik/Ryou.

What they watch during movie dates and what kind of snacks they get from concessions.

Malik’s favourite films are probably big budget actionyfilms starring overpowered ‘badass’ 2kul4skul antiheros, who walk away from the explosion at the end of the filmand drive off into the sunset. And Ryou just thinks this is the dumbest shitever. Ryou canonically likes the spooky scaries oc but, while it’s not going toput Malik to sleep, Malik does kind of go between being creeped out by horrorfilms and rolling his eyes because so fake – listen, he’s seen some shit. Youcannot even approach the level of FEAR. I think they sit through the moviesthey don’t particularly like for each other, but their favourites to seetogether are documentaries, since that’s something they both enjoy.Documentaries about the natural world, documentaries about scientificinvestigations, documentaries about weird phases in human history and culture –and there must be some documentaries out there about the history of the occult.They each buy a variety of popcorn and soft drinks and candy, and they don’teven ask before reaching over and stealing snacks from the other or drinkingusing the other’s straw.

Which one gets in to a fight with the other’s parents.

Do we know if Ryou’s dad is alive anymore? I’m pretty surehe is, and I’m pretty sure Malik wants to kill him for being a neglectfulsonnuvabitch. Ryou would, of course, prefer Malik not, but it’s a littleflattering Malik feels so impassioned on his behalf. (I mean, even without thathuge strike against him, Malik would still probably fight with Ryou’s dad.Self-centred cultural imperialist. Also vastly different personal and ethicalstandards.) And Malik probably also feels he has a bone to pick with Amane andRyou’s mom too. He curses them out one day. ‘You know Ryou is still sad aboutlosing you guys! How dare you walk out on him like this! He has better thingsto do than worry all the time about your sorry asses!’ And Ryou’s like, ‘That’senough.’ Really upset as he drags Malik away from the gravesite. (But, still,he’s a tiny bit flattered. That he means more to somebody alive than his motherand sister do dead.)

What kind of street performance they’d put on to raise money if they were stranded somewhere.

I’m really completely blanking on this one. Ryou wouldprobably try a combination of tarot reading and asking people, really politely,if they could spare some change. But I think Malik’s probably the one thatpulls out some improbable genius skill and accurately interprets what somerandom passer-by needs and draws in success by putting in half the effort. Andthen Ryou’s like, ‘wow’ and claps for him. I just don’t know what thatimprobable genius skill is.

How they’d be as parents if they had-a-kid/someone-forced-a-kid-on-them.

Malik would just be… so terrible, lmao. Not only do I thinkhe’s completely uninterested in fatherhood, there is also nobody too importantto not fade into utter insignificance in the face of his episodes. Even if hewas an ever present factor in a child’s life, he’s totally a Disneyland dad.Let’s go out and do the fun thing, but then he gets bored after that’s over andit doesn’t matter if the kid is tired/hungry/needy now – whatever~ I’m actuallytrying to think of a situation where Malik would ever be stuck parentingsomebody alone with Ryou and… it’s not pretty. Malik himself is aware he’s notcut out for this. Isis and Rishid are both aware he’s not cut out for this. Theonly circumstance I can think of is something terrible happening to both Isisand Rishid and Malik’s taking care of his niece(s)/nephew(s) bc he’s not goingto have them go into foster care and… it’s just terrible. He’s terrible andneglectful, and he knows it, and he’s cries daily about it, but he just- can’t. Ryou would be picking up all ofthe slack really, bless him, but even he can’t really bridge the gap. Ryouwould be a patient and kind father, if a little lacking in sturdiness. He patsthe children’s heads softly and makes really simple breakfasts and packs warmlunches. He asks Malik and the kids to take shifts making dinner, and to lookafter getting themselves through their daily routines. He asks like it’s afavour to him and, for the most part, nobody wants to disappoint him, but he’sstill not sure what to do when he’s met with resistance – it’s hard for him tobe firm. It’s hard when the kids come to him for advice too. Ryou is spreadthin, and those kids are gonna have to parent themselves to a large extent…In less terrible situations though, Ryou and Rishid would probably beco-parenting if somehow Malik or Ryou got a hold of a child. Rishid is a littlebetter at at least pretending to be firm, haha. If he talks at all it’s obvioushe’s made of marshmallow, but he can make an intimidating look and wait insilence until the other party cracks. And between Ryou and Rishid there is moreenergy to look after kiddos properly and direct attention away fromfaildad!Malik.

Who would cause the most trouble during a camping trip and how.

Tbh, I think Ryou would have absolutely no concept of whatto do on a camping trip. He stares at the fire starter and the packed tent forabout an hour trying to figure out how they work and the mysteries haven’trevealed themselves, heh. Ryou was also unsure how to handle a deer approaching him, and that time hefumbled the can opener and spilled all the veges on the ground, oh dear. Malikhas to take over the practical realities of camping, which he’s not too excitedabout, but it ends up being okay because Ryou holds his hand and points out theconstellations at night and the world is as it should be.

What they would give each other as both a serious gift and a troll gift.

I don’t think they give gifts often but, when they do, Ithink they try to make it special and personal. Like Malik probably thinks up areally nice gift for when Ryou gets his degree – a commissioned piece ofartwork, or some old tome about Ryou’s field of study, and also a bottle ofnice scotch. And Ryou probably does the same when Malik manages someaccomplishment with work – gets him a nice leather bag, or a flashy new helmetfor his motorbike. For troll gifts, they might give each other silly decorativehair ties, and Malik gets weird earrings, and Ryou gets silly pop astrologybooks that piss him off because it’s not properastrology, and Malik doesn’t even believe in any of this shit in the firstplace.

Who moves in with them as an unfortunate third wheel roommate.

I mean, I’m pretty sure Rishid lives with them for a whileat least. But it’s more like Ryou is the weird third wheel interrupting Malik& Rishid’s bromance, heh.Actually, I think Rishid probably grew up under the assumption that he wouldnever be allowed to have a wife or kids bc he was basically intended to be aforever slave to Malik and Isis, but then Malik was like, ‘wtf, no. you canhave a family if you want. Fuck everything dad said.’ And Rishid got !!! really excited!!! Omg, he never dreamed!!! He’sreally happy about this!!!And that all sounded fine and dandy to Malik until Rishid actually met somebodyand he realised that either (1) Rishid would have to move out, or (2) Rishid’swife would have to move in. And Malik hates both of these ideas, it isliterally the worst. How dare you ruin mylife like this, Rishid, after all I’ve done for you… So, yeah, there’s agood possibility Rishid’s wife is the unfortunate forth wheel roommate, lol.Malik will get used to it.Also, Yuugi’s not really an unfortunate roommate to have at all, but I reallylike that collection of Millennium Roommate comics and am very pro-Yuugi-hanging-out-with-these-two,so that could be really cute~But also, it should be Jou too. Yes.

How they feel about handholding and sudden kisses in the ear-cheek vicinity.

Yes, definitely, on both accounts. But holding hands all thetime. They hold hands loosely and then curl their fingertips around each otherwhen they stray too far away.

Who’s always snapping photos and who’s pack-ratting clutter.

Ryou takes photos periodically, but not in any kind ofmethodological or constant way. Everyone’s always smiling in the photos bc Ryouwon’t take frowny ones or surprise ones  :-)And Ryou’s the pack rat. He buys a lot of crystals and gift items from thestationary shop. Textbooks and manuals. Half-used pens and pencils he picked upabsentmindedly here and there. Strange leaves and rocks he found out walking.Later he runs into certain things and wonders why he has them, but herationalises he must have kept it for a reason, and so it stays.

Who hogs the bathroom in the morning and who causes toothpaste related drama.

Malik takes forever in the bath, and forever getting readyin the morning. He’s a bit narcissistic and also gotta apply that kohl. Ryou onthe other hand showers quickly and throws on wrinkly clothes in five secondsand somehow every woman he’s ever met still falls over themselves around him.And Malik is totally a toothpaste drama queen. He gets angry and squeezes toomuch toothpaste out and then eviscerates the tube and throws it at the mirrorand is just in general as FRUSTRATE about the toothpaste as he can be aboutanything. Ryou doesn’t care though because if he made a deal out of everystupid outburst? And especially an outburst where all at stake was a tube oftoothpaste and a dirty mirror? Pls.

What their matching costumes were for that one party.

Sorry. I’m again getting too lazy to try and research the kinds of details I’d want. I feel like they’d dress up as a pair from some ancient culture’s mythology, but probably not Ancient Egyptian mythology so… I’m not sure what Ryou would like, heh.But for another party, they might go dressed up as each other. Or one dresses up as the other and they both try to trick people into thinking there are two Maliks or two Ryous. haha, this seems like a kind of concept that would appeal to Ryou again.

If I think they’d get married and why or why not.

I don’t know. I get the feeling either Ryou would be reallyfor it, or really against it – for a reason that’s more ideological than personal– and then Malik would be like ‘sure’ either way. Ryou has a whole speech abouthow marriage exists as a societal institution and why it is or isn’t importantfor them to get married as a gay couple and Malik’s like ‘sure’. ‘Sure.’

Who has over a thousand unread emails in their inbox or five hundred icons on their computer desktop and how the other reacts to this gross mismanagement.

Ryou’s the one that’s more attached to his computer, but Idon’t think he has more than a dozen desktop icons, or thirty or so unreademails. It’s very whatever. Malik has fewer emails, but he’s ignoring the onesfrom Isis’s work about how he needs to do this or that for the museum. Ryouscolds him about this.

What their hidden artistic talents are and how appreciative the other is of these talents.

Malik might be musically inclined. He knows how to play thequanun and guitar. Also, if it can be considered an art, Malik’s really good atdoing literary translation work. Ryou’s pretty impressed on both accounts. Hegets a little blown away by Malik’s casual genius.And Ryou’s pretty crafty. He might do carving or wood burning – he made all theMonster World figurines himself, yes? Malik likes looking over his shoulder andwatching the process. They both find it soothing.

What they consider each other’s most attractive quality and/or their favourite thing about the other.

I don’t know how to explain. They’re both really straightforward in different ways. I think they like what they perceive as the honestly and simplicity in the other, compared to how they, themselves, feel deceitful. There’s something really earnest in Ryou’s kindness and demeanor and passionate love of his hobbies, and there’s something really earnest and simple in Malik being able to voice what he wants - a significant amount of which is completely normal stuff like not wanting to be hoarded underground? I think they’re drawn to that in each other. Along with a kind of… underutilised intelligence they see in each other? Ah, I’m just rambling inarticulately now. Meme over. Thank you for your ask!!

[kari-izumi]

Mokuba’s Reason Why Not: Chapter One

Or, “Hey, Kari is Finally Gonna Post That 5+1 Fic She’s Been Dropping Hints About Since Forever”

So, finally…finally, I have something I can live with for this prologue. This was originally 900 words, and now it’s over three times as long. And I don’t think I’ve ever edited a story this many times as I have this one chapter. I’m still not 100 percent, but I need to feel like I’ve made some progress in any part of my crumbling life, so here it is.

I haven’t posted on AO3 yet just in case anyone here has any suggestions to make it stronger before going live (it’s not beta'ed since I’ve been outta fandom for years and I’ve lost contact with most of the folks I used to talk with…but given the pairing, it may have been a hard sell anyway…or not, given the response that this postgot).

So, the premise began with me wanting to write a whole different idea entirely. Actually, two–I tried writing this scenario from several viewpoints but it was far too angsty for my liking. To get into the second idea would be to spoil future chapters. But doing a 5+1 story could incorporate a whole bunch of ideas and characters I wanted to write for as well as to subvert that teen playboy and the prudish nerd girl trope because seriously, did anyone watch seasons four and five and notice how forward Rebecca was towards Yuugi?

Okay, those seasons suck ass, but you know what I mean XD

On that tangent, fair warning: lots of making out in this chapter. I struggled a lot with how um…detailed to make this. Namely to keep as little as possible. And honestly, all the “writing about children having sex at any point in their lives, even years after canon as teens/adults makes you a pedo” bullshit on this site made me nervous about posting this at all. I don’t have a problem with blocking anyone who will ship bash. Don’t like; don’t read applies here. But there won’t be any sex depicted in future chapters.

Beyond that, any comments and critiques are more than welcomed in my inbox.

Title:Mokuba’s Reason Why Not Pairing:Kiddyshipping, with a couple surprise pairings on the side Chapters:1/7 Summary: “Losing his virginity isn’t something he’s planned on in this busy week, but when an intelligent, awesome girl like Rebecca admits to having the hots for him, Seto is out of town and no one else is going to stop them, the question isn’t why he should do it, but why not?

If any two fifteen years old have ability to tell if this is a good idea, it’s them.”

Or, the five times Mokuba thinks he's got this sex thing figured out and the one time he knows for sure what it is he wants.

—  

Fifteen year olds doing homework with their friends happens every afternoon. Normally, it’s for a trig class or Japanese literature or focusing on the college entrance exam.

Fifteen year olds working after class to have a bit of spending money is also common. They have a delivery route or know a family friend in need of a help at the local restaurant.

A fifteen year old girl researching historic artifacts for her university master thesis, five thousand miles away from home is rare. A fifteen year old boy who holds the Vice Presidency of a major gaming corporation whose spending money is more than what most take home in their entire lives is even less seldomly seen.

“We really do have crazy busy lives,” Rebecca remarks on one such afternoon. She holds a textbook open with one hand while writing notes into a tablet with the other. “It’s almost like we’re not even kids anymore.”

From the other side of the desk in his corporate office, Mokuba glances through his own stack of papers; some are contracts to be reviewed, others mundane reports. He’s been at this all day, and if he’s honest, it’s all starting to run together.

It’s not like he has much time to think about stuff like that, least of all these past two weeks. There are times that he wants a bit more normalcy–being able to attend after school clubs or blow off work for a party. But for all that is unusual about his life, he’s content for what it is. He’s got an awesome brother, a set future, plenty of friends–and Rebecca, sitting across from his desk, who understands the pressure of high expectations better than anyone else his age.

Blinking his eyes as he looks over at her, Mokuba says with a wiry grin, “Yeah, but I’ve gotten used to it. I can’t imagine any other way of life. Could you?”

“Eh?” She looks up from her tablet, tapping the pen at her mouth the way she always does when she’s got something she’s contemplating. “I guess I can’t. Even if I wasn’t a prodigy, I think being in high school for four years and gossiping about clothes and boys would have gotten pretty boring anyway. I’m pretty glad for my life and I enjoy all the friends I’ve made in the pro dueling circuit. Like you.“

He sits up even straighter in his seat.

“Its nice having someone my age who isn’t intimidated by me being smart.”

Mokuba feels the room, which is already soundproofed to block outside noise, grow even more quiet as a certain warm, ecstatic feeling comes over him at her words. Intimidated? Her intelligence was his favorite thing about her! “You broke through Nii-sama’s security and helped us get the company back. I guess people might get freaked out, but I think that’s awesome.”

It’s not the first time they’ve discussed DOMA or her crazy hacking skills. But Rebecca usually brags that she could teach him a few new skills and not lower her eyes as her cheeks grow pink.

Letting out a cough, Rebecca asks hurriedly as she resumes scanning through her book, “Speaking of him, when does Kaiba come back from Hong Kong, anyway?”

“Monday afternoon,” he replies. He goes back to his own stack of papers, pretending as he always does that he doesn’t notice or care how much he truly likes having her around. And sure, she’s gotten hot over the past year, objectively speaking; but more than that, her boundless enthusiasm for gaming and school and everything is hard not to get suck into.

Rebecca speaks again. “You looked like you were spacing out for a moment.”

“It’s fine,” Mokuba says automatically as he picks up a new report to glance over.

“Bullshit! Have you even slept in the past few days?”

“Work’s gotta get done. Not like I’m going to school tomorrow.”

“That’s no answer!”

Rebecca reaches over for his free hand, and not even the clearly angry, frustrated scowl on her face negates the sudden jolt of electricity that shoots up through his arm.

“Look, I know a thing or two about all-nighters, and it doesn’t do you or your project any good to burn yourself out. If you work yourself to death like you tell me Kaiba does, how can you help him?”

Realizing that she still is holding his hand–and that somehow, their pinkies have become entwined–they both turn away from each other, but neither moves. Mokuba doesn’t blush that easily with his completion but he does feel his ears burn. “I mean…you’re right about that. I haven’t slept much, but…I’ll try.”

Sighing she says. “No, I shouldn’t bring it up. I know you’re working to keep up the company for your brother. But I can’t help it to bring up a better way of doing things a when I see it.” Rebecca laughs as she adds, quietly, “You probably think I’m too outspoken.”

“What? Not at all! There’s nothing wrong with passion and speaking up. And if other people have a problem with that, that’s their issue, not yours.” He believes this firmly, and looks her square in the eye as he says this. “And I like that you’re direct. You’re like the most honest person I know.”

Rebecca looks like she wants to say something, but closes her mouth. Her expression changes to one of resolve–Mokuba’s noticed the same look appear during her duels when she’s deciding on the best play against her opponent; beyond that he isn’t sure what else to read into it. Maybe he’s said too much, he wonders as she removes her hand from his to close her tablet and textbook, placing them into the bag on the floor. It’s only the training he’s gotten from Seto on how to school his face and emotions when he needs to that keeps him from showing any emotion of his own, as he realizes how nervous he is.

Mokuba watches her stand up out of her seat…

…and walks around the desk, stopping right at his chair, spinning it towards her. His heart nearly stops when Rebecca leans over and places a hand on either shoulder, rolling one thumb on the collar of the blue dress shirt he wore that day.

“How about I show you what I’m feeling?”

Her eyes really more like emeralds when her face is this close, brilliant and clear and reflecting the afternoon sun.

Mokuba has thought about this and thinks of his best line to respond:

“Um…wait, what?”

Rebecca doesn’t seem to mind or care that his brain has short circuited as she coos in a voice that’s far quieter than he thinks she is capable of. “Shut up, Mokuba.”

It happens so quickly that Mokuba doesn’t have time to close his eyes or to move his hands off the armrests. Her lips feel so soft along his and a current shoots through him from the sensation.

Rebecca jumps away suddenly, covering her mouth with her hands. Her eyes are wide in shock.

“Did you feel that…that spark?!” she squeaks.

“Wow…yeah.” He definitely felt that, placing two fingers on his own mouth, which is still a bit tingly. “But I liked it, though.”

He really did…and thinks it could be better. Mokuba stands up and pulls Rebecca close, his arms wrapping around her shoulders as her hands reach for his neck.

“You’re so tall,” she notes, looking up at him with a rapt expression, her voice so quiet.

With his own goofy grin Mokuba tilts her chin up to kiss her again, and hell yeah, this is a whole lot better indeed, being able to hold her close, catching the glimpse of a smile each time they break apart. The air grows still and the light gets slightly brighter through the window and he entirely forgets the rest of the world. So maybe he wouldn’t have picked his office for their first kiss; but then nothing in their lives follows the typical teenage script anyway.

As if by some primal urge that he doesn’t fully understand, Mokuba soon finds himself guiding Rebecca onto the top of the desk. She looks down, being careful not to knock over the forgotten stack of papers before leaning back, propping herself on her elbows.

Rebecca lets out an excited giggle. “You have a chair, you know!”

“Yeah,” he says, resting one hand along her hip and gripping her cheek with the other. “But it’s more fun like this.”

Mokuba becomes very aware of the way her thighs squeeze his hips, pulling them even closer. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

He hasn’t planned any of this, but being a Kaiba, he’s long since learned to roll with the unexpected and wield it to his advantage…and from the muffled sounds Rebecca makes as their mouths connect, she’s enjoying this a lot. And he enjoys that she’s enjoying this as the languid, chaste kisses soon give way to deeper, more intense ones each time they separate for air. Their tongues meet,  tentatively at first, then more often; their hands begin roaming along backs and hips and twisting into one another’s hair as the silence in the room is filled with increasingly louder, heavier, more ragged breathing.

“…Mokuba?”

“Mmmm…?”

Rebecca pulls away, her cheeks a dark red, looking down briefly as she asks. “…that’s not your cell phone, is it?”

He freezes immediately, feeling his face growing heated and his mouth goes dry. “Umm…no,” he whispers.

It comes back to him right now–that conversation that he had with Seto a few months ago about biological urges taking over rational thought in the heat of a passionate moment and promise me you’ll take a minute to think it over, Mokuba–or rather, that Seto insisted on having with him over breakfast, the morning after the last tournament. Next the actual sex talk two years ago, it was easily the most awkward and out-of-the-blue conservations Mokuba could remember, and he still hasn’t figured out what exactly prompted him to bring it up when he did.

Maybe Seto realized somehow that this exact situation was going to happen, sooner rather than later.

Rebecca–rather than being bashful by…well, him–is grinning wickedly. “I’m glad.”

Mokuba can barely register her implication as she rolls her hips against his, hooks her legs even tighter and sucks down on a spot right behind his ear and that–that entirely throws his rational thought away so thoroughly that if he wasn’t so entirely turned on, it might have scared him to think he could lose control of himself this quickly–to grab a tight hold of her hair as he lays her back into the smooth wooden surface, being urged on by the noises as he kisses her neck, and desiring to grab her hips to test out how truly soundproof this office really is–

“Mokuba-sama,” he hears.

They both freeze, and the temperature in the room plummets instantly as everything comes crashing back into focus. Mokuba snaps up straight as his eyes instantly focus towards the door that he’s sure he didn’t lock to find it still firmly shut.

“It’s just the intercom,” he tells her, sighing in relief.

“I guess you have to get that soon…” says Rebecca. Her smile is unusually relaxed, even for her.

Mokuba gives her a slight grin in return.“If I don’t pick up, he’ll worry and call Nii-sama.”

“Hmmm.”

“Mokuba-sama, are you there? I have the tournament scheduling you asked for.”

Taking a moment to steady his breathing again, Mokuba reaches out for the intercom button, trying desperately to keep his voice flat and neutral. “Yeah, I’m here, just…can you leave it by the door?”

There’s a slight pause before Isono replies, “Yes, Mokuba-sama.”

Apart from the shock of nearly getting caught, a part of Mokuba is thankful for the interruption. What the hell was that?! He rubs at his face, feeling as though he’s coming back into his body as he remembers the other part of Seto’s talk: a list of all condom brands available in every country Kaiba Corporation did business in.

“Damn, that was too close,” he says, after a pause, low under his breath.

“I’ll say. I don’t what Isono would have done if he’d saw us like this,” Rebecca says with a sly smile and a wink.

Mokuba decides against any clarification on that as he pulls her up, helping her off the desk before pulling her into a chaste hug. His cheek rests against the top of Rebecca’s head, taking in the comforting scents of bright yuzu lemon and sweet jasmine in her hair.

“I’m sorry,“ he says.

“For what?”

“Because I didn’t even think about using…um…when we were about to…”

Rebecca catches his meaning and the smile is beaming as she kisses his cheek. “You silly. It’s sweet you were worried, but I’ve taken the pill for awhile anyway…just in case.”

“Oh.”

Oh.

The thought that Rebecca has been thinking about this…with him…for a while is a huge ego boost and flattered is too weak a word to describe the feeling that comes over him. But then, she’s one of the smartest people he knows.

She continues, not meeting his eyes as her face goes from a slight pink to deep red. “You’re the first guy that I’ve really felt like I wanted to…um, I mean…well, you know.”

“Me, too,” he replies. Maybe he hasn’t given nearly as much planning, but this afternoon…damn. Mokuba doesn’t remember a time when he’s smiled this much or felt so alive. “That was so crazy intense. I felt like…wow.”

“I know.”

There’s a look in her eyes, Mokuba notices–the one Rebecca gets when she’s got a plan or an idea that, he knows from experience, she won’t let go of. But there’s something else behind it this time, and realizes she had a similar look right before they were interrupted–

“I think we should do it.”

Her arms tighten around his back, clinging onto his shirt, her eyes oddly serious.

Mokuba isn’t sure how far his jaw has dropped. Rebecca has never exactly been shy about going for what she wants; she certainly wasn’t earlier. But stating it so plainly just makes it all so real.

“What’s with that look?” Rebecca’s smile doesn’t quite look as natural as usual. “Didn’t you want to do it earlier?”

“Well, yeah,” Mokuba says and squeezes her shoulders more tightly, and he’s never been so aware of his own heartbeat. “But this is moving a little fast, isn’t it?”

“Eh?” Rebecca snaps her head up, scanning the office with a look of disbelief. “Look at where we are! Our whole lives have been moving fast for as long as either of us can remember. At least this is our decision.”

“Shouldn’t we go on a date first?!” 

“Well obviously, we’d go out to dinner first. I have standards.”

“That’s not what I mean!” he sighs, closing his eyes. “I mean, I really want to…you know…but we just figured out that we like each other like that. Why rush?”

“Is this any more crazy than you missing class to run a company or me having yet another degree before I can legally drive here or back home? Kids our age are doing it anyway–”

“Did you really just–?”

She places a finger to his lips. “–and we obviously click. Why would we wait?”

Mokuba opens his mouth to counter, but nothing comes out. Rebecca isn’t wrong; he knows all the reasons kids their age are told to wait, but the biggest one–ruining your future–would hardly apply to them. He’s already lived through things that would have entirely broken many others. In nearly every other way that matters, they might as well be adults already.

Even if Mokuba isn’t exactly sure he’s ready for that step right now, there isn’t anyone else he would even consider sharing this with…so does it really matter if they do this now or in a few months anyway? The newly awakened part of his mind reminds him of the excitement of wanting to melt into one another, hearing her cry out in pure bliss at his touch; the images quickly crush the nagging voice that says slow down because you want more than just sex.

“Not like anyone would stop us anyway,” Mokuba points out. Arthur Hawkins still resides in San Francisco in between his archeological digs, Isono he’s sure wouldn’t breathe a word of it to anyone as long as he comes home before Seto gets back–

Shit.

As far as he knows, Mokuba officially has more first hand knowledge of this subject than Seto does at twenty years old. How would he even begin to approach this subject with him? Would Seto even understand? Or try to stop him?

“You said Kaiba won’t be back till Monday?” Rebecca asks as though she could read his mind.

Mokuba blinks a few times as the realization kicks in. “Yeah…”

Maybe just this once, Seto doesn’t have to know anything about this at all.

Rebecca strokes behind his ear, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “So, Saturday works?”

Losing his virginity isn’t something he’s planned on in this busy week, but when an intelligent, awesome girl like Rebecca admits to having the hots for him, Seto is out of town and no one else is going to stop them, the question isn’t why he should do it, but why not?

If any two fifteen years old have ability to tell if this is a good idea, it’s them.

He reaches for her neck to bring her in for a quick kiss on the forehead as he says, “Let’s do it.”

I bet I can totally feel her up now.

He goes for it, slipping one hand into the opening of her shirt.

–and gets his hand slapped hard.

“Ow!”

Rebecca cheerfully waves a finger at his nose. “Nuh-uh!”

“But–!”

“Nope!”

“Weren’t we gonna do it earlier?!”

“Yeah, but it’ll be way more exciting to wait, won’t it?” She giggles as she pulls away and claims her backpack. “Besides, it’s only two days. I’m sure you can wait that long.”

Mokuba honestly doesn’t know how he’s managed to live this long without it!

“Can’t I feel over the shirt?”

“Hmmm…” Rebecca pretends to think on it, tapping a finger against her chin. “No, that’d be way too distracting when I get home. Sorry!”

“Distracting how?”

Rebecca doesn’t respond as she heads towards the door, only giggles. “You’re way more innocent than I thought…oh…”

The tournament schedule that Isono left, he remembers. He walks towards the door and reaches down for the folder.

“Oooh, I wanna see who I’m up against!”

“Sorry, Rebecca,” he says. “You know I can’t show anyone that.”

“Awww! Not even a hint?”

He pretends not to notice the hand that reaches his arm as he taps the folder lightly on the top of her head. He’s grinning as he replies, “Won’t it be more fun to wait?”

They lock eyes; a second later they’ve pulled each other into another searing kiss, but Mokuba breaks it off before either can get carried away again.

“Saturday,” he tells her.

Rebecca blinks, her hand lingering on his chest for a second before taking a step back and heads out the door. “Yeah…see ya.”

Mokuba takes his folder back to his desk, but sets down without opening its contents. There’s no way he can go back to his work now or even go to sleep with thoughts about Rebecca–

Distraction.

…oh.

He suddenly feels a bit distracted himself at the thought, regretting the decision to have this suit tailored so snug to his lithe frame. Mokuba growls, running both hands in his hair.

It’s going to be a long two days.

[themillenniumscribe]

Yu-Gi-Oh: Brilliancy (28)

Her name is Clarisa Swansea. She was born in Hong Kong to a wealthy yet loving family, a father, mother, and two older sisters. A competitive beast in women’s lacrosse with a pretty face to match, there was no mistaking that she was striving for greatness far beyond any expectations. But, when one accident took her family along with her mobility, her life took an intriguing turn into the world of chess.

This was a mess. Clarisa was sure that there would be medical issues in a tournament of this kind but she didn’t think that it would result in two comas. Kaiba was just lucky that her father provided medical staff. Kaiba’s doctor was already struggling for diagnosis. He didn’t need to worry about hooking them up on top of trying to find an answer to their conditions.  

“I’m going to stay here and watch over him.” She had told the group when they were summoned for the lottery. “If he wakes up, I can ask him a few questions about our new found friend.”

“Are you sure?” Jounouchi inquired. “I figured Kaiba would want you to be where he can see you.”

“If anything, he probably wants to be rid of me for a few minutes. An entire duel without me harping into his ear might give him some relief.” Clarisa flashed him an encouraging smile, waving the group off.

“Hey! Hey, Jounouchi?” Mai had called to him while Clarisa was observing the doctors work. “Can I ask you something?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“The dream you saw…” She replied. “I was in it too, right? With everyone?”

There was a heavily pregnant pause that followed. Though she didn’t want to eavesdrop, Clarisa couldn’t help but turn her head slightly, her blue grey eyes narrowing slightly.

“W-Well…You know…My dream took place in our classroom so, of course you weren’t in it! You’re too old to be in high school!” Clarisa’s head turned slowly, her jaw dropping with every ramble that came out of Jounouchi’s throat. His face was flushed, limbs flailing, and the hole he was digging became wider and wider with each passing second. After a few painfully slow seconds, he was out the door with Anzu hot on his tail.

Mai, however, looked crestfallen.

“What the fuck?” Clarisa hadn’t intended to say anything but the words flew out faster than she realized. Mai’s golden head turned, her violet eyes wide in surprise. Their eyes met.

“I’m so sorry…” She murmured to Mai apologetically. “That must have hurt…”

“It’s fine…” Mai snapped back, her gaze becoming steely. “I don’t need them…”

She departed from the room, her heels angrily clacking on the metal floor. Clarisa started to wonder if she should have said something more to assure Mai. She didn’t have time to dwell on the situation as both the doctor and Charles came in.

“Shall we go up to the deck, Miss Risa?” Charles inquired, his hands tucked behind his back. Clarisa shook her head, leaning back in her chair.

“I’m going to stay here. If this guy wakes up, I want to ask him about Mr. Malik.”

“Oh?” Charles’ brow rose. “What are you interested in knowing?”

“It’s pretty clear he has a mental disorder.” She sighed softly. “That and I want to know if he has any more information on what Malik’s plan is for this tournament. If anyone is going to know anything, it would probably be him.”

She looked over at the fallen man, the doctor triple checking his IVs. It was then that Clarisa took the time to analyze the tattoo on the man’s face.

“That doesn’t look like any tattoo that I’ve ever seen…” She mused aloud.

“That’s because it’s scarification.” Charles replied sullenly. “Cuts are made into the shape you want and dirt and ash are rubbed in to create that effect.”

“Sounds unpleasant.” Her face hurt with phantom pains.

“I wouldn’t recommend it for children’s birthday parties for sure.” A smile tugged at the edge of her lips from Charles’ remark.

About ten minutes had passed and the doctor had finished his checks. He informed Clarisa that she would be able to stay with the man only if she was quiet and didn’t disturb him. She agreed and the lights were dimmed as he slid past the metal doors. There was a slight beep indicating that he locked the door behind him.

“Do you need anything to entertain yourself, Miss Risa?” Charles whispered, still standing at attention. She shook her head, taking a hold of the man’s chart sitting at the edge of the nightstand.

“This will do for now.” She flipped through the pages. “We could play ‘I Spy’ if you wanted to.”

“I see something brown.” Clarisa scowled, mouth forming a hard line.

“If it’s him, I’m going to smack you.” His cheeky grin gave him away but he was too far for her to reach.

The door slid open. Charles and Clarisa looked up and a darkly cloaked figure entered the room. Clarisa could feel dread starting to froth up in her stomach.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed, closing the chart with a snap of papers. Malik’s lips split into a fearsome smile.

“I could say the same about you.” He moseyed in the room, his dark cloak swishing behind him. His footsteps advanced closer to the unconscious man. Clarisa clicked up her breaks to intervene but Charles met him first.

“I’m going to ask you to step outside.” He stated sternly. “You do not have permission to be here.”

Malik didn’t speak one word and lifted the rod he carried to face the mountain of a man. The eye in the center glowed gold, an aura pulsating around Charles before slamming him into the side wall. Clarisa could feel hear heart begin to race as her body guard crashed to the floor.

Still smiling, Malik returned his focus to the man, taking a step forward. Clarisa went into action, swiftly rolling herself in the way to block his path.

“I believe my body guard told you to leave.” She spat, her eyes narrowing.

“You truly are a nuisance…” The back of his hand connected with her face, knocking her so hard that her ears rang. She wasn’t sure if it was that or the second strike that knocked her out of her chair. Reeling from the pain, she heard a few clinks of metal and saw a shimmering point at the end of his Millennium Rod. It was blurry at first but her vision came into focus when she noticed the knife edge dangling mere millimeters from the patient’s head.

Without thinking, Clarisa scrambled to the side, taking hold of the grey fabric and pulling as hard as she could. Malik choked, falling back on himself just as Charles sprang up and put him in a choke hold.  

“The third match of the tournament! Mai Kujaku’s opponent is Malik Ishtar! Both participants, please report to the Aerial Duel Ring!”

That was all Clarisa could hear from Isono following a brief struggle and the slamming of the sliding door. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and she could feel her temples pounding, blood pooling into a bruise on her cheek.

“Miss Risa?” Charles cooed, taking the woman into his arms. “Are you alright?”

“F-Fine…” She stammered, feeling herself becoming light headed. As if on cue, she could feel a smile tugging at her lips.

“That was really stupid of you.” He scolded, lifting her back up into her chair. “You know better than to put yourself in front of people like that.”

“As if you didn’t expect me to do that on principle.” She retorted, wincing. “At least with me in the way, he would have another body and a metal chair to go through before getting to Rishid.”

“Rishid?” Charles’ brow furrowed.

“I read his chart.” Clarisa mumbled. Her fingers lifted, tentatively poking at her face to assess the damage. It definitely stung with the newly forming bruise. Charles grimaced, air hissing through his teeth.

“I’ll go and get the doctor to look at that…and an ice pack.”

“I think I saw a kitchen on board so, if you can find a bag of frozen peas, that would be even better.” She watched his brows rise skeptically but he nodded in response. The metal doors slid open and Charles dashed down the hallway. Clarisa could hear the airlock hiss and the keypad beeping. She thought she would feel comforted when they locked but the anxiety of Malik returning unexpectedly weighed in on her mind.

Slowly, Clarisa glanced back at Rishid, a wash of confusion overcoming her mind. He seemed to honorable when he dueled, so much so that Jounouchi and Yugi were incredibly kind when speaking about him. If that was the case, how on earth could someone like him have gotten involved with a man like Malik?

It was a story that Clarisa was dying to know and one that she was certain she would find out as the bodies began to pile up.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S4 Ep 12: Pharaoh, a Well Known Magician of Darkness, Swears he Has Never Done That.

I just had the most disappointing cheesecake cup of my entire life, so lets talk about Yugioh. From weird dessert to weird desert. ha.

I mean OK. Sure. I mean they gotta do something while they look for Yugi in a desert that isn’t really known for it’s off-roading, but it also isn’t known for it’s card game scene so...

But then the show decided to fill even more empty time with Rebecca sharing this piece of info when I least expected it. Now. In S4.

Y’all I was SO surprised.

I know that the show is doing this for the people just tuning into Yugioh for the first time but...Man, I’m having flashbacks to that time Yugi didn’t tell anyone that Bakura freakin died for over 40 episodes until Marik had to do it for him.

Yugi never told the girl he gave the friendship card to, that his best friend is ACTUALLY a 4000 yo ghost that haunts his every move. (5000 yo? I forget how old he is)

Tea just patiently reveals all of Yugi’s deepest darkest terrifying occult secrets to Rebecca with a smile on her face the entire time.

That’s girl talk. Can affirm--this is what girl talk looks like.

(read more Girl Talk under the cut)

Her explanation on the show actually did not point out that there is a separate entity with a completely different personality, so I think that people watching the show for the first time would still be hella confused. Instead it was more “this is Yugi’s strong and handsome side which I clearly like WAY MORE, and this is the other one”

Like she kinda left out the part where one is a ghost.

So this scene basically takes away any tension that a 4-way love square would have brought to the table.

And that’s fine. I really didn’t need a love square that involves both a 12 year old and a ghost. For me, as a person who is immune to shipping, it just seemed wildly too complicated for the same writing team who have been trying to bury Kaiba and his relationship with that that paper card since they brought it up in S2.

But apparently no one in this square cares they all kinda like the same person and that this particular person is two people. And as they go on about what they like about Yugi, it’s clear that both girls have made kind of a perfect dream Yugi who...just doesn’t exist at all. Maybe if either of them actually went on more than one date with the boy, they would separate the dream from the reality and realize fully that, in actuality, Yugi and Pharaoh both are a human version of that “hang in there!” poster with the struggling kitten on it.

TBH I think the women in this show forgot they like Yugi, it was a very friendzoning style of conversation.

Meanwhile, Rafael’s giant arms only continue to grow even more muscular with every scene as he tell us the vague deep lore behind this necklace. It’s sort of like watching a webcomic written by a teenager. The muscles keep growing, and growing, but the characters have to keep getting distracted by lore, and then midway the lore drop, the writer goes on a hiatus because of finals and just never comes back so it feels like you’re stuck in lore limbo forever.

I do like that Pharaoh’s like “your necklace is evil, take that off” when he has also been wearing the Oricalchos necklace the entire time.

Maybe because it was just waaay too tempting for Yugi to look at that jewelry and NOT wear that jewelry? Yugi has kind of a magpie problem with accessories, as we all know, and I can’t believe this magpie problem has put him into mortal peril so many times.

And then the show finally does us the favor of explaining why some people go cray when they wear haunted jewelry, and others do not.

Which does not bode well for Ryou. Not like we ever hang out with Ryou enough to find out his personal balance between being a meek little Brishish(ish?) kid that likes to eat cookies and his demon form that likes to stab things. Like seriously, would have liked to know more about Ryou ever at all, but since Season 1 ended, he’s only Ryou for like...2 minutes at a time before he’s back to being wonderful, scene shredding, serial murderer asshole Bakura.

Also, unrelated note, WHAT THE HELL, ART TEAM.

Is that turtleneck just spray painted on??? Why does this guy ever bother with cards? He can just do some punches and probably accomplish the same damn thing and a lot quicker. This man is larger than...any other human that has been on this show.

And so it’s at this point that Rafael’s decided like “ahaha my master plan, I will make Pharaoh doubt himself” and it’s like...

...you actually don't need to give Pharaoh a push, he and Yugi doubt themselves so often they’d list it as one of their hobbies on their edgy Livejournals (because they would keep two)

This fight with Rafael was kinda frustrating, because while most villains make points where it’s like “oh, you were tortured underground your whole life because of something I did in my past life, yeah that checks out.” all of Rafael’s points had so little to do with Pharaoh and were...so easy to debunk...

Like I made the joke about Flat Earther’s the last recap but you know what? I can see Rafael being a Flat Earther. Straight up. You can tell him the sky is blue and he’ll start going off about how all of humanity needs to die because the sky is actually made of Meyer lemons.

Darts even decided to say this line.

Which I thought was mostly funny because Pharaoh still has no idea that thing around his neck can shoot lasers, but also funny because the only reason Yugi has friends is because he initially cursed them to like him in Season Zero. And that wasn’t even Pharaoh, that was YUGI. Rafael is just SO very late to this party.

So, he decides to give Pharaoh an Oricalchos card, and like...

And I don’t believed I capped this part of the last episode, but before they even started this game, Rafael was like “yeah I let Arthur go.”

So...there’s no reason for Yugi to be here anymore other than the bridge is out. There are NO stakes in this game. Other than...Pharaoh’s pride?

I guess it’s one of the problems of sharing a soul with a King who we’re 90% sure did some pretty effed up stuff at some point because he’s a King. That’s just what they DO, I’ve played Fire Emblem, I know how Kings work.

Like we could just sit down and make a list of things that Pharaoh and Yugi did that ended up really screwing him over. (And hearing that nitroglycerin air hockey happens somewhere in the manga does make me want to take a peek at it eventually but I have too much on my to do list)

Like for instance, there was that time he took a fireball for Mai thinking she was a decent person and she ended up killing over 20 people with a gas station and is now a Mad Max Style serial murderer racing down the 101, and actively trying to kill him and more specifically Joey Wheeler.

Or that time he took the ultimate bullet and died but left his tomb to the most asshole tombkeeper family cult known to man who like to carve tattoos onto children with old ass hot butcher knives for thousands of years.

Or that time he thought Namu wasn’t Marik when Marik had insane tattooed eyeliner and a millennium item sticking like 8 inches out of his back pocket the entire time. Could’ve saved him like...2 seasons of content if he just yoinked that item right then and there.

Or that time he actually tried to murder Seto Kaiba. Like actually tried to push his own classmate off of a steep ledge and would have done it if Tea hadn’t intervened.

Or that time he did...a lot of the things that Yugi did in Season Zero and the Manga.

I just feel like...this is our boy. He’s meant to be this gray area protagonist who is trying to do the right thing but at the same time does enjoy his dark tendency towards revenge. Yami is sort of like having the best of both worlds where you can be both villain and hero. He doesn’t need to be a polarizing force like Superman or something.

And...it feels a little bit like the narrative is trying to say he has finally stepped over the line of gray area and it’s like...he’s been here kind of a while, bud. But honestly, if it makes Pharaoh go a little Zero I’m here for it. Why not? It’s been a while, I want to see him go nuts again.

And I mean Yugi hasn’t had a meltdown in kind of a while, we were overdue. I assume that’s all of next episode is just Yugi freaking the hell out.

Anyway, if you just got here, this is a link to take you to the first episode where you can then read the entire epic in chrono order.

[themillenniumscribe]

Yu-Gi-Oh: Brilliancy (39)

Her name is Clarisa Swansea. She was born in Hong Kong to a wealthy yet loving family, a father, mother, and two older sisters. A competitive beast in women’s lacrosse with a pretty face to match, there was no mistaking that she was striving for greatness far beyond any expectations. But, when one accident took her family along with her mobility, her life took an intriguing turn into the world of chess.

The door creaked open, a burning white light flashing before their eyes just as the pixels fell into place. Greens and oaken browns faded into deep reds and orange as the warm glow of the sun beamed in the horizon. A soft sound of waves echoed in the distance, washing over the golden sands and purple encrusted sea shells.

“The sea?” Mokuba breathed, a mounting level of frustration peeking just a pinch from his voice. Clarisa could see his fists clench, even from Kaiba’s left side.

“This damn Noah…” Kaiba grumbled through his smirk. “How long do you plan to keep on twisting my arm?”

Clarisa had a feeling it would be a long time yet.

“Dammit!” Mokuba yelled, flailing wildly in the air. “I really thought we had found a way out of this Virtual World!”

“If the last three doors weren’t a way out, what makes you think that this one would be?” Clarisa wasn’t trying to be snippy with Mokuba but her tone came out sounding like it. The younger Kaiba glared her way, lip pouting.

“Well, some of us like to be hopeful about things, Risa!” He snapped. “Unlike some people!”

“I am plenty hopeful.” She retorted with a huff. “So hopeful that I am going to enjoy this scenery while it lasts.”

In that moment, Clarisa reached down and popped off her flats. Her toes sank into the sand, wiggling for a few seconds as her frowning face shifted into a bemused smile. Wordlessly, she meandered closer to the water, leaving footprints in her wake when the water rushed over and erased their presence. The cool water rushed over her feet, making her breath hitch but also coaxing a laugh or two. It only seemed to agitate Mokuba further.

“What the hell are you laughing about?” He grunted, trotting after Kaiba but lingering just enough to keep Clarisa close. The older brother stopped briefly, his azure eyes slanting back toward the woman.

“I almost forgot what sand felt like…and water…” She murmured, wriggling further as her smile deepened. “I tend to avoid beaches since I can’t swim much anymore…”

“Why?” The younger brother asked. Clarisa shot him a look and he quietly whispered an apology.

“We need to keep moving.” Kaiba interrupted, setting off again at a healthy clip. Mokuba was not far behind but Clarisa lingered back slightly, treading through the water and kicking up a few splashes in the meantime.

“So, why did Noah decide to bring you to the beach? Did something happen between you and Gozaburo here?”

“No.” Kaiba replied. “And do you have to keep doing that?”

“Doing what?”

“Splashing about in the water.” His head turned back to look at her. “We need to keep going without being distracted.”

“Well, Mr. Kaiba, under normal circumstances, I would agree. However,” She glanced up, maintaining a clear but strained grin. “It seems to me that Noah wants you to see these memories of yours. We don’t need to hurry to get to the next clip show. In fact, I would go ahead and say that the plot is more likely to find us than we are to find it.”

Kaiba didn’t give her any further retort. Instead, he silently endured her childish beaming and trudged forward with his plan. To Clarisa’s disappointment, that meant she had to leave the water and go further inland.

They only had to travel a few feet to find something unusual. In the middle of their trek, they came across a series of old monitors, half buried in sand and projecting a poor quality image of what looked like a young boy. It took Clarisa a few moments of squinting to realize she had seen this boy before. As the three approached, Clarisa really took the time to study his face while Kaiba kneeled down to get a better view.

He couldn’t have been any older than ten and had a steely gaze to him. It didn’t take Clarisa long to find the hidden anger as well, his azure eyes burning. He had some incredible features, some of the handsomest that Clarisa had seen on a ten year old. If he had been older, she may have offered him a few passing glances.

But there was something else about him too, that made her skin crawl. Despite trying to pass off his teal hair as a reason for their differences, she couldn’t help but admit that the man in a white trench coat looked eerily similar when he was ten.

“Is that Noah? She asked, breathing softly. Mokuba nodded, teeth gritted.

“That’s the bastard…” He grumbled, causing Clarisa’s eyebrows to rise. She had heard Mokuba curse before but this was not in his usual repertoire.

“What is he doing?” She inquired, straining to hear.

“He is presiding over a duel.” Kaiba replied, his lips curling into a smirk. “Apparently, that dog, Jounouchi, is dueling one of the big five.”

“The men who dragged us into this mess?” Clarisa mused with her lips pursed. “Remind me how they know you?”

“They were part of Gozaburo’s staff before Seto took over.” Mokuba was quick to fill her in. “Seto had them all fired when he took the company and made it into a gaming corporation.”

“Which was a move out of left field,” She grinned brightly. “I remember my father giving the announcement at the table. I do have to say that it was a bold but wise move in the end.”

She couldn’t make out the audio very well but, judging by the expression on the faces onscreen, the odd looking judge was the one feeling the heat of Noah’s scolding.

“He was cheating…” Kaiba seethed, brow furrowing. “What a disgrace…”

“And yet Jounouchi is continuing the duel?” Clarisa was puzzled, scratching her head. “Is that normal?”

“I don’t know and I’ve lost interest,” The elder Kaiba stood onto his feet, brushing off his knees of the sand. “Let’s go.”

He and Mokuba started to tread deeper into the sandy plane, unaware that Clarisa was still watching the screen in earnest. It wasn’t until they were about fifteen feet away that all three parties took note of the situation. Clarisa approached the TV, kneeling down as Kaiba had and listened intently. It was muffled and hard to make out but she could hear a few words peeking through like “Flame” and “Burning Soul”.

“Risa!” Kaiba barked. He didn’t have to yell out what he wanted. Clarisa got the sense from his stony silence.

“I want to see if he wins.” She replied back. “It would be good to make sure that this face stays our friend’s face, don’t you think?”

Kaiba bristled when she said “friend” but he reluctantly went back and finished out the match. Clarisa was thankful that he watched in silence rather than make snide remarks about Jounouchi’s victory.

“Okay,” She murmured. “Now we can_”

Kaiba hoisted her to her feet without warning, pulling at her arm to coax her forward. He only held on as long as she didn’t struggle, which lasted about two seconds before she wrenched herself free and matched his pace.

They departed from the sea, the sand becoming more gold in color the further they went. Heat was sweltering around them and Clarisa suddenly felt like they should have stayed closer to the water. She was pretty certain, though, that Kaiba had other plans.

“Seto,” Mokuba interjected, interrupting her train of thought. “That’s…”

A large looming building appeared before them, the chrome surface of metal wavering in the steaming sand. Clarisa had to blink hard and really focus to convince herself it wasn’t an illusion.

“What is it?” She turned to Kaiba, his arms crossing over his chest. She could tell he was deep in thought as well as on edge from the memory.

“KaibaCorp’s military factory.” He grumbled with a glare. “I had it destroyed.”

“Why? You could have used the building for something else, I’m sure.” It was hard to ignore his scoff.

“Not if Nesbitt had any say in it.” He replied sternly, jaw clenched.

“I’m going out on a limb here and saying that he is one of the Big Five?”

“He was in charge of military operations. He monitored the teams creating the weapons and manufacturing them.”

“So, why didn’t you repurpose the building?” Clarisa asked innocently. “I’m sure you could have used it for manufacturing Duel Disks.”

“You don’t cut off the bad parts of an apple when the core is rotted through.” Kaiba snapped, his eyes growing darker. “You toss it and start fresh.”

“Who carried out the order to destroy it?” Clarisa could see Kaiba was getting tired of her questions, his brow knitting together tightly.

“Nesbitt, of course.” He replied smoothly. “I told him that I needed to know how dedicated he was to the company. If he was able to destroy the base he built, then that would be enough to show his loyalty.”

“Sounds to me like he did it just to get on your good side.” Her voice dropped low so he couldn’t hear her. “If you have one…”

“You’re not wrong.” Mokuba piped up, his hazel eyes dropping. “It seems like everyone in the Big Five was secretly resentful of us.”

Kaiba silently agreed with his brother.

“To be honest, I think I would be too if I was forced to destroy the only livelihood I ever knew.” She paused, thoughtfully pursing her lips. “They were your Abrahams.”

“My what?” Kaiba looked at her, puzzled.

“Abrahams,” She repeated. “It’s like the story in the Bible.”

His eyebrows raised and Clarisa sighed quickly.

“Abraham was ordered by God to kill Isaac to show his loyalty. Like a true believer, he tied up his son and went to stab him but an angel stopped him.” There was a gleam of irritation shining over Clarisa’s eyes. “He was then praised for his dedication and they both skipped merrily back to camp.”

“I don’t like that story…” Mokuba mumbled, shifting uneasily.

“I’m sure the Big Five didn’t either.” Clarisa replied, glancing at Kaiba. “I’m sure they were hoping their boss would swoop in and send someone to stop them.”

“Are you calling me God?” Kaiba stated calmly, a shadow of a smirk curling at his lips. Clarisa glared.

“A smarter God would have sent that angel.” She spat. “We may not be able to cut away bad apple pieces but even rotted fruit has a chance to grow as long as you tend to the seeds.”