***"i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)" ~e.e. cummings***

Bakura held to the ship's side rail and closed his eyes, concentrating on the scent of the ocean - salt and iodine and water. He didn't hear Marik sneak behind him over the waves and wind, and he didn't know Marik stood behind him until Marik's warm arms coiled around Bakura's waist. Bakura kept his eyes closed and sighed at Marik's touch.

Marik traced his lips up Bakura's throat; he nipped at Bakura's ear lobe and whispered, "your hair glows in the moonlight."

Bakura smiled. "I can never tell when you're accidentally repeating a moment and when you're referencing a memory from before."

"Well, history does like to repeat itself, but I do like to remember our old life together, so I guess you'll have to stay in suspense."

Bakura opened his eyes. He turned so he could look at Marik. The blonde smirked and used his body to pin Bakura to the railing. "I have some Veuve Clicuot poured."

Bakura chuckled. "I've never drank a purchased bottle of wine before. This will be an incredibly boring drinking experience. "

Marik turned and walked away, glancing over his shoulder. "You think so? We'll see."

Bakura smirked and followed Marik aft. A blanket covered the deck. Two glasses sat in the center with a plate of red grapes and a white stilton with blueberries blended into the cheese. A battery-powered lantern shed a yellow circle of light around the set-up. Bakura didn't notice the box shape hiding beneath a purple, silk handkerchief until he sat down.

Bakura nodded to the handkerchief. "What's the surprise?"

Marik smirked and took a drink to postpone answering. "Don't ever tell my sister about this."

He pulled the cloth away to reveal a very old, but well kept, sennet bored.

"So? Want to play sennet on a board that used to belong to a king?"

Bakura's teeth flashed as he grinned. "Marik? Did you steal that board out of the tomb your family is sworn to protect?"

Marik rested a palm against his collarbone, mocking hurt feelings as he spoke. "I'll have you know that I am a redeemed man. I would never steal."

Bakura raised a white eyebrow.

Marik pointed to the game. "Look, I'm guarding it. As long as you don't abscond with it I'm more or less doing my job."

Bakura laughed. "I forgive you for buying the champagne, since we're going to play sennet on a stolen game board."

"A guarded game board."

"Indeed."

Marik set the board and Bakura went first. They drank the entire bottle of champagne and ate the fruit and cheese. They played more games than they could count. The last seven they swore would be the last, but then the next game would truly be the last and then the next after that.

Marik looked up at the night above them. "The moon's travelled across the sky."

"Yes, but I took a 3,000 year nap beforehand, so I'm good for one last game if you are."

Marik lay on his stomach, studying Bakura. "You're as relentless as ever."

Bakura lay beside Marik. "You're as beautiful as ever."

Marik pushed the game board away and rolled on top of Bakura. "You have my attention. Continue."

Bakura traced his fingers near the khol lining Marik's eyes. "Did you take anything else from the tomb for 'safe keeping'?"

Marik grinned and brushed the tip of his nose against Bakura's nose. "Perhaps, but I won't just hand the Pharaoh's precious treasures to a scrappy rogue like you."

"I've already claimed the greatest treasure in Egypt. Tomb-trinkets are garbage in comparison."

Marik grazed his bottom lip across Bakura's top lip. He licked his lips afterward, tasting the half kiss and deciding to go back for a full one. Their tongues dabbed at one another. Bakura hooked his legs around Marik's waist.

Soft moans replaced their usual sardonic banter as their lips moved back and forth as rhythmic as the waves against their ship. Marik reached over and clicked off the lantern. The halo of light winked out, yet the sky above them boasted a lighter blue than an hour beforehand. Soon the sky would smolder gray until the sun came and set both sky and water into orange flames.

Marik and Bakura's fingers wandered. When they stumbled upon buttons, or zippers, or belt buckles, they unfasened them until both lay naked in a knot of limbs. The salt-air tugged at their hair and cooled the sweat from their bodies. Marik used the tip of his cock to nudge and tease Bakura's entrance, dragging gasps and moans from the thief's mouth.

"Hurry," Bakura ordered. "Hurry, Marik, hurry. I want you right now."

Marik pulled away, standing and smirking down at Bakura. "Y'know, one day you're going to call out Mehen by mistake and I'll never let you live it down."

Bakura's retort came in the form of a lusty, full-on stare with his silver-gray eyes. He spread his cinnamon-brown legs wide open, a blatant invitation, an offering to his own, personal sun-god. Bakura made a show of licking his palm and using his moistened grip to slide up and down his shaft.

Marik bit his bottom lip, pupils dilated wide to stare at his lover in the not-yet-dawn blue of the ending night's sky. "You make a good counter-argument. "

He turned and ran below deck in order to fetch the lube they kept near their bed. Marik almost crashed into Bakura in his hurry to return to their make-shift pallet.

Bakura laughed at Marik until the chilled shock of lube dripping onto his entrance transformed his laughter into a surprised gasp.

"Fucker."

Marik laughed, but only for a moment, his attention focused on Bakura. "Mmmm, my sweet moon."

Bakura hiked his hips into the air.

"Marik," he said the name like a four letter word.

Marik worked his fingers along Bakura's thigh and towards his opening.

"Skip that," Bakura growled, "take me."

Marik ignored him, prepping Bakura regardless. Bakura bucked against Marik's hand and continued to stroke himself.

His eagerness made it impossible for Marik to wait longer. He coated his erection until slick and slipped into Bakura's sweat-dappled body.

"'Bout time!" Bakura shouted, his voice breathy and excited.

"Got to it when I was ready." Marik italicized the personal pronoun with a hard, strong thrust that made Bakura cry out like a church bell.

Since Bakura stroked himself before they began, he didn't last long. After he shouted Marik's name and relaxed his shoulders back onto the blanket below, Marik wiped Bakura's stomach and chest with the silk handkerchief.

Marik leaned closer and moved faster. Bakura still screamed and moaned even after his climax, taking pleasure from each one of Marik's thrusts. They held together as close as they could while still moving.

Marik held his breath, mouth gaping in a mute scream. His eyes wrinkled shut, and his hips slowed to clumsy, awkward jerks. He stayed between Bakura's legs and buried his face in the thief's white hair.

Their hearts beat in union as their pants simultaneously slowed to deep breaths. Above the sky paled to light gray and the ship rocked them to sleep still locked together.

When Bakura first woke he was afraid to open his eyes. He felt the warmth of sunlight hitting his closed lids. Part of his mind feared he'd wake to a ruined village, a child again, but the waves and smells reminded him that he was out to sea, sailing to Japan to visit Ryou before he and Marik explored the world together.

His other fear was more certain. That he'd wake up to claws and shadows. Bakura opened his eyes; the sun sat dead center in the sky. He felt Marik's hand caressing his cheek and turned to face his lover.

"This is real, right?" his voice tremored as he spoke.

"Are you going to ask me that every morning for the rest of our lives?"

"It's hard to believe I'm here." Bakura looked up at the sun. "In the light."

Marik teased Bakura's already wild hair. "I told you, didn't I? I also promised you foreign lands. So where do you want to go after we leave Japan?"

Bakura grinned. It was the first time he was able to think of the future without duty and darkness fretting his mind. "I don't know. Anywhere . . . everywhere." His grin shifted into a smirk. He turned towards Marik. "First, let's go back to bed."

***Hopefully that wraps the story up better for anyone that thought the story needed a bit more. If you're a Deathshipper, you may (or may not) be happy to hear that I started writing another Deathshipping fic. It's going to be called "Creepy Hide & Seek." (Which is a summoning game where you put a spirit in a doll, play hide & seek with it, and then burn the doll the next day. They made a horror movie about it, though I've only seen the beginning) I just started the fic, though, so who knows when I'll start posting.***