***If you follow millieyre on Tumblr you may have noticed that she drew a really cute sketch from Kill Me Tomorrow, so I wanted to write something as a thankyou. The prompt was for a post canon, apartment setting, fluff-centric deathshipping fic with a Dom!Mariku lemon. (ssssooooo . . . hope you like this millieyre!) This is a three chaptered fic, and I'll post 1 chapter each day. There are actually no fuzzy handcuffs in the entire story. The title was kinda a joke in my head because I was trying to reconcile fluff and a strong, dominate Mariku lemon within the same fic and that made me think of a pair of fuzzy handcuffs - yeah, we all know by now that I suck at titles.***

In the sunlight, Yugi's hair reminded Ryou of tri-colored stain-glass. The strands glowed vibrant magenta, the bright color creating the perfect contrast to the dark onyx and pale blonde. Ryou rested his chin on the heel of his palm, elbow resting on the table. He smiled a little as he watched the dainty way in which Yugi sipped his cappuccino in order to avoid collecting foam on his lips. They sat outside a small cafe, drinking various drinks and wasting the afternoon chatting.

"It must be hard," Marik sighed, pausing to drink the straight espresso from his own cup. "With Anzu in New York, Jounouchi and Honda working all the time, and Kaiba... well..."

Yugi laughed. "You mean with Seto Kaiba being nothing less than Seto Kaiba?"

"Yes."

"At least I have Ryou." Yugi rested his hand on Ryou's shoulder. "He never lets me get bored."

Ryou blushed at the compliment. "Thanks, Yugi."

Marik gave them a warm smile, and Ryou didn't trust it. He knew the real Marik, bickering with the Ring-Spirit during Battle City, smirking instead of smiling. Marik wasn't a bad person. However, he wasn't a nice person either, and his current happy expression told Ryou that he wanted something from them.

"Do you have any regrets? About the Ceremonial Duel?"

Yugi set down his cup, his eyes rueful. "No."

Marik looked surprised, and a touch worried. "Really? You don't miss him at all?"

"Of course I do. Everyday. He was my partner - my other me - but that's why I had to... It's hard to explain, especially since I know you both had problems with your othersides."

Ryou frowned into his mocha. He often wished that Yugi showed the same fondness, the same love, when he spoke of Ryou as he did when he spoke of Atem. Nonetheless, although he and Ryou had grown close, even slightly intimate, Ryou was just an odd boy with a horror fetish and a love of games. He could never compete with Atem - with a Pharaoh. He was a little, white shadow - there, but insubstantial.

Marik leaned closer. "What would you say if I knew a way to bring him back?"

Ryou couldn't help the laugh. It was small and quiet, almost a sniffle instead of a chuckle, but he couldn't help it. Marik was too transparent. He didn't care about Yugi and Atem - Marik wanted The Ring-Spirit back.

"What? Do you believe it isn't possible?" Marik asked Ryou, mistaking his reaction as skepticism.

Ryou shrugged. He was trying to think of how to respond, when Yugi blurted out. "C-can you really bring him back?"

Marik leaned forward over the table, holding up a scrap of parchment between his pointer and middle finger. "I found this spell by chance."

Yeah, chance. Ryou believed that story. "What's the catch?"

Marik glanced at Ryou. He smiled, but Ryou saw the annoyance behind the lilac. "Ancient Egypt had magicians that knew how to use heka. But we don't, and none of us have our Items anymore, so I don't think any one person is capable of casting this spell."

"Oh." Yugi stared at his cup.

The hurt expression stabbed Ryou's chest. He couldn't stand to see Yugi look sad, so he sighed and turned back to Marik. "But you think all three of us together could do it?"

Marik smiled again, this time it was more sincere. "Yes."

"But what's the catch?" Ryou repeated.

Marik shrugged, as if magic were a small thing like learning to ride a bike or doing a handstand for the first time. "Magic has to balance. If all of us cast the spell..."

Ryou finished the sentence. "All of our other halves return."

Yugi's eyes rounded with horror. "Oh. No. No. I couldn't ask you to do that for me. Not either one of you. That would be irresponsible."

Marik splayed his hands in a helpless gesture. "The Items are gone, Yugi. Our other halves wouldn't be able to cause anymore trouble than any other person, and if they did, they'd have to deal with the police."

"Still..." Yugi sighed. "I can't be that selfish. If they hurt someone else, just so I could see Atem again... I'd never forgive myself."

Ryou sighed. He couldn't, couldn't, handle seeing Yugi sad. He would do anything to make Yugi happy - even if that meant giving him Atem and insuring Ryou himself would be lonely again.

"Honestly, Yugi, I don't think my other half would cause too much trouble if he came back." Ryou glanced at Marik, whose lavender eyes pleaded for Ryou to continue, and suddenly Ryou felt bad for them both. "I think he'd have other things to worry about if he was in his own body - like finding a place to stay and paying for groceries. You can't really plot revenge when you're busy trying to survive."

That was a partial lie. He knew the old thief never had trouble surviving and hating at the same time, but Ryou also knew it was what Yugi needed to hear.

"Same with mine," Marik agreed. "It's not like I'd let him move in with me."

Ryou thought the statement ironic, since that's exactly what Marik planned to do with Ryou's other half, but he didn't comment on the matter.

"You really think so? That they'd just want to be alive and not cause trouble anymore?" Yugi asked.

Marik nodded, reminding Ryou of Namu. "Sure! There's no more Items, so it's not like they could deal out Penalty Games."

"That's true." Yugi smiled. "And I could see Atem again. I do miss him. I miss him so badly. What do we need to cast the spell?"

"I can get the ingredients. It's nothing difficult - mostly clay and water and grain to represent the human body."

"Okay." Yugi's face all but glowed. "When should we meet?"

"In three days. The moon will be full and that will help the spell's magic - since the moon and magic are both associated with Thoth."

"Thank you, Marik!" Yugi jumped and hugged the other boy. "You, too, Ryou!" Yugi grabbed Ryou next.

Ryou sighed, inhaling Yugi's scent, knowing it was the last time they'd ever be this close.

Three days later and Ryou stood in his kitchen, rubbing sand from his eyes. They'd decided to do the spell in his apartment because Ryou lived alone. He hadn't slept well since their visit with Marik at the cafe, and passed out on the couch at about 8 PM. He woke up near 11 PM when Marik and Yugi knocked on his door, and he still wasn't completely awake yet.

"You okay?" Yugi touched Ryou's shoulder.

Ryou smiled, as he always did when Yugi touched him, no matter how gently. "Sure. Just tired."

"Make sure you get some rest after we leave."

"Of course." Another lie. Ryou knew he would stay up all night staring at the ceiling and feeling alone instead of sleeping, just as he had the last few nights. "It will be nice to see Atem again."

Yet another lie. Ryou wondered when he became such a grand liar.

"I know, right? I'm so excited I can't stand it! I feel like my heart's going to punch out of my chest!"

So did Ryou's, but for different reasons.

"Okay." Marik stood up from the floor, wiping clay off of his hands and onto his pants. "We're ready."

Ryou stared at Marik for a moment, noticing how Marik dressed - tight, mid-riff-showing black and crimson top, with matching black slacks. Yugi was dressed a little more conservatively, but still looked like he was going on a date. Ryou wore his pajamas - having no lover to call back from the dead had him less enthused than the other two for the ritual. His hair tossed about his head, disorganized from sleeping on the sofa, and he padded around barefoot, but no one paid his sloppy looks any attention.

They stared at the kitchen floor. A summoning circle lined the tile in chalk and three dolls made of clay and dough lay in the center of the circle.

"What do we have to do?" Yugi asked.

"All we have to do is hold hands while I chant the incantation," Marik answered.

"What? No blood? No sacrifice? What kind of spell is this?" Ryou joked. "In the movies, there's always at least a few drops of blood for this kind of magic." He understood the dough and clay represented human lives and their corporeal forms, but blood seemed so much more fun when one defied the gods and brought the dead back to life - or in Marik's case, bringing his childhood past to life, since his other half never exactly lived or died beforehand.

It was a harmless joke, but Ryou felt guilty at the horror-struck look Yugi gave him.

He sighed. "Just kidding, Yugi."

"Sometimes I worry about the effect all those movies have on you."

Marik shook his head, as if dismissing a child, and took Ryou's and Yugi's hands. They closed their eyes as Marik spoke in a old Egyptian dialect that Ryou couldn't decipher, although he knew some Middle Egyptian from sharing a mind with a tomb thief.

It was a rather disappointing spell. No lightning, no ground shaking, or light flickering. No feel of terror kissing the nape of Ryou's neck - just some college students standing in his kitchen as Marik rambled a chant that seemed to go on forever. Ryou shifted from one foot to the other, bored out of his mind. Yugi squeezed his hand, and Ryou stopped squirming, but he was starting to feel bitter. He was already giving up Yugi, letting Yugi's happiness surpass his own. He should at least be able to fidget.

Ryou's toes felt tingly, like they were falling asleep, before Marik's voice finally stopped. Ryou opened his eyes, gasping despite himself when he saw the three bodies sleeping on the floor. He wondered why the former tomb-robber looked like Ryou - more disheveled, like always, but similar - instead of the tanned, scarred thief that Ryou saw during his other half's final RPG. He looked at Atem and noticed his skin was pale, like Yugi's, so they'd both come back looking like they were still in their hosts' bodies. He supposed it had something to do with them casting the spell, but didn't have a chance to ask Marik.

Yugi dropped to his knees, brushing happy tears off his cheeks with the back of his hands. He reached out, fingers shaking, and brushed his fingertips across the Pharaoh's lips. "Atem? Is... is it really-"

Emotion didn't allow Yugi to finish the sentence, but his touched made the Pharaoh stir from the floor, and flutter his eyes open. "Yugi?"

Yugi nodded. "Is this okay? Is it okay? That I brought you back?"

Atem looked around, disoriented. Then, he looked at his hands, his legs, his feet. Once he seemed to absorb everything, he grabbed Yugi's cheeks, brushing their noses together. "Of course, aibou, of course it's okay. Good to see you again."

More tears slipped down Yugi's cheeks and Atem kissed them away.

Ryou had to turn away, unable to watch. For a distraction he looked at Marik. He looked afraid, staring at Bakura still sleeping on the floor, as if Marik knew his reunion wouldn't be as sweet as Yugi's.

Then Bakura blinked himself awake and gave Ryou a puzzled look when his eyes focused. He saw Marik a moment later and smiled, and for a moment Ryou thought maybe they'd embrace in a flurry of joyful tears and butterfly kisses just like Yugi and Atem. However, Yugi's happy laughter brought Bakura's attention to Atem and he snarled.

"You bastard!" Bakura lunged for the Pharaoh, grabbing his throat, slamming his head against the cold, tiled floor, and throttling him.

Ryou and Marik dropped to the kitchen floor, hooking their arms beneath Bakura's armpits and trying to drag him away from the Pharaoh. He looked the same height and weight as Ryou, but adrenaline and a 3,000 year old determination made the former Ring-Spirit difficult to pull back.

"Let go! I have to fucking kill him!" the Ring-Spirit snarled, reaching out his hands towards Atem as he was pulled to the other side of the kitchen.

"Bakura, stop it," Marik hissed, straddling on top of Bakura's lap and squeezing him. It wasn't to restrain him. Marik was trying to comfort him.

Bakura punched Marik's shoulders, his rush of strength fading as Marik embraced him. "Let me go. You fucking asshole, let me go. He doesn't deserve to live."

Ryou stood and watched them. He imagined Yugi and Atem stood and watched as well. It was odd to see. Bakura continued to curse both Marik and the Pharaoh, and Marik smiled like each punch to his chest was a kiss as he whispered into Bakura's hair.

Ryou was so lost in the scene, that he forgot about the third body on the floor until he felt himself jerked back by the hair and a cold, thin tickle pressed into his throat. Then, instead of watching Marik and Bakura, everyone was staring at Ryou.

"What's he doing here?" Bakura snarled at Marik.

"It was all or none," Marik said. His cold, focused lilac eyes glared behind Ryou.

"Please don't," Yugi begged. He stood with his hands held out in a desperate stop gesture. "Don't. Don't. Don't. We'll do anything you want. Just don't hurt him."

"What the fuck is going on?" Marik's other half asked.

"We brought everyone back, so you can have a second chance," Yugi said, his wide eyes so innocent and believing of his own words that Ryou felt sorry for Yugi despite the itch of kitchen-knife steel irritating his own skin.

A paused stretched out in the kitchen, and then Marik's other half laughed. Ryou felt hot breath tickle his right ear and guessed that his captor was staring at Marik.

"You manipulated them."

"So what if I did?" Marik spoke low, glaring at his other half. "Why do you care? You wanted a body. Now you have your own. Get out of here and go use it."

"Wait..." Yugi's wide, violet eyes shifted from Ryou to Marik, the truth just now dawning on him. "You mean... you, you were using us? To get Bakura back? Why? I don't understand..."

"What are you planning?" Atem asked, mouth bent in a suspicious frown. He stood a few centimeters in front of Yugi, as if protecting him from everyone else in the room.

"They're not planning anything," Ryou spoke, although it made a hot tickle roll down his throat. He kept his kitchen knives sharp and clean, so he didn't feel the cut, only the surprising heat of his own blood. "Marik wanted my other half back for the same reason Yugi wanted you back, that's all. I knew what he was doing the whole time."

Both Yugi and his other half glanced at Marik. Marik stared at the floor while Bakura's eyes darted back and forth between Atem and Marik's other half. Ryou was rather sure he was trying to figure out how he could kill both of them before either one had a chance to retaliate.

"It's okay," Ryou said, the tickle on his throat growing wider. He didn't think it was a deep cut. He wasn't dizzy or cold so he wasn't losing much blood, but the more he spoke the more blood flowed down his throat and chest. "Just go. Everyone go. I can deal with this."

"You should probably stop talking." The dark voice near-purred in his ear. "You're ruining your shirt."

"Just a little foreplay before the main event, wouldn't you say?" Ryou whispered back to his unseen captor.

The slightest hint of pressure left his throat as the dark voice chuckled, still near Ryou's ear. "You bring up a valid point, and it is so much more fun to watch a victim bleed."

"Yeah, but you should really be pulling my hair tighter if you want a good arc in the blood spray when you cut my throat."

"Ryou!" Yugi shrieked, tears lining his bright eyes.

Marik's alter ego only laughed harder. "I think I know a little more than you about slitting a throat. I can manage without your commentary."

The knife still touched Ryou's skin, but it was soft enough so Ryou could talk without slitting his own throat. A queer shiver ran down Ryou's spine. He always said little morbid, off color comments about blood or terrors, but everyone always stared at him, forcing him to apologize for his macabre sense of humor. No one had ever bantered back before. He wondered if that's why Marik and Bakura got along so well. There was a certain thrill to verbal exchange, a true conversation and not the mindless chatter about the weather or college courses that usually filled Ryou's life.

Too bad his captor didn't see it as only a conversation.

"Think about what you're doing," Marik interrupted, his bangs falling into his hateful stare. "So you kill one of us, so what? Maybe you even manage to kill two of us, but you're still outnumbered and we'll put you down. This is your only chance to leave, unharmed. Just put the knife down and let Ryou go and we'll let you walk out of here. What you decide to do with your pathetic life is up to you after that."

"Don't call his life pathetic, Marik." Ryou heard his voice, but he never intended to speak. He didn't feel real, him nor the situation. It was a movie he was watching on the sofa, him only as much as he could identify with the character on the screen, but not really him. "No one's life is pathetic."

Marik shot Ryou a calculating look.

Ryou frowned. "I already told you to get out of here." His eyes flashed to Yugi. "I can take care of myself. Trust me."

Yugi shook his head in disagreement. "No, you're trying to get everyone else out of danger without caring about what happens to yourself. I can't let you do that."

A thunder-strike of laughter echoed out of the other Marik's mouth. "What are you going to do, Little Yugi? We no longer have Millennium Items. This isn't a Shadow Game. It's just me and a knife. You move and I pull it across this little lamb's throat and his blood sprays across your face." He shifted behind Ryou, turning a little more towards Bakura and Marik. "And what would you do, tomb-thief? Hurts your pride that I have your old host, doesn't it? But if I kill him I'm going after my old host next - so do you use the distraction to get the revenge you wanted for 3,000 years or do you save your old partner?"

Bakura's cinnamon-brown eyes glared tangible hatred at Marik's other half. Ryou was more afraid of that glare than he was of the knife against his throat.

Bakura's hatred only caused a fresh round a laughter to split the silence. "Or you can listen to your old host and get the fuck out."

"We'll leave." Yugi shook his head, his face pale and eyes huge. "Just let Ryou go and we'll all leave you alone."

"No." Marik's alter ego chuckled, petting Ryou's hair. "No. I think I'll keep this one as collateral for a bit. Don't worry, I'll only torture him... tonight. He's more useful alive until I figure out what I want to do now that I'm back."

Yugi shook his head. "Don't hurt him. Take me instead!"

"Atem, get him out of here!" Ryou shouted.

He didn't mind the knife to his own throat - he didn't even feel real at the moment, and you couldn't be hurt if you weren't real - but Yugi was real, and Ryou couldn't bare seeing tears in Yugi's eyes.

Atem pulled at Yugi's arm. "Come on, aibou. We'll think of something."

"Always quick to sacrifice the pawn, eh Pharaoh?" Bakura spat on the kitchen floor, his hatred redirected at the Pharaoh once again.

"No one asked you," Ryou snapped. "Marik, you did all this to get Bakura back, now go. You have what you want - go! I hate you both! Get out of my fucking apartment!"

Marik gave Ryou an oddly pleased glance before grabbing Bakura's wrist. "Let's go."

"He doesn't tell me what to do."

"But why stay?" Marik smirked. "Do you care what happens to him? Are you going to cry like Yugi and beg for Ryou's life?"

Bakura opened his mouth and then clamped it shut. He turned to Marik's alter ego. "Anything you do to my host I will return tenfold. Keep that in mind if you truly plan on torturing him." He began walking out of the kitchen, turning and calling towards the Pharaoh before he left. "And our business has yet to be finished!"

"Yugi," Ryou called out before Atem could answer. "I want you to make a promise. On our friendship, promise me something."

Yugi stared at Ryou, tears cutting down his cheeks. "What?"

"Don't call the police. Give me until dawn, at least."

"No, by all means, call the police," Marik's other half taunted. "Your precious friend will be dead, and then I'll see how many others I can kill before they take me down. That sounds fun."

"Yugi, give me until dawn. If we're truly friends, then please trust me."

Yugi agreed with small, rapid jerks of his head as Atem lead him away.

Marik's other half pushed Ryou into the living room to watch everyone else go. When the door shut, silence rang into Ryou's ears. He closed his eyes. He found himself leaning into the heat of the other Marik's chest. Since moving away wasn't an option, and struggling would only kill him, Ryou figured he'd might as well be as comfortable as he could get. They'd been standing on the cold kitchen floor for over an hour while Marik chanted his spell, and Ryou's bare feet were a little numb from the cold. The other Marik's body heat was too tempting to resist.

"Thank you for helping me get them out of here."

"I wasn't helping you. I just didn't want to look at them anymore."

"Neither did I."

"Not even Yugi?"

"Especially Yugi. I can't think straight when he cries."

The other Marik gave a dry snort. "What do you hope to accomplish by dawn?"

"Probably nothing," Ryou said. "But I wanted you to have at least one real chance, without feeling like you were surrounded by your enemies, to decide how you want to live. It's your choice, and you deserve time to think about it."

"Why do you care?"

Ryou sighed. "It's my fault you're back. I knew Marik just wanted Bakura, I knew Yugi was too naive to figure out what Marik was doing. Hell, I even helped Marik convince Yugi to do the ritual."

"Why?"

"Because he wanted Atem back, and Marik wanted Bakura back. I felt sorry for them, but that's not an excuse. I still knew you'd return with them. This is the consequences of my actions."

Another snort. "Is that why you're so calm? You feel like you deserve this?"

"I'm calm because... I think I'm dissociating. When you don't even care because it's not happening to you? Like, it's happening to someone else, or it's not happening at all because it's not real. Or... maybe I'm just accepting it. I don't know. How much does it take?"

"How much of what does it take to do what?" the other Marik asked.

"Pain and loneliness. How much does it take before your mind splits up?"

Ryou heard a few tinks, and realized it was the sound of his tears striking his own Chef's knife. The knife lifted away from his skin, Ryou tilted his head to watch it's path. Marik's alter ego licked the mixture of blood and tears off of the high carbon steel with a long, pink tongue.

He snorted a third time. "Salty and bitter. I would have guess a little creampuff like you would taste sweeter."

A little giggle escaped Ryou's throat. Marik's other side raised an eyebrow, and Ryou shrugged.

"Creampuffs happen to be my favorite, so calling me that is... cute. I like it."

Marik's other half scowled, pointing the knife close to Ryou's eyes. "I did not say it to be cute. Just because I haven't started cutting pieces off of you yet doesn't mean you should smile at me like that."

"Am I smiling?" Ryou asked.

The knife drew a centimeter closer to Ryou's eyes, but then a noise interrupted the movement. The not-quite-Marik held his stomach as if his action could muffle the noise.

Ryou blinked his carob colored eyes. "W-was that your stomach?"

The other growled, glaring at Ryou. "Hey you, give me some food."

Ryou blushed, staring at his cold feet. "Yeah, okay, but... I haven't gone shopping so I don't have much. Would cereal be okay?"

The other Marik scowled. "I don't fucking care, just feed me - and stop smiling!"

"Sorry. I'm not doing it on purpose."

Ryou went into the kitchen. He pulled rice milk out of the fridge, and two bowls from the cupboard. He poured cereal into each bowl, leaving it out in case they were still hungry after one bowl. The way his guest ate reminded Ryou of a starved animal. He shoveled the food into his mouth, barely chewing. He poured himself a second bowl, then a third.

Ryou cradled his chin into his palm, watching the other. "What should I call you?"

"Marik."

"Oh please no. That's more confusing than everyone calling the Spirit Bakura all the time. If we had two Marik's and two Bakura's it'd be even worse."

"I never had a name." The alter ego took the bowl in his hands and slurped up the leftover milk. Then he stole Ryou's bowl and did the same.

Ryou stood up and looked into his fridge to see if he had anything else to offer. He found a box of store-bought mochi and figured 2:30 AM was as good a time as any for dessert. He took one for himself and gave the rest of the box to his guest. "Could I call you Mariku so there's some distinction?"

He shrugged, cramming two dumplings into his mouth at once. "Don't care."

Ryou frowned. "Are... are you still going to torture me?"

Mariku grinned, shoving another mochi into his mouth. "The blood looks handsome on your throat."

"Wouldn't it be nicer if we were friends?"

"Fuck no. I don't need friends."

Ryou sighed, dropping his cheek onto the table. "I wish I didn't."

The chair scraped against the floor and Mariku marched towards Ryou, knife back in hand. Instinct drove Ryou to his feet. He scrambled backwards until his shoulders hit the fridge.

Mariku pressed the knife below Ryou's chin. "You won't need friends if I kill you."

Ryou closed his eyes. He couldn't protest or even swallow without causing the knife point to puncture his skin.

Mariku lowered the knife. "Scared?"

"Y-yes," Ryou said it because he knew it was what Mariku wanted to hear, although numb was a better word for his real feelings.

"Good." He walked out the kitchen, turning over his shoulder. "Follow me."

"Huh?"

He pointed the knife in Ryou's direction. "I did not say question me. I said follow me."

"O-okay." Ryou jogged back to the living room.

Mariku took Ryou's cell phone off of the coffee table and tossed it to Ryou. "I haven't decided what we're going to do yet, but it'd be better if we weren't interrupted, so call your idiot friend and tell him everything is fine."

Ryou took a deep breath and exhaled as he dialed Yugi's phone number. The line only rang once before Yugi picked up the phone.

"Ryou!"

"Yugi, stop crying. Please. I told you it would be okay."

"Did you escape? Where are you? We'll come get you!"

Ryou winced at the thought of having to spend the night with Yugi and Atem. "No, I'm home. Mariku's still here as well. We ate cereal and talked some things over and-"

"He's still there? Ryou, I'm calling the police."

"You promised you wouldn't, Yugi."

"But he'll kill you!"

"Marik changed for the better - why can't his other half?"

"Because - because he was the evil in Marik."

Ryou couldn't help a soft, bitter laugh at Yugi's statement. "Trust me, Yugi. Marik's been in my head, there's no gradients of evil with him - Mariku's just a little more honest."

"Why do you keep calling him Mariku?"

"To avoid confusion." Ryou glanced at Mariku and he pointed his knife to a clock hanging on Ryou's wall. "Well, listen Yugi, I'm really tired and I think I'm going to go to bed now."

"Wait! Ryou! Are you kicking him out? You can't sleep with him in your apartment."

Ryou felt himself scowl, not 100% sure why. He started talking fast into the phone. "Sure I can. It'll be like a slumber party, really. We're going to stay up until dawn watching horror movies and when we wake up we'll play Monster World. In fact, I'm thinking about asking him to stay here for a few weeks until he finds a place of his own."

Yugi started protesting again, but Ryou didn't pay attention to him. Mariku stood up and yanked the phone from his hand. "You heard him. I live here now and we're going to watch movies, which means he's done wasting his time with you on the phone." Mariku hung up and tossed the phone behind him. It landed with a thump on the carpet. He narrowed his eyes at Ryou. "You're smiling again."

"Well, you're funny."

"Me? Shit, you're a better liar than Marik."

"Apparently."

"What's a Monster World anyway?"

Ryou sighed. "My favorite table RPG, but no one ever plays with me because my campaigns are all blood-filled gore fests." Ryou's white brows knitted together. "Last time we tried to play, they kept insisting we play an old fantasy campaign - even after I tried to explain that one was Bakura's. I haven't played since. I was too pissed."

Mariku stared at Ryou. "Show me."