"Ryou, what are you… it's… mmmmf, five in the morning here…"

"I know, I'm sorry, I promise I wouldn't have called you up if it wasn't really, really incredibly important!"

Marik rubbed his eyes, releasing a delirious yawn into his cell phone. He internally cursed the damn time difference between Japan and Egypt. Normally it wasn't so bad, but normally Ryou never called when he knew it was so early. He was almost reluctant to hear whatever news was so incredibly urgent. Marik typically wasn't good at handling bad news. Especially paired with the fact that he was still half-asleep and partially still not convinced he wasn't dreaming this conversation. It certainly wasn't the first time he'd dreamed he'd heard Ryou's voice, or even thought so much about him he'd literally felt his presence nearby, to find it was only in his mind. Dreams were silly things.

"Alright, well, what is it, then? I wanna hear," he mumbled. "What's going on?"

There was a brief silence, and Marik carefully listened to the distinctive, familiar repetition of Ryou's breathing.

"Well, I… I told my father about…us."

There was another, shorter silence, this time Marik's doing.

"…already? Wh-what happened? Is everything okay? Are you okay?"

"He wants to meet you. Like, really, really soon, you know."

Marik nearly choked. He sat up in his bed, now completely awake. "What, wha-? 'Meet me'? You mean he… he wasn't…"

"No, he was… surprisingly supportive." Ryou's voice sounded as equally relieved as Marik suddenly did. "He wants you to come over and stay for a while in a couple months. He says he just really wants me to be… happy. With this... and with everything."

"That's… that's… I'm really glad," Marik said. He twisted around in his sheets. "I… I don't know what to say. I'm…I'm kinda nervous. But relieved."

"I thought you'd be surprised! I promise I'll let you get back to sleep soon, I'm supposed to be making tea right now, I just… had to tell you! I couldn't wait. You've got to come see me soon now that this has happened. Please, Marik!"

"Oh, sure, I'll be right over, just let me change," Marik teased.

Ryou laughed over the phone, his laughter short and sweet with the tiniest hint of despondency. "I wish. No need to change, really… whatever you're wearing is fine. Just hurry it up already."

Marik grinned at his boyfriend's sudden boldness. "What if I'm not wearing anything?"

Ryou's voice seemed to catch in his throat before he answered. Marik could practically see him blushing through the phone. "M-Marik! Please don't… don't do that to me right now. I… I'm helping my father, you know! He's moving his things in right now as we speak…"

"That's right, go make your tea, then… I'll be here."

"A-Alright. Talk to your sister about this, please? You've got to come to Domino and stay with me… even if just for a bit."

"I'll talk to her in the morning," Marik promised. His eyes felt heavy, but he really couldn't stop smiling enough to focus on them. "Well, later in the morning, that is."

"I hope you can get back to sleep alright… I really am sorry I woke you."

"If I can't get back to sleep, I'm blaming it on you and all the things you do to me."

"Like… like what?" Ryou asked sheepishly. "What things?"

Marik chuckled. "Are you sure you want to know? You're making tea, remember? Helping your dad…?"

"Aa-ahh… that's… that's right," Ryou sighed softly into the receiver, embarrassed. "You can just tell me tonight. Before I go to bed."

"If I did that, Ryou, you'd be up all night…" Marik purred. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"I'm kind of used to it now, really, thanks to you…"

"I keep thinking, it'll be… really nice to sleep next to you again, you know," Marik randomly admitted, almost quietly. He never imagined he'd ever be saying such mushy, sentimentally ridiculous things to anyone… but of course, Ryou was different. Ryou changed everything. "...As long as your father doesn't mind."

"I… I don't think it'll be a problem. But I know. It'll be so great to have you back here... spending time with me. You have no idea how much I need this—need you." Ryou sighed. "God, I sound so lonely and pathetic."

"I'll try my best to change the lonely part. And if it makes you feel any better, you're not alone in your... loneliness. That... doesn't even make sense, does it?"

"You're so cute when you try to cheer me up," Ryou laughed. "Obviously, things are going to be so much different than last time you were here... um, I think you're really going to enjoy it, though. I really just… argh, I can hardly wait! I'll tell you everything later in detail, alright? We'll work it out. Go back to sleep, Marik. Sleep tight."

Marik smiled. "Easy for you to say. I'll try."

"I… I love you."

Marik was so glad they had started saying this to each other recently; three little words that implied something much bigger, yet ended a conversation with such emphasis and promise. The first time they had exchanged "I love you's" was an accident... Marik took the humiliating credit for that one. He both cursed and thanked that particular night's alcohol that made this first declaration possible.

"I love you, too, good night…morning…" he said, before hearing the phone click off on the other end. He stared at it or a moment, his lover's name spelled out boldly on the screen amidst the darkness, before he snuggled back into his blankets, barely able to contain the emotions that were suddenly surging within him. This really did seem just like a dream...

He, Marik Ishtar, former sworn Tomb-keeper of the Pharaoh, would soon be going back to Domino City, a city at one point in time that he nearly killed all of Ryou's friends in—not to mention Ryou himself—to meet Ryou's dad?

He grimaced. He definitely didn't see that one going over too well.

"Hello, Mr. Bakura, I'm fucking your son, and have been fucking your son before he ever even knew about it because he was possessed by an evil spirit who liked to be fucked, by me. Sugar for your tea? Can I help you with the dishes?"

He burrowed his face into his pillow, groaning tiredly as he imagined all the nightmare dilemmas that flew through his head. Why did all of his self-confidence and bravado fly out the door when Ryou was involved? Why did he have such power over him? He doubted he even knew what effect he had on him, as Marik certainly didn't flaunt the fact that he was smitten and beyond all help. Ryou wasn't dumb by any means, but he had the tendency to be naive about things; particularly, relationships. Or maybe it was just an act... Marik hadn't quite figured him out completely yet. But still…

The thought of spending some time in Domino City with Ryou every single day did sound pretty worth it. In truth, Marik knew that he owed Ryou this… and so much more than he could never really, ever repay to the boy. It was a debt that Ryou himself simply shrugged off, and practically denied the existence of. But Marik hadn't forgotten… he would never forget.

How bad could meeting his father be, after all? Ryou really hadn't told him much about him, only that they had just recently reconnected again. Something about how the Spirit of the Millennium Ring had made it hard for him to have a human connection of any kind, and that included family... that he was really, truly better off alone in those days. Marik thought of his own father, though only briefly, because he didn't want to go to that place in his mind. Not now. This was about Ryou. And Ryou's father.

With that, and more seemingly innocent thoughts of nights sleeping next to Ryou, he closed his eyes and decided he'd work up the courage to sort this out… tomorrow.

"Father, the tea is ready."

Ryou poked his head into the room.

"Thanks, son, I'll be right there," Mr. Bakura said. He fumbled with a heavy box full of what looked to be baubles and gadgets; some shiny, some corroded with rust. Ryou almost expected to see a Millennium Item scattered among them, but remembered that there's no way his father would be bringing something like that home to him anymore. Not now.

Ryou returned to the kitchen, sipping his tea in deep thought.

Really, all he could successfully think about was Marik; his closest companion. His best friend, his... was there even a word for how he really regarded him, deep in his heart? There didn't seem to be a title worthy enough for such a person such as Marik.

He thought of all the things he desperately wanted to show him in the city; things he knew that Marik had probably never seen or experienced, considering he was raised underground all of his childhood. He just couldn't wait to show him. Just the thought of Marik playing games at the arcade, or riding roller coasters at an amusement park... hell, even just imagining him shopping in a store made Ryou giggle. Perhaps a little too loudly.

"What's funny?" a voice said from behind him.

"Oh! Nothing!" Ryou quickly answered, startled, nearly spilling the hot tea all over himself.

"Better not have poisoned my tea," his father said with a teasing smile. "Over there planning to get rid of me and I haven't even unpacked yet."

Ryou was afraid to laugh at first, but soon remembered that his father did seem to say the strangest things; he figured he wasn't much to judge when it came to all things generally considered "strange," but perhaps the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. He smiled in amusement.

"Of course not, Father," he answered. "Not unless you have intentions of sneaking into my secret snack drawer."

Mr. Bakura's eyes glowed with interest. "Secret snack drawer? Well, you might as well color me poisoned, because now I'm just going to have to find it! The tea is delicious, by the way."

"Father, can I... can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly! I already told you, you can ask me absolutely anything."

Ryou nodded solemnly. Random questions flew through his head constantly, questions begging for answers.

"Do you... do you believe in ghosts? A-and spirits?"

His father was quiet for a moment, taking an especially long sip of tea. His son never failed to ask questions that he least expected. And it was barely even past noon yet.

"Well, I... I've never actually seen any myself. But I, uh, suppose I do, yeah. Why do you ask? Are you about to tell me this place is haunted, because..."

Ryou blinked. "Oh, no, it's nothing like that." It's only me that was haunted, he wanted to say. "I'm sorry. I don't know what possessed me to ask that. It's nothing." The words he chose were far from incidental, desperate to be found out and questioned.

But Mr. Bakura shrugged it off as he dropped a cube of sugar into his tea, and Ryou couldn't help himself from looking right past his father at the calendar pinned on the wall. At least he had his father to distract him until he could see Marik, considering they had quite a bit to catch up on.

How many more days would it be before he could finally see him...? The countdown, in his mind, had already begun...