A/N: again, I don't own Malik and Ryou.
I do thank you all for your patience. Here's the next chapter, we get a glimpse of a something between Yugi/Ryou, and then later Yugi/Malik but that won't take away from the story's true pairing.
Okay I ended up rewriting this whole chapter because I didn't like the last one I had, hopefully this one sounds better.
Happy reading!
A very disgruntled tombkeeper sat tensely with his arms folded over his chest and a twitch over his brow, watching Ryou fiddle with a damp rag in his hands who sat as quiet as the surroundings around them with a frown plastered on his face, painfully wondering in what ways Malik was thinking of killing him in. And out in the middle of nowhere like the desert, he believed that anyone could get away with murder.
Ryou dared to look up through the soft locks over his eyes and found the other shooting him back with a deadly glare; he quickly looked away while biting his lip nervously. One blonde brow arched upward at the way those brown eyes sparkled apologetically, and Malik found himself biting down his pride just so he wouldn't end up making him cry, then he wouldn't hear the end of it from Yugi. So he let out a sigh, rolled his eyes and hoped he wouldn't make this sudden forgiving nature of his a habit.
"It's not a big deal you know."
Ryou regarded him for a moment, those brown eyes full and wide. "I really am sorry..."
"Don't worry about it."
"Here, take this at least--"
"I said don't worry about it!" he snapped and Ryou flinched a bit at the other's tone of voice, then sat back down slowly when he got up to offer Malik the damp rag for his head, which happened to be Ryou's favorite shirt that he took off to use for the injury he caused him.
Malik's eyes were then on his hands as Ryou unraveled the scrunched up shirt and made a sad face to it.
And for the second time since they sat there Malik felt the need to say something back to him upon seeing such a face. It was pathetic, but remembering all too annoyingly how Ryou's darker half always complained about his sensitivity, Malik needed something like a 'Fragile…handle with care' sign to hang on him to remind him of that.
So not much had changed in the former Millennium Ring bearer over the past years, Ryou still seemed like a walking sap of emotions to him, but as those Egyptian wild eyes traveled from his hands to his long arms and then to the rest of him, his body suggested anything but an innocent pretty boy.
Ryou wore a wifebeater under the shirt he took off to use as a rag, exposing a very slim torso that curved languidly as he sat, elbows resting at the knee joints that were spread apart a little.
His legs were long too, that were lost in the thick material of his cargo pants. Because when he stood, they gave him a lanky frame, and with that pale long hair that fell in wisps at the ends and an equally pale complexion, Malik compared him to the goddesses of the ancient scriptures.
He blinked for a moment as those eyes traced the curvatures of his arms where the vanilla-white skin glared brightly from the sun. Ryou would surely get broiled to a crisp from Ra's intense gaze.
"You should put something on." He suggested while being careful to keep his voice even, at least he was trying to. Ryou watched him for a moment before turning his eyes away as he ran his fingers through his hair to tame it from the dry breeze.
"Why? Am I distracting you?"
"No. You'll burn easy."
"Is that so? Well…I don't need your help either."
Malik's teeth clenched together "Fine! Burn for all I care." and Ryou stared at him again, this time with a somewhat amused expression on his face.
"You really are one confusing individual." he remarked as he rose from his seat and locked eyes with Malik's furious ones, teasing them, then going over to where his backpack was and picked something out of it, then returned to his seat again.
He held up the tube of sunblock and threw it over at Malik unexpectedly who barely managed to catch it. "Want to rub me down big boy?" asked Ryou teasingly, making Malik blink for a moment between the object in his hands and at the other man, then let out a choked sound at the back of his throat and glared daggers at him to hide the fact that he was blushing at what he had hoped Ryou didn't mean by asking such a question.
He threw the tube back, hitting Ryou square in the stomach who started giggling at his own innuendo. "That stuff doesn't work anyway." barked Malik while looking away quickly as if Ryou was naked and dressing when drew the cream over his arms.
"It helped before…"
"The sun isn't as powerful anywhere else."
Now it was Ryou's turn to roll his eyes. "Could that be because of the all mighty sun god here?" he sneered playfully and again, Malik was left stunned.
"I wouldn't insult him if I were you…" it sounded like a warning but Ryou didn't care.
"Oh bullocks! Ra is no match for SPF power!" he said while getting quite a kick out of Malik's stunned expression. "That's right, did you hear that Ra? YOU'RE NO MATCH FOR SCIENCE!" he yelled as he waved the tube of sunblock towards the sun, and Malik just watched him half amused and half worried. Ryou brushed back his hair coyly and gave the Egyptian a wide smile, which Malik returned with a sly one of his own.
"You're crazy…" he said, shaking his head at him. But Ryou brought a finger to his lip in thought.
"Hmm, that's genuine coming from someone who wanted to BE Ra…"
Malik's smile dropped as quickly as he heard it, and Ryou noticed. Something in his mind had snapped, felt it boiling and flooding within him as mental images of being taunted and ridiculed echoed in his mind, and his own pleas of innocence overtaken by the loudness of his accusers. Ryou watched something within the other fade in only seconds, and was replaced by something else that looked like masked fear.
He placed his hands at his waist and sighed. "Oh come off it, that was years ago. I thought you'd be over it by now."
And then those lavender colored eyes clashed hard with his brown ones as Malik stood up slowly from his seat after a moment to reach the other's height in a deadly glaring match, approaching him threateningly like a predator onto its prey.
"How dare you…but aren't we the proud ones," he hissed, but Ryou was unfazed and kept his narrowing eyes firm on Malik's fierce one. Because if there was anything he learned from being taken over by one nasty spirit, it was to never be dominated by anyone or anything else after that.
"The question is… are you over yours?" Malik asked in a low growl, barely showing his teeth. His face stood only inches away from Ryou's that Ryou felt his shuddering breath rustling the waves of his white hair. Then he watched those lavender eyes fall towards the smooth white skin of his neck, glistening before him in sweat and something in the back of his mind kept urging him to bite into it until he drew blood, which would give the other some color and stop him from staring at it so much. How could anyone be so white?
But instead, Malik only traced the collar bone that peeked from under the fabric with his thumb, while his other fingers circled around his frail neck, all he had to do was squeeze and that would have the other writhing before him. He was trying to break through to Ryou but the other's gaze was still strong on his.
And despite how vulnerable he was from having his neck snapped in two, Ryou snickered defiantly and shrugged one shoulder carelessly, even daring to lean in closer to Malik's face to answer his question. "Way over it, I'm not the crybaby I used to be."
And then Malik smiled maliciously and it was as if someone had poured ice cold water over Ryou's insides, because he could almost swear he was able to feel the blonde's darker half just lurking behind that vicious smile, and he froze. No…he's been banished to the Shadow Realm.
"Really? Okay then lets find out…" and then the hand that was around the base of his neck went up to the side of his head, gathering up some of his pale hair in large fingers and pushed Ryou's head against his lips so that he was able to whisper in his ear. "I know where his tomb is; would you like to visit him? Maybe pay your respects to your… significant other?"
Ryou shuddered at the brush of those lips against his ear and the thought of visiting the thief king's tomb sent chills down his spine. It was probably filled with all kinds of goodies just waiting to claim Ryou's soul to sleep among the damned as well. And those brown eyes widened frantically to match his former Yami's eyes closely. So close that Malik thought it was his old friend again, the king of thieves.
Not a damned thing in the world was going to reunite the two again, and Ryou would make sure of that.
"Fuck you!" he spat Ryou then shrugged out of his grip and Malik grinned knowing that he hit a nerve.
"I rest my case." The Egyptian brushed past him, leaving Ryou just standing there frozen in his place, and he whistled over to his horse and mounted it, then brought his flat gaze back onto Ryou's backside, savoring his win although his grip on the horse's reins were starting to shake.
"By the way," he started again and Ryou inclined his head a little his way. "The last time somebody spoke ill of the Gods it took them twenty years to get home." said Malik and Ryou heard the horses feet trot closer to where he stood, felt Malik leaning over him from behind, saying. "Its okay…you can move in with me."
A chuckle was heard and then Ryou clenched his teeth together and flipped him off, then heard the other laugh out loud as he rode away.
He watched the distance in which the blonde had disappeared in for a moment before sighing out loud and wondering what it was that he got himself into. And thinking back on what he said, he didn't regret it at all as he knew for sure that Battle City was still on the back of both of their minds, ready to resurface again no matter how much Ryou tried to keep it away.
Touché asshole, but I'm not the only one still picking at scars here.
He didn't see Malik until much later into their fourth day there, and after a back-breaking sleep and nearly jumping out of his skin for finding yet another face staring down into his but with different colored eyes. And when Ryou managed to compose himself and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes deliriously, he found the ghostly face was no where in sight.
He trotted over to where he had his shirt wrung and left out to dry but sadly found it as stiff as a cardboard and threw it back down angrily since he couldn't wear it anyway.
The joints in his arms and back were screaming at him in pain after a vigorous workout on the fields, and then a not-so-pleasant night sleeping on top of a lumpy beam held up by two posts just to avoid anymore critters wandering into his hair. His skin--and to this he cursed at the image of a snickering blonde in his head--was sore and sensitive at the touch, so putting his crispy shirt back on wouldn't help much at all, and the rest of his shirts would either irritate his sunburn, or leave him freezing at night. He sighed in defeat, and rubbed the nape of his neck, and to top it all off he needed a bath. Heck, even a quick shower would be a blessing.
Quick shower…
He passed by one of his team mates unnoticeably who was shaving and grabbed one of the water tanks beside him. He stared at it for a long time before dumping the entire tank over his head and walking away. The other man gave him a funny look, before going back to his shaving.
That was when Malik showed up again in his white desert garb this time. Ryou was ready to throw another fit and possibly punch the living daylights out of him until he noticed something about him being a little off.
He rode a different horse.
Ryou dropped his equipment and strode over to the tombkeeper in the distance, all the while keeping his gaze locked on him as if he were able to see right through the white material. The man was actually fretting under the archaeologist's gaze as Ryou stood only a few feet away from him with a dead-like expression. Then after just a moment of studying the other, his eyes relaxed.
"You're not Malik."
And sure enough, the man on a pepper colored horse pulled off the material covering half of his face, revealing large blue-green eyes on an also dark complexion, and that handsome face seemed very familiar.
"Are you a friend of his?" asked the man with a heavy accent, while eyeing him strangely and he wondered why the archaeologist was soaked when it didn't even rain. His words stirred something deep within Ryou's zombie-like form from the lack of sleep he received, and he shrugged one shoulder in response.
"Well what happened to him?" asked Ryou, and he found a trace of concern in that tired tone of voice. The man managed a smile although his handsome eyes showed a flicker of a worn out emotion in them.
"I'll be taking his place from time to time, the desert could be very tiring, so I decided to let him rest for the time being." he said, and Ryou hung on to his every word. He nodded a few times and instinctively began rubbing his aching shoulder.
"Do you guys like, not approve of our work to be watching us all the time?" asked Ryou rather rudely, but he was in pain, hot, and desperately needed a shower so he supposed it was tolerable. But the strange man was still smiling gently despite all that.
"No young one, it is not that at all. It is Yugi that we're protecting." he said and Ryou's brows furrowed together as he glanced around the desert, confused.
"Are you aware that his name attracts anyone known to this desert? There are a lot of beings out there whether it be man or otherwise that would love to get their hands on him for the wrong reasons, and do you know why?" Ryou only blinked tiredly, the only thing he could think of was the Pharaoh.
"But…don't you guys protect him too? His tomb I mean…a-and didn't he pass on? So what good is dead king now?" Ryou asked and the man closed his eyes and smiled again.
"Indeed. What good is a Pharaoh dead to them other than the great rewards they could receive? However, a Pharaoh alive in another form is better than nothing at all…at least to acquire things even greater than that of money or material possessions."
Ryou wasn't aware that his mouth hung open, but he suddenly felt a whole new appreciation for Yugi more than he already did for having him as a friend. They all knew of what kinds of powers the short one was capable of, and thus resulted in attracting the spirit of the Pharaoh to him to have those powers passed on. And if whatever forces got their hands on those powers…
Ryou sighed and looked out towards the endless desert. Even after knowing this and the kind of dangers he could be placed in, Yugi's heart still longed for Egypt.
It was in his blood after all.
And that was one more reason why he had to apologize to the other tombkeeper for, which made him scowl and kick an innocent pebble. The tombkeepers were protecting anyone affiliated with Yugi and his work, Ryou was one of them so that would explain Malik hanging around most of the time. Jackyls…che!
"And the bandits out here wouldn't hesitate to kill for your possessions, not to mention if you were anywhere near their territories they would skin you alive." Then the man eyed Ryou again and smiled gingerly. "I wouldn't stay out here alone either…if I were you."
He winked, and Ryou felt his blood rush into his face.
After a good while of just plotting and planning, pasting together missing documents to figure out the rest of the puzzle to their mission, the group sat dispirited around in a circle With their plans in front of them ready to be executed, but they still felt lost and clueless, and they looked to Ryou for further ideas who only sat on the highest point of the ruins just staring out in the open, his mind running around in circles on thoughts of the other tombkeeper.
"It is…bloody hot out here." said one group member and they all grunted in some sort of agreement. So they all huddled together under a shade and again started throwing some ideas around, but whatever it was that they all came to agree on received no final response from the pale-haired man what so ever.
And suddenly as if awakening from a trance, the young archaeologist finally moved by reaching into his pockets to retrieve his cell phone that had been ringing. He stared at it for a long time as if it were foreign to him and his eyes lit up upon realizing who that would be since the call showed an out-of-area-number.
"Yugi…" gasped Ryou and the man on the other end of the line looked at his phone for a moment at the sound of the other's voice.
"Ryou, hi…you okay?"
Ryou squeezed his eyes tiredly and tried to make himself sound better. "Um, yeah…yeah I am."
"That's good… I guess. Well how was your trip? God I miss you already!" he said and Ryou sighed.
"It was okay, and I miss you too. You don't know just how much right now… oh, and my bath tub too."
Yugi was laughing. "Yeah I know how that gets. Do you have sand in your knickers yet?" he asked teasingly making Ryou laugh a bit, which felt good.
"Yeah, how the hell does it get in there?"
"You know, all my years of working in Egypt I had yet to figure that one out." said Yugi and Ryou shook his head, almost wanting to cry just from realizing how much he longed for him at the moment.
"Sorry I couldn't call you before; I was busy with my grandfather."
"Oh its ok love, we've been…busy anyway. How's he doing?"
Yugi's voice on the other side sounded strained as he sighed. "I don't know he's still in bad shape. We can only do so much to make him better."
Ryou closed his eyes sadly again, sympathizing with his friend. He loved that old man as well for the times he took care of him. "Pray for him and just be patient."
"I know. It just feels lonely here with you in Egypt and grandpa in the hospital, everyone else busy with their own jobs."
"I know its hard love, but I'm with you in spirit, you know that right?" They both grimaced at the way that sounded, and Ryou quickly added "You know what I mean dammit!" he snapped playfully as the man on the other side of the line laughed a little to himself.
Yugi smiled warmly a moment later and bit his lip. "Thank you Ryou. You're really good to me, and I can't thank you enough for going to Egypt for me too."
Ryou looked around the dig sites painfully, the men were just lying around helplessly playing cards, and he felt guilt flood his conscious for receiving such praise. He didn't deserve it, but he also wasn't going to tell Yugi about their problems either until he knew he hit a dead end for sure. "Don't thank me just yet, but you know I'll do anything for you."
Yugi's smile faded slowly and his warm eyes sparkled as it was times like these that he thanked the Millennium Puzzle a million times over for granting him his wish of friendship, the one wish that made it all possible.
But then Ryou's next question made Yugi drop his smile completely and didn't know why he felt so nervous all of the sudden, and it actually took him a while to answer it as he thought of his words carefully.
"How come you never told me about Malik?"
"Why…? Did you talk to him?"
"Yeah," he snapped then paused in his words. It wouldn't do good to get Yugi worried over nothing, he had enough to worry about as it is and besides, Malik was his problem not Yugi's. "Yeah, I talked to him."
"Oh…how is he?" Yugi asked in a small voice which infuriated Ryou further.
"Very good, I suppose, if I could get two words out of him without having my bloody head bitten off." he yelled and to his surprise, Yugi was laughing.
"Yeah, that's sounds like him alright. Just be patient with him, Ryou. He's a real sweetheart once you get to know him."
Ryou recalled his last meeting with the tombkeeper and scoffed. "Are you out of your mind? He's absolutely brutal!"
"Ryou…"
"I don't know which Malik you're referring to Yugi, but I can tell you right now he's anything BUT sweet!"
Silence. Then…
"I-I'm sorry, Yugi, I didn't mean to yell."
"Are you done?" asked Yugi sweetly and Ryou nodded feeling stupid.
"Yes sorry. I'm just… really stressed out right now." his gaze went back towards the men playing cards as one of them cheered in victory.
"I can hear that and I'm sorry for putting you through that stress. It's my fault after all." said Yugi and Ryou kicked himself mentally.
"But Ryou, there's something you've got to understand. The reason why Malik is like that… well, can you blame him?" he paused to sigh, and then started again. "He's really sensitive about the whole Battle City thing--"
"It's been ten years!"
"Are you over it, Ryou? And don't tell me that you are, remember, I shared a dorm with you in college…" Yugi snapped back and Ryou found himself at a loss of words. Of course he remembered all those nights Yugi held him as he cried from his dreams, or rather, nightmares. Ryou had to blink tears away even now at the memories.
"I know but…he's just so mean to me." he whined, and Yugi's smile returned fully to his lips.
By the time he was done with his conversation on the phone with Yugi, his mood was a little lighter and was ready to get back to work until he noticed the tombkeeper rounding up his men. They were chattering excitedly amongst themselves as they gathered up most of their belongings with them.
"Where are you guys going?" Ryou asked one man frantically, and he pointed to the tombkeeper.
"He's says he can lead us to some water to clean up!" he said and Ryou ran over to the tombkeeper's side.
"Where are you taking my men?" he asked and the tombkeeper flashed him a smile.
"They looked like they could use a little refreshment, so I'm taking them to a nearby spring." he said and Ryou blinked in wonder at him.
"A spring? Really? But… there are no springs or water of any kind on the map for at least a hundred kilometers. I checked." exclaimed Ryou and the man chuckled a bit.
"Of course it's not on the map, it's hidden and only known to us tombkeepers." he said and Ryou stopped dead in his tracks. Go figure…
He hadn't seen them look any happier for days as water truly did spring life wherever its tendrils spread. Even Ryou was smiling again as he stuck his feet into the cool spring and occasionally got splashed by the overgrown men that were now behaving like children at a pool. He frowned though, really wanting to join in on the fun but something about sweaty, hairy, half-naked older men put him off, so he decided that he would splash his face a little and soak his feet.
"What's the matter, do you not wish to join them?" yelled the tombkeeper from where he watched his horse prance around in the water happily. Ryou watched large bulging bellies floating in the water and scrunched up his nose.
"I don't take bathing in front of others too lightly." he said and the man nodded in understanding.
"Then come with me, I can take you somewhere more… private." he said with a wink and Ryou watched him put the saddle back onto his horse, preparing to leave.
Ryou just stood there blinking, then felt his cheeks heat up. "No its okay really, I'll just wa--" but the other man scooped him up and sat him over his horse, then taking a seat behind and rode off without another word.
He took them further into the mountains that could be seen from camp and rode along the deep crevices. It was quiet all around, and the silence was starting to unnerve Ryou a bit which distracted him from the uncomfortable ride. The horse came to a slow, and Ryou was able to see a few other figures in white start to file out from behind a mountain crevice.
The man felt Ryou tense up against him at their presence and the tombkeeper laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Do not fret, they are my family." he whispered softly then signaled over to the other tombkeepers.
They took the horse away and escorted them inside, leading them through maze-like pathways between the rocks that led to the entrance into the mountain range, and as they neared the entrance, Ryou noticed walls upon walls of scriptures and figures carved into stone. He let out a silent gasp and realized that he was being led into a tomb. The Pharaoh?
But something was a little strange, and he didn't remember being enclosed within mountains the last time they had seen the Pharaoh off.
Once they were inside, Ryou's eyes marveled at the sheer size of the place, it was like a mini city within the mountains. There were stairs and ladders that led to a second floor where there were more darkened hallways and lofts built from the presence of man. Within the lofts were different colored fabrics made into tents of various sizes that held faint glowing lights of candles and torches coming from the insides. They almost looked like dwellings inhabited by gypsies.
But the tombkeeper's movements in front of Ryou caught his attention before he managed to run into him from behind. The other man was taking off his white robe and then his head wrap, which when he did, long luxurious black hair fell to his mid-back and over his shoulders against a medium- build body. Again, Ryou felt like a shrimp against their beautiful bodies.
Damn…Ryou thought as he turned his eyes away.
After handing two others his clothing, the tombkeeper turned back to face Ryou with a gentle smile. "You can rest here for as long as you like, just around that bend there is another spring that collects rain water, the purest you'll ever find and the sweetest you'll ever taste."
"Are you sure it's okay?" asked Ryou, eyeing a few others that stood staring at him in one corner and whispering among themselves. Again, built, long-haired beauties that he hoped were as friendly as this guy was that escorted him throughout their dwellings.
"Sure it is. Any friend of Yugi's is family to us. But anyone who decides to give away the Pharaoh's resting place…" to this he made a clean cut against his throat with his hand, which made Ryou even more nervous.
"O-oh, I can assure you, sir, that won't happen. Y-your secrets are safe with me." said Ryou quickly while bowing a few times, making the other laugh deeply.
"I like you, I like you a lot!" said the tombkeeper while putting an arm around Ryou who froze stiffly against his build. "Erm, pardon me. But I never got your name."
"Ryou…it's Ryou, uh sir."
" 'Sir'? sir?" repeated the man and Ryou was deathly afraid that he may have offended him somehow. But the man only laughed again, this time towards the others that stood by. "I like this guy!" he then turned back to face Ryou again.
"I may have four children and two wives, but I know I'm not that old." the black-haired man laughed throatily again and Ryou's mouth gaped open in surprise. Four children? The guy didn't look any older than he was.
"You can just call me--"
"Khalo…" both men turned around to the third voice that came so suddenly from behind them and to Ryou's unexpected surprise, it was Malik. He watched the blonde slowly approach the other man who enveloped him in an affectionate hug, then kissed both sides of his face. The man then gave Malik a secret smile before they both faced a confused Ryou.
"I believe you already met my nephew…" said the man and Ryou's gaze went back and forth between the two.
"Nephew? Malik's your nephew?"
To be continued…
A/N: I'm so sorry about this chapter if it seemed so rushed, I'll make it up to you in the next ones.
While i was writing this chapter i was envisioning Yami Bakura in my head the entire time and i think thats what i'm going to be doing. you'll be noticing some shifts in character as if they're about togo yami but remember, Ryou doesn't have his millennium ring here, and Malik's yami is gone, blame it on their years of having their yami's rub off on them. -shrugs- but i have something good brewing, hopefully it'll be good.
By the way, 'Khalo' means 'uncle' in arabic (Mom's brother).
Thanks for reading you guys!