From Dusk 'Till Dawn
Chapter 36
Gentle Words
Later that same day when Malik was watching television in the game room, Marik plopped down on the couch beside him. Normally Malik would have probably felt awkward sitting beside a guy who had kissed him out of the blue but since the two were not in the room alone the blond was not worried. Bakura and Hakuba were playing pool on the other side of the room with a bunch of other Dragons and Wyverns watching the game. Apparently the both of them were considered the best in the game and because of that Bakura had simply had to challenge Hakuba. Malik guessed that it was that way around since Hakuba did not go around throwing challenges. Unless he was pissed off at the person, of course.
"What do you want, Marik?" Malik questioned from his new seatmate. There was no pause before Marik replied: "I just wanted to talk."
"Oh", Malik uttered as his eyes widened. And here he had thought that the other was planning on attempting to grope him. Well, that was one more reason for Malik to not start screaming 'rape' and have Hakuba scare Marik off with whatever weapon he had hidden away underneath his clothes. The Brit's clothes were formal and not what Malik would have considered stylish but at least they made the perfect hiding place for weapons.
"You sound surprised", Marik commented, snapping Malik out of his thoughts. The shorter blond directed his attention back to the teen sitting next to him and said: "Well, I just never thought you to be the type to just talk."
Marik's lips were pressed into a thin line for a moment before he questioned: "Can we talk?"
Shrugging his shoulders, not seeing any reason to object, Malik spoke: "Sure. What do you want to talk about?"
Marik's response was precise and blunt: "I want to talk about the time I kissed you."
"Figures…" Malik grumbled. "So, what about it?"
"Malik", Marik started in a low tone of voice. "Do you think I was out of line that time?"
A wide grin spread on Malik's face when he remembered that certain occasion in more detail. The expression did not fade as he spoke: "Heck no. You're a really good kisser."
There was a smirk from Marik as response as the taller teen spoke in a pleased manner: "Thanks." The tall blond then scratched the side of his head. "So, I was wondering about something. Are we an item now?"
When faced with the intense look of sincere curiosity Malik's grin faded away, along with his confidence. He sounded a bit lost and confused as he replied: "Um…I guess, yea."
"Great", was all Marik said before standing up from the couch. Malik blinked in surprise at how the action did not seem to fit the situation. It was unexpected, therefore surprising. Then Malik watched bewilderment as Marik walked away from him with one last grin. As Malik was left behind to stare after the Dragon, he could not help but wonder what he had agreed on just then and what he had gotten himself into.
&
"This way", Yami spoke softly as he led Yugi through the garden. The lights were dimmer now than they had been earlier during the tour and Yugi wondered if they were programmed to do that or if someone had adjusted the lighting.
"Yami", Yugi spoke and looked up at the other teen. Yami's crimson eyes turned to Yugi and at that instant the Dragon forgot all about his question. The lights were nowhere near as interesting as Yami's features were in the soft light of the garden.
"Ah", Yugi uttered, unable to get out a single word, let out an entire sentence. "I…"
Slowly, a soft smile came to Yami's lips and the vampire wrapped an arm around Yugi's shoulders to pull the shorter boy next to him. A soft scent drifted to Yugi's nose, too faint and vague for the teen to recognize. Yugi was not bothered by that, though. The feeling he was experiencing right there with Yami was a lot more important than the bits that put together that whole.
"What's on your mind, Yugi?" Yami questioned then, snapping Yugi out of his daze. The shorter teen turned his gaze to Yami's face and spoke with conviction: "It wasn't really all that important. Just a passing thought." With that Yugi snuggled more into Yami's embrace. He had to be careful about keeping their feet apart enough for them to keep walking, though, which took a bit away from the whole thing.
"If you say so", Yami said and then came to a stop. "We're here, Yugi."
Glancing away from Yami to check out their surroundings Yugi first noticed the huge window spreading out on one side. Through that window Yugi could see the early sunset that was the same shade that the lighting in the garden. The sun was not setting completely yet, but rather was about to within an hour or so.
When Yugi made his way to the window and glanced outside, he realized for the first time how high up the first floor of the Kaiba Tower was in comparison to the basement floor where the garage was positioned. Yugi guessed that the garage must have had more than one floor.
"It's really high up", Yugi commented as he watched the streets below. The window was still lower than the roofs of the surrounding buildings but it was still way above street level.
Now that he was close to the window, Yugi noticed that the glass looked slightly odd. Curious, Yugi touched his fingers to the surface.
"Bullet-proofed glass", Yami replied from behind Yugi even though the shorter teen had not asked anything yet. "It's tinted too, since otherwise people from nearby buildings could easily peek in with binoculars. All the windows in the tower are the same."
"Kaiba-san is a very private person", Yugi commented. "I mean, the property is rather large, isn't it? Why would people be directing so much attention to this building?"
"I have no idea, really", Yami said. "In my personal opinion Kaiba is simply extremely paranoid." The vampire's hands were laid on Yugi's shoulders from behind. "No one else really appreciates this place since it's so close to the city, so to speak. I, however, find myself enjoying the peace and quiet here. It's nice to simply see the city, without having to hear all of its loud noises. Another feature of the window here. Only Kaiba's office has a more secure glass."
"Why is this room so secure?" Yugi questioned curiously. "It's such a garden."
"It's an easy entry point I believe", Yami mumbled, his arms coming around Yugi's shoulders to pull the shorter boy's back against his chest. "Because of that it needs to be more secure than the rest."
Frowning in thought, Yugi suddenly thought about the battle that they would all have to participate in at some point. Sooner or later they would have to take out Pegasus and as Yugi became aware of this fact he grabbed Yami's arms with his hands, like he was afraid that the taller teen would vanish any moment.
Clearly aware of the tight grip Yugi had on him, Yami spoke out in a concerned manner: "Is something wrong, Yugi?"
"I just… I was thinking about Pegasus", Yugi confessed in a soft mumble. "Do we really stand a chance against him?"
"There is always a chance, Yugi", Yami muttered softly, lowering his voice as he placed his lips near the shorter boy's ear. "We will get through this, together."
A slight smile played on Yugi's lips as the boy turned his head to the side slightly before asking: "Did you guys manage to put a plan together?"
"Yea…" came Yami's slow answer. It sounded really vague to Yugi and somehow the Dragon simply knew that things had not gone too well on some parts. Yugi gave Yami's arms a yet another squeeze before questioning: "Something's come up, right?"
"Yea", Yami replied, nodding his head curtly. "Kaiba pointed out that if we want to take out Pegasus, we need to take care of his comrades as well." There was a brief pause but it hung so heavily in the air that Yugi knew that there was still more to come. "We need to take every single one of them out at once and they aren't exactly all in the right place."
"We will need to split up", Yugi concluded and Yami nodded again. Releasing a soft sigh Yugi spoke out: "So I guess that compatibility draft Hakuba-san is cooking up is going to be handy."
A humourless laugh came from Yami before the vampire spoke: "Indeed. There are going to be six targets in total."
"Six?" Yugi questioned incredulously. "But if we get divided into so many groups…"
"I know", Yami cut in. "Those groups will be very small indeed."
A brief pause passed before Yugi questioned: "Who's working with Pegasus?"
"A group called Big Five", Yami grumbled with distaste. "Kaiba was pretty vague about them, saying that we need Hakuba's results before we can really work something out."
"He was talking about forming the teams", Yugi guessed. "First the teams will have to be formed and after that they will all be fitted to the most-suitable opponent."
There was a chuckle from Yami, one that had Yugi surprised since it did not really fit into the mood. But then Yami started to speak: "You know what Yugi? You should be participating those strategy meetings instead of me. You have the patience for it."
Blushing at the compliment Yugi mumbled a soft: "Thank you", and snuggled further into Yami's embrace.
"I think I'll show you favorite place to sit down now", Yami mumbled as he stepped back, pulling Yugi along with him. The action was not completely successful, however, and the two ended up falling backwards into the grass.
Laughing Yugi rolled off of Yami so that we would not crush the other's legs and laid down next to the vampire with his arm and hand resting on Yami's chest. The taller teen was blushing slightly from embarrassment but Yugi's good natured laughter soon changed the embarrassed expression into one of mirth.
"I think this might become my new favorite spot to sit down", Yami commented as he turned on his side to place and arm over Yugi's body. "As long as you're here with me."
"I'd love to", Yugi responded truthfully. Then he tilted his head just so that he could lay a kiss on Yami's chin. The vampire had other plans, however, and Yugi found his lips meeting another pair of lips instead of the even skin on the other boy's chin.
"Ah", Yugi uttered as he pulled away, his face burning. "What was that all about?"
"I decided we'd waited long enough", Yami replied with a one-shouldered shrug. Then he nuzzled their noses together, bringing out a giggle from Yugi.
"Yeah, I agree with you."
&
It was really hard to sleep when one was hungry, Ryou noticed that night. Apparently he had not eaten enough and was not hungry again. Not wanting to lose sleep simply lying in bed with his stomach grumbling, Ryou had made his way down into the kitchen to get himself a little snack so that he could sleep peacefully.
When Ryou neared the kitchen, he saw that the door was open a crack and that there was light coming from through the crack. At first the white-haired boy thought that one of the Wyverns had come down for a snack as well but then he heard the sound of music playing.
A soft melody, played with a flute, drifted over to Ryou's ears. It was a gentle melody with a touch of melancholy. There was no cd player in the kitchen; neither could any of the Wyverns play an instrument, so the person in kitchen had to be one of The Dragons.
Pushing the kitchen door open some more Ryou's eyes first fell on a person with pure white hair that was much like his own. Ryou had thought that he had moved silently but as soon as he had slipped inside the kitchen, the Dragon's eyes focused on him.
Ryou jumped slightly at the intense look the two deep brown eyes shot him. The eyes were sharp and angled, and Ryou felt like he was being observed with efficiency that even Hakuba would have envied. It was like those narrow eyes could see right into his soul and Ryou had no idea how to react to something like that.
"Uh…hello?" Ryou offered weakly and the flute was actually lowered as the other teen replied: "Evening, Ryou."
"Ah, you know my name", Ryou muttered in an attempt to say at least something. He lowered his voice as he continued in a lot more timid manner: "But I don't know yours."
There was a short pause before the white-haired Dragon before he replied curtly: "Bakura."
At first Ryou thought that the Dragon had continued his previous statement but quickly enough Ryou realized that the other had actually answered his question, if it could be called that.
"Oh, your name is Bakura?" Ryou spoke, feeling rather awkward. "My name is Bakura too. Ryou Bakura." Ryou realized how stupid his comment was a moment after the words had escaped from his mouth. He blushed a bright red as Bakura looked at him with a bored expression.
"Um…" Ryou uttered weakly. "Uh… I guess we should make sure people only call me by first name from now on, then?"
As response Bakura only eyed Ryou quietly some more and the shorter boy was starting to feel uncomfortable. It was very shyly that Ryou questioned: "Is Bakura your first name? What's your surname?"
"I'm just called Bakura", Bakura replied tonelessly. "I go by no other name."
"Okay", Ryou replied unsurely, attempting to smile at the Dragon. In the end it stayed as nothing more but a sad attempt. Ryou then decided that it was about time that he changed the subject. He directed his attention to the flute Bakura was holding in his hands and spoke: "I heard you play. It was really impressive."
"Hn", came Bakura's impassive reply as the taller albino turned his gaze to a wall. The teen's tone was slightly muffled as he spoke: "Just don't think I'm a sensitive guy simply because I know how to play."
"I wouldn't dream of it", Ryou answered in a friendly manner as he moved to lean his arms and chest against the counter Bakura was sitting on top of. Seriously, no one with eyes like Bakura's could ever be considered sensitive even by mistake.
"Was there a reason you came down here so late?" Bakura questioned then. "I think it's obvious why I am here but do you have this as a habit or something?"
"I was just hungry", Ryou admitted. "I'm just going to grab a banana or something." The Wyvern hesitated for a moment. "Will you continue playing? You don't seem to like conversation much."
"What gave you that idea?" Bakura asked. Ryou shrugged as he made his way to the fridge, shooting over his shoulder: "You're sitting stiff."
Bakura's reply was a slightly startled and extremely awkward: "Oh." Ryou grabbed a banana from the fridge and turned around when Bakura continued: "You can stay and listen."
Smiling, Ryou made his way to the counter and sat beside Bakura. He started peeling his banana and the two teens' gazes met. Ryou felt his face warm up briefly as he said: "Thanks."
As Ryou took a bite of his banana, he was startled to see Bakura smile ever so slightly, and then his face burned a lot hotter and certainly a lot more noticeably.
To be continued…
Ending Notes: Actually, only the scene with Ryou and Bakura was part of the original storyline. The other two I came up with for the sole purpose of giving the other pairings some screen time after the amount of attention I have been giving Seto and Jou.