Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor any of the characters from it.

A/N: This one began as a RP with my hikari, Fantasy.Maker, and was just too good not to share with the world! And, let's see, I'm in italics and this version includes footnotes with some of our interesting or funny comments.

Rated M for boy smex! XD Not in this chapter, but there will be. Oh there will be.

Ryou was in the kitchen making his dinner with the weather report on. He worried about his dad's plane that was supposed to leave for Cairo (again) but with this storm it would most likely be delayed at least for the night.

"Nothing too serious, please," he prayed in a whisper. "None of us need another apocalypse because of a storm and errant magic."

He finished cooking his ramen and sat at the dinner table with the weather report still blaring in the room behind him. He was used to eating alone and taking care of himself while his father was away. Working for the museum to find the next big dig kept his father away a lot but it paid the bills and was putting Ryou through school and, eventually, university.

THUD! As in response to his whispered prayers he felt the magic spike suddenly, very nearby and he heard a rather large crash that seemed to come from his own living room.

He jumped up from the table, knocking it over in the process. This was not good. He had never developed his magic enough to deal with something like this. Shit, where was that stupid tomb robber when he needed him? Oh yeah. Dead.

Ryou grabbed a candlestick and edged slowly closer to the door that led to the living room. He nudged the it open and surveyed as much of the room as he could. The only things he could see out of place were broken bits of what once was the coffee table. Whatever had broken it wasn't there. That was comforting.

He let out a little sigh and stepped fully into the room brandishing the candlestick for dear life.(1)

As he looked around the room, a flash of white on the ground caught his eye. The moonlight glinted off the stark white hair, similar to his but shorter, of the figure lying motionless on the ground. A closer look revealed a lean body clothed in a red, hooded robe and not much else. Even in the low light he could tell that the man's skin was dark from exposure to the sun and he could just make out a deep scar under his left eye.

The candlestick fell with a loud thug to the ground. He knew this man! It was the Thief King from Ancient Egypt. Yugi told him about his trip and everything that happened. From what he heard, the thief was supposed to have been defeated by Atemu. So what the FUCK was he doing in his living room?!

He groaned when he realized that the magical spike he felt earlier most definitely had something to do with this. Stupid magic and it's need to mess with his already complicated life.

The figure on the ground let out a groan from deep in his throat. He felt like shit. His head was pounding, his eyes burned, he felt like he had swallowed the desert and he was lying on something HARD. The last thing he remembered was entering the tomb of the pharaoh's father, the man he hated more than life itself, when there was a loud crack and a . . . hard pull that seemed to come from somewhere in his chest. He wasn't sure he wanted to move or open his eyes but DAMNIT, whatever he was lying on was EXTREMELY uncomfortable and digging into his ribs.

Ryou jerked back when he heard the groan. He couldn't wake up now! Actually, he preferred that the thief never wake up but that would mean he'd be dead and he'd have to do something with the body...

He inched closer to the figure to see if he was alright out of habit. Maybe he knew what was going on and how to get back. It would be hard enough to explain the man's sudden appearance to his friends but if his father had to come back... well, he just wouldn't think about that right now.

The thief stirred just enough to lift his torso and pull his arm, and the unidentifiable hard object, out from underneath him, then settled back with a sigh. His head hurt and the floor was soft and maybe he didn't care if someone could sneak up behind him and rob or kill him. Maybe it would be nice to just sleep without caring. Maybe it would be nice to die . . .

As he pulled his arm out from underneath him, he revealed a very decorated and very sharp looking dagger with a bit of blood gleaming on the blade from where he fell on it.

Ryou saw and immediately darted forward to pull the man up. Hopefully he hadn't stabbed himself with it when he fell. He slung one of the man's arms over his shoulder and began, with difficulty, to maneuver them both towards the couch. It would be a lot easier to check the wounds if there wasn't debris hiding it all.

He gently laid him out on the couch not failing to notice the blood coming from the thief's head and robe. Ryou quickly left the room to bring the first aid kit from the bathroom and hot water and towels from the kitchen.

Soft hands grabbed at him, pushing and pulling and lifting and still he didn't care. Something must have been really wrong. The hands laid him out onto a softer surface and all he wanted to do was sleep. No, that WAS wrong, it was very wrong, that was the way people died and he couldn't die until he had his revenge.

He forced his eyes open and what he saw definitely kept him awake. Where was he? He couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was seeing.

Ryou hurried back into the living room and saw his little "visitor" was awake.

"S-so you've finally woken up." Ryou stopped in the doorway, fear beginning to gnaw at him. "N-not that you've been out that long. I was just starting to think that maybe...you... died." He blushed a little and avoided the thief's eyes at all costs. He made his way over to his side and, after setting everything down, he began to work on cleaning the cut on the thief's head.

"Erm, this will sting a bit so bear with me, please," he said bracing himself for anything that might show the man's displeasure.

If the setting was strange, the boy was even more so. He almost reminded him of a long lost . . . sister. But he hastily pushed that though away. The boy obviously meant no harm though, and was so slight that he was sure he could break him easily if he found otherwise. Light hair, light skin, light eyes . . . He let the strange, almost ethereal looking creature fuss over him, finding it almost pleasant.

He blinked and realized the boy had been talking to him though he hadn't understood a word. But maybe that was just because his head was still pounding and making his thinking fuzzy.

"What?" He asked in perfect Egyptian.

Ryou blinked when he realized the thief had spoken something in another language. Probably Egyptian. So that meant he hadn't understood a word he said. Great. Now how was he supposed to tell this man he had to take off the robe to clean his other cuts? The thief would probably think he's trying to rape him or do some other equally inappropriate things to him. He sighed and mentally shrugged. He'd just have to resort to hand gestures.

"Umm... I need to take off your robe... I won't hurt you, I just need to clean your cuts..." Ryou was blushing furiously while he mimed removing his clothing. He tugged on the thief's robe in the hope that the man would catch on to what he was trying to say.

Damn it! what he really needed was a translator.

He concentrated as the other spoke this time. So it wasn't just his head, they really were speaking different languages. Well, his skin was so light and this place was so . . . different that he wasn't really surprised. And apparently the inability to communicate was making the small one flustered. He watched the gestures and understood fairly well what the boy intended to do but couldn't resist teasing him just a bit. The small red flush that lingered across the boy's face was appealing against his light skin and he wondered how deep the blush could get. He leered suggestively at the boy and shrugged off the robe.(2)

Ryou instantly stopped what he was doing when he saw the look he was receiving. This man didn't honestly think he wanted...that. Did he? His blush got two shades darker at that thought. His hands shook as he wetted his towels and gently cleaned the blood off the man's chest. The man's well-built chest. The man's...

Ryou mentally slapped himself and continued what he was doing, concentrating as hard as he could on how exactly he was going to go about bandaging the cuts and not on the looks he was being given.

He chuckled amusedly and grinned, giving away the game. He would have played longer but couldn't help himself, the boy really was cute. The thief settled back on the couch and relaxed under the gentle touch for the first time in, well, he didn't really know how long.

Something about the strange creature just seemed to put him at ease.

Ryou was surprised and a little relieved when the thief relaxed. At least he wasn't leering at him anymore. To say he was flustered was putting it mildly. Now that the man was cooperating his heart rate could finally go back to normal.

When he got to the last cut on the thief's stomach, he noticed it was different from the other ones. This one was more of a slice while the others were jagged. It also seemed to be slightly deeper. This must've been where he landed on the dagger. Hopefully the dagger wasn't rusty because he was pretty sure the man had never received a tetanus shot before. Closing this cut would take some more bandages and some fresher towels. Ryou sighed and got up to get some.

The thief looked at him quizzically and stood up to follow. He swayed a bit and put a hand to his head. He'd forgotten about the pounding.

Ryou looked back and was startled to see the thief trying to follow him. He went back and put a hand on his arm to steady him. He gently guided the man back down and this time gestured for him to wait there. Ryou got back up and left, hoping he wouldn't follow.

He sat cradling his head in his hands, wondering why he was feeling nauseous and why he was acting so strangely. Had he really just gotten up to follow the boy around some domesticated cat? He REALLY must have hit his head hard. The thief gingerly felt the wound on his head but decided to stop when it only made the rolling of his stomach roll worse.

Ryou paused as he reentered the living room. What exactly was he supposed to do when he was finished bandaging the thief up? He couldn't talk to him since they didn't understand each other, he couldn't very well explain his presence to his father if he came home for the night, which considering the weather outside, there was a big possibility for that. He could probably call Yugi and ask his grandfather to come over. He knew the old man was an archaeologist years ago so there might be a chance that he understood what the man was saying. He hoped. Well, first things first. He had to finish with that cut and maybe check to see if the man had a concussion. However you checked for that.

He walked over to the man but stared in confusion when he saw him sitting with his head in his hands. Didn't that hurt so much worse? He set his bandages and towels down and gently pushed the him onto his back. He smoothed the man's hair back and placed a towel dipped in the (now cold) water on his forehead. Ryou then realized how intimate an action this was to do to a stranger and blushed a bright pink. He lowered his head and busied himself with dressing the slice on the thief's stomach.

The thief's eyes widened and he thought he might have blushed a bit himself when he felt the gentle hands run through his hair and realized just how close the small one was. He was relieved when the boy moved away though it wasn't quite far enough for comfort and he tried desperately to focus on the cold of the compress on his head and NOT the delicate hands brushing lightly over his abdomen.

When the dressing was finished, Ryou quickly picked up his things. He didn't want to leave the man alone in his condition but he also was scared to stay in the room with him. He seemed to be blushing around him a little too much for his comfort. He wanted to call Yugi anyway so he laid a hand on the man's arm and, forgetting about the language barrier, whispered to him softly, "Get some rest. You need it."

With that, Ryou got up and left the room to make a phone call.

He didn't know what the boy said but obviously he didn't want him tagging along. A glint on the floor caught the thief's eyes and he picked up the dagger, tucked it carefully into his robe and then settled himself across the couch, falling asleep almost immediately.(3)

1. Fantasy.Maker:Ryou with the candlestick in the living room. That's who killed the Thief King, Miss Scarlet. (And Jenivi died laughing.)

2. Fantasy.Maker: ((O///O squeals))

3. At which point there was much planning and while the aims of said planning were eventually met, they came about in a much different way than originally envisioned. Perhaps to be pointed out in a later footnote